Knights of Honor

There have been a great many real time strategy (RTS) games that have attempted to appeal to the more serious wargamers (often called grognards), by offering deeper and more involved gameplay than the traditional twitch-fest we've become accustomed to seeing. Developed by Black Sea Studios, Knights of Honor seeks to go that extra mile, and delivers an engaging layer of depth that is missing from its more traditional cousins in the RTS world.

Borrowing from the best, Knights of Honor blends empire building and management, ala Europa Universalis, with a real-time tactical battle system. Merchants and trade routes, diplomacy and intrigue, clerics, kings, and beautiful princesses. Knights of Honor boasts all this and more, as you attempt to lead your kingdom and become the undisputed ruler of Europe.

To begin with, players would be advised to advance through the in-game tutorial. Although the individual actions that a player will take throughout the course of a game are quite simple in and of themselves, the amount and variety of information and commands available make the tutorial time well invested. Armed with my new-found skills, I set out to lead my kingdom to glory and honor in Europe. Knights of Honor boasts over one hundred playable kingdoms, each containing one or more provinces (Byzantia has seventeen). I decided to take the helm of York in the early medieval period (around 1000 AD), on Normal difficulty. And then came my first surprise. Although I knew how to do everything, I found I didn't know what to do. I have no treaties, so I can't trade. The economy is in poor shape, I must increase my kingdom's income, or I'll go broke soon. I should be buidling something to improve my provinces, but I have no idea what to choose. I have no army, and don't know if I should raise one right now, as it's the Marshall's salary that is breaking the bank...

New players are likely to encounter the same problem at first. There is a lot you can do in Knights of Honor beyond the standard 'build my cities, build my army, crush my enemy' RTS doctrine. There are several ways to win the game, for openers. You can attempt the military path, and wade towards victory through the blood of your enemies, conquering all of Europe as you go. Or you may find diplomacy a helpful tool, as you attempt to win the election for Ultimate Emperor of Europe. A minor victory can also be earned by completing all ten Kingdom Advantages, which can be achieved by having certain resources available, some of which require importing through established trade routes with other nations. I have yet to come even close to completing more than two of them.

In the best interests of York, I decided to go with a mixed strategy for my first game. I would unite England under my banner, and foster favorable relations with one of the factions on the mainland in the meantime. This would hopefully give me some options when it came time to attempt a landing on the continent. My best laid plans will all come to naught if I can't get my kingdom in order, however!

The first order of business is to strengthen the economy. Looting enemy towns and villages can gain you gold and food, but at this stage in the game, a more peaceful method is preferred. By switching to political view, a player may gain information about other kingdoms, such as their income and wealth, current enemies and allies, and even pick up a valuable rumor or two. This is also the screen from which one offers the various treaties to other kingdoms. Securing a trade agreement or two with some of the richer kingdoms in Europe will allow you to profit greatly by establishing a trade route with a merchant. Merchants, and indeed, all the 'professions' in the game, are the domain of the knights. A player has nine slots available to fill with knights, and can have no more. Each knight may, in turn, be given a profession. This is achieved by first clicking on an empty slot in the Knights bar at the top of the screen, then hiring a knight for 1000 gold pieces (gp). You are then asked to select a profession for him: Marshall, Spy, Merchant, Cleric, Landlord, or Builder. Once I had created my merchant, a few simple clicks, and I had established my first trade route - the extra income would strengthen my economy to the point where I could afford to start expanding. But beware! Other kingdoms watch and remember - breaking your treaties, recalling your merchants, or other dastardly deeds will have a negative impact on your relations, and poor relations can lead to war....

