The phrase “develops the ideas of its predecessor” is really appropriate here. The first thing that catches the eye is the rejection of the usual hexagonal grid. It was replaced by squares, which at first creates a feeling of some angularity. But this effect quickly disappears, because now units can move diagonally. As a result, each field is connected to eight neighboring ones at once, and not to six, as it was before.

The unit models have been noticeably redesigned and began to look much more attractive. Yes, they are still far from the level of modern graphics, but for wargame connoisseurs this is not critical. Moreover, animation has appeared, which adds depth and transfers the project from purely 2D to conditional 2.5D, making the picture more lively.

In addition to user and historical scenarios, the game offers a full-fledged campaign mode. The basic version includes campaigns for Hannibal, Julius Caesar, Mithridates and Pyrrhus – each with its own atmosphere and historical flavor.

Field of Glory II: Medieval Free Steam Account

The first part of Fields of Glory, known to English-speaking players as Field of Glory, was released in 2009. It was an almost word-for-word transfer to the PC of a tabletop military strategy game popular in narrow circles. Everything was in place: a hexagonal grid, clearly legible terrain, recognizable units. The camera was a slightly pressed top-side view of the battlefield. Personally, I did not get to play it then: the project did not make it to Steam, and buying it directly from the developers’ website at the time of release seemed pure masochism – the price was so high that it could bite through your wallet. And yet, judging by the scattering of add-ons, covering almost the entire ancient history, the game definitely found its audience.

We had to wait eight long years for the sequel. During this time, the authors released two other games built on similar mechanics: Pike and Shot, dedicated to the wars of the 16th-17th centuries, and Sengoku Jidai: Shadow of the Shogun – about fierce samurai conflicts. Both turned out to be surprisingly successful and quickly won the sympathy of fans of military history, although their visual part looked a little outdated.

The antique version with a time-tested name returned to the market only at the end of 2017. In fact, it was the same port of a tabletop wargame – and this was pleasing. After all, a fan of the genre no longer needs to bother with painting miniatures: in the game, everything is drawn and painted for you. You do not need to gather in a club, placing figures on the field – just register, go to the game and start the battle. Total time saving and maximum convenience. Having collected all the DLC, you could open up a truly large selection of eras and factions: from the Assyrians and Egyptians to the Byzantine cataphracts of the time of Belisarius. Some additions also covered the Middle Ages – for example, allowing you to try to stop the Seljuks at Manzikert… or, conversely, experience their blow.

A separate plus is the active support of the community. Field of Glory 2 tournaments were regularly held, in which from fifty to almost four hundred players from all over the world participated. Recently, they have become thematic: for example, only factions from the time of the Punic Wars or battles between the Diadochi powers. And what is nice is that tournaments are still held to this day. The real icing on the cake was that Field of Glory 2 perfectly integrated into the global 4X strategy Field of Glory: Empires, allowing you to conduct battles manually, rather than being satisfied with dry automatic results, as in Paradox games.

And yet, no matter how beloved hoplites, legionaries or cataphracts are, many people still have a soft spot for knights clad in steel and foot soldiers with morning stars. So the release of a medieval version of Fields of Glory was only a matter of time. And now this moment has finally arrived.

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All Campaigns and Armies in Field of Glory 2: Medieval

To be honest, when I first heard about the release of the “new-old” part of the series, only one thought was spinning in my head: why? Field of Glory 2: Medieval in its current form is more like a large expansion than a full-fledged independent game. Yes, the menu has been adjusted to the era, the loading screens now breathe the Middle Ages, and the soundtrack has new melodies. But otherwise, it feels like I’ve returned to the good old Field of Glory 2, only slightly embellished.

The graphics, as before, are not amazing, but they look neat and tidy. The landscapes have become a little brighter and glossier – the trees, hills and terrain textures seem to be polished. And this is probably for the best: the slightly faded fields of ancient battles have already become boring, and here the picture sparkles with fresh colors. The units look decent, and the knights are absolutely magnificent. Painted shields, colorful blankets on war horses, fluttering banners – all this creates the atmosphere of a real knightly campaign. Representatives of spiritual and military orders like the Teutons look reserved, but stylish: white cottas with black crosses contrast beautifully with the emerald meadows. The infantry, of course, is more modest – chain mail and quilted jackets do not provide much variety. But the mounted archers are frankly pale, almost indistinguishable from their ancient predecessors. However, a mounted archer is a mounted archer even in Africa – what can you do.

There is a feeling that the optimization has become a little better. It is not that the game slowed down in the original, but now the units’ movements look smoother.
The soundtrack is also at a level: menacing melodies in the spirit of the Middle Ages, the ringing of blades, the clanging of armor, the tension of the bowstring and shouts on the battlefield immerse you in the atmosphere. Yes, you could play with your favorite playlist, even Sabaton, but it’s nice that the developers paid attention to details. The only downside is that we’ve already heard all this in the ancient part, and the quality has remained about the same.

The traditional lack of Russian language can also be considered a fly in the ointment. The problem is not critical – English is extremely simple here, at the level of the school curriculum, but the aftertaste still remains.

