Annals of Rome
As with others here, I played this intensively when it originally came out. Back then the interface was nothing particularly unusual, and even today it isn’t difficult, just clumsy - it takes about 5 minutes to get used to it. There are certainly a few issues with it, primarily related to the display of information at appropriate times - it’s hard to play without making any separate notes (you pretty much have to keep track of the loyalty values of your available commanders, as that is only visible on the screen before you make decisions about who to assign where). But that isn’t anywhere near enough to outweigh the cleverness of the design and the fun value of trying to shepherd your Republic through dictatorship and the inevitable empire, trying to keep it alive through the ups and downs of barbarian migrations and rival nations waxing and waning. An amazing game considering the technical limitations it was created under.
– Real player with 51.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Tactical Classic Games.
Great classic game!
– Real player with 10.0 hrs in game
Strategy & Tactics: Wargame Collection
To start off I wanna say this isn’t a game of high quality. In fact, I found one of the games in this collection as a mobile game for my phone first (the WW2 Sandbox one) and it was pretty fun, but had all the ads and in-app-purchases that you see with mobile games. I definitely suggest that as a mobile game because it was free and pretty in-depth compared to most strategy games on mobile. On computer, meh. It was incredibly cheap, and even cheaper on sale, which was the main reason I bothered getting it. The deal was pretty good, because this is a 3-pack of games. They all play basically the same, so once you learn one, you learn all of them. As far as strategy games go, it’s simple compared to other games like it, and the mechanics become second nature within half an hour to an hour. The tutorials are pretty trashy, and don’t cover anything more complicated than basic movement and attacking, which means it’s up to you to really explore how combat and movement work. The AI is actually pretty good, but can be predicted and outsmarted with some practice. So why am I recommending this? This may not be a great game, but it’s cheap and simple. If you’re new to strategy games, or just enjoy casually playing them and don’t like diving heavily into grand-strategy games, this is a good choice for you. There’s also a mobile version, which I suggest for anyone. If you really like the complicated and in-depth mechanics that you find in games like Hearts of Iron and Victoria 2, though, stay away from this game on PC. There’s quite a bit of content, but you’ll get bored pretty fast, and personally I would take Hearts of Iron IV any day over these 3 games.
– Real player with 37.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Tactical Alternate History Games.
Ok, here’s my take on the game. I’m used to playing Axis and Allies, both the Milton Bradley board games as well as the old Nova Games, which was the best…I also play the triplea version, which is excellent. This game is much more in line with the Milton Bradley games. A relatively simple game, simple mechanics. That being said, there are some very nice features that I enjoy. You can plot out moves in a step by step fashion. Moving infantry to take the first territory, then “relocating” mech units into the newly taken territory, and then launching an attack with them into the next. You are not required to to plan out every move for all your troops, they can be executed one at a time. This is definately a “beer and pretzels” kind of game.
– Real player with 35.1 hrs in game
Ultimate General: Gettysburg
This is probably one of the best historic ACW realtime strategy games out there. Anyone with any interest in the American Civil War will want to have a copy of this and it is well worth the 15 dollars being charged for the game. The games does a very good job balancing historical accuracy with playability and the visual presentation is stunning.
At its core, this is an American Civil War tactics game with the brigade being the primary building block. The battle of Gettysburg is represented as a series of scenarios which represent significant engagements fought by the 2 armies. Each brigade is modeled historically in terms of size and performance based on how they did at Gettysburg historically and their reputation throughout the war. Each scenario sees the player commanding 8-10 brigades on average with accompanying artillery modeled as seperate units that take 30 minutes to an hour to complete.
– Real player with 119.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Tactical Simulation Games.
First of all, I am an early backer and have been testing and playing this game since it was released on Steam Greenlight/early access.
Graphics:
the graphical style of the game is fantastic. It gives an impression of a large battlefield, while still showing enough detail. Everything is clear and crisp, with the smoke and explosions looking great, and the battlefield getting littered with dead bodies. The landscape is a beautiful rendition of the land around Gettysburg, and you will easily pick out all the historical spots, like the Cemetery, The Peach Orchard, Devil’s Den, The Round Tops, The Angle, etc.
