Battles of Norghan

[DennisS]

This is a hoot! From the store screen:

Battles of Norghan is a unique gladiatorial management and strategy game where you not only must recruit, train, and equip fantasy gladiators, but also control them on a tactical grid in turn-based combat.

It is an older game, now new on Steam, for ten dollars, and looks a lot like Dominions 4.

Your arena combat team has from 1-32 members, with about 20 classes. Fighter, mage, wizard, priest, etc. The objective is to start in Division 8, and climb your way up to the top of the league.

I finished the first year in second place, no promotion for me! Not sure if relegation works or not.

Each month, you fight a battle, and based on how well you do, you gain more money. This money can be used to recruit more gladiators, or improve your weapons/armor, or conduct a massive variety of other upgrades for your teams or individuals.

This is a very deep game..and the most fun is in the turn-based tactical battles. I have a bad ass little goblin, with the biggest bow his little scrawny body can lift (his strength is only 3), trailing along behind my equally bad ass Knight, fully decked out in plate, and a mithril sword. I went most of this first season with one, single gladiator, and it worked pretty well. He was pretty invulnerable to the rest of the teams...until I ran into a caster who roasted me, in my armor, with fireballs!

There are Orcs, Drakes, and Minotaurs that I have zero chance of recruiting, at least to this point...as they need far too much money for me to afford.

The composition of your team is limitless..with the addition of literally dozens of weapon types, and more than 50 spells that you can purchase for your magic users.

[Nefaro]

http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=17922


I started with a Black Knight(?) a week or two ago.  Got absolutely crushed by minotaur opponents twice in a row.  Bad luck, starting off.


:-\


Thus far, my only real complaint has been the tiny 800x600 resolution it's stuck at.  When expanded, it's difficult to read the font.  So I end up playing in the miniscule windowed mode.

[DennisS]

http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=17922


I started with a Black Knight(?) a week or two ago.  Got absolutely crushed by minotaur opponents twice in a row.  Bad luck, starting off.


:-\


Thus far, my only real complaint has been the tiny 800x600 resolution it's stuck at.  When expanded, it's difficult to read the font.  So I end up playing in the miniscule windowed mode.

It seems that you and I enjoy the same type of games.

I just finished my first successful season. Got a little lucky and won the small cup, and this game me 13k gold. I bought a Minotaur, and gave him the baddest zweihander I could find. He is hitting for 41 damage, and is one-shotting casters. GREAT fun, to this point.

[Nefaro]

http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=17922


I started with a Black Knight(?) a week or two ago.  Got absolutely crushed by minotaur opponents twice in a row.  Bad luck, starting off.


:-\


Thus far, my only real complaint has been the tiny 800x600 resolution it's stuck at.  When expanded, it's difficult to read the font.  So I end up playing in the miniscule windowed mode.

It seems that you and I enjoy the same type of games.

I just finished my first successful season. Got a little lucky and won the small cup, and this game me 13k gold. I bought a Minotaur, and gave him the baddest zweihander I could find. He is hitting for 41 damage, and is one-shotting casters. GREAT fun, to this point.

Yeah, those Minotaurs are insane.  They also kept one-shotting my rookie noob. 

Hope I don't run into any of them early on, in my next fresh Manager's campaign.  Started off in too much of a hole, after having to resurrect my FNG a couple times.  May as well make a new start.


I've seen a number of small patches to this game, since it's release.  Probably just little bug fixes, I suppose.

[DennisS]

http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=17922


I started with a Black Knight(?) a week or two ago.  Got absolutely crushed by minotaur opponents twice in a row.  Bad luck, starting off.


:-\


Thus far, my only real complaint has been the tiny 800x600 resolution it's stuck at.  When expanded, it's difficult to read the font.  So I end up playing in the miniscule windowed mode.

It seems that you and I enjoy the same type of games.

I just finished my first successful season. Got a little lucky and won the small cup, and this game me 13k gold. I bought a Minotaur, and gave him the baddest zweihander I could find. He is hitting for 41 damage, and is one-shotting casters. GREAT fun, to this point.

Yeah, those Minotaurs are insane.  They also kept one-shotting my rookie noob. 

Hope I don't run into any of them early on, in my next fresh Manager's campaign.  Started off in too much of a hole, after having to resurrect my FNG a couple times.  May as well make a new start.


I've seen a number of small patches to this game, since it's release.  Probably just little bug fixes, I suppose.

