By popular demand, Update 1.5.12 adds a major new feature to the game – Allies.

It is now possible to choose to have allies from a different army list in SP and MP custom battle armies. The main army list provides the majority of the troops available for selection, the allies provide a smaller proportion.

The permitted allies for each list are based on known historical alliances. Hence some army lists can have as many as 12 possible allies, others may have none. Altogether, well over 400 allies are currently specified, which, together with the 281 single nation army lists, makes a total of more than 700 pure or mixed army lists in the game. This in turn means that, including “what if” games, the number of possible matchups is now over 500,000! And that is before unit selection.

For example, here we are setting up a custom battle representing an episode from the Third Samnite War (298-290 BC) in which an army of allied Samnites and Gauls meets a Roman army with Lucanian allies.



The army list previews show an asterisk in front of the allied units.





The two armies arrayed for battle:



Here we can set up a situation similar to the battle of Clontarf in 1014 AD, in which an Irish army with Viking allies fights a Viking army with Irish allies:



Stay tuned for further information!

"Horses ramp high and rock and boil / And break their golden reins,

And slide on carnage clamorously, / Down where the bitter blood doth lie,

Where Ogier went on foot to die, / In the old way of the Danes.

"The high tide!" King Alfred cried. / "The high tide and the turn!

As a tide turns on the tall grey seas, / See how they waver in the trees,

How stray their spears, how knock their knees, / How wild their watchfires burn!"

G. K. Chesterton – The Ballad of the White Horse


A new installment for Field of Glory II is coming and it is “darker” than ever. Wolves at the Gate depicts the epic struggles that newly forged European kingdoms had to face for their survival during the “Dark Ages”, a long period of recurrent conflicts that eventually gave birth to Europe.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1004260/Field_of_Glory_II_Wolves_at_the_Gate/

This age was marked by the volcanic expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate and its fights against the Byzantine Empire, the last bastion against the Islamic advance in the middle-east. In Europe, Charlemagne, King of the Franks, and then crowned Emperor of the Romans, built the foundations of the Carolingian Renaissance and the beginning of the Translatio Imperii in the West.

But no-one was prepared for the endless waves of ruthless and merciless raiders and warriors that from the end of the eight century onward ravaged almost the totality of the Continent and the Mediterranean. Christendom’s towns and holy places were in constant danger from the depredations of the Vikings and Magyars, as well as the on-going Saracen threat. The Vikings were to carve out colonies in Ireland, the Danelaw in England, Normandy in France and the Kievan Rus in Russia. The Magyars were eventually to cease their raids and become the Christian kingdom of Hungary.

The Wolves have arrived. Is this end of Christianity, or is it just the birth pangs of a new world order?

Summary of features:

• 19 new factions
  
• 55 new units
  
• 76 new army lists
  
• 6 new Epic Battles
  
• 74 new Quick Battles
  
• Expanded Custom Battles module.
  
• Expanded Sandbox Campaign module.
  
• 6 new historically-based campaigns.
  
• New Allies feature added in accompanying game update.

India. At the fringe of the Hellenistic World. In these lands, Alexander the Great fought his last main battle. Here the cultural heritage of Hellas and Persia met Buddhism. Here the blood of many courageous and daring soldiers was spilled along the centuries. This is not a land for the faint of heart.

It is your time to prove your valour now!

We are pleased to announce another Field of Glory 2 public tournament. This will be played using the normal Field of Glory 2 Multiplayer system and our automated tournament system.

Anyone who has Field of Glory II can enter. You do not need to own any DLCs to enter.


To enter, go to the tournament page here:

http://www.slitherine.com/tournaments/tournaments.asp

The general tournament rules can be found here:

http://www.slitherine.com/tournaments/rules.asp?aPage=1&filterStatus=

The first round will commence on Wednesday 3rd April 2019 at 10.00 am GMT. No further entries can be accepted after the tournament has begun.

