Cossacks

November 30, 2000

PC ( Windows )

Game mode

system advantages
preconditions

233 MHz CPU , 32 MB RAM , DirectX 8.0

medium

1 CD-ROM

language

German

Current version

1.15

Cossacks: European Wars (by Kosaken ) is a real-time strategy game developed by the game developer GSC Game World . The game was in November 2000 by publisher CDV for Windows - PCs released. The game has been sold over 2.5 million times worldwide.

The title picture of the game is based on the painting “ The Zaporozhian Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish sultan ” by Ilya Yefimowitsch Repin .

Campaigns & Gameplay

In this game the player takes over one of 16 (later in Back to War 20) European nations of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Here differ England , the Netherlands , France , Spain , Portugal , Piedmont , Venice , Sweden , Russia , the Ukraine , Poland , Prussia , Saxony , Austria , which Turkey and the North African Algeria in the architecture of the buildings in the units and the available technologies. Great emphasis is placed on historical correctness. As is usual in games of this genre, it is the player's task to build cities and fortresses, extract and manage raw materials, raise armies and of course defeat the enemy on the battlefield. It is noteworthy that the developers attached great importance to mass battles. So up to 8000 units can move around the map at the same time, which is very similar to the wars of the 17th and 18th centuries. To build such a large army, the resources are infinite. There are six types of resources that are mined differently. Wood and stone are mined with a farmer in the normal way, in order to gain food, a windmill is needed, or fishing is used, which requires a port and fishing boats. Iron , gold and coal are extracted in mines. These mines, in turn, can be expanded by up to seven levels, which means that up to 95 farmers can work in one mine .

If farmers or civilian buildings are unguarded by military forces, an opponent can take civil units with a military unit. Military buildings cannot be captured and can only be destroyed by artillery, grenadiers and archers.

Walls and units also need resources after they have been produced. Units generally need food, while all units that can shoot ( cannons , ships , towers , musketeers ) need coal and iron for ammunition. There must be enough stone for walls and enough wood for palisades. Mercenaries ask for gold as payment, otherwise they revolt and become enemies.

There is a lot of emphasis on research and upgrades in Cossacks. It can take up to two hours for everything to be researched and developed. However, it is possible to change the game speed in many different stages, so that setup and research can take place faster or slower depending on the setting. Accordingly, the duration of the game depends on the set game speed.

In addition to the random card, five campaigns and ten individual scenarios can be played. The campaigns:

1. Campaign ( Austria ): Tutorial campaign
2nd campaign ( England ): Caribbean pirates
3rd Campaign ( Ukraine ): Ukrainian War of Independence
4th Campaign ( France ): Thirty Years War under Richelieu
5th Campaign ( Russia ): Rise in the 17th and 18th centuries

To show that Cossacks: European Wars is closely based on real history, an encyclopedia is also included with information about playable states, wars, battles, units and buildings.

The Cossacks engine is based on Sprite graphics, which make it possible to represent thousands of units, as the calculation of a unit is relatively quick. This means that the number of units is theoretically only limited by the resources and practically by the performance of your own computer. In addition, a physics calculation is already implemented, which makes it possible to calculate floor trajectories and impacts physically correctly.

In November 2001 and October 2002, the two add-ons The Art of War and Back to War followed (although Back to War is a stand-alone expansion), which doubled the unit maximum again. These were also included in the anthology Cossacks Anthology published in October 2003 .

From Cossacks: The Art of War there is an editor with which you can create your own missions.

Cossacks: The Art of War

November 12, 2001

PC ( Windows )

Game mode

system advantages
preconditions

233 MHz CPU , 32 MB RAM , DirectX 8.0

medium

1 CD-ROM

language

German

Current version

1.30

Cossacks: The Art of War is an add-on developed by GSC Game World for the strategy game Cossacks: European Wars, which was released in 2000 and which also comes from GSC Game World.

Almost a year after the release of Cossacks: European Wars, GSC Game World as developer and Cdv Software Entertainment as German publisher brought out the first add-on for Cossacks: European Wars. Cossacks: The Art of War brought novel additions that were standard in later real-time strategy games from GSC Game World. The automatic occupation of the mines by farmers who built the mines, as well as log houses are z. B. two additions that can also be found in the real-time strategy game American Conquest (also from GSC Game World).

Campaigns & Gameplay

The add-on complements the Cossacks series with two new playable races. Bavaria and Denmark increase the total number of peoples to a total of 18 nations from Europe and North Africa . The 5 campaigns are limited to Saxony , Prussia , Austria , Algeria and Poland . In addition to the campaigns, there are six other single player missions.