If we talk about the content, the basic set of Field of Glory 2: Medieval cannot be called poor, but it is far from “rich” either. The game has several campaigns:

• Alexander Nevsky – a chain of battles dedicated to his victories;
• England and Normandy of the 12th century – the struggle for the throne in the spirit of the local “Game of Thrones”;
• The Mongol conquests – a rapid campaign that conquered half the world;
• The Teutonic Order – a campaign of the northern crusaders.

There is also a sandbox where you can assemble your own army and choose your own enemies. But it can hardly be called a “campaign”: in fact, it is a set of cards that take into account losses between battles, which can be easily replenished by sending units to the garrison. There is no economy, unique troops or a strategic map. Minimalism even by wargame standards. In addition to campaigns, the game has a dozen historical battles – from Hastings to Cressenburg, including Bouvines and Kalka. There is room for maneuver, but it is a shame that Legnica, Legnano and other iconic battles were missed. The set is not called “Feudal North” for nothing, so the rest of the battles were probably saved for the DLC.

But, of course, most players come here not for the campaigns, but for the online battles. And here everything is not bad: the basic set of armies has everything – from the Anglo-Saxons of the Hastings era to the Scottish Highlanders and Teutons of the 14th century. Of course, I would like to see the Hundred Years’ War, the Reconquista, the Crusades to the Holy Land, and even better, the Renaissance with pikes, muskets, and field bombards. Perhaps all of this is yet to come. The period covered by the game is from the end of the 11th to the beginning of the 14th century. This is almost three centuries of history, but it feels somehow narrow, especially considering that the developers for some reason left the Crusades to Palestine overboard, although the northern ones are in the game. Well, yes, they probably know better.

How to Play Field of Glory 2: Medieval

Anyone who has ever launched a tactical strategy or wargame will only smile at this question. Everything is simple here: in front of you is a battlefield full of terrain features. Hills, dense forests, winding rivers and lakes with swamps glittering in the sun. Swamps and rivers can usually be crossed, but lakes will become a serious obstacle. Infantry hides in the forests, and knights in armor will either make their way there painfully slowly or get stuck altogether. Scattered across the map are conditional villages and old mills – small things, but they give a bonus to defense against shelling.

On the left, you will see a list of available units. As in life, the best army costs more. Experienced warriors will cost a pretty penny, and infantry from yesterday’s tramps with diggers in their hands – mere pennies. The effectiveness, however, will be appropriate. The army will have to be assembled mixed – there are limits on the number of each type of troops. Want to fill your squad with heavy knights? You are welcome, but the maximum is five units. The rest are archers, crossbowmen, spearmen and a couple of units of “budget” infantry. The idea is reasonable: an army made up of one imba will not work here. Although there were exceptions in history – for example, the same Mongols, whose troops consisted of several types of units. After the purchase, the deployment begins. Cavalry – on the plain, swordsmen and spearmen – on the hills and in the forests, archers – in convenient positions. Strengthen the center and sacrifice the flanks or vice versa – it is up to you. And remember: you can win not only by completely destroying the enemy. It is enough to put 40% of his army to flight, provided that your losses did not exceed 22%. If they exceeded it, you will have to “turn off” at least 60% of the enemy forces.

Field of Glory grew out of a tabletop wargame, and it shows. Here, everything is according to the rules: units are divided by quality — superior, average, raw. The best fighters win due to additional dice re-rolls. Even identical units will fight differently, and the advantage will be on the side of the more experienced. The terrain plays a huge role. A raw crowd of spearmen, having occupied a hill, is capable of delaying much more experienced huscarls or dismounted knights for a couple of turns. And two turns are an eternity: during this time, you can manage to go around the enemy and strike at the flank or rear.

Before the attack, it is important to understand who is in front of you. Knights will sweep away defenseless archers, cope well with swordsmen, but will break their spears on a dense formation of spearmen. The myth of a “ramming strike” of knights against infantry from the front collapses mercilessly here — this cannot be done. Cavalry and infantry must act according to the situation. Light cavalry against armored men-at-arms is suicide, and light infantry simply won’t penetrate them head-on. But a flank or rear attack is another matter. Armor and shields protect against arrows, but even heavy fighters will fall if they are covered by crossbow volleys – the damage there is colossal. Each unit has a cohesion indicator. A yellow stripe on the banner means the unit has wavered: it attacks worse, but can hold the defense. A red stripe means the fighters are disunited and ready to flee at the slightest pressure.

First, we weaken the enemy with shelling, occupy advantageous points, then strike – and preferably with heavy cavalry in vulnerable places. In practice, everything is more complicated: Field of Glory 2 is a constant game of probabilities, an attempt to minimize the damage from failures and predict the worst-case scenarios. Experienced players plan from the opposite: not “here I will break through the line”, but “here I can be knocked out, and what will I do next?”

The dice often fall badly – and this is normal. After all, this is how the commanders of the past felt, whose perfect plans collapsed due to unstable infantry or overconfident cavalry. The only difference is that now it is not the army that burns, but your chair at the computer. The game conveys the atmosphere of medieval battles amazingly accurately. A couple of games – and you begin to understand why the Anglo-Saxons fled after the death of their king, even if the battle was not yet lost.