Specific tournament rules:

This tournament will involve three rounds. The battles will be medium-sized custom battles.
Round 1: 327 BC. Macedonian invasion of India. Indian (500 BC-310 AD) vs Macedonian (328-321 BC). Tropical.
Round 2: 140 BC. Kingdom of Menander. Indian (500 BC-310 AD) vs Indo-Greek (175 BC-10 AD). Tropical.
Round 3: 500 AD. Sassanids in India. Indian (320-545 AD) vs Sassanid Persian (477-590 AD). Tropical.
Games are paired, so each matchup will be played both ways. Each player will be able to choose his forces using the normal force selection system. In each round, all players will be playing on the same randomly generated map for both games.
First round pairings will be selected randomly, subsequent rounds using the Swiss Chess system. Nobody will play the same opponent in more than one round.


The scoring system is as follows:

If a game runs to the turn limit, each side scores points equal to the enemy % routed at the turn limit. If the game times out, adjustments may be made, depending on how far the game has progressed and who took longer over their turns – see below.
If one army breaks, the victorious player scores 60 points plus the difference between the enemy % routed and his own % routed. The loser scores points equal to the winner's % routed.


Examples:

1) If Ben defeats Tamas's army, and has inflicted 45% routed on Tamas, and Tamas has inflicted 15% on Ben, Ben will score 60 + (45 – 15) = 90, Tamas will score 15.

2) However, if Ben defeated Tamas’s army by inflicting 62% routed on Tamas, and Tamas had inflicted 56% routed on Ben, Ben would get 60 + (62 – 56) = 66 points, and Tamas would get 56.

3) If the game is unfinished (or it reached the turn limit) with Ben inflicting 20% routed on Tamas, and Tamas inflicting 10% routed on Ben, Ben would score 20, and Tamas would score 10. (Provided that between them they have played at least 24 turns in all – see below).

Note that this system rewards aggressive play over desultory skirmishing. If you rout an enemy unit then hide for the rest of the game, both players will get extremely low scores - lower than if they played hard and lost.



Byes:

If an odd number of players sign up for the tournament, one player will get a bye in each round. In the first round this is random. In subsequent rounds it will be the player with the lowest score. The score for a BYE is 75 points for each game.

Round times and timing out:

Each round will last 14 days.

Any battles that are not completed by the end of the round will be timed out. The player who has had the game in his “My Turns” box the longest overall will be the one who is deemed to be timed out. This will not normally incur any penalties, unless insufficient turns have been played: If the timed-out player has played less than 12 turns, his score will be reduced proportionately, and his opponent will be granted the BYE score if it exceeds his current score. If the timed-out player has played less than 6 turns, he will not be included in the draw for the next round. This is to prevent someone else’s enjoyment being spoiled by being drawn against someone who has apparently dropped out of the tournament.

If Infantry has often been called the “Queen of Battles”, Cavalry should have been declared “Infantry’s worst enemy”.

For centuries in Ancient Times, large cavalry formations constituted one of the most dangerous threats to professional and non-professional armies alike.

Ferocious and merciless, the semi-nomadic peoples of Ancient Times were led by powerful chiefs and kings, the most feared among them listed amongst the world’s greatest conquerors.

Will your destiny be “to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women”?

We are pleased to announce another Field of Glory 2 public tournament. This will be played using the normal Field of Glory 2 Multiplayer system and our automated tournament system.

IMPORTNAT!
Anyone who has Field of Glory II can enter. You do not need to own any DLCs to enter.

To enter, go to the tournament page here:

http://www.slitherine.com/tournaments/tournaments.asp

The general tournament rules can be found here:

http://www.slitherine.com/tournaments/rules.asp?aPage=1&filterStatus=

The first round will commence on Tuesday 12th February 2019 at 10.00 am GMT. No further entries can be accepted after the tournament has begun.