– Real player with 84.9 hrs in game
Total War: SHOGUN 2
OK I’m older than the average gamer and have a history of traditional wargaming - map based and figure based games/campaigns. I find all the Total War immersive and an excellent up to date computer based version of traditional wargaming. Shogun 2 is a particular favourite as it was the first one I really started to customise with user based extensions and later my own. Today, I’m downloading it again to play it for the first time in about 3 years and can hardy wait. Programming wise, apart from a few moody extensions the game is very reliable and lock-up and crash free. It also gets a big plus for not stealing all my memory and CPU run time allowing me to multi-task with high end productivity and graphics software.
– Real player with 5367.3 hrs in game
The best Total War CA ever made. It’s all downhill from here.
– Real player with 541.1 hrs in game
Waterloo
If you know this game from nearly 30 years ago and want to get your hit of nostalgia, go for it. I had no technical troubles whatsoever. Keep in mind though that you need some form of map, the manual etc. to fully experience to game (just google it.
If you never played this game, only go for it if you a die hard grognard. You will need offline material for planning, you don’t know how your generals interpret orders or if they received them and when, you never get detailed reports. It is a simulation of army command as far as it was possible to program with the technology around 1990.
– Real player with 4.5 hrs in game
Aggressors: Ancient Rome
This review is actually a Thank you letter to the developer for making this game.
For unbiased reviews skip this one.
I think it was 25 years ago that most of my school holiday time was used to do what I really like. Gaming. But I did not had my first PC yet, so gaming was spending one day in the city to collect all kind of painting materials and paperboards to create the ultimate game myself.
The Civilization boardgame, HeroQuest boardgame and some rare tabletop games I owned served as an example. But mine had a bigger boards, more options, more counters and features, more of everything actually.
– Real player with 562.4 hrs in game
Aggressors - Ancient Rome
This obscure historical game is turn based strategy / tactics to dominate the world starting in 280 BC by default, but adustable from 1000 BC to 500 AD. It is single player and is my personal choice for game of the year. I have played it for over 480 hours in the past 60 days. It is published by Slitherine and available through them, on Steam and GOG.
Where I am coming from
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I am the curator of Strategic Win https://store.steampowered.com/curator/9074928/ and have reviewed 142 games there in the past 2 years. I bought this game from Matrix games.
– Real player with 521.5 hrs in game
Austerlitz
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).
– Real player with 19.5 hrs in game
Men of War: Vietnam
After playing this game for a good amount of time and pursuing to beat it on Hard, I’ve noticed this game isn’t the failure that most people deem it to be. In order to play this game, there must be a basic understanding of proper guerilla warfare, and knowing this is VERY useful. This game is not for everyone however. This game is a test of skill for those who are familiar with the Men of War series and its mechanics.
A few thoughts after in-depth play (Post Scriptum Edition):
First of all, if you can earn every achievement without cheating, kudos to you. It is not an easy task to earn all of these achievements, because the final US Mission can be quite intimidating on Hard difficulty.
! Expect to be screaming, “OH MY GOD IT’S LIKE THE FALL OF SAIGON BUT WORSE!” at the end.
– Real player with 67.7 hrs in game
Hell yes best game next to men of war 1 assault squad and men of war 2 assault squad in my personal opinion because of the story and how it feels so good it feels right like you have special operations that are so hard and tactical and you have the iconic huge battles And I love it it is awesome and so difficult to beat such as in any men of war game you get shot in the chest you are probably going to die on easy difficulty and it makes it so satisfying after so much planning and hard work to finally solve a huge issue you have I have played 39 or so hours since this review I am posting and I am only on the first big battle mission it is an amazingly good game I recommend it to anyone who loves realism and loves the men of war franchise I haven’t played all the games just men of war assault squad 1 and 2 and call to arms and ostfront and faces of war There are a few more I want to buy as well I love this franchise it is just something I love you got so many advantages and disadvantages but there is always a way through I challenge myself by playing on easy But I make sure no one in my squad dies infantry or special forces I have never had a casualty on the US Army side except the first mission I didn’t plan no deaths till mission 2. my grandpa was in the MAC V SOG In Vietnam after being selected out of the USMC and he told me stories and things about the war when he was in as a soldier from 1956 to 1973 and about his time as a POW and the game captures the Image perfectly special operators pushing in and being such as how my dad was a Marine raider then green beret it is like that and it has uniforms and weapons exactly to the time period of 68 of course there are exceptions but they got the south Vietnam special forces and they got standard soldiers I haven’t seen standard Southern troops but I have seen NVA and Russian and Northern troops native to Vietnam they make it so real and so good and enjoyable to play I love it personally.
