View Full Version : Britannia
frogbeastegg
09-28-2004, 15:50
Guide.
Darklight1138
10-05-2004, 10:50
Sooo, ya figure with that Island up in the corner yer safe eh?
Not quite.
Here is what I do to get started with Britannia. First off, move a few extra troops onto the mainland to defend your only city there. Ignore ireland for the moment. It's tempting, but you need the troops elsewhere in the beginning. The Gauls will attack. In every start with this one, the Gauls attacked me every time so be prepared. The germans will be open to diplomatic solutions in the beginning. Build your towns towards swordsmen as quickly as possible, then light british chariots. These two units should form the backbone of your early armies and if used correctly they can be devastating to your neighbors. I generally fight all my battles, but if you prefer to automate some make sure you have good generals fighting the battles. I'm certain you can read up about generals/family members somewhere else here.
With the practically destined conflict with the Gauls, you may have to forgo a large and expensive navy and rely on subterfuge to keeps a few ships running to ferry troops to the mainland. Once your lone city on the mainland is secure and you can afford to retrain your armies defending the area, attack Ireland. It's only a few bandits in Tara, but once yours Tara is a valuable resource. From there you can build an army in peace specifically for invading the north coast of europe while using your home island to supply the mainland during the ongoing struggle. I suggest building a temple for creating Woad warriors, as these are powerful units very early in the game even though the temples to Britannia can really help trade. Extra unit? More Trade? Better missiles? Temples will play an important role in your strategy in my opinion. If you are having trouble keeping a navy in the water, use short hops to transport troops across dangerous waters. Move ships up to Tara when it's clear. Wait till next turn. If they are still alive, move troops to Britannia in one move. Then walk the troops down to the south coast and use the same process to move to the mainland. Clever use of your navy is essential in the initial stages.
I cannot stress the importance of the Warcry in battle. The warriors of Britannia are fearsome indeed.
And ta-daa. You have a basic plan of action. I've played Britannia on a medium and hard (I ran into financial problems, my weak point. heh.) and both times this was a successful plan to start. It's my later decisions and lack of patience that cost me.
Boudicca
10-06-2004, 10:48
Using the chariots and swordsmen is a good idea. According to your advice, I didn´t wait for the Gauls to attack me, but struck them immediately at Alesia. This led me into a more than 30 years war with the Gauls, who stood firmly against my forces, Spain and the Julii and conquered all of Spain and the North of Italy.
During my conquest, I experienced it to be the best tactics to have swordsmen or warbands advance, leading the chariots around the flank of the enemys forces and striking from behind, after hand to hand combat had started. This usually set the enemy on the run.
I´ve also been starting to use stone slingers recently, as they can significantly reduce the numbers of barbarian infantry...especially if it does not dare to attack due to the war cries of my forces.
The most important thing to me still remains the use of an experienced General in combination with highly experienced troops.
P. S. Don´t use your light chariots in city assaults...they will get split up in the roads and surely lose their way...
On my first turn, I dragged every spare person I could and headed over to the mainland, and took that city on the northwest coast (Concave something). It put the Gauls on the defensive, and I got a good coastline from which to strike at Tara pretty easily. I left a governor and a warband there and immediately moved back to the mainland. I ignored my navy and just used the one boat to ferry over the channel and head back into port.
Afterwards, I took Lemonum, Lugdunium, and Alesia (in that order), and got trade agreements with the four Roman factions. It's only 30 or so years in, but my money is coming in faster than I can spend it, and I can easily bribe armies out of the way so I can take provinces quickly. The Gauls are basically finished, and I have a good base to strike Germania and the Julii.
As Britain you should be able to handle the Gauls and the Germans but defeating Rome is a challenge. As stated above, ally with Germania and sell trade rights and map info to Gaul before you attack them in Brittany. You'll fight a lot of battles around Aleisa but you should be able to defeat them in detail. Keep your diplomats moving out to sell Alliance/traderights/map info. Aim high. I sold an ATM package to Carthage for 9600 dinar (hard/hard) and it was my first offer! Use this cash to bribe Gauls or rebels and life will be easier.
After the initial Gaulish attack I went back an took Tara. I concentrated on trade there as well as the north of England and my unit production in London and the Continent. Make sure to build the right temple. One increases trade, one produces Woad Warriors then Head Hurlers, and the third Druids.
Trade for the home front/coastal areas and a mix of the other two on the continent. Keep your fleets on "skirmish mode" the gauls have too many to start with and so it's more efficient to ferry troops and family members across the channel and run up north to hide.
Tactics early on are rather basic. Use light chariots to disrupt their formations, they will chase you, and then attack with war bands center and Woads and Swords on the wings. Use the war cry and overwhelm them paying particular attention to killing their leader. War hounds are good to chase routers/disrupt missile units as are barbarian cv.
After you have taken greater France you'll have to make a strategic decision. Where to? In my game I had three options. The Julii were fairly weak and had taken only Segesta and the northern Spanish province. So I could take them on, or continue after the Gauls in the Po valley and Spain, or attack the Germans before they hit me. I was tired of the Gaulish fleets harassing me and figured it would be good to take Milan and venice before the Romans did.
WRONG. As I went for Milan the Julii came north and the Germans got in on the game. With 20/20 hindsight I should have really knocked the Germans for a loop and let the Julii take the Po valley. I used a lot of cash bribing Roman armies but my dinar would have gone farther in Germany. Take out the German capital but anything east of that loot and leave it to rebel, you can always get it later.
After Germany its on to Rome. A whole other story.
That is the part of the story I want to hear! (Cause this is where Britania gets really difficult imho)
wanderingblade
10-19-2004, 12:54
I've mainly been using the tactics above. After a quick start at it, I'd say taking Alesia should be your first priority, as elsewise the Gauls reinforce it and its a hard battle to take. From here, Condate Regenum in Brittany should be easy to take - send it two armies, one to hold the bridge and prevent reinforcements while the other sieges it into submission.
I did it the other way around and am slightly regretting it at the moment.
I slightly delayed my rush to Swordsmen to get some boats out of London, as I found the Gauls were slightly too keen to make friends with my boat and I couldn't shake them off. A simple fleet of two boats on Seek and Destroy should keep the channel fairly safe and open. Besides, it feels wrong to be British and surrendering sea power :p
I've also found a few units of slingers are a good investment (well, its already made for you). Not only do I find the Britons with their chariots work naturally defensive against their fellow Barbarians, which means another missile unit is never a bad idea but they clear out town squares nicely as well as killing anyone too chickenshit to charge your lines.
btw - How do you people use Warcry and the Druid's chant ability? So far, I've yet to find out how to use either effectively.
