Legion Arena

This game is also available in a different package as The History Channel's The History Channel: Great Battles of Rome . For those ancient wargamers who have played Slitherine's Legion & Spartan Legion Gold, SPARTAN, you will find the battle mode of Legion Arena game very familiar. The game plays very differently from its two predecessors, as there is no strategic play. You play a series of battles in chronologial sequence, starting as either a Roman or a Celtic leader. The time line follows the historical sequence of events and regardless of your victory or defeat, you don't change the fixed sequence. The Roman time line ends with the Civil Wars circa 40 BC. The Celtic time line ends with combat with Caesar's expedition to Britain. You can't advance to the next battle unless you win the scenario you are in. After each battle, you have the opportunity to purchase new units and/or upgrade your existing ones. Upgrades can be equipment for better leathality, protection, mobility, level of training, or formation drill. There are different types of units from militia to Praetorian heavy infantry, light/heavy cavalry, skirmishers/archers, with tribal/national characteristics. There is a leader unit, which over time and with upgrades, can command more units, extend range of command influence, and give more commands, and therefore very important. There are limited command options once a battle begins, which is a change from the earlier games, where you set your formation commands at the start, then just watched the action. Leaders can redirect units and there are more tactical options for the formations to start a battle. The battle graphics are improved from the earlier mentioned games and you can zoom into a unit-on-unit engagement. There is a historical narrative between the each battle that gives you the context of each scenario, which is a nice teaching tool. The graphics are not state-of-the art, but also don't make heavy demands on your computer either. You don't need much more than a basic laptop to play the game, a plus in my book. For the ten dollars I paid, I found the game a great value - I only rate it 4-stars because, as far as I can tell, once you have played through the Roman and Celtic time lines, that's it. You can restart at the beginning, but you will go through the same sequence of battles.