Do you have to buy Rise of Rome to get Line of Sight option?

[OxfordGuy3]

I see that Fog of War is listed as having a Line of Sight option, do you have to buy this expansion to get this, or is this now available in current patches of FoG?

I've been hankering to get FoG for a while, but am more interested in the later period (e.g. Storm of Arrows), but would very much like to have a Line of Sight option, as fog of war is really an essential part of many battles. I would be interested in playing the early Roman Period too, but don't you get much of that in the base game anyway, at least for Gaul and Britain, which is my main interest for that period?

[OxfordGuy3]

Anyone?

[Jonathan4290]

With the base game, you get tons of scenarios but only the Carthaginians and Romans to build your own DAG armies. Id strongly recommend getting the Rise of Rome expansion (it's many players' favourites) and Storm of Arrows if you're interested in that period. Of course, play the base game and make sure you like the game but I'm not sure how you couldn't as it has a lot of depth.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure with even 1.81 version you get line of sight/fog of war.

[OxfordGuy3]

With the base game, you get tons of scenarios but only the Carthaginians and Romans to build your own DAG armies.

So when it says: "Play as Achaean League, Carthage, Caledonians, Gaul, Germanic Tribes, Macedonians, Spartacus Slave Revolt, Romans or even Romans vs. Romans at Pharsalus." - does it mean you can only play as Caledonians, Gaul etc, in the scenarios, but not build your own Gaul etc. DAG armies? Do you need Rise of Rome for that?

Id strongly recommend getting the Rise of Rome expansion (it's many players' favourites) and Storm of Arrows if you're interested in that period. Of course, play the base game and make sure you like the game but I'm not sure how you couldn't as it has a lot of depth.

Are there many people playing Storm of Arrows PBEM? I understand the AI is weak in this game, so I was assuming, once I've learnt the basics, that PBEM is the way to go, but want to make sure I pick an expansion that has some available opponents! I'll probably just start with the base game, though

BTW is the PBEM secure? i.e. is it impossible (or at least difficult) for players to cheat in PBEM? This hasn't always been the case with Slitherine's games...

[Jonathan4290]

With the base game, you get tons of scenarios but only the Carthaginians and Romans to build your own DAG armies.

So when it says: "Play as Achaean League, Carthage, Caledonians, Gaul, Germanic Tribes, Macedonians, Spartacus Slave Revolt, Romans or even Romans vs. Romans at Pharsalus." - does it mean you can only play as Caledonians, Gaul etc, in the scenarios, but not build your own Gaul etc. DAG armies? Do you need Rise of Rome for that?

Correct. To build your own armies and play against other DAG armies, you need an expansion which has 30-40 or so DAG armies. Playing DAG armies is a great part of the game and is where the most balanced, competitive, and organized game play is. Digital League (which will begin again in new version) uses primarily DAG competitions.

Id strongly recommend getting the Rise of Rome expansion (it's many players' favourites) and Storm of Arrows if you're interested in that period. Of course, play the base game and make sure you like the game but I'm not sure how you couldn't as it has a lot of depth.

Are there many people playing Storm of Arrows PBEM? I understand the AI is weak in this game, so I was assuming, once I've learnt the basics, that PBEM is the way to go, but want to make sure I pick an expansion that has some available opponents! I'll probably just start with the base game, though

BTW is the PBEM secure? i.e. is it impossible (or at least difficult) for players to cheat in PBEM? This hasn't always been the case with Slitherine's games...

Storm of Arrows is pretty popular yes. They're not really separate games remember, it's just what DAG armies and scenarios that are available to you. You can play Storm of Arrows armies against Decline and Fall armies with both expansions if you want to play by time rather than geography so much. Digital League is organized into 3-4 time periods for example. Regardless of which expansion(s) you buy, you'll find opponents. There is this weird thing on the FOG multiplayer though where players rarely post challenges but if you post a challenge yourself, a player will pick it up pretty quick. No one's quite figured it out.

PBEM is pretty secure as far I know. Some players who have been around longer may remember otherwise as the old way of cheating was turning off your computer before uploading your turn to server if it didn't go well. However, Slitherine now tracks this and will send warnings if it detects strange behaviour (I got one on my old computer in the week before it finally died for good). Also, in the very rare times I've had to replay a turn because my laptop died, the dice rolls ended up exactly the same somehow. Players are also pretty good about sportsmanship etc anyways from my experience.

[OxfordGuy3]

Thanks, that's all useful to know!

[cothyso]

I see that Fog of War is listed as having a Line of Sight option, do you have to buy this expansion to get this, or is this now available in current patches of FoG?

I've been hankering to get FoG for a while, but am more interested in the later period (e.g. Storm of Arrows), but would very much like to have a Line of Sight option, as fog of war is really an essential part of many battles. I would be interested in playing the early Roman Period too, but don't you get much of that in the base game anyway, at least for Gaul and Britain, which is my main interest for that period?

In both FoG(RB) and FoG(U) in order to have access to any book addon you need to have the base game, and with it, you have access to all engine's functionalities (ie latest version of the game). The addons just provide access to additional scenarios and DAG armies. Any engine updates coming with any new patch/addon is freely available to anyone (having the base game).

[OxfordGuy3]

I see that Fog of War is listed as having a Line of Sight option, do you have to buy this expansion to get this, or is this now available in current patches of FoG?

I've been hankering to get FoG for a while, but am more interested in the later period (e.g. Storm of Arrows), but would very much like to have a Line of Sight option, as fog of war is really an essential part of many battles. I would be interested in playing the early Roman Period too, but don't you get much of that in the base game anyway, at least for Gaul and Britain, which is my main interest for that period?

In both FoG(RB) and FoG(U) in order to have access to any book addon you need to have the base game, and with it, you have access to all engine's functionalities (ie latest version of the game). The addons just provide access to additional scenarios and DAG armies. Any engine updates coming with any new patch/addon is freely available to anyone (having the base game).

Okay, that's great, thanks