Recent reviews by the_rock0123

Bought from steam, installed on Windows 11 and loaded up. Loads up in a completely unreadable tiny window. Tried to do some stuff to get it work full screen but it won't. Very frustrating so got a refund.

Fantasy General came out in 1996, a golden formative era for PC strategy games being made for the masses of kids. This was a golden era for fantasy wargaming in general: MB Games Battlemasters being released 1992, and Games Workshop 5th Edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battles being released 1996, following up on the wildly popular 4th Edition. FG was probably the first PC game to capture the excitement of turn based fantasy battles wargaming on PC, and modelled itself on the hugely successful Panzer General (WW2 wargame). At the time of release FG was a resounding success and critically acclaimed as a 3<5 Star game, and ratings 70%-89% by contemporary critics. My rating is at the higher end of these scales and the fact the rating still holds 26 years later is a testament to the games designers (well before patching was possible – they released a GREAT game out of the box, and one that’s simple, stable and does the job it was designed to do whether in 1996 or 2022). There are no stability or performance issues on the latest Windows version, the game runs perfect straight from install into a DOS Box environment.

If you’ve not played this game before, give it a go. If you’ve already played it, pick it up again. The game features a choice of 4 heroes and you start with a very limited army on simple scenario maps. Over time you’ll need to fight scenarios across 6 continents to face the final battle against the Shadowlord’s main army. Every single game is different as the continents offer different routes to take, so the amount of possibilities is practically limitless. Depending on what scenarios you pick will dictate what heroes you meet to join your army, which artefacts are found, how much experience you earn, and so forth. For those who don’t like surprise there’s still excellent walk throughs of each island scenario choice on the internet. FG2 does not represent such a vast choice of scenarios. The FG scenarios themselves are usually quite similar: take a ‘operational’ view point and send out units of troops to capture towns, maybe a military fortress, while scouting out for shrines and other such locations which may contain gold, artefacts, or possibly a nasty surprise encounter!

While partaking in battles with the enemy be sure to use the right troops against the right troop type, and take note of unit special abilities. Archers are weak but in support can auto fire from one hex behind a unit being attacked. Siege supports a building attack in a similar way. When upgraded, heavy infantry can use a ‘spell’ to Force March two extra spaces. Light Cavalry can use ‘Eagle Eye’ spell to see vast distances. And so forth… Reading online strategy guides to understand each troop type is well worth it, as is a read of the manual. Before attacking, an indication of the result will appear, but it’s up to you whether to go for the attack or not, with results randomised around that indication. Losses result in the units Health number being marked down by one for each loss. Some units are a single entity (i.e. Heroes, Spell Casters), where as other units fight as a block (Infantry, Cavalry, etc). Some losses are considered as ‘Dead’ and others are ‘Wounded’ (which the single entities will always be, until their last life is gone in which case they die). Between turns you can use ‘rest’ instead of moving and fighting, to heal up the wounded, so long as you’re not adjacent to an enemy unit. Dead can’t be ‘rested’ though, so the unit doesn’t go back to original strength unless they survive the scenario map. The scenario ends when all mandatory objectives have been met (by either side) – these are marked with a flag, or when there’s no mandatory objectives in the scenario one side offers surrender due to losses. Note that if you lose a scenario, that’s the end of the entire game. You MUST win every scenario to proceed in the game. Watch out for leaving Objective towns undefended as if the enemy sneak just one unit up to your last town, that is the end of your game, regardless of your Army strength (yes, this happened to me!).
Spread throughout the huge Campaign are a number of other mission types too (which I think adds greater variety than FG2). A few missions are defensive. One mission you have a small contingent of your Army washed up and spread throughout an island in clusters. One mission contains two huge armies on a small open map which gives the feel of a traditional Warhammer wargame across open fields (I really enjoyed that scenario and wished they did more like it!).

As a slight draw back, the missions in the mid < end game can drag on for a bit and feel very similar, so I look for shorter scenarios. But the game really redeems itself in the final two missions where the difficulty goes from medium to quite difficult (expect a lot of your expert troops to start being killed off towards the end to make it a brutal final few scenarios). You will also find that the first few islands are great for building up experience and 5 * units. But then later maps your troops will start taking more losses than they inflict, thus losing that 5 * status. So I went from a elite selection of flying units to a bunch of raw dragon units in the last mission – brutal to watch. If playing again I would be very careful against ‘hasty attacks’ that would win me the battle but at a very high price, as only attacking when odds are strongly in favour can you build AND preserve the Unit Experience rating.

