Producer: CCS
Author: RT Smith
Price: £14.95

Robert T Smith has become a strategy legend for WWII games like Arnhem, Desert Rats and Vulcan (we won't mention Cyberknights). However, for his latest game he's gone several centuries to recreate epic battles of the ancient world. Now you can step into the sandals of commanders like Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, or even Attila the Hun.

Two tapes are present in the glossy, video-sized box. These contain separate Selection and Battle programs for 48K machines, a 128K program incorporating both of these, and four extra scenarios. A fifth scenario is automatically loaded with the game, while the extra large Chalons scenario only works on 128K machines.

If you don't fancy one of the given scenarios, the easy-to-use Selection program allows you to set up your own battles (how about Hittites versus Huns?!). Any pair of 24 nations can be pitted against each other. Some nations also have a number of armies (relating to different historical periods / campaigns) to choose from.

The size of the battle is also variable. The smallest allows each army 750 unit points with which to 'buy' individual units, while the 'unlimited' option allows for epic battles with a total of up to 136 units (254 on 128K machines).

Only units applicable to the chosen nation can be selected, eg an Indian army has access to elephants. Selection of individual units is also not entirely free - minimum and maximum numbers for each type of unit are set. Unit types include various sorts of infantry, cavalry, spearmen and chariots.

Each of the five given scenarios has its own map. But for user-defined battles, a Map Designer option allows user-defined maps.

Once the battle is set-up, units must be deployed near the relevant edges of the map. Also, if an army has more than one general, each unit must be allocated to the command of one of them. This is important, as during play each general can only issue a limited number of orders to his units.

To save the time-consuming business of manual deployment, an auto deployment option may be chosen. But first, a battle plan must be chosen. Left, central and right sections of the army can either charge, advance or defend.

Control of each army may be by player, computer or shared between the two. This last option allows a player to control the commander-in-chief's units, while the computer controls those of subordinate generals.

Players take it in turn to give orders. A cursor is used to select a unit, which can then either be ordered to move towards a cursor-set destination. However, each individual movement order (apart from units immediately adjacent to a general) uses up limited order points for each general. So to move units en masse, a unit can be ordered to follow another. Apart from being realistic, the limited number of individual orders makes for fluent play. Realism is also heightened by the delay of half or one whole turn before units far from their general carry out their orders.

Other options for a selected unit are a Report on the unit's attributes (including strength (numbers), morale and fatigue), and G for details of a general - both can be in the same space. This is the only form of stacking permitted - normal units may not occupy the same space.

Once both armies' orders have been given, simultaneous movement of units takes place. Shooting and hand-to-hand combat then take place. Units automatically fire at the nearest enemy unit. Hand-to-hand combat is also automatic between adjacent units.

After combat, some units may retreat or even be routed if they have serious losses. Routing units do not disappear, but instead change colour and gradually move towards the edge of the map. As no stacking of units is allowed, they also tend to realistically 'clog up' the battlefield. Routing elephant units may even trample their own troops!

The simple order system is easy to use and makes play very fluent, so you shouldn't have to wait too long for a human opponent to make his moves. Despite this simplicity, the results of combat depend on a large number of conditions. For instance, the likelihood that a unit will rout even takes into account whether other friendly units can be seen routing.

Ancient Battles is a masterpiece of programming with a wide range of options. As usual with RT Smith's games, the game is accompanied by a comprehensive rulebook and another booklet containing historical notes on all the scenarios and armies present. Although graphically simplistic and lacking the complex order system of RT Smith's previous games, pitting armies of your own choice against each other is a fascinating experience and a great way to learn a bit of ancient history at the same time. Yet more good news is that the author is planning to produce a sequel, incorporating armies from 500-1200 AD.

CCS
£14.95 cass
Reviewer: Marcus Berkmann

Now this is my sort of program. CCS has published some excellent wargames for the Spectrum over the last few years, and if Ancient Battles were just another goodie then I would probably be telling you to rush out and buy it.

But the program is actually far more than that: it is a system by which you can design your own battles, choosing two armies from a total of 24 historical nations from the ancient world and picking the topography of the battlefield as well. So I'm ordering those of you who are strategy buffs, to rush out and buy it. On the double.

When you first load up the tape the program automatically sets up the battle of the River Hydaspes, one of the four pre-designed scenarios which come with the game. Hydaspes was a battle fought in 326 BC between Alexander the Great and an Indian army which far outnumbered him. He won, of course.

Hydaspes is an excellent simulation. The graphics are very crisp, and the mechanism by which you can give your troops orders is simple. You scroll about the map, observing where your units and the enemies' are. Then you put the cursor on one of your units, and hit fire. You can either order it to move to wherever you move the cursor to, or you can tell it to follow another unit. This means that you can set the whole thing up so that you only have to tell four or five of your 20 or so units what to do each turn, and the rest will follow them. Much more realistic, and much less time consuming than giving each unit individual orders.

You can choose to play against the computer, or up to two of your friends. You can also pick something called 'shared command': this means that the computer takes the roles of the subordinate commanders in the battle, and decides what they will do within certain guidelines which you lay down at the start of the game - advance, defend or skirmish.

