Pike and Shot: Campaigns 1494-1698 PC

Pike and Shot: Campaigns for PC is the second installment of a series of tactical turn-based games, taking place in the titular era of “pike and shot”, allowing the players to follow in the footsteps of the greatest military leaders of that age. Similarly to its predecessor, the game was created thanks to a joint effort of two developers: Byzantine Games and The Lordz Games Studio, while Slitherine took up the duties of the publisher.

Mechanics

The action of the game takes place between 1494 and 1698, and focuses on the same historical events as its predecessor. However, Pike and Shot: Campaigns offers three extended campaigns, allowing players to take part in Swedish intervention led by Gustav Adolf during the Thirty Years’ War, pick either Royalists or Parliamentarians in the fight for the shape of England’s government, or take part in Fifth Austrian – Ottoman War, including the famous Siege of Vienna of 1683. The historical campaigns are complemented by a fictional “skirmish” campaign, which offers over 20 armies from every military-oriented country during that era.

The visuals, user interface, as well as the mechanics itself haven’t undergone major changes. We are still facing a complex turn-based strategy game that allows players to lead their armies to victory throughout a number of tactical battles which take place either in faithfully recreated historical locations, or on randomly generated skirmish maps. The gameplay requires making a number of strategic decisions, regarding the area of the attack, unit strength, supply level, and economic situation. Each of these factors can shape up the situation on the front, and make an impact on our campaign or be a turning point during one of the battles. The game introduces a system of consequences, in which each battle (either won or lost) has a long-lasting impact on our forces’ mental condition and the level of organization and readiness, encouraging sudden adjustments to your war plans, and on-the-fly tactical decisions.

The developers recreated over 40 great battles, taking place during Thirty Years’ War, English Civil War, and series of conflicts between Ottoman Empire and Austria over the control of Central Europe. In all, there are over 20 historical countries and factions taking part in the clashes. Players can choose from five difficulty levels that can be customized according to each player’s skill.

Game Modes

The multiplayer module is based around the aforementioned “skirmish” campaign, or single, randomly generated scenarios pitting two players against each other connected using PBEM++ system – a distinctive feature of Slitherine games. The authors also introduced modding support, and the ability to share user-created single or multiplayer scenarios.

Last updated on 26 August 2015