The other thing that makes this game is the brilliant soundtrack. Listen to it on YouTube if you haven’t heard it; to me it’s a 10/10 soundtrack, up there with the best of PC games.
The graphics are clear, simple and do the job, displaying the 100’s of Unit types possible to buy / fight clearly. It’s 1996 graphics, but they still work well, and they display on all PC’s. The issue with FG2 is they go into all this graphical overkill at the expense of the basic game of 10’s of scenarios and 100’s of possible campaign paths, for a more linear campaign in FG2. Also they moved towards a Civilization type interface / Units, where as Fantasy General is all about the flat map, unit counters, and tracking kills via numbers (not health bars you see in FG2!). People might have a slight issue on the last few maps trying to make out the fast movement road networks, try not to get it confused with the rivers too. It’s possible, but you have to look closely. If it was designed today I would make terrain more clear – it doesn’t need to be 3D but using a variety of colours would help.

The battles themselves are time limited (as per most war games), unlike FG2 which is not time limited.

Between battles you need to Buy troops (up to your Army Size limit), Upgrade troops (where you’ve researched new technology), and allocate next battles Gold earnings to either Technology Research or for general Army spend. There’s tons of troops to research across both mortal races and mechanical types (when unlocked by scenarios). You don’t have to be a ‘human’ Army though, some heroes are beast armies. This makes for great re-playability.
Overall it’ll take you about 60-70 hours to complete the game, so there’s huge value here. But that’s just with one Hero taking a very unique path. When you consider there’s 4 heroes and 100’s of possible paths per hero, you can see the games value is endless.

As a huge fan of hex and counter wargames, and especially fantasy battle wargames, this is my go-to game that I come back to time and time again. It always entertains and is a fun, casual yet strategic wargame. Huge nostalgia, but enough here to keep new generations entertained with classic gameplay. My rating is 9/10 (90%): Must Buy for Strategy Wargamers as a staple in their collection. If you don’t like it, you haven’t lost much at this price. The price is a bargain.

As with many other negative reviews, I can't play this game on my laptop. Despite trying numerous settings and screen resolutions, nothing I do forces the game to load up correctly and at least 25% of the screen content is 'off screen', making this game unplayable on my machine. These old games just sometimes aren't up to the job on modern PC's. The original Railroad Tycoon is a 10/10 game but even that is no longer playable on many machines. I was hoping this version on Steam would at least be playable, but it's not. Highly disappointing. My rating for this game 0/10 : couldn't get the game to load right, shouldn't have to mess about with so many attempts at options and it still not work right. Getting a refund from Steam.

I had to refund this game before the 2 hour playtime was up. It was a shame as the setting and game looks good, but the key reason was that the games UI is not intuitive to me and the enemy turn got 'stuck' in an Air phase, which I heard had happened to other games too. Either it was genuinely stuck (a bug) or it wasn't clear to me at all how to pass through to the next phase. For the little game I did get in before then I didn't feel massively engaged in the combat, scenario or cards presented and felt I was pushing counters around, in a very limited fashion, without purpose and being forced to select and play cards. This is my first go at this series of games, I might try some of the better developed and reviewed ones, but this one just didn't hit me as having solid gameplay or tested design, so regretfully, it's a pass. I also note the positive reviews have 4.5 hrs max playtime as of today, so this doesn't feel like a game people have been massively immersed in yet. It needs more play testing, a better in game tutorial for players new to the series like me and a more intuitive interface/AI turn sequence.

Austerlitz allows you to replay the battle of Dec 2nd 1805 between Napoleon I and Alexander I from the viewpoint of the two commanders. <75,000 French troops v <95,000 Russian and Austrian, battling over a map of 104 sq miles. This game is CERTAINLY NOT RECOMMENDED FOR MOST GAMERS, if you consider yourself a casual gamer. Simply because the interface is old and there’s tremendous amounts of off-PC record keeping and documents to view (this game was made before interfaces could keep the type of data required).

I DO HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS GAME TO GROGNARDS!

What attracted me to this game was the promise of commanding a huge battle from the viewpoint of the Commander-In-Chief. I’m wondering why no modern game has replicated this idea for pre-radio wargames? This is where a PC comes into its own v tabletop or indeed turn based PC games which give a God like control with immediate response by the units, and info on likely casualties. This is not realistic, and Austerlitz better portrays a realistic simulation for a individual Commander.

