Hannibal: Rome and Carthage in the Second Punic War is a new and innovative turn-based strategy game that puts you in command of the Carthaginian military during a period of total war over land and sea with the young Roman Republic. With this military juggernaut of the ancient world at your disposal, you will vie for control over Italy, Carthage, Spain and the Mediterranean Sea using a combination of strategic political maneuvering and sheer tactical skill both on land and sea. Play consists of two layers; the first is a strategic layer where you must prudently steer your forces to the destruction of Rome’s army and the ultimate destruction of the Republic and city itself. At your disposal are a variety of unit types and historical commanders from which to form your armies. On the tactical scale, when meeting the enemy in battle, skilled leadership and a knack for war come into play as you use a simple but engaging battle system to best your opponents.
Hey Diablo! Just wondering, have you bought this game yet?
Nope I played the demo though and my whole point is the game is still not worth $40. It's a $19.99 game at best. Single player, can only play one side and there's really no variance as it's just a small area of the entire world at that time. Lot's of things were going on in those regions and many things could have happened to change that history it just happens there was only one that played out.
Those that think it's worth $40 more fun to yah, I and others though disagree. I like to get "lots" of value for my money and I just don't see it here. There's too many other games that offer a lot more for even less as I've stated (even newly released games). Plus whether it's a few weeks or even a few months price droppings of computer games is more common than ever now after the initial release and that's a fact. It wasn't even 6 months after CMSF and Victoria were released that their lowest prices were seen and HOI III even sooner. The majority of mainstream games now drop way down in price in less than a year and many in less than 6 months. All one has to do is just keep an eye on STEAM or D2D or GAMERSGATE and find them easily. Even Gogamer.com now as well.
Even HPS games can all be had for $29.95 which when brand new retail for $49.95 at their main site. So don't give me games don't go down in price upon release.
Matrixgames appears to be the only one that sticks to their prices of their old games like glue and then price gorge some of the new ones out of sales range for a lot of their customers or would be customers. Thier latest ones being BftB and now this one. I can hardly wait to see the price of Gary Grigsbys War in the East and World in Flames if it ever gets finished.
X3:Universe of games rules them all!! Xtra coming soon X3:REBIRTH 4th qtr 2011 YAY!
This discussion is pretty useless, as always. Some people will always find the prices of games too high (some would probably complain even if the developers gave them money to play their games), and some will happily pay whatever the companies ask for their products. And if somebody has to count every dollar in order to be able to purchase one game, then maybe he has bigger problems with his personal economy and needs to start prioritizing things. Video games shouldn't be top priority then. But that's just my opinion, like everything else in this post.
However, this game is a real gem and definitely worth more than 20 bucks. It's been ages since I enjoyed a wargame as much as I enjoy Hannibal.
"But here we are in a chamber pot, about to be shitted upon."
-French General Auguste Ducrot before the Battle of Sedan, September 1870
This discussion is definitely not useless. Matrix needs feedback on how their customers feel about their pricing. I am pretty much the exact target market for this game. I own roughly 8 of Matrix's games. Regarding Hannibal, I love the period, the gameplay, and have more than enough disposable income. I love simple strategic games with complex choices but low counter density. I've played the board game Hannibal: Rome v Carthage many many times and have a collection of 70 board and wargames. This game is a low production value (though certainly not ugly) port of a 30 year old somewhat simplistic board game in which you can only play one of the sides. I think Matrix is merely pricing this based on the idea that this is a niche game and that niche gamers will pay through the nose to play it. How much do you think the development costs for this game were? Christ, the rule set was already created for them and the algorithms for battle aren't exactly complex. I can see myself enjoying a game or two, but how many ways can Hannibal really invade Italy? I'd consider the game at $30, definitely buy it at $25, but consider it an insult at $40.
Feedback is always valuable, but obviously we are in some disagreement here. We're also in the target audience ourselves and we feel the price is quite fair on its own for the quality of the game and the amount of gameplay. This is clearly intended for wargamers who like the ancient period, prefer games that are not too complex or lengthy but have deep strategy and primarily play against the AI. For that audience, we feel this game is an excellent value and one of the strongest releases for that audience in a long while.