Specific tournament rules:

This tournament will involve three rounds. The battles will be medium-sized custom battles. Note that the Parthian, Sassanid and Kushan lists were all given a significant makeover in the v1.4.7 patch.

Round 1: 167 BC. Parthian invasion of Graeco-Bactrian Kingdom. Parthian (250 BC-225 AD) vs Graeco-Bactria (250-130 BC). Middle-Eastern Agricultural.

Round 2: 225 AD. Sassanid invasion of Kushan Empire. Sassanid Persian (224-349 AD) vs Kushan (130 BC-476 AD). Middle-Eastern Agricultural.

Round 3: 582 AD. Avar invasion of the Balkans. Avar (558-631 AD) vs Byzantine (579-599 AD). Mediterranean Agricultural.

Games are paired, so each matchup will be played both ways. Each player will be able to choose his forces using the normal force selection system. In each round, all players will be playing on the same randomly generated map for both games.

First round pairings will be selected randomly, subsequent rounds using the Swiss Chess system. Nobody will play the same opponent in more than one round.

The scoring system is as follows:

· If a game runs to the turn limit, each side scores points equal to the enemy % routed at the turn limit. If the game times out, adjustments may be made, depending on how far the game has progressed and who took longer over their turns – see below.

· If one army breaks, the victorious player scores 60 points plus the difference between the enemy % routed and his own % routed. The loser scores points equal to the winner's % routed.

Examples:

1) If Ben defeats Tamas's army, and has inflicted 45% routed on Tamas, and Tamas has inflicted 15% on Ben, Ben will score 60 + (45 – 15) = 90, Tamas will score 15.

2) However, if Ben defeated Tamas’s army by inflicting 62% routed on Tamas, and Tamas had inflicted 56% routed on Ben, Ben would get 60 + (62 – 56) = 66 points, and Tamas would get 56.

3) If the game is unfinished (or it reached the turn limit) with Ben inflicting 20% routed on Tamas, and Tamas inflicting 10% routed on Ben, Ben would score 20, and Tamas would score 10. (Provided that between them they have played at least 24 turns in all – see below).

Note that this system rewards aggressive play over desultory skirmishing. If you rout an enemy unit then hide for the rest of the game, both players will get extremely low scores - lower than if they played hard and lost.

Byes:

If an odd number of players sign up for the tournament, one player will get a bye in each round. In the first round this is random. In subsequent rounds it will be the player with the lowest score. The score for a BYE is 75 points for each game.

Round times and timing out:

Each round will last 14 days.

Any battles that are not completed by the end of the round will be timed out. The player who has had the game in his “My Turns” box the longest overall will be the one who is deemed to be timed out. This will not normally incur any penalties, unless insufficient turns have been played: If the timed-out player has played less than 12 turns, his score will be reduced proportionately, and his opponent will be granted the BYE score if it exceeds his current score. If the timed-out player has played less than 6 turns, he will not be included in the draw for the next round. This is to prevent someone else’s enjoyment being spoiled by being drawn against someone who has apparently dropped out of the tournament.

Spears will clash against shields again, as Field of Glory II has been updated to version 1.5.3.

This new version brings lots of changes, ranging from Gameplay Mechanics (improved push backs), AI (several significant enhancements), Multiplayer (it is now possible to have mirrored MP challenges), Campaigns (campaign scoring system) and more.

Version 1.5.3
Note that some of the changes listed below will not affect games started under the previous version of the game. Such games will still work correctly, but won’t use all of the new features.

