Review - Rome:Total War, A Game For the Ages.

I figured that it would be a good idea to write about a game (maybe once a week or something) so lets get started. I've already made one before, back in August about Hearts of Iron II .

Caesar is angry because he realized he was bald.

Rome:Total War

So, a basic summary of this game would be;

• Its a somewhat historical game, based in the early Roman Republic era (230BC onwards)
• Its a strategic real time and also a turn-based game.
• The game offers almost realistic battles from various factions ranging from the mighty Chariots of the Ptolemy Pharaohs of Egypt to the mighty phalanxes of Greece.

Technical Stuff :
The game is basically playable on all types of computers, so you do not have to worry about graphics and all (though it would be best if you had good ones). The game is atleast 2 GB large but trust me , it is worth the space.

The Strategic Overview:
You are the controller of your respective faction, and your goal is ,basically put, to conquer Rome and 50 provinces. It might seem difficult but actually, its a pretty fun experience if you're the patient kind.

Ok, right here we see the general overview of the map. The faction is Egypt, it controls basically the Middle Eastern part of the map as well as North Africa.

But what is universal is that, to be successful in this game, you have to please your populace. You control your own settlements in the beginning of the campaign and can upgrade it as the game progresses and the population of the settlement increases.

You can train soldiers (you NEED them) at these settlements too and depending on the quality of the barracks at your settlement, the quality of your soldiers increase. You can upgrade your barracks as the population of your settlement increases. Also, you have a wide range of choices to choose from, from infantry and archers to cavalry. Almost all factions have these. Each faction have their own special units and buildings (such as worship buildings) and their ups and downs.

The Greek Phalanx holds off the Roman Advance.

The Battle Interface is one of the most realistic types you'd ever see in a game (beside other Total War games). 
The image , to the left, shows you the general style of battle. Units look as realistic as possible, albeit for some bugs but the battles often are life-like. Friendly fire exists here, so expect some losses if you accidently threw a rock from a catapult at your own men. Movement of troops is generally easy and organized (depending on your faction).
In Battle, each side usually has a special unit called the General. Usually on horseback, he has his own heavy cavalry that usually deals a heavy blow to the enemy as well as inspiring fleeing troops.
Speaking of them, the game introduces a system of routing. That is, if your army is getting crushed by a very powerful enemy, they won't sit around for the onslaught (unless they are that brave) and would flee from the battlefield.
 The various unit types in this game includes catapults, siege towers, archers, exploding pigs (I know, its awkward!) and Elephants!

Behold the mighty elephant!

The game also has a siege assault feature. Which means, you can attack the enemy's settlement (either a village, fort, town or city) with your armies (and don't forget your siege equipment). You can do this if you got the skills for it or you could play it safe and lay siege to it. This means, you don't attack them but just wait outside. After a number of turns (usually 3 or 4), the enemy army approaches you and fights. Should you win, you'll be successful and the settlement will be yours.
Also, in the game is a system of families. Which means, you can have lots of new generals via sons of your own generals or adopted generals or even married ones. Each general has three stats- Command, Influence and Management.

• Command is needed for Controling your armies. The better your command, the better the General is at fighting.
• Management is needed for managing your settlements. If your settlement doesn't have a governor in it, you'll probably face a revolt. Hence, a general with good Management skills should be placed here.
• Influence is needed for diplomatic skills.

The Game also includes assassins and Diplomats and the sort.

This picture shows the starting points of most of the factions in the game. Each colour represents a certain faction.

Factions like Roman Families, Carthage, Egypt, Parthia , Gauls, Germania, Britons and many more are included!





So What are you waiting for ? Get this game!!!

Just an Essay about Dilmun AKA Bahrain- The Lost Sumerian Paradise

I've written this essay a while back and thought it would be fun to share it with you guys:

Dilmun: The Lost Sumerian Paradise:

 The former name of Bahrain, believed to have housed a civilization thousands of years ago in the BC era of Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley's trade prosperity. Dilmun was often viewed as a supply stop by traders and sea merchants when crisscrossing between the two powers. In this article, we shall examine the History of this ancient and truly, the Lost Paradise of Dilmun.

This map shows the old trade routes.

One of the most significant and impressive civilization of the ancients were that of the ancient Indus Civilization which had flourished from about 2500 to 1500 BC. It is thought to have covered the vast territory of present day Pakistan/Iran's Baluchistan region as well as land in the foot of the Himalayas.