If you disagree with the pricing, there's no need to imagine any insult. We've provided a very full featured demo and there will eventually be a sale for this title as well, at which time those who are on the fence because of the price will be able to pick it up at a lower price point. In the meantime, I think many other folks are finding it to be a pretty good bang for the buck.
I whole-heartedly concur. $40 doesn't break the bank, stop whinging please. Hannibal is shaping up to be my game of the year as judged by amount of time spent playing, thinking, and importantly for me ANTICIPATING playing. Lord knows I have sunk an impressive amount of time in more fully featured, well researched, moddable, exhaustive simulations on any number of topics (no offense to a myriad of other matrix titles). However my general mood when double clicking on one of the icons is "sigh...". It is often more work than pleasure, and I constantly have to push myself onwards to keep playing! Needless to say those titles often gather dust very quickly.
Hannibal truly hits the sweet spot, great depth, challenging AI, and it rewards players with layered play but doesn't over-burden them with complexity for its own sake.
Actually has great replayability as I have to play over and over again as I can't win. [:D] One tough AI and every turn a nail biter. Most excellent $40 I have spent in a long time. Every restart presents a different situation in my experience and no two games I have had my arse handed to me have been the same.
I'd like to invite you (Joseph_Nevsky) and the Deerslayer to PM me so that I can understand where you are getting stuck. With your assistance I can then post some kind of addition to the strategy guide or a "battle manual" to help new players.
I too am getting stuck. I am an experienced wargamer (have played since the late 60's) but I can't seem to get beyond about turn 6 without losing. Am enjoying myself immensely nevertheless. Great game. Maybe I'll try being less aggressive.
Are you playing at the "Normal" level? Have you already won a few games at the "Introductory" level? If not, you should probably try to win a few games at the "Introductory" level and then try the "Normal" level again.
I'd like to ask for my own baseline of knowledge: did you go through the Tutorials on "Attacking" and the Strategy Guide and all that? I assume so, but I wanted to ask.
When I know what level you are playing at I will try to give you some useful hints.
OK, here is the general approach which I might take.
1) Start a new game and use the Standard First Move.
Leave Hannibal (and Mago) in the field with their 11 units. Do not attempt to capture any cities.
Leave your forces in Spain as they are.
Move the new three naval squadrons in Carthage out to sea with the existing naval squadron in the Mediterranean Sea. Activate Himilco and move him into the field in Zeugitania with the four field units in Carthage. This keeps the Romans from sneaking a small army into Zeugitania during the first turn (which is very rare anyway).
2) Do NOT play any cards that reduce Roman forces or reinforce Hannibal. You want Sempronius to come out and fight Hannibal.
3) Recruit a Spanish Cavalry and a Spanish Infantry unit for Hasdrubal during your recruiting phase. Do NOT play any cards yet.
4) The Romans will send a fleet to Spain. It doesn't matter if you win that first sea battle or not. But it's a good idea, in my opinion, to draw that Roman fleet away from Italy.
5) If the Romans play a card you can respond by using the "Remove 1 Latin Allied Unit" option to take a unit from SCIPIO's army. This makes it harder for the Romans to secure Spain. Do NOT play this card before the Roman Campaign Phase starts, however. Play it only in response.
6) This is the big one. Sempronius will attack Hannibal's army. Use a Punic Tricks card with the "Ambush" option.
Here is a suggested deployment: Companion Cavalry, Elephants, two African Infantry, two Spanish Infantry, and two of the remaining cavalry units (Numidian Mercenary Cavalry and Spanish Cavalry). If the elephants have died (through Roman option card play), add an additional African Infantry to the initial deployment. If the Romans play a "Remove 1 African Unit" card, take an African Infantry unit from Hannibal's army. But if they play a second such card, take the unit from Hasdrubal's army.
This should crush Sempronius' army in a maximum of two rounds. Use your cavalry to pursue if any Roman units survive the first two rounds.
Take losses from the infantry before the cavalry, but try to keep two Spanish infantry intact for use after the battle. I don't mean during the battle, but try to have two Spanish Infantry survive. It's OK if they get routed during the battle.
