Review by: Robert Zacny

By rights, I should be the target audience for Rise of Prussia. Frederick the Great's wars with Maria Theresa and her allies are probably my favorite subject in military history, and I am the sort of eccentric who finds army organization and administration as fascinating as battles. AGEOD make wargames that emphasize planning and logistics over tactics, and Rise of Prussia covers Prussia's role in the Seven Years' War. This should be a perfect marriage.

But I can't get over how phoned-in it feels. Rise of Prussia is a cookie-cutter product, yet another AGEOD game about 18th century conflict, on a new map with different units and commanders. It might be catnip to gamers who love this system and just want to see it used for new wars, but there is nothing here for anyone else.

For instance, the three introductory tutorials do an excellent job of teaching the barest basics, but why have AGEOD stopped there? Rise of Prussia, like other AGEOD games, offers a wealth of information and choices wrapped in an intimidating interface, but the tutorials leave off once they have taught you the rudiments of organization and movement, explaining that you can learn more about the game (which is to say, how to play it at all) by reading the 86-page PDF manual.

Failing a more robust tutorial, AGEOD could have crafted some smaller-scale scenarios where you could confront more manageable challenges while getting comfortable with the system. Instead, the scenario list lets you either replay Frederick's surprise invasion of Saxony at the opening of the war (nine turns) as an introductory scenario, or your can fight the entire Seven Years' War over 176 turns spread across central Germany and Eastern Europe. You also have the option of starting the conflict from later dates, with slightly shorter games as a consequence. These different starting dates, plus the three tutorials, are how AGEOD can claim to have included 10 scenarios in Rise of Prussia.

That is an abysmal range of offerings, and AGEOD seem totally indifferent to the idea that some players might like shorter, more focused challenges. This is especially true of multiplayer, where both players must commit to the game. If anyone takes a week off, he will likely need another to remember exactly what the hell was going on and what he intended to do about it. With most scenarios running into scores of turns, this is an abandoned PBEM game waiting to happen.

Once you take a deep breath and attack one of these colossi, however, you'll find a pretty good Seven Years' War simulation. The Prussians have great officers and generals, and their armies usually win close engagements. However, they have to defend a lot of territory, and don't have to luxury of waiting for the enemy to come to them. They also can't just park their armies on the frontier, because the single most important task in this game is making sure your troops are well-fed and well-armed on the day of battle. Armies must disperse along their supply lines: the commander's art is knowing when and how to do this safely, and how to bring them back together for a killing blow.