This is the scenario I expected Ensemble to start the original AoE series . . since the events at "har Megiddo" constituted the first recording of a battle in human history. The account of the campaign into "Asia" which Thutmose had inscribed at the Temple of Amon in Thebes seems very plausable & accurate(as opposed to Ramses II inflated boasts!); Thutmose III was a better war leader than Ramses (I or II!) & thus in my humble opinion the greatest general if not pharaoh of Ancient Egypt! This is my tribute to him : I found it otherwise impossible to prevent the Hero Tiberius unit representing Thutmose III from rushing into the fray (& getting himself heroically killed!) when played by computer, so at the openning of the scenario he is already on a hill surrounded by his personal retinue and "tents"(houses) much as in fact he did watch the battle from a hilltop "...protecting the rear of his victorious army..." after personally leading the march up through the pass onto the Jezreel Plain from Aruna on the coast. This military "punative expedition" was launched because of a gathering by "330 princes of Canaan at Megiddo" under the leadership of the King of Kadesh (Where Ramses II & the Hittites would clash 175 years later). I have represented the coalition with seven "tribes" from the RoR roster & given leadership to the "Kadeshites" as the strongest & mainly because I wanted strong walls for Megiddo, their nominal civ is Babylonian. Each tribe has its Chief(Hero Tiberius) & it may seem a difficult challenge for player #1 Egyptian to defeat all seven of the rebel leaders, I promise that it is do-able with good strategy & tactics! Once I formulated the final mix I had fun playing either side . . hope you do too! Multiplayer also : ; ; ; Yes
Playability: 2.8
Armageddon is a FF depicting Thutmose III's invasion of palestine---the first truly recorded battles in the history of mankind. Here you can play as one of the two---Thutmose the attacker, or the Canaanite defenders. Playing and winning as each is fairly easy, in particular if you play player one first. Defeating the Canaanites isn't really all too diffiuclt as long as you keep your troops together and attack at an angle that allows you to take one tribe at a time---it may sound a bit difficult but once you get moving it's bit easy. Playing player 2 is a bit of a sinch---all you have to do is kill the Egyptian hero behing the houses. Break down the barrier and he's pretty much done. There's also no pressure on you, since player 1 in my case never attacked... Quite a dissapointment. Here, it works as one player but not really as the other. Still somewhat fun to play.
Balance: 2.5
A bit too easy as player one. I lost once due to a bit of confusion with my troops, but won my second time very easily... The easiest thing here to do is to attack at a flank where you aren't going at the whole army. Still decent challenge though, it takes a bit of thought. However, as player 2 it's ridiculously easy beacuse you know EXACTLY where the egyptian hero is located, and all you have to do is kill him to win. One quick strike should do it for most, because there is a small chance that the Egyptians will get to you before you can really get at Thutmose. Overall, decent on one front, poor on the other, score ties in the middle.
Creativity: 3
Two main things powered this scenario's original feel---the author's extensive care into making the scenario feel like the "real thing" and the idea of playing two players. Any scenario like will get a good score in creativity because there are so few scenarios out there like that here in the granary. The map and gameplay weren't exactly unique and keep this from soaring too high.
Map Design: 1.8
Bad. Even for an old scenario. Mostly grass everywhere, although there were a few random spots that the author decided to put work into. Otherwise, quite poor. Very bland.
Story/Instructions: 3.8
Good story and history, decent hints, and a good bitmap to top it off. Nothing really all too ingenious, but the author knows what he's talking about and makes it an interesting read.
Additional Comments: Not bad, but really suffers from a lack of balance and a poor map.