Army of Ares Slot Review: Where Wrath Reels Deliver Divine Destruction

Army of Ares from Hacksaw Gaming drops you onto a blood-soaked battlefield where the Greek god of war himself oversees every spin from the sidelines, glowing red eyes and all. This isn’t mythology for the faint-hearted—it’s a brutal, fire-and-smoke affair where Wrath Reels explode into full-column wilds carrying multipliers up to 300x and three distinct bonus rounds escalate the carnage. The Wrath and Ruin bonus brings a Hold & Win-style collection mechanic where Green Discs add up to 100x to reel multipliers and Battle Horses apply final 2x-50x multipliers, while the hidden Ares Ascends feature—triggered by the near-impossible 5-scatter landing—starts you with a guaranteed grid full of disc multipliers. Chase the 15,000x max win across a 5×4 battlefield with 14 paylines, but bring your patience: high volatility means the war will be long before victory.

Key Highlights

• Greek mythology war-themed slot from Hacksaw Gaming (released December 4, 2025) featuring Wrath Reels that expand into full-column wilds with multipliers from 2x to 300x.
• Three tiered bonus rounds: Fear and Flame (10 free spins, multiplier wilds up to 100x), Wrath and Ruin (3 lives, reel multiplier collection), and Ares Ascends (hidden epic bonus with guaranteed full grid of disc multipliers).
• High volatility (4/5) with 24.98% hit frequency (roughly 1 in 4 spins wins) and maximum win potential of 15,000x your bet.
• 5×4 grid with 14 fixed paylines, 96.26% RTP (default), and $0.10-$50 bet range.
• Battle Horse symbols in Wrath and Ruin bonus can multiply final reel multipliers by 2x to 50x, creating massive combined payouts.
• Bonus buy options at 3x, 60x, 100x, and 200x your bet—but Ares Ascends epic bonus can only be triggered naturally with 5 scatters.

Theme and Visuals

Hacksaw Gaming has constructed a Greek mythology battlefield that feels genuinely ominous rather than tourist-brochure ancient. The 5×4 grid sits against a backdrop of oppressive storm clouds and smoldering battlefields—think 300 met God of War at a slot machine convention. To the right of the reels, Ares himself towers over the action, a muscular god with piercing red eyes and armor that looks forged in the fires of Olympus itself. Warriors in iconic Greek armor line the left side, spears ready, waiting for the carnage to begin. Try it yourself in our slot demos section.

The visual design commits fully to the gritty aesthetic: red and grey hues dominate, signifying omnipresent fire and smoke ravaging the combat zone. High-paying symbols include detailed armor pieces, helmets, shields, and a fearsome warhorse—each rendered with comic-book intensity that makes the action feel consequential. Low-value symbols use stylized playing card ranks (10-A) that blend into the theme rather than disrupting it. The Wrath scatter symbol pulses with barely contained fury, and when it expands into a full Wrath Reel, steam and flames erupt across the screen. The bonus rounds shift environments entirely—from open battlefield to the sacking of burning cities—maintaining the visual narrative of escalating destruction.

How to Play Army of Ares

Playing Army of Ares is straightforward once you understand the Wrath Reel expansion system. Here’s your complete battle manual:

1. Launch the game and let the Greek battlefield materialize around you—Ares awaits.
2. Set your bet using the stake controls—minimum $0.10, maximum $50 per spin.
3. Understand the paylines: The 5×4 grid uses 14 fixed paylines. You need at least 3 matching symbols on a payline from left to right to win.
4. Hit spin or enable autoplay for continuous warfare.
5. Watch for Wrath symbols: When a Wrath scatter lands, it expands into a full-column Wild Wrath Reel and reveals a multiplier between 2x and 300x. Multiple Wrath Reels on the same win have their multipliers added together before being applied.
6. Track bonus wilds: Each Wrath Reel adds 0-5 additional wild symbols to random positions across the grid, potentially creating multiple winning combinations.
7. Collect FS scatters: Land 3, 4, or 5 FS scatter symbols to trigger Fear and Flame, Wrath and Ruin, or the hidden Ares Ascends bonus respectively.