If for some reason the Romans do manage to reduce Hannibal's army below 10 units through Option Card play, then you should use any "reinforcing" card that may have drawn before your first recruiting phase. The point is to make sure that Sempronius comes out to fight and that you have enough to crush him.
7) Save the game at the end of the first turn and tell us how it went. You can pm me or post the game in the tech area, I believe, in a .zip archive. What to do on the second turn will depend on how the battles and Roman option card play went.
I don't have trouble with the first few turns, but then I'm not sure what to do. In my current game, however, I'm up 131 to 72 in turn six. I've taken a few major cities (i.e. Genoa) and that seems to help. Also Sicily changed sides and is allied with me. Do I focus on taking cities or provinces, or trying to trick the Romans into a battle of annialation? In my previous games the Romans have been ruthless whenever I have left Hannibal in a weakened state. Thanks for detailed response.
Well, it would be a lot easier for me to formulate a strategy if I could see your saved game. Since things are going well you may want to save that game as a base and experiment with it.
Generally speaking, you want to focus on denying valuable recruiting areas to the Romans and obtaining some yourself. Building and maintaining powerful forces is more important than victory points per se for most of the game. Keeping Hannibal's force large enough for him to be a threat - and to survive in the field - is crucial. That is a function of which cards you draw, and good luck/bad luck in battles.
Keep Hannibal in the field.
Don't get caught up attacking cities unless you can besiege them safely and capture them with minimal loss. If you have to, don't be ashamed to use the "Retreat" option to avoid battles you don't think that you can win. Of course, doing that allows the Romans to draw an Option Card which you want to avoid if you can. Forgive me if I am telling you what you already know.
Here are a few specific ideas.
Since you have Syracuse on your side, you can consider adopting a "southern" strategy. Can you send your fleet to join with the Syracusan fleet? If so, you can split the Roman centers of naval production and keep them (for a while) from joining together. Then you can besiege any hostile cities on Sicily and the Romans won't be able to intervene. Control of each minor city increases the number of units that Syracuse can field. So if you can capture those cities, Syracuse can produce additional naval squadrons and help you to keep control of the Ionian Sea. This depends on how many squadrons you have and how many squadrons the Romans have, and also where they are located.
This may sound artificial, but if your combined fleet fights a battle, take your losses from the Syracusan squadrons first. That wouldn't work in the "real" world, of course. But I am not above exploiting the game's rules when I really need to. [:)]
Hannibal's presence improves the rate of replenishment of the recruiting pool in Bruttium. Keeping Hannibal in the field in Bruttium is sometimes a good strategy. Any units he recruits there are units that the Romans can't have. It's also a way for him to survive when things are going badly.
If you do shift your focus to Southern Italy, it is easier for the Romans to move forces to Spain. So you want to be even more careful to send reinforcements to Spain from Africa when you can.
If you have land forces in Spain and Sicily, the Roman Senate is usually less willing to send armies to Africa, unless the Romans already have one or more armies there. This tendency is stronger in the Introductory level. So you can usually afford to send out all your units from Africa to other theaters.
If your naval forces are reasonably strong, and you control Syracuse, you can use all relevant cards to build naval forces and to reduce Roman naval forces. At the Introductory level in particular you can win a naval war. It depends on what your forces look like now and what cards you have. For example, instead of taking "Emergency Levies" you can use the "Remove 1 From 2" option and select Roman fleets. Of course, if your armies are losing in Spain you would use "Emergency Levies" to help with that.
If this is not helpful in your current game, please consider starting a threat in The War Room and uploading the game, or posting more details on the current conditions in your game.
By the way, thanks for your kind words about the game. I hope that you can get a victory out of this current game.
All the reviews I read mention that the game is too lop sided to be worth a look, mainly the Out of Eight review and I trust his opinion pretty well, much like the Wargamer so I can back up the claims where people are frustrated
You have linked the good reviews Matrix but check this one out
I read that out of eight review and it's too low imo. His main beef is that it's too hard. I've played about 12 games and won two (one on normal, one on hard) and I expect my wins to up dramatically now that I can put together a coherent strategy. This is exactly the kind of challenge I'm looking for. I'd give it at least a 6 and probably a 7.
