Field of Glory II

[Asid]

Award-winning wargame designer Richard Bodley Scott is back. The mastermind behind successes like Pike and Shot and Sengoku Jidai, returns to his roots and is busy at work on the sequel of one of the most successful wargaming systems ever: Field of Glory.

“The first digital adaptation of the most popular ancients and medieval tabletop wargaming rules served as a stepping stone in the foundation of the Slitherine Group as we know it today”, said Iain McNeil, Development Director of Slitherine. “We are happy to have RBS working on the next iteration of this PC game as he is both the father of the original tabletop game and the creator of its digital conversion”.

It's 280 B.C. The Republic of Rome has just finished defeating its Italian neighbours and[/img] already the Southern territories are menaced by King Pyrrhus of Epirus. Carthage, to the South-West is also a threat to the newborn Mediterranean power. In the north, the Gaul’s continue to see the rich Roman cities as inviting targets.

A new age of war is coming.

Set during the Rise of Rome from 280 BC to 25 BC, Field of Glory II will accurately simulate the battles of the Ancient World, before the full establishment of the Roman Empire. Boasting a set of unique and detailed Army Lists for each faction, the game offers a wide variety of tactical choices with more than 80 beautiful and fully animated 3D models, each with multiple uniform variations.

“We really wanted Field of Glory 2 to be a big step up both in terms of visuals and in gameplay. We knew that with RBS on board, gameplay would fit well with both the historical setting and the nature of warfare at the time. For the visuals, we have put together a team that includes Pat Ward, formerly Art Director at Shenandoah and our Art Director Richard Evans. The result is a wargame that will please the fans, but also attract a brand new generation of gamers”.

Players can already join the beta of Field of Glory II by applying here.

Expect to experience a Classic Age that’s more vibrant than ever in this tabletop miniature wargame brought to life to PC! Field of Glory II is set to release this fall.

[Asid]

Field of Glory 2 Reveals new Screenshots!


We have received a bunch of new screenshots showing some intense fighting more closely!

Thanks to these images, you can have a clear vision of the amount of details developers at Byzantine Games are putting into Field of Glory 2!

Field of Glory II is a turn-based tactical game set during the Rise of Rome from 280 BC to 25 BC. Which allows you to fight large or small battles for or against Rome, or between the other nations who are as yet unaware of the Roman threat, or what-if battles between nations that never actual came into conflict historically, but might have if the course of history had been different.

Get more information about the game from its official product page!

[Asid]

FOG2 Developer’s Diary – Innovations and Differences


As the developing process is marching quickly along the beta testing phase, it’s time to dig a bit more into the main differences and improvements players will find from the original game released in 2009.

“Field of Glory II is a complete reboot of the franchise, based on the original tabletop Field of Glory rules as a starting point, rather than on Field of Glory I” says Richard Bodley Scott, the main designer of Field of Glory 2. “There are therefore many differences from FOG1 – which we hope are all improvements. Being co-author of the original tabletop game, I am in a unique position to create a fresh take on the system”.

Let’s take a closer look, shall we?

New graphics!
The game has vastly improved graphics. All of the terrain and unit models are true 3D. They are all fully animated – firing bows, throwing javelins, charging with lance, meleeing with sword or spear and so forth. Arrows and javelins fly. Men fall mortally wounded to the ground and die. The battlefield is littered with their corpses. Rear ranks shuffle up to replace the lost men.
Formations become disordered, and men turn to face their opponents when a unit is fighting in multiple directions. Pikes visibly form square. Each unit type has up to 4 variants within the unit, but also has multiple variant texture sheets, allowing the units of each side to be easily distinguished even in civil war battles.



New AI!
The game has vastly improved AI, drawing on the experience of developing the (generally praised) AI for Pike and Shot and Sengoku Jidai. There are six levels of difficulty, allowing all players from novices to experts to enjoy challenging games against the AI.

