Well the mission after that took me an hour to figure out! So difficult because it relies heavily on what hexagons you put your units in and which type of unit attacks first. You basically have to use arrows/gunners to pick off anyone with long range weapons and position them in spots that'll let them get the first attack. The Samurais you have to use carefully. I would purchase their elite units first before any other unit. After playing a bit, I'm convinced they are the most powerful unit. They can destroy squads of any other unit as long as they aren't long range (or if you can attack them from the side which means any long range unit is screwed). This is why you need cannon fodder or long range units to take the charge.. samurais are basically your hit squad to clean up whatever survives. Too bad the CPU can't run from them
But like any Total War game, battles can be won on a whim rather than unit stats . I've seen my 2 man samurai squad annihilate 3 groups of common swordsman with no support, and occasionally having far less successful records. Well, it's unsurprising that samurais take the spotlight here, they are the stars of the game after all . Now here's my question: how do you counter them, without access to cavalry?
you're absolutely right lol. i'm sure half the players got the game just for the samurais (count me in that!). love seeing them parry with other enemies. samurais will still go down eventually against decent units but like you said, ronin and those lower spearmen are completely useless on samurai. watching my samurai get killed, it would seem the best way to counter them is archers and gunmen. archers are worse but they will eventually punch a hole in their health. gunmen demolish practically any unit. or you can just get the cannonball and place it in the direct line of some samurai and do a renactment of the Last Samurai movie (maybe you can unlock those "gattling howitzers" with a cheat code lol.
So, any new info on the IAP? Is this required to max everything out? Or can you get enough EXP during the Campaign from the "Puzzle" missions?
You're late, sir. Check my post a few pages back (I display 40 posts per page so I don't know what page it is for you). In short: yes, and no. @L.Lawliet Lol, I upgraded Leadership so I can command 9 units. I employ 2 foot soldier squads before two archers in a line to hold the samurai squad in place. A big fat cannon behind them . A pretty crude and ineffective strategy I must say, but since the only other alternatives are the two spearmen squads, I can't say I've got much choice.
Okay, weird. This review: (http://thesmartphoneappreview.com/iphone/total-war-battles-iphone-review/) said: "Luckily, the in-app purchases are simply for extra EXP [...] so I would recommend just playing some side missions if you must 100% everything". So this isn't true? Also, do you know if the IAPs are restore-able? If I were to purchase a EXP-pack, it would be a shame if I couldn't restore it, lets say if I play through the campaign again. Thanks in advance
Well i just took a dive and bought this! It`s really fun and kinda worth it, but i really hope they will add a skirmish mode in the future! It`s sort of frustrating since some of my favorite games miss out on adding skirmish, but hey, hope for the best!
^ only kinda? make sure to post what you think since it seems like me and gunxsword are the only people playing lol i noticed that we like a lot of the same games so it makes since that you should like this one! @swetse: i didn't count but i don't think there's enough XP to upgrade everything unless you pay more money. so it's up to you if you want to spend/not spend. those side missions are mostly on the very difficult side so that's another concern. and sorry i don't know anything about IAP and restoring =\
Yeah i played it only a little, should have added that, but it looks really really promising! I`ll post more this evening, since i`m heading out now!
My somewhat contrary opinion: For 5.49 Euro this game is a joke. Ok, I was expecting something close to the real TA experience, reagrding the pricepoint and simply the fact, that a game of this type should be doable on an iOS device, at least the global strategy part. But lane defense with some building puzzles... and RTS elements? Even for 79 cents I wouldn't call this a very sophisticated game (ok, I am not too far yet). Sure, a lot of my disappointment derives from not getting what I wanted. But I would not not want this type of game even if it wasn't TA. In the end you have to say that all those worries and fears expressed in the first few pages of this thread did come true (at least for me). Not to mention the laughable IAPs... After the disappointment with Fibble it seems like those classic PC developers have a "strange" (i.e. not very customer friendly) approach entering the iOS market.
@iosgaming Appreciate the comment, man. The game is extremely pretty, but yeah, it does seem pricey for a lane-defense game with IAP. The "big boys" (Sega, Capcom, Konami, etc.) are still trying to mold the App Store to their sense of a profitable system, but personally, I don't think they "get it." It's obvious some real love and care went into the production values, but I would certainly like more. Don't get me wrong, the second it hits $0.99, I will nab it.
