Khaldun was once a perfect world. This world was inhabited by the Kohan, a
race of immortal beings with great powers. Into this world came the Shadow,
which destroyed the Kohan and decimated Khaldun in what came to be known as the
Great Cataclysm. After eons have passed, the Kohan have reawakened and are now
trying to reclaim their once perfect world...
Kohan is in some ways a traditional fantasy RTS, but it has evolved many of
the concepts familiar to real-time strategy games. In Kohan, your armies do not
consist of dozens of individual units that each must be directed on its own.
Instead, your armies are company-based and consist of both frontline and support
troops. You give your orders to the company leaders and they direct the troops
to carry them out. You can also group your companies into regiments, allowing
you to direct larger armies more efficiently.
Kohan also makes use of concepts usually found more often in war games then
in real-time strategy. Companies require supplies to remain at full strength
after combat - supplies which can only be drawn from your cities and outposts.
Overextending your offensive without taking care to build a link of supply
centers can lead to the decimation of your armies. Another concept used in Kohan
is that of fortification or 'digging in'. Companies which do not move will begin
to fortify their position, increasing their defensive strength. Morale is
another feature in Kohan that is not commonly seen in RTS games. Units which
take a beating may route to safety until they have time to regroup. Finally,
movement and combat in Kohan is greatly affected by the terrain. For example,
units will move more slowly through forests, but will have a defensive advantage
when attacked there. The movement and defensive modifiers of terrain can also be
affected by the company's formation - for example, companies in a column move
quickly, but face a serious penalty should they get caught in combat. Kohan
supports four different company formations and allows the player to define
custom formations for both companies and regiments.
Instead of requiring the player to build and direct units to continually
harvest resources, Kohan uses an economic model which represents the economy of
the kingdom as a whole. Units and outposts require a continuous supply of
resources, which are provided by production centers in the cities and mines
located at resource sites. The player controls demand by the number and types of
armies produced and by the number of outposts built, while providing supply by
the building of production centers and mines. This system frees the player from
resource micromanagement while more accurately reflecting the drain on an
economy a large army creates.
The Kohan themselves appear in the game as leaders which you can assign to
your companies. They provide a variety of bonuses to the company to which they
are assigned, which can range from morale boosts and combat bonuses to magical
powers. The player can obtain more Kohan by discovering amulets hidden in the
gameworld. These amulets contain the essence of the Kohans' souls, allowing the
player to 'awaken' them to serve in his/her armies.
In addition to a campaign game which follows an intriguing storyline, Kohan
can be played as single map skirmishes and in multiplayer mode over the
internet. Kohan also comes with a nice scenario editor which allows players to
design their own maps and scenarios.
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