AGEOD Forums

AJE team, I have a request.

You have designed, developed, and perfected the best game ever on Ancient warfare, one that is a joy and delight to play.

I know you could do justice to the campaigns of Belisarius, one of the greatest of all generals, and perhaps the most loyal and honorable. Scenarios could include...

The war with Persia

The reconquest of Africa from the Vandals

The Reconquest of Italy from the Visigoths

Totila's revolt against the Byzantines

A what if scenario covering what would have happened if Belisarius had accepted the throne offered him by the Ostrogoths, and revolted against Justinian

The game would highlight the Byzantine military system, based on Cataphracts who were highly effective horse archers as well as heavy lancers, and a host of unit types of the period, including Hunnic mercenaries, Isaurian infantry, The huge and elite bodyguard of Belisarius, the military systems of the Ostrogoths, Vandals, Persian Sassanid empire, Franks, who depended on infantry using throwing axes, Visigoths, North African tribes, Bulgars, and others, and a host of special events.

How about it?

Regards,

Vaalen

Yes, yes, a most excellent idea.

But there's so much more then Belisarius:

Civil wars, internal riots, the Persian wars, the Avars and Slavs, Arabs bursting forth under Islam, Basil the Bulgur Slayer, Magyars, the Rus and their massive naval attack, Patzinaks, Jewish Khazaria, Seljuk Turks, Crusaders, the Latin Empire, Venice, the Ottoman Turks and many, many more.

Sign me up!

Most interesting indeed. An exciting period of time. I believe that would need new graphics though

An excellent idea!

I still feel that AJE is the best Ageod title ever. The system works so well here and the amount of micromanagement is not excessive. Besides, it's such a fascinating period of history!

I'm really hoping that this is not the last we'll see about the ancient wars and campaigns from Ageod...

I checked the game's DB, looks like 90% of graphics needed (mostly for units) are there. What may be missing are a few (rare) units and mostly some leaders. Otherwise, the assets are present. Of course, that would require an analysis of the OOBs and starting territories of the different factions, and then a list of interesting events and options.

Belisarius scenarios would be a great addition to AJE.

The subject is slightly obscure, but thanks to Total War Rome 2 people have actually heard of the reconquest.

But there are still quite a few things missing from the base game (e.g. provinces with mangled names or names in the wrong place on the map), and coming up with a package that also had high popular recognition wouldn't be that difficult.

Everybody has heard of Cleopatra, and what's missing from the game is a scenario that covers the civil war between Octavian and Antony.

The naval war leading up to Actium was fascinating, and didn't have to end up getting resolved in one climactic naval battle.

And having a scenario about Cleopatra would give you an excuse for an iconic box cover.

Sure, but strangely enough it does not seem to motivate the team May be they are fed up with so many TV series and Hollywood movies on the subject... I believe however it would make for an interesting DLC subject.

I really really hope that you guys give AJE one last love and release a final DLC. This is probably the best game you've made (in my humble opinion of course).

PhilThib wrote:I checked the game's DB, looks like 90% of graphics needed (mostly for units) are there. What may be missing are a few (rare) units and mostly some leaders. Otherwise, the assets are present. Of course, that would require an analysis of the OOBs and starting territories of the different factions, and then a list of interesting events and options.

It looks like this could really be done, and I deeply hope it will be!

In anticipation of another AJE DLC...

[ATTACH]39153[/ATTACH]

-C

+1. how about a Kickstarter?

My own preference is for a Caesar in Gaul dlc, but I'll take whatever I can get. I agree that AJE is the best of AGEOD.

Philippe wrote:Belisarius scenarios would be a great addition to AJE.

The subject is slightly obscure, but thanks to Total War Rome 2 people have actually heard of the reconquest.

But there are still quite a few things missing from the base game (e.g. provinces with mangled names or names in the wrong place on the map), and coming up with a package that also had high popular recognition wouldn't be that difficult.

Everybody has heard of Cleopatra, and what's missing from the game is a scenario that covers the civil war between Octavian and Antony.

The naval war leading up to Actium was fascinating, and didn't have to end up getting resolved in one climactic naval battle.

And having a scenario about Cleopatra would give you an excuse for an iconic box cover.

+1000

It would be nice to hear from the team on this. I hope they are considering it.

By the way, for those who are interested in the period, I highly recommend the novel "Count Belisarius", by Robert Graves.
Though it is told from the view point of a fictional character, the history is solid, the battle descriptions are detailed, historical, and magnificent. It is also one of the best written and most moving books I have ever read.

To be honest, I really have very little interest in Belisarius or his era as a subject however I will certainly buy any DLC for the AJE franchise. Much preferred from my desk would be the Gallic wars or Octavian's civil wars as suggested above or turning back the clock to the Peloponnesian or Persian wars. The AGE 2.0 engine does such an excellent job recreating ancient campaigns that one could insert most pre-gunpowder situations into the game given the sort of competent execution that we've seen from the Team. That said, on a personal list of potential DLC, I doubt that Belisarius would even appear on my list.

-C

I will also be interest in more DLC for AJE. This is my favourite game from AGEOD. I don´t have any preferences, but I think it would be a good idea include at least one very famous conflict to catch the attention of the general public. The civil war between Octavian and Antony could be the main candidate for this.

