Which Ancients game to buy?

[DonCzirr]

After a long time of not being interested in the era, I'm starting to develop an itch for playing some Ancient warfare titles.


Could anyone make some good recommendations ?

I am a bit lost at the moment.

Field of Glory seems to be a major player but there seems to be some ambiguity about the game's future (Unity system?) from what I can see on these forums?


External to Matrix / Slitherine, it seems that HPS has a number of titles as well - but that line seems like it may be dying out?

A series that has promise for the future would be preferable.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I'm most interested in Roman Wars from Carthage -> Fall of Rome.

[Freyr Oakenshield]

Tin Soldiers games are very good. Sadly, though, they probably won't run on the recent Microsoft operating systems.

http://www.matrixgames.com/store/298/Ti ... .the.Great.
http://www.matrixgames.com/store/304/Ti ... ius.Caesar

[wings7]

Field of Glory gets my vote and choice!

[barkhorn45]

Hannibal vs Rome.very good ai can be annoyingly so,really has to be it's solitaire.

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: DonCzirr

After a long time of not being interested in the era, I'm starting to develop an itch for playing some Ancient warfare titles.


Could anyone make some good recommendations ?

I am a bit lost at the moment.

Field of Glory seems to be a major player but there seems to be some ambiguity about the game's future (Unity system?) from what I can see on these forums?


External to Matrix / Slitherine, it seems that HPS has a number of titles as well - but that line seems like it may be dying out?

A series that has promise for the future would be preferable.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I'm most interested in Roman Wars from Carthage -> Fall of Rome.

if you want strategic/operational I'd really suggest AGEOD's Alea Jacta Est series. The base game has 5 scenarios - 3 late Republic civil wars (with added Pontics), 2 from the Empire. Birth of Rome has lots of small scenarios in the mid-Republic period culminating in the First Punic War and the war with Pyrrhus. Bit of an acquired taste in my opinion as the First Punic War is long (realistic) and there are periods where little happens (realistic).

They've added Hannibal, Terror of Rome for the Second Punic War. Much better, more of the map is in play and the war steadily escalates as time goes on. You can also buy an expansion covering Rome vs Parthia (some excellent scenarios in there)

[DonCzirr]

Thanks all for the responses so far.

I am looking for a tactical game that is more war game / simulation oriented as opposed to Strategic / miniatures.

Given that - it seems FOG would be the best choice of those discussed.

Any other contenders?

[Kuokkanen]

ORIGINAL: DonCzirr

Any other contenders?

One of the newest is Total War: Attila

[Max 86]

You probably already know about Total War: Rome 2 but its worth a look.

[DonCzirr]

ORIGINAL: Max 86

You probably already know about Total War: Rome 2 but its worth a look.

Yep - thanks. Tactical combat is real time there unfortunately.


Watching a "Let's Play" video for FOG right now and it seems to have some depth (command range, facing, morale etc)

Also reading about the HPS Ancients system:


http://www.armchairgeneral.com/diadochoi-wars-pc-game-review.htm

[Jim D Burns]

The Great Battles series is a pretty good tactical engine for ancients, even though the games are dated. GoG has them for sale for a decent price, and they even go on sale occasionally and you can pick them up very cheap if you're patient enough to wait for a sale.

https://www.gog.com/game/great_battles_ ... rs_edition

Jim

[Moltke71]

http://www.hpssims.com/Pages/Products/Ancient/RCW/RCW.asp

A much-over looked series. Other games in the series include the Diadochoi, Punic, Greek, Gallic and Alexandrian Wars. Truly hard core.

http://www.hpssims.com/Pages/Products/AllProducts.asp

[aaatoysandmore]

ORIGINAL: Bismarck

http://www.hpssims.com/Pages/Products/Ancient/RCW/RCW.asp

A much-over looked series. Other games in the series include the Diadochoi, Punic, Greek, Gallic and Alexandrian Wars. Truly hard core.

http://www.hpssims.com/Pages/Products/AllProducts.asp

I have to agree with this, of all the ones mentioned above these seem more realistic.

Someone mentioned ROME II and I almost died laughing. [:D] The only way to get any real enjoyment out of Rome II is to play a 3rd party faction from a mod that opens them all up to play. Now, THOSE are challenging.

[DonCzirr]

ORIGINAL: Bismarck

http://www.hpssims.com/Pages/Products/Ancient/RCW/RCW.asp

A much-over looked series. Other games in the series include the Diadochoi, Punic, Greek, Gallic and Alexandrian Wars. Truly hard core.

http://www.hpssims.com/Pages/Products/AllProducts.asp

Yep - it came down to either the HPS games or FOG.

