Today we bring you the next installment in our new Sword & Siege series on Steam- Age of Longbow Volume I: Hundred Years War. This title continues our placement of games on Steam after the successful release of Crusades: Book I and II. 

In this specific title we have a variety of early gunpowder units mixed in with the earlier weapons still widely in use at the time. 

This game is scaled at 100-meter hexes with 15-minute turns, though there are a few 40-meter hex scenarios with 10-minute turns. Units are companies or combined-companies with individual Leaders and Artillery.

Like in Crusades, all of the graphics have been addressed. Not only do we have completely new Unit images and 3D graphics, but two of the three available 2D views are completely new as well We now have:

• Graphical Unit Icons

• "NATO" style (adapted for the time period)

• Block style

And like Crusades, we completely addressed the audio on this title. We have updated and new:

• Background sounds.

• Unit movement sounds.

• Weapon sounds.

• Music (23 tracks included).

As with our other game series, there is a variety of modules included:

• Main program (single battles)

• Campaign system (linked series of battles)

• Scenario Editor

• Campaign Editor

• Submap Editor

Age of Longbow Volume I: Hundred Years War comes with 94 stand alone scenarios. These include a Getting Started tutorial scenario, three "Boot Camp" scenarios to help teach you how to use the various unit types present in the game, and then 90 battles. The vast majority of the scenarios are for play against the AI, by one side or the other, and sometimes both. PBEM is of course an option as well. You will have a choice to play either side — Noted as Side "A" and "B" — in a wide range of situations. There are 15 different Nations involved in this conflict, and the force makeup of each Side will vary based on the scenario. These details are noted in the scenario descriptions for each situation.

Additionally, 2 campaigns are included, yielding another 49 scenarios.

The following is a Visual Order of Battle which shows all the different Nations involved and unit types. Note, these are not fully fleshed out forces, but rather a sampling of what is included.

Here is a sampling (not all inclusive) of the included battles:

Cadzand
St. Omer
Morlaix
Auray
Blanchetaque
Crécy
Neville's Cross
Poitiers
Brignais
Najera
Pontvallain
Aljubarrota
Agincourt
Cravant
Orleans
Patay
Castillon

In this release we do not have Fortresses as were introduced in Crusades; Book I. This is due to the new weapon types involved in this time period and the impact they had on siege warfare. Additionally, at the 100-meter scale, most European fortresses would be tiny on the map. We are exploring including some 40-meter scale siege actions in a future expansion package however.

To get a fuller picture of what the project covers, including historical background, unit specifics and a list of all the battles, check out the Design Notes.

The above image is included with the game (in the \\Manuals\\Maps folder) and is focused on the year 1444... will give you an idea of how the continent was divided up at this time.

Here are some more screenshots of Age of Longbow Volume I: Hundred Years War.