Each role gives you a different perspective on the battle. Try them all to learn how different soldiers experienced warfare!
Lead the entire army. Select and command all units from above.
Fight in the front line. Your army is AI-controlled.
Rain arrows from a distance. See the battle from the back lines.
Fast charges and flanking maneuvers on horseback.
The enemy always uses historically accurate tactics. Difficulty changes how much your advisor helps you understand them.
Fewer, weaker enemies. Your soldiers are stronger. Advisor explains everything. Great for learning — you CAN win this!
Realistic enemy strength. Fewer tips. Winning requires good tactics — just like the real battle.
Overwhelming odds. Your soldiers are weaker. Minimal help. History says this side lost — can you change that?
In science, we test a hypothesis by comparing it to a control. Play Cannae both ways and compare the results! Which tactic causes fewer of your own casualties?
Execute the real double envelopment: barbarian bait, flank trap, cavalry encirclement. The actual tactic that destroyed 80,000 Romans.
⭐ Historical Tactic
Everyone charges forward. No clever tactics, no encirclement — just brute force. This is the control experiment: what happens without strategy?
🔬 Control Experiment
💡 Tip: Play once as Hannibal's Plan, then again as Direct Attack. Compare your casualties in the post-battle screen!
| V | Toggle view (Overhead / First-person) |
| Z | Toggle role (Commander / Soldier) |
| C | Charge (Marathon) |
| D | Drift Right (Gaugamela) |
| F | Feigned Retreat (Hastings) |
| R | Reveal Franks from forest (Tours) |
| X | Send raiders to plunder (Tours, costs 8 men) |
| M | Toggle music |
| P | Pause / Resume |
| H | Hold position |
| A | Attack mode |
| Space | Center camera |
| 1 - 4 | Formations (Phalanx / Line / Wedge / Circle) |
| Ctrl+A | Select all units |
| Arrow keys | Pan camera |
| First-Person Mode | |
| WASD | Move |
| Click / Space | Attack |
| ESC | Free cursor |
| Touch Controls (phone & tablet) | |
| Tap ally | Select that unit |
| Tap world | Order selected units to move (or attack if tapping an enemy) |
| Drag | Pan the camera |
| Pinch | Zoom in / out |
| FP swipe | Look around in first-person mode |
| FP tap | Attack |
Press ? or Escape to close