Kisah AKU n Warband : Gloria Sinica - Han Xiongnu War

Assalamualaikum,

Akhirnya, it took me sampai bulan Ogos to have one entry for games review tahun ni.  

Baiklah, mod yang aku nak review hari ni ialah Gloria Sinica: Han Xiongnu War or simply known as Gloria Sinica. Mod ni was being developed Chinese modder team yang dinamakan Chongqing Shangshixuan Technology Co. Ltd pada tahun 2017 (masih lagi updated). Gloria Sinica menggunakan Brytenwalda sebagai base game. Mod ni bertemakan zaman empayar Dinasti Han di China ketika pemerintahan Maharaja Liu Che. 

Map memang besar. Merangkumi hampir keseluruhan Far East dari Sungai Indus (barat), ke Lembah Mekong (selatan), Semenanjung Korea (timur) dan Xiongnu (utara). Yang aku screenshot ni ialah the heart of empire yang menempatkan the capital, Chang'an. 

Ni merupakan faction yang ada dalam mod ni. Ada 26 faction yang ada, originally kita akan bermain didalam faction Han Empire but after kita habiskan main storyline, kita boleh retract allegiance dan masuk mana-mana faction yang ada. 

Dalam map ni banyak jugak point of interest yang labelled kaler putih. E.g: Temple of Ancestry macam kat gambar atas ni. Ada close to twenty interesting location tapi tak boleh visit pun, cuma bila sampai tu diorang ada bagi info sikit pasal tempat tu.

Dalam mod ni jugak kita ada ability untuk expand our small village yang berfungsi sebagai merchant center, farm dan juga temporary army camp. FYI, Salt Well village merupakan tempat asal hero kita ni.

Dari segi kosmetik memang A+, ada banyak scene baru yang menepati zaman Empayar Dinasti Han such as dalam tavern macam gambar kat atas ni. 

Exterior scene macam bandar, castle pun very impressive. Siap ada NPC main dam aji lagi tu. Huhu.

If you guys sudah mencapai ranking army officer dalam ranking tentera Han (regardless the rank), kita boleh mobilized our own provisional forces. Macam dalam game ni, aku sudah pun mencapai rank Caiguanxiaowei, so dapatlah summon kira-kira 150+ trained troops. So tak perlulah pergi collect conscript and buang masa nak train diorang. Lagi tinggi rank kita, lagi banyaklah soldier kita dapat mobilize.

Elemen RTS didalam Gloria Sinica ni dapat dilihat melalui role karekter dalam faction yang dipilih. Mirip Total War, mod ni membolehkan party yang diketuai karekter untuk attack, defend, reinforce, besiege atau scout open world. Konsep RTS atau real time strategy dapat dilihat melalui tema game ini iaitu ketika zaman empayar Dinasti Han. Watak, tempat dan event yang wujud didalam open world ialah berdasarkan real-life event yang triggered within the Empire at that time Seperti Emperor Liu Che, Huo Qubing,  Wei Qing,  Lu Bode etc. 

Mechanic game sama je, its role playing game. Dimana kita akan control satu character yang kita created before kita start our journey. For this review, I created my Chinese character yang bernama Zhang Fei. At the time of this review, beliau sudah pun memegang title of brigade officer didalam tentera Han. Kekuatan Gloria Sinica dapat dilihat melalui its storyline. Kita bermula sebagai seorang pemuda yang terpaksa join the army due to Xiongnu-Han War, seperti biasa our character akan level up melalui beberapa series of pertempuran, mission, quest dan banyak lagi.

Party GUI pun ada a few features yang bagi aku quite baru. Kat sini kita boleh access party's action. Boleh customized second outfit mengikut imperial dressing codes yang digunakan time bersiar-siar di town, go hunting, setup camp, check supplies dan juga customize troops. 

As mentioned above, karekter aku currently serving as an army officer didalam tentera Han. Okay since aku takde intention nak create miniseries, jom kita tengok sikit journey hero kita dalam mod ni. Zhang Fei is a son of former Han's army commander from Zhang clan. His father, Zhang Ren was a cavalry officer during the tenure of Emperor Liu Bang and participated in campaign against Yelang tribe under Li Guang. After a long three years of brutal campaign, the rebellious tribe was being pacified and integrated into Han Empire. Zhang Ren, together with a few senior officers were being released from the service and given a parcel of land as a token of gratitude from the Emperor. 