New Campaign System!
In addition to the expected historical scenarios and skirmish mode, the game has a brand new campaign system that concentrates on battles, but allows real strategic decisions without time spent moving armies around a strategic map. The player’s core troops continue from one battle to the next, gaining experience and elan from each victory.
There is a sandbox campaign that allows the player to lead any nation (and their historical allies) against any other nation (and their allies) – giving many thousands of permutations.
There are also four campaigns allowing the player to follow the careers of some of the most famous historical leaders of the era: Pyrrhos of Epeiros, Hannibal, Mithridates of Pontus and Julius Caesar.
The game allows custom battles (skirmishes) ranging in size from 600 to 2000 points. (The points system is almost identical to that in FOG1).

New Army Lists!
The army list system has been greatly streamlined. Force selection is quick and easy, and takes place on the actual battlefield, making the pre-selection of “DAG” armies unnecessary. The initial release comes with 75 army lists, covering 48 nations and factions from Britain and Spain to India between 280 and 25 BC.

We have something interesting coming about the Army Lists! Stay tuned for further updates!



New Random Generated Maps!
Terrain maps for non-preset scenarios are freshly generated using a sophisticated random map generator – not picked from a library of preset maps. Every map is therefore unique. The map generator can generate realistic maps for all the usual territory types – including agricultural, wooded, hilly, mountains, steppes and desert in Mediterranean, North European, Middle Eastern and Tropical regions.
The battle is fought on a square grid rather than a hexagonal grid. This allows realistic looking battle lines, and 8 directions of movement instead of 6. The computer takes care of the issue of diagonal moves being further than orthogonal ones.

New Function for Army Movement!
Group moves allow whole commands to be moved with one order in the early stages of the battle. The units taking part in a group move all move simultaneously rather than one at a time.



Anarchy Charges
Anarchy charges (which players either loved or hated) no longer occur in FOG2.

Mathematical Algorithms
Unlike FOG1, FOG2 does not attempt to replicate the tabletop game’s dice, but uses mathemaMatical algorithms that avoid some of the extreme against-the-odds combat results that could occur in FOG1

POA System
The POA system has been modified to get more historical results. One FOG1 POA becomes 100 FOG2 POAs, allowing us to have fractional POAs. This allow finer gradations. For example, armour advantage is reduced in importance, so that standard common ancient troop types, such as “Protected” hoplites, are no longer ineffective.

Medium Foot
Medium Foot have been divided into Bowmen and Medium Foot – the latter representing close combat types such as thureophoroi, Thracians and Spanish scutarii. These are no longer as vulnerable to mounted troops in the open, allowing them to take their historical place in the battle line. This also makes medium foot armies viable.
Unit Role
All unit types now have an effective role. There are no really weak army types.

Multiplayer
Multiplayer uses the same PBEM system as FOG1. However, in addition, FOG2 will implement Slitherine’s automated tournament system.

Excited? We have more content to share in the coming days.  Check out our official product page and the forums to be updated on the progress of Field of Glory 2!

[Asid]

Field of Glory 2 Army Lists – Rome vs Carthage


Field of Glory 2 will be huge. Spanning nearly 250 years from the Rise of Rome, it will allow players to choose from over 75 different army lists, each one both unique and historically accurate.

Today we want to give you a taste of this potential and what’s better than showing the Army Lists for two great rivals of the Ancient World?

Rome and Carthage fought bitterly for over a century for supremacy in the Mediterranean Sea, and although the conflict ended with a complete Roman victory, there was a moment in which she risked being totally destroyed: the invasion of Italy by Hannibal in 218 BC.

We have created two infographics showcasing some of the units you’ll have at your disposal for both sides during Hannibal’s campaign in Northern Italy. Click on the banner below to discover them!

The units showcased in the infographic aren’t the only ones available to the armies, but they are some of the more significant units for the conflict in Northern Italy.

[Asid]

Field of Glory 2 Developers Diary - A.I.