Historical Accuracy and Errors in Field of Glory 2

Why do we love historical and near-historical games? That’s right – for the attention to detail. And not to some abstract ones, but to the material side of the era. For example, I still remember how I was wildly irritated by the gladiator squads in the old Total War. Or here’s another masterpiece from Medieval 2: Total War – cavalry of the 12th century under the command of a cheerful guy in… an armor or bascinet. Seriously? Helmets of this type appeared much later. It’s as if the developers decided to add their own time traveler to the game.

In this regard, Field of Glory 2 is even pleasing at first: in the scenarios of the 11th-12th centuries – long chain mail, teardrop-shaped shields, everything as it should be. The Norman knights are easy to distinguish from the huscarls: the former have classic swords and spears, the latter have heavy broadaxes that chop everything in their path, and their shields are thrown over their backs. We move to the 13th century – and again everything is in order: topfhelms, kettlehats, bright heraldic cottas, and the shields are already triangular. The infantry also looks quite authentic. Everything is fine… as long as you play for Western European factions.

But if you choose some Russian principality, a fierce historical surrealism begins. Let’s take, for example, the campaign for Alexander Nevsky. The first thing that catches your eye is the presence of typical Western European knights in the army. Yes, I understand that Novgorod sometimes acted together with the German orders, but these were rare episodes. And to make a reason out of this to put a full-fledged detachment of knights next to Prince Alexander is, to put it mildly, strange.

Out of curiosity, I launched a random battle for Rus and opened the roster. Honestly, it was hard to hold back my laughter: Finno-Ugrians, Western knights, princely squad, forest boys with axes, Lithuanian light cavalry – a complete hodgepodge. Similar bloopers are found in other factions, but the army of Ancient Rus in the game is a real fail.

To be honest, the developers have one excuse: there is little reliable information about what the troops of the Russian princes looked like. And historians are still arguing whether the princes had infantry as a class or whether everything was limited to cavalry and militia.

Why You Should Play Field of Glory 2: Pros and Cons

Field of Glory 2 is a project that can be called worthy without exaggeration. The developers have transferred the board classic to the screen with amazing meticulousness, without losing its spirit. The rules here are from the category of “easy to understand, but difficult to master” – the gold standard for a good strategy. The chosen era – the Middle Ages – is a good choice in itself, and the graphics, although without excesses, fully correspond to the spirit of the old school of wargames.

For me personally, there are only a couple of serious downsides. Firstly, the game does not have large-scale and bright battles of the Late Middle Ages, and secondly, sometimes there are annoying errors in the army rosters. The first problem, apparently, is already being solved – the developers are preparing an add-on that will expand the historical framework. But with the second … well, here you can close your eyes, given the overall level of quality.

So, dear strategists, if you are bored with endless tank wedges and painfully repetitive scenarios like the Battle of Kursk or Operation Sea Lion, welcome to our medieval camp. It is hot, noisy, fun… and, as expected, very bloody.

Pros:

• neat and careful transfer of tabletop rules to PC;
• clear and logical gameplay;
• nice graphics and adequate sound;
• medieval atmosphere that is easy to fall in love with;
• wide selection of armies;
• attention to historical battles of the era.

Cons:

• no support for the Russian language;
• there are errors in the composition of armies;
• the crusades are overlooked;
• I would like a little more variety;
• in places it feels secondary;
• the campaigns are sometimes too boring.

Field of Glory II: Medieval System Requirements

How to play Field of Glory II: Medieval for free on Steam via VpeSports

Step into a world where history isn’t just remembered — it’s relived. Field of Glory II: Medieval plunges you deep into the chaos and splendor of the Middle Ages, where the fate of kingdoms can hang on a single charge of knights or the disciplined advance of infantry. This is not a fantasy filled with magic and mythical beasts — it’s a living, breathing battlefield, painted with the sweat, blood, and resolve of those who came before us. Every decision you make echoes across the campaign map, every victory feels hard-won, and every defeat tells its own bitter lesson.

Getting started is as effortless as raising your banner before the march. No tangled settings, no exhausting setup — just create your account, log in, and Field of Glory II: Medieval will be waiting for you, ready to launch with crystal-clear instructions. Whether you’re charging in directly or through a free steam account, you’ll be leading your armies in minutes, banners fluttering and drums of war already beating in the distance.

But a true commander’s legacy isn’t measured only in battles fought — it’s also told in the tales they share. After your campaigns, sieges, and skirmishes, we want to hear your story. Tell us how you turned the tide against impossible odds or captured victory with a cunning ambush. If your review doesn’t appear right away, a small tweak will see it published — and your confirmation will arrive swiftly in your inbox.

To keep your sword sharp and your mind sharper, join our Telegram channel. There, you’ll find not just the latest accounts and patch updates, but also vibrant discussions with other tacticians, tips for mastering tricky scenarios, and historical insights that can inspire your next brilliant move. And if you ever hit a roadblock — whether on the battlefield or during setup — our “How to play for free – Complete guide” and responsive chat will make sure nothing stands between you and your next glorious conquest.