Knowing that the gold supply is in good condition frees a player to begin managing his empire. Europe is divided into over 155 provinces. Each province contains a random mix of resources, such as fish, fertile soil, or marble deposits; It also has several types of dwellings such as villages, farms and monasteries. Each provides your province with certain benefits. Farms grow food, monasteries will increase your kingdom's piety, and so on. There is only one town per province, and it is here that you manage all aspects of that province's growth. Constructing a new building is a simple affair. Click on the town, then the improvements button, and you are presented with a list of the buildings already completed. Choose one of the empty slots, and the list of building will appear. Holding the mouse over a building will tell you what it is, complete with a description of effects, and the units cost in both gold and labor. Building up your military is done in much the same fashion, but in addition to gold, you'll need food and a unit of population from your town to raise your new unit.

One thing did strike me as a little odd. This is a real-time game, and this is evidenced by the slow, steady accumulation of gold in your treasury, by the length of time it takes your units to march from your province (and into your neighbors), and so on. So it came as something of a shock when I noticed that I was being invaded, and the enemy army was halfway to my town, and I was able to raise an entire army instantly. So long as you have the means to pay for the unit, you may build them and have them appear in the town's garrison before the ink can dry on the purchase order. To maintain the flow of the game, units should be just like purchasing a new structure, it takes money and time.

Once you've built up an army, it's time to go out and make the Marshall earn his 10 gold per month. Your units in the field need to be kept supplied with food, which you can fill up on in town, provided your province has any to spare. Your units move to a new location with a simple click of the mouse, and gradually make their way towards their destination. Combat takes place when two opposing units get close to each other. The AI will conduct the combat for you, but players will quickly find that if they want to get any real performance out of their armies, they'll have to lead them personally. The computer displayed an almost uncanny ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory most every time I allowed them to control my forces, but fighting the same battle myself would yield more favorable results.

Combat take a bit of getting used to, but once you've been through it a few times, it becomes fairly simple to manage. Your units appear on the battlefield, you are shown the enemy forces opposing you, and then the clock starts running. You need to deploy your forces with some thought as to the tactics you wish to employ. If you simply make a full frontal assault, you may beat an inferior opponent, but your losses will be high. Indeed, simply charging straight in is a good way to get schooled in medieval tactics 101 by your electronic adversary. Instead, you should look for opportunities to bring multiple units to bear, attempt to flank your enemies, close with archers to disrupt his support, and make lightning charges through the enemy with your heavy cavalry. Morale plays a very important factor in battle. More often than not, having superior morale will enable an army to defeat a much superior force. There are tactics one can emply to take advantage of this, as well. Breaking a unit of peasants, and having them flee backwards through an advancing unit of their own troops seems to have quite a negative impact on the enemy's will to fight. There are many bonuses one can gain to affect morale, and a smart leader will have as many as possible.

Once you've gotten used to battles, and are comfortable with attacking and defending, it's time to get to know the other professions your knights can persue. A Builder can govern your province, and will ensure that your town develops quickly and efficiently. A Cleric governing a province will increase its piety, or can be sent to a conquered province with a differing religion to convert the populace. He even has a chance at becoming the next Pope! Landlords that govern your province will increase the production of your food supply, causing your population to grow more quickly. They also ration food in the event of a siege, enabling the town to hold out for a longer period of time. Spies are quite novel, and require patience to develop. Supposing you wanted to plant a spy in another kingdom's court. You hire your spy, and send him on his mission. He will appear as a Knight-for-hire in the enemy court, and there is a chance that when your opponent next hires a Knight, he'll actually be employing your spy. Once in service to your rival empire, he has certain actions he can undertake for you, depending on what professions he was hired for. Assasinating a member of the royal family, inciting revolt, and breaking trade agreements are but a few of the options.

Be advised, however, that the next knight you hire for your court may also be a spy....

There are other factors to concern yourself with as you strive to become master of Europe. Your provinces produce books, which may be used to train all of your Knights to higher levels of effectiveness, excepting Marshalls, who gain experience through combat and can gain special abilities which will enhance their performance in varying ways. Investing vast sums of gold and piety will increase your Kingdom Power, which also falls when you act dishonorably. A low Kingdom Power means reduced income, and a chance of armed rebellion in your provinces. Each province also has its own happiness level, which can be affected by various structures. A tax collector's office, for instance, will increase gold, but decrease happiness in a province by three. This can be offset by constructing Inns and other happiness-affecting buildings. The random nature of the available resources in each province will also ensure that no two games play out the same. It is highly unlikely that you will be able to build most of the structures in the game in any given province. A butcher requires that both a salt mine and a cattle farm be present in a given province, for example.