I was put off by the graphics, however, I am now used to them and appreciate their style for what they are. They remind me of a tabletop war game, a few houses to represent towns, a few trees here and there, hills, green grass, etc. It would be wrong to assume the units are block wargame units. They are more like miniatures which can change formation in accordance with orders. I was surprised mid battle to see a unit in Square formation and Line. And (the only animation in this game) the Artillery shooting. So, the units ARE dynamic. They’ll also change if they are disordered.

From the Store Game Page via a link is the Manual PLUS the Map which is ESSENTIAL for this game. Here lies the first issue with the interface, with no map available in game, you need to know all the town names and features to issue orders, you MUST physically print out the map. The map is good and gives the position of the forces as they start the battle. As troops move around, I find it difficult to track them, so I will create counters for each corps and track them on the map. The first play through is VERY confusing (not least if trying without the map or having read the manual). As there is ZERO in game tutorial. A multitude of initial settings will alter how the game plays for you. I initially played the game with view all messages but found this gave me far too much noise/detail. A more Operational approach is required, to command so many men over such a huge map. Therefore, I now opt to avoid all messages apart from those to and from myself. For a realistic game I also opted to allow viewpoint from only Napoleon. Had I selected the option to allow a viewpoint from anywhere on the battlefield, I could have typed the command “VIEW NORTH FROM (xlocation)” etc. Playing as Commander, you can choose “LOOK NORTH” etc, to change your personal viewpoint. The important thing is to compare the features you see on the screen with your map, to work out exactly who’s where and what’s where. If you click the mouse on the screen, it will tell you what the feature is or what the unit is.

The next extremely important thing you need to print is the Order Of Battle for both sides, APPENDIX A2 in manual. This is ESSENTIAL (no in game OOB). The game is detailed enough that when you click units it might say “It appears to be a line infantry battalion of Rivaud” (of which, Rivaud commands 6 batallions). As commander, you can NOT command Rivaud (as many other wargames WOULD allow). It is the I Army Corps Commander Bernadotte who issues orders to Rivaud, who then in turn issues to his batallions. What you can do is issue general orders to Bernadotte OR specific orders. i.e. “BERNADOTTE MOVE TO (x location)” (to move a Corps, or at least, Bernadotte to decide what part of his Corps to move) or “BERNADOTTE ORDER RIVAUD TO ATTACK THE ENEMY 1 MILE SOUTH OF (x location)”, if you want him to issue a command to a specific part of his Corps. IF that order gets relayed to Rivaud (after half hour<hours, depending on how quick the dispatch riders operate), then Rivaud would choose which of his individual batallions to use for the attack, in turn, issuing orders to them. You can see how orders therefore get delayed over many hours and can change due to commander initiative and what’s happening on the battlefield in real time from THEIR viewpoint. Note also, the detail of the commands you can give in this game, so you can say “FORM A DEFENSIVE LINE BETWEEN (x and y)”, “SHELL 1 MILE NORTH OF (x LOCATION) FOR 1 HOUR”, or “AT 8.45AM START SHELLING (X LOCATION)”. I use primarily the main ones: “MOVE TO” “ATTACK” and “GIVE SUPPORT TO” (if you want one corps to support another).

The next record I keep is the orders given (so I don't issue conflicting orders) and the information recieved. Use “ALL CORPS SEND ME YOUR BATTLE REPORT” to enable receipt of locations of your Corps and losses. The Commanders may ignore your commands, if it conflicts with what is happening on the ground from their point of view, and may send messages back “x BATTALION NEEDS ARTILLERY SUPPORT” or “I AM UNABLE TO MAINTAIN A DEFENSIVE LINE AND HAVE ORDERED A RETREAT” or “x HAS CAPTURED y TOWN”.

Each turn represents 15 mins of battle and the battle is between 7am and 5pm, 40 turns. In future I will try a table listing the Corps Commanders as a heading, and beneath their column, a history of orders given. This will make for easier reading and I can record any responses I get back from Commanders. In gameplay terms, what happens every 15 minutes, is the static screen you see reloads to show a current position as at a point in time (hour, 1/4 past, etc). I use the command SAVE to save the game at the end of the turn and then POINTS to show a Victory Points tally. Fortunately, the game save feature does work!

