Games Thursday : Lord Monarch

Thursday, October 8th, 2009, 12:00 amRoys0 comments

Downloaded this free Falcom game Lord Monarch at the same time as Vantage Master Online (two years back!) but didn’t get the hang of it until recently. It’s actually quite fun once you understand how to effectively command your troops in battle.

Lord Monarch is essentially a grand strategy game where you have to defeat and destroy your opponents by conquering and holding to their territory. More territory means more troops for your military maneuvers and troops are the only resource that is important in Lord Monarch. Everything else is pretty much abstracted out in its depiction of military power since the army with the most troops always wins.

The modelling of war might seem simplistic but this is what makes Lord Monarch so fun because only the strategic skill of opposing commanders will make or break their armies fighting in the field. By default, settlements in friendly territory will generate troops at regular intervals who will then expand your territory by building more settlements or rush to the nearest skirmish in scattered little units. While this automatic behaviour is usually sufficient when there are no huge enemy armies rampaging nearby, challenging an enemy with superior numbers in this way is akin to throwing eggs against a stone wall. You can adjust the default orders by right clicking anywhere in the map – you’ll also need to click Start in the same menu to actually commence each level too

A competent commander will assemble troops behind the frontlines into larger armies to defend chokepoints, open multiple fronts, conduct raids or simply as a reserve for future operations. Raiding is particularly effective as it diverts enemy troops from the front lines and temporarily disrupts the quantity of enemy reinforcements from the captured settlements until they are retaken.

Building up an army to assault the enemy stronghold

Securing the bridge

To amass a huge army, left click to select one of your units, left click the location where you want it to assemble and then select Standby from the popup menu. Troops moving towards that unit will then join the army while it waits for your next order.

Once the army is large enough, select it and give a destination by left clicking and choose Standby to advance to the new position while your reinforcements mop up all resistance in its wake. Alternatively order it to Build or Destroy, the latter commanding it to wipe out all opposition before settling in.

Blocking reinforcements from the enemy castle while another army destroys all in its path

Supply is equally abstracted in Lord Monarch. An army isolated in the midst of enemy territory will eventually bleed itself dry from prolonged combat as it can only receive reinforcements from settlements that are not blocked by enemy armies. Also, troops that are not in a settlement slowly lose strength.

Lord Monarch is not always about war in the traditional sense – this stage requires you to dominate over 3 other rival fast food chains

To advance to the next stage, you need to complete the map within the alloted number of days. If you find the days run by too fast, adjust the game speed by moving the slider to the left in the progress window (below).