Pike and Shot : Campaigns

Buyer beware, this game isn't for everyone. I'm an old school wargamer (paper maps and counters on a basement tabletop) from when this was considered a nerdish hobby for warmongers. For this group this game gets a thumbs up. I've actually played three of the 30 Years War battles here as tabletop games from the SPI 30 Years War Quad: Lutzen, Breitenfeld and Rocroi. Warfare in the age of pike and shot is very attritional, which is to say tedious. There's lots of just standing there and shooting back and forth. The map space for most of the battles here doesn't allow any real maneuver. The basic strategy for each battle is predetermined, the tactics of how to fight it is sorta up to you. Sorta because the game is Roshambo at its core. Some units are the antidote to others and it's up to you to figure out what works against what. But there seems to be a large luck factor added into the combats (I'd guess a D100 is rolled) because the exact same matchups will yield widely varying results at times. I played each 30 Years War historical scenario until I won it (which was never the first go). I tried my hand at several campaigns but kept losing. The enemy moving second and grabb…

I want to preface this by saying you should probably buy this game if you know what it is an you like real war gaming. However, I can't recommend this game because it is Carpal Tunnel the simulator. The interface and way you interact with the game takes so many clicks that it rally makes things difficult. I think a lot of the improvements made in Field of Glory 2 would do well imported into this game, although I also think that game also needs a better way of interacting with the game as well. You also can't fully rotate the camera around nor re-bind hotkeys which a real oversight in today's times as well. I'd love an updated for that. Otherwise you have a great game here. Good unit variety, a lot of battles and series of campaigns, and the overworld strategy mode is also fun too (although its hard!). Great game in terms of rules and gameplay.

A really intriguing look into the mechanics and challenges of battle in the early modern period. Despite a fairly narrow focus on the battles themselves the slimmed-down campaign mechanics still help give some welcome framework and context to the action on the field.

Well, I don't know how I missed this game for as long as I did but I'm glad I found it now and it's only getting better as I do my fiddling with the look of it all.

this is like Field of Glory, I don't like field of Glory

7 hours on Steam; thousands on beta test from the very beginning. This game is a masterpiece in everything, the true feeling of a tabletop wargame with miniatures in 15mm or 6mm, and now with tons of scenarios and mods like the Age of Reason one, Pike and Shot is a must have for every wargamer.