HistWar: Les Grognards

15 August 2009 --- The Grognards of Napoleon march to the sound of the canon! After nearly years of marching in extreme conditions, they are almost on the field of battle. Soon, it wil be up to you to maneuver them in battle and lead them to victory!

The anniversary of the birth date of Napoleon Bonaparte, today, 15th of August, was chosen as the announcement (and reconfirmation) of the release of HistWar Les Grognards. The game has been in development for nearly 10 years (!) by historian and game developer Jean-Michel Mathé and his team, and we are proud and thrilled to announce that HistWar: Les Grognard will be available for download at the end of summer (Q3/2009) through the website of the exclusive publisher Battlefront ( www.battlefront.com). The boxed version (CD and manual) will be delivered approx. 4-6 weeks later in a special Limited Premium Edition with a fully printed manual (~250 pages!).

HistWar: Les Grognards is one of the first - if not the first - FPC (First Person commander) game, and allows you to simulate almost all the battles of the Empire between 1805-1814.

HistWar: Les Grognards has three game modes: single player, play by email (PBEM), and multiplayer (up to 8 players). In single player, a player can choose to fight for one of the two armies, can choose to play both armies (for example for training purposes), and there is also a mode where both opponents are under AI control fighting each other. It gets better: in this last mode the player can command units as a colonel in first person mode. He is then in the middle of the conflict without knowing all the parameters.

HistWar: Les Grognards offers different difficulty levels. For example, battle conditions vary greatly with the level of fog of war chosen (none, partial, or total). The choice of seasons and weather conditions alter the behaviors of units, movement speed, and fatigue accumulation. Visibility takes into account smoke clouds released in combat, and so the artillery may have to interrupt its bombardment. These few examples illustrate the level of realism found in HistWar - but are merely scratching the top.

Various game options allow users to customize their game based on their experience. Some options are especially useful for beginners: One option allows you to adjust the reaction time of corps commanders. New players can start with immediate order transmission (which is like most other startegy games work) whereas true Grognards can play with historical communication times (via rider/messenger for example) that can take up to two hours; organizing an army corps of 40000 men necessitates a little bit of time. ;-)

In addition to the ten of the most prestigious battles that will ship with the game, the player can recreate battles of his choosing with the fully featured army and map editors. These two editors also include random generators to instantly create balanced scenarios where two historical armies engage each other.

The army editor (“order of battle”) uses multiple historical databases (uniforms, commanders, regiments, organizations). Hardcoded quotas, based on historical data, put some restrictions on the percentages of different types of units. Thus, the distribution of the three branches (infantry, cavalry, artillery) remains within historical limits.

Scenario and doctrine editors are also available. The latter is a true commanding tool, allowing you to pre-determine the reactions of your units under different circumstances. An army commander takes care of the overall tactical plan and does not micromanage his units! A thorough and complete tutorial will available to introduce you to HistWar: Les Grognards. A demo will be available around the time of release. The official website for news releases, announcements, and to purchase (watch this space for when pre-orders launch!) is www.battlefront.com/histwar.

In combination with this announcement, we have also released 30 brand new screenshots from the current state of the game. You can find them in the Histwar Les Gorgnards screenshot section. URL: http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=134&Itemid=185