Requires: 68040 processor or better (although will run on 68030), HD floppy drive, System 7.1 or later, 3 MB of free RAM, Color monitor, QuickTime 2.0 or later for music (not included), 10 MB of hard drive space, AppleTalk for network option
Protection: None
 
Mankind has a recurring fascination with the mysteries of ancient civilizations and the rise and fall of the great empires of antiquity. Even though many of the these kingdoms have left behind colossal epitaphs, such as the Great Pyramids, very little is known about the actual history of those times. I recently read with great interest that archeologists think that they have discovered the answer to one of these age-old conundrums: they have located the final resting place of Alexander the Great. One of the greatest military leaders of all times, the 33-year-old Alexander conquered all of the known world of his day. His numerous battles were studied by subsequent generations of military officers, many of whom attempted to emulate the young monarch’s success.
Yet Alexander’s campaigns were a mere speckle in the historic time line. They were predated by such labyrinthine conflicts as the Peloponnesian Wars, and were followed by a succession of Punic Wars which created an empire that dwarfed Alexander’s own. Later, the rules of warfare known to Alexander were changed by the emergence of cavalry as the dominant force on the battlefield. Waves of “barbarians” emerged from the Asian steppe, and trampled the glory of Rome under the hooves of their armies. This period, from about 500 BC to approximately 500 AD, has long held a fascination for gamers who enjoy replaying these “ancients” battles.
There have been several excellent miniature rule systems and boardgames produced on the subject, but no computer game has managed to reproduce the battles of the ancient world with real fidelity. It seems that although we are able to unlock the mysteries of age-old burial sites, so far at least, no game designer has been able to decipher the key to a successful computer recreation of the battles of this period. Now, Mindscape’s Legions is ready to take a try at this unfulfilled goal.
“Happiness lies in conquering one’s enemies, in driving them in front of oneself . . . ” Legions is a game of conquest and diplomacy in the ancient world. It covers 2,000 years of history, from 1200 BC to 800 AD. It simulates the military, economic and political relationships of ancient empires. Players can choose from 10 scenarios, or generate an historic situation using the Random Play option. The historic scenarios recreate some of the major campaigns of the ancient world: players can choose from among the Peloponnesian Wars, the creation of the Roman Empire, Caesar’s campaigns in Gaul, the rise of Charlemagne, and others.
 
Legions immediately made an impression on me by the high system requirements it demands. It is the first game I have reviewed which needs, as a minimum, System 7.1 and a 68040 processor. But this is just the beginning. In order to play any game sounds and music, QuickTime 2.0 needs to be loaded as an extension. In addition, the game needs 3 MB of free RAM and will consume 10 MB of hard disk space. Once all this is considered, the Mac II family and the entry level 68040 Macs with 4 MB of RAM are pretty much eliminated as a platform for this game.
SPQR. The game ships with a dedicated Macintosh manual (as opposed to the DOS compatible version) and a reference card for loading the software. The four HD floppies made installation a relative breeze. A hard copy map is not printed with the game and, unfortunately, the Mac version does not support the feature to “dump” the map to a printer.
The user’s manual is a real mixed bag. It is well documented with actual screen shots, but it omits crucial information, and is outright incorrect is some areas. The graphics make it easy to follow the text, and the examples are clear. The scenario descriptions contain valuable background information, and they also describe the actual outcome of the campaigns. The manual even contains some historic reference information on the late Roman period. On the other hand, the manual talks about four “player selectable” difficulty levels per scenario, when in fact the game only contains three. Scenarios are also to supposed to default to various difficulty levels based on the historic situation, but in reality all scenarios are initially set to the “Slave” level, where the AI is a lobotomized vegetable. The section on Military Unit descriptions incorrectly identifies “Lancers” as an infantry unit. Other descriptions create ambiguous mental pictures of the unit: “Noble Cavalry” is described as the “strength of northern European tribal armies” — it has the lowest combat value of any cavalry unit in the game.
Despite my misgivings about the manual, it did whet my appetite for the game. The description of diplomatic and economic war, the giving of gifts, marriage proposals, elaborate trading in basic commodities, and the ability to select tactics before a battle were all finally included in a realistic simulation of ancient warfare. I was ready to lead Sparta to glory.
Double Envelopment. Installation and initial game play are intuitive. Once players double click on the icon, the music starts and the Mindscape, Azuris and Legions logos flash by in rapid succession. Players are then presented with the option of starting a new historic game or generating a random scenario. Once the scenario is selected, players can choose one of the sound options, the level of difficulty, and the empire they will command in the game. It is also at this point that players can select to join a network game in progress.
