First Bull Run—Command a regiment in the Union Army!

Originally published at: First Bull Run—Command a regiment in the Union Army! - Choice of Games LLC

Hosted Games has a new game for you to play!

Lead your troops in desperate, brutal Civil War combat!  Fight to end slavery and preserve the Union!  Earn promotion through impetuous bravery or tactical brilliance.  Stand in the battle line or fix bayonets!  

First Bull Run is 25% off until January 9th!

First Bull Run is an 88,000-word interactive novel by Dan Rasmussen. It’s entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

The fledgling Union Army is yet to meet the Confederates in a major battle.  The north expects a swift and decisive victory, but they are overconfident.  They will soon discover the brutal, drawn-out nature of industrial warfare.  

As a regimental commander in the Union Army, you must navigate a series of desperate decisions to keep your men alive and prevent military disaster.  Face down howling artillery shells, massive musket volleys, and vicious hand to hand combat with bayonets and sabers.  

Serve alongside the real officers and regiments who fought at First Bull Run in this historically accurate depiction of the battle.  Manage twelve real subordinate officers who live or die by your decisions!  Will you capture howitzers and turn them on the enemy, or storm their positions with infantry?  Will you deploy your companies as skirmishers or concentrate your forces for the attack?  

  • Customize your character with 30 portraits and 4 distinct backstories–professional soldier, political leader, German revolutionary, or Irish nationalist.
  • Personalize your regiment to be from any of 21 different states and territories, all chosen based on historical research.
  • Guide the army with a plan of attack. Support exhausted units, try to outflank the enemy, or charge up the middle.
  • Balance multiple priorities while under enemy fire. Face real consequences: mistakes will cost lives.
  • Keep track of your regiment with a detailed, highly interactive stats screen. Watch your battalions lose strength with each volley you receive, and see junior officers step up to fill the roles of killed or wounded superiors.
  • Attack aggressively or outthink your enemy. Tailor your strategy to the situation. Shoot morale-breaking volleys, fire at will for maximum damage to personnel, or fix bayonets and charge the enemy.
  • Select companies to deploy as skirmishers. Split your battalions and delegate command to a subordinate or concentrate your forces for greater strength.

Can you do what it takes to turn the tide of battle and keep your soldiers alive?

Dan developed this game using ChoiceScript, a simple programming language for writing multiple-choice interactive novels like these. Writing games with ChoiceScript is easy and fun, even for authors with no programming experience. Write your own game and Hosted Games will publish it for you, giving you a share of the revenue your game produces.

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Congratulations on the release @Dan_Rasmussen - a great way to kick off the new year!

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I’m so glad to see this out! This is one of the purest battle simulations I’ve seen written in ChoiceScript, staying close to the facts of history while still allowing the character’s actions to have an impact. Congratulations, @Dan_Rasmussen!

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Thanks all! I’m so excited to finally see all my work come to fruition!

Discord link: Sailing and soldiering - Dan Rasmussen story group

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This sound great and I’m really looking forward to giving it a whirl and testing my (lack of) tactical panache. Great work and congratulations @Dan_Rasmussen

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Great story. I really enjoyed it

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Congrats on the release! So much hard work finally coming to fruition. :tada:

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Congratulations, Dan, this looks fantastic! Good start to 2025 <3

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Welcome to the authorial ranks, comrade! Keep your powder and your pants dry.

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Congrats! I’ve been looking forward to this

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Looks incredible and right up my alley!

Any plans for a Steam release in the future by chance?

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Thank you, thank you, thank you!! :slight_smile:

@Safton I don’t think so because I didn’t reach the required word count for a steam release.

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@Dan_Rasmussen Just picked up my copy. Congratulations!

HG may rerelease the game on steam in future if it sells well enough, but this is something entirely at their discretion.

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Has anyone achieved the best army outcome possible? (Gold medal)

@Dan_Rasmussen Can you give me a hint to obtain the gold medal?

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Sure, I will message you!

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Most splendid.
Though there’s one thing that bugs me.

Getting captured at the Flank after rescuing Wilcox has him with you in the POW camp during the epilogue.
Does he get himself re-captured again somehow after we’re knocked out or is this for simplicity’s sake/random oversight ?

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Hey there, would you mind putting a spoiler blur on this? Don’t want to spoil anything for new players.

The implication is that he was recaptured. That’s what actually happened in real life. His men rescued him in similar fashion and he remained on the field with Captain Withington. The Confederates then captured tons of the scattered and lost Union soldiers, including Willcox and Withington.

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Ah, my bad.
Interesting stuff.

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Congratulations :confetti_ball:, this is such a great read :books:

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Congratulations! :partying_face: :tada: :sparkles:

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