– Real player with 49.0 hrs in game
Old World
Old World is a historical strategy game where you lead your empire through multiple generations, building a grand legacy to last beyond your own years. This is an era of great leaders, from the revered to the feared. Which will you be?
Marry for politics, raise your heirs, and manage your relationship with the families of your kingdom. In the fast and furious world of kings and queens, family matters.
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Each of the 7 kingdoms has four noble families that provide various benefits when put in charge of your cities.
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Manage family ties through events, actions, and marriages to keep them happy and reap additional benefits. Upset them, or make them too powerful, and you risk their ire.
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Maintain a strong family unit, or distract yourself with more illicit adventures.
The world is full of great characters with distinct personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. Use them to forge your kingdom, defend your borders, and build ties with other leaders.
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Seek out and recruit famed warriors, philosophers, builders, and more. Have them tutor your children, lead your armies, and further your reign.
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Different personality archetypes allow your court members to perform different tasks in similar roles. Find the right combinations to take full advantage of governors, diplomats, spymasters, and even your spouse.
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Characters develop new personalities and traits over time, growing old, gaining experience, and finally falling ill and passing away, leaving room for the next generation.
Unsettled tribes, barbarian marauders, and remnants of previous cultures are all waiting in the vast unexplored wilderness.
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Discover artifacts and great heroes of the past at ruins scattered across the map.
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Experience over 3,000 unique events inspired by history and mythology.
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Contact with foreign dignitaries triggers event chains, stories, and courtroom drama.
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Pursue ambitions and legacies related to conquest, development, faith, and more.
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Historically inspired scenarios, weekly challenge games, and a choice between randomly generated and handcrafted maps to explore. Lead Carthage to victory as Hannibal in the Punic Wars, hold your own against Barbarian Hordes, or compete against other players in tackling fictional scenarios.
Why do things the way they’ve always been done? Old World brings a new take to key elements of the 4X strategy genre:
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Go beyond the traditional resources. Buildings are made of wood and stone, not “industry.” Population doesn’t grow off “food” alone.
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Orders are a resource shared across your realm. Instead of moving every unit once per turn, each unit can be moved multiple times until fatigued or Orders are depleted.
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Technological advancement is not predetermined. Randomization helps keep technology trees feeling fresh with each new playthrough.
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Quality of life improvements, such as the ability to undo mistaken commands and nested tooltips, ensure you’re always making informed decisions.
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Play with friends in countless multiplayer modes — from hotseat, to asynchronous, to cloud play.
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Mods further open up infinite options for new worlds, empires, and dynasties — inspired by our real world, and by works of fiction as well.
Scourge of War: Waterloo
This is a wargame and isn’t ashamed of it. It is a good representation of the Napoleonic battlefield. With the three DLC it covers the entire Waterloo campaign. The best praise for the game I can think of is that descriptions of game battles read exactly like descriptions of the real battles (see the end of this review for an example). Watch some videos, read some after action reports, see what the game is like. You will know very quickly if this is a game for you.
There are a lot of options on how to play, and there is even a game mode that puts you in the saddle of your commander so that you can only see what he sees. There is also a mode where commands have to be given by courier. The experienced Napoleonic wargamer (or historian) will find that he can do pretty much everything in the game that would have been done in the original battle.
– Real player with 317.1 hrs in game
This is actually not a review of the vanilla/base game and instead a review of
the mod named Kriegspiel. Since that mod actually is what Scourge of war
Waterloo never became.
My top favorite games:
Scourge of war Waterloo/Ghettysburg, Syrian warfare, NTW3mod for Napoleon total war, Take command 2nd manassas, Sid meiers Gettysburg, Fields of glory (Amiga), Men of war Assault squad, Project reality, Arma2
Here is my review about the Kriegspiel mod and the Kriegspiel gaming group:
Now the KS mod has been updated to 1.29 but the only person that really knows and can explain the KS mod in a good way is DarkRob316.
– Real player with 197.6 hrs in game