Money --at the easier levels, isn't so much a concern after the first several fights. I am figuring out that one beefy melee type will win you the first several fights, enough to fully upgrade his weapons and armor.

This is how I am playing my current game. I hired on a second fighter, a cheap as hell goblin, and spend money on getting his strength up to 5. I then bought him a very good bow, and am positioning him behind my tank. Seems to be working reasonably well. I also got a bow for my melee type, and kept him stationary at the start. This is enabling me to whittle down the health of the approaching enemy team.

I haven't fooled around much with casters..although I am considering a priest, with a good healing spell. Seems to be pretty useful, to have a main healer for a decently sized team.

[Nefaro]

That was one complaint I read, from old-timers.  The key to winning being to get big beefy melee fighters, such as the minotaur, and roll everything. 

[DennisS]

That was one complaint I read, from old-timers.  The key to winning being to get big beefy melee fighters, such as the minotaur, and roll everything.

This only works up to a point. On the Steam forums, it was stated that you will need to transition to a mix, or even pure casters over time.

My current game has four fighters..two melee, an archer, and a wizard. My archer and wizard have twice killed two opponents before my melee types even got there. When I get #5, it will almost certainly be a priest...gotta have them priestly heals!

I got promoted to the 7th division, and have won the first two matches. I really like the unlimited seasons.

[Nefaro]

That was one complaint I read, from old-timers.  The key to winning being to get big beefy melee fighters, such as the minotaur, and roll everything.

This only works up to a point. On the Steam forums, it was stated that you will need to transition to a mix, or even pure casters over time.

That's good to know. 

I've barely touched it thus far.  It looked like a good mix of sports manager text sim and turn-based tactical combat, gladiator style.  Couldn't pass it up.

[DennisS]

That was one complaint I read, from old-timers.  The key to winning being to get big beefy melee fighters, such as the minotaur, and roll everything.

This only works up to a point. On the Steam forums, it was stated that you will need to transition to a mix, or even pure casters over time.

I have perhaps 50 battles in, and am just getting ready to be promoted up to the Fourth Division. Currently, I have five members of my team. Two beefy melee types, a very fast centaur (mage killer), a priest, wizard, and archer.

Priest stays back until heals are needed, wizard and archer soften up the front lines, or take out troublesome enemy ranged attackers.

If I am fighting a melee-heavy group, I let them come to me, and work them over. If it is a ranged attack-heavy group, I assault them as fast as I can, knowing that their cloth and leather armor isn't going to work well. I get frequent one-shot kills vs. casters by my two big dwarfs.

This is an interesting game. Far more than rock-paper-scissors...as there are just too many options and variables for easy strategies to dominate. I can see a hundred ways to win (or lose). My current strategy is really no strategy..just a balance of ranged and melee, with also a balance of fast and slow. So far it is working.

I do not as of yet have all my peeps geared up the way I want. Currently, my two casters and my archer have minimal armor, and of my three melee types, only one has a bow. Bows are useful for all, especially when I want for them to attack..as even small damage will add up over time.

I would encourage fans of turn-based tactics to take a look a this title. Not sure how long this will keep my interest, but so far, going pretty strong.


That's good to know. 

I've barely touched it thus far.  It looked like a good mix of sports manager text sim and turn-based tactical combat, gladiator style.  Couldn't pass it up.

[Nefaro]

What type of character did you have the most success with, starting off? 

I mean.. besides being melee, of course.  Spend as much as possible on a better stat'd character with minimal equipment?

[DennisS]

What type of character did you have the most success with, starting off? 

I mean.. besides being melee, of course.  Spend as much as possible on a better stat'd character with minimal equipment?

You're only given 3500 gold. I spent about 2k on a fighter..type doesn't matter much, but they need a strength of 7 or higher, so they can wield a big weapon.

Buy the weapon that class prefers, with the rest of your money. IF you win the first fight, you will gain another 3k or so in money. I bought good armor and a helmet, and this helped get me past the second battle. After this second battle, I upgraded the weapon, and I was pretty much set.

After the next fight, I bought an archer, but didn't have much money left. I sat him for the match, and after the next fight, bought him a very good bow. This is about halfway through the first season.

Have enough money to resurrect your fighters. This is crucial. I can take one loss, but not two in a row. Now, in season 5, I have enough set aside to res 3-4 times in a row, should I need to.

It wasn't until season 2 started that I even thought about getting another fighter..and this one was a caster. Casters are good, as they don't need armor, and are cheaper to get up and running. Don't forget to purchase a good starting spell.