A Wargamers Needful Things: Byzantine Games

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The Vikings have landed on the shores of Field of Glory II from Byzantine Games and Slitherine. In this fifth DLC add-on for the tactical turn based ancient warfare sandbox, the timeline is extended much further into the future, all the way up to 1040 AD. The base game "only" covers 280 BC to 20 BC, for reference. You can read our original review here. Since it's release, other DLC have covered the highs and lows of the Roman Empire (both East and West), with other packs focusing on the earlier powers of the Mediterranean and Middle East like the Greeks and Persians. This pack moves us firmly into the so-called "Dark Ages" of history, when the lack of a civilizing influence from Rome led to barbarians and heathens running wild across Europe. As any history buff knows, this concept is rather passé these days, but it still makes for a pretty good theme for a wargame.

If you're reading this, you probably have a pretty good idea of what Field of Glory II is like, so I'll get to exactly what's on the tin of this latest DLC. Wolves at the Gate expands FoG II by adding:

19 new factions
55 new units
76 new army lists
6 new Epic Battles
74 new Quick Battles
Expanded Custom Battles module.
Expanded Sandbox Campaign module.
6 new historically-based campaigns.
New Allies feature added in accompanying game update.

You can get the full list of factions and armies from the product page, but I'll list off a few that might get your attention. The Vikings are most definitely here, and I played a few battles with them. Huscarls and Berserkers give them quite an offensive punch, though their other infantry are a bit rubbish. Also, don't expect too much cavalry support. Some of the battles I played in this era were purely melee infantry affairs, with not an archer or mounted warrior in sight. This was quite different from the last DLC I played, Age of Belisarius, which featured the exact opposite, with mounted archers dominating the battlefield. There are many other armies representing northern Europe on hand as well. The Franks, Anglo-Saxons, Lombards, Scots, Irish, British, Visigoths and more have all come to play. There is also plenty of new content here for the east, with the Byzantine and Arab rosters being filled out with multiple armies. Going even further east, some Indian factions are represented and featured in a full campaign. Here's the full list of new campaigns so you can see some of the major historical figures who fit into this era:

Arab Conquest

Basil II (Byzantine Resurgence)

Charlemagne

Mahmud of Ghazni

Wolves from the Sea 1(Viking Age from Viking point of view)

Wolves from the Sea 2(Viking Age from enemy point of view)

I tried a sampling of the campaigns and found them all to offer some different flavors of combat. If you have played any of the previous campaigns in Field of Glory II, these work the same way. You go from battle to battle with some small choices in between that change the scenarios a bit. There is also, as always, a sandbox campaign mode that plays similarly but lets you take your nation of choice and go up against a variety of historical enemies in randomly generated battles.

One new feature that was patched into the game alongside this DLC is the "Allies" feature. This lets you mix in units of historical allies with a given army roster in custom battles. This means even more variety as you can spice up your favorite faction or army with some new units. If you like ancients warfare games, this is really a one stop shop. I can only assume, based on Field of Glory I, that there is plenty more DLC coming that will add more and more factions to the game. Just about any match-up you can imagine is either in the game already or will be before long.

I thought I'd end the review with a little recap of how the Battle of Clontarf went for me. This is one of the epic battles included, and one that I had never heard of before. The battle featured a mix of Vikings and Irishmen fighting for control of the Emerald Isle. It was an infantry only battle, which was actually tactically interesting, as my standard strategies involving archers and cavalry were not options at all.

The battle lines are drawn up. A roughly equal number of infantry on each side are facing off across mostly flat ground. I'll need to look for any advantage that could give me some leverage.

I'm commanding the forces of Brian Boru, the man credited with breaking the hold of the Vikings over Ireland by decisively winning this battle. Hopefully I can match up to my historical counter-part!

The fighting begins, but both sides have a large reserve of infantry not yet committed to the line. I try to position my men to take advantage of a couple of dips in the terrain. Units fighting uphill will always have a harder time of it.

Now the fighting is raging in earnest, units begin to waver and break all down the line. On my left flank I see an opportunity. A morale check cascade causes multiple enemy units to waver, and I have several strong infantry units on the far edge of the line. If I can hit the enemy just a couple more times they should go from bending to breaking.

