Strategic Command WWII:World at War

by

Fury Software

Matrix/Slitherine

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Calling all would be strategists; there is a new sheriff in town. You can now play with Takagi, Yamashita, Balbo, Graziani, Kleist, Busch, Alexander, Dempsey, Clark, Hodges, Vatutin, Rokossovsky etc. The units are armored trains, battleships, tanks, planes, rockets, any armament that played a role in World War II. I didn't mention the big names because you are in charge of your nation's destiny. The scenarios go back to 1939. Hopefully we get a DLC or a mod that allows players to go further back in time to build up their nation as they want. With these scenarios only Japan really has enough time to alter their force make up. So let us look at what scenarios come with the game:

1939: World At War

1942: Axis High Tide

1943: Allies Turn The Tide

1942-45 Race To Victory

1943-45 Race To Victory

 Without rewriting the entire list of the sales pitch, here it is:

• New Features! From limited naval repairs to Kamikazes.

• Take command of the Axis or Allies, and re-fight the whole of WWII!

• Let the computer take control of some of your allies so you can concentrate on your favorite theaters.

• Play on a top-down hex based map spanning the entire globe.

• In addition to the Grand Campaign starting in 1939, Strategic Command WWII: World At War also includes shorter scenarios.

• A realistic Fog of War simulates the historical atmosphere where you have to make decisions with only partial knowledge of your opponent's intentions and dispositions.

• Play with a choice of 3-D unit graphics, or NATO counters if you prefer a more traditional wargaming experience

• Research and upgrade your units with a unique level of choices! Infantry Weapons, Rockets, Anti-Submarine Warfare, Amphibious Warfare, and more!

• Use Diplomacy to win over new allies and use your intelligence to undermine the enemy!

• Contains a large number of strategic level Decision Events for you to choose your path to victory.

• Very easy to use Editor to make your own “what-if” scenarios or create new maps and campaigns from scratch. Modders will be glad to know that this game can have 10 Major powers.

• Very active modding community eager to share their developments with other players, whether it be changing the look of the map or designing new campaigns, even covering conflicts in other time periods, there is a lot there!

This is the first release in the SCWWII: World at War series (hopefully). So there are not many scenarios to choose from. It is my hope that we will see DLCs that encompass some larger maps and separate campaigns like Fury Software did with their earlier games. As I mentioned, I would like an early pre-war scenario to guide your nation or nations.

 At the start of the game you can choose to play the Allied or Axis nations. However, you can also turn over the nations that you do not wish to play during that game to the AI. This leads to a more sandbox approach to the game. The AI is competent, but might throw you a curve ball on occasion. Speaking of the AI, the Strategic Command series has, since its inception, been beleaguered by some players about the Naval aspect of the game. Submarines and other naval units with zero supply has been one of the major gripes. This has been looked at by Fury Software, and the game has had these improvements:

"While not a complete overhaul, there have been quite a few changes, listed below, which have been reported as nice improvements to the overall game during testing.

- supply rule changes:
- subs can no longer dive at 0 supply.
- all raiders can no longer raid at 0 supply.
- defending units at 0 supply will receive 50% more damage from a successful attack against them.
- fighters and carriers cannot intercept/escort when at 0 supply.
- maximum reinforcement points is now 5 strength points per turn for all naval units except Motor Torpedo Boats.
- naval units positioned top of a small island sea enemy hex will no longer be fully revealed under FoW.
- neutral majors can no longer load units onto Amphibious Transports.
- defending subs at zero supply, or defending land units defending from ground attack at zero supply, will now have their morale fully recalculated after any defending strength losses are applied.
- subs will now have a 25% chance of receiving at least a single strength point loss when diving from attack.

We've also added a change to Special Forces, i.e. US Marines and Japanese SNLF which especially help with island hopping in the Pacific. A few other island hopping related changes are listed below here as well:

- Special Forces units, after amphibiously unloading, now maintain supply for up to 5 turns with a drop of 2 supply points per turn.
- minor nation Capitals, Fortresses with 3 or more adjacent enemy units will now have their supply reduced by one strength point per turn.
- Ports no longer provide supply to land units if there is an enemy land unit adjacent to the port.
- abandoned Ports adjacent an enemy City/Town will now switch to enemy control."

 So, as you can see, the game has been worked on. For those of us who own the older versions we do notice the difference. According to Fury Software these changes will also appear in their last game, Strategic Command WWII: War in Europe.

