This could also lead to a problem because the combat was hardly the real strength of Civ V, not only due to that game’s poor tactical combat AI but also due to the one unit per hex rule which tended to plague the landscape with oodles of units. It’s far too early to dig into the AI of Warlock (although it was damn aggressive in the preview build) but the map clutter could prove an issue. However, I love the fact that units will auto-retreat in battle if they take too much damage and attacking units can then follow up into the vacated hex.

Research is tied to spells such as fireball, lightning, various heals, or weapon enchantments. There’s a slew of spells in the game and in the preview build they are devastating in play. I didn’t see the full research tree but in the early game the spells are all combat related and not about helping your region or its economy. Again, it all comes back to fighting. This was further exacerbated by the fact that I was fighting with rival factions within five turns of play – which is not very Civ-like. I don’t mean just wandering spiders but an enemy Warlock’s undead archers were close by and attacked my poor goblins almost from the get go. It’s an aggressive game.

These rough preview builds are supposed to do nothing more than give a taste of what a game is trying to achieve. The roughness of it is to be expected, but it does show exactly what it’s striving to do – and that’s to make a game that looks and feels like Civ V but with fantasy trappings and a focus that’s driven more by combat than peacefully co-existing with your neighbor. If that idea grabs you, keep an eye out when the game drops later this year.