CDV today announced plans to host a competition, urging European gamers to unite in a battle to overthrow their American counterparts.<br><br>The American Conquest War of Independence – sponsored in part by Gainward – will run on both sides of the Atlantic between February 14th and May 15th of 2003. Over 4,000 players are expected to enter worldwide, making this one of the biggest organised knockout tournaments around. <br><br>The tournament will be conducted via Internet-based games initially, until the field is whittled down to the best 16 players. At this point, the competition becomes serious, as these great players will be invited to London to compete in a gruelling final stage that will unearth the best player in Europe. <br><br>A similar tournament will run concurrently in America – and once the best player over there has been declared, it's time for the two continents to go head to head in a glamorous Los Angeles final. <br><br>The European will win an expenses-paid three-day trip to LA in May. But this glamorous prize will be nothing compared to the real trophy – to be victor in Independence Day II, proving once and for all that the initial victory was nothing more than a lucky fluke. The winner of the final itself will claim an astonishing array of prizes, worth $10 000. <br><br>"This event will be see all CDV territories working together to find the undisputed strategy game king of the world," says Terry Malham, president, CDV Software Entertainment UK. "It's the most ambitious tournament we've ever organised and the prize will enable the winner not just to soak up the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles, but, hopefully, humiliate an American in the process. It's time we restored part of the Empire."<br><br>For more details head on over to: <a href=http://www.war-of-independence.com/><b>www.war-of-independence.com/</b></a>.<br><br>American Conquest is the latest strategy title from the makers of Cossacks; portraying 300 years of historical conflict, from the moment Columbus arrived in Newfoundland in 1492, to the War and Declaration of Independence in 1776. For the first time in a strategy title, up to 32,000 units can be displayed, making for one of the most realistic and sophisticated representations of war ever seen in a videogame.<br><br>American Conquest is due for release on February 14th; we’ll have a review very soon.<br>