 For those of you who did not buy SCWWII: WIE, the biggest change in these new games is a return to hexes (Please flash the applause sign). I could never get used to the diamond shaped pseudo-hexes in the other games. The scale of the game opens up the modder community to use the entire world or make their own scenarios as they wish. 

Closest Zoom

 Besides being larger in scope than the last game, there are other things to induce a new player. The scripts that pop-up during the game for each country can be turned off and on in the advanced options screen. So, if you do not agree with the historical or non-historical actions, just remove that script. 

Farthest Out Zoom

 The game play is easy to pick up and the user interface is very intuitive, as it should be. The scale of the game is mostly corps and fleets. As in all the games of the series MPPs (Military Production Points) are at its core. You need these to do reinforcement, diplomacy, or research, you name it, you need them. Each country  has a set number of them at the start of scenarios, but you can increase a country's amount each turn by conquest. All of your units in play use APs (Action Points). These are used to move, fight, or do what the player wants. Each nation starts each scenario with some pluses and minuses in the make up of the armed forces. Germany begins with some better numbers in ground warfare, where Japan starts out with naval ones. If playing just Italy, it might behoove you to stay out of the war for as long as possible to build up your might. The Allied nations, as they did historically, have tremendous production capability, as long as they can stay in the war long enough for it to count. You can try Operation Sea Lion, attack Spain (as either side), or go for Churchill's Balkan gambit. If it happened in World War II it can happen here, or even if it was only thought of during the war.

 

 As I have stated, the game has a very long pedigree, and it shows. The game just has a very polished feeling to it. I can easily recommend this to anyone who wants to fight WWII globally on the computer. The very large modding community and the fact that Fury Software is always working on DLCs, paid and otherwise, is just an added plus. Thank you Matrix Games for the chance to review this newest iteration of the series.

Robert

Preview of Armored Brigade

by

Matrix Games

and

Veitikka Studios

 It is big and it is beautiful, and it is all dolled up to come to your home in a short while. I believe it was Ty Bomba who said "Nato, Nukes, and Nazis" sell wargames. By the amount of gamers that want to wargame a possible World War III, I believe he is right. In lieu of a box cover I have used this pretty painted pachyderm.

Main Menu Screen

 I have had the privilege bestowed upon me by Matrix Games and Slitherine to take the soon to be released Armored Brigade for a spin. To sum up the game in one word, it is 'excellent'. The game play and components added are exactly what you would want and expect from a Cold War gone hot land game. Each side's night fighting capabilities etc. have been factored in. However, the greatest part of the game are the abilities that the game gives you when you generate your own missions. First,we have the maps; you can make your own or use any size that come with the game. These can be from as small or as large as you want. One of the very interesting parts of the game is that neither side knows exactly where all of their objectives actually are. The years that the game can model the NATO and Warsaw Pact forces are from 1965-1991. You have four preset choices for your forces: Armored, Mechanized, Infantry, or Dynamic, although you can pretty much mix and match for any force you want for both sides. So, you can see that the player gets to play with a vast amount of choices to make any mission you can envision. Unlike many other World War III games, this does include Finnish forces.

 At the moment there are no campaigns, and few scenarios that you can jump right into. As we mentioned, the mission generator is pretty easy to use, so you will be up and firing in no time. In talking with the developer, campaigns will be added as DLCs later on. This game is meant for single player only right now.


 Just remember that these screen pictures are still of a preview version and they could change.

Here is the link to the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWONTj0P_JU&feature=youtu.be

Fulda Gap Map

 I had downloaded and played the free version a few years ago and it was a good game. Now it has really grown up. The game has been described as a cross between the Close Combat Games and Command Ops. I think that hits the nail right on the head. The following Twitch stream of the game is all encompassing. Just so you know, it is over 2 1/2 hours long. About half of the video is on how many choices you have in generating a mission. Yes, there is that much stuff to play with. The other half is actual game play. Here is the link:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/320309527


 Armored Brigade also has dynamic weather which you can see in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXnAMa9XeoY&feature=share 

Warsaw Pact Setup For The River Crossing Scenario

This Is A Close-up Of The Above Scenario

Robert and Jason

 

 

Aggressors Ancient Rome

by

Slitherine

 In the Eastern Mediterranean, the age of the Diadochi (Alexander's Successors) has passed. It is now the age of the Epigoni (the offspring of the Diadochi). The year is 280 B.C. and Pyrrhus of Epirus is about to invade Italy and start a war with Rome, and anyone else near him. Let us not forget that Rome was in peril. Hannibal supposedly listed Pyrrhus as the second greatest general right after Alexander. The stage is set for you to become the next great conqueror of the Ancient World. Most of the states you can play are still young and vigorous. Of course, it is up to you to make sure they keep their vigor, and do not go long in the tooth or worse.