Success! The enemy's right flank flees the field and my strongest units are positioned to roll up the line. Although my center and right flank wavers off-camera, my forces manage to hold. Catching the entire enemy line in the flank as I'm about to do above is essentially game over. With no strong enemy reserve on hand to blunt my advance, my forces hack their way down the line, routing the enemy units one after another. The Vikings are driven from Ireland!

Field of Glory II continues to entertain me even after a couple of years of playing off and on. I really wanted to enjoy the fist game in the series, but could never quite get into it. The sequel however gets me hooked every time I fire it up. I always want to take just one more turn, and see if this time I can finally crack the enemy line, or find out whether my flank can hold long enough for my overall strategy to come together. Wolves at the Gate doesn't fundamentally change anything about the game, but it does offer a new series of campaigns and scenarios to play around with. This game really is a massive sandbox, and more toys always makes the sandbox more fun!

The DLC can be purchased directly from Slitherine/Matrix. It's also available on Steam and GoG.com.

- Joe Beard

Field of Glory II

Slitherine Games and Byzantine Games

Hello again, Peabody and Sherman here, we will be going into the wabac machine to help Lucius Tarquinius Superbus restore his crown, and to review Field of Glory II.

To be upfront I am an ancient history freak, and would rather game and read about this period than any other.

Just a caveat: these screens are based on the beta version of the game. Some last minute changes may take place.

This game has been misnamed; it should not be Field of Glory II, but Field of Glory IV or V. The game is that much better than the original Field of Glory. I was not a fan at all of the older game, but I did only play it against the AI. The older game did have a large multiplayer base. The gaming system, which came from table top gaming, has a large following and has been used in gaming all the way to the Renaissance and beyond.

The amount of ancient wargaming in the game beggars belief. These are the campaigns:

This is a list of the 'Epic' (historical) battles:

The army list of the game for both editing and skirmishes is like the Energizer bunny it just keeps going. These are:

Ancient British 60 BC - 80 AD
Apulian 420-203 BC
Arab 312 BC - 476 AD
Armenian 331 BC - 252 AD
Armenian (Tigranes) 83-69 BC
Atropatene 320-145 BC
Atropatene 144 BC - 226 AD
Bithynian 297-74 BC
Bosporan 348-85 BC
Bosporan 84-11 BC
Bruttian or Lucanian 420-203 BC
Campanian 280-203 BC
Carthaginian 280-263 BC
Carthaginian 262-236 BC
Carthaginian 235-146BC
Carthaginian (Hannibal in Italy) 218-217 BC
Carthaginian (Hannibal in Italy) 216-203 BC
Carthaginian (Hannibal in Africa) 202 BC
Caucasian 320 BC - 476 AD
Dacian 50 BC - 106 AD
Galatian 280-63 BC
Galatian 63-25 BC
Gallic 300-101 BC
Gallic 100-50 BC
Germanic Foot Tribes 105 BC - 259 AD
Graeco-Bactrian 250-130 BC
Greek 280-228 BC
Greek 227-146 BC
Greek (Western) 280-49 BC
Iberian or Colchian 331 BC - 252 AD
Illyrian 350 BC - 25 AD
Indian 500 BC - 319 AD
Indo-Greek 175 BC - 10 AD
Indo-Parthian 60 BC - 130 AD
Indo-Skythian 95 BC - 50 AD
Italian Hill Tribes 490-275 BC
Jewish 167-64 BC
Jewish 64 BC - 6 AD
Kappadokian 260 BC - 17 AD
Kushan 130 BC - 476 AD
Libyan 220 BC - 70 AD
Ligurian 480-145 BC
Macedonian 320-261 BC
Macedonian 260-148 BC
Mountain Indian 492-170 BC
Nabataean 260 BC - 106 AD
Numidian or Moorish 220-56 BC
Numidian or Moorish 55 BC - 6 AD
Parthian 250 BC - 225 AD
Pergamene 262-191 BC
Pergamene 190-129 BC
Pontic 281-111 BC
Pontic 110-85 BC
Pontic 84-47 BC
Ptolemaic 320-167 BC
Ptolemaic 166-56 BC
Ptolemaic 55-30 BC
Pyrrhic 280-272 BC
Rhoxolani 350 BC - 24 AD
Roman 280-220 BC
Roman 219-200 BC
Roman 199-106 BC
Roman 105-25 BC
Saka 300 BC - 50 AD
Samnite 355-272 BC
Sarmatian 350 BC - 24 AD
Scots-Irish 50 BC - 476 AD
Seleucid 320-206 BC
Seleucid 205-167 BC
Seleucid 166-125 BC
Seleucid 124-63 BC
Skythian 300 BC - 50 AD
Slave Revolt 73-71 BC
Spanish 300-10 BC
Spanish (Sertorius) 80-70 BC
Syracusan 280-211 BC
Thracian 350 BC - 46 AD
Umbrian 490-260 BC

There are a total of eighty-six types of historical units, and each type can have multiple variants. Battles can be as large as eighty units per side. However, the ability to play such large scenarios completely depends on your computer hardware.

