Conquer the ancient Greek world in "Hegemony: Philip of Macedon", a 3D Real Time Strategy wargame set during the reign of Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great. Playing as Philip, you start the game with a small and weak tribal kingdom that must be built into a great power. The goal is to be declared Hegemon of Greece, establish a bridgehead in Asia and initiate an invasion of the Persian Empire. Arrange formations and initiate combined-arms tactics, then move in close to watch the battles unfold, or zoom out seamlessly to the 2D parchment map, without interrupting gameplay, for a grand strategic overview.

The essence of Combined-Arms Tactics can be defined as having different troop-types fighting together in a coordinated manner to achieve a better result than they would achieve if they fought without proper coordination. One extension of this definition can state that the goal of a well executed combined-arms attack is to weaken, envelope and decisively crush the enemy army, while taking minimal losses. Combined-arms tactics can be effective in defensive situations as well, to minimize losses and enable a well ordered retreat.

When applying combined-arms tactics to ancient warfare, heavy infantry form close order battlelines and advance to engage the enemy in melee combat, while light infantry skirmish the enemy battleline with missile fire to lower morale and add disruption. Cavalry protect the flanks, threaten to surround the enemy and pursue after victory. In more narrowly defined circumstances, catapults can be added to support river crossings and counter enemy siege defenses. Effective combined-arms is all about coordinating the various troop-types available for each battle.

In "Hegemony: Philip of Macedon" we make it easy to conduct combined-arms tactics. Brigades can be grouped to approach enemies in ordered formations and can be given complex movement paths with an end of path formation adjustment added to maximize their effectiveness.Your heavy infantry will maintain proper contact with other brigades in their battleline group while you select and peel off light infantry to skirmish and support. You can also easily plot moves for your cavalry to flank or envelop your enemies.

A major feature in "Hegemony: Philip of Macedon" is that battles aren't defined by a fixed start and endpoint. Battles are simply the point on the map where any clash of arms occurs. In this context, most of your battles will be conducted by small raiding parties, reconnaissance units or advance-forces probing to establish forward bases. Larger battle situations will evolve seamlessly from your campaign plans as the overall conduct of war brings your forces into contact with greater degrees of enemy resistance.

When invading an enemy controlled region, larger battles will occur where the enemy chooses to, or is forced to make a stand. The enemy response will vary. For example, an enemy that refuses battle and retreats when your advancing force is larger, may choose to fight when their harvest is threatened. Conversely, when defending your own territory, do you fight at the first opportunity or do you skirmish and pull back until you've gained the high-ground or have gathered a larger force?

Siege warfare in "Hegemony: Philip of Macedon" involves more than just attacking an enemy fortification. A siege can be viewed as a greatly prolonged battle, occurring at a predefined location, requiring support troops to control an entire region for the duration of the siege.

• How do I maintain adequate food for my besieging forces while preventing the enemy from replenishing his city?
• How much reconnaissance do I need to watch for other enemy armies?
• How many patrols will I need to defend my supply lines with?
• What if the enemy sorties out from their city?
• How many troops will it take to seal the enemy in without having so many that feeding them becomes a problem?
• Can I shorten the siege with a few well placed bribes?
• What kind of response will the faction controlling this city have to my bribe attempt?

Beyond the battle and the siege, general strategic questions include:

• Should I mount a full invasion and conquer that region to secure resources?
• When I invade, how can I get more food into the region so that I can bring in more troops?
• Can I get some of that food from the enemy by raiding or attacking their harvest?
• Is it better to send in an advance-force to secure a base of operations and stockpile supply or should I risk a lightning campaign with more tenuous supply?
• When I conduct any large-scale campaign, how will I protect my other frontiers from enemy raids or invasion?

Finally, how does strategy tie into combined-arms tactics and vice-versa?

In "Hegemony: Philip of Macedon" if you arrange enough food and the right mix of troop-types in a given region, you can organize and execute effective campaigns utilizing combined-arms tactics. Conversely, effective tactics will result in fewer losses, enabling you to conduct your strategic plans without undue interruption.

Game features:

• Campaign Continuously:
  • Enjoy continuous, real-time campaigning on an historically accurate map based on satellite terrain data. The map of more than a million square kilometers covers the Aegean basin and extends west from the Ionian coast of Turkey to the Adriatic and north from Crete to the Danube.
• Zoom Seamlessly:
  • Zoom-out to view an area of a hundred thousand square kilometers, perfect for making strategic decisions; and then smoothly zoom-in to view a single kilometer of map, great for battle viewing. To make this unprecedented level of real-time zoom possible, we've created a new 3D landscape engine that generates one giant 3D map; both detailed enough for a zoomed-in battle view and flexible enough for a zoomed-out grand strategic overview.
• Explore and Discover:
  • Although City State locations are well known, there are still vast unknown areas to explore and conquer north of the Balkan Mountains.
• Espionage, Reconnaissance, Logistics and Combat:
  • Coordinate espionage and reconnaissance activities to penetrate the fog-of-war and discover enemy troop locations and dispositions, then marshal resources, establish supply points and march into battle. Throughout the campaign, terrain and geographical features impact heavily on strategic planning, logistics, troop movement and battles.
• Conquer and Subjugate:
  • Although the basic pattern of gameplay is to build, expand and dominate, most of the states conquered must be carefully subjugated rather than destroyed, as you'll need their resources and support for the invasion of the Persian Empire.