"Pike & Shot by Slitherine" Topic

Anyone playing this? I just started and it seems like a pretty cool game with both a detailed tactical game and strategic map campaigns of the 30 Years War, English Civil War, etc. The tactical game feels very much like "Battle Academy"--and that's a good thing :)

There is some comment on the ECW board, last post 27 jul, 2016. Sorry I cant seem to put the link in with this ipad.

Seems all positive.

Fantastic game! It is my goto game these days.

I think the player made battles are a bit hit or miss. One of the problems I have with them is that they are too large.

I think the best sized battles are the "Small Sized" fights. The "Very Small" fights are also good for a quick, 20 minute action.

I played through the entire 30 Years War campaign. Most of the battles are fun. Some make you try to win as the side that Historically lost. That can lead to multiple replays which is not good.

I am about half way through the ECW campaign. The problem I have here is that the designer was not consistent as to which side you play so some battles you are Parliament and others you are Royalist. It does not give you a sense of playing a linked campaign like the original Battle Academy series.

The free-form campaigns are pretty fun. I played through ECW a couple of times, winning once. I also played part of the 30 Years war as the Swedes. This, I believe, is where the game really shines. It gives you plenty of context and sense of purpose for your battles.

Wanna play miniatures but don't have an opponent? This is the game for you! But I guess you already know that.

I have had the game for quite a while, I personally think it's best when playing the Italian wars, it just doesn't seem quite right for the 30YW/ECW

But I have enjoyed the user made battles, It's quite good when playing the NYW/WSS/GNW

it just doesn't seem quite right for the 30YW/ECW

I humbly disagree. I usually play TYW. I also play Sun King scenarios. I've had a great time with both! ECW, seems a bit hard on medium difficulty.

Hmmm, having played some more I'm having second thoughts :) I played the introductory scenarios and then tried the free-form campaigns with the English Civil War and 30 Years War and did fine with them. Won some battles lost some battles and eventually won the campaigns after a hard fight. But when I tried the 'historical' scenarios and the random skirmishes, I'm being crushed every time. Even though the difficulty setting is at 2, I find myself pitted against forces which are much larger and of a vastly better quality and they just streamroller me every time. I like to think I'm pretty good at this sort of game, but I don't seem to have a chance. Not much fun when you can't hope to win.

Just a follow-up. Setting the game to the easiest difficulty level produces a challenging and fairly balanced game, I'm finding.

One historical issue I have is with the old style tercios. They have incredible staying power and with no flanks or rear they can only be taken out with massed fire or multiple unit melee attacks--and it takes many, many turns of fighting. Now I guess that's okay, but the problem is that they move and maneuver just as well as the more modern battalions. My readings indicate that the new-style battalions could march rings around a tercio. I'm thinking that the tercios' movement ought to be cut down to one square. Or if that's too slow for scenario purposes then make then move like a rook in chess: along east-west/north-south lines with no diagonals. That would make them realistically unwieldy. Still, it's a good game.

I wondered about this game, when I was thinking about getting it. There was a lot of complaints about it. Now I trust yall more than the steam website. I just noticed there was a lot of complaints. like longbow units beating pikes in melee.