I love the anticipation part of gaming. Waiting for the game, consuming all the news, checking forums and screenshots. All this stuff is what separates the serious gamer from his casual friends.

Sometimes things take a long time, though, and my attention is drawn to a shiny new bauble. Or disappointing news comes out and the zeal wavers.

Take Legion: Arena for instance. I had expected this to be released this spring, but it now looks like fall is more likely. With Legion II also in development, the late release of Legion: Arena makes it more likely that Slitherine will miss the Xmas target for its grand strategy game.

And then you are hit with the news that Legion: Arena will only come with Romans and Gauls and that there are no immediate plans to expand the army list.

I understand the reasons, but I don’t have to like them. Yes, lots of wargames are released with limited army lists, but the idea of improving my Roman army by beating on the same hapless barbarians time and again isn’t exactly inspiring. The “hundreds of missions” sounds great, but if the only reward for beating back Helvetians is that you get to beat back more Belgae, it will be hard to keep going.

Legion: Arena has the potential to be one of the most original and creative wargames out there (obvious similarities in look to Rome aside) but the army customization will only be a huge draw if you get to customize more than just some Roman shields.

The Mcneils are champion tabletop wargamers who could put their DBA/DBM skills to use in making that world of historic gaming alive in all its variety. Instead, new armies will depend on the reception of Legion: Arena. A practical decision, but still disappointing.