Choosing your country in the historical scenario

 Aggressors Ancient Rome is another 4X(EXplore, EXpand, EXploit, EXterminate) type game. So, the first question is why did anyone bother to make another one? We have been inundated with 4X games from AAA ones to small indie games. To be honest, the genre rarely grabs my attention. Most are just poor facsimiles of the newest Civ game at the time. Pick your numeral from I-VI. History is usually only given lip service with the addition of a historical leaders name. I am very pleased to tell you that this game is mostly none of the above. It does have some mechanics from some of its well done predecessors, but doesn't fall into the pitfalls of the worst ones.

First screen when starting the historical scenario

 So let us look at the game itself. Instead of rewriting the game's information, I will use the description from Slitherine:

 "A mix of deep gameplay and rich historical flavor, Aggressors lets you relive history as the ruler of one of the mighty civilizations of the Mediterranean world. Will you bring glory to Rome and conquer the Mare Nostrum? Will you build an immortal trading empire with Carthage? Will you bring the light of Athens to the world? Or maybe you will restore the rule of the Pharaoh? Choose one of twenty available factions and conquer the world.

 You can manage all aspects of your empire: war, trade, internal politics, diplomacy, cultural development. Play on your strengths, beware of your weaknesses. The ancient world is brutal, for no mercy shall be given to the defeated. Vae victis!

 Rich historical flavor

A lot of time and many sleepless nights were put into historical research in an attempt to give a real historical feeling to the game. The game’s systems are tailored towards a faithful representation of history.

A world which feels alive

Twenty factions, from migrating barbarian tribes to advanced empires which interact with each other through an extremely detailed diplomatic system. Make use of more than ten available diplomatic agreements, including the possibility of forming Federations and Confederations as well as affecting nations and provinces in your Sphere of Influence.

Real strategic decisions

Experience the incredibly deep combat system, with each unit having its abilities and traits, and terrain truly affecting the war outcome in a meaningful way. Army morale and the supply system are crucial and need to be taken into account. You will need all your guile and strategic mastery to triumph on the battlefield.

Detailed political & economical representation

Rule your empire by managing its internal politics and developing its economy. Establish trade routes to reap wealth, ensure the loyalty of your citizens, manage demography, technological research, internal reforms, laws… the tools at your disposal are endless and seamlessly integrated with each other. Citizens react to the current situation and they can move to other places when they are not happy.

Customize your own world

You have complete freedom: you can decide to start with an advanced nation surrounded by newer civilizations, or you can decide to start as a young tribe, ready to take on an older and decadent empire… or you can decide to completely randomize the map and play in a randomly generated world. The choice is yours!

Easy to learn

Aggressors is very easy to learn thanks to the extremely clear tutorial and tool tips. Dive in the game gradually and explore all the options available to you."

Antigonid Start

 When using the historical start, each nation is presented with the situation it was dealing with at the time. There has been no cookie cutter used to make the different civilizations. Playing each one does feel different than playing another one. For those of you who want a random game, the game can be set up to play that way with random maps etc. The developers, Kubat Software, stress that the game is meant to be incredibly mod friendly. When playing a random map, the civilizations do not start with a city; this type of game will make a regular 4X player feel more at home. You will have to work from the bottom up in your civilization. 

Starting as Rome

 My kudos to Kubat Software for their very well done tutorials. There is both a basic and advanced tutorial for three civilizations: Rome, Carthage, and Ptolemaic Egypt. Most tutorials in games seem to be slapped together at the end, if they are present at all. The ones in Aggressors take the player by the hand through the game.

Starting Rome map

 So does the game hit the sweet spot or leave a nasty taste in your mouth? Aggressors is definitely a game I am glad was produced. The game is much deeper and more complex than others in the genre. Playing it feels like you are leading Rome or the Antigonids to the preeminent position in the Mediterranean. You do not get the feeling that you are playing civilization B of A,B,C,D,E. The attention to detail, and even more important to historical detail, is evident while playing. I will add that being a historical gamer, the random start leaves me completely flat. I am not interested in that type of game at all. However, there is certainly enough in the historical setup to keep me happy for quite a while.