The AI for FOG2 has been developed by building on the knowledge gained from developing the generally praised AI for Pike and Shot and Sengoku Jidai.

Deployment
For non-preset scenarios, it is important that the AI can deploy its army in a sensible formation, taking account of the prevailing terrain.
Generally speaking, most ancient armies would deploy with an infantry centre in one or more lines. (Usually three for Romans, usually only one for Hellenistic armies). They would then have cavalry on both wings and perhaps in reserve, plus light troops both in the centre and on the wings.

Except for cavalry armies, the “autodeploy” routine therefore starts with the infantry centre, in one or more solid lines. If the army has a mixture of heavy and medium foot, it will deploy the heavy foot where the terrain is most open, and the medium foot where it is most uneven. This takes into account not just the deployment line but also the map in front of where the line will advance.

If it is possible to rest one flank of the infantry on a river or a coastline, it will do so.

Cavalry are then assigned to each wing depending on the amount of adverse terrain on each wing. More cavalry will be deployed on an open wing than on one with lots of rough or difficult terrain or a river. Some cavalry may be assigned to a reserve behind the infantry.

Light troops are then assigned in a similar way to the cavalry, but more light foot will be deployed on the wing with more terrain, and more light horse on the more open wing.

For cavalry armies, the cavalry is divided into centre and two wings, and the usually weak infantry deployed at the back in reserve.

High Level AI
This level of AI governs the actions of the main divisions of the army – the centre, the wings, the reserve, and the various groups of light troops. For pre-set scenarios, it is usually scripted specifically to fit the scenario, but for custom and campaign battles a generic but highly-detailed AI script is used to make a sensible initial plan and then react appropriately to subsequent enemy actions.

This “AI_Masterplan” script refreshes its plans every turn. It takes into account not only the initial divisions into which the enemy army is divided, but any changes to those divisions. Thus, if most of the enemy left wing cavalry rides across to reinforce its right wing, the AI will reassign those units to the enemy right wing before making its plans for the turn.

The first decision the AI makes is whether to advance from the outset. A primarily infantry army will not do so, for example, if its infantry are outmatched, taking into account any high ground the enemy army may occupy.

If the infantry are not advancing, the cavalry wings will also usually hang back, so that they cannot be defeated piecemeal by the enemy before the infantry engage. Even if the infantry are advancing, the cavalry will not forge ahead unless they outmatch the enemy cavalry on that wing and are not facing enemy non-light infantry.
Likewise the light troops will not advance too far ahead, unless they overmatch their counterparts on the enemy side.

Low Level AI
This is what governs the behaviour of the troops once they approach the enemy. Numerous things are taken into account. For example:
•   Heavy troops will try to avoid terrain that would disorder them.
•   Units won’t advance into situations where they could be charged in flank or rear. (Although non-lights will ignore lights for this purpose.) If they can’t avoid being flanked they will form square if pikes, otherwise will turn to leave their flank threatened by the least dangerous enemy unit.
•   Units will actively seek out enemy flanks to attack.
•   Units pick their chosen target enemy unit for the turn based on their threat to it and its threat to them.
•   Units will usually avoid charging enemy who overmatch them in close combat. Such calculations are made using the actual combat resolution mechanisms, taking into account the actual situation (terrain etc.) in which the units will fight.
•   Light troops and non-lancer cavalry will evade charges by troops that outmatch them in close combat, unless the enemy is so close that they are likely to be caught and charged in the rear.
•   Units with longer range shooting will stop outside the range of enemy shooters.
•   Light troops that are close to breaking will retreat out of range of the enemy.

AI development philosophy
From a development point of view, we believe that the AI is the most important part of a wargame, and development of the AI needs to start at the very beginning of the game development process. It also needs, where possible, to work off the actual combat mechanisms rather than using approximate pre-calculated estimates. This greatly improves the quality of its decisions.

Most importantly, the AI needs to be designed by someone who is a skilled wargamer themselves. It is hard enough to make the AI follow an effective plan even if you know what an effective plan is. If the writer of the AI is hazy about this, there is little chance that the AI will play very well.

