In early August, I had the opportunity and pleasure to sit down with Brian Reynolds, President of Big Huge Games, to talk about his company's upcoming real-time strategy game, Rise of Nations, in his summer home situated in the beautiful 1000 Islands region of southeastern Ontario. This is the third part of the preview based on that conversation. This portion highlights a discussion on trading, city improvements, national bondaries, units/warfare, game settings, micromanagement and even two "what's in" exclusives. You'll hear all about RoN from the main man himself.
WARFARE INCORPORATED
In Part 2, we concentrated moderately on the warfare aspects of Rise of Nations; today, we continue to do so at an even more involved level. As has been previously highlighted in numerous gaming site previews and developer diaries, each nation has its own special ability. For example, the Russians have the Russian winter whereby If you were to go into their territory you take, you'll take attrition damage just by being in that space. This was previously discussed in our most recent installment on the game, yes, except one simple yet significant difference applies in this case: even if you are at war with Russia, the said condition is true. You'll probably want to bring along extra Supply Wagons…
At the beginning of a game, you start with melee units that run around and stab at each other. This is but one type of tactic. If you're trying to attack really early in the game to knock your opponents off their balance, you will be fighting with these kinds of weapons along with clunky Siege units that take a while to do much with but are very effective, especially against permanent structures. In another scenario, let's say you attack a unit represented by three men, each used to demonstrate available flanks. You outnumber your opponents' army but you have no Siege units at your disposal – and they do.
“It's going to be pretty bloody if I just go in forward like that”, Reynolds warns me.
Be certain when deciding on attack strategies to keep both the number and type of units at your beckon command at the forefront of your planning decision. For instance, go after the flanks of an enemy with the same number of units that they posses that was once a trumping by the opposing side can quickly turn into a victory for your troops. Accordingly, you can classify different unit corps such as 1st and 2nd infantries. In doing so, you can then use your number pad (or standard 'line' if you prefer) to effortlessly switch between the different groups regardless of where they are on the map and what they are presently engaged in. Remember that different units have different kinds of strengths and weaknesses that must be taken into consideration if you are to truly master your military campaigns. A case in point: the catapult and its successor, the cannon, have good 'splash damage' which makes them invaluable in bombarding ground troops situated together – say, an opponent's 1st and 2nd infantries for example.
Rise Up: Reynolds On RoN 