I took all of Italy lat night except for the toe and unfortunately it had more to do with AI failures than my strategy. The Brutii still have massive armies in the Balkans but failed or were slow to either ferry them across to relieve their cities or land behind my line in the middle of the peninsula. I built a fort on the border of Dalmatia? and Venice and this slows them down and allows me to defend against their attacks in the open. I also have assassins taking out their captains (and family members if I'm lucky) and diplomats bribing little stacks.
I exterminate the cities I capture and knock down there temples and build my own. This makes cash not a problem but bribing Romans is expensive so i do it sparingly.
My tactics vs. the Roman armies rely on strategic movement to put my self in a threatening position so they will attack me. (Of course this army has the best troops and leader). The AI often attacks without combing groups before hand so I can often defeat them in detail. Even a unified army has trouble keeping together when I send out missile troops, light chariots and slingers, to harass their flanks. Often they send their cv chasing after them which is fine because they won't be around to flank my rush.
As the Romans advance I position my infantry in one line for the charge. If I have a druid I start him chanting and select the inf group and have them give their war cry. While they're pumping themselves up I send my barbarian cv/heavy chariots along the sidelines so to speak to be in position to double back on the Roman line or pesky skirmishers. By this time my boys are ready to go so I double click the whole group/line to a point behind the enemy line. The Roman units defend in depth in an open grid pattern so my swordsman rush smashes into and around their units. Their is a lot of feverous clicking as I send those units not engaged into the rear or flanks of a nearby unit or the enemy general if he's close. I then pick the best targets for my nonmissile cv and that usually does it. My leader I might sent in to mop up but usually I keep him close.
Again, this tactic assumes you have experienced chosen swordsmen with upgrades as the core of your army with a balance your most experienced inf chariots and barb cv. Non missile cv is essential because your swordsman can't rundown their skirmishers and they will decimate your lightly armed inf. Heavy chariots are decent flank shock troops but are too slow to be effective chasing skirmishers. I use head hurlers as well and send them in behind the rush to where resistance is strongest use them to crack the line.
Pretty soon its mop up time. The above tactics will work on the offensive but you really have to use your skirmishes to pull their formations apart. Also maneuver your inf and try to catch their line out of formation when you charge.
Alexander the Pretty Good
10-20-2004, 01:53
Chariots. A Mini Guide.
Hmmm. After such an impressive title, maybe I should think of some nice stuff to write, no?
Notes: the information I am gathering/have gathered is a compilation of my experiances and the experiances of others as recounted on these great forums. Please feel free to point out an errors I have made/left standing. Also, I am playing Rome: Total Realism (v 2.2), a very nice mod that can be found in many places. It edits out and/or modifies units to more realistically reflect the history of the time period in Rome: Total War. Therefore, this guide may be less useful than you may or may not have hoped. I also generally play on hard/hard. Enough notes.
Chariots in General
A chariot is a cart, usually with two or four wheels pulled by one to four horses. For this guide, I will refer to the chariots that the Britons have in Rome: Total War, and not other chariots. British chariots are very cartlike, according to RTW. They are boxy and have two to three people on them. They are drawn by two horses.
A chariot's value is in its maneuverability and speed on the battlefield. It moves much faster than a normal human being (ie, not RTW infantry). It is also much heavier than a human being. This gives it a strong shock value. A chariot crashing into a human body can be quite detrimental to said body. This is pretty much true in RTW, though maybe less so than in real life. When a chariot drives into a group of men, the men will probably be sent flying or just crushed. The same effects apply for women, you politically correct snobs.
And less on theoretical, dusty stuff on to... no, not the individual units yet, just more general stuff!
British chariots do not perform as well as Egyptian chariots (that don't even exist in Total Realism). I have found (at least in the Realism mod) that the general's chariots - and presumably heavy chariots, too - are not of much use. Yeah, they send troops flying, but they don't actually kill them. This may seem at conflict with my previous remarks. Well... actually, that is at conflict with my previous remarks. And so I find general's chariots to be just about useless, except for applying general pressure to an enemy or mostly harmlessly chasing routers.
Anecdote: One time, I was fighting some rebs in some woods. I had a huge advantage in [general's] chariots. They had a couple more warbands and peasants. But my general was quite good (faction leader and all). So I come into the battle thinking, "Well, time to kick trousers with my shiny chariots." But when I told my chariots to charge the enemy warbands, they would run up to the enemy dogs and... stop. Then advance a little further and... stop. They finally walked into the enemy, immediately getting bogged down and killed. Maybe because this happened in forest... but it left a bad taste in my mouth regarding heavy chariots ever since. [Lost the battle, faction leader, and two family members, by the way. Had to bribe them rebs... humiliating.]
Moral of Story:
Don't let your soldiers die. Or, use chariots wisely. Like, don't use them.
Light Chariots (Breton Light Chariots in Total Realism)
This is the first chariot you can get, besides generals. They are actually very good. They can form Cantabrian Circles, a must for skrimishing cav. They have a good stock of ammo, and are deadly accurate, and can fire while moving. Use them to harrass an enemy unit, then hunt down routers or flank the enemy. I find them very useful.
Realism Note: Breton Light Chariots haven't had their charge reduced, like the other chariots. This may contribute to their effectiveness.
Heavy Chariots (Breton Heavy Chariots in Total Realism)
Haven't gotten to these babies.... suspect they will be utter crap. Please tell me if otherwise... and then I will form my own opinion. ~;)
General's Chariots (Or whatever you call them)
As I may or may not have conveyed to your, dear reader, my opinions of this unit, let me iriterate:
They.
Are.
Useless.
Realism Note: This may be because the charge bonuses have been lowered for most chariots. Don't actually know, because I am not a numbers man.
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This concludes the written part of your SATs.
Uummm. Never Mind. :dizzy2:
Hope this helps people with questions about British chariots. I may or may not come back and append to this, depending on how loudly the masses complain about it. If I insulted or bored you to death...
I dunno, try playing outside or something.
The Britons dont have archers do they?
Alexander the Pretty Good
10-23-2004, 02:01
Nope. Though I really like their slingers, the Brits substitute for the archer.
The_Emperor
10-25-2004, 13:08
One thing I dislike about playing the Britons is the lack of any Cavalry. You end up relying on Cavalry Mercs to fulfill that role... (Why oh why didn't you include at least 1 Brit cav unit CA??)
Heavy Chariots I find are best used to disrupt a formation with infantry charging in to take full advantage. But they are not tanks. Generals are too valuble to waste and charging into a dense infantry formation with them is a good way to get them killed.
Your main infantry line needs to be made up of Woad Warriors and Swordsmen to start with. The basic Warband is too weak in my opinion to be of much cop. Once you get the "Chosen" Swordsmen you'll really be able to give the enemy something to worry about.
Head hurlers (despite my reservations about them as a game unit) are quite effective and dangerous. Train these guys up and hold them behind your main battle line to create a hail of sickening trophies into the enemy while your infantry charge. Slingers are also of use out in front of your battle line to harass the enemy, just remember to take them off "fire at will" mode when you put them behind your lines as the enemy closes, or you'll take extra casualties.
