Forge of Freedom: The American Civil War 1861-1865 provides something for every strategy gamer. Control economic development, political development with governors and foreign nations, and use your military to win the bloodiest war in US history. Forge of Freedom: The American Civil War 1861-1865 combines grand strategy with battlefield tactics in one game, putting you in command at every level of the Civil War, from the mobilization of your nation’s resources to the control of individual brigades during the fury of battle.