Gameplay:
- Push Backs: In order to more closely match the overall distance infantry units get pushed back in the game with accounts of historical battles, Push Backs will be less frequent. Units facing orthogonally (facing a square edge) will only get pushed back every second time they suffer a “lost badly” combat result, starting with the first time they suffer such a result. Units facing diagonally will only get pushed back every third time they suffer a “lost badly” combat result, starting with the second time they suffer such a result. Overall this simulates the unit getting pushed back half a square-side distance each time they suffer a “lost badly” combat result (instead of a whole square-side orthogonally or almost 1.5 square-sides diagonally, as previously).
- Unless they are in Rough or Difficult terrain, or defending an obstacle, Light Foot will now always evade non-light troops.
- Light Foot can only charge non-light troops if the latter are in Rough or Difficult terrain. (They could previously charge them in non-Open terrain that was neither of these - e.g. small Streams).
- Improved random naming conventions for the generals of some nations. (e.g. Arabs, Hebrews, Picts, Scots and Irish, Welsh).
- Made Detailed Unit Information easier to read by using dark on light text and a larger font.
- Increased effectiveness of Crossbows vs infantry slightly. (This currently only affects the Silk Road mod).
- Various graphical optimisations made to improve in-battle game performance.

AI:
- Made AI units more likely to move round flanks by reducing their chance of choosing a route through enemy ZOCs.
- Made AI units less likely to move into positions where they will block their friends’ break off.
- AI now moves all Steady units before Disrupted ones.
- Fragmented AI troops will no longer advance, as this is seldom a good idea.
- Improved AI for Rearguard scenarios.

Screenshots:
- Added camera shutter sound effect to accompany the visual flash effect.

Multiplayer:
- It is now possible to set up paired (mirror) MP challenges. When the challenge is accepted, two games are created. Each player gets to play the same battle from both sides, on the same map.

Campaigns:
- There is now a campaign scoring system which derives a points score for each battle in a campaign (whether won or lost) and after each battle displays the number of victories and defeats in the campaign so far, the last battle score, the average battle score (which at the end of the campaign is the campaign score), and the player’s previous High (campaign) Score. The scoring for each battle depends on the margin of victory, but is also modified depending on the difficulty level set.
- Advance Guard and Rearguard scenarios added to the possible campaign scenarios in Sandbox Campaigns.
- Campaign Design:
 Custom Campaign designers can use the TWEAK tag to adjust the points of the AI army in a particular campaign battle if needed for balance purposes. e.g. TWEAK 10 = AI gets 10% more points than usual, TWEAK -10 = AI gets 10% less points than usual. Note that TWEAK has no effect on the following decisions: 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 15 (should not be used in custom campaign anyway), 16, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 28, 29.
 It is now possible to set the player army in the first battle of a custom (historical) campaign to use an allied contingent from another army list (using the usual ALLIES0 format). The allied contingent’s units will be autoselected prior to force selection, and constitute between 20 and 33% of the total force points.
 Two additional option pairs can now be used in Custom Campaigns.

- Meeting Engagement (Advance Guard) scenario (32) or Reinforcements (Own) scenario (33). The standard strings attribute the choice to running low on supplies. The choice is therefore to advance as fast as possible to engage the enemy before supplies run out, or to advance steadily and send out foragers who may arrive back late for any battle. However, it is possible to provide different reasons for the choice by customizing the strings in the custom campaign folder.

- Outnumbered open battle– enemy has an extra 10% force points over and above the normal differential set by the difficult level (34) or Rearguard Action (35). The choice is therefore to fight the battle at a disadvantage, or to leave a rearguard to hold the enemy off while the rest of the army escape. This is deemed successful if the rearguard holds out till nightfall.

- Note that the campaign victory conditions for Meeting Engagement (Advance Guard) and Rearguard scenarios are different from the standalone version of those scenarios, in so far as the normal army rout percentages apply in addition to the special victory conditions.

Modding:
- The minimap will now default to yellow for Side 0 and blue for side 1 if the sides’ banner indices are outside the vanilla defined range (currently 1-14).

Manual:
- Change: Unless they are in Rough or Difficult terrain, or defending an obstacle, Light Foot will now always evade non-light troops.
- Change: Light Foot can only charge non-light troops if the latter are in Rough or Difficult terrain.

