Field of Glory II: Complete

Field of Glory II: Complete is a comprehensive compilation package that includes the base game Field of Glory II along with all its DLC expansions—Age of Belisarius, Immortal Fire, Legions Triumphant, Rise of Persia, and Wolves at the Gate—offering an expansive turn-based strategy experience set in ancient and medieval historical periods. Players engage in tactical battles and campaigns inspired by real-world conflicts, from the Roman Empire to the Byzantine and Persian eras, based on the tabletop wargame series.

Field of Glory II: Complete: The Definitive Digital Codex of Ancient Warfare

Introduction: The Unwavering Standard-Bearer

In the vast, often volatile landscape of computer wargaming, few titles command the quiet, unwavering respect of Field of Glory II: Complete. It is not a game that seeks to dazzle with cinematic spectacle or revolutionize the genre with bold, risk-taking mechanics. Instead, it stands as a monument to a different philosophy: one of historical fidelity, tactical depth, and a reverent adaptation of tabletop principles to the digital realm. Released by Slitherine Ltd. and developed by Byzantine Games—the studio helmed by designer Richard Bodley Scott, the very architect of the original Field of Glory tabletop ruleset—Field of Glory II: Complete is not merely a compilation but the definitive, curated expression of a vision. This “Complete” edition gathers the core 2017 game with its six major DLC expansions, creating an unparalleled library covering ancient warfare from the Bronze Age to the early Medieval period. This review will argue that Field of Glory II: Complete represents the apex of the “serious historical wargame” subgenre on PC—a dense, demanding, and immensely rewarding system that prioritizes the intellectual simulation of command over all else. Its legacy is that of a scholarly tool, a competitive platform, and the most authentic digital translation of a tabletop ancient wargame ever created.

Development History & Context: From Tabletops to a New Engine

The lineage of Field of Glory II is direct and intentional. The franchise originates from the 2008 miniature wargame Field of Glory, designed by Richard Bodley Scott and published by Slitherine/Osprey. This tabletop system was lauded for its intricate, historically-grounded rules that modeled unit morale, cohesion, and tactical doctrines with unprecedented detail for its scale. The challenge was translating this complex, social, and often subjective tabletop experience—where dice rolls and player interpretation reigned—into a deterministic, digital format that retained the soul of the rules.

The first digital adaptation, Field of Glory (2009) by Hexwar, was a functional but visually dated translation. By 2017, Byzantine Games, already respected for deep historical titles like Sengoku Jidai and Pike and Shot, was tasked with the revival. They utilized their proprietary engine (a modified version of the one powering Pike and Shot), a deliberate choice that prioritized stability, mod-friendliness, and clear visual communication over graphical bells and whistles. The vision, guided by Bodley Scott himself, was absolute: accuracy above all. This meant a clean, information-dense isometric view, a tile-based grid for precise movement, and a UI designed to expose the game’s intricate state to the player. It was a conscious rejection of the real-time, cinematic direction of giants like Total War, carving out a niche for the turn-based tactician who values calculation and historical nuance over spectacle. The release of the core game in October 2017 was followed by an aggressive and well-received DLC schedule (2017-2019), culminating in the “Complete” bundle in June 2018, which solidified its status as the comprehensive package.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive: History as the Protagonist

critiques of Field of Glory II for lacking a traditional “story” or “characters” fundamentally miss its point. Its narrative is the grand, bloody tapestry of ancient and early medieval military history itself. There is no fictional protagonist; the player assumes the role of a hypothetical commander within a framework of meticulously researched historical scenarios.