Warcry and Chant usage
Both of these abilities are a must for the Britons. It makes you into a very rowdy and noisey sight on the battlefield but really has a shock on your enemies.
When the enemy approaches, just before you are ready to give the charge order. Get your entire infantry line to warcry. This really pumps up your infantry with combat bonuses. Then when they are done immediately charge them in... The shock of the charge should be a severe blow to the enemy battle line.
Druids should always be placed behind your line as support, as like Screeching Women they are not as good in combat as your main infantry. Their chanting helps to bolster the morale of your own units at the expense of the enemy and will make your battle line harder to break.
The one thing I cannot stress enough is Buy CAV MERCS!! Trust me you need them to fill a role that your heavy chariots cannot do very well... Chasing routers and heavy charges into compact infantry formations.
I've just finished my first campaign with the Brits, and found the light chariots the most useful unit I've used in the game...
I like to stick them in front of my infantry, and send them straight into attack using Cantabrian circle. They have several advantages over normal archers, and though I'm not too hot on horse archers, I expect over them too. F'rinstance...
1 They carry so much ammo, for most purposes you can consider the supply unlimited.
2 They're quick, so can escape any attack apartfrom a cavalry charge. They can also draw enemy units away halfway across the battlefield, then leave them to return to the fray
3 Their Cantabrian circle sends a non stop rain of arrows down upon your enemies, according to the game this is a big morale sapper (not noticed that particularly myself)
4 After I'd dealt with the Gauls and Germans, faced the Romans and their General's heavy cavalry, and found that a unit of light chariots could usually stand against a Roman general, and usually start him routing. Against infantry as well, if your chariots do get caught, they'll usally set any light inf to routing, a vast improvement on yer normal archers!
5 And this may sound like a minor point, but due to their skirmishing nature, and the fact that I always sent them to soften up the enemy before the fight, and so caused a lot of casualties, I found that most of my chariot units gained about one experience 'chevron' about every other battle, or more. Very soon I was fielding units with silver and gold experience, by the end, I had one army with three (I found having more than three light chariot units meant too much micro management and stress) units all with three gold chevrons. And those boys were awesome! (Oh, and Tthanks to the bug in the game of course, even having one chariot left with one gold chevron means you can retrain a whole unit with gold exp) The only battle where I managed to use up all my arrows, the three-gold unit killed over 400 Gauls each. That's 1200+ dead gauls using just three units - and no friendly casualties.
Mmmm.... light chariots....
Also, head hurlers rule. They do massive damage - in my experience the most kills per man than any other skirmishing unit - and sap morale quickly. They're also fast and never rout, so don't dismiss them...
duncan36
11-09-2004, 08:56
The basic formation I use as Britannia is first to put my slingers up in front of my army. The enemy will do one of two things sit there and do nothing or charge. If they sit there, you move your slingers into range and pelt them. If they charge you'll get off a few volleys and the slingers will retreat, move them off to the side of your army, careful that your armys not in the way and continue pelting the enemy during hand to hand.
The next part of my basic strategy is to put all the warband in the army in a line in guard mode. Immediately behind this line are all my swordsman and woad warriors. I came up with this tactic early on because woad warriors have such terrible armor they simply cant be allowed to be attacked, however it works great with swordsman too.
Basically this setup has several advantages, if the enemy tries to overload one side of your line more than the other your heavy units that can change the tide arent locked into the front line and can be sent to attack the side where the main thrust is coming. The shock of a fresh heavy unit charging straight at the enemy after combat already been going on with the warband seems to break them every time. Keeping the swordsmen back guarantees you get the full charge bonus as the enemy is at a stop fighting the warband. Also the warband in guard mode since its so thick never seems to let a cavalry unit through it, which enhances the speed at which you kill the cavalry, especially when your unit of swordsman behind the warband comes charging through the warband.
Also I learned the hard way to never get your general involved in anything other than mopping up activities. Barbarian armies are totally undisciplined and if its an even battle will rout at the drop of a hat without the general.
Also I pick up barbarian cavalry whenever possible, the lack of cavalry is a huge disadvantage for Britannia, and I havent got them yet but hopefully the heavy chariots are better than the generals chariots.
The other problem I've run into is beating the German phalanx. I've managed to get a full cavalry charge on a phalanx units back while it was moving and the unit simply wheeled around pointed its spears at my cavalry and routed the whole lot of them. Phalanx's are kicking my behind I'd like some help with them as nothing i've done has worked so far.
re. the phalanxes, (phalanges?) you need to engage them from the front before charging from behind, and even then be ready to pull your cavalry out of their charge if the spearmen look like they're reforming.
The reason why General chariots stop when ordered to charge is often because skirmish mode is on by default. What happens is the unit will charge. When it hits skirmish minimum distance range it will stop. The only reason it finally engages is because it reaches that minimum distance at which all units will engage in combat (ever had that frustrating experience where the enemy catches your archers, and they *refuse* to quit fighting and retreat?)
Turn off Skirmish mode and General Chariots will charge properly.
I find that Chariots are a lot like a poor-man's Elephant in use. Basically, you charge them in, and follow them up with a good killing unit (like an infantry unit or cavalry). The Chariots/Elephants completely disrupt the target formation (and kill a few guys themselves), and this makes them extremely vulnerable to the follow-up unit.
I've rolled up entire Battle lines of infantry by Elephant/Cavalry combos. Very effective combo, except against well-managed Phalanx units.
The problem is that the best follow-up unit is a unit of cavalry. Unfortunately, the British don't get any except for Mercenary cavalry. Thus it becomes difficult to capitalize upon the disruptive effects of the Chariot, and the Chariots don't kill fast enough to make them useful as killing units themselves.
duncan36
11-11-2004, 23:28
I've played quite a bit more, really the best way to deal with the German spearman is to pelt them with slingers and light chariots, luckily the AI is dumb so they tend to send one unit at a time. If it was a human vs. human situation of Britannia vs. Germania I dont see it even being a close contest.
More thoughts: head hurlers' use is limited. They need to be a lot closer to loose their missles than slingers, unlike javelins the head hurlers stink at lobbing heads over units. Like Roman javeliners if charged they dont seem to have time to get a shot off before they run away. If you manage to get them to work perfectly they can be devastating but 90% of the time they're fairly useless and often do something stupid and kill a ton of your own men.
I have more respect for light chariots than I used to, they can be used to take out enemy generals, and if charged by lighter cavalry while in the cambrian circle they usually take it out, they also make the enemy concentrate on them which open the enemy up to a charge from your other units. They become less useful when the Romans start bringing the heavier cavalry to battle though. Also they have an annoying tendency to act like idiots and charge randomly into the enemys lines and then just sit there waiting to get killed.