Legions uses a turn-based sequence to give orders, but all players’ commands execute simultaneously. The 256-color map depicts one of six types of terrain, and three types of cities. Players can display all the units under their command, and those enemy units which have been spotted — the game uses a hidden movement system. The map is not scalable, but there is a “strategic” window, which allows rapid navigation to anywhere in the “world.”
Players take the role of the monarch. As such, they are empowered to act over all aspects of diplomatic relations and the economy. As commander-in-chief, players can build/train new military units, deploy them to any location, take personal command of the units or attach them to a general. The game design even allows players to develop a detailed naval strategy. Should gifts, trade, and diplomacy fail, players can let slip the dogs of war.
Somewhat surprisingly for a wargame, managing the economy consumes most of the actual time. The level of taxation not only impacts the revenue of the kingdom, but it also effects the growth of the overall economy. Since no empire will be self-sufficient in natural resources, purchasing raw materials for the building and maintenance of military formations is a must. If a nation is fortunate enough to produce a surplus of one of the basic commodities (items such as metals, wood, horses, etc.), these may even be sold on the “common market.” Furthermore, once armies leave their garrison, they need to be supported by a large amount of supplies. Therefore, monarchs will have to stock up their warehouses in anticipation of a major military campaign, or face the possibility of their units disbanding for lack of sustenance.
Players can choose to lead their armies into battle personally, or to stay in the capital and manage the war effort. Since the players’ presence will increase the movement of all attached units, as well as increasing their combat value by 50 percent, it would seem advisable to lead from the front. However, in an age without telephones or radio, the monarch’s absence from the capital severs his ability to administer the empire. Legions still permits rulers deployed with their armies to receive and respond to diplomatic messages, they will no longer be able to control most aspects of the economy.
When adversary military formations come into contact, the units engage in combat. If the armies involved are not personally commanded by the player, then the action unfolds abstractly and the player is informed of the results. Should the units be attached directly to the monarch, players are allowed to select the overall strategy of the army. This combat system is by no means sophisticated enough to resemble a miniatures system, but it does let the players select from among such classic tactics as “envelopment” and “refuse right.” The might of the players’ army and economy combine to determine overall success.
Victory conditions vary from scenario to scenario, and frequently from player to player. For example, in “Winds of Change”, the scenario which chronicles the rise of the Arab armies of Mohammed, the Caliphate must control all cities in order to win, the Byzantine empire must hold five cities and eliminate the Arab forces, and the other kingdoms will have succeeded if they conquer any five cities. This is a nice touch which makes it much more interesting to take the role of one of the minor kingdoms which wargamers might otherwise overlook.
“I Come To Bury Caesar, Not To Praise Him.” Legions is a simple game to learn and execute. The map is very readable and the interface is user friendly. The learning curve is rather flat. Even novices will be able to pick this game right up and enjoy it. The bigger scenarios do not add layers of complexity, they simply require the player to do more of the same thing.
The music is absolutely awful. It could be used to torture Juliard graduates into releasing their credit card numbers! I could not wait to turn it off. Unfortunately, sound must be reset every single time the game is booted, so it seems as though one can never quite get rid of it.
 
The supporting graphics seem to have been done by several different artists. Some, such as the Phoenician monarch, are quite beautifully drawn. Others, such as Caesar with a beard (see below), seem to have been done by someone totally ignorant of the likeness of the individual. The quality of some of the graphics is really below par for a commercial release. I found it particularly interesting that AZURIS’ logo is beautifully rendered, while the “battle picture” — one of the most frequently occurring graphics — seems to have been drawn by a complete amateur. This picture, which seems appropriate for a battle in the Middle East from around 1000 BC, continues to be used during Roman times and right up to the reign of Charlemagne. After a while, I really began to wish that the programmer would have used a simple image such as two crossed swords. But the problems with Legions go much deeper than the sounds and the graphics.
There are grave historical inaccuracies in the game. Towns are depicted in the wrong places on the map, and even worse, a famous port city, like Tyre, is not permitted to build ships. The starting forces for the various empires in the scenarios bear no resemblance to actual historic organization. For example, Caesar starts his battle against the Gauls without a single cohort! All the monarchs in the game are rated as exceptional generals, regardless of their historic competence. This has the unfortunate result, of negating the impact of a great military leader such as Attila or Ramses II. Sadly, this is just the beginning.
The economic system of the game is too simplistic. No matter how much of a particular item is bought or sold in one month, there will only be one resulting price increase or decrease. I’m no economics whiz, but I do understand the basics of supply and demand: continue to dump an item on the market, and the price will collapse. I also felt little risk in overtaxing my population. Even though the user’s manual warns of potential uprisings, my people stoically endured a 20 percent tax rate (the max allowed by the game) and I could never force the game to revolt against me. I would endure all of this, were it not for the absolute moron of a finance minister that the AI supplies.
