Bandit Kings of Ancient China is based on a very popular Chinese classics novel. The story line is basically about a band of bandits (or bandit kings, as the game calls them, and there were a total of 108 of them), who are tired of the corrupted government oppression (some of them were escaping from unjust persecution), and are gathered together to overthrow the central reason for the corrupt government - the "prime minister" Gao Qiu (he's not a bandit). Also the game does not necessarily follow a "historical mode" (which is good), this means you can recruit many heroes that were not part of the "108 Bandit Kings" group into your army.
This is helpful because there are definitely some very impressive talents from outside of the 108-Bandits group.
The game play is easy to learn, pressing ENTER at each screen when prompted for commands will give you a list of what commands are available. Graphics are what was considered good in the late 80s (the game came out in 1989). There's a good mix of management skills (in terms of building up your "empire", and the economy), as well as war/battle skills required. The battle screens depicts all of the different terrains, and the harsher the terrain the less distance you can travel in one turn. The battle scenarios also require you to have previously purchased a boat (from the town of your particular prefecture)
before you can cross a river or lake during battle.
A couple of hints when playing the game... When you have a pretty good hero under you (with good stats), give him/her enough gold so their loyalty is at least 95, then use "9-Personel" command to make him or her a Sworn Brother, then send that person to another prefecture than the one you're occupying. Once you've done that, you'll notice that now you have an extra turn (using the newly sworn brother) to control the game and your "operations".
Also, when you've captured an enemy general during battle, and they wouldn't join you after defeat, don't kill them, just imprison them first, and then go back into town and try to recruit them from there. (trust me, proud generals can be very cooperative once they've been imprisoned for a month or two...) Also, remember, at Jan. of each year, you collect taxes (in terms of gold & food) from the citizens; and you won't be able to collect ANYTHING unless their loyalty is above 40, and you can boost citizen loyalty by giving them food in December (and you'll be able to recover your "investment" by next month).