Bug Fixes:
- Non-difficult hill slopes should now show correctly in random maps where equal height hills abut at a corner.
- Fixed some missing Banner Normal and Spec textures (which nobody seems to have noticed).
- Fixed rare MP crash bug.
- Group move Undo should now consistently move all of the units in the group back to their starting position. We hope this will fix the bug where units occasionally got extra AP or a second move after a group move Undo.
- Fixed issue of disappearing Detailed Unit Info button.
- Next Unshot hotkey (B) now works when More Tools panel is not open.
- Fixed issue of stray shootable or chargeable indicators on enemy units at the start of a player’s turn.
- Fixed overlap in West Hunnic lists.

The time has come!

After the great success of the Rise of Persia Tournament, another challenge awaits you: The Field of Glory II Grand Christmas Tournament!

In this Tournament, you’ll fight several battles marking different stages in the expansion of the Roman Republic, from its direct neighbours the Samnites, through Gallic, Punic and Macedonian Wars to the humbling of the mighty Seleucid Empire.

We expect a lot of fight so don’t be shy and prove your warrior’s skills!

Anyone who has Field of Glory II can enter. You do not need to own any DLCs to enter.



To enter, go to the tournament page here:

http://www.slitherine.com/tournaments/tournaments.asp

The general tournament rules can be found here:

http://www.slitherine.com/tournaments/r ... terStatus=

The first round will commence on Friday 30th November 2018 at 10.00 am GMT. No further entries can be accepted after the tournament has begun.



Specific tournament rules:

This tournament will involve five rounds. The battles will be medium-sized custom battles.
Round 1: 294 BC. Third Samnite War. Roman (340-281 BC) vs Samnite (355-272 BC). Mediterranean Hilly.
Round 2: 283 BC. Roman-Gallic War. Roman (340-281 BC) vs Gallic (300-101 BC). Mediterranean Agricultural.
Round 3: 255 BC. First Punic War. Roman (280-220 BC) vs Carthaginian (280-263 BC). Mediterranean Agricultural.
Round 4: 197 BC. Second Macedonian War. Roman (199-106 BC) vs Macedonian (260-148 BC). Mediterranean Agricultural.
Round 5: 190 BC. Syrian War. Roman (199-106 BC) vs Seleucid (205-167 BC). Mediterranean Agricultural.
Games are paired, so each matchup will be played both ways. Each player will be able to choose his forces using the normal force selection system. In each round, all players will be playing on the same randomly generated map for both games.

First round pairings will be selected randomly, subsequent rounds using the Swiss Chess system. Nobody will play the same opponent in more than one round.

The scoring system is as follows:

· If a game runs to the turn limit, each side scores points equal to the enemy % routed at the turn limit. If the game times out, adjustments may be made, depending on how far the game has progressed and who took longer over their turns – see below.

· If one army breaks, the victorious player scores 60 points plus the difference between the enemy % routed and his own % routed. The loser scores points equal to the winner's % routed.

Examples:

1) If Ben defeats Tamas's army, and has inflicted 45% routed on Tamas, and Tamas has inflicted 15% on Ben, Ben will score 60 + (45 – 15) = 90, Tamas will score 15.

2) However, if Ben defeated Tamas’s army by inflicting 62% routed on Tamas, and Tamas had inflicted 56% routed on Ben, Ben would get 60 + (62 – 56) = 66 points, and Tamas would get 56.

3) If the game is unfinished (or it reached the turn limit) with Ben inflicting 20% routed on Tamas, and Tamas inflicting 10% routed on Ben, Ben would score 20, and Tamas would score 10. (Provided that between them they have played at least 24 turns in all – see below).

Note that this system rewards aggressive play over desultory skirmishing. If you rout an enemy unit then hide for the rest of the game, both players will get extremely low scores - lower than if they played hard and lost.

Byes:

If an odd number of players sign up for the tournament, one player will get a bye in each round. In the first round this is random. In subsequent rounds it will be the player with the lowest score. The score for a BYE is 75 points for each game.