Resources Map

 There is one item that struck me the minute I started the game, so I do want to mention it. The Antigonids start in what is actually Macedonia. This is about right for the time or close to it. However, the Macedon player actually starts in Thrace. Absolutely loving the age as I do, my head went a-tilt. The devs at Kubat have explained  how they had to deal with the actual Antigonids. At the time of the start of the game, they also had to deal with the fact that Ptolemy Keraunos was king in Macedon (soon to be killed by the Galations). I will accept their slight adjustment of history for gaming sake.

Objective Map

 There is one other thing I wanted to point out. This is one of the best posts I have ever seen a developer make; it is in the Slitherine Aggressors forum: "(DEVELOPER CALL) Do you want to help us with new scenarios?" This is the way to support your game.

Build Facility Map

Robert

Immortal Fire a DLc for Field of Glory II

by

Slitherine

 

 This is the first, hopefully in a long line, of DLCs released for Field of Glory II. For those of you living in a cave, Field of Glory II is the newest ancient battle game released by Slitherine. I am a ancient history nut, and to me and many others, Field of Glory II  has really hit the sweet spot. Please see my review of the base game here:

http://www.awargamersneedfulthings.co.uk/2017/10/field-of-glory-ii-by-slitherine-and.htmlhttp:

 This DLC goes back in time to the first battles between the Grecian city states and the Persian Empire. Then the DLC continues to Alexander's battles and the ones of his successors (the Diadochi). The earliest epic (historical) battle is Thymbra in 547 B.C., and the latest is Raphia in 217 B.C. Here is a list of what comes with the DLC:

• 8 new factions: Achaemenid Persians, Etruscans, Antigonos, Lysimachos, Spartans, Latins, Lydians, Kyrenean Greeks, Thessalian Greeks.

• 10 new units: Persian Immortals, Persian sparabara foot, Persian armoured cavalry with bow, Persian improvised camelry, armoured citizen hoplites, armoured veteran hoplites (with Spartan variant), shallowly formed armoured citizen hoplites, Lydian cavalry, Carthaginian chariots, Macedonian prodromoi.

• 30 new army lists (expanding the total number of army list to 105):
  - Achaemenid Persian 550-546 BC
  - Achaemenid Persian 545-481 BC
  - Achaemenid Persian 480-461 BC
  - Achaemenid Persian 460-420 BC
  - Achaemenid Persian 419-329 BC
  - Antigonid 320-301 BC
  - Carthaginian 490-411 BC
  - Carthaginian 410-341 BC
  - Carthaginian 340-281 BC
  - Etruscan 490-331 BC
  - Etruscan 330-280 BC
  - Gallic 390-301 BC
  - Greek 550-461 BC
  - Greek 460-281 BC
  - Kyrenean Greek 550-461 BC
  - Kyrenean Greek 460-322 BC
  - Latin 490-338 BC
  - Lydian 550-546 BC
  - Lysimachid 320-281 BC
  - Macedonian 355-329 BC (Philip and Alexander)
  - Macedonian 328-321 BC (Alexander and first phase of the wars of the Diadochi)
  - Roman 490-341 BC
  - Roman 340-281 BC
  - Seleucid 320-303 BC
  - Seleucid 302-301 BC
  - Skythian or Saka 550-301 BC
  - Spartan 550-461 BC
  - Spartan 460-281 BC
  - Syracusan 421-281 BC
  - Thessalian 404-353BC

• 10 new Epic Battles: Thymbra 547 BC, Marathon 490 BC, Plataea 479 BC, Cunaxa 401 BC, Chaironeia 338 BC, Granikos 334 BC, Issos 333 BC, Gaugamela 331 BC, Hydaspes 326 BC, Raphia 217 BC (all playable from either side). Five of these track the career of Alexander the Great.

• 24 new Quick Battles (each playable from either side).

• Expanded Immortal Fire Custom Battles module includes all 105 army lists from Rise of Rome and Immortal Fire.

• Expanded Immortal Fire Sandbox Campaigns module includes all 105 army lists from Rise of Rome and Immortal Fire.

• 4 new historically-based campaigns: Xenophon, Philip of Macedon, Seleukos I Nikator, Seven Hills of Rome. (Alexander the Great's battles are covered in the Epic Battles).

• 1 what-if campaign: Alexander the Great (what he might have done next if he had not died in 323 BC). (His historical battles are covered in the Epic Battles).

  

  With the armies that come with the DLC, your ancient wargaming is now endless. You also get a what-if campaign of Alexander. This postulates that he did not die in 323 B.C. He was already contemplating conquering at least some of Arabia.

 The Persian Immortals are here, as are the Macedonian Silver Shields. You can recreate battles between Carthage and Syracuse or Pyrrhus. The armies of Greece in the Peloponnesian War are also here for your gaming pleasure. 