Heavy chariots are not a match for the Roman heavy cavalry, they get bogged down when they hit the heavy cavalry and get killed rather quickly. Against lighter cavalry the heavy chariots are pretty devastating.
Chosen swordsman one on one are somewhere between a Early Legionary Cohort and a Legionary Cohort in overall power. The cohorts dont attack as well but their armor is much better. Obviously Britannia's best unit.
Well thats about it, the chariots and head hurlers need some tweaking. On normal difficulty the game is definitely winnable with Britannia, I'd take out Germania first and weaken Gaul leaving a buffer between Gaul and Rome and then start going after the Romans and the Spanish peninsula.
HopAlongBunny
11-18-2004, 17:47
The Light chariots are fantastic imho. The general's chariot is peculiar but decent enough for chasing routers-entire flank of a Gaul army started to rout after getting peppered with heads; general's chariot kept the whole mass moving to the "red-line"_kept running back and forth through the routers.
The head-hurlers are indecent. Good damage and break the morale of units very quickly; I place one in the middle and wait for the line to "bow" somewhere_start hurling heads into the flank. Great as flankers if you can manage them.
Slingers work well but need way too much micro-management. If behind your units they will mow a path through YOUR units ~:eek:
I remembered from playing Germania how warbands (or anything else) would impale themselves on the spears; now that I'm on the other end of the stick it seems to help if you put warbands in "guard" mode; they still run the final few steps to contact, but I guess because they are defensive they will not throw themselves onto the speerpoints. Flank with whatever you have available.
The main use for Heavy Chariots seems to be disrupting formations. I doubt they will be a mainstay of my army: expensive and 2-turn build req.
I was just trying something weird, but it worked, to my amazement (vh/vh)
In the first turns, I gathered all my troops and familymembers at the coast. I left one unit of peasants in each city.
The rest of my army sailed to the mainland. There they started their long walk to - Italy.
Once I arrived in Italy, I started besieging an juli city. I quickly captured it and the fun began. Every turn I had to fight at least one large stack of either SPQR, Juli or Gaul.
Gaul was easy to rout, and the romans send their generals allways on suicide missions so those battles were not too difficult.
Then I was lucky a few times when I catched a very small stack next to a city and lured the garrison out that way.
So I captured the two remainung juli cities on the mainland, rome and capua.
Now I am still fighting with gaul, scipi and bruti but I am slowly gaining ground.
I was losing money untill I captured Arretium and Armenium, but sooner or later you will break even.
This is not a very safe way to play, but a very challenging and entertaining one.
froglegs
12-17-2004, 21:44
I started using the name "froglegs" a couple years ago in a CIV 3 forum so I kept it here. They are a favourate snack of a good buddy of mine. I am new to this conference.
IMHO Britannia is the easiest tribe to play at large armies, realistic combat, very hard, very hard settings. In my first attempt I conquered Rome and 50 provinces in the summer of 217 BC. I took Tara first, then took out Gaul, Germannia, the Iberian Peninsula, Italy, Greece, Dacia, Sicily, Crete, and moved into far Eastern Europe.
Although I fought with all the forces of the Brits, I became very fond of the light chariots. Near the end of the game I was only using light chariots and barbarian light cavalry in my active armies. My greatest oppositon came from chosen archers. Those had to be dealt with. I never faced any post Marius Roman troops.
I then played , same level of difficulty, the Julii. In the first 15 years I was almost taken out by the Gauls. I suspended play in 180 BC holding 43 provences and a commanding lead over everybody else. Britannia was a lot easier to play.
I have restarted again at the same difficulty as the Brits just to see if it was a fluke. It was not. After 25 years of play I have only built light chariots to fight with, peasants to garrison with and barbarian cavalry. I have taken out Gaul, 2/3 of Germany and have all remaining Julii cities under siege. This almost seems too easy!
I have started several games as other tribes -- Greeks, Egypt, Germannia, Carthage for instance but they seem much more difficult to play. Has anybody else used my methods as the Brits? I am using the first patch.
I just had some experiences with Britons (Vh/Vh/Huge). Now it is about 262 BC and I just took the last Gaul settlement in Iberia, and about to face the Senate army on the other side.
Britannia is one of the easier factions to fiddle around. The biggest reason, as many players have pointed out, is their light chariots. With a good number of light chariots you will dominate the barbarian world. To fight more civilized faction - especially in their cities, then you will need higher-end infantry such as chosen swordsman.
You must hate Egyptian generals - same here. These missle chariots moves as fast as any light cavalry, making them really great at skirmishing. Nobody can touch them. But they can't shoot while "driving away" from the enemy, for unknown reason. (driver and shooter are 2 separate soldiers). Therefore, you always want to team up 2 light chariots, so when one runs away from the enemy, the other shoots.
Light chariots seems to have more ammo than horse archers. This might be an illusion because of their bulky size, sometimes not everybody is shooting at the same time (slowly depleting ammo). For the same reason you wear down the enemy slower.
Oh yeah, all you need for light chariot is a pop. 2000 town with black smith (needs trader)! What a gift from the sky.
Against Gaul, Germenia and Iberia/Spain, light chariots are the early wargods because the above factions do not have long range missle units before their pop. reaches 6000. You can easily achieve X vs. 0 kill "heroic" battle results. For sure you won't wait that long; you are going to kill them before they build any chosen archers, right? ~D If they get long range archers, then light chariots's slow kill rate will make them poor rivals of any shoot out.
The bad thing about chariot is in huge unit size I can't really tell the chariots go anywhere in the city. They get stuck at the gate and anywhere in an alley. They sometimes wander into the town square and get slaughtered. There should be a building upgrade "driving school". ~D
This means if you probably want to train a few slingers / head hurlers for city assasult reasons (especially at the town center). Briton slingers are one of the worst slingers you can imagine, though.
For all field battle - you can really forget about swordsman, warband, slingers and all that. All you need is light chariot. Just use your patience to wear them down. When they advance, you back off, and vice versa. ~:cool:
Same as everybody else think, general units (heavy chariots) suck big time. They don't last for more than 10 seconds, and they are bad router chasers. I just fought a bridge battle and half of my generals' body-cargos just ride directly into the water and died. The most useless RTW general unit - Briton heavy chariot. :furious3:
froglegs
12-21-2004, 01:25
Against enemy archers, chosen archers in particular, I take several of the Brit light chariots off skirmish mode and charge them. This tends to always route the archers although the chariots may take losses.
Against a city I normally just starve them out. However, I have taken cities by buying the required infantry for the ram. I generally use the chariots in loose formation all the time. They seem to behave better that way. Forget about crossing a bridge though. I just finished taking all of Italy by blitzing the pennsula and sieging all the cities from Rome south. Several attacked out at me -- a big mistake for them. The others I waited the 7 turns or so to get.
