Wars of Succession Reviews

It is a good, historic strategy game. There are two wars going on at the same time. I enjoy playing both.

"...We thought we successfully encircled Eugene of Savoy. Locked in Parma, surrounded by our juggernaut of the army, it was to be his end. But we underestimated the will and the training of his men. Our 70-thousand strong force charged his meek army of 21k once, we charged the second time - and we lost 15 thousand men against his six. Then he countercharged and broke through our lines, and walked free, undefeated, again. I wish though the strategic AI wasn't so stupid." Luis de Nofun, letters, 1753

Buggy and AI cheats. Had enough after a major army under a good leader refused to move for six moves in a row. Map is hard to read once counters get crowded, especially around the Netherlands. Interesting subject and not a bad concept but just infuriatingly buggy and cheaty.

This is the AGE engine game that taught me how to play these titles and opened up the door to many great experiences, such as Pride of Nations, Civil War II and more. For starters, other Ageod titles such as Civil War II and Rise of Prussia: Gold, have more complicated military organization, including corps, and brigades. These are not present in Wars of Succession, which really gives you as the player a chance to work on good balanced army composition and learning the supply system. I am constantly reading and writing when I’m not playing video games, so when people say “read the manual” I sigh, knowing that I’ll probably fall asleep halfway through it. Here’s the deal with Wars of Succession. I played the Italian scenario over and over as the Bourbons after only reading how the supply system worked and other than having to fart around clicking on stuff to get the tooltip and an occasional glance at the manual, I've been good to go, and I'm not a genius. If you have always wanted to learn this engine, I think this is a great entry point. Many people say Alea Jacta Est is also a great jumping in point, but I personally have never tried it. As for the game itself, it nails the time period, and having to plan an offensive over multiple months while anticipating the Spring thaw is thrilling. Shelter in the Winter (enter structure in the special instructions), build depots every few regions as you go forward, and rotate your supply wagons constantly. An army marches on its stomach, and this game is quick to remind you of that, but once you get supply down, this game is amazing. I have also had zero stability issues, which with games on this engine can be hit or miss.

After playing more than half a dozen ageod games this one captures the period as well if not better than the others covered there periods. As with all these games the dictum of an army marches on its stomach is the over riding governing principle ignore that and your armies simply melt away. The policy and decree actions in this game give its real feel of the wars it covers, and also though turns still take time it doesn't crash anywhere near as much as the earlier games. So if your a wargamer this is one to get the next time its on special.

Another great game from Ageod, and there is no better set of games if you want to feel the strategic and operational challenges of a military campaign in the age of musket. I do hope the engine gets updated in my lifetime (e.g. screen gets 'laggy' if you zoom out and my PC is pretty decent) but this is not something that breaks the game for me. Thumbs up!!

Hardcore, Grand Strategy title. No crashes 7.1 hours in but lots of fun. Not for the casuals, not for the feint hearted but if you like to feel like a commander thinking over and over again about supply problems and maneuvers on a huge map go for it. Youll get 100s of hours out of both campaigns. End turn times can be a bit long though.

Problems: -Turn processing takes FOREVER -Bugged events still exist (I'm looking at you Savoy) -GA can land on the French coast and take Paris immediately upon entry into the war, ending the war vs the AI (WSS) That being said it is (IMO) the BEST of AGEODs games. The period is one I have (had) little knowledge of. The forces opposed to one another (once again I am speaking of the War of Spanish Succession) are varied and interesting. I love the game. If it processed faster I'd have a thousand hours in it. Beautiful. Interesting. This is a diamond in the rough.

This is one of the easier AGEOD games to get into, there's still so much nuance however. It's best to start in the Italian Scenario and be able to consistently win on both sides before expanding your view outward to the grander campaigns. This game is really worth picking up if you wish to learn of the history and military strategy of the day, though it is brought down by the ancient engine it is used on. Fortunately, Slitherine has confirmed this is the last AGEOD game on this engine, as a new one is in the works, which is what we should all be looking out for. Either way, this is a great game to add to your selection.

Its turn 38 in the Great Northern War and my PBEM opponent playing Karl XXI, the young king and a genius at war, have been steamrolling his way deep into the polish heartland, pushing away any opposition with ease. Now however he is starting to feel the sting of my scorched earth tactics as he grinds his way towards Ukraine. Crappy roads, russian winter and infrastructure will wither his invicible forces down. It isnt glorious but its the only way I can win this. Loving it! True warfare!