The following strategy games have been posted to replace the lack of a game giveaway on Sunday:
Hannibal: 2.4Mb
On the Apennine peninsula there was a small village destined for greatness. The village is now called Rome “the Eternal City”. But there was a point in time, where another city could overshadow it, could destroy it. Cartage and Rome were developing at the same time and the competition between the two became so fierce they went to war. And not just one, there were three Punic wars for the supremacy in the Mediterranean.
The most famous was the Second Punic War, when the great warlord of the Carthage army Hannibal crossed the Alps on elephant backs and attacked Romans where they least expected it. Hannibal moved his army downward throughout the entire Apennine peninsula passing the defenseless city of Rome. “Hannibal ante portas!” Romans yelled in panic, yet to their relief he did not attack it.
History never was able to fully answer why he didn’t attack. Did he fear that the Romans had a strong army protecting their capital? Was he trying to return to his homeland to help defend against a Roman counterattack? Perhaps he believed the Romans would take his campaign as a warning and a display of their own inferiority and would yield to the might of Carthage without further need for bloodshed? Whatever the reasons were, he did not attack and although a lot of the landscape was devastated, Rome itself stood unaffected. Shortly after these events, Carthage entered a treaty in which one of the conditions was that they would not have an army for any purpose. Meanwhile a Roman ally which bordered the Carthaginians began invading the Carthaginian territory. In retaliation, Carthage began mustering armies. In response to this breach of the peace treaty, Romans rallied their armies and prepared for the Third Punic War in which they demolished Carthage stone by stone with the proclamation “Carthage never more!”
It is your turn now to rewrite the history. You are put in charge of Carthage and at your disposals are some armed forces as well as the authority to gather new armies, collect taxes, and wager war… In short you are the head of the Carthaginian empire and you need to make the most of it. To learn how, refer to the manual (see the extras).
The game itself features nice graphics and includes solid sounds. The gameplay can be overwhelming at first, but once you get used to it, you’ll be quite drawn into the game. It’s a good strategic game that will require careful thinking and certain leadership skills. You’re playing the side that has lost and was pushed out of the history, so you’re the underdog in this game. That’s always a challenge. Are you ready to except it? Are you ready and able to rewrite history in this real-time strategy game? Here’s your chance to prove it!
Download:
http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/762/Hannibal.html
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Caesar II (17.5Mb)
We have all tried Sim City at one time in our lives. Some liked it, some hated it. I am one of those who hated it. The game is excellent no doubt about it, but somehow I never managed to like it. Maybe it was too straightforward… You build a house. You watch it grow. And that’s it. To me that game was missing something fundamental; ACTION!
Caesar II is another game in the same genre, but it takes off where Sim City stopped… adding more action and at some times it even resembles a strategy game, like Centurion, more than anything else. Before you start screaming for my head on a plate… Yes, Sim City had some action in the form of disasters, but Caesar II has that and more! Here barbarian hordes can attack you and riots can also occur from time to time. This keeps you on your toes as an attack can happen at any time, and when it does you had better have a militia present. So building a working army is extremely important in order to keep your province alive and growing.
The game takes place in 200 BC. in the Roman era. Your mission is to help the Caesar to expand the Roman Empire, by conquering territories on the outskirts of the map. The missions change in every place, so you will have to adapt to each one. Some may want you to build a city with a great industrial power, while others just require you to build a city with a desired number of citizens. As you progress you’ll get rewards from Rome, and even the occasional promotion. The rewards can be anything from money to new building types, so you’ll always have something new to place in the city. Remember that the Romans were notorious for living the sweet life, so they will expect Circuses, Public Baths, Theatres, Schools and so on. They never get satisfied. ;)
As for the history in the game…
What can I say? They have been working hard to get all the details correct. I have not been able to spot any flaws so far in the historical value of the game… And this comes from someone who did a whole years study in the topic. They have even included the correct attitude towards neighbourhoods… (The ancient Roman did not like to share their homes with the Militia or other workers. They didn’t like to feel common. For the ancient Romans status was everything!) The politics in the game is also excellent, as it gives you an idea of how the government in the Roman Empire worked. The forum part of the game is well made and gives you complete control of every aspect of your province. The most important function here is without a doubt the Plebs control. Plebs are used to keep your city in top shape.
It seems to me that Caesar II is flawless in every aspect of the game. The graphics are great with a lot of details on every building, and there are a lot of videos for special events. And the animated people together with the sound effects makes the game come alive.