The minister takes care of routine purchases of food and supplies, and runs the entire economy if the “player-monarch” is leading troops in the field. The minister will sell surplus commodities to meet the needs of the troops, but absolutely refuses to purchase any raw materials, regardless of the state of the treasury. In one instance, the Byzantine army was personally led by the emperor. The treasury contained over 100,000 monetary units, yet I could not build armies to replace losses, because the minister would not buy the required commodities. My frustration continued to mount.
The diplomatic system really tantalizes the player with the nuances that it offers, but in the end it fails to provide a satisfactory gaming experience. Initially, I was pleased by such options as the ability to enter into economic alliances and to offer the hand of “my daughter” in marriage. More importantly, I was hoping to recreate situations described in the reference section of the manual, such as the allied armies under Aetius clashing with the barbarian confederacy of Attila at Chalons. Legions will not allow this to occur. While full military alliances can be formed, the game does not permit armies of two nations to be marshaled together. As a result, smaller, weaker nations will not be able to band together on the battlefield to deal with a large invading army, and will inevitably be destroyed piecemeal.
The AI is poor, even on the highest difficulty setting. It completely ignores naval strategy: a body of water is a complete line of defense against a computer monarch in Legions. Combat engagements favor a large balanced army over smaller, specialized formations, and a group of units under the leadership of a capable general is by far the most sensible formation. Unfortunately, the AI seems oblivious to this. It sends out numerous small armies when conducting an offensive. An experienced wargamer should be able to win any scenario by a wide margin. To give just one example of how lopsided of a victory can be achieved against the AI, I was able to direct Caesar to conquer all of Gaul at a total cost of 500 casualties! This is an extreme example, but it does dramatically highlight the weakness of the AI.
The random scenarios are poorly designed. The nations start extremely close to one another, typically no more than five hexes apart. This does not allow for an exploration and development phase, players are tossed immediately into a hostile environment. Larger maps are possible, but only by selecting more empires for the random game. I started three random scenarios, with consistent results, and I had no desire to generate any more.
We Band of Brothers. The game appears in a very different light when played with the network option. The fundamentals of Legions provide a good gaming environment which can be exploited over a network by a group of dedicated players. The game claims that five players can join on a network, but theoretically 20 players could join a random scenario. The play value dramatically increases against other humans, but I doubt that many players can exploit this option. I think that many would have enjoyed a PBE-mail option, but it is not supported.
And while we are on the subject of support, do not expect tremendous things from Mindscape. In their area on America Online, they have lumped the tech support for this game in with the DOS-only Metal Marines. It does not appear that the distributor intends this to be a major player in their portfolio. Too bad, because the concept of this game deserves a reincarnation allowing it to fix some of the current shortcomings.
“I am afeard there are few die well that die in battle.” Shakespeare’s words ring painfully true for Legions. Too many nagging errors, typos and glitches crop up, and the game is not compatible with System 7.5. (A fix is on the way, but we were not able to test it prior to going final with this review.) It seems rather odd that a game released some six months after the introduction of System 7.5 should not be incompatible with it. On the other hand, we found that Legions will play on a 68030 processor, if the player is willing to tolerate the waiting time between turns.
This is a wargame of much promise, but all the graphics and interface are for naught since it does not fight well. It completely ignores two of the most dramatic military campaigns of the ancient world: Alexander’s rise to power and the Punic Wars. Despite the information contained in the manual, Legions is a straightforward “build, move, fight” game. It does not break much new ground. Even the areas which it covers, it does so in the shadow of other products currently on the market. The saving grace of the game is the network option, which allows players to bypass the incompetent AI.
While the packaging is very attractive, the product inside does not live up to the advertising on the outside. The box promises such non-existent features as a realistic market economy simulator and unique role-playing opportunities as an economic minister or diplomat. Even worse, Legions’ recreation of the politics, economies or military organization of the times is too far off the mark. There is a superficial historic context, but it does not penetrate very much below the surface. In the end, this game falls short in many respects. I can only recommend it to those with an ardent interest in ancients and access to an AppleTalk network. And perhaps those who are looking for a “beer and pretzels” type of simulation.
Pros
• Network play
• Random scenario creator increases replay value
• Detailed political system allows for complex system of alliances, especially in network games
Cons
• Poor historic accuracy
• Inconsistent graphics quality — some amateurish art
• Poor AI — experienced gamers will not be challenged
• User’s manual contains numerous errors about game play, army statistics, the economic simulation, etc.
• Limitations in the game engine will not allow allies to cooperate on the battlefield
• Incompatible with System 7.5
• Requires ample RAM and hard disk space - many entry level Macs can not serve as a platform
