Fields of Glory

The year was 1999. I had just taken delivery of my first desktop PC from Tiny Computers. Included in the box was a game that I will remember for the rest of my days. A game so challenging, I have yet to complete it.

That game was Fields of Glory.

Developed by Microprose and released in 1993, Fields of Glory centres around the Waterloo Campaign of 1815. Players take control of the Anglo-Prussian and French armies to replay the battles leading up to, and including, the famous Battle of Waterloo.

Each battalion of sprites represents the real battalions that were present with a rich encyclopaedia entry for each. A history nerds dream, this game had in-depth descriptions and details, chronicling every unit in the game. From Napoleon and Wellington, to the 95th Rifles and King's German Legion. It had entries for every nation, general, battalion, corps, and company on the battlefield, complete with matching music, played via the pizo-buzzer.

This game had an anti-piracy feature that I've never seen in another game, though I'm sure they exist. Before you could start a new battle you had to enter a password. To find this password the game would give you three numbers. These corresponded to the page, line, and word in the manual, with a random word selected each time. I still find this pretty amazing to this day.

Fields of Glory is now available of Steam, and I urge any who haven't played it to give it a go.

But be warned: it is very difficult. 20+ years and several hundred hours later, and I still cannot defeat Napoleon at Waterloo. That Arthur Wellesley with a military genius!