Bearing History Channel branding, we've returned with recon on Slitherine Software's Roman real-time strategy effort.

The strategy section of retail shelves is one of the more crowded terrains in gaming. It's a ground where lances and lasers entangle over gamers' life-giving war bonds, where Aging Empires rattle sabers at Supreme Commanders, and Companies of Heroes hold their ground against The Frozen Throne. The genre can be a briar patch for developers, and emerging from the pack in tact demands more than sound sales tactics.

Our west coast reconnaissance last week revealed a promising newcomer to the fray in The History Channel: Great Battles of Rome, whose blend of intuitive interfacing and patient pacing could enlist from the casual and hardcore camps alike. Great Battles may lack the level of complexity that games like Rome: Total War promote, but Slitherine Software's more mainstream approach to B.C. battling was made valid during our time with it.

Where other RTS' have you juggling jobs as commander, soldier, and architect, your function in Great Battles might be most akin to a clockworker. Enlisting from more than 20 troop types, you'll tool and craft your army, spending fame and funds awarded after battles to develop your divisions. Adding abilities like block, dodge, or trample, or extra equipment like improved helmets to flesh out your foot soldiers is a snap, and if you preserve your battalions long enough for them to earn experience, there's passive upgrades to tack on too, like "Master Swordsman," "Advanced Leadership," and "Marksman."

Each influences your units' performance in combat, but in a broader sense, the feature puts emphasis on letting the player nurture the kind of army they're comfortable with through the campaign -- versatile, mobile, durable, or otherwise. Buying up all the skirmishers, villagers, and light cavalry you can carry in an effort to overwhelm foes might be feasible for battles of attrition, but other generals may prefer to focus their resources on shaping smaller, more specialized squads rich with abilities and outfitted with quality wares. It's all about what you'd like to build from the ground up, and we like the idea of a licensed title giving us this much freedom.

Speaking of troop types, Great Battles deploys a rock-paper-scissors template that's influenced by terrain. Archers, as you'd expect, are more effective in the open when unmolested by close-range combat, but can be cancelled by light cavalry, which excel as quick-riding scouts. Heavy infantry prefer fighting on uncluttered plains, but are vulnerable to cavalry if they aren't armed with spears to eject riders from their horses. Elephant troops were the one stand-out unit we saw, and though less agile than a steed, they can inflict ample trample damage if they get close enough to get cozy. Each army also includes a general, who surveys the field with an entourage of skilled bodyguards. Generals offer area effect bonuses to enhance morale and other attributes, so keeping them in shouting distance of the frontlines is probably a good idea.