The humiliation! Not only has Alexander the Great just lost the Battle of the Granicus, perishing in the process, the commander that outwitted him was consuming a bowl of Shreddies and admiring a low-flying Milvus milvus while issuing his orders. My first two Arete battles were fun, but they’ve left me wondering whether this new £7, eight-scenario wargame needs a ‘hard’ difficulty setting.
Before I beat Alex with a Persian army, I beat him and his dad with an Athenian/Theban one. Although both scraps were close, and in the latter the Macedonians were disadvantaged by a string of horribly low initiative rolls, these results suggest an experienced player may need to turn to multiplayer in order to find a truly worthy adversary.
Currently, the only way to alter challenge in Quick Games is to choose a ‘balanced’ setting. As this makes things slightly easier for Alexander by lowering his VP victory threshold, obviously this tweak is of no use to a player looking to toughen the Macedonian experience.
Friendlier and more conventional than the last budget hex wargame I played, Arete boasts admirably simple turn structuring and straightforward combat mechanics, both of which feel like they’ve been borrowed from a solid, mid-complexity board wargame. Leaders and terrain nudge the highlighted column on a CRT either left or right, and exciting 1D10 attack rolls produce a number of different results including step losses (sometimes on both sides), retreats, and slain leaders.
Purchasers get a decent interactive tutorial, a useful undo key, and a dash of naval action (The Siege of Tyre scenario comes with custom victory conditions, turn phases, and rules). They don’t get mouse-wheel zooming, a unit pane, or a skirmish generator – all undeniable boons in a wargame of this type.