• The Plot: The core game’s canvas is the “Rise of Rome” (280 BC – 25 BC). The 12 included “Epic Battles”—from the icy slaughter of the Trebia and the tactical masterpiece/catastrophe of Cannae, to the decisive Pydna that ended the Macedonian kingdom—are discrete chapters. Each is a self-contained historical vignette with specific victory conditions and force compositions. The DLCs (Immortal Fire, Legions Triumphant, Age of Belisarius, Rise of Persia, Wolves at the Gate) are not mere add-ons but narrative expansions that radically shift the timeline and cultural focus. They extend the playable period from 681 BC (Rise of Persia) to 1040 AD (Wolves at the Gate), traversing the Hellenistic world, the late Roman/Byzantine Empire, and the so-called Dark Ages. This creates a sprawling, interconnected historical saga where a player can experience the clash of Greek city-states, the Punic Wars, the Sassanid-Persian wars, the Arab conquests, and the Viking age—all within one unified ruleset.
• Characters & Dialogue: “Characters” are the named historical generals (Hannibal, Caesar, Belisarius, Pyrrhus, etc.) whose presence on the map provides significant morale and combat bonuses to nearby units. They are less RPG avatars and more force multipliers and historical anchors. The “dialogue” is the silent, data-rich language of the interface: unit stats (weapon skill, melee/impact value, protection, morale grade), terrain modifiers, and cohesion states. The story is told through the tactical realities the player must navigate: the terrifying charge of war elephants, the impenetrable wall of a Macedonian phalanx, or the devastating volley of Parthian horse archers.
• Themes: Underlying every engagement are profound themes:
  1. The Triumph and Fragility of Discipline: The Roman legion’s evolution, from the flexible maniples to the cohort system post-Marian reforms, is directly modeled in unit stats and availability. Its strength lies in cohesion and resilience; its weakness, rigidity if mishandled.
  2. Morale as the True Battlefield: The core thematic and mechanical thesis is that breaking the enemy’s will is more important than destroying every man. Units degrade through states: Steady -> Disordered -> Fragmented -> Routed. A single flank attack can shatter a unit, and the ensuing panic can cascade through a line. This模拟s the historical reality where morale collapses were decisive.
  3. Doctrine Over Numbers: A smaller, highly disciplined Roman legion can defeat a larger, less cohesive Gallic warband. A well-positioned phalanx is nearly unassailable from the front but desperately vulnerable to flanks and rough terrain. The game is a tactical taxonomy of ancient military thought.
  4. The Weight of History: The “What-If” custom mode is the ultimate thematic expression, allowing players to test historiographical counterfactuals: Could the Persians have beaten the Greeks at Marathon if they had used more cavalry? What if Pyrrhus had won at Beneventum?

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems: The精密钟表 of Ancient Combat

Field of Glory II is a turn-based, tile-based tactical simulator. Its genius lies in how a relatively simple core loop is prefaced by layers of historical nuance.

• Core Loop: Deploy your army on a procedurally generated (or scenario-specific) tile-based map. Each turn, units have a primary action (Move or Shoot or Melee). Movement costs vary by terrain and unit type (heavy infantry slog through hills, cavalry gallop across plains). After all moves, melee engagements are resolved simultaneously in a phase, then morale checks are cascaded.
• Combat & The Morale Cascade: This is the game’s masterstroke. Combat is not hit-point attrition. It’s a contest of cohesion. Factors include: unit facing (front = best, flank/rear = catastrophic), elevation, support from neighboring units, general presence, and the infamous Melee Value vs. Impact Value (the latter is applied before the melee value, modeling the shock of a charge). A unit losing a melee round takes a ” cohesion loss.” Accumulate enough, and the unit’s state degrades. A Fragmented unit is a liability; a Routed unit flees. Victory is typically awarded when a certain percentage of the enemy army has routed. This creates the beautiful, brutal chain reactions of a historical battle: one wavering unit can doom an entire wing.
• Army Building & Customization: The game’s longevity is anchored in its 75 distinct, historically-researched army lists covering 48 factions. These are not simple tech trees but snapshots of military capability at a specific time and place. You cannot field a “Roman” army from any period; you must choose the correct list (e.g., “Roman Polybian Army 225-105 BC” vs. “Roman Marian Army 105-25 BC”). Each list has a point cost and strict composition limits (e.g., maximum number of certain troop types). Building an army is an exercise in historical authentication and tactical puzzle-solving. The Custom Battle mode is a sandbox infinite in possibility, supported by the robust random map generator that creates plausible terrain (hills, woods, rivers, rough ground) that directly dictates tactics.
• Campaigns: The five campaigns (e.g., “Hannibal: the Phyrric Triumph,” “Caesar: The Conquest of Gaul”) are strategic wrappers for a series of linked battles. They feature simple branching paths and, most importantly, persistent units. Core units gain experience and “Elan” (a morale bonus) after victories, allowing the player to develop a bond with, say, their veteran III Gallica legionaries. These campaigns provide a guided historical tour.
• UI & Accessibility: This is the game’s most divisive aspect. The UI is a wall of data. Unit cards display critical stats via icons (weapon types, armor, morale grade, experience). Tooltips are exhaustive. For veterans of the tabletop game, it’s a godsend—clarity is paramount. For newcomers, it is a formidable learning curve. The tutorials are basic and cannot fully prepare one for the situational rule interactions (e.g., how thureophoroi spearmen differ from xystophoroi lancers, or how scythed chariots function). The game proudly wears its “hardcore” badge; it is “easy to use, hard to master” in the extreme.
• Flaws & AI: The AI is competent but predictable. It plays a sound, rule-abiding game—it will attack weak flanks, try to hold terrain, and pursue routing units. However, a savvy human can exploit its lack of grand strategic vision or delicate feints. At higher difficulties, it receives blunt force bonuses rather than smarter tactics. The other notable flaw, especially at launch, was the underutilization of the vast faction roster in pre-made scenarios, a gap largely addressed by DLCs and the modding community.