There are three tutorials:

This is the multiplayer screen:

This is the first screen when using the editor:

The game is based upon the Pike and Shot and Sengoku Jidai game engine, which if you haven't picked them up, what are you waiting for? The core game has been updated constantly since release, and for Field of Glory II it has been even more enhanced. As mentioned, the original Field of Glory did have a large multiplayer fan base. The multiplayer for Field of Glory II is based upon the seamless multiplayer setup from Pike and Shot etc.

The game plays like an ancient battle game. It is not a generic battle system where the Elephant unit is interchangeable with a tank unit. The game is immersive and you feel like you are leading an ancient army.

Just like in the Sengoku Jidai add-on Gempei Kassen (The Gempei War), the developers have erred on the side of caution with their list of Epic (historical) battles (there being so few sources on the type of units let alone the numbers for the Gempei War battles that it comes with none). The developers have given us only twelve battles preset for play of each side (that does not include the battles in the campaigns). As we have seen, the army list is enough to let any imagination run wild. I am also positive that modders will be in full swing bringing us new historical battles; there are actually some in the works now.

For those of us who have been waiting for a great ancient tactical game, the wait is over. For those of you still stuck in the mud of the Russian front, please explore a new horizon, and see how good this game really is.

The following are screenshots of my feeble attempt to play the second tutorial. I eventually win in a messy and very unplanned way. The AI broke my right flank, but the battle had progressed so far on my left and in the center that it didn't help that much. I have actually been spending a lot of my playing time as Antiochus the Great at Magnesia versus the Romans.

Per the tutorial's instructions, I have moved my lighter Italian infantry to my right and the broken hilly ground. My plan is to smash their right and center with my phalanxes and Elephants.

My plan was working until my units were bunched up in the choke point between the hills.

Having been playing the Magnesia scenario too much, I forgot that my heavy cavalry are not cataphracts. My right flank has crumbled.

My one remaining Elephant unit and the phalanxes are the only things that pull my irons out of the fire.

Two of the elephants have routed and have gone berserk. This was always the extremely fun part of ancient wargaming. One hex full of even your own berserk elephants can pretty much destroy your painstakingly created line.

The following are three closeup screenshots of Antiochus The Great Army at Magnesia.

The Matrix/Slitherine/Ageod lineup for the next few months is incredibly impressive. It looks a little like murderers row from 1927. You not only have Field of Glory II coming out on October 12th, but also these games coming up:

Operational Art of War IV - The name says it all.
Desert war - Who hasn't been clamoring for a desert war game?
Wars of Succession - Marlborough and Charles XII what more can you say?

Everyone talks about the 'good old days' , but with the books and games (boardgames also) that are coming and have already been produced, this is the 'Age of The Grog'.

Robert

Sengoku Jidai Review

I want to be truthful up front. I am a certified nut when it comes to Japanese military history and an Oda fanboy. I also happen to be a great admirer of the game 'Pike and Shot' which 'Sengoku Jidai' is based on. Let's see how the newest use of the game engine measures up.

Nobunaga, Hideyoshi and Tokugawa were watching a cuckoo bird, waiting for it to sing, but the bird wouldn't sing. Nobunaga says "Little bird, if you don't sing I will kill you". Hideyoshi says "Little bird, if you don't sing. I'll make you sing". Then Tokugawa says to the bird "Little bird, if you don't sing I will wait for you to sing".

The tale above was taught to Japanese children for the longest time and may still be. This is a tale to explain the three different ways that Oda Nobunaga, Toyomoti Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu dealt with situations. These three men were leaders of armies during the end of the Sengoku Jidai (warring states period) of Japanese history. The Sengoku Jidai era is usually listed as 1467-1603. Armies roamed all over the Japanese islands at this time in an attempt to make their lord the Shogun. Shogun is the short form of Sei-i Taishogun (Commander-in-Chief of the expeditionary force against the barbarians). The shogunate lasted from 1192-1867. There was still an emperor during this time, but the Shogun was the real ruler of the state.