 The base game Field of Glory II is so versatile that all of the DLCs that came with its older brother Field of Glory I can, and probably will, be added to its portfolio. As you can see, the ancient army list is now up to a whopping 105. For various reasons, I did not play Field of Glory I much at all. This is not the case with Field of Glory II, and now with the DLCs starting to come, it will be hard for me to tear myself away from the game. 

  The AI in the game is as good as the one in one of their other titles 'Pike and Shot'. The graphics in Field of Glory II are amazing. Field of Glory II is driven by a long standing table top miniatures set of rules. So it not only looks like you are playing miniatures, you really are. I just lost a game of the battle of Raphia to the AI. 

 Playing as the Seleucids, who are on the right hand side of these pictures, I thought that I could crush the Ptolemy left flank before my left would be in too much trouble. What I should have done was to refuse my left and let the Ptolemaic right hook catch nothing but air. I did somewhat destroy their left flank, but not before they had inflicted more casualties on my left. I would like to show you pics, but I had a senior moment and was using the print screen button instead of F12. Sorry, I didn't have time to re-fight the battle. So I just took some shots of the setup of the forces once I realized my mistake.

 With the release of The operational Art of War IV and Field of Glory II, among others,  Slitherine/Matrix certainly have given us wargamers a plethora of gaming. Now, their sister company Ageod has to get going and release 'The Wars of Succession' so I can get my early 18th century itch scratched.

 This just went up on the Slitherine website. It is an announcement about the new field of Glory II 'TT' mod. The 'TT' stands for table top. This adds an immense amount of units etc. to the game. It is not necessary to own 'Immortal Fire' for the mod, but it can only make this great game better.