Content of the campaigns:

1st campaign ( Saxony ): Turkish invasion; The Northern War

2. Campaign ( Prussia ): Seven Years War

3rd campaign ( Austria ): Thirty Years War , War of the Austrian Succession
4th Campaign ( Poland ): Cossack uprisings ; War with the Ottoman Empire ; War with Russia from 1654
5th Campaign ( Algeria ): Battle of pirates against Spain (16th century)

The gameplay has remained the same as in European Wars. At the same time the encyclopedia was expanded.

Cossacks: The Art of War is the first game in the Cossacks series to support native multiplayer and to provide an editor.

Reviews in gaming magazines

PC Action 01/02 77%

Cossacks: Back to War

September 20, 2002

PC ( Windows )

Game mode

system advantages
preconditions

233 MHz CPU , 32 MB RAM , DirectX 8.0

medium

1 CD-ROM

language

German

Current version

1.35

Cossacks: Back to War is an independently executable add-on (stand-alone) for Cossacks: European Wars developed by GSC Game World , which is again based on a historical background. No other Cossacks product is required.

In this version of the series, 20 nations between the 16th and 18th centuries can be commanded. In addition to the 18 nations of the predecessor, Switzerland and Hungary are now being added, bringing with them eight new units and 20 new buildings. In addition, a camel-riding Bedouin was added for the nations of Algeria and Turkey . In addition, 100 new single player missions have been added, but no new campaigns. With four levels of difficulty, up to 8000 units can be displayed on the battlefield. The height of the landscape also affects the range of the units. The Automated Championship System (ACS) was installed for the multiplayer function via the Internet . The VIZOR technology allows viewing of online games. A comprehensive map and scenario editor is also included with the game. A total of up to seven players can play at the same time and three different game modes are available.

The add-on also includes an extended, historically researched encyclopedia and includes all functions of the previous version. However, the list was expanded to include a few unit orders. So you can assign units as guard posts for buildings or have them patrol them. In addition, a random map generator was installed and the maximum map size was increased to 30 × 20 screens with a resolution of 1024 × 768 pixels. The artificial intelligence of the computer opponents has been improved and, for the first time, extensive alliances are possible with the same.

Modifications

Imperia M137

The Mod Imperia M137 extends Cossacks: Back to War by the 19th century , which adds further units to the game such as standard-bearers , guardsmen , sappers , lancers and buildings such as fortresses and imperial barracks (19th century barracks). In addition, Arab , Tatar , Western and Eastern villages are playable. However, not all nations get access to the 19th century through the Mod, so the Mod Piedmont and Venice “united” to Italy and Poland becomes the Duchy of Warsaw . The mod was developed by the Russian Cossacks Community, an English version and a German version followed, which was mainly translated by the First Cossacks Brigade (see source) and the German Cossacks Community.

The mod is not available in stores , but can only be downloaded from the First Cossacks Brigade and only works in conjunction with the original game Cossacks: Back to War.

Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars

April 4, 2005

PC ( Windows )

Game mode

system advantages
preconditions

1.5 GHz CPU , 512 MB RAM , DirectX 8.1

2 CD-ROMs

Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars was released in April 2005 and is the successor to the multi-award-winning real-time strategy games Cossacks and American Conquest . The game is based on the Napoleonic wars and makes the player in personal union the ruler and general of one of six great powers.

The sequel was developed on the basis of GSC's new 3D graphics engine , which enables a fluid combination of 2D and 3D graphics in the game. The new engine allows a (2-fold) zoom out from the battle and thus offers a much better overview. It enables up to 64,000 units to be displayed on a map. In addition, a 3D physics engine ensures realistic trajectories for all projectile types.

The player has six nations to choose from. Among them is Napoleonic France and its opponents, the great European powers England , Prussia , Austria and Russia . The Egyptians are also included in the game. With the limitation to six nations, the developers are breaking new ground. As a result, the nations should differ much more clearly than the nations in the predecessors Cossacks and American Conquest. Each nation has its own units (which differ not only in terms of the color of their uniforms and a few parameters), their own architecture, and their own line of development. However, ships have been completely removed from the game.

Reviews in gaming magazines

PC PowerPlay 05/05 63%

Cossacks II: Battle for Europe

June 2006

PC ( Windows )

Game mode

system advantages
preconditions

1.5 GHz CPU , 512 MB RAM , DirectX 8.1

1 CD-ROMs

Cossacks II: Battle for Europe was released in June 2006 and is the expansion to Cossacks: Napoleonic Wars . The expansion is stand-alone and therefore works without prior installation of the main game. It differs from Napoleonic Wars in the battle mode "Europe" . The map of Europe was expanded to include seven provinces and the three nations of Spain, the Duchy of Warsaw and the Confederation of the Rhine . Borodino , Waterloo and the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig were added as new battles .

Cossacks 3

20th September 2016

PC ( Windows , Mac OS , Linux )

Game mode

system advantages
preconditions

1.7 GHz CPU , 2 GB RAM , DirectX 9.0c

Current version

2.2.3.92.6008