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This is the first of the new scenarios that I have played through to completion and I am pleased to say that it shows a high level of polish and potentially a very respectable amount of replay value, worthy of the Civ IV name
I was intially intrigued by some of the early previews that described it as a chess-like scenario, and after playing, I find that to be a very fitting description.The interesting thing about the scenario is in order to win, you have to capture Athens/Sparta, and only have 100 turns to do so. So you have to think long and hard about building certain long term investments. Wonders are powerful and add to your score, but they are expensive as well, and may leave you weak enough military-wise that you are overwhelmed by your opponent. Even settlers are a risky gambit in the context of this scenario. There are several spots on the map that would be great to build an extra city, but considering they take 15-20 turns to build and then at least that long to grow and build basic infastucture in, they may end up being a red herring. You can achieve a time victory, but upon loading up the game, they describe this as a draw.
Given the limited resources that have you access to, and the scenario's brevity, every single unit is very valuable, reinforcing the chess-like quality of the scenario. I played as the Delian League (Athens) who has the advantages of a stronger navy and wealthier, more cultured cities. The Athenians get triremes which of course own galleys for free and start off with strong techs that reinforce their science/naval focus like the one enabling triremes and constitution, The Spartans have a inland empire with more backwards cities, but they have a more powerful army. The Spartans start the game off with the dreaded Phalanxs which I had to spend a lot of time researching to gain access to as Athens. Overall though, my impression was that the two sides were pretty well balanced.
The naval aspect of the scenario is actually interesting as there is are three seafood specials within Athens' fat cross, and several other cities have some too. The Spartans do a good job of using their modest navy to harass your fishing boats. Moreover, some of your cities are on far flung islands that will require galleys to ship troops that they produce to the front lines around Athens. There is also a possibility of launching a seaborne invasion of the territory around Sparta, bypassing several tough cities that are on the way.
I think there is enough strategic diversity with the potential for a large variety of opening gambits and late-game strategies to make this scenario highly replayable. It's highly polished chess-like quality would make it a blast in multiplayer. Overall, I give this scenario two thumbs up and urge all Warlords owners to check it out. It really is a fun change of pace from the core game.
I was intially intrigued by some of the early previews that described it as a chess-like scenario, and after playing, I find that to be a very fitting description.The interesting thing about the scenario is in order to win, you have to capture Athens/Sparta, and only have 100 turns to do so. So you have to think long and hard about building certain long term investments. Wonders are powerful and add to your score, but they are expensive as well, and may leave you weak enough military-wise that you are overwhelmed by your opponent. Even settlers are a risky gambit in the context of this scenario. There are several spots on the map that would be great to build an extra city, but considering they take 15-20 turns to build and then at least that long to grow and build basic infastucture in, they may end up being a red herring. You can achieve a time victory, but upon loading up the game, they describe this as a draw.
Given the limited resources that have you access to, and the scenario's brevity, every single unit is very valuable, reinforcing the chess-like quality of the scenario. I played as the Delian League (Athens) who has the advantages of a stronger navy and wealthier, more cultured cities. The Athenians get triremes which of course own galleys for free and start off with strong techs that reinforce their science/naval focus like the one enabling triremes and constitution, The Spartans have a inland empire with more backwards cities, but they have a more powerful army. The Spartans start the game off with the dreaded Phalanxs which I had to spend a lot of time researching to gain access to as Athens. Overall though, my impression was that the two sides were pretty well balanced.
The naval aspect of the scenario is actually interesting as there is are three seafood specials within Athens' fat cross, and several other cities have some too. The Spartans do a good job of using their modest navy to harass your fishing boats. Moreover, some of your cities are on far flung islands that will require galleys to ship troops that they produce to the front lines around Athens. There is also a possibility of launching a seaborne invasion of the territory around Sparta, bypassing several tough cities that are on the way.
I think there is enough strategic diversity with the potential for a large variety of opening gambits and late-game strategies to make this scenario highly replayable. It's highly polished chess-like quality would make it a blast in multiplayer. Overall, I give this scenario two thumbs up and urge all Warlords owners to check it out. It really is a fun change of pace from the core game.
The poor AI doesn't realize how quickly catapults even pre-accuracy reduces city walls to uselessness.
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