Thanks Abob, it's nice to get a bit more detail and a decent opinion on the changes to tactical battles. The blurb they are using to sell LH really is rather poor - very little detail other than 'better battles', 'more spells', 'more monsters' and 'champion upgrade paths'. Quick question though - did you but it or did you get it free?

I know Stardock are honour bound to give FE and now LH to original EWOM buyers, but I can't help but think that they are dressing this up and pricing it more with those people in mind ("look what we've given you for free - it's worth $20, honest") than at those people like myself who actually waited for the EWOM reviews, saw it was a car crash and then waited and bought FE instead, but now have to pay for the LH expansion if we want it.

I also can't help wondering if the people saying how great it is are the ones who didn't have to pay for it, and so are coming at it both from a skewed perception of it's value (as it was free to them) and a sense of gratitude towards Stardock and thus are maybe over-egging the pudding rather a lot.

Good question (assuming you meant "buy" it ;-)).

When WoM was in development I was really excited.  Then went it came out and the reviews were bad... I decided against buying it (similar to you).  I was right into Total War Medieval 2 at the time so just stuck with that as my strategy game of choice.  I was bummed though because I prefer fantasy over historical/space/etc.

When FE came out I was very cautious... but seeing as the reviews said Stardock had turned it around I decided to get FE and try it.  I was also pretty impressed by the fact that they (Brad) acknowledged they made a bit of a blunder, and the fact that they offered the WoM early adopters FE for free.  Even though I wasn't one of them, I just thought that was a pretty cool thing that you don't see very often thesedays.

So I bought FE at full price (40 bucks I think).  Have been playing and modding it since it was released and despite a few issues with it think it's a solid game and great entertainment value for $40.  I bought the map pack when it came out even though I didn't really want or need it so much but bought it to support Stardock and FE.

I was *very* skeptical about LH.  $20 for an expansion that does what... a trait tree and some silly abilities.  But, I've played well over 200 hours of FE... and I am a huge fantasy fan, and TBS fan... so I choose to support guys like Stardock who are working in that genre... so I thought what the heck i'll get LH and take a look.

Turns out it's actually looking pretty cool     Is it better than FE?  I think definitively yes .. but is it worth another 20 bucks?  Well you could debate that one forever, and there's no definite answer because it depends on each individuals situation.   For me personally, $60 total for FE+LH is well worth it when you get as much hours of fun out of it as I have.  Plus I'm happy to support a fantasy TBS because there's so few around.

My advice would be if you're not sure, no need to rush into it.  Hang around here for a bit and wait and see how the beta evolves.   If you're still unsure, wait and see what happens when it's released. 

I'm going to wait and see what Stardock does with FE. There are quite a bit of simple quality of life ui upgrades that came out of testing FE but so far have only gone into LH. With 3 fairly drastically differnt different iterations of beta who is to say there wont be a 4th or 5th?

I'd say that the universe finally feels realized. I'm having more fun with Legendary Heroes than I've had on any other fantasy 4X game ever. 

Yep, ever. 

It makes FE look like a beta. The tactical battle are now very fun and the leveling is just great. The UI actually feels intuitive. 

I'd pay $60 for this game. 

Ya DD but you said that about other games too. You remind me of the playboy who has a different woman every week, each who is the light of his life and his souls true counterpoint. Going gaga over games in beta is sending a bad message to developers. Go buy Warlock Master of tHe Arcane if you are looking for a good 4x fantasy that wont be seeing any changes anytime soon.

So if you guy's don't mind:

I own FE on steam, will I get discount on buying LH because I own FE? That would be awesome, and I'll buy the game right now.

Thanks Abob - sound advice (and yes I did mean "buy" :)). I guess I will read a few more opinions, check some of the reviews and then decide whether to buy at full price or if I can wait for a sale. Fairly sure I will buy at some point though, given what you say about it.

Igncom1 - I don't have the steam version, but that's as I understand it, yes. Certainly I could buy it via Stardock for $20 right now if I was inclined, as I bought FE from them.