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this game and its unique. I’ve learnt history about the battle and it feels like a tabletop wargame I’d love to play. If you can get over how you give commands, and the graphics, and the non-existent sound/music, once you’re in the game and run a few turns, it becomes a highly addictive Just One More Turn.

A key gripe I have is it gives messages which you barely have time to read, then goes straight onto the next message. So for the data coming back you have to read in 4/5 seconds before it flicks off. Many times I’ve missed key information because the messages are moving too fast.

Also, don’t be put off by the first 4 turns of the game. It will seem as though nothing is happening and the map doesn’t change. But slow and sure after the first 1 hour of battle you WILL see the troops move and you will start to see the enemy. That’s when it becomes exciting. Battling over features, watching what your Corps Commanders are doing, wondering how the battle is going where you can’t see.

The final gripe I have about this game, is it doesn’t tell you how to earn Victory Points or what your objectives are. I can only assume crush the enemy! It was a VERY tight game that I played, slight adv. early morning, big adv. by noon, but mid afternoon a collapse and many of my Corps retreated. After 10 hrs of game, Napoleon 246v364 VP was the final tally. My losses 24k v 19k. Compare with historical result: 9k v 36k. I WILL play this game again, it’s GOOD. Overall, for a wargamer, this is a very strong 7/10 (70%) game, Must Buy if you like Napoleonic AND manual record keeping as a commander AND tabletop wargaming style AND old style interface/manual/map reading, issuing commands via strict typing not mouse interface (though the game accepts short commands, i.e. “BES GIVE SUPPORT TO BERN”, knows “Bessieres” and “Bernadotte”). For other players, I STRONGLY recommend you AVOID as you will not get any enjoyment from this if you don’t print the map, order of battle, appreciate Napoleonic command, wargaming techniques etc and also don’t like the old graphics.

I’d been put off buying the Fantasy General II game as my laptop did not meet the minimum specs so this Prologue game was an excellent way to try out the game for free to see if it’s playable on my laptop. This raises the first issue I have with this game, how is it that what should be a simple game, such as Fantasy General II, can have such high minimum spec requirements as to require a better machine than the likes of the Civilization franchise, Crusader Kings II and many other top war games? It’s not the developers fault (my machine spec), but to cut off 1 in 4 players from a niche game, doesn’t make sense. As it is, I set all the graphics options to their lowest and the game plays fine on my laptop (without meeting minimum specs) albeit running very hot (not ideal, for this type of basic hex game)!

For a Prologue/demo there is a decent enough variety of scenarios and options – 3 heroes, 4 scenario campaign, procedural generation map options. So, in fairness to the developers, you get a game you can play for a good 10 hours+ for free, which is great for turn based tactics fans.

Steam really do need a neutral option for reviews, as that’s how I rate this game. It reminds me of going to a restaurant with my friends, and them asking me how the meal is: “it’s adequate”. Now, would the restaurant owner be happy with an “adequate” rating or would they want it to be “excellent”? So adequate, turns into a “negative” for me.

The trouble with taking such a classic game is players of the original game know how great it was, it’s legendary in wargaming terms. Do players who play this game really think this will become a legendary game that players will remember fondly two decades hence? Will this inspire a new group of school kids memories? I personally doubt it. They’re far more likely to remember games such as Warhammer Total War or Crusader Kings, I would suggest. This is a REAL shame, as the franchise had the opportunity to do something GREAT.

For the game itself, it does indeed play like a Civilization clone in the tactics part, mixed up with some Total War interface elements for the units, lacking the empire building strategic options. On this basis alone, the price for the game, is far too high. Especially when you see the pricing for the DLC bundles, when compared to a game such as Civilization pricing. Fantasy General has been turned into a boring, generic, hex based fantasy game, no different from many other offerings in the genre, which are far cheaper and more exciting. It’s not a "BAD" game, it’s just, “OK”. All the basic features are there which you’d expect: different types of units, heroes levelling up, unique unit characteristics, exploring places for gold/artefacts, equipping artefacts, etc. But one strategy is the same for all - archers behind, infantry up front, move as one force. Doesn't appear to be time limits (at least in this game). Explore at will and rinse the map of resources (it even tells you how much resource is left to exploit). This allows you to play a very defensive (and boring) style of attack. It offers nothing different to the latest Civilization game in terms of wargame style. The story isn’t THAT inspiring. The artwork is decent enough. The whole thing feels a bit 'over-engineered' for what it is (and hence you need a fairly high spec machine to play this vs the type of game this is and who it would appeal to). Most of all, the game has lost its CHARACTER, which made it so legendary among a legion of fans.

