Shattered Union - first impressions

2k Games and PopTop Software have teamed up on this US Civil War game with a twist. There are Confederates, but they have tanks and planes. After a nuclear weapon wipes out the divisive American government, the country splits apart. Europe intervenes to hold on to the capital region, but the rest of the regions set up their own countries with their own armies and aspire to reunite the country by force.

The game is all about wars and rumors of wars. No diplomacy, no trade, minimal economy. You are limited to a single attack per turn, but any troops you use in your attack can't be used in any defense that turn. So if you send everything you have in a stab at conquest, you will lose one or two territories because you didn't choose wisely.

So far I'm liking it. It has the beer and pretzel wargame feel to it that means it should translate well to the Xbox (yeah, I know. A wargame on a console.) Air power is appropriately modelled and anti-aircraft fire can really mess up your plan. The AI seems competent if not brilliant. You would think that it would make better use of choke points than it does, or take out bridges with more regularity.

More opinions as they become fully formed.