Gemfire

Gemfire (released in Japan as Royal Blood or ロイヤルブラッド, Super Royal Blood or スーパーロイヤルブラッド in its Super Famicom version) is a medieval war game for the MSX, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES, FM-Towns, Mega Drive/Genesis, MS-DOS, and later Windows, developed by Koei. The object in the game is to unify a fictional island by force. Players use soldiers and knights, as well as fantasy units such as magicians, dragons or gargoyles in order to capture the castle needed to control that particular territory.

A sequel, Royal Blood II, was released in the Japan market for Japanese Windows.

Gameplay

At the outset of the game, the player has the option of selecting a scenario and family. The chosen scenario only changes the relative power and territories of the families, although the minor families are only present in one or two scenarios. Ultimately, the player is charged with conquering the entire map.

Gameplay is divided into the main world map screen and individual battle screens. On the map screen, the player is allowed one action per turn (in-game month) per territory. With that action, the player may hire or move troops, upgrade the territory's economy or defenses, engage in diplomatic actions (such as sabotage or plunder a neighboring territory), or attack an adjacent neighboring territory.

Upon attacking or being attacked by an enemy, the focus shifts to battle, wherein a player may field five units (archers, knights, horsemen, and either a wizard or a hired unit). The player moves individual companies of troops about the map in a turn-based tactics fashion; certain units may build fences to keep enemies out. One army wins if the enemy base is captured, all enemy units are defeated, or the enemy army runs out of food.

Source: Wikipedia, "Gemfire", available under the CC-BY-SA License.