Round times and timing out:

Each round will last 14 days.



Any battles that are not completed by the end of the round will be timed out. The player who has had the game in his “My Turns” box the longest overall will be the one who is deemed to be timed out.

This will not normally incur any penalties, unless insufficient turns have been played: If the timed-out player has played less than 12 turns, his score will be reduced proportionately, and his opponent will be granted the BYE score if it exceeds his current score.

If the timed-out player has played less than 6 turns, he will not be included in the draw for the next round.

This is to prevent someone else’s enjoyment being spoiled by being drawn against someone who has apparently dropped out of the tournament.

The earth will crumble at the sound of trumpets. The Cradle of Civilization will witness the blood of thousands of warriors ready to die for their kings and their gods.

Kingdoms rise and fall, only the echoes of their glory remain.

Rise of Persia - the fourth DLC in the Field of Glory II series - is available, bringing players back to 681 BC.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/876360/Field_of_Glory_II_Rise_of_Persia/

Play with Assyrians, Babylonians, Cimmerians, Cypriots, Egyptians, Elamites – and many other factions – and unleash the power of Heavy Chariots, Guard Foot, Egyptian Massed Archers, Gibborim, along with other units of the time for a total of 32 new units!

Eager to see Rise of Persia in action? Don’t miss our official Twitch Stream at 6 pm BST!

https://www.twitch.tv/slitherinegroup

Further, as said in a previous announcement, the accompanying free patch adds tons of new features and elements (Praetorian Guard and Peltasts included). Click here to read the full changelog
https://steamcommunity.com/app/660160/discussions/0/1735466157773319373/

Finally, if you are eager to give yourself a challenge, the Rise of Persia Tournament is opening its gates for recruitment!

Anyone who has Field of Glory II can enter. You do not need to own any of the DLCs to enter. You are all invited!

http://www.slitherine.com/tournaments/tournaments.asp

Rise of Persia – the upcoming DLC for Field of Glory II – won’t just feature a tremendous collection of Army Lists from the factions of the period. As always, the DLC’s release will come with a free update improving many elements of the entire franchise, ranging from gameplay mechanics to AI behaviour.

store.steampowered.com/app/876360/Field_of_Glory_II_Rise_of_Persia/

But this time, the update is way juicier than ever. Some of you have asked about the lack of any direct reference to Praetorian Guard units and Peltasts in any Army Lists available. Well, your requests have been answered.

Rise of Persia will add - to the regular game and the other DLCs as well – units like the Praetorian Guard, Praetorian Guard (Late), Greek Peltasts, Thracian Peltasts, Massed Thracian Peltasts, Thracian Spearmen, and several other new units for free! These new units are part of a major army list overhaul affecting Greek, Thracian, 1st-3rd century AD Roman, Sassanid, Parthian, Indo-Parthian, Kushan and Byzantine army lists.

Kudos to the developer for this great work!

Look at the screenshots below!

Empires might rise and fall, but their legacy stands forever. Are you ready to fight for the glory of the Old Gods?

If so, mark the date as Rise of Persia, the latest DLC in the Field of Glory II franchise, will be released on September 27th!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/876360/Field_of_Glory_II_Rise_of_Persia/

With 12 new factions, 32 new units, 21 new army lists, 6 new Epic Battles, 35 new Quick Battles and 4 brand new historical campaigns, Rise of Persia will bring players back to 681 BC, experiencing the last flowering of chariot warfare in the ancient near-East.

If you are eager to see some action, join us today at 6PM BST on our official Twitch Channel for a two-hour stream with Richard Yorke! This will be the first of a regular series of streams featuring Field of Glory II until the release. So, if you want to discover everything about Rise of Persia and its content be sure to subscribe to our channels to receive instant notification of live events!

Take a look at the upcoming DLC for Field of Glory in this video featuring Egyptians and Persians in a bitter fight!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQmngf-8Ac4