We also don’t believe that easier difficulty levels should be achieved by nobbling the AI, nor harder ones by giving the AI unfair advantages in the combat or morale mechanisms. Our AI behaves the same at all difficulty levels, and both sides play to exactly the same rules at all difficulty levels without any hidden bonuses and random number tweaks to help the AI.

Instead, we achieve the different difficulty levels by adjusting the balance of the opposing forces – few if any historical battles were fought between exactly equal strength armies.

With six difficulty levels, we are confident that the AI in FOG2 will give players of all abilities an enjoyable challenge.

Excited? We have more content to share in the coming days. Check out our official product page and the forums to be updated on the progress of Field of Glory 2!

Developr AI discussion

[Asid]

Field of Glory II Dev Diary - Game Modes


Here we are today to have an in-depth look on Field of Glory II's Game Modes.

FOG2 has a number of game modes, designed to give the maximum amount of variety and replayability.

Tutorial
The tutorial is in the form of three hypothetical battles between historical opponents – Ancient British vs Romans, King Pyrrhos of Epeiros vs Carthaginians, and Hannibal’s Carthaginians vs Romans.
These are actual battles rather than being “on rails” so that the new player can get a real feel for the game. However, they have lots of context-appropriate popups that demonstrate the UI and rules as the game is played.

Skirmish Mode
This is something of a misnomer, as the battles generated are full-sized battles. We therefore call them “Custom Battles” rather than skirmishes.
The armies are chosen from more than 75 different army lists, each fully historically researched and covering one of the 48 nations/states in the game for a defined period of its history. The player can elect to play a pot luck game between two historically matched armies, or select his and/or the enemy army list.



By default, the list of enemy armies is filtered by date and geography against the player’s selected army, although these filters can be turned off to allow what-if battles between opponents that never met historically.



The army lists are designed to make each army resemble its historical prototype, and define which units that nation’s army can use within the specified date range. The minimum and maximum numbers of units of each type are adjusted according to the size of the battle.
Each army list can be previewed from the custom battle screen.



Custom battles have a choice of eight different scenario types.

•   Open Battle - Both sides are eager for battle on an open battlefield.
•   Reinforcements (Enemy) - The enemy is expecting reinforcements. Best defeat him before they arrive.
•   Reinforcements (Own) - You are expecting reinforcements. Can you hold the enemy off until they arrive?
•   Send Flank March - You have decided to send part of your forces on a flank march, to catch the enemy at a disadvantage. Alternatively he might overrun you before they arrive. (There is no scenario selection to make the enemy send a flank march, but they may choose to do so in any of the other scenario types.)
•   Rearguard - The enemy are advancing with overwhelming force. You have been left in command of a rearguard, with orders to slow down the enemy advance to allow the rest of our army to escape. You must hold out for as many turns as possible. (Survival Mode).
•   Advance Guard - Your army and the enemy army have blundered into each other on the march. The main armies will not arrive before nightfall. You must make best use of your advance forces as they arrive to secure the battlefield before nightfall, whatever the cost.
•   Remove the Head - The enemy are led by a charismatic C-in-C. If you can kill him, they should break. Of course, you also need to protect your own C-in-C.
•   Escort Baggage train - Your army is advancing through hostile territory. You must protect your baggage train at all costs, otherwise your army will be forced to withdraw. Your task is to get at least half of your baggage train safely to the far side of the map before nightfall, while avoiding defeat by the enemy forces.



Custom battles are fought on randomly generated maps using a sophisticated random map generator that will generate realistic maps for agricultural, hilly, wooded and mountainous areas in Mediterranean, North European or Middle-Eastern climatic regions. Also steppe, desert and tropical areas.



