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[Elfeater]

Ive stumbled upon this game  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Lance   and im not sure what to make of it. I would like some feedback on it as i have not found time to play it

[Frumple]

There is, actually, an old game called War of the Lance, based on Dragonlance. It apparently was the precursor to Sword of Aragon, which is pretty bloody awesome for what it is and when it was made. I've never played WotL myself, but even if it's a less polished ancestor to SoA, it should be at least interesting.

[Elfeater]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Lance_(video_game) sorry bout that this is the link

[jnecros]

I've not played it, and it has not poked its head on abandonia, but it looks cool. If it is a SSI turn-based, I bet it is hex-based combat like Panzer General. I could be wrong about that of course. Let us know if anything else is discovered.

[Hanzoku]

I played it a long time ago, and as far as I remember, it is dosbox capable.  The basic premise is pretty fun, especially when playing as the Highlord forces. Playing as Whitestone from the early start, you tend to get your butt handed to you (which is accurate) since you have no real counter to the enemy dragons for most of the game.

[Elfeater]

Are the maps randomly generated?

[Pistolero]

The map is a representation of the dragonlance world. It's grid based. The highlord armies start strong, the good guys start weak. You recruit nations to join your side via diplomacy. I recall something about highlords being able to terrorise nations into joining their side with flights of dragons, although if it doesn't pay off they will almost certainly join the good guys. Various nations provide different types and qualities of troops, e.g the kender are pretty poor infantry, while the minotaurs provide very strong infantry and iirc, the best ships.

There's a mechanic for the good dragons to join the fight if the good guys hold out long enough, which usually means the good guys will win if they aren't crushed rapidly, although it is possible that while they aren't dead, their situation is already hopeless. It's very difficult to mount an assault on the highlord capital if you do manage to put yourself in a winning position before the dragons arrive, as the terrain leading there from the west (where the good guys are likely strongest*) is basically just a couple of mountain passes.

It's been a very long time so most of those details are probably way off, but I loved this game as a kid. I'd be interested in playing it again to see how it holds up. I get the feeling that I would find it pretty lacking these days. Being that its the same map every time, and the same nations with the same initial diplomacy sentiments, it ends up being quite easy to 'beat' after a few plays, simply by knowing where to direct your diplomats at various stages. It could be more fun 2 player, although I don't recall an option for that. It may simply have been that most of my friends were playing turbo outrun and the like though.

[Hanzoku]

Highlord gets two actions in the diplomacy phase - one is to try to form an alliance, and the other is to declare war. Depending on which side the faction leans to, there's a smaller or greater chance they'll surrender and join the Highlord side.

You can play two player, but it's hot-seat play only. However, that's the only way to play Highlord yourself.