Salt Well was initially a small village. However the village undergoes rapid development to a status of trade hub especially for salt mineral which gave the village its name. Shortly after the death of Zhang Ren in 125 BC, the village was being administered by his firstborn, a twenty years old Zhang Fei who just completed his Imperial exam for Chengdu commandery.

In summer 124 BC, Zhang Fei whom being groomed to be an Imperial official at Chengdu court was forcedly drafted into the Imperial army, together with other young men from Chengdu commandery. This newly formed army moved northward towards the border to support Huo Qubing's incursion into Hexi corridor. Due to his exceptional riding skills, Zhang Fei was being placed under cavalry division serving under Lu Bode.

At the early start of his military career, Zhang Fei was a part of patrol unit guarding Juyong Pass, at the northern border of Han - Xiongnu. When Qubing commenced his expedition, Zhang Fei's patrol squadron was being absorbed and tasked for a scouting operations.

123 BC - Following incident near Han's forward camp which came under siege by Xiongnu general, Tihu-Zhiluan for the past two weeks, Zhang Fei was forced to lead a breakout after the untimely death of his regiment commander. 

He correctly identified the weak spot and bravely led the cavalry charge against Xiongnu vanguard. Thanks to his tactical awareness, some 3,000 cavalrymen evaded the siege and regrouped with Qubing's main army at Yanzhi. Upon his return, Zhang Fei earned recognition from Huo Qubing and was promoted to lead a cavalry regiment, around 800 cavalrymen.

Due to his swift mobilization, Zhang Fei intercepted Xiongnu forces and cut their line of retreat at Hexi on spring 121 BC. The pitched Battle of Hexi ended with Qubing's victory, heavily contributed by Zhang Fei's flanking maneuver. This contribution earned him a fairly important promotion by Qubing who now see his true potential as a field commander. Zhang Fei is now promoted to the rank of Brigade Officer and has a full command of Qubing's reserve brigade - some 2,800 infantry, 800 archers, 1,000 cavalry and 400 auxiliary. 

The final push to neutralize Hexi corridor renewed by Huo Qubing as Han army advancing rapidly towards Qilian Mountain. There, the penultimate Battle of Gilian Pass happened between the two forces where the superior Han's army delivered a crushing defeat against the enemy forces. As a result, the Xiongnu Hexi tribe of Hunye and Xiutu submitted to the rule of of the Han empire.

119BC - Upon successful pacification of Hexi, Qubing's expeditionary forces raced eastward to merge with Wei Qing's forces near Orkhon Valley. The two combined forces comprised of 100,000 cavalry, 200,000 infantry/missile, together they advanced into the Gobi desert in pursuit of Xiongnu main forces. Qubing transferred Zhang Fei's brigade to Lu Bode's division. This diversionary detachment totaled around 30,000 was ordered to undertake a strategic flanking route from Tangshan, thus, separated themselves from the main army.

Thanks to his spies, Xiongnu army around 50,000 soldiers led by Tihu-Huaijun blocked Bode's advance at the village of Yanran. The Han commander quickly summoned his war council. Outnumbered almost two to one, Bode does not have choice but to fight. He ordered Zhang Fei to command his left wing due to the absence of its previous commander whom secretly defected before the battle. 

Zhang Fei took his brigade with an additional 3,000 men and positioned himself near Yanran River, about a mile away from Lu Bode's main forces. The strategy was planned to split Xiongnu forces so that they won't be able to utilize their sheer number against single concentrated position, but rather two fighting forces

Raising Han's red banner, the army is forming its battle formation with river at their back. Zhang Fei placed his elite shock trooper as the vanguard, while keeping two halberdier regiment to guard his flanks. Missile units stationed at the center, well protected by a ring of wagon. On Xiongnu's camp, Tihu-Huaijun divided his army, trying to adopt defeat-in-detail strategy. He ordered 18,000 men under the command of his younger brother, Tihu-Lijia to strike a much smaller Zhang Fei's forces of around 8,000 troops. Concurrently, he will lead the attack against Bode's main forces to ensure both wings are isolated and unable to reinforce each other.