Quick Battles
This is a special skirmish mode which allows you to very quickly set up a small battle between historically opposed armies without going through the full custom battle setup process.
If you don’t even have time to pick a matchup, there is a “Fight Now!” button in the battle menu that will randomly pick a quick battle from the list of available ones and set up the battle completely automatically.

Epic Battles
The game comes with 12 preset historical scenarios closely based on some of the most important battles of the era. These include Bagradas 255 BC, Trebia 218 BC, Cannae 216 BC, Ilipa 206 BC, Zama 202 BC, Magnesia 190 BC, Pydna 168 BC, Chaironeia 86 BC, Tigranocerta 69 BC, Bibracte 58 BC, Carrhae 53 BC and Thapsus 46 BC. The player can play as either side.



Campaigns
Campaigns allow you to fight a series of connected battles, with the core of your army progressing from one battle to the next, gaining experience and elan with each victory.
Field of Glory II is really all about the battles. Therefore, instead of having a simplified strategic map with a lot of marching back and forth between battles, which some people do not enjoy, we have decided to cut out the map movement and allow strategic decisions to be made quickly before hopping straight on to the next battle.



Here are some examples of strategic options that may occur in the campaigns.

The enemy are retreating to join up with reinforcements:
1. Pursue them with your advance guard and engage them before they can join up with their reinforcements.
2. Let them escape this time and continue your advance at a steady pace.
You are advancing through enemy territory. Your choice of routes is limited:
    1.   Advance through wooded territory. You will need to protect your baggage from attack.
    2.   Advance through mountainous territory. The enemy forces are expected to be assisted by the local mountain tribes.
Your territory has been attacked from an unexpected direction by another enemy army:
    1.   Fight them with your rear echelon forces. (A new army chosen by the AI from your nation’s army list, weighted towards lower quality troops).
    2.   March to meet them with your field army. You will not have time to replace your losses from the last battle.
Your territory has been attacked from an unexpected direction by the enemy's Bithynian allies:
    1.   Fight them with your rear echelon forces.
    2.   Call in your own Galatian allies to meet them in battle.
You feel you need additional forces in order to progress the campaign:
    1.   Call in a force from your Bruttian allies.
    2.   Await reinforcements from home. These are not likely to be as numerous.
The Romans have received help from their Spanish allies, but their armies have not yet joined up. You have the opportunity to defeat one of their armies before they can combine:
    1.   Engage the Spanish army.
    2.   Engage the Roman army.

Sandbox Campaigns
These allow you to fight a campaign between any two nations. Their historical allies may join in. Setup is similar to that for Custom Battles.



Armies are chosen from the appropriate army lists (or allied army lists) and the terrain is generated using the regions appropriate to the opposing nations. The player’s core units continue through the campaign gaining experience and elan after each victory

Historically Based Campaigns
The game also comes with four historically-based campaigns, based on the military careers of Pyrrhos of Epeiros, Hannibal, Mithridates VI of Pontus and Julius Caesar.
These still use army lists and generated maps for the battles, but are scripted so that the historical sequence of events is followed, including historical strategic choices. This allows the campaign to follow the historical events in general terms, but ensures that the actual battles will play out differently each time the campaign is played. Essentially each battle represents the battle that might have occurred if (for example) the Battle of Trebia had been fought a few days earlier or later on a different battlefield nearby – but with the historically opposing armies and similar orders of battle.
The campaign system is designed so that it should be quite easy for users to set up historically-based campaigns that can in due course be added to the library of user- created content that can be downloaded within the game. No programming ability is required, all of the campaign scripting is in plain English in a text file.

Multiplayer
The game uses Slitherine’s PBEM++ system to allow Epic and Custom battles to be fought by two players. All setup and data transfer is handled seamlessly by the program.
The system does not require you to organise games in advance; you do not even need to be online at the same time as your opponent. It is as simple to play as a single player game, removing all the barriers to entry of other multiplayer games.
Turnaround is essentially instantaneous, so you can either play a battle in one session, or in a more leisurely fashion whenever time permits.