I justify my buyer's regret syndrome by thinking I'm playing an overpriced semi-real-time hexagonal gird based strategy game with puzzle elements . Imo, this game is not worth the current asking price. I also find the gameplay to be on the very shallow side. The campaign missions are mostly tactical scenarios, with little no-bullshit full scale wars. The EXP missions can be fun, but when the stakes (precious EXP) are so high, the frustration of repetition and getting stuck increases exponentially. *Remedying chance: gimme a full-fledged skirmish mode (PC standard) and I would ignore all the negatives and be happy .
Well took some time and played the game a bit more, enough to develop an opinion! This game is great, from the gameplay to the animations! Sure it`s not like the pc title, but for what it is , TW Battles is awesome! First off, this game is not easy, so you will have to give some of the missions some thought! The battles between units is very fun to watch! For me graphics aren`t that important, but they are beautiful and very smooth! I can say now that the game is worth the 7 bucks; for many the downside would be that this being a paid game, it also presents IAP, but i really don`t think you need it! Just do all the missions and plan your tactics perfect and it will be fun and the satisfaction that comes with victory high! All in all, i can recommend this game to fans of the genre, since they won`t be dissapointed and will find this game challenging and fun!
This would have been good if it was cheaper and it wasn't called total war, then I would have totally dug it. In all seriousness though putting the total war name on this game is a little underhand. Maybe if they called it shogun battles it would have been better. Here it feels that the use of total war is just there to suck in fans of the genre, only to find out its a totally different genre when you play it.
Yeah, they're definitely riding on the name. Of that we can be sure. But it does seem more like Bloodshow. Unfortunately, I don't think that game/series has the cache to get Sega the attention for the game they want.
Then you were fooling yourself, and not paying any attention to the developer interviews when they repeatedly said it would not be anything like the PC Total War titles. And if it was just another turn-based grand strategy title people would still be complaining it wasn't a 'real' Total War game. Me, I like it, and don't regret paying 5GBP in the slightest. It's not brilliant, far from it - you can justifiably attack the game for poor implementation of IAP, somewhat awkward difficulty curve and not being particularly original. I'd have ditched single-device multiplayer and implemented skirmish, too. But the chorus of 'IT IS NOT EXACTLY LIKE (insert your favourite Total War game), THIS IS A TRAVESTY' is yet another depressing point behind the argument iOS gamers are a shallow, bitchy lot who think if one company charges 99 cents, everyone else should be required to by law. Hopefully enough people (who don't post on internet message boards) think this is a bargain that it'll do well, but I'm not holding my breath. Still, we'll see.
Game Impressions Well, i am a fair ways in now, and therebis a surprising amount of depth here, especially for an iOS title. New gameplay elements are introduced logically each mission in the campaign. Once you start getting into focusing orders, thesepth starts to become apparent. As for the IAP of EXP, totally unnecessary. I have completed all the EXP side missions to my current point in the game, and banked most of the points. I'll spend what I need to on upgrades that will help me with my weaker areas of play, kinda like a golf handicap. By no means do you have to max everything out to progress in the game. I will remark that the EXP system is cleverly designed in that an unwary player may spend all his points as soon as he gets them, then find out later he would have been better saving them for where he really could use them. Then he would be stuck with the choice of IAP or starting the campaign again and spending the EXP wisely. So save hem and spend them where they are needed based on where you are having the most trouble. The EXP missions seemed designed with practicing specific gameplay strategies (e.g. What is the best configuration to get the most shrines built off one woodhut?). Campaign missions themselves have high replayability, the AI uses different units each time. As for online multiplayer, I have no doubt it will be added in the future, the entire design of the game, and its pacing in my opinion scream that that's what it was made for. Probably just have to work the kinks out first. The further I get, the more and more the pricetag was worth it. Your mileage may vary. Sorry for the wall o text
Damnit I'm in love! The EXP stages are FANTASTIC, and the campaign levels are a blast. I guess I should say that I've never played an official Total War title, but I am into TBS and RTS games... So that probably plays into why I'm getting so much enjoyment out of this. Then again, it's just really a great strategy game, and no matter how I look at it, I can't find one thing I dislike about the game... Don't even care that there's IAP in it, cause chances are, I'll end up throwing more money at SEGA for this just to give a little extra support. I'm definitely going to get more than $7 worth of entertainment out of this.
