So, what did I learn from playing Tin Soldiers: Alexander the Great? That it still meets my expectations of a table top miniatures strategy game for one. What we’re looking at is Alexander’s campaigns to conquer Persian Empire, which has been a long time foe of Greece. Before Alexander can proceed with these ambitious plans, he has to deal with three rebellious Greek city states. After dealing with this potential problem, he now concentrates on his Persian opponent. This campaign will occupy most of his life, eventually resulting in his death shortly after destroying the Persian dynasty.

One of the things I want to point out are the visuals. This game’s visual art work is wholly different from what I had reviewed on the sequel. One thing is the fog of war effect. When I was playing the sequel, the fog of war viewing area had more of a solid shadow effect compared to Alexander’s battleground. What you’re looking at is an attempt to make the surrounding areas, how should I say this, foggy? What it really reminds me of is someone burning trash in a tire junkyard, or a smog alert. It sometimes gets a bit confusing looking at the figures, since the fog effect is actually moving while you’re engaged in planning your next set of moves.

That proved somewhat irritating, especially when I was charging with what I thought was a heavy spear unit which happened to be my archers instead! The colors seem a bit subdued, more like a tint was applied. Not only the units, but the landscape as well doesn’t seem to have the vibrant color you will notice in the sequel. I don’t want to discourage people from trying this game just because of the visuals, I just prefer playing with a nice vibrant background.

We have a different type of visual elevation that sometimes gets in the way when determining what the offensive / defensive attack modifiers will display. I had to constantly turn it off and on as the elevation number would superimpose over a modified number. This occasionally made it hard to determine if I had a plus or minus to the attack. Again a mere annoyance, but one that stretched out the game turns.

Tactics are a big thing when playing table top miniatures. If you allow units to be flanked or hit by a rear attack, then expect big losses including having your unit(s) completely destroyed. This makes the saying “armchair general” have a special meaning. In this case you need to “know when to hold em, and when to go get em.” The computer AI loves to exploit your defensive setup, and what better way then to rush thru holes you created by splitting up your forces or forgetting to plug a hole in the line.

I’m sure that anyone who has ever played a war game knows what terrain modifiers are. They play a big part in determining casualties and morale losses or gains. You only have a fixed amount of troops and you don’t want them retreating just because you forgot to keep an eye out on the morale. You regain a step of morale when a unit does not participate in combat, and is not next to an enemy unit. Rally cards will also increase morale by a step.

Combat cards are another aspect included in this game and can influence a battle or assist in morale recovery for a unit. This comes with a price in the form of funds being deducted from your war chest for each card you purchase. These funds are dependent upon certain conditions and units that have survived from the previous scenario. Spend wisely since you will need those funds for your troops as well.

I enjoyed playing this type of game, since the scenarios are short and completion is in two hours or less at the most. The game will autosave for you if there is no desire to create your own save files. Once you have completed one part of the campaign, the next part will unlock. If you choose to replay the campaign then you can pick any of the unlocked parts you had previously won. As with any historical period, we all have our preferences, but it’s nice to have a change of pace. This is one you should like as well as the sequel.