[budd]

This does look and sound good. 2 wargame era's i've wanted to get hooked into, civil war and ancients, none of the games i've tried in those era's have hooked me yet.

[Asid]

Hi Budd

I hope to get time to play it soon 

As for CW, if you mean ACW then Scourge of war Gettysburg is excellent 

[Raied]

The new campaign system seems to be amazing, I much prefer it over the P&S system, that will make me feels like real general taking strategic decision for my army and the campaign objectives.

[Asid]

The lists in the initial release

rbodleyscott

"The lists in the initial release are based on the period 280 BC to 25 BC from Britain to India, not based on the original Rise of Rome army list book and FOG1 expansion. There were several lists overlapping this period that were not included in the original "Rise of Rome" because Rome never encountered them during that era. Those lists are in the FOG2 base game.

So far 78 lists in all, in the initial release, including various lists for nations that as far as I know never had FOG1 lists at all e.g. Bithynians, Kappadokians, Atropatene, Georgians (Iberians/Colchians), Caucasians, Nabataean Arabs."

[Asid]

Field of Glory II Army Lists in Alphabetical Order


Field of Glory II will have a massive variety of armies to choose from, each one with peculiar units reflecting the strategy and tactics used during that time.

Each Army List has been accurately researched and with them, you’ll find the Ancient World more vibrant than ever.

We have received requests from many of you, wondering exactly what (and how many) historical factions will be available, and your requests haven’t been gone unnoticed!

Below you can find a complete list in alphabetical order of every Army List present in Field of Glory II.

Are you ready to enter the battlefield?

url=http://www.slitherine.com/products/product.asp?gid=651]Get more information about Field of Glory II on its official product page[/url]

 

FOG2 Army Lists – Rise of Rome (Alphabetically)
 
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

[Asid]

Field of Glory II AAR: Romans vs Macedonians at the Battle of Larissa




Greetings everyone!
Welcome to this AAR for Field of Glory 2, the upcoming sequel of the original Field of Glory and developed by the legendary game designer Richard Bodley Scott (Field of Glory Tabletop, Pike and Shot, Sengoku Jidai).
For this After Action Report, I decided on a Custom Battle, with the AI at the highest difficulty level: Deity (sounds intimidating)!

In Field of Glory II, Custom Battles allow players to build their favourite battle with a wide range of options at their disposal. You can choose between 78 army lists of the period (check here for the entire list!), you can set the force size, the map type, and many other settings. An interesting thing when you select your enemy is that you can restrict the selection to geographical and historical consistency (or you can just go ahead and make the Ancient British fight against the Sarmatians!).

I picked up the Roman Army (219 – 200 BC) and, for my opponent, I decided to face the Macedonians (260-148 BC).



Historically, the Roman Republic successfully expanded its influence over the Hellenistic kingdoms of the eastern Mediterranean in a series of conflicts culminating in the division of the old Macedonian Kingdom into two Roman Provinces: Achaea and Epirus, in 148 BC.

Let’s see if I have been able to replicate their military successes!

Troop Selection and Deployment
Knowing that the enemy will probably fight in close formation with powerful but not so manoeuvrable units, I decided to rely more on agile infantry troops, with a good number of Velites (light troops with javelins and spear).

I have two lines of Triarii mixed with Hastati/Principes, which are well trained and equipped and would engage the bulk of the enemy army, while a third line composed mainly of my Italian allies will be used as a reserve. I put my only cavalry unit on the left.



As soon as the battle starts, I look at the enemy dispositions. It looks like the Macedonians will fight with a single and steady line of pike phalanxes. They appear to have more cavalry than me, and that could be dangerous, as I don’t have specific units to counter them.

The map has been randomly generated and the battlefield is practically flat, with a few wooded areas and a small river delimiting a part of the right side of the map. This means that I might have some chance of dragging the stronger enemy units into fragmented fights, preventing them from supporting one other.



