Do you like AlexanderTW?

I do it's harder than just beating gaul time after time in a giant siege fest.

NTW2 is far better, the skins and such in alexander are pretty awful imo...

I like the historic battles best.

Quite a bit of effort's gone into them this time, what with the videos and Brian Blessed commentary. They're also more of a challenge than in the original game.

The campaign is okay, but it could've been better. I would've liked to have had some greeks cities in the south to fight first before going off to Persia. It's difficult to mod them in as the map is so small! I don't know why they didn't use something on a similar scale to the original game. I was disappointed there were no Indian cities either.

what really attracts me to the game is the historical battles and Brian Blessed.
ill see when i get the cd version.
but Lusted's Alexanderos mod for RTWA will be great.

While not a strict historical game, I do think it captures the essence of the campaign of Alexander the Great. The constant need to press on, despite the odds, the problems left behind, and the need to keep Alexander alive in his many battles provides for some interesting challenges. I like it overall, and find it to be a good diversion.

Would I like a bad mod where I would have to pay for?

I like the historical battles, but not the campaign.

Disappointed - But I like it anyway

Very disappointed - I don't like it.

My gripes:

(1) Exterminating every captured city - I never liked extermination as a game mechanic in RTW/BI it is too lucrative and leaves the city too in tact (I ban it as a houserule). For Alexander especially, it just does not feel right (especially after watching Oliver Stone's movie). However, in this campaign, it seems obligatory.

(2) Weak hypaspists - they die when Persians look at them; such a let down after the uber-RTR ones.

(3) Too many and too good mercenaries - the Macedonians are admirably constrained in terms of what they can build (no long ranged missiles at all and no high end cav in their starting smallish settlements). So I was enjoying the challenge until I found I could recruit a lot of mercenary missiles and even two companions in Asia Minor. Then the only constraint became money (which takes us back to extermination). Related to this, the game really needs an AoR type system to prevent Macedon getting high end units in large captured cities when they can't recruit them at home.

(4) RTWs low morale and fast battle speeds really become apparent in contests between human phalanx + companions vs the Persians. Often the Persians break within seconds of making contact.

(5) Annoying camera glitch, making it hard to jump to the unit you've selected.

(6) No Indians - that was just lame. They should have come been released in the end by scripting or something. A climatic battle with elephants etc would have been a good end.

(7) Monochrome, characterless "barbarian" factions - they are apparently distinct factions; why not represent them a little more vividly?

But I'm really looking forward to Lusted's mod, which should improve on most of the above. The campaign has a lot of potential, if given more care and attention.

Yes, but just barely.

Alexander (beside the Indians missing) does do what it says on the tin. It never boasts superb and distinct barbarian unit rosters, or a historical gameplay experience. It aims for a fast paced campaign in which you play Alexander. And some of the unit skins such as the hypaspists (though they are underpowered) , companions, Alexander and Indian elephants are actually quite good.