What’s missing is the simplicity of design, the beautiful box artwork, the STYLE of gameplay Fantasy General was. A flat map where you can see what units you have. A really interesting array of units. Simple interface. Most of all the beautiful (but not over-engineered) art and story, combined with what must be one of the best sound tracks for a game ever (and there were some back in the day – think Age of Wonders, Civilization 2 – perhaps all helped to become legendary because of the soundtrack). This game actually has some unfortunate sounds – particularly with the shrieking women, very annoying! I defy anyone who played Fantasy General not to find the sound track on YouTube, and be taken back to that time. In 20 years hence, I suggest, this game will NOT have the same legendary status. In terms of what Fantasy General is, it’s the same as Panzer General, it’s the "numbered" units to show health that made the games what they were. We’ve now lost that in favour of a “bar” system, which again, just makes it a generic fantasy game and Civilization clone.

I’ll keep playing the Prologue to try for the achievements, and I may pick up the main game if and when it’s on a deep sale, but, I can’t recommend Fantasy General 2 at the asking price, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s a good opportunity missed, and a destruction of the Intellectual Property. My rating 5/10 (50%). Avoid - unless you want a generic fantasy game that may turn boring after a while, or it’s on a deep sale. Try this prologue, and you will know whether you want the game or not, as it gives you a very good shot at seeing how the game plays. If this gets turned into a DLC torrent, it’s not the way to go for this type of game - fan rip off, taking advantage of the goodwill of players of a legendary game.

I wanted to like this game as I'm the ideal target market for this game having played and enjoyed trading adventure games all my life. Sadly upon loading up the game there were a few issues I had which made me refund this product after a short time of playing. Firstly the graphics are extremely block style and simple, which usually I don't mind, but visually I find this game difficult to look at and play with for a long period. The real deal breaker for me was how clunky and slow the game moved on my particular laptop. I have a fairly basic laptop but should meet the minimum requirements for this type of game and according to the store, but when the cart was moving along the road it was extremely jerky and hence I couldn't stand watching this game and had to refund it. My personal preference for this type of game is Merchants of Kaidan which looks FAR better, has great lore and quests, is challenging enough and interesting in its developing gameplay. This game feels bland in comparison. My rating is therefore only 2/10 - avoid! Another game that's cheap for a reason.

I bought this game as a fan of adventure games, trading games and turn based combat. I also enjoy games with unique and beautiful artwork. This game did not disappoint me by any means. A big shout out to the store, second video. It has to be one of the best advertisements for a game I’ve ever seen on Steam and definitely encouraged me to buy the game as looked a great adventure! I did not know anything of Moby ♥♥♥♥ since before this game but it raised my interest in learning the history behind whaling and also the fiction of Moby ♥♥♥♥ (I was on YouTube videos for quite a while, watching some very interesting documentaries!). Another big shout out for the soundtrack in this game, it’s very similar to the second video in the store with sea shanty’s at various points in the game, very unique and enjoyable to listen to, to provide a highly immersive experience.

First impressions of the game are it’s a brutal Iron Man game. Once you’ve lost your life, it’s game over. And for a novice this is difficult. There’s a lot of trial and error and will be agony if you lose your life after many hours of gameplay (why some of my friends quit the game before completion, as you can lose the motivation to do it all over again, if death comes half way). The game itself gave me 30 hours of game play to achieve all but a few achievements and I enjoyed the vast majority of this playtime, so it’s a good value game, especially if you can get it on a sale. I would pay £15 for this game, so £13.99 base price is very fair and in a sale it’s a steal.

The gameplay focuses on you as the Captain, recruiting crew members according to your ‘Prestige’. Prestige is earnt through completing missions and side quests. On your travels random events will appear which could provide a good or bad outcome, things like visiting families, gambling, talking with other Captains, treasure hunting, kill big beasts, find missing ships, etc., etc. The game could benefit from a little more variety as some of the answers are the same each time, once you know the outcomes. But, there’s a decent enough range of situations to keep it interesting, especially for a new player. The second mechanic is to Hunt and this will generate food and resources which can be sold in towns (of varying size and quality), and used to feed your crew. It’s important on your ship you carry enough Food, Water and Ale else health and morale will quickly drop and people will die. You also need to keep your wits about you as you’re not alone in the World and face human enemies (Pirates, etc.) and fearsome sea beasts. You start understanding nothing of the World and it's your job to identify new whaling areas and lanes.