I always have an easier time against Rome than against Sythians or Dacians because of the chosen archers. For some reason, the Spanish ground troops give me more problems too. Part of it are the hilly battlefields. On defense several times I was almost taken out by a downhill infantry charge against my chariots in the initial setup. I had no high or even flat ground to defend. Again, most of my major battles I fight on defense. I take a crucial position or besiege a city and wait for them to attack me. Often times I am outnumbered 4 or 5 to 1 in defense. I will run my army up a hill to defend if there is not a hill to set up on. Shooting downhill seems to be a big advantage. By the way, having taken all of Italy, Germany, Gaul, and 2/6 of Iberia, by 235BC I still have only built 2 types of troops to date -- light chariots and peasants -- all this at v hard, v hard, large army settings.
The only other tribe that I have looked at that looks anywhere near this easy is Egypt -- and that is only because they are isolated from enemies and have money out the wazoo. Their troops do not seem to fight as well though. That is probably due to there being a lot of horse/camel archers to face and archers in general.
Another thing -- it seems to me that the birth rate for the royal family is a lot higher for the Brits than for the Romans for instance.
Mountaindew
12-21-2004, 04:14
had very little problems playing as the brits...light chariots, u rock! ~:cool: u just gotta love 'em! win my battles everytime.
u gotta make use of the warcries and the druid chants...they are there for a reason...by the time the enemy (specially romans) gets to my inf line, having being peppered by the chariots, they rout when my inf. charge.
hmmm...ive realised that the brits do have a tendency to give birth to royals very very much, even rivalling egypt...
yeah, the lack of cavalry is a bummer... :help: :help:
Playing the brits in very hard/very hard level....
How do you get the Druids? I havent gotten them yet. And I have I think finish building everything.
Toughest thing is when the gauls and germans gang up on you.
Key is light chariots. They are available relatiovely early.
I like to use them as skirmisher and shoot up the enemy from teh flanks. Much better than the scythian horsearchers and other horse units. The chariot AI are relatively smart. They never get caught by infantry and when a cavalry unit catches up..the normal cav units are ussually toast vs Chariots.(Not sure why...but cav units always loose vs chariots)
In the beginning I used the Chariots to breakup large AI army so that I could destroy it piecemeal on teh battle field. Pretty cool effect. Large parts of the armies would be running around behind the chariots. The infantry would be used to finish the armys piecemeal.
Heavy Chariots...the lack of cavalry makes it difficult to exploit the holes they create when they charge.
I agree with the view that Chariots are actually elephants light. They bust open most infantry, except if they have spears.
Just make sure when they have charged that there's a followup unit to finish off the unit that was charged.(*barbarian cav are like gold) The lack of good mop up units severely handicap the chariots.
A good idea is to use wardogs...tehy are great killers. Just make sure to have a couple of units and to use them wisely. Once unleasghed they are out of control.
AntiochusIII
01-14-2005, 05:46
I'm sorry if this sounds stupid but I have a short question.
I always liked Britannia's strategic locations and stuff, but I've been avoiding playing as them since I bought Rome. (While playing as Carthage or the "beloved" Seleucids for several times.) It seems my generals got themselves easily killed, as if I am an AI! :charge:
How can I use those Britannia's chariots effectively? I mean, even though my general flank, not charging head-on or whatever, he still got himself killed in a rebel hunt battle! :furious3:
This sounds noob, I'm sure, but I really want to play them. However, I couldn't withstand the continuous loss of my precious generals. :embarassed:
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
P.S. This is my first post ~:)
randomn00b
01-16-2005, 03:38
General's Chariots suck. Light Chariots are paper.
You've got to keep Chariots away from the main lines. Your Chariots aren't just sturdy enough.
Light Chariots kill so slow, but apparently, the Gauls and Germans don't know how to field cavalry, let alone Archers.
It's nice to have a decent early game missile cavalry + Infantry army.
Callensius
01-23-2005, 15:38
Guide.
Don't have anything to quote but
BELIEVE me if you wanna do anything when playing with Britannia you have to use swordsmens believe me swordsmen are like the best unit, you can train them in almost the beginning of the game, once (in armour) upgraded highly skilled and with the warcry really effective as i've read here before, in Britannia you can first pepper them with a bit o' arrows from the chariots and then you can just charge them with a warcry'ing bunch of swordsmens usually the enemy will start to run, cuz, the arrows was a first moral blow, and after they're a bit shaken the enemy will runn at the first warcry'ing son of a gun believe me, o yeah also Warhounds are also effective but only in non-besieging battles in besieging battles they'll loose theyre way believe me and Warhounds are also an incredible moral blow believe me
Conclusion: Swordsmens, Warhounds GOOD!
roman god's
02-18-2005, 01:05
playing on vh/vh it was very difficult to get very comfrotable. with playing with the britons. (just coming off a glorious camapaign with the julii).
first you lose money in your capital :furious3: and it never makes any money for you. its just frustrating. you lose all your money so quick. it's hard to build an army with no money. and you slowly get killed off by your neighbors gaul and germania later. it's just a pain in the rear :furious3:
p.s. this is my 2 post.
ajgundam5
02-20-2005, 18:08
I expanded into Gaul and then took over Spain, by the time i was finished with that i was in a war with Germania. After wiping out Gaul,Spain, and Germania I focused on Italy. Don't start a war with Dacia bc you need all the help you can get. Wiping out all the Italian Factions will be tough but as long as u have some diplomats outside your cities ready to bribe you should be fine until you own Italy
roman god's
02-22-2005, 00:38
It's me again.
I've just went through 20 more turns and found that swordsman and warhounds are the bomb to use. They are the best before you get chariots and other good units. I've started a war with both the gauls and the germans.
So, far my conquests are a success. I've captured all of the german lands and most of the gaul territory. I've made alliances with both the dacians and the spanish. Because I know the julli and the other roman factions are not to be trusted.
I've got a little money and tons of land.
right later
roman god's
02-22-2005, 00:41
ohhhhhhhhh yeah i forgot anybody know how to get druids. :help:
if you can :embarassed:
ajgundam5
02-24-2005, 03:10
yea i wanted to kno that too but i bet u have to get the best form of the temple thing that lets u make woad warriors
Gallicflair
02-24-2005, 09:11
I ain't played Britons yet, but for the Gauls you need the final Temple of Epona. There is a full temple guide in the guide section if I recall, so you can find out for sure there.
Edit - Of course I meant Esus, not Epona (knew it began with E, like many great things).
The temple guide can be found in Ludus Magna section and according to that you need the Sacred Grove of Brigantia.
13th warrior
03-04-2005, 18:06
If you want to play a faction where you can sit and rack in the money, Britannia is for you, for some reason that island generates a lot of trade.
Unforunatly, they are in a tough position for conquest. they have the germans to the southeast, and with their units they will cause havoc on your leaders unit :help: . So most wouldn't go that route, the only other choice would to go south into Gaul. though that cause problems in the long run, because of the size of their empire and the similarties in your troops :help: .
