To Battle!: Hell's Crusade

To Battle!: Hell's Crusade is a single-player strategy game in which you raise an army to fight a demonic crusade. A foul fog turns sinners poxy as demons march across the land. You gather peasants, train them into veteran fighters and march through festering marshlands, evil forests and treacherous ravines to liberate besieged villagers and towns. Liberated towns provide more skilled fighters and equipment.

Two campaigns

The Adventure Campaign follows a band of brigands who cross paths with one of the last godly men capable of fighting back against the hordes of hell. Its battles build into encounters lasting over an hour, with comedic voice acting and quips alongside the action.

The Strategy Campaign focuses on old-school strategy, with smaller armies and shorter battles. Every turn matters, and small mistakes can be costly. You can attempt a perfect Golden Goblet playthrough; defeat comes quickly, so expect to restart.

Plan and fight

Resources are scarce, so you must decide whether to keep supplies ready to replenish soldiers during battle or use them to outfit extra fighters beforehand. Formations and defenses matter: a well-executed formation can withstand a Beastly Cavalry charge, while a carefully planned castle defense can hold against Demon Knights and Bloodsucker heavy infantry. Each unit has distinct skills, but none can survive alone.

Archers support infantry with volleys, while skirmishers harass enemies and watch for ambushers. Cavalry attacks the flanks and crushes enemies cut off from the main force. The game includes 26 detailed unit figurines based on authentic early-medieval Christian art, and characters can gain perks and be upgraded to shape an army for each playthrough.

Units and enemies

• Soldiers: tough and dangerous infantry suited to city fighting, but slow and vulnerable when speed and adaptability are needed.
• Spearmen: less powerful against demons than Soldiers, but a better choice when infantry needs to cover ground quickly.
• Ballista: a rare weapon that can impale a black demon heart from about three hexes away; protect it.
• Men-at-Arms: a powerful shock force that can smash lesser demon units in a single charge, but lacks endurance for prolonged melee.
• Headless Men: a usually peaceable forest-dwelling people who have become active since the demon army's crusade. They are most dangerous when they surround you.
• Imps and Imp Riders: imps are troublesome, and Imp Riders are especially fast, with a dangerous skirmish attack. Keep them from catching you in the open.
• Demon Knights: hard-hitting fiends whose solid metal armor calls for the right tools to penetrate.
• Beastly Cavalry: huge beasts mounted on even larger creatures, charging at great speed. Use armor-defeating weapons and advantageous terrain, but expect casualties.

Levels and challenge

The game has 16 levels designed as detailed dioramas. Its challenge is described as fair, without gimmicky challenges or cheap shots.