Generals are important, as you can only give two orders per General. If you don't have enough, then you won't be able to use all your troops effectively. There's not a lot more that needs to be said about the actual battle program. Judging from the various factors listed in the rules book, it is a faithful and successful attempt to translate table-top wargames rules into a computer format. It takes into account morale fatigue, flank and rear attacks, the psychological effects of friendly units and a host of other things. Given the three other scenarios you get, what you have is a brilliant package of games for the wargame or strategy afficionado.

The real strength of the program is the 'design-your-own' battle option. What I was expecting was a program which let me choose which two of 24 possible nations I wanted to have a battle between, to choose how big the armies were going to be and what units they would consist of and to design my own battlefield. In short, I thought I was going to get all the flexibility of table-top wargammg in a computer program. And I did - plus some extra bits that I hadn't expected.

What I hadn't expected was the flexibility and ease of use of the whole system. Plus I hadn't expected the sheer detail it offers when you are choosing an army. Not only do you get to choose what nation you want to fight with: you also get to choose a particular type of army from a particular campaign. So you can choose a Professional Roman army, from the first century BC and onwards, from the eastern or western half of the Roman empire...

Having designed your own army (and saved it!) you can then design the battlefield you want to fight over. Very simple just choose the size, then start slapping scenery down. Move the cursor to where you want a wood to be, check the terrain list at the bottom of the screen for the right key for woods, hit it and presto! you've repaired part of the damage caused by the October Hurricane without getting your boots muddy! Same thing for everything else - just remember rivers should go somewhere too!

Even without the do-it-yourself option, Ancient Battles is a great package. In fact it could well be the best buy for a strategy gamer for 1989. Unless, or course, CCS releases another in what I suspect is going to be a series of Encyclopedia Of War games.

Label: Cases Computer Simulations
Author: R.T. Smith
Price: £14.95
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: various
Reviewer: Tony Dillon

R.T. Smith and CCS are two names which drive most knowledgeable strategy fanatics wild. For your information, Robert 'Call me Bob' Smith has a habit of coming up with some pretty good wargames. His last one, Vulcan, was voted Strategy Game of the Year, 1987. It's when he starts doing arcade games, such as Cyberknights, that things start to crumble.

CCS has, in a very select circle, a very high reputation. Right from the start they have brought out original and entertaining strategy and simulation titles; one of their first. The Prince, winning a major industry award back in 1984. Ancient Battles is fab, and what's more, you don't have to be a strategy or historical buff to enjoy it.

Ancient Battles is your chance to re-enact five very different but real battles, ranging from battle of the River Hydaspes in 326BC to up to minute wars such as Battle of Chalons in 451AD.

As wargames go, there's really nothing new about the way AB works. There are two opposing forces, each represented as a series of icons scattered about a 'board', each icon representing a unit or battalion. Each of the two 'leaders' takes it in turn to issue orders to its units. These orders can be any of two main things. Move or fire.

Each unit has a specific number of moves available during a turn, and different terrains use up different numbers of these movement points. Attack options are determined by the weaponry held by the unit.

Of course, you can't attack the enemy until you see them, and if the enemy aren't present in your field of vision, then they won't show up on the screen when you're playing. Being the last unit stuck in the middle of a dense wood, not being able to see any of your opposition is a little nervewracking.

Either side can be under human or computer control, or both. The human takes control of all the chief pieces, and the computer handles all the minions. This is a brilliant idea, and one I'm sure a lot of strategy buffs wish had happened before. It speeds up the gameplay no end, and also stops you wasting your time with a two-bit patrol of six unarmed footsoldiers, when you could be thrashing the enemy to within an inch of their lives.

It's difficult, but then again, it's worth the effort. Amazingly easy to pick up. but be warned, once you do, you'll be hooked. I know I am!

CCS bring on the elephants.

Kicking off R.T.Smith's series of wargames chronicling warfare from earliest to modern times, is this wargame covering ancient battles - complete with ancient units including elephants and scythed chariots. The one or two player game comes complete with five scenarios and a design option that allows you not only to mix and match a variety of armies but also to design maps and scenarios.

The sequence of play starts with the issue of orders to your side (the numbers of orders allowed depends on the number of generals you have on the field) and then involves waiting while your opponent does the same before combat (including both ranged weapons and hand-to-hand) is resolved and your units get another chance to move. Issuing orders is simplicity itself: select a unit, move the cursor to the desired spot and hit enter. Then decide which units should follow the ordered unit and which units should go elsewhere.

It's not as detailed, or as good, as his previous games, with the number of options open to you during play being limited, but it plays well and the design option means you'll get a lot of play from the game. Worth looking at especially if you're interested in the period.

Reviewer: Andy Smith

RELEASE BOX
C64/128, £18.95dk, Out Now
IBM PC, £24.95dk, Out Now

Predicted Interest Curve

1 min: 60/100
1 hour: 70/100
1 day: 75/100
1 week: 80/100
1 month: 50/100
1 year: 35/100