The Black Sea could be perceived as a remote and unimportant region in antiquity, the opposite is true. Pontos Euxinos, as it was called back then, was criss crossed with trade routes, control of the sea and its trading posts conferred a great advantage to its masters.
When Alexander ascended to the throne in Macedon, Pontos Euxinos and its ports were controlled by just a small number of kingdoms, in particular Anatolia and the kingdoms of Colchis and Bosporan (originally a Greek colony). Macedon itself was one of the smaller players on the scene, but their cities at the strait of the Bosporus guarded the entrance to the sea and gave Macedon definitely a strategic advantage. The Thracians occupied the western shores but focused their political and military energies towards land wars with no ambitions to rule the sea. The nomadic Scythians who lived along the northern coast also took the same approach.
Pontos Euxinos in the Age of Alexander becomes one of the main battlegrounds of the game.
Anatolia lies in the centre of the map, washed by the waves of the Black Sea in the north and those of the Mediterranean to its south and west.
In comparison with Imperiums: Greek Wars the map of the new DLC has multiple new dimensions. In Greek Wars it was relatively easy to travel from one end of the map to the other, however in the Age of Alexander DLC, the conquest or blockade of the Bosporan Strait divides the map into distinct battlefields centred around Pontos Euxinos, the Mediterranean and the Caspian Sea.
As a player, you need not worry that the game will break into several independent conflicts, everything is interlinked, you will soon realize that your relationships to factions on the other side of the map can have a huge impact on nearby upcoming events.
Do you feel ready to stand as the threatened Bosporan Kingdom? Might you, as the Thracian King challenge Alexander himself? What about the wind in your hair riding the wild horses of the Scythian tribes, can you reform society and build a lasting kingdom?
Whatever your first choice we are sure that you will want to swap shoes and try your luck again and again. We always have a hard time choosing which nation to play in test runs. The Age of Alexander is a tough world and every testing round has brought us surprises.
If you use Steam, could we please ask that you wishlist the Imperiums: Age of Alexander DLC. Steam uses the wishlist numbers in their algorithms to flag up new offerings to players of the genre. This method makes our standing against the big titles even more difficult for us, but we will persevere.
Yours,
Kube Games team.