Is overcoming Alexander in Arete too easy?

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.

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