FIELD OF GLORY II “TT MOD” - DESIGNER NOTES FROM PAUL ADAWAY
This mod greatly expands the units in Field of Glory 2. I am calling it the TT Mod. “TT” because I have got most of my inspiration from the original Field of Glory Table Top army lists. I have added back into the lists a lot of the units from the tabletop version that were left out of the PC version of the game. The mod will come in two forms, a sandbox campaign and a skirmish module (with SP and MP versions).
Nearly all nations have their own specific Pike Phalanx. I have created lots of extra Heavy and Light Cavalry units to replace the ubiquitous vanilla versions. Unfortunately I have no 3D modelling skills, but a lot can be done with new textures, new alpha layers and modding the animation/effects unit.txt files.
I have not modded game play in any way. All unit stats are consistent with the vanilla game. I was tempted to put in my Elephant mod, that I have used in some of my scenarios (i.e. Apollonia), but at the moment it is not included. If I get positive feedback about it, I may add it in later.
This is what is new in the mod:
New army lists:
"Indian (Royal) 500 BC – 180 BC",
"Indian (Royal)179 BC – 319 AD",
"Indian (Republican) 500 BC – 180 BC",
"Indian (Republican) 179 BC – 319 AD",
The vanilla Indian list has been split into 4, the Republican armies having no elephants, and the early lists having no light horse archers.
“Georgian 331 BC – 252 AD”,
The vanilla Iberian list has been renamed as Georgian to stop confusion with the “Spanish” Iberians, who now have their own list.
“Iberian 300-10 BC”,
“Celtiberian 300-10 BC”,
“Lusitanian 300-10 BC”,
The Spanish list has been split into the three main tribal groups.
"Pyrrhic (in Italy) 280-272 BC",
"Pyrrhic (in Greece) 280-272 BC",
The Pyrrhic list has been split into two.
“Achaian League 280-209 BC”,
“Achaian League 208-147 BC”,
“Achaian League 146-146 BC”,
“Aetolian 280-146 BC”,
“Boiotian League 280-271 BC”,
“Boiotian League 270-246 BC”,
“Boiotian League 245-146 BC”,
“Athenian 280-146 BC”,
“Eleian 280-146 BC”,
“Spartan 280-228 BC”,
“Spartan 227-222 BC”,
“Spartan 221-146 BC”,
The Hellenistic Greek lists have been split into several state specific lists.
“Gallic Lowland Tribes 300-201 BC”,
“Gallic Lowland Tribes 200-101 BC”,
“Gallic Hill Tribes 300-201 BC”,
“Gallic Hill Tribes 200-101 BC”,
“Gallic Lowland Tribes 100-50 BC”,
“Gallic Hill Tribes 100-50 BC”,
“Gallic Lowland Tribes 390-301 BC”,
“Gallic Hill Tribes 390-301 BC”,
The Gallic lists have been split into separate ones for lowland and hill tribes.
“Galatian 280-279 BC”,
“Galatian 278-228 BC”,
“Galatian 227-63 BC”,
The Early Galatian list has been split into three era specific lists.
“Graeco-Bactrian 250-211 BC”,
“Graeco-Bactrian 210-130 BC”,
The Graeco-Bactrian list has been split into two era specific lists.
“Carthaginian 235-201 BC”,
“Carthaginian 200-146 BC”,
The late Carthaginian list has been split into a Second Punic War and Post Second Punic War list.
“Kushan 130 BC – 24 AD”,
“Kushan 25 AD – 476 AD”,
The Kushan list has been split into two era specific lists.
“Indo-Skythian 95 BC – 24 AD”,
“Indo-Skythian 25 BC – 50 AD”,
The Indo-Skythian list has been split into two era specific lists.
"Parthian (Saka campaign) 129 BC – 129 BC",
The Parthian Saka campaign gets it's own list.
“Athenian 550 BC – 461 BC”,
“Corinthian 550 BC – 461 BC”,
“Boiotian League 550 BC – 461 BC”,
“Aetolian 550 BC – 461 BC”,
“Akarnanian 550 BC – 461 BC”,
“Phokian 550 BC – 461 BC”,
“Syracusan 550 BC – 461 BC”,
"Greek (Western) 550 BC – 461 BC",
"Greek (Asiatic) 550 BC – 461 BC",
“Athenian 460 BC – 381 BC”,
“Corinthian 460 BC – 381 BC”,
“Boiotian League 460 BC – 381 BC”,
“Aetolian 460 BC – 381 BC”,
“Akarnanian 460 BC – 381 BC”,
“Phokian 460 BC – 381 BC”,
“Syracusan 460 BC – 413 BC”,
"Greek (Western) 460 BC – 381 BC",
"Greek (Asiatic) 460 BC – 381 BC",
“Athenian 380 BC – 281 BC”,
“Corinthian 380 BC – 281 BC”,
“Boiotian League 380 BC – 281 BC”,
“Aetolian 380 BC – 281 BC”,
“Akarnanian 380 BC – 281 BC”,
“Phokian 380 BC – 281 BC”,
"Greek (Western) 380 BC – 281 BC",
"Greek (Asiatic) 380 BC – 281 BC",
The Classical Greek lists have been split into several state specific lists.
“Carthaginian 550-411 BC”,
Extended Early Carthaginian list back to 550 BC.
“Spartan 461-381 BC”,
“Spartan 380-281 BC”,
I have split the late Spartan list into two.
“Seleucid 300-280 BC”,
“Seleucid 279-206 BC”,
“Ptolemaic 320-280 BC”,
“Ptolemaic 279-167 BC”,
“Macedonian 320-280 BC”,
“Macedonian 279-261 BC”,
The early Seleucid, Ptolemaic and Macedonian lists have been split into pre and post 280 BC lists. To reflect a number of changes that happened around that date: availability of Celtic mercenaries, shielded heavy cavalry, Thureophoroi replacing Iphikratean Hoplites.
"Spartan (2nd Invasion Peloponnese) 369-368 BC",
The Spartan army at the time of the 2nd invasion of the Peloponnese gets its own list with Spanish and Celtic troops provided by Syracuse.
"Achaemenid Persian (Gaugamela) 331-331 BC",
"Achaemenid Persian (Bessos) 329-329 BC",
Two new campaign specific lists for the Achaemenid Persians.
"Syracusan (Agathokles in Africa) 310-307 BC",
A new campaign specific list for Syracuse.
“Eumenes 321-316 BC”,
A new army list for Eumenes.
"Greek (Xenophon) 401-399 BC",
A new army list for Xenophon's March of the Ten Thousand.

