In 2012, Flying Squirrel Entertainment, developer of "Mount & Blade: Warband - Napoleonic Wars," announced that it is working on a new project based on the American Civil War called Battle Cry of Freedom The project will feature an expansive 5x5km map, historically accurate weapons and uniforms, fully destructible environments, and support for 500 (!) online battles. online matches, and support for 500 (!) players, it seemed like a very ambitious project.

Note that the game has not actually been released yet, not even a release date has been set. The list exists strictly for followers to "wishlist the game and follow the page to be notified whenever new information becomes available. But the fact that it is there is remarkable in itself. Flying Squirrel has been posting developer blogs on its website fairly regularly since 2012, but the rollout of the Steam page is the biggest and most public step forward since the game's announcement.

Battle Cry of Freedom sounds much the same as it did in 2012, with multiple weapon and ammo types, realistic projectile physics, and player roles ranging from basic infantryman to engineer, surgeon, and musician: Phifer, drummer, bagler, and can even play "historically accurate tunes". It is not, however, a detailed military simulation: the FAQ describes it as "a mix of the Mount & Blade and Total War series" and says it aims to "combine a realistic, skill-based combat system with the enormity and tactics of an epic war."

However, there are no promised 500-player matches: instead, according to the Steam page, up to 300 people can face off directly "in a fully destructible and realistic Civil War combat environment," which would still make for some pretty fierce conflict.

Battle Cry of Freedom is currently slated for release sometime in 2022, and while we wait for that (hopefully), you can learn more about the game at fsegames.eu.