When you do get to fight or hunt, the mechanics can be tricky to learn and master at first. It’s based on a random die roll which grants each character (max 3 crew per boat, max 3 boats - IF you have a big enough ship) a Action which that crew member can complete in that turn (or maybe No Action). You can equip objects which if it lands on that object, you can use the ‘special ability’ of that object. Random events also occur each round which impact on the battle – you’re notified of these in the top right of the battle screen. Each character specialises in things such as: Hunting, Medic, Crafts, Sailing. You need to use the Craftsmen to enable re-rolls, if getting a unfavourable roll on your Hunters. And when health drops, use the Medic to heal. At least, that’s how I did it. A Sailor will allow a defensive card play, but that was not my style.

When back on the ship each character has to be assigned a role – Sailing, Look Out, Sick Bay, Cooking, etc. Choose the crew with the best skills and objects for the right role, to be successful. Watch out not to place the best men on the look out, lest they fall and die! Your ship starts as a very poor ship, and you need to travel from town to town to upgrade the compartments on the ship, and ultimately earn enough money to replace your ship (there’s a variety of bigger and better ships to aspire to). The ship can ‘level up’ to a maximum size and improvements as the game progresses.

The main campaign has around 10 missions, but there are plenty of side quests to do and open World opportunities. You won't be able to progress through the main campaign successfully, unless you take time to Level Up your crew and ship at a steady pace.

I thoroughly enjoyed this game and you will too if you enjoy Iron Man adventures, trading resources and a rich story telling, backed up by wonderful artwork to illustrate the story and a fantastic sound track and audio for the characters. I will definitely buy the expansion to enjoy it and support the developers. Huge thumbs up to the developers for making this highly enjoyable and unique game, AND pricing it fairly (many bigger developers no longer do this! So it’s noted well by players when prices are fair). Thank you! My rating for the game is 7/10 (70%). Would be higher with a bit more variety of events, more ports and maybe a save mode for novice players.

A definite thumbs up positive review from me - writing this to encourage the developer to continue with the concept. This is a good little turn based tactics game where air hockey meets snooker meets football meets pinball. You can customise the game to have different number of players, balls, barriers, turns etc. so this make the game customizable to your style of play. There is a Tournament mode where you can choose how many teams to play against.

The concept of the game is simple enough, pull back a player and 'flick' them with the aim of first breaking the defensive barrier and secondly to put the ball into the end goal (at which point the barrier re-creates). If you enjoy games like Air Hockey at arcades, you'll love this game as it's been brought onto the PC!

The characters themselves are pretty charming and the design is nice.

A definite good game for a time filler. With a bit of development this game could be monetized, as people would pay a few pounds to enjoy this casual game and support this development. My recommendations would be: a better tutorial and in game help (different players have different 'special abilities' but it's not clear what these are), a little bit more balance (default settings are tough, but if you put on maximum settings for everything I tend to win every time) - perhaps making the pitch larger would help or be an option? Obviously multiplayer would be ideal for a game like this. Adding Steam Achievements and Trading Cards would make a game like this a Buy for a few pounds.

My rating: 6.5/10 (65%). A great little casual time filler game and it's FREE! So enjoy and leave a positive review to support the developer. I've played this for nearly 3 hours since release and enjoyed all the games.

I bought Commander The Great War in the 2019 Steam Winter Sale and although published in November 2012 the game more than holds its appeal to a grognard wargamer. What appealed to me is I wanted a WW1 wargame (surprisingly few and far between, at least in comparison to its WW2 counterpart), and I also enjoy Panzer General series, of which this seemed loosely based. Combined with the 77% positive reviews, it’s enough to take a second glance and worthy of a few pounds of spend in a sale!

The game eases you into the interface with a limited tutorial to show you many of the, fairly basic, features (once you get the hang of it, despite its complex look). By default the game has the units drawn onto the map, but after a few play throughs it was just more easy for me to switch to the more traditional NATO counter style. Thumbs up to the games design for offering the option!

