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| Mediterranean ancient naval warfare at its finest! Shrapnel Games announced that it will be publishing Galley Battles: From Salamis to Actium, an exciting turn-based computer game covering the very early days of naval warfare. Developed by Spanish developer Hyperborea Studios (lead designer Xavier Rubio and lead artist Ruben Zubillaga), Galley Battles: From Salamis to Actium is expected to ship summer of 2006 and will be available for the Windows and Linux operating systems. It will also be the first multi-lingual game published by Shrapnel, with gamers being able to play in either English, Spanish, or Catalan. Galley Battles: From Salamis to Actium is classic hex and turn based wargaming while taking advantage of everything a computer can offer a wargamer. Scale-wise each hex represents 50 meters, a turn will be about five minutes, and each ship will be represented individually. Maps can be as big as 512 x 512 hexes, and battles can involve as many as five hundred ships! Multiplayer action is possible through either hotseat or PBEM play, and a full featured scenario editor will be included. Turns are simultaneous WEGO phases, and thanks to the innovative command structure in Galley Battles: From Salamis to Actium, players will easily be able to manage massive engagements. What the system does is allow players to sketch out the basic general orders at the start of a battle, and once in the heat of battle more detailed orders via individual squadrons are then given. Of course you can also keep your order level at a higher level of command; how much or how little you wish to micro-manage is entirely up to you! Galley Battles: From Salamis to Actium will cover the Greek-Persian Wars, Peloponnesian Wars, the First Punic War, and ends with the Roman Civil War featuring Actium in 31 BC. Your fleets are not manned by automatons, as the game system places a strong emphasis on fatigue and morale, with the battle actions that ships witness affecting their morale up or down. Likewise, just because your ship may have the capability to move ten hexes in a given turn it may not do so, as the sailors can be worn down, or show their inexperience. Thus, it is not enough to simply take into account how many ships you are engaging with, but you must know the capabilities of your sailors on those ships. Expect a novice, overworked squadron to save the day and you may find their squadron floundering and flung out in a chaotic fashion even before making contact with the enemy! Plenty of chrome will be found in the game, such as beautiful animations showcasing ramming and boarding, the ability to capture and recapture ships, unique leaders, specialized units, and more. Galley Battles: From Salamis to Actium also features realistic and diverse tactics for the combatants, as fighting against the Greeks in 480 BC will be quite different than fighting against the Romans four hundred years later. There are plenty of orders to give, from individually commanding ships to turn to ordering an entire squadron to adopt a hedgehog formation. While almost a year away everyone at Shrapnel is totally excited about this title, as it represents what independent consim gaming is all about; creating fascinating titles that examine facets of warfare that often are overlooked. Designer Xavier Rubio had this to say on his game: "Galley Battles: from Salamis to Actium will recreate the most famous naval battles of ancient history, from the Greek and Persian Wars to the Roman Empire. This is a personal project, made by a wargamer to wargamers, where we have put plenty of hours and effort to create the game that we wanted to play. Our objective is to create a serious wargame focused on the problem of morale and command instead of purely micro-management. The command system is truly original. The player will be able to give orders to big formations in the beginning of the battle, and create smaller squadrons after this phase, when the battle will become more chaotic and detailed orders are needed to manage engagements. The possibility to reform the ships on a new battle line is given, as well as the capture and reuse of enemy ships." Expect more on Galley Battles: From Salamis to Actium in the future! In the meantime, be sure to check out <a href =http://www.shrapnelgames.com>http://www.shrapnelgames.com</a>for our complete line of award-winning and innovative computer, board, and role-playing games and stay abreast of all the latest news! write your comments about the article :: © 2005 Game News :: home page |