When it comes to recreating large-scale battles from iconic periods of history, Total War is almost always a reliable series to turn to. However, soon there’ll be a new kid on the block, boasting 120 unique factions from the classical era, huge numbers of on-screen units, and an in-depth command system. It’s called Strategos, and now it’s got the backing of experienced strategy game publisher MicroProse.
Whether you want to faithfully re-enact some of history’s greatest conflicts, or simply pit some of the most fearsome clans and armies against each other to see who would come out on top, Strategos looks like it’s got everything you’ll need. The strategy game’s lineup of more than 120 factions spans around a thousand years of the classical antiquity and features forces from across Europe and parts of Asia and Africa too. From Roman and Greek armies, to the Germanics, the Moors, the Gallics, and so many more, it’s a pretty remarkable list.
Across these factions, there are over 250 unique unit types that you can deploy and control on the battlefield. Conflicts are real-time, and developer Strategos Games is aiming to “bring a hardcore tabletop feel” with a huge array of commands and consequences. As well as expertly composing your army of the right type and amount of units, you must think tactically about where to position your generals who will give orders, avoid morale shocks to keep your soldiers motivated and fighting fit, and decide when to push, retreat, evade, and pursue.
Strategos’ campaign will see you fight alongside some of the most notable and famous generals of the era, and there will be iconic battles that you can take part in such as Issos and Raphia. However, with a wealth of options in its battle customizer, you can set up pretty much whatever conflict you want. You can tinker with AI difficulty and aggression, the distance between where each army deploys, the map, and much more. When it comes to the factions, you can hit the randomizer or use filters that will, for example, only include factions from specific time periods.
As mentioned, Strategos has been picked up by MicroProse, which knows a thing or two about strategy games, so that’s a good omen for sure. Strategos is slated to launch at some point in 2025.
For some similar titles that you can play right now, check out our best RTS games and best war games guides.
You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We’ve also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.