There is only one problem. (This is not something Caesar II is responsible for, by the way). The mouse can sometimes be choppy when running in DOSbox, since the game is not 100% compatible with the program. But this does not lower the standard of the game. And so it gets a full score of 5 without a doubt!
For me this is the improved version of Sim City. So all of you, who liked that one, will definitely love this one!
You MUST extract this game on your C drive because otherwise it won't work.
Download:
http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/141/Caesar+II.html
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Imperialism: (34.5Mb)
Imperialism is a managerial strategy game that relies heavily on the management aspect.
Basically, you are the leader of one of seven great powers in a randomly generated world. In addition to these great powers, there are numerous minor powers that play important roles in the game as well.
When you first start the game, you'll probably have two excavators that look for minerals (coal, iron, etc.) in mountains and hills, one farmer to increase the output of fields (and other things) that lie strewn about the countryside, a miner who will turn mineral deposits into mines, and an engineer that is literally the basis of your economy!
Let’s start with the economy. You have things like cotton farms, orchards, cattle herds, and farms to produce resources that will in turn be used to create canned food to keep your workers happy. There are forests that provide wood for your nation, which can be used to create boards for making things like weapons, ships, furniture, etc.
You also have minerals (such as coal) that can be used in steel mills and other buildings to create... well, steel and stuff. However, don't think it's easy to get these precious resources! You need to build rail depots and railways to connect them, and that's where the engineer comes in.
In the "Transport" options tab, you can select the number of resources to transport. Transportation units usually start at around eighteen, so you don't have a lot of room. One of the first things you should look at doing is increasing this via the handy-dandy industry screen.
The first thing you'll notice is that there are tons of buildings on the industry screen! Choices range from your Capitol to a furniture factory, and all of these buildings help the economy. The best thing you can do is get everything running smoothly, but that will take a long time (for the most part). You have things like the Capitol to recruit basic workers that can be turned into soldiers or better civilians (to be used for other things like Engineers). Play around a bit. You can also upgrade many of your factories to increase exports, which you can then sell via the "Trade" tab.
Notice how this is going in a stepping-stone fashion? Now, in the "Trade" tab, we have all the mercantile resources and direct exports created by your colony. While you can't choose the selling price, you can choose the number of things you want to sell, as well as items you want to bid for that come from other nations. You can only bid for items from nations that you have "Trade Consultants/Relations" with, which brings us to the final tab, Diplomacy.
In the "Diplomacy" tab, you'll have things such as information about your nation and a world map, as well as ballot boxes for the "League of Governors" (which in turn decides how well your nation is doing on foreign policy). You can also have policies geared towards other nations (as indicated by the little scrolls tab) and can do things like build embassies, create alliances or trade consultants, declare war or peace, and perhaps even get minor nations to join your empire without war (if they like you)!
To entice nations to like you, you can go into the "Grants" tab, and give them $1,000 grants this turn, or every turn, and so on for $3,000, $5,000 and $10,000. Sadly, lots of times at the start of a game you don't have the money to do these things, and it'll usually take a couple of years to get there...
Every year has four turns: spring, summer, fall, and winter. I’m not sure if turns actually affect your industry (e.g. slows down crops in winter), or if it's just to add more realism to the game rather than going from 1815-1816 in one turn.
Occasionally, new technology will be available that'll let you build railways in new areas, or upgrade your terrain to higher levels for increased output. One of the first technologies you'll want, when it becomes available, is the "Iron Railroads" technology. This lets you build over hills, swamps, and other stuff that usually gets in the way of everything.
One thing I forgot to mention was ports. Ports do the same thing as depots, but they don't need railroad connections, and can really come in handy to quickly transport resources that you need.
Now that it's taken me forever to discuss the economic side of the game, its time to discuss the military side! You can build lots of units in this game; from skirmishers and grenadiers, to cavalry and "man of the lines" (that's a ship). Each unit will help kill your enemies ruthlessly without thought, and especially artillery when attacking enemy cities!
Wars with a minor nation are usually very easy, as they never really take offensive action. Wars with a great power are different. You'll want to fortify every one of your provinces and build fortresses in them for extra measure, but build up an offensive force as well.
One neat thing about this game, is that unlike other games where you need to load your men onto ships to transport them across bodies of water, you can just place a ship where you want to invade and tell your troops to go there (which is extremely handy, because less turns = more conquest)! One weak point about the war part of the game is that you can't invade a nation on the same turn you declare war on them.
Other than that though, Imperialism is a wonderful game and worth a try for anyone who likes the managerial genre. All in all, I rate it a 4. It does have flaws, but it's still fun.
Download:
http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/26747/Imperialism.html
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