Battles of the Ancient World Reviews

An enjoyable, but rather "lite" wargame.

It doesn't work in WIN 7. No (real) support from Hexwar. Don't buy it. 2024 update It works in WIN 10 (maybe because Microsoft is going to phase it out ... Not so bad to play 7 years after buy But very primintive (in 2017 too) controls and no possible to change side of view (Talonsoft wargames in '90 had this option)

Easy to play hex based game. You don't have to spend time to 'build your empire'. Just straight into battle.

Not a bad game, but it's not going to beat Field of Glory 2 which is probably the standard now

Update! After something that developers call 'engine update', the game stopped working on MacOS. There is no possibility to play previous version, so my money is wasted. That is what really can be called wargame. No camps/bases, no resources or making new troops, no faster-click-to-win. Small map, some time, terrain, maneuvers and your commander mind. Very refreshing after fantasy/sci-fi games where you need just rush the enemy. There you must be realistic and pragmatic, not dramatically heroic. Take with -75%. For $1 that's a perfect game!

Fun little simulator where you can fight in a number of historical battles, ranging from Meggido (the first recorded battle) to Chalons. Decent AI (even the Casual level can surprise), and good for a quick game.

Skirmishers are a little too effective and inspire some ahistorical tactics, but a good if simple game. Many scenarios, not all balanced, bur most are interesting.

Take it for what it is. Try and get it on a deal. Imagine you're not playing a video game but rather a very light war-boardgame on your laptop/pc; that is essentially what it is. Don't bother playing without historical mode turned on, and don't bother playing casual. I see a bunch of bad reviews and I really suspect these are from people not playing in historical mode and/or just in casual lol. It's good and satisfies my autism. Well done devs: a game that does what it says on the tin!

Simple but fun game. I play this on my windows tablet (easy to play without a mouse). It's just to relax and don't expect some serious wargaming experience. I think it's also available for mobile phones.

Ironically, what could be HexWar's best game for the PC has no reviews yet? That needs to be remedied. For those familiar with Matrix old Fields of Glory (FoG), this game is better in almost all respects. Graphics and animations do matter, and although I probably have 400+ custom FoG scenarios, the game just seems dull, even in multiplayer. The biggest difference in this game, compared to say HexWar's "Nuts" or "Assault on Arnhem," is that it feels like a complete game system, not a puzzle game like Arnhem. That it doesn't have an editor like FoG is to be expected for the current price of $8.99. FoG and almost all the DLC I bought cost me a fortune back in the day! What this game does have is 18 varied battles. And, hold onto your hats, the ability to easily modify most of the text files. Certainly a first for HexWar, and the reason I have less time in-game than I should have by now. I know most people simply won't do this, but simple cutting and pasting of unit names in the scenario file gives one complete freedom to replace any unit in the game system with any other. Unit strengths and weapon effects can also be easily modified. So for a tinkerer like myself, I can get a few months from the system. Only overt oversight I've noticed so far is the Combat Analysis box is rather large (my native res is 1900x1200), so in some cases it gets partially cut off the screen. Also, in the Idivisto (16 A.D.) scenario, I expected the Germans to rush me like the crazy barbarians they are, but the AI was very slow to move its units forward, so I was able to deal with them piecemeal. But in the other two scenarios I've played, the AI wasn't bad and certainly as good or better than FoG. It may also be possible to modify AI behavior in the script files. But unless you are an insane Ancients fan that can deal with the UI horror and micromanagement found in the HPS ancients series, this game has plenty of stats that should satisfy most "normal" players and includes a variety of charts to consult in-game. The aforementioned Combat Analysis box gives the average player a good feel for the potential attack, without all the bumbo jumbo that appears in FoG's detailed combat analysis function. Amazingly, this is not just another cookie cutter HexWar game, and I need to check the game credits to see who designed this thing. So far, it actually seems worthy of future DLC and/or a scenario editor, which is typically not the HexWar way of thinking. Meaning, this game seems worthy of follow-up work, but that will only happen if people buy it. Forgive me, but forget HexWar's other ported games and just get this one. It looks good, plays smoothly, is moddable and quick to play. And the battle maps I've seen so far are satisfyingly large and etailed--much more so than FoG--and contain upwards of 50+ units per side (Idivisto is one, but I haven't counted). Anyway, unlike the HPS epics, it is big enough to be satisfying and you've got a great shot at actually finishing the scenario in one sitting. For the price, I highly recommend it to novice on up to intermediate players. Even if you don't start modding the files, the 18 scenarios are more than worth the asking price. EDIT: Sorry to say, but the next reviewer is right on regarding the AI. Did too much modding before playing and got a bit too enthusiastic. It can't be that hard for HexWar to just script the AI to move its troops into the attack. If there is a scenario where that happens, I haven't played it yet. Also, been unsuccessful in modding "defensive" AI orders to "Fanatical" or anything to get them to move. My apologies for leading anyone astray on my overly optimistic review.