Belisarius and Justinian's reconquest are a wonderful subject, but probably don't have the name recognition of the Gallic Wars.


Most people have heard of Caesar in Gaul. Rome II Total War had a DLC that covered it, and it was the subject of Hegemony Rome the Rise of Caesar.



The imagery is pretty striking, and if you started life in French schools your ears are still ringing with "Nos ancestres, les Gaulois".







But depictions of Cleopatra capture the imagination and can be downright lurid. There's a lot more going on than Hollywood and Liz Taylor.

Philippe wrote:If you started life in French schools your ears are still ringing with "Nos ancestres, les Gaulois".

This expression was in usage in 19th and early 20th century school books (Lavisse, Malet-Isaac), but it's not taught anymore in school.
If you except its totally wrong assertion, as France is the product of various cultural mixes across the centuries, this expression is now used to point out colonial system absurdity when every children in french schools through the empire used the same books.



For a lighter note, here is a Cleopatra to add to your collection :


Cabanel, Cleopatra Testing Poisons on Condemned Prisoners

The Gallic Wars is a nightmare to do in a computer game (because of the succession of "events"), unless you do 1 scenario for each year...but making the whole story from the 58BC intervention against the Helvetii till the last siege in 51BC (and not 52BC at Alesia as everyone believes) is impossible to ensure a 'similar' flow and succession of events.

Lots of little scenarios would be the way to go, with each scenario covering a campaign/battle/incident.

That makes the player comfortable that he's experiencing the historical flow of events. And it's probably easier on the AI.

And the Vercingetorix rebellion scenario is not exactly small.

The Cleopatra scenario could be included in the package as a bonus.

Another scenario that could be thrown in is one covering Antony and Octavian's civil war against the tyrannicides which ended at the battle of Philippi.

I have played a boardgame of the Gallic wars, that broke the war up into individual campaigns. The problem was that Caesar and his Legions are invincible, and the Gauls are divided. With one exception, the campaigns are a cakewalk for the Romans, much like the real campaign. But the Vercingetorix revolt was much harder for the Romans, and they could have lost. I can see a very interesting scenario based on that revolt.

As for the Cleopatra scenario, the actual campaign was not competitive. There was one large naval battle, during which Cleopatra fled with her fleet, the Antonine fleet was totally destroyed, and both Anthony and Cleopatra committed suicide.

Interestingly enough, some Roman historians considered Cleopatra to be the greatest threat to Rome since Hannibal, but not because of her military prowess. She first seduced Caesar, then Anthony, after Caesar's murder, and the fear was that she controlled both of them, which may or may not be true. But it does seem that her relationship with Caesar may have been a large factor in the plot to kill him.

The Actium campaign was competitive. Antony thought he was about to invade Italy, and got suckered into leaving his army and fleet in an impossible logistical position on the southern side of the Ambracian gulf. Agrippa's fleet had a lot of light Liburnian galleys, and he proceeded to wage a guerilla war of attrition up and down the east coast of Greece against Antony's naval supply lines. Supplies ran out, cohesion dwindled, and Antony finally came to terms with the fact that he wasn't about to invade Italy and was sitting in the wrong place. Agrippa and Octavian won the battle of Actium before it even started, but the battle was a by-product of bad strategic decisions. If the campaign had been played differently the battle of Actium never would have happened, and a confrontation between the two forces when one of them wasn't already falling apart would have turned out differently.

Philippe wrote:The Actium campaign was competitive. Antony thought he was about to invade Italy, and got suckered into leaving his army and fleet in an impossible logistical position on the southern side of the Ambracian gulf. Agrippa's fleet had a lot of light Liburnian galleys, and he proceeded to wage a guerilla war of attrition up and down the east coast of Greece against Antony's naval supply lines. Supplies ran out, cohesion dwindled, and Antony finally came to terms with the fact that he wasn't about to invade Italy and was sitting in the wrong place. Agrippa and Octavian won the battle of Actium before it even started, but the battle was a by-product of bad strategic decisions. If the campaign had been played differently the battle of Actium never would have happened, and a confrontation between the two forces when one of them wasn't already falling apart would have turned out differently.

Very interesting, and thank you for the information. If you were Anthony, what would you have done differently?

This kind of what-if is the reason for playing wargames, and for it to be meaningful it's crucial that the game system can reproduce the historical result.

It's easy to say with hindsight that Antony's fleet and army fell apart because they spent the winter of 32-31 BC too close to the front line.

Antony needed most of 31 BC to gather his forces. He started by concentrating on Ephesus, but moved up to Athens to be closer to Octavian. From there he moved to Corcyra and the Gulf of Ambracia, and that was the mistake. He should have stayed in Athens (or at least Corinth) until his army and navy were both assembled, and he never should have attempted to spend the winter in such close proximity to the enemy.

Whatever new scenarios (if any) you decide to make, I'll gladly buy them to support AJE development.

Then there's also the question of AJE2... So many interesting possibilities for that one. AJE hasn't emptied the inventory of ancient wars and campaigns yet.