Dilmun, however had appeared in historical text, via clay tablets uncovered by Archaeologists, the clay tablets were written in Sumerian Language and were found near the city of Uruk.The contents were simply a list of goods that had earlier been transferred to or from Dilmun to Mesopotamia.It had been believed that Dilmun was a supply base for Copper, however archaeologists concluded that there wouldn't have been much in Dilmun at the time. Also, it shows that Dilmun was a large exporter of Dates, Timber (it had been called "Land of a Million Date Palms) and "Fish Eyes"(Believed to be the old name for Pearls).

The Island was extensively inhabited during the late half of the Third Millennium BC.Tablets shown had proved that Dilmun had been more prosperous and had richer trade links to Mesopotamia than Magan (Present Day Oman).[1]

The Library of Congress states:

Quote:

Archaeological evidence suggests that Dilmun returned to prosperity after the Assyrian Empire stabilized the Tigris-Euphrates area at the end of the second millennium B.C. A powerful ruler in Mesopotamia meant a prosperous gulf, and Ashurbanipal, the Assyrian king who ruled in the seventh century B.C., was particularly strong. He extended Assyrian influence as far as Egypt and controlled an empire that stretched from North Africa to the Persian Gulf. The Egyptians, however, regained control of their country about a half-century after they lost it. A series of other conquests of varying lengths followed. In 325 B.C., Alexander the Great sent a fleet from India to follow the eastern, or Persian, coast of the gulf up to the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and sent other ships to explore the Arab side of the waterway. The temporary Greek presence in the area increased Western interest in the gulf during the next two centuries. Alexander's successors, however, did not control the area long enough to make the gulf a part of the Greek world. By about 250 B.C., the Greeks lost all territory east of Syria to the Parthians, a Persian dynasty in the East. The Parthians brought the gulf under Persian control and extended their influence as far as Oman. The Parthian conquests demarcated the distinction between the Greek world of the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Empire in the East. The Greeks, and the Romans after them, depended on the Red Sea route, whereas the Parthians depended on the Persian Gulf route. Because they needed to keep the merchants who plied those routes under their control, the Parthians established garrisons as far south as Oman. In the third century A.D., the Sassanians, another Persian dynasty, succeeded the Parthians and held the area until the rise of Islam four centuries later. Under Sassanian rule, Persian control over the gulf reached its height. Oman was no longer a threat, and the Sassanians were strong enough to establish agricultural colonies and to engage some of the nomadic tribes in the interior as a border guard to protect their western flank from the Romans. This agricultural and military contact gave people in the gulf greater exposure to Persian culture, as reflected in certain irrigation techniques still used in Oman. The gulf continued to be a crossroads, however, and its people learned about Persian beliefs, such as Zoroastrianism, as well as about Semitic and Mediterranean ideas. Judaism and Christianity arrived in the gulf from a number of directions: from Jewish and Christian tribes in the Arabian desert; from Ethiopian Christians to the south; and from Mesopotamia, where Jewish and Christian communities flourished under Sassanian rule. Whereas Zoroastrianism seems to have been confined to Persian colonists, Christianity and Judaism were adopted by some Arabs. The popularity of these religions paled, however, when compared with the enthusiasm with which the Arabs greeted Islam.

References:

1.Dilmun and its Gulf neighbours - Google Books

2.http://penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/PDFs/6-3/The%20Indus.pdf

I hope you've enjoyed this. 

World War 2 - ON FACEBOOK!!!

 Yes, this is quite a global phenomenon. Its basically a picture that describes the events of WW2 but in a funny way. I hope you enjoy it while I go get some rest for the night.
P.S.- You might want to click and zoom in on it :)

World War 2 on Facebook- Epic

I myself like the Germany part the most.
Its so hilarious.
People should make more of these, thats
what I think.

History - Unheard of

First off, sincere apologies for the whole delay after the new year, I had completely forgotten about this blog until a colleague of mine reminded me of it.

Anyways, at School, often a times I get frustrated. Not because of some lousy test (that does occasionally happen) or a rude teacher or anything but because of this ; Ignorance. I see a guy from class and I asked him whether he had ever heard of the Ottoman Empire before. He replied no. I then asked him if he had known anything about the Safavids, he replied no. I asked him what did he know ? He replied," Bahrain was once British!".

Smart man...

