Well, shucks. I all ready purchased the entire series on Steam, but at the very least I can tout its virtues... Cossacks is a very good old-time RTS. Anyone who has played any of the Age of Empire games should be right at home with the economic factors of the game, but raising an appropriately massive and diverse army is the real challenge. Each nation feels quite different in how they are played, and warfare changes drastically in the 18th century, requiring totally new strategies. As for difficulty... yes, the campaign is grueling, and usually requires careful management of limited resources. I recommend you play the game via the "Back to War" update. This includes a far superior tutorial to the original game that goes over the many technologies in depth, as well as the crucial aspects of the game, and also includes new nations and missions! Great game, this.