I personally haven't really found a way to harness the trade into a profitable conquest :furious3: . but there are always a chance for a lucky break.
PS. reply if you can tell me a good route to take.
If you're one of those people who believe that generals should be leading their soldiers into battle (and I am), then perhaps Britannia is NOT for you. Britannia's generals ride on scythed chariots, and I have absolutely no idea how these things work. Yes, they disrupt formations, but they don't actually -kill- anyone, mostly they just push people over. Should you use them on an enemy unit pinned down by your forces, they'll likely mow down as many of your own people as the enemy. If you use them on routers, they'll keep running over them for hours, killing the routers in ones and twos. And Zeus forbid that you should try using them for a frontal charge. They're naturally frail compounded with probably low experience because they kill very few enemies per battle.
Otherwise, like the other 'barbarian' factions, Britannia gets pretty strong militarily with fewer buildings. Unlike the other barbarian factions, the Britons can develop a good economy early because all their starting provinces allow for sea trade, plus the bonus you get for building the 'merchant temples'. So while Gaul is practically identical to Britannia except that they get excellent archers, and Germania has much stronger infantry, archers, AND Gothic Cavalry (keeping in mind that all barbarian factions can build powerful units sooner), Britannia's economy makes Britannia the faction most able to zerg rush all others. Supposedly, Britannia's military revolves around the chariot, but as stated in the 1st paragraph, I find their melee chariots very hard to use effectively. However, they get Light Chariots; missile chariots, which makes them the 'horse archer' barbarian faction, and this is what makes Britannia a force to be reckoned with, or at least, outright devious compared to your infantry-intensive neighbours.
There's really nothing to playing Britannia, especially if you've played another barbarian faction already. Build > Get Denarii > Buy troops > ZOMG RUSH > Rinse, repeat. If you're a veteran of 'civilized' factions, and depending on your tactical style, barbarians can be either liberating or annoying. Generally your battles become Braveheart-esque pile-ups. You never ever have to think about such silly civilized notions like finesse or subtlety.
General Carnage
03-07-2005, 21:39
It's me again.
I've just went through 20 more turns and found that swordsman and warhounds are the bomb to use.
right later
^lmao
~:)
Anyways, I find that chariots can be used very successfully. The trick is to break up formations with skirmishers and light chariots, then bring in the heavy stuff to roll them over then wipe them out with the main force.
scipio the even younger
03-16-2005, 19:53
at the beginning only fight whe n you r sure u can win :charge: :charge: :charge: :charge: :charge: :duel: :duel: :duel: :help: :help: :furious3: ~:cheers: :book:
If you're one of those people who believe that generals should be leading their soldiers into battle (and I am), then perhaps Britannia is NOT for you. Britannia's generals ride on scythed chariots, and I have absolutely no idea how these things work. Yes, they disrupt formations, but they don't actually -kill- anyone, mostly they just push people over. Should you use them on an enemy unit pinned down by your forces, they'll likely mow down as many of your own people as the enemy. If you use them on routers, they'll keep running over them for hours, killing the routers in ones and twos. And Zeus forbid that you should try using them for a frontal charge. They're naturally frail compounded with probably low experience because they kill very few enemies per battle.
One of my fave games was as the Brits and I loved my chariots. Admittedly they're dangerous things and i lost more than one general using them to directly assault enemy formations. Seems with cavalry your general is pretty safe up until your bodyguard has been decemated but with Chariots this doesn't look to be the case. I found that they were great at mowing down retreating warriors and the chariots with archers were good for getting cheap archers early on and they have a long range.
The chariots are actually great rout chasers, but not independently. I will usually send the chariots after the fleeing enemies, being careful to choose the faster troops first (I've caught cavalry with chariots, even through wooded areas. Are chariots naturally faster than plain ol' horses?), then send the faster foot troops (slinger/woad warriors) after them as well. The chariots, if you plan it well, will run through the fleeing troops, killing some and knocking the rest down, hopefully through multiple units. Your fast troops will catch up pretty quickly when the enemy are lying on their backs, and you'll have few problems wiping everything out.
Other than that, missile-less chariots are best used as shock troops, I find. Charge your opponents from behind with them and run them over, then pull them out and do it again. Even the mere presence of them is enough to screw around with the enemy's morale, so it's not really a bad idea to have them close, even if you're apprehensive about their actual combat ability.
Hm... Well. what i love about the Britons are their their army.. although admittedly not as good as some other factions. Just playing a short game on M/M with them.
The fact that i had 2 10 star generals MIGHT have changed things a little.. but that was very fun (slaughtered 4 full-stack gaulish armies in a row with that lovely army, then another 2 a few turns later) - allowed me to take over most of Gaul at barely any cost. The worst battle was losing 600 soldiers on huge size with that army. the best battle was losing 50 soldiers ~D
My usual army was usually this: 1 general, 3 light chariots, 2 barbarian cavalry mercenaries, 3 swordsmen, 2 woad warriors, 2 war hounds and the rest were warbands. That actually worked quite well, although i really do need to test WITHOUT a 10 star general (my battles were usually really short... as soon as i charged one flank with 2 chariots and 2 cavalry the rest of the enemy army just melted away really really fast). I would probably replace everything the swordsmen and the warbands with Chosen Swordsmen later, but the warbands are STILL decently useful for absorbing tough stuff like a cavalry charge, since their huge numbers allow them to absorb a cavalry charge very well.
Their position is actually one of the better ones i've seen (and one which i love to use), since they only have ONE land border. Take that Irish province early and its very much worth it, since its decent cash, and it really helps since you still only need one army to hold your mainland city. In my entire game i never actually bothered with keeping any garisson on the islands, just used 2 little navies to clean up all the Gallic ships floating around it. This means that you can defend your mainland provinces VERY well with your standing armies without suffering much in upkeep. In about 60 turns I managed to get a very very nice income , getting enough to upkeep 3 full-stack armies to hold my 4 Gallic provinces (the 4 in the top left) and still gain 1000-2000+ denarii in profit every turn. (i didn't need to train many troops though, since i was in a consolidation/building phase. So people who rush the game might find yourself suffering a little economy-wise)
Just remember with the Britons, you can actually gain a LOT by improving your income FIRST because of the amount of trade you can get from your provinces. Plus, its not really that hard to defend your only vulnerable city on the mainland.
I would recommend to take out most of Gaul and then take over the Iberian peninsula first. Try not to go anywhere near the Romans, at all, until you've secured the Iberian peninsula. Just maintain a very weak Gallic nation as a buffer between you and the Julii. I personally reckon its too risky to take out the Romans in a fair fight - so outnumber them, and outnumber them badly. But at least you've got one thing to look foward to. The Julii are going to be the only real opposition you're going to face going down south. The Scipii are usually running around in Africa and wiping the floor with Carthage and Numidia, and the Brutii are in Greece. As a result... their armies on the Italian peninsula, and Sicily, are at best skeleton forces.
