Should I buy Rise of Rome?

[berto]

I own both Field of Glory and Storm of Arrows. I enjoy SoA for its own sake. I relish the prospect of future medieval & post-medieval expansion packs and user-created mods.

Here's a chance maybe to make another sale:

As a fan of medieval & later, is there any reason I should buy the Rise of Rome expansion?

I'm not particularly interested in ancient tactical level combat. (I have a mild interest in strategic level ancient games, just not tactical.)

I'm also not at all interested in random battles, only historical ones. Not into playing human opponents on-line either, only solo against the AI (or if need be hot-seat solitaire). So what purpose would the DAG serve me?

What if anything am I missing by not buying RoR? Will not having RoR impair my future enjoyment of medieval-and-later FoG?

[deeter]

I'm the opposite. Not really interested in medievil combat, but a big fan of ancient tactical. If you're not interested in ancients, don't get RoR. You don't need it to get all the available FoG features. SoA has DAG but far fewer hsitorical scenarios.

I would urge you to play online. It's great fun and very much more challenging than the AI. Plenty of great people online and very few jerks. Many play historical scenarios. When those get boring, DAG is the next step. Hope that helps.

Deeter

[jamespcrowley]

Berto, like you I preferred solo to PBEM in most games but the FoG system has totally converted me.

It is so easy to play and you will meet players better than you and worse than you; a bit of banter and you will win some and lose some. It is like having a very diverse AI and a load of fun.

I,too, like historical battles but the DAG matches make for some interesting and 'unscripted' battles which complement the historical fare.

Go for it; I don't think you wil be disappointed.

[berto]

Berto, like you I preferred solo to PBEM in most games but the FoG system has totally converted me... Go for it; I don't think you wil be disappointed.

Although I have very good and peculiar reasons to prefer solo play, I must admit that the Slitherine on-line gaming system beats conventional PBEM in several ways, among them: battles play out over several hours (instead of PBEM's days and weeks) and are therefore more immersive.

Not now, but someday I might submit to the enticement to play FoG on-line. But old habits die hard. And I am a very old-timer war gamer!

[hidde]

Berto, you sound exactly like me before I bought FoG. Tried PBEM for the first time ever and havn't played anything else since then!
I really wish I could find some time for Mass Effect 2, though

[petergarnett]

Sounds like you are almost as old as I am Berto. Due to circumstances I too play solo but FoG has come as a welcome change & I now also enjoy getting beaten by many new friends.

RoR has a lot more historical scenarios and I would suggest that if you only buy one non-medieval expansion it should be that one as there are now many scenarios created by players including some from the later periods.

[berto]

Sounds like you are almost as old as I am Berto. Due to circumstances I too play solo but FoG has come as a welcome change & I now also enjoy getting beaten by many new friends.

49 years as a war gamer, but I started (with Avalon Hill board games) as early as age 9! So how old does that make me? Do the math!

RoR has a lot more historical scenarios and I would suggest that if you only buy one non-medieval expansion it should be that one as there are now many scenarios created by players including some from the later periods.

So you're saying that RoR in fact has post-ancient scenarios built-in? Or it somehow makes possible later-era user-created scenarios? For instance, does it include terrain types not available in FoG & SoA? Other extensions vital to later-era scenarios? (And I don't mean DAG.)

[petergarnett]

Sounds like you are almost as old as I am Berto. Due to circumstances I too play solo but FoG has come as a welcome change & I now also enjoy getting beaten by many new friends.

49 years as a war gamer, but I started (with Avalon Hill board games) as early as age 9! So how old does that make me? Do the math!

RoR has a lot more historical scenarios and I would suggest that if you only buy one non-medieval expansion it should be that one as there are now many scenarios created by players including some from the later periods.

So you're saying that RoR in fact has post-ancient scenarios built-in? Or it somehow makes possible later-era user-created scenarios? For instance, does it include terrain types not available in FoG & SoA? Other extensions vital to later-era scenarios? (And I don't mean DAG.)

It doesn't include them but is needed I believe to play some of the custom scenarios which players have posted to the forums (under Scenario Design). If you look there you will see whether there are any of interest to you.

I started around the same age but with SPI & plastic soldiers.

[honestabe]

Sadly whatever you buy you're still going to be stuck with a very poor AI. Think about what you're paying for if you're a solo player. 3 different boxes but the same engine and AI. So figure what $90 for a pile of crap that won't be any challenge or fun to play against. I guess if you can play against yourself and find fun in that then you might get your money's worth out of it. I never could do that though and never found any fun playing against myself as I always win no matter.

Slitherine should stop producing expansions and FIX the GD AI to be challenging imho. I won't waste anymore money on this series until they do. You might as well go out and buy $90 worth of comic books you'll get about the same enjoyment but at least in 100 years they will be worth something.

[Toby42]

Sadly whatever you buy you're still going to be stuck with a very poor AI. Think about what you're paying for if you're a solo player. 3 different boxes but the same engine and AI. So figure what $90 for a pile of crap that won't be any challenge or fun to play against. I guess if you can play against yourself and find fun in that then you might get your money's worth out of it. I never could do that though and never found any fun playing against myself as I always win no matter.

Slitherine should stop producing expansions and FIX the GD AI to be challenging imho. I won't waste anymore money on this series until they do. You might as well go out and buy $90 worth of comic books you'll get about the same enjoyment but at least in 100 years they will be worth something.

I'm not sure why you even bother hanging out and commenting here?????

[Xiggy]

I like playing online. I learn a lot from each game. I wish there was a replay feature to go look at my successes and failures. All the people I have played are helpful and show me things I did not know about the rules. I have 5-8 games going concurrently and do 2-3 turns a night. I am as old as Berto. Started with avalon hill games ,then eventually played miniatures. I think you will enjoy the online experience.

[berto]

I own both Field of Glory and Storm of Arrows... Here's a chance maybe to make another sale:

What the heck. Sale made. I bought the RoR expansion. Bring on the mayhem!

[deeter]

And then you can get Immortal Fire -- the next expansion that introduces Persians, Spartans and all kinds of other neat stuff. If you venture online, I'd be glad to play you and off some tips. It really is the best way to enjoy FoG.

Deeter