The first of many trial games, I went really wrong, despite playing many wargames in the past and understanding a lot of wargaming concepts. I’m not usually into guides, however, the guide “Trench Warfare For Beginners” is a must read (if you want to shortcut the learning process). Also I had to read the ‘fairly simple’ manual (at least for a wargame) to understand some of the basic concepts – how do I assign / earn leaders, how do I upgrade, why does production capacity drop once my population figures drop, etc.

After all this, I then ‘got’ the game and could start enjoying it. It’s definitely very similar to games like Panzer General. This is both a positive and negative. It’s fun playing the entire campaign, I get to learn the units fairly easily – their strengths and weaknesses, it has the feel of a huge World War taking place. However, I have every sympathy with the negative reviews: The guide highlights the flaw of the AI system. Once you know the AI weaknesses, it’s easy to ‘beat the system’. This is the problem with the game (and Panzer General) – you’re effectively playing a puzzle game as much as a war simulation. I never used to be a huge fan of AGEOD games; but have since come to appreciate them better for their historical accuracy, and games like War In The West and War In The East. What do I mean by this? This game is abstract in that all forces feel the same (indeed you produce the same unit types for each nation). I have no idea how many men each unit represents as it’s a simple ‘number’ out of 10, and each turn you can simply ‘repair’ 8 into 10 (if you move but don’t fight), or 7 into 10 (if you don’t move). I’ve come to appreciate that historical accuracy is something I like (number of men, named units, named commanders). In The Art of War, the general, is half the battle won. Next to terrain and supply. AGEOD just ‘gets this’ better, as a serious wargaming system. Supply and weather is handled very simply in this game, as is commanders – you have to ‘earn’ commanders by making a set number of kills, and then deploy them where you see fit, for added bonuses to units in their highlighted range. There’s a cap on how many commanders you can earn. Different commanders are earned for different force types – i.e. infantry, air, sea…

Overall, the game is fun, as a puzzle game, and as a learning tool. Throughout the game it does show via ‘news articles’ historic events, and events do happen that represent WW1, new countries join the war depending on how each side is doing – diplomacy is handled by the AI in this game, and troops appear in locations they would historically (British expeditionary forces, Canadian troops, New Zealand troops etc). This is a good game if you just want to throw a few counters around a large scale map, not caring too much about historical accuracy (at least in the sense Gary Grigsby would). I also agree with a negative comment in another review, whereby the ‘see next unmoved unit’ button is not very good – as it cycles through 10’s and 10’s of city guard units, which you can’t put on sleep mode, and these units will have zero impact in the game itself (short of sapping your resources) – they literally just sit there all game and do nothing, some over the other side of the atlantic! In this game, human resource is fairly important (although only for Serbia – as Britain, France and Russia I had almost unlimited supplies without any issue, and I kept pumping out loads of new units through the production queue and reinforcing every turn – so that aspect of the game didn’t really affect me). Research is fairly simple and automatic, all you need to do is assign focus points, and then when developed, use the ‘upgrade’ button to upgrade troops on the map.

On balance, I definitely had fun with this game (else I wouldn’t have bothered to complete a campaign). And I got it in a sale for only a few pounds (on a huge discount). Because it’s a puzzle game, and now a fairly aged release, I wouldn’t pay the full store price. But on sale it’s a bargain! Somewhere between £4 and £10 for this would be a very good buy for a grognard wargamer, casual wargamer or someone interested in a WW1 simulation and wants to pass the hours. The complete campaign as Entente Allies took me about 20 hours, I finished the campaign with victory only a third of the way through the war (another issue with this game – once you ‘get the game’ it becomes easier to produce the result of the war as everyone ‘thought’ it would be in WW1 – you supercharge the war in terms of time to completion). I haven’t yet tried the German side so I will try that next – maybe will be more of a challenge? Certainly a challenge from a different perspective! I had a lot of fun in the game, generally a turn or two a day over the space of 2/3 months.

While the game has a number of flaws for a grognard, some quite significant (the AI I’m looking at), it doesn’t detract from an overall, fun, Panzer General like experience, so my rating is a solid 7/10 – 70%. Buy when this is on sale if you’re a wargamer who’s interested in WW1, try reading the manual and guide first, and then I think you’ll have fun with the system for a playthrough (though I’m not certain I’d pick it up again any time soon, except to play the other side). I think you’ll get a good 30-50+ fun hours out of this, which if bought sub £10 is cheap gaming.