Actually, blitzing fast is critical as you want to get to the Romans before they reform.
Your chariot archers are powerful but are highly vulnerable to archers. Once they get archer auxilia, your chariots are toast. Their super high post-marian armor for infantry and cav will also destroy hopes of killing them through missiles.
Chosen swords can fight their early and even late legions to a standstill but you lose much of the edge in chariots.
Craterus
03-20-2005, 18:21
my british campaign went well to start with and i blitzed through the gaul but problems came when i (stupidly) cancelled my alliance with the julii.. they attacked and i had to withdraw back to central gaul! i opposed the romans too soon and paid the price!
What were the army compositions? Warbands don't do very well vs. hastatis. loads of chariots can maul their cav and leave the infantry exposed to constant missile fire.
Swordsmen are also fairly low tech and powerful.
Craterus
03-21-2005, 18:12
chosen swordsmen, missile chariots and head hurlers are the best troops for britain! briliant i love them!
cunobelinus
03-30-2005, 21:00
i found brittiania a lot of fun there chariots are there thing .dont even think about goin fro germinia they will beat u go for gaul and make friends with germinia.after u take gaul make sure u have enough men to cover ur towns dont leave them open germinia wil break the alliance well thye did with me i had row of herioc vistorys all through france i called it the road to victory i got to rome then they forced me back a bit .i completed the short campaign but not long .have fun littlegannon. :duel: ~:)
Craterus
03-30-2005, 21:13
Hey, you stealing on my Road To Victory?!?! Remember, it was a joint campaign! ~:cheers: ~:cool: ~D lol
cunobelinus
03-30-2005, 21:17
i agree greg sorry
Craterus
04-04-2005, 20:45
Anyway, back on topic. My recommendation for the Britons is to recruit as many Woad Warriors as you can, and then blitz the Gaul as quickly as you can. Sign a peace treaty with the Germans to prolong their attack (it should come sooner or later) and concentrate on the Gaul. If you can take a lot of their territory it will cripple them. But don't stop and give them time to recover.. Head into Spain to take Numantia with one army and send an army down to take Masilla and Narbo Martius..
When you go for Mediolanium and Patavium, be careful with the Julii they could attack, it's wise to sign an alliance with them beforehand if you can. Good luck!
Grand Duke Vytautas
04-05-2005, 16:31
Yo hi all Brittania fans! ~D I'm playing a short campaign on M/M v1.2 with this cool faction and must say Brits totaly rock! ~:cool: Yeah man their barbarian-fanatical units (Woad Warriors ~:eek: , Head Hurlers ~:eek: , Druids (their chanting is so COOL! ~:cool: )) and British Chariots make all the foes piss their pants and rout very quickly, especially if you attack before war cry. :duel: :charge:
So here's what I've learned from playing this campaign. Firstly took everything I had from Britannia Island to mainland, left only a minimal garnison (1peasants) in each town and attacked Gaul's settlement Alesia. As guys here advised I signed treaty with Germans to prevent war on two fronts (later those bastards attacked me still but I've wiped out their full stack army :duel: ). So once I was at war with Gaul I didn't stop and later Gaul faction only had 2 settlements in Northern Italy and one in the center of Spain. Now it's about 240bc in my short campaign (cause you can get all this faction's units in a short period, not like e.g. romans), I have 13 provinces (2 remaining and the destruction of Gaul for victory), (also I kicked some German ass before that.)
What about economy? First priority would be ports, roads, farm upgrades (if the fertility is high) then comes trade increasing buildings (trader, market ...)
At the beginning I only build military buildings in few town where they where needed the most, cause Brits' economy is poor at the start of the game, you need to improve it. So focus on economy at the beginning :bow:
Must mention that it is important also to build watchtowers. They are very cool for monitoring bandits' and especially enemy movement. Find a suitable location for them (mostly on a hill or road). I find forts also very useful in chokepoints (like river crossings, mountain pass). I keep in them a garnison of about 4 units (1 ranged, 1 cavalry, 2 infantry) to destroy bandits and also to defend borders.
What about army composition? Well my most balanced army as Brits would be like this: 2-4 brit light or heavy chariots on the wings of army (although I like archer chariots more) - this is the best unit of Britannia IMO, 2 ranged foot units (slingers or later head hurlers) place them in front of the army, 2 barbcavmerc if you can afford it (heavy cav is the drawback in Brits army), few units of wardogs, the rest is infantry: warband (later swordsmen and chosen swordsmen) as the main line, druids just behind them to support fighters with chanting, on the infantry wings there should be some units of Woad Warriors or Swodsmen for flanking operations, and of course the army should have a decent general. I place him behind main force in the center. Remember always to use the war cry as this improves morale and gives bonuses for attack. So that's about all I've learned while playing this wonderful faction BRITANNIA! Yeah WE SHALLlll RUUUULE! FEARRRRR USSSS! ~D Good luck everyone!
Craterus
04-05-2005, 17:37
Yo hi all Brittania fans! ~D I'm playing a short campaign on M/M v1.2 with this cool faction and must say Brits totaly rock! ~:cool: Yeah man their barbarian-fanatical units (Woad Warriors ~:eek: , Head Hurlers ~:eek: , Druids (their chanting is so COOL! ~:cool: )) and British Chariots make all the foes piss their pants and rout very quickly, especially if you attack before war cry. :duel: :charge:
So here's what I've learned from playing this campaign. Firstly took everything I had from Britannia Island to mainland, left only a minimal garnison (1peasants) in each town and attacked Gaul's settlement Alesia. As guys here advised I signed treaty with Germans to prevent war on two fronts (later those bastards attacked me still but I've wiped out their full stack army :duel: ). So once I was at war with Gaul I didn't stop and later Gaul faction only had 2 settlements in Northern Italy and one in the center of Spain. Now it's about 240bc in my short campaign (cause you can get all this faction's units in a short period, not like e.g. romans), I have 13 provinces (2 remaining and the destruction of Gaul for victory), (also I kicked some German ass before that.)
What about economy? First priority would be ports, roads, farm upgrades (if the fertility is high) then comes trade increasing buildings (trader, market ...)
At the beginning I only build military buildings in few town where they where needed the most, cause Brits' economy is poor at the start of the game, you need to improve it. So focus on economy at the beginning :bow:
Must mention that it is important also to build watchtowers. They are very cool for monitoring bandits' and especially enemy movement. Find a suitable location for them (mostly on a hill or road). I find forts also very useful in chokepoints (like river crossings, mountain pass). I keep in them a garnison of about 4 units (1 ranged, 1 cavalry, 2 infantry) to destroy bandits and also to defend borders.