A player can trade with other nations to gain the resources he desires, but that requires a merchant, who is now not trading for income, he's trading for your salt. He also happens to be taking up one of your nine knight slots. Let's consider: you need at least two marshalls to lead your armies; a cleric to get newly conquered provinces on the go; two spies minimum - one at home, and one at 'play'; three merchants on trade routes provinding you with most of your income; well, now you're at eight. Is that salt really worth your last slot?

You also have your royal family to work with. A King and Queen, with the hope of having a large family... As mentioned above, knights cost 1000 gp each to hire. However, the king and princes may act as knights, and have the added advantage that you don't have to pay for them. They may switch freely between the professions, which other knight can't do. (Don't lose them!) The king himself has ratings in five skills; Economy, Diplomacy, Warfare, Espionage and Religion, which will provide an appropriate bonus to that area of your kingdom. Your princes also have ratings, so you can have a peek at the stats of your next king. You can make a younger son your heir, but sometimes there can be problems when you go against tradition, and it's time for the boy to take the Crown....The princes can also marry princesses, so the Royal Line will continue when your current king meets his end. Barring the unforseen, time itself will eventually claim all of your kings, enlightened and barbaric alike. Interesting thnigs can happen when a king dies, and a Royal Wedding has taken place. If your prince has married a princess, and her father dies, you gain the right to claim land in her Kingdom. If he has no heirs, your prince may become king. But again, this may happen to you, as well.

Knights of Honor also has no set time limit. Time passes, in that your units move across the map, and your princes will become kings, grow old and die; yet there is no recorded time. Weeks, months and years do not pass by; you can continue through many, many generations of your royal dyansty, right up until the game ends. This will turn some people off, true. For myself, I like that type of thing in a game. (Nothing bothers me more than when a really good war is being waged, and somewhere a little bell goes off, and we all have to pack up and go home...) In Knights of Honor, you may choose to continue playing until you eventually rule Europe, or are ground into dust in the attempt.

The visual elements in Knights of Honor are a bit plain, but serviceable. The map itself is attractive, but not heavy on graphic detail. When you enter into combat, your units look good as they stand in formation, but the animation when they begin to move is somewhat choppy. It's obvious that the majority of development time was spent primarily on the engaging gameplay mechanics, and not on graphics, yet Knights of Honor still provides an adequate visual experience.

As with the graphics, the audio in the game is passable, but less than inspired. The music, while appropriate for the period, quickly gets turned off, and we're left with the sound and voice effects. These suffice to help get the player immersed in the game experience, so overall the audio was satisfactory. One area that I do feel needs mention is the speech, especially during the tutorial portion of the game. Perhaps it brings back memories of Lords of the Realm, but I found it to be clear, easy to understand, and almost exaclty what I imagined that voice should sound like. It added to the feudal experience.

There really isn't a lot to say about the interface. It uses standard RTS conventions such as right-clicking to issue orders, such as move and attack, and the ability to press shift and select multiple units to group together while in combat. After so many years of the same basic methods of accomplishing these tasks in real time games, most players will find they already know how to navigate through the Knights of Honor without any difficulties.

Knights of Honor comes on two cds. The installation was smooth, and the patch installed flawlessly. The game ran without incident, and was quite amiable to my constant tabbing in and out to other applications. The manual was medium-sized for a strategy game, and was both well written and informative. It was quite easy to locate the information you wanted to look up in those rare instances when the tutorial alone does not provide enough detail, so gamers will not need to be referring to it often. The Royal Library is also at your disposal with a single click of your mouse, and offers intuitive links to help you find what you need.