Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Corsica in 1769, shortly after France purchased it from the Italian state of Genoa. Before his death in 1821, he rose rapidly through the ranks of the military to become one of history’s most famous leaders, this despite never fully mastering the native language of the country with which his name will be forever linked. Released in April, Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars is developer GSC Game World’s sequel to its popular Cossacks: European Wars. The latter title plus its two expansions, The Art of War and Back to War, reportedly sold more than 2.5 million units around the world, making it a major success story within the real-time strategy genre. The new game expands on its illustrious predecessor’s key strengths by, for example, allowing up to 64,000 units to take part in a single battle.
Although the title and sub-title may tend to suggest otherwise, Cossacks II lets you control the forces of six nations including France, Britain, Austria, Russia, Prussia and Egypt. Each of these is said to be unique, possessing its own unique abilities, architecture, development tree and military characteristics. The style of play is intended to reflect the period’s “civilized” warfare that put a significant emphasis on fighting in formations. This made individual units relatively or even completely ineffective. It also meant that using cavalry attacks, artillery, flanking maneuvers et al at precisely the right moment in the key location could quickly sway the entire balance of a battle. The single-player campaign lets you experience a number of famous encounters, with the results turning on your generalship. We had the chance to learn more from Associate Producer Mario Kroll of publisher CDV…
