The Download Munkey : Download This, Download That :)

After playing (and mismanaging the civil administration) in Rome : Total War for the past month or so, I find myself increasingly drawn towards the smaller scale and shorter battles in Slitherine Software’s Legion Arena instead.

Like Rome : Total War, you engage in tactical combat as the Romans against their enemies such as the Samnites, Gauls and Carthaginians. There’s also a shorter Celt campaign which is only unlocked after the main Roman campaign is completed. The Celt campaign requires slightly different tactics and strategies with their more offensively-oriented troop choices like the Celt naked fanatics as opposed to the more disciplined and tactically-flexible Roman legionnaires. For a preview of some of the historically-based battles you’ll fight in the two campaigns, check out the official Legion Arena site.

Early missions involve less than ten units on both sides on tiny battlefields (above). Before long, you’re tasked to take on the Gauls and Carthaginians in massive battles (below)

Each campaign is simply a string of set-piece battles lasting not more than five to ten minutes each, after which denarii (Roman currency) is rewarded to you to upgrade the weapons and equipment for existing units as well as to recruit new units to your army. Requistioning of replacements for casualties in your existing units is done by way of fame points which are generously allocated under the easier difficulty settings. Units with sufficient combat experience can be promoted which grants them statistics and skill increases as well as specialist combat skills like anti-cavalry bonuses or additional formations (below).

Unlike in Rome : Total War, you not only deploy your units before the battle proper, but also issue them default movement orders like advance to contact, charge or outflank the enemy. You’ll still be able to command them once the battle starts, but each command you give expends order points (slowly regenerates during battle) with better trained veteran units requiring less points to command, which I think simulates the nature of ancient warfare very nicely. The tactical engine is no slouch too and mistakes are severely punished in the later missions, like this massacre of cavalry (below) which futilely attempted to attack infantry in the close confines of a dense forest. Morale is also modelled in this game quite convincingly which is essential in ancient wars where enemies were more often defeated by routing them off the field rather than killing them to a man.

While Rome : Total War definitely has better graphics and a wider variety of units, gamers on a limited playtime may find the shorter missions and RPG aspects in Legion Arena more feasible. It also helps that Legion Arena is currently published as a Replaygem title in SG retailing at the very affordable price of $9.95

There’s the prerequisite war elephants in this game of course, but fans of siege warfare may be disappointed as Legion Arena only features field battles.

Download the 233MB demo or the 1.010 patch if you already have the game.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Viva Caligula - Bloody Flash Game
Osprey Publishing’s Military Art “Advent Calendar” - Romans, Vikings and More!