Some changes to vanilla side names, and 15 new ones added. In some cases giving unique side names to some vanilla armies that share with other nations in the vanilla game:
IDS_SIDENAME_36,“Skythian”, 
IDS_SIDENAME_38,“Iberian”,
IDS_SIDENAME_600,“Celtiberian”,
IDS_SIDENAME_601,“Lusitanian”,
IDS_SIDENAME_602,“Rhoxolani”,
IDS_SIDENAME_603,“Achaian League”,
IDS_SIDENAME_604,“Aetolian”,
IDS_SIDENAME_605,“Boiotian”,
IDS_SIDENAME_606,“Athenian”,
IDS_SIDENAME_607,“Eleian”,
IDS_SIDENAME_608,“Saka”,
IDS_SIDENAME_609,“Sertorian”,
IDS_SIDENAME_610,“Corinthian”,
IDS_SIDENAME_611,“Akarnanian”,
IDS_SIDENAME_612,“Phokian”,
IDS_SIDENAME_613,“Eumenes”,
IDS_SIDENAME_614,“Xenophon”,
Some existing units have been renamed, of these the two Greek cavalry units have new textures:
IDS_UNITNAME18, “Numidian Light Javelin Horse”,
IDS_UNITNAME21, “Gallic Armoured Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME34, “Iberian Scutarii”,
IDS_UNITNAME38, “Veteran Greek Armoured Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME104, “Greek Armoured Cavalry”,
New units, the vast majority with new textures:
IDS_UNITNAME401, “Italian Armoured Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME402, “Italian Citizen Hoplites”,
IDS_UNITNAME403, “Eastern Irregular Foot”,
IDS_UNITNAME404, “Eastern Light Javelinmen”,
IDS_UNITNAME405, “Eastern Massed Archers”,
IDS_UNITNAME406, “Eastern Light Archers”,
IDS_UNITNAME407, “Eastern Light Javelin Horse”,
IDS_UNITNAME408, “Ligurian Spearmen”,
IDS_UNITNAME409, “Apulian Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME410, “Italian Veteran Armoured Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME411, “Tarantine Light Javelin Horse”,
IDS_UNITNAME412, “Illyrian Spearmen”,
IDS_UNITNAME413, “Thracian Armored Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME414, “Macedon Chalkaspides Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME415, “Macedon Peltastai Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME416, “Macedon Agema Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME417, “Macedon Guard Xystophoroi”,
IDS_UNITNAME418, “Seleucid Chalkaspides Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME419, “Seleucid Argyraspides Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME420, “Seleucid Xystophoroi”,
IDS_UNITNAME421, “Agema Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME422, “Companions”,
IDS_UNITNAME423, “Ptolemaic Regular Pike Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME424, “Ptolemaic Agema Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME425, “Ptolemaic Xystophoroi”,
IDS_UNITNAME426, “Mercenary Galatian Warband”,
IDS_UNITNAME427, “Ptolemaic Guard Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME428, “Egyptian Levy Pike Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME429, “Hispanic Heavy Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME430, “Hispanic Light Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME431, “Celtiberian Warband”,
IDS_UNITNAME432, “Caetrati light javelinmen”,
IDS_UNITNAME433, “Heavy Caetrati”,
IDS_UNITNAME434, “Pontic Levy Pike Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME435, “Tarantine Pike Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME436, “Pyrrhic Agema Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME437, “Pyrrhic Pike Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME438, “African Light Javelinmen”,
IDS_UNITNAME439, “Libyphoenician Armoured Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME440, “Euzonoi light javelinmen”,
IDS_UNITNAME441, “Greek Pike Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME442, “Early Cataphracts”,
IDS_UNITNAME443, “Armenian Levy Pike Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME444, "Raw Hastati/Principes",
IDS_UNITNAME445, “Pedites Extraordinarii”,
IDS_UNITNAME446, “Roman Armoured Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME447, “Soldurii”,
IDS_UNITNAME448, “Gaesatae”,
IDS_UNITNAME449, “Bactrian Light Horse”,
IDS_UNITNAME450, “Graeco Bactrian Pike Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME451, “Iranian Lancers”,
IDS_UNITNAME452, “Graeco Bactrian Xystophoroi”,
IDS_UNITNAME453, “Graeco Bactrian Cataphracts”,
IDS_UNITNAME454, “Spartan Pike Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME455, “Freed Slave Pike Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME456, “Numidian Foot”,
IDS_UNITNAME457, “Libyan Foot”,
IDS_UNITNAME458, “Civic Militia Light Javelin Horse”,
IDS_UNITNAME459, “Seleucid Cataphracts”,
IDS_UNITNAME460, “Indo Greek Armoured Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME461, “Indo Greek Pike Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME462, “Cretan Levy Foot”,
