Quoted By:
It's me, Latelympus QM, once again past the deadline with a review of Fog of War! (Picrel is my interpretation of pre-thread 1 Alessandro. Not a lot to go on description wise, but we'll discuss that in a second).
Fog of War is, as it says on the tin, a quest about military conflict. However, unlike many other management games, it ISN'T about a king, nor is it a pure skirmish/war game type quest. Instead, Fog of War follows a lesser nobleman, Viscount Alessandro Galliota, commanded to lead his men in the hopes to bend a civil war amongst the Straccians (a not-quite human race of kite-eared peoples descended from a tribe of bestial savages) in the favor of his lieged lord. While obviously tactics are still a major element, there exists a rather broad focus, from politicking to worldbuilding to management to surprisingly in-depth characterization– rather than calling if a quest about war, it would be more accurate to call it a quest about Alessandro, who so happens to be a commander.
Still, those strategy mechanics are well done– set in a fictionalized semi-fantasy (giants and half-beasts and kinda elves but no (shown to be real) magecraft or divinity or the like) world of pike and shot, Fog of War feels more like actually being a commander in those times than a game– rather than being able to finely micromanage your arms and armies, you make broader strategic decisions and leave the rest to your men and the dice. In addition, much of the quest is not during battle, focusing on developing the world, negotiating for resources from allies, and occasionally spending time with the people around you. It really does immerse you in a way that a lot of war/strategy quests do not.
For the cons, there is a LOT of infodumping, especially in the earlier threads, though this is sort of necessary given the world and format. While I quite enjoyed reading into the history and lore of the world and its peoples, it can also drag. Also, minor artist's nitpick, very little of the characters especially get physically described– while the war-report esque nature of the prose is immersive, I always love taking a step back ane getting a good look at the characters and settings.
But, those are really just quibbles. Fog of War is a must-read: it's short, captivating, and engaging even to people who aren't generally fond of war games. You owe it to yourself to check it out.