World-Building, Art & Sound: Functional Authenticity Over Fantasy

Field of Glory II’s presentation is a masterclass in functional aesthetic design. Every element serves the gameplay; nothing is merely decorative.

• Visuals & World-Building: The shift to fully animated 3D models (86 unit types, each with variants) from the first game’s 2D sprites was revolutionary for the series. A Roman hastatus looks distinct from a triarius, a Gallic warband from a Spanish scutarii. While not AAA quality, the models are clean, readable at a distance, and their animations—the shuffle of a phalanx, the rearing of a horse, the chaos of a scythed chariot—communicate unit identity and action effectively. The hex-based terrain is rendered in a stylized, clear manner. Hills are slopes, forests are clusters of trees, rivers are blue lines. This clarity is non-negotiable for a game where a single tile’s elevation can decide a battle. The atmosphere is one of a detailed historical model kit, not a fantasy epic.
• Sound Design: The soundscape is the game’s weakest link, though not from a lack of effort. The pre-battle soundscape is famously underwhelming—a low, indistinct “crowd murmur” that has been memorably likened to “office chatter.” It fails to build tension. However, in combat, the audio comes alive. The clang of shield on shield, the thwack of arrows, the screams of dying men and routing units, the trumpet calls—these are crisp, impactful, and provide crucial auditory feedback for unit engagement and morale breaks. The soundtrack by Alessandro Ponti is appropriately martial and epic, swelling during key moments without being intrusive.
• Atmosphere: The overall feel is one of scholarly intensity. The combination of the clean interface, the detailed unit roster, and the sound of tactical commands creates the feeling of a digital war room or a live tabletop wargame. It evokes the tension of a historian’s hypothetical, not the adrenaline of a blockbuster action sequence. This is its deliberate, intended atmosphere.

Reception & Legacy: Cult Classic and Industry Pillar

Upon its October 2017 release, Field of Glory II was met with strong critical acclaim within its niche. It holds Metacritic and OpenCritic scores of 84/100 and 85%, respectively. Reviews consistently praised its unparalleled tactical depth and historical authenticity. IGN Italia‘s hyperbolic but telling line—”Field of Glory 2 is for PC wargames what Destiny 2 is for online FPS“—speaks to its standing as a genre-defining title for its audience. Wargamer declared it “an absolute must buy.” Criticisms centered on the daunting learning curve and the functional, non-spectacular graphics/sound.

Commercially, it was a solid success for Slitherine, confirming a sustainable market for ultra-niche, hardcore historical simulations. Its legacy, however, is more profound:

1. The “Byzantine Games” Formula Solidified: It proved the viability of their engine and design philosophy, directly leading to the spiritually sibling Field of Glory II: Medieval (2021) and the grand-strategy companion Field of Glory: Empires (2019). The “Masters Edition” bundle linking Empires and FoG II is a testament to this integrated vision.
2. Community and Modding Cornerstone: The included map editor and mod-friendly architecture fostered a vibrant community. Players have created hundreds of new historical scenarios, unit packs, and total conversions, massively extending the game’s lifespan and historical coverage far beyond the official DLCs.
3. Setting a Standard for Historical Accuracy: In an era where many strategy games abstract or alter history for gameplay, FoG II became the benchmark for “simulationist” ancient combat. Its unit stats and mechanics are frequently cited by history enthusiasts and even academics studying period warfare.
4. Preserving the Tabletop Legacy: It serves as the most accessible and permanent digital archive of Richard Bodley Scott’s Field of Glory ruleset, ensuring the system’s concepts reach an audience that will never touch a miniature.

Conclusion: The Indispensable Tome

Field of Glory II: Complete is not for the casual player. It demands study, patience, and a genuine fascination with the military history of antiquity and the early medieval period. Its flaws are clear: a steep and unfriendly onboarding process, a utilitarian soundscape, and an AI that, while sound, cannot replicate the creative cunning of a human opponent. Yet, these are the price of its unparalleled ambition.

It succeeds, triumphantly, in its primary goal: to be the most authentic, deep, and satisfying digital simulation of ancient tactical warfare ever created. The “Complete” edition is the ultimate form of this experience, offering an almost encyclopedic scope. It is a living museum, a competitive arena, and a creative sandbox all in one. For the dedicated grognard, the history buff, or the tabletop wargamer missing the feel of rolling dice on a maquette, this compilation is an essential, masterpiece-level artifact of game design. It may not dominate sales charts, but in the annals of historical strategy gaming, Field of Glory II: Complete stands as a high-water mark—a dense, formidable, and deeply rewarding testament to the power of games as tools for historical understanding and tactical contemplation. Its place in video game history is secure: it is the definitive digital codex of how Rome, Carthage, Greece, Persia, and the barbarian hordes truly fought.