North and South - Action 16 Budget RRP œ9.99
            (Strategy/wargame for PC, Amiga and ST)

               Reviewed on PC by Paul Johnson

The game is set in the American Civil War and allows you the
chance to play either side. It can be played in two modes, arcade
or strategy, the difference being that when the armies clash in
arcade mode you fight it out moving your infantry or cavalry. In
strategy mode the computer fights the battle, you only see the
result. The game is fun and is very quick, you can refight the war
in ten minutes, although you do have to think about what you are
doing.  On starting the game you have the chance to set your
monitor and your joystick (although you do not need this in single
player mode).  Next you are presented with an option screen which
allows you to do the following:
1/. Set the difficulty level (Captain being the easy one).
2/. Choose one or two players.
3/. Choose the start year, this sets up the map to reflect the
    position at the start of that year.
4/. Activate various random events.
5/. Start the game.

Once you start the game you are presented with a map of the USA
divided into various states. Each state's status is shown as
either a man representing an army (in the appropriate colour), a
flag showing ownership or nothing indicating neutral. Also on the
map are red dots connected by black lines, (towns and railway
lines), more about them later.

To move your armies you click on the figure and the states to
which that army can move are highlighted. Click on your selected
state and the army moves. If the objective state is neutral it
becomes yours, if occupied by another of your armies the armies
merge, if occupied by an enemy army battle commences. The defeated
army is retreated to a neighbouring state of its side or wiped
out. If the state has a town then the fort icon appears and your
army attacks the fort, if your attack fails you retreat from
whence you came.  The strength of the various armies can be seen
by pointing at them.

The towns provide you with taxes which can build armies at the
rate of five gold per army. In order to get these taxes two of
your towns must be connected by a railway line. As soon as you
connect two an icon of a train travels along the track and the tax
is put in a safe until you collect the required number (The more
states you have the more the tax).  However if an enemy army is
sat across the railway line as your train collects the taxes it
get looted by the enemy.

That is basically it, the graphics are cute and the game plays
fast. In arcade mode on a fast PC the enemy moves in a virtual
blur and you get destroyed before you can press a key. However not
being a joystick whizz this may be only my opinion, you might do
better if you are.

The way in which the game has been done means that it will appeal
to younger gamers as well as adults. However it does have a
thinking side to it as well, make a mistake and you get wiped very
quickly.

The game will appeal to strategy gamers wanting some light gaming
or to someone trying out strategy for the first time. At the
budget price it is well worth the money.

@~Paul also provided hints - see the Hints and Tips section.













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