Blood and Iron

The great questions of the day will not be settled by resolutions or the votes of majorities in assemblies... but by Blood & Iron. Otto von Bismarck, Chancellor of Prussia, 1862.
Real Politik The latter half of the 19th century was the era of Social Darwinism, when issues of international policy were decided on the battlefield. It was an age in which technical innovation in weaponry far outstripped changes in tactical doctrine. Armies grew in size as weapons became increasingly destructive leading to ever longer casualty lists. Blood & Iron allows you to re-create the battles of this fascinating period without having to pore over impossible charts or make arcane calculations. The suite consists of two programmes, Blood & Iron, the Battle programme and Boots, Boots, the Campaign and Army Generation programme, both included on the disc together with a separate Staff Administration programme. In Boots, Boots, the army creation routines allow you to build up army files easily and quickly, which will later be used to fight battles. There are 120 different armies to choose from, consisting over 1000 different troop types, like the rather exotic, Satsuma Rebels: Asai’s Higo Samuri, commanded by Major Masahiro Asai. 422 volunteer infantry in 6 companies, 311 with Minie Fusil M49 and 111 with Sharps Carbine and sword.		Load up the Battle Programme. Mayhem ensues !! Some troops will obey their orders and advance towards the enemy while other seem reticent and cling to the base line and others yet will insist on advancing without orders. In addition to the usual advance, hold, engage orders, troops can be ordered to stand in reserve or arrive on the battlefield after a pre-determined delay and pre battle bombardments can be undertaken. Throughout these processes, the experience and training of the troops and the character of their commanders will play a key role, much to the frustration of players commanding irregular or poorly trained armies.As battle progresses, the two sides come to close volleys; canister scours the field, sabres clash on breastplates and the trumpeting of elephants rises above the roar of cannon. Every time they are shot at or charged, or attempt to charge, morale tests are taken entirely automatically. There are no tables for you to pore over, no mathematical calculations to do; all that is done by the computer. All you have to do is give the orders, measure the ranges and move the figures. Casualties are given and taken, officers killed or wounded, guns and colours are captured. Ammunition is expended, and counted by the round. Victors and vanquished will all tire as the battle wears on.
Eg. 13 Armies of the American Civil War each with upto 18 troop types. When creating an army you may name the officers yourself, or have them named automatically by the computer. There are over a million different names in over 30 different languages. Likewise you can name the units yourself or have the computer do it for you. As an example of the possibilities, we have created a unit from the list; Army of the Potomac: 3rd New England Militia, commanded by Major Henry Scott. 603 inexperienced militia infantry in 10 companies, 482 with percussion lock musket and 121 with Harpers Ferry M1841 rifle and Bayonet	If you are not entirely happy with the unit in its’ standard form, then you can modify its’ strength, experience, commitment, officer or weaponry. There are 228 different small arms 201 different artillery pieces and 24 different machine guns amongst the weapons available. These easily created units are automatically organised into Divisions and Brigades, and you can add Corps organisation and re-organise your Brigades etc. as you wish. Each officer, whether at Corps/Army level or right down to battalion commanders, has his own particular character, which will effect his behaviour on the battlefield and on campaign. Officer characteristics reflect National Characteristics. Thus Prussian Armies will tend to have largely good officers, whilst Native ones will tend to be of poorer quality. British officers meanwhile will tend to be of infinitely variable and unpredictable merit.	Automatic Morale Testing... At the end of each move, each Brigade commander will review his troops and take his own morale test, and on upto the Army commander himself. When one player, or his troops have had enough the carnage will come to an end. You can then survey the casualties and morale states of the armies and once again save the armies to disc. The game actually does this automatically every turn just in case of Acts of God like power cuts, or someone stepping on the plug... or the pub opening.
Campaign Programme After the fray you can re-load the Campaign Programme and pass the armies through a post battle update. Here the victorious will recover some of their battle losses and gain confidence, steadiness and command control. The losers will lose even more men as untended wounded die and the dispirited desert. They will lose confidence, but generally become steadier and better disciplined. The fresh green recruits of yesterday will begin their transformation to gnarled veteran. Here, in the general update routine you can have them rest up in camp and recover from battle. Here you can have them march about the countryside and lay siege to places and desert and die from attrition ... or die of all sorts of horrible diseases. In this programme you can also add in replacements, train your men and re-equip them with the latest weapons. You can award medals to the brave and successful and Court Marshal the cowardly and disobedient. All in all you can do pretty well all you need to re-fight the campaigns of history or create whole new conflicts of your own.