14 DAY TRIAL // The Druids is the third full-fledged expansion launched for King Arthur – The Role Playing Wargame, the strategy title from Hungarian developer Neocore Games and from publisher Paradox Interactive, delivering a whole new campaign which involves the Welsh and the Old Faith a lot of tweaks to the original mix between turn-based strategic decisions and real-time tactical encounters.
The Welsh are a very nice faction at first sight, with their starting area surrounded on three sides by the sea, which should translate into an easily defensible castle, and with a good selection of high quality troops, enough to send one hero on a rampage against initial targets.
Their inclination towards the Old Faith, with its mystical aura and powerful unlockable units and spells, also makes them interesting after playing Arthur himself, who, at least in my campaigns, tended to end up as both Christian to the core and chivalrous.
The Druids is also interesting as an expansion because it widens the non-warfare options linked to enemy kingdoms and generally gives the gamer more conversation-based options that feel entirely appropriate for the fantasy world, including dealings with beautiful damsels and forces like viking marauders and the deep forest Sidhe.
Those who jump in without a lot of prior knowledge about King Arthur need to be careful about how they balance the need for expansion with keeping the economy going, especially when starting multifront wars (that can quickly become impossible to handle).
The Druids is especially interesting for those who loathed their military power in the original King Arthur campaign and would like to experience their abilities and see how quickly and thoroughly they can stomp out the Christians and restore the Old Faith.
The only drawback is that the various Sirs and Druids are much less interesting as characters than Arthur and his merry band of Knights and, at least in the early game, battle-based challenges seem more present than those that involve some adventuring and choices.