But really, I must say that it is either that this person genuinely does not know about them (this proved false after I've 'questioned' other students) or is messing with me. I was in total shock. At school, we're taught of the Royal Family of Britain, the House of Windsor, the House of Tudors and all that. We've been taught about Union Jack and of Winston Churchill, of Bonny Prince Charles and the New Model Army. But never had I seen nor experienced a lecture about the history of the Middle East. Nothing about Arabia, nothing about the Mongols ever invading the Middle East (in fact, my teacher denied it!) nor anything about the Ottomans! (Refer to the previous paragraph)

How can we really have a generation that had forgotten its heritage ? I'm not saying I'm against them learning about the Brits, but really, Regional History first!

Oh God, I'm not going to tell you guys the story of the time when someone asked me what was the significance of the Nile.

Ye Olde New Year

Yup, thats right folks , we've managed to survive the financial crunch, Y2K, Swine flu and Nuclear apocalypse to be here today. One day separates us from the year 2011. I'm wondering why I even care about it, its just a new year for God's sake ! But, you might as well just go with the flow. I've noticed that a lot of people, (my fellow bloggers included) have developed a list of their fondest moments in 2010 (same thing with the newspapers, sadly that isn't available in mine this year :( . Alright - Back to the story :

Number 10 on my list - The Icelandic Volcano Eruption, Don't ask me to spell it  I CAN BARELY pronounce the first 4 letters !! I liked that event because it showed how a little tiny itsy bitsy act of God (even in the form of a volcanic eruption) can practically shut us down (LITERALLY , I mean all the airports were down and out :) ).

Number 9 on my list - Swine Flu , don't get the idea that I supported Swine Flu. I'm just stating how it had affected my area of life (by giving me a month holiday :P ) but stealing another 2 months away from me >.>

Number 8 on my list - The FIFA World cup 2010 , who could forget that ? Quite an annoyance = Damn you Vevuzuela !! Spain pulled up the upset win as being the first World Cup champions to be beaten in the first round by the people who've invented Swiss Cheese.

Number 7 on my list - Harry Potter, yesh I was looking forward to the movie all year. Considering I already read the book, it was boring =.= . Lucky for me, David Yates knows how to direct a movie :D 

Number 6 on my list - How to Train My Dragon - Most EPIC Cartoonish Comedical Movie Ever ! (First to Shrek :) 

Number 5 - The 33 Chilean Miners being rescued- As being a person who listened to the rescue LIVE on BBC World Service, it was a nice sigh of relief to me and the world. FINALLY , some good news :) 

Number 4 on my list - The Wikileaks Guy , Julian Assange - Most talked about person in the world , wanted by all , stuck in a prison cell in London .

Number 3 on my list - A truly sad moment was the Oil Leak from that damned Oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, not only did it lead to millions in damage but also lead to the death of countless number of plantlife and animals.

Number 2 - My brother's graduation , truly a proud moment :)

Number 1 - The release of World of Warcraft : CATACLYSM - EPIC expansion pack :) Yes I know, I'm addicted to this game. But its too good :( 

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY

Merry Christmas !

I know I haven't been posting in a while ( apologies for that) but I feel it would be very unkind of me to not wish you all a happy christmas.

So Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year- Yesh, we'll be starting the "Tween" years (Dunno what that is but lets ignore that) hopefully, it would be less gruesome than the last decade.

I'm guessing its 6 days to New Year ? Hope so (don't have a watch with me v.v).

Back to the chase = Merry or Happy Christmas :D

Internet Addiction : What it does to YOU !

I have to admit, I'm an Internet/Game addict. Every time I come back home, my first visit is to ye olde PC. But really, I've got to say: I've honestly wasted half of my life on this bloody piece of hardware. Why you may ask ? Because of the latest invention of Satan : THE INTERNET

Sure, Internet has it's benefits; easy access to data, can chat with friends etc... but what if you over do it ? What if, you decide '' I'll go on facebook for 10 minutes'' then end up sitting there for up to 2 hours ! (that has happened, so many times ... ), or chatting with your friend, which might seem like minutes but actually is an hour long conversation. GOD HAS GIVEN YOU A SOUL , Use it WISELY !!

PEOPLE, I URGE YOU , DO NOT WASTE YOUR ENTIRE LIFE LOOKING AT A GLOWING RECTANGLE !!! 

A wise person once said : "People who dare waste a single second of time, have clearly not found the value of Life. 

Every moment I sit on the PC is a moment I  regret.