An overconfident Tihu-Lijia sent his entire cavalry to strike first with intention to soften Han defense. Around 12,000 Xiongnu horseman charged the outnumbered enemy, however discipline and superior tactics prevailed as Han spear-wall managed to absorbed wave after wave of attack. The assault was catastrophic for Tihu-Lijia as he suffered approximately 8,000 Xiongnu horseman lay dead in the field.

 

At half an hour interval after the first attack, Tihu-Lijia whom still having numerical superiority follow up and renew the attack against Zhang Fei with a combined forces. 4,000 infantry advanced forward in a traditional fashion, supported by missile troops and the remnant of his cavalry. 

Steadfast and unbroken since the opening hour of the battle, Han infantry locked their shield to maximize its defensive stance. Both infantry clashed each other while brutal melee encounter ensued. 

At the height of battle, Zhang Fei shot a fire arrow to signal cavalry charges led by his deputy, Zhi Qiannqiu. Soon, the young commander himself joined the fray to reinforced his wavering right flank which were under heavy pressure since the beginning of attack. Coupled with renewed flanking maneuver from the fresh left wing, Han forces gradually pressed the Xiongnu and eventually complete the encirclement of the remaining enemy.

Xiongnu missile unit, around 2,000 men retreated and hastily attempts to rejoin the heated main battle, however, all of them were being intercepted and cut-off by Zhang Fei's cavalry.

Bode's situation seems alarming with the fall of his both flanks and in the verge of encirclement. Zhang Fei reorganized his men and raced to rescue his commander. The elite cavalry squadron was first to arrived and quickly overran the Xiongnu from its rear, wrecking havoc among the enemy rank. 

Soon the remnant of Zhang Fei's infantry joined the battle and closed the gap, encircled and trapped the Xiongnu. The battle has turned to Han favor. Seizing the opportunity, Bode ordered a general advance to press the attack. Tihu-Huaijun was being captured in process, together with twelve other petty nobles. 

At the end of the twin battle of Yanran, the Xiongnu suffered 35,000 dead or wounded, 8,000 captured and the rest fled the battlefield. Lu Bode lost 40% of its army and were forced to established a temporary camp to fortify his position along River Yanran while waiting for further progress from Huo Qubing.

It is no doubt that Zhang Fei's tactical mastery significantly turned the tide of battle. His exceptional defensive strategy managed to avert the Xiongnu from regrouping to destroy Bode. In addition, his timely counter-attack helped to save the entire army from destruction. 

Impressed with Zhang Fei's performance, Bode named him as the division's deputy-general and wrote a recommendation letter to Huo Qubing for another field promotion.

115 BC  - Lu Bode's forces linked up with Huo Qubing at Khentii Mountains, together the army move northward to continue the pursuit and reached as far as Lake Baikal. As the last Xiongnu clan was annihilated, Qubing forces make their returned to the capital in triumph. The Eastern theatre was officially neutralized and two new commanderies were established to restore the public order.

114 BC - at Weiyang Palace of Chang'an, Emperor Liu Che personally congratulate Zhang Fei on his feat of achievement and decreed his admission into the Imperial peerage, styled Baron of the Third Rank. 

Following his admission into the Peerage, Zhang Fei was rewarded the ancient castle of Luo, a Qin-era castle originally created to fend off Yelang tribes at Chengdu commandery. A skilled administrator,  Zhang Fei utilized his knowledge and experience to rebuild the castle and its surroundings. 

Unbeknownst to him or the Empire, China will soon be pull by yet another conflict and this time it won't be the foreign enemy but among the Han themselves.  A coalition of vassal states are determined to rebel against the Emperor in their bid for self-governance. 

Okay setakat tu je lah ceritanya, panjang lagi game ni. Banyak lagi faction yang ada disekeliling jajahan Empayar Han. Cuma tinggal nak serang or diserang je. Tapi apa-apapun memang enjoy mod ni, and yang paling penting sekali buat aku terasa nak main Three Kingdoms pulak. Yelah dulu main pakai laptop cikai, la ni ada laptop gaming baru boleh main high quality. Huhu

P/S: Malam ni Newcastle lawan Brighton untuk perlawanan MW2 EPL. Good luck lads!