

Keep it in the game long enough, and it sprouts into some serious firepower. Some units even grow up into entirely different creatures, like the Draconian Hatchling. Mostly because it’s usually possible – although overwhelming numbers generally win out, your troops gain veterancy and skill with it, so keeping stuff alive is always worth it. Puzzling out the best way to use whatever you’ve brought with you to beat a foe is always entertaining.

Even the battlemap hides depth, with unit facing, morale and cover all playing a part. Most units come with a long list of labels and abilities covering their strengths and weaknesses. There’s plenty of depth, however, so don’t mistake accessibility with simplicity.
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The in-game help manual is excellent, with every tactical tip quickly at your hand along with entertaining snippets of lore to wash it down with. You can found new cities and spread out fast, or concentrate in a few mighty fortresses, and you’ll quickly find the skills to help your chosen playstyle along. You’ll research new spells and abilities at a rate of knots, so there’s always new toys to play with in your already generously-filled pram. This is a streamlined game dedicated to keeping the action moving. That’s not a problem at all – the speed at which it runs is extremely welcome. I challenge even the most leadenly serious fantasy-ist to take an army of holy winged dwarves against an army of, say, seductive batwinged goblins and not giggle a little bit.Ĭloser still, and it’s all coming to life… Because you can, and if it’s a little silly from time to time, that’s a big part of the fun. Or giants, or dragons, or killer penguins. You zoom into the action and take control of your myriad of creatures, pitting flying dragonmen against exploding spy drones or giant snakes. Undead, steampunk, fey – it’s all game.īest of all, when your armies battle, they can do so in a turn-based close-up fight. It’s also very much a fantasy mash-up, with pretty much anything you might find in your local nerdy hobby store featured in some way. It’s set a little apart from that by its refusal to take itself too seriously, with a pleasingly light tone in its background fluff. The game is a turn-based, 4X fantasy empire management, set in a hex-gridded world instantly recognisable to any Tolkien derivative. It’s just the new tactical map zoomed out. This isn’t a screenshot from the original.
