Strategic Studies Group
Jun 09 2020
I was listening to a recent Designer Notes podcast interview with Roger Keating and it reminded me that Strategic Studies Group made some great games and they were known for having great AI that didn't have to cheat to be challenging. I just wrote about Reach for the Stars and I think I played Battlefront or maybe Decisive Battles of the American Civil War v1.
It was a fairly standard wargame (for the time) with the key being you were army commander. You could tell units to where to go but it was up to the local commander to actually execute the order. Units would delay, take unexpected paths, attack the wrong target, break off and retreat on their own. It was impossible to have multiple units coordinate an attack. It feels very ACW so maybe that was the game I played but I did get frustrated with the game.
But the main game I want to talk about is Warlords which I played on a Mac. A fantasy turn-based conquest game. You have cities, each which produces a specific unit type. Eight races each which starts at a set location and the map is also unchanging. This meant that each player had a fairly limited set of strategies due to nearby terrain and opponents but it also meant you could master each race and they gave you different gaming experiences.
A few things I remember.
You could raze cities and create a firebreak. Computer players generally attacked nearby cities but if those cities were razed they'd attack in a different direction.
Some cities (I think in the corners) were always targeted. Players would create a flying squadron and send them on long range attack.
Eight races (all in play), several unit types, occasional heroes that could lead a squadron (for attack bonus) or be used to hunt for artifacts (which gave combat bonuses).
Computer players on max level were aggressive and good at efficiently taking over cities. For most races I used the raze-cities-and-create-fire-breaks, though the Elves (basic unit quick to build and forest bonus when everyone else has a forest penalty) I could forgo that strategy.
I played Warlords II or III and it was not as good. Extra features and more randomized starts kind of overcomplicates the simplicity of Warlords. There is a Warlords iOS app which I have but rarely play because the UI is hard to use. Warlords was designed as keyboard and mouse so touch-only is tedious.
It was a fairly standard wargame (for the time) with the key being you were army commander. You could tell units to where to go but it was up to the local commander to actually execute the order. Units would delay, take unexpected paths, attack the wrong target, break off and retreat on their own. It was impossible to have multiple units coordinate an attack. It feels very ACW so maybe that was the game I played but I did get frustrated with the game.
But the main game I want to talk about is Warlords which I played on a Mac. A fantasy turn-based conquest game. You have cities, each which produces a specific unit type. Eight races each which starts at a set location and the map is also unchanging. This meant that each player had a fairly limited set of strategies due to nearby terrain and opponents but it also meant you could master each race and they gave you different gaming experiences.
A few things I remember.
You could raze cities and create a firebreak. Computer players generally attacked nearby cities but if those cities were razed they'd attack in a different direction.
Some cities (I think in the corners) were always targeted. Players would create a flying squadron and send them on long range attack.
Eight races (all in play), several unit types, occasional heroes that could lead a squadron (for attack bonus) or be used to hunt for artifacts (which gave combat bonuses).
Computer players on max level were aggressive and good at efficiently taking over cities. For most races I used the raze-cities-and-create-fire-breaks, though the Elves (basic unit quick to build and forest bonus when everyone else has a forest penalty) I could forgo that strategy.
I played Warlords II or III and it was not as good. Extra features and more randomized starts kind of overcomplicates the simplicity of Warlords. There is a Warlords iOS app which I have but rarely play because the UI is hard to use. Warlords was designed as keyboard and mouse so touch-only is tedious.