Pro Tip: Wrath Reel multipliers ADD together, not multiply. Two Wrath Reels with 50x and 100x create a 150x total multiplier, not 5,000x. Plan your expectations accordingly—the math is generous but not exponential.

Symbols and Paytable

Army of Ares uses 14 fixed paylines across a 5×4 grid. The base paytable is intentionally modest—this slot is designed around Wrath Reel multiplier accumulation, not base symbol payouts. Premium symbols (armor pieces, warhorse) pay in the 4x-10x range for five of a kind, while royal card symbols (10-A) pay around 1x for a full line. The real money comes from Wrath Reel multipliers, not the paytable itself.

Five Wild symbols on a payline pay 10x your bet before any Wrath Reel multipliers are applied. When you factor in a Wrath Reel carrying a 100x multiplier on that same line, suddenly that 10x base becomes 1,000x. That’s the design philosophy here—weak base pays, massive multiplier potential.

How Wins Actually Build

Don’t expect the base paytable to carry you. A five-of-a-kind royal pays roughly your bet back—barely worth celebrating. Even premium symbols landing without Wrath Reel involvement feel underwhelming. But this is intentional design: Army of Ares wants you chasing Wrath Reels, not base game symbol combinations.

The math changes dramatically when Wrath Reels enter the equation. A modest 10x Wild line becomes 500x when a single Wrath Reel with 50x multiplier is involved. Add a second Wrath Reel with 100x, and those multipliers stack additively to 150x total—turning that 10x base into 1,500x. This is where the 15,000x max win becomes theoretically reachable.

Wrath Reel Wild Symbols

The Wrath symbol is the heart of Army of Ares. When it lands, it doesn’t just substitute—it expands into a full-column Wild Wrath Reel covering all 4 positions on its reel. Upon expansion, the Wrath Reel reveals a random multiplier: 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x, 25x, 50x, 75x, 100x, 200x, or the massive 300x. Five Wrath Reels on a payline (covering all 5 reels) pay 10x your bet before multipliers are applied.

When multiple Wrath Reels appear on the same winning combination, their multiplier values are added together (not multiplied), then applied to the line win. Additionally, each expanded Wrath Reel randomly adds 0-5 additional wild symbols to positions across the grid, creating potential for multiple overlapping wins.

Slot Features

Wrath Reel Mechanic

This is Hacksaw Gaming’s core innovation for Army of Ares—an expansion mechanic that transforms a single symbol into a full-reel wild carrying potentially massive multipliers. Unlike the Gas Canister mechanic in Steamrunners which converts other symbols, Wrath Reels work through direct expansion and multiplier application. Think of them as divine intervention—when Ares decides a reel deserves his attention, it becomes a pillar of wild destruction.

The multiplier range (2x to 300x) creates dramatically different outcomes from identical-looking spins. A single Wrath Reel landing with a 2x multiplier barely moves the needle, while the same visual scenario with 300x can produce life-changing wins. Multiple Wrath Reels compound this variance—two reels with 200x and 100x create a combined 300x multiplier applied to the entire winning combination.

Pro Tip: The mathematical ceiling on base game wins is exceptionally high because multipliers can reach 300x per reel. Don’t dismiss a spin with multiple Wrath symbols until you see what multipliers they reveal—the reveal animation is where fortunes are made or lost.

Slot Bonus Features

Bonus Features Gallery

How to Max Win on Army of Ares

Base Game Max Win

The 15,000x max win cap is theoretically achievable in the base game, though extraordinarily rare. You’d need multiple Wrath Reels landing simultaneously with high-end multipliers (200x-300x range) combined with premium symbol wins across multiple paylines. The Wrath Reel’s ability to add 0-5 additional wilds per expansion creates overlapping win potential, but base game hits above 1,000x require exceptional multiplier combinations.

