Join the gang as we compare Songs of Conquest and Songs of Silence. Of these, which is Mozart, and which is Salieri?
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Also known as BBB in many places, Andy is well known for his love of strategy games of all types, especially the Age of Wonders series.
I’m kinda shocked for a 4X channel how many of you haven’t played HOMM3, it’s right up there with the original Master of Magic as the cornerstones from which the entire genre grew.
Songs of Silence most closely resembles the old strategy game Warlords 3: Darklords Rising, or Conquest of Elysium for a more contemporary example. Less a fantasy “Civilization” clone and more a straight up map control game.
The thing you’re all missing about the combat, and part of the blame goes to the devs for not making this clearer in tutorials, is that formations and preparation make all the difference in the world. A heavy monster with “charge” can blow through your light infantry and wreak havok on your archers, OR you can have a heavy infantry unit on the front space to bait its charge early and then have your archers with “monster slayer” off to the side where they won’t get trampled and pepper the monster to death while it recovers from its wasted charge. And read the powers of your units, there’s a reason a lone “guardian” unit is much weaker than a group of four.
Also it’s not a card game, the devs just wanted lavish pretty buttons and rendering them as cards did the job. But saying using them is just Guitar Hero is silly, there is a huge difference in when and where you activate them. A bull charge straight at an artillery unit is okay, but a charge can hit an unlimited number of units on the way and aiming it through the thickest part of the enemy army before ending behind the artillery is even better.
It’s a shame video games are clumped into such generic genres these days, when they don’t align to genre conventions modern gamerz are lost.
Great post ,and thanks for listening.
Are you actually shocked, as in surprised, or just saddened about HoMM3? I don’t think it is shocking at all. Both HoMM and AoW were pretty niche game at the time.
Regarding Songs of Silence, I think I did mention the combat is more than “just” auto battling, and in my Songs of Silence stream I am sure I go into the cards a bit more.
And yes, those are cards!
As for the use of genres, this is a recurring theme. Join the discord and feel free to argue things there.
Surprised. I mean they’re niche in the same way the 4X genre is niche, but HOMM3 itself was huge. And even if you missed it at the time or weren’t old enough, devs have been constantly trying to create the “new” HOMM; from Eador to Hero’s Hour to Songs of Conquest and so on.
I’m writing a series on “forgotten/obscure” games, the first article was about Age of Wonders (the original). This is the Link. Would you like to do something similar about HoMM?
I confess I was more an AoW fan than HOMM back in the day, so I wouldn’t be able to do it justice.
The obscure fantasy strategy games I’d be most qualified to review are the original Majesty and Starships Unlimited.
Hey!
The 4X Iceberg isn’t a full on “review.”
That said, please do feel free to writer something on Majesty ( I remember it, and there is a sorta sequel/remake in the form of Driftlands iirc) and Starships Unlimited. Email me at explorminate@gmail.com
[…] I am intrigued by the military system, specifically “We’ve redesigned the way that armies move on a campaign map, so they act more like real-world military units. Large armies can move in column formation, making it harder to move and requires more tactical thinking to prepare for the battle. The regiments can be split from the main army for small tactical excursions, or sneak into enemy lines for crossfire. For the same reason, attention is required to avoid leaving gaps on your frontline.” I wonder how it works in practice.I believe some people will find the graphics a bit too cartoony, and feel it may hinder reading the game board, similar to what we said about Songs of Conquest. […]
[…] we have been seduced (or not?!) by AoW4, dazzled by Old World, diving into Endless Legend 2, and confusing Songs of Silence/Conquest.So, go play the demo, have fun.Steam link.Official […]