presents

Civil War OnLine

Index Page

What CWOL Is

• "Civil War OnLine" (CWOL) is a military, economic, and political simulation of the American Civil War with both wargaming and roleplaying aspects.
• The military struggle of CWOL is based on historical facts. The game starts in 1861 and lasts until the end of 1864, the military fortunes of the Confederacy had doomed it to extinction by this point in the war - the triple Union victories at Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga, had left little hope of the Confederacy achieving a military solution.
• Players are challenged to try to alter the outcome, but the challenges each country faced in the 1860's are present and will remain if the national team does not address the strategic, diplomatic, economic, and political obstacles in their path to victory.
• CWOL is currently developing a revised software program, "War Between the Statesl" (WBTS)  to simulate the military aspects of the war. Previous versions of CWOL unitized other software programs (BLADD, SAS, & GQ) that are too antiquated to be used on current computer operating systems. {See examples of military exploits from previous games at the CWOL Regiment Honor Roll}
• The political arena of CWOL is a more free-form arena, players act as citizens with voting influence and economic wealth. Arguments over military strategy, economic spending, or governmental policy is encouraged among the citizenry. Ultimately, the political leadership determines the strategic policies of the national team.  Each state and country elects leaders who have authority over the military and try to influence the business policies of their citizens.
• The economic play of CWOL is very open within the historical context.  The accounting of fortunes is governed by a software program that maintains the financial records of players active in the simulation. The economic side of the conflict is interwoven into all the modules of CWOL as the rules integrate the procurement of weapons, munitions, warships, as well as allowing the national teams to modify their internal industrial capacity to further support their national strategy.

Why We Are Running CWOL

• In past efforts, Internet-based Civil War games of the 20th Century were never able to successfully combine role playing with wargaming. Some have wargaming with little role playing, and, others, role played with no actual war. CWOL remedies this problem. CWOL I ran from September 1997 to May 1998, since that time several iterations of CWOL were conducted up to CWOL VII from September 2002 to February 2003. By 2003, it became apparent that the legacy code that drove the CWOL simulation needed to be updated as the old code was incompatible with  the first of the 21st Century operating systems (WIN XP).
• Since 2004, the Historical Online Learning Foundation has been developing a replacement game engine for CWOL. This development has now entered the Beta-stage of development and is starting a large Beta-stage user test in August, 2007.
• Our goal is to bring alive a simulation where you are can be a soldier, sailor, diplomat, newspaper journalist, politician, or businessman within a historical framework based on the era of the American Civil War (ACW).
• CWOL is administered by the Distance Simulations Group of the Historical OnLine Learning Foundation, a non-profit corporation registered in Delaware. The Historical OnLine Learning Foundation is developing the software and rules for the game. The game is administered by a standing committee and selected representatives for the player base, the Players Guild.. This group is charged with presenting an orderly, structured gaming environment for the player-led national governments to pursue their individual strategies.
• In the spirit of the Internet, this game will be free, and is based on volunteer effort. CWOL has proven to be a constantly evolving world, aiming for the most realistic and exciting experience for all. Hard work is performed year-round to continue the make this game the best interactive group simulation on the Net. This game represents unchartered territory, we promise no flaws but a rich Web-based universe which can and will challenge you.

Joining CWOL

• CWOL is not for the casual player! You may receive much e-mail from other players, and if you are a commander fighting in the war, you must send in military orders a number of times a week. Consider that before joining the game.
• To join CWOL, send a message to CWOL Recruiting Sergeant.
• Please indicate your full name. Please indicate if you have ever used BLADD or the SAS software, or if you commanded regiments in CWOL I , II, III, IV, V, VI, or VII. The Game Administrators will place you on a side and in a state.
• Be prepared to complete an application for attending the Academy and successfully completing an Entrance Exam before you are admitted. Experience has shown that training for all new players is required due to the complexity of the simulation. Refresher training for veterans is a matter of policy of the leaders of your national team.
• The registry is currently open for new players to join the Beta Test.
  

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Links

HOLF War College

HOLF Players Guild

Distance Simulations Group, Historical Online Learning Foundation (HOLF)

Napoleonic Wars OnLine (NWOL)

Historical Online Learning Foundation (HOLF)

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