2 factors made me go with FOG in the end:

1. Activity for HPS Ancients seems a little stale over at The Blitz

2. I had a $25.00 gift card for Slitherine [:D]



Your review on Armchair though Jim has me looking at Diadochoi and the others ....


Any thoughts on the FOG system? I don't think I've seen you review that ...





@ aaatoysandmore - absolutely agree on Rome II - that was not happening

[Moltke71]

#2 is an excellent reason!

I like FoG:

http://gamesquad.com/node/674

[mogami]

Hi, I really like "Spartan" I like the long scenarios. Plus you get to pick who you are. The victory conditions depend on scenario and who you are. The battles are pretty simple but I like games where you build the cities.

[76mm]

I tried FoG and tried to .like it for a long time, but ultimately its combat engine was just too random for my taste. I forget the details at this point, but implausible results were encountered far too often for my liking. I've yet to find a better replacement though.

I've also looked at the HPS game but am generally dubious about HPS and don't buy their games unless I've see no a lot more feedback than i have the ancient games.

[aaatoysandmore]

Tin Soldiers: Julius Caesar is pretty good also. Although no random generated maps or armies like FOG can have. Spartan is well received also, but, it's more of a toy than historical. But, it's a good toy, I like the Command Ops system it uses instead of hands on.

As for Rome II Total War, the combat got so easy I had to turn to autocalc for all my battles to give the AI half a chance. Every battle I played was just looking for and finding the bottleneck and forming a V or U from the corners or placing my men where at least one side was flanked by water. Just became too simple. I would guess that though from the way they changed everything after Medieval Total War I. I did find some challenge in that game when the ai didn't have to calculate every square and moved province to province instead.

OIC you made your choice, oh well if you need some more games to choose from there's a pretty good list here. [;)]

[DonCzirr]

ORIGINAL: aaatoysandmore

Tin Soldiers: Julius Caesar is pretty good also. Although no random generated maps or armies like FOG can have. Spartan is well received also, but, it's more of a toy than historical. But, it's a good toy, I like the Command Ops system it uses instead of hands on.

As for Rome II Total War, the combat got so easy I had to turn to autocalc for all my battles to give the AI half a chance. Every battle I played was just looking for and finding the bottleneck and forming a V or U from the corners or placing my men where at least one side was flanked by water. Just became too simple. I would guess that though from the way they changed everything after Medieval Total War I. I did find some challenge in that game when the ai didn't have to calculate every square and moved province to province instead.

OIC you made your choice, oh well if you need some more games to choose from there's a pretty good list here. [;)]

Yep - and so far I am having a blast.

Due to what 76 mm mentioned, I am enabling all the advanced combat calc screens and detailed logging to see why

my Hoplites tend to go nuts and charge the entire Persian army without my orders ... or get Disrupted when the odds seem

to be in my favor.

I'm figuring most of it out but there are mysteries that still evade me ....

BTW - if you pick it up - get Rise of Rome for the LOS and FOW features - makes it more fun ...

[TheGrayMouser]

The HPS ancient games are excellent, very, very detailed. 20 meters per hex scale.
*they are WEGO
*They have OOB and scenario editors, even a sort of linked campaign(at least the latest ones).
Like all HPS games, no map editors, however ALL the maps from any of the series games can be used There was depot somewhere where your can d/l all the maps from all the games.
*siege warefare with walls, mantles, siege towers etc!
*AI is very tough


*on the downside, very steep learning curve.
*graphics might put some off (the 3d) but the 2d is fully functional

I believe at the Blitz there is an article where the designer indicated he potentially might revisit these games with a new engine someday... It is unkown ( as HPS never gives hints) if any furthr games are coming out in the series...
Regardless, HPS supports their games forever...

[wings7]

ORIGINAL: The Gray Mouser

The HPS ancient games are excellent, very, very detailed. 20 meters per hex scale.
*they are WEGO
*They have OOB and scenario editors, even a sort of linked campaign(at least the latest ones).
Like all HPS games, no map editors, however ALL the maps from any of the series games can be used There was depot somewhere where your can d/l all the maps from all the games.
*siege warefare with walls, mantles, siege towers etc!
*AI is very tough


*on the downside, very steep learning curve.
*graphics might put some off (the 3d) but the 2d is fully functional

I believe at the Blitz there is an article where the designer indicated he potentially might revisit these games with a new engine someday... It is unkown ( as HPS never gives hints) if any furthr games are coming out in the series...
Regardless, HPS supports their games forever...

Informative post! Thank you! [:)]