A lot of positive reviews are based on the reviewers childhood memories. Can anyone tell me how this game holds up if we strip away the nostalgia angle?

(EDIT: The game seem to let the player read the manual instead of those tedious tutorial levels. I like!)

A good game, and as I was + then 40 years old when I first played it on Spectrum no childhood memories about.

The game's strength is that it is very lore-oriented, and that survives the passage of time.

If you get immersed in the world and play it without rushing, it's a very unique experience not found on newer games.

Just bought 'em! I think I start out by reading the included short story, to get into this thing.

Found a high-res map too:
http://thelordsofmidnight.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/overview_map.png

The map is far from showing the whole picture. I do have one, on paper, but I do not know how to post it.

The short story is very nice but don't help much to play the game.

If you have the spare time and patience, try first to learn where your people and special squares are, then decide
a strategy.

I just started playing this and I wasn't even born when the game first came out, so I don't have any nostalgia about it whatsoever.
It's kind of a weird game, at least, by my (modern) standards, and I'm not sure if I'm having fun yet, but I just sort of spent time wandering around doing nothing in particular.
I think it'll turn some people off because so much of the game comes down to numbers, but TBH this game's kind of relaxing that way, not having to manage battles and just having to focus on moving around, when to attack, etc. I have plenty of other games where I can get into the nitty gritty of combat if I want.

This game wanted to somewhat copy the LotR story:
you can succeed by playing RPG (what you experiment), or by the wargame part, but it's easier to win if you do some both.