I decided to approach the enemy centre with my Velites, with the rest of my infantry following at a short distance. My armoured cavalry fills the space between my Triarii and the Velites on the left, but it won't be able to fight for long. I dispatch two units behind for support.

As planned, the Velites start volleying the Phalanxes as soon as they come in range, but at this point, I realized I might have made a mistake in choosing so many javelin men. The Pike units are very stubborn and my attacks haven’t done too much damage. The only noticeable effect of my action seems a bit of confusion in the centre-right of the enemy line.







The phalanxes finally make contact with my first line. The impact is devastating! I didn’t realize immediately that the enemy general is using veteran pikes and the extension of the frontline is preventing me from riding to the aid of my extreme wings. The Macedonians fight very fiercely but my Hastati/Principes and Triarii are showing these barbarians the strength of the Army of the Roman Republic!

My unit dispositions seem to hold the line for the moment, but I fear that sooner or later I’ll have to divert some units from my rear to fill the gaps, and the Macedonians are more numerous than I expected, so I must play smart. Their intention is clearly to break through one of my wings, probably the left given that they have more mobile units there. I should push faster and harder, and luckily my last line has just arrived!









During the enemy turn, suddenly, a sound, like a horn, erupts from the left side of my line. This is not good. The enemy, only the gods know how, have managed to break the cohesion of one of my units and now I have to think carefully what to do next. On one hand, I can’t pull out troops too close to the rest of the fighting, as I will need to repel the pressure in every spot, but on the other hand, having some Macedonians left free to fight against my rear would be tremendously dangerous. I haven’t decided yet how to respond when a second horn reverberates: the centre is under attack and taking a lot of damage.

This is not good at all.



Fortuna adduces iuvat! Fortune favours the brave, and I don’t want to be remembered as the Roman general who lost against the ghosts of the once-great Macedonian Kingdom. Probably my fate would be worse than death if I lose!

The most dangerous threat is in the centre: if that collapses, I have literally no chance to recover. The enemy advance must be stopped by any means. I have just a couple of poorly equipped units to throw in and this is exactly what I do. In the meantime, the Velites who survived the first encounters have slipped behind the enemy. If I’m lucky enough, they will catch some attention from the enemy and will help to cripple their formation.



The battle rages on. The Macedonians add even more pressure committing their last reserve. Although if I left the tactical initiative to the enemy, I can at least count on my veteran units still fighting. My Velites have attacked some isolated light units but the bulk of the enemy army hasn’t been hampered too much. On the left, the Macedonians are embroiled in fragmented fights while my middle is too tiny. The right flank is on the verge of being  dangerously enveloped but I can’t spare any units to support it. It is a matter of morale and cohesion. If some parts of my line break, the battle is lost. If I keep fighting, I can force some enemy units to retreat and manoeuvre to where I need more.





I knew the situation was desperate, but I really hoped I would be able to save the situation. But this didn’t happen. In fact, it was all to the contrary.

All of my soldiers have been in bitter fights, and the majority are fragmented or worse. I haven’t been able to manoeuvre as I wanted, so the result is that the enemy has been able to maximize his pike formations in  frontal assaults all along the line. The last drops of morale and cohesion have vanished, and one after another, my brave warriors start losing ground.



Every hope is now gone, like tears in the rain. Defeat is clear, and honor is sullied.

May the gods have mercy on me because the Roman Senate will not for sure!

[Asid]

Mark the date! Field of Glory II Trailer and LIVE PREVIEW next week!






We have great news coming from the battlefield! Field of Glory II, one of the most anticipated tabletop wargame of the year, will have a LIVE preview next week!

We will be live on Slitherine

on September 18th at 11 AM EDT / 4 PM BST / 5 PM CEST!

But news is not over, because to better celebrate this important announcement we created this just for you! (A little tip, watch the video until the very end)



Get more information about Field of Glory II from its official product page

The game will be available on Steam too! Start wishlisting it!

[Raied]

OMG, cant wait, I will be counting the days to play it

[Asid]