Romance of the Three Kingdoms III: Dragon of Destiny (Genesis, 1993)

Romance of the Three Kingdoms III: Dragon of Destiny takes place during second century A.D. China, a time when the country was torn apart by various warlords seeking to control the Dragon's Throne, which is the Emperor's seat of power. You play one of these historical warlords or one of your own creation (along with subordinates) in an effort to occupy all 46 cities in China, ultimately bringing peace and order to the land.

More than 500 historical characters are represented, including such rulers as Cao Rui and Liu Chan, who rose to power after their fathers, Cao Cao and Liu Bei. Civil officers aid you in domestic endeavors while military officers help you fight wars. Thanks to battery backup, you can create and save up to eight new rulers and 60 officers.

As warlord on the rise, you'll perform such duties as draft and hire soldiers to strengthen armies and navies, attack rival cities, withdraw your forces, set fire to enemy units, transfer gold, food, arms and other goods, build galleys for naval battles, recruit officers, ally yourself with rival rulers, negotiate truces, bribe rival officers, trade with merchants, sell food, scheme to make rival rulers fight one another and much more.

You must be on guard against a number of disasters, such as locust outbreaks, epidemics, floods, revolts, rebellions and poor harvests. These types of events can negatively affect your popular support, cultivation abilities and food and gold supply. You must also prepare for such things as heavy taxation and officer resignations.

Two circumstances in this game can bring about war: when you order an invasion on an enemy city or battlefield or when a rival neighboring city attacks a city or area under your command. When battle ensues, you must select commanders and the types of units those commanders will lead. Your officers are ranked according to intellect, war ability, charm, political ability, Army command, Navy command, loyalty and number of soldiers. You must also decide how much food and gold to take and whether or not to request reinforcements when they are available.

You move your units across a battle map, with each of the 17 types of terrain (including grasslands, hills, buildings, castles and wetlands) requiring a different type of mobility. When an enemy unit is in range or when you are adjacent to the fortress gate, you can attack (normal simultaneous and surprise) using crossbows. You can also charge through adjacent enemy units and engage enemy commanders in personal combat. To win a battle, you must occupy all the enemy castles, defend a battlefield for 20 days, reduce the enemy's food and morale to zero, capture all the enemy officers (or force them to flee) or capture the enemy commander-in-chief. There are 22 battlefields in all.

The Age of the Three Kingdoms in this historical war simulation is composed of three game scenarios: Dong Zhuo's Rivals Unite, The Chaotic Era Begins, Cao Cao's Power Expands, Zhuge Liang Plots Strategy, Liu Bei Builds Shu Kingdom and Three Kingdom Fights Decay.