The game spans hundreds of years in the scenarios. It shows the change of the samurai from archers to mostly swordsmen.The actual Sengoku Jidai period takes the player from battles where matchlocks are unknown, to where they have become a decisive weapon. By the 1580s, the Japanese, especially under Oda Nobunaga, were capable of meeting a western army as equals. Under Tokugawa Ieyasu, and his descendants, the Japanese ability to wage war was stifled in its cradle. So, by the time Perry came to Japan in 1853 he was presented with a medieval society.

We are used to the western way of war, cavalry on the flanks and infantry in the center. The actual Japanese battle formations were actually much more complex. They sometimes resembled a marching band that spells out their school name on the field.

The game itself comes from a mod that someone created for 'Pike and Shot'. It is published by Slitherine games. 'Pike and Shot' is a tactical renaissance game. 'Sengoku Jidai' is a tactical wargame of different eras of Japanese history. The game comes in two flavors: 'Sengoku Jidai: Shadow of the Shogun', and 'Sengoku Jidai: Collector's edition'. You can also purchase separately the DLC that turns ' Shadow of the Shogun' into the collector's edition.The collectors edition and DLC add the following: the Bjeongja Horan campaign, the Genko campaign and the Genko skirmishes. It also comes with three books in PDF form. These are 'Colonies and Conquest' army book, 'Empires of the dragon' army book and 'Field of Glory renaissance core rules' book.

There are five modes to play in. The tutorial/historical, campaigns, skirmish, multiplayer and editor.It is a turn based game. As in, IGO-UGO. There are also six difficulty levels to learn or play against. The skirmish scenarios can be randomly generated for hours and days of extra playtime.

The biggest change from Pike and Shot is the addition of general units. They can influence both combat and morale. They can even be used to attack your enemies' generals.

It comes with a three part tutorial. There are fourteen historical battles to choose from, nine from the Sengoku Jidai period and five from the Imjin war ( Japanese invasion of Korea). There is an astounding six campaigns to choose from. These are Tenka Fubu, Sengoku Jidai, Imjin War, Sekigahara, Byeongja Horan and Genko. These take you from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century. Tenka Fubu is the campaign of Oda Nobunaga to conquer all of Japan. Sekigahara represents the campaign where Tokugawa Ieyasu becomes the strongest leader in Japan. Byeongja Horan is the campaign between the Joseon ( Korean kingdom) and the Manchus. Genko is about the Mongol invasion of Japan in 1281 and is non-historical because it does not have the Mongol fleet destroyed, as it was in the previous invasion attempt, by the kamikaze (divine wind).

Multi player uses the same system as Pike and Shot and is pretty much seamless. The editor gives the player the power to create new, or to adjust scenarios as they see fit.

Tried and true tactics win the day here. Inflict casualties and disruption with ranged fire, and then strike home with high value melee units. Keep reserves to exploit a weakness in the enemies line or to plug a hole in yours. As in Pike and Shot, the AI is no slouch. You will be hard pressed to pull out a win in some scenarios. Make a mistake and it will punish you. Woods and broken terrain affect the movement and effectiveness of your units.

For lovers of Japanese history and tactical wargames you can't do better. I have always wanted to destroy the Takeda cavalry as Oda Nobunaga, but understand completely why the battle of Nagashino is only playable from the Takeda side. To me, the only thing that is missing in this game is a Gempei war campaign (Taira and Minamoto war 1180-1185). Hopefully, it will be added as a DLC or a fan made mod. I have always longed to teach Minamoto Yoritomo a lesson.

Are you fit to be Shogun? Do you have what it takes to face down Oda Nobunaga, or possibly the guy down the street? Yes, you know the one, he has a full set of life sized samurai armor in his den. Then look no further. Revel in this new release from Matrix/Slitherine.

For people who are not familiar with Japanese military history this is a great place to start. Especially with the collector's edition added books. For those of you who only like WEGO games, do yourself a favor and try at least one of the games in this series.

I'll leave you with a picture of Oda Nobunaga. Hopefully someone will release an English language biography that does not match the cost of a monthly loan payment on a high-end SUV. One more thing:
seppuku is the correct word for the samurai's ritual suicide. Hara-kiri just means belly slitting.