IDS_UNITNAME463, “Nubian Mercenary Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME464, “Graeco Bactrian Pike Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME465, “Chalybes Spearmen”,
IDS_UNITNAME466, “Pontic Chalkaspides Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME467, "Germanic Warband (Loose Order)",
IDS_UNITNAME468, "Germanic Warband (Close Order)",
IDS_UNITNAME469, “Galatian Warband”,
IDS_UNITNAME470, “Pontic Imitation Legionaries”,
IDS_UNITNAME471, “Macedonian Armoured Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME472, “Macedonian Guard Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME473, “Macedon Leukaspides Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME474, “Ex Seleucid Pike Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME475, “Freed Helot Pike Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME476, “Arab Light Javelin Horse”,
IDS_UNITNAME477, “Perioikoi Hoplites”,
IDS_UNITNAME478, “Spartiatai Hoplites”,
IDS_UNITNAME479, “Gladiators”,
IDS_UNITNAME480, “Persian Heavy Chariots”,
IDS_UNITNAME481, “Phrygian Foot”,
IDS_UNITNAME482, “Phrygian light javelinmen”,
IDS_UNITNAME483, “Raw Hoplites”,
IDS_UNITNAME484, “Lydian Raw Hoplites”,
IDS_UNITNAME485, “Lydian Light Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME486, “Lydian Light Chariots”,
IDS_UNITNAME487, “Thracian Swordsmen”,
IDS_UNITNAME488, “Citizen Hoplites”,
IDS_UNITNAME489, “Greek Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME490, “Armoured Spartiatai Hoplites”,
IDS_UNITNAME491, “Spartiatai Hoplites”,
IDS_UNITNAME492, “Saka Foot”,
IDS_UNITNAME493, “Phoenician Marines”,
IDS_UNITNAME494, “Armoured Theban Hoplites”,
IDS_UNITNAME495, “Theban Sacred Band Hoplites”,
IDS_UNITNAME496, “Theban Hoplites”,
IDS_UNITNAME497, “Theban Pike Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME498, “Carthaginian Sacred Band”,
IDS_UNITNAME499, “Poeni Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME500, “Italian Mercenary Hoplites”,
IDS_UNITNAME501, “1st Class Roman Spearmen”,
IDS_UNITNAME502, "2nd & 3rd Class Roman Spearmen",
IDS_UNITNAME503, “Mixed Class Roman Spearmen”,
IDS_UNITNAME504, “4th Class Roman Foot”,
IDS_UNITNAME505, “Roman Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME506, “1st Class Latin Spearmen”,
IDS_UNITNAME507, "2nd & 3rd Class Latin Spearmen",
IDS_UNITNAME508, “Mixed Class Latin Spearmen”,
IDS_UNITNAME509, “4th Class Latin Foot”,
IDS_UNITNAME510, “Italian Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME511, “1st Class Etruscan Spearmen”,
IDS_UNITNAME512, "2nd & 3rd Class Etruscan Spearmen",
IDS_UNITNAME513, “Mixed Class Etruscan Spearmen”,
IDS_UNITNAME514, “Etruscan Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME515, “Devoted Foot Spearmen”,
IDS_UNITNAME516, “Etruscan Light Chariots”,
IDS_UNITNAME517, “Etruscan Axemen”,
IDS_UNITNAME518, “Crescent Shield Spearmen”,
IDS_UNITNAME519, “Greek Light Javelin Horse”,
IDS_UNITNAME520, “Iphikratean Hoplites”,
IDS_UNITNAME521, “Theban Sacred Band Hoplites”,
IDS_UNITNAME522, “Italian Veteran Armoured Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME523, “Italian Citizen Hoplites”,
IDS_UNITNAME524, “Guard Apple Bearers”,
IDS_UNITNAME525, “Persian Guard Lancers”,
IDS_UNITNAME526, “Illyrian light javelinmen”,
IDS_UNITNAME527, “Spartan Armoured Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME528, “Rowers disguised as Hoplites ”,
IDS_UNITNAME529, “Foot Companions Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME530, “Hypaspists Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME531, “Companion Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME532, “Agema Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME533, “Thessalian Armoured Cavalry”,
IDS_UNITNAME534, “Agrianian Light Javelinmen”,
IDS_UNITNAME535, “Accensi”,
IDS_UNITNAME536, “2nd Class Etruscan Pilum Foot”,
IDS_UNITNAME537, “3rd Class Etruscan Pilum Foot”,
IDS_UNITNAME538, “Antigonid Pantodapoi Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME539, “Lysimachid Pantodapoi Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME540, “Antigonid Veteran Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME541, “Lysimachid Veteran Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME542, “Eumenes Pantodapoi Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME543, “Eumenes Veteran Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME544, “Eumenes Argyraspides Phalanx”,
IDS_UNITNAME545, “Hypaspists Phalanx”,

  
 This is absolutely amazing.

Robert