I really enjoyed the demo (being a fan of Fantasy General, hard not too -- on a sad note, I still have the disks but it doesn't run on XP).
However, based on the inevitable comparisons w/ FG, I have some gameplay questions:
1) Does a player "accrue" an army throughout the campaign?
The idea that how the results of one battle impacted the entire war experience was a great element in FG as well as the fear that experienced units would be lost forever really made me focus on maximizing results in a given campaign. (anything that eliminates Zerg as a successful tactic is good in my mind)
2) Does the hard difficulty level lead to a smarter AI (rather than just tougher/more AI units)?
Admittedly, I have been lazy and only played normal so far; however, I would rate the AI as okay . . . (good -- ensured they finished an opponent bad -- could have made better use of archers and should have withdrawn from certain positions)
3) Do the maps and terrain vary enough to *require* mixed-unit tactics?
One thing I loved about FG was the inability to use the same tactics as the campaign moved to different continents. The first continent could be won almost exclusively with Cavalry and Air units, while the jungle (2nd continent, iirc) required lots of heavy and light infantry. And of course, the final battles needed tons of artillery . . .
Those questions aside, I am very happy to see a game developer breath some new life into the pure Turn-Based Strategy games, esp. since it is in my favorite genre -- fantasy.
Llyad, command-in-chief of my own mind (barely)
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