Fear and Flame (3 Scatters / 100x Buy)

Fear and Flame adds wild multipliers (2x-100x) on top of Wrath Reel multipliers, creating more consistent multiplier stacking. With 10 spins to accumulate multiplier-carrying wilds, you can build substantial combined multipliers across paylines. This feature offers better consistency than base game but isn’t the max-win factory—think of it as the training ground before the real war.

Wrath and Ruin (4 Scatters / 200x Buy)

Wrath and Ruin’s Disc Multiplier collection mechanic creates compounding Reel Multipliers that can reach extreme values. Green Discs adding up to 100x per landing, Red Discs multiplying existing values by up to 10x, and Battle Horses applying final 2x-50x multipliers per reel—the math stacks aggressively. A single reel can theoretically reach multipliers in the thousands before the final payout calculation.

Ares Ascends (Where Max Wins Happen)

Ares Ascends is the max-win factory. Starting with a full grid of Disc Multipliers AND a guaranteed Battle Horse means you’re not building from zero—you’re compounding from an already-elevated position. The collection mechanics are identical to Wrath and Ruin, but the head start dramatically increases expected value and max-win probability. This is where 15,000x becomes genuinely achievable rather than statistical noise.

Typical Max Win Script

1. Trigger Ares Ascends via 5 natural FS scatters (cannot be purchased)
2. Start with full grid of Disc Multipliers and 1 guaranteed Battle Horse
3. Green Discs continuously add to Reel Multipliers (1x-100x additions per disc)
4. Red Discs multiply existing Reel Multipliers (2x-10x per disc)
5. Additional Battle Horses land, each applying 2x-50x final multipliers to their reels
6. Lives refresh with each landing, extending the collection phase
7. Final payout combines all Reel Multipliers after Battle Horse applications—cap reached at 15,000x

RTP & Volatility

RTP (Return to Player)

Army of Ares has a default RTP of 96.26%, sitting slightly above the industry average of 96%. However—and this is crucial—Hacksaw Gaming offers multiple RTP configurations for casino operators: 94.34%, 92.28%, or a punishing 86.22%. The gap between 96.26% and 86.22% is over 10 percentage points, meaning you could be giving the casino an extra $10 per $100 wagered on the lowest version. Use our RTP Reality Check tool to understand the impact, and always verify which RTP version you’re spinning in the game’s information screen.

Volatility

This is a high volatility slot, rated 4 out of 5 on Hacksaw Gaming’s scale. The hit frequency is 24.98%—roughly 1 in every 4 spins produces a win. This is actually higher than many high-volatility slots, but the “high” rating reflects the extreme variance between small wins and Wrath Reel-powered explosions rather than overall win frequency.

High volatility in Army of Ares creates a war of attrition: regular small wins keep your balance breathing while you wait for Wrath Reels to land with substantial multipliers or bonus features to trigger. Extended sessions without meaningful wins are expected—budget 100-200x your bet size for proper feature hunting.

Pro Tip: Use our Variance Survival Calculator to estimate how long your bankroll can sustain high-volatility sessions. Army of Ares rewards patience, but you need the ammunition to fight long enough for Ares to notice you.

Pros and Cons

Conclusion

Army of Ares delivers exactly what its Greek god of war theme promises: brutal, high-stakes combat where Wrath Reels can turn mundane spins into multiplier-powered devastation. The three-tier bonus system—from Fear and Flame’s multiplier wilds to Wrath and Ruin’s collection mechanics to the hidden Ares Ascends epic bonus—provides genuine progression and variety. The 24.98% hit frequency keeps the action flowing even during extended droughts, while the 15,000x max win cap remains within reach through strategic multiplier stacking.

The RTP variance (96.26% down to 86.22%) remains the elephant in the room—always verify your version before committing to battle. Army of Ares suits players who appreciate Hacksaw Gaming’s high-volatility approach, enjoy mechanically diverse bonus rounds, and have the bankroll patience to wait for Ares to favor them. If you prefer tamer volatility with similar multiplier mechanics, consider Steamrunners instead. But if you’re ready for war—real war, with all its glorious uncertainty—Ares awaits.

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