What about army composition? Well my most balanced army as Brits would be like this: 2-4 brit light or heavy chariots on the wings of army (although I like archer chariots more) - this is the best unit of Britannia IMO, 2 ranged foot units (slingers or later head hurlers) place them in front of the army, 2 barbcavmerc if you can afford it (heavy cav is the drawback in Brits army), few units of wardogs, the rest is infantry: warband (later swordsmen and chosen swordsmen) as the main line, druids just behind them to support fighters with chanting, on the infantry wings there should be some units of Woad Warriors or Swodsmen for flanking operations, and of course the army should have a decent general. I place him behind main force in the center. Remember always to use the war cry as this improves morale and gives bonuses for attack. So that's about all I've learned while playing this wonderful faction BRITANNIA! Yeah WE SHALLlll RUUUULE! FEARRRRR USSSS! ~D Good luck everyone!
Brilliant strategy, one tip I have to add: Don't use warcry too late. It takes them a while to finish it, and if they dont finish it, I don't think it has the full effect..
Good Luck everyone with one of the most exciting factions!!
cunobelinus
04-05-2005, 20:39
Brilliant strategy, one tip I have to add: Don't use warcry too late. It takes them a while to finish it, and if they dont finish it, I don't think it has the full effect..
Good Luck everyone with one of the most exciting factions!!
but dont use it too early i ave had experince of using warcry too early and they dont use the power of the charge
Craterus
04-05-2005, 21:11
It does give a charge bonus, but the main bonus is in the attack (+4?) so you want to warcry and then charge on the advancing enemy immediately afterwards.. Timing is essential, you want the enemy to be close enough so you can engage almost immediately after warcry, but not close enough that they attack you before you finish your warcry. :duel:
Grand Duke Vytautas
04-05-2005, 21:23
Yes, thanks Craterus, got your point :bow: . Just wondering does warcry affects gives some bonuses on defence :duel: , say the enemy is charging and my unit has already finished taunting. What then? Anyway, I noticed that warcry also gives quite a blow to enemy's morale (e.g. simple peasants almost run away).
Craterus
04-05-2005, 21:52
I think it adds +4 to attack but I'm not sure of it's effects on defence. I think it has a positive effect on their morale. I'm all of it's effects are positive. It's that extra before they run into battle.
By the way, if the enemy is charging at you and you've finished your warcry, I recommend that you charge straight back at them. The warcry gives a brilliant charge bonus so it's almost definite your charge will be more powerful so you'll do loads more damage.
If it is cavalry that is charging towards you, remain still, this absorbs the charge better than if the unit is moving.
Hope I've helped. ~;)
cunobelinus
04-06-2005, 10:15
u can hardly talk craterus u are the one in our campaigns that said to charge int o the horses i taught u it absorbed it stop taking credit for stuff that u didnt no till i told u
Craterus
04-06-2005, 13:10
I didn't take credit for the cavalry charge part, hence the change in paragraph. My personal tips for people are in the paragraph above. Also, you need to make sure your lines are a few rows deep as to absorb the charge better. It doesn't matter as much if you are stationary, I think the unit depth matters more. ~D ~:cheers:
Yo dude, chill out anyway, I'm just passing on the knowledge, be thankful yu have some. ~D ~:cheers:
cunobelinus
04-06-2005, 16:19
but it think chariots are better to fight the cavalry there chariots are alrite but not as good a egpytian .i found there light chariots alot of use because they are good for rounding enemys after they rout and weaken the enemy in the fight with arrows .
Craterus
04-06-2005, 16:29
Mobile missiles (missile cavalry and missile chariots) are brilliant units in RTW.
The Egyptian charioteers were the best/most experienced at driving chariots but I think it is easier to drive chariots over sand than over British and French terrain.
The heavy chariots are better at killing routing units but chariots are overly crap at this. They keep running over the routing men but they don't kill them. I recommend to send merc barbarian cavalry (if you've got some) after routing enemies because they would do a much better and faster job.
I love Britannia, it's such an exciting faction... ~D ~D ~:cool: ~:cool:
MajorFreak
04-07-2005, 11:06
Craterus had some lovely tips. There's a few misconceptions posted that i'd like to correct from other posters though.
(1) Druids are created at a 'sacred circle of brigantia.' Druids are actually a very tough nut to crack. They tend to be a priority target for the enemy, so take advantage of this (sort of like the tendency of infantry, whilst charging, to focus on the machinegun post)
(2) I've been pondering the whole "occupy settlement vs exterminate" and have discovered that taxation isn't linear to population (so that extermination doesn't affect your bottom line in the long run like you'd think)i'll experiment to test this, but from what i've studied population centres between 4000-12000 all seem to give taxes (at very high; no governors) of approx 1000-1500(3) Sea trade routes are critical. I find Germania is easy to form trade agreements with and is quite friendly in the long term. And attacking across the alps like hannibal is NOT a good idea. It's better to have trade agreements with the poncy romans than not (unless you take Craterus' advice and gain alliance with paranoid Julii). Besides, those two cities have incredibly high base farming values of 4.0% and 5.5%...personally, the potential loss of sea trade with the romans makes such a maneuver highly unwise. Okay, so who to attack? Well, the spaniards are stupidly easy to defeat using Chariot Archers (preferably built at a captured Gaul-built sacred circle of Epona, and upgraded at Abnoba/weaponsmith)good luck finding a gaulish temple of epona. they seemed to prefer the other types. Teutatis is great for all your ground troops except druids/woad/heads(4) Combat. I never buy Swordsmen except for the chosen kind for urban combat; Headhurlers are a mixed bag, but like all javelin-ranged units i hate them (besides, have you SEEN how long the chariot archer ammo lasts?!?! omfg!) Oh, and i refuse to use wardogs, but love running them over with chariots. yum! My optimal army is three groups of 3 chariot archers, 2 druids, 3 spears, 3 woad warriors, 2 merc cav and a general with these ancilliaries: Priest (of Andrasta) (Famous) Warrior Merc(enary Captain) (Priestess of) Brig (Wise) Woman Bard Druid (healing) one free slot for usually Witch, but bodyguard is nice too.(5) Civil Admin. Well, not needing archery range, stables nor advanced halls of heroes, things become rather cheap indeed. Your major centre of concern, ironically, is the sea. Having some doofus blockade your best income source really is a problem. Getting "Shipwrights" is a major priority, but you'll really want to avoid building ANY farming upgrades - is that little bit extra cash going to outweight the 100gp/turn you'll need for those peasants for public order? I'd recommend getting into the habit of building "temples" to Brigandia to boost pop (don't bother with markets beyond a trading post - they don't increase beyond +0.5%) then tearing the temple down once you hit 12000 and build the next governor upgrade, and building something useful in it's place (though having a sacred circle to brig at Tara is perfect cause it's only got 1% base farming)...So, basically, it's all about Temples and Ports with market upgrades secondary and a blacksmith/weaponsmith for your core troop building centres. Corruption is based on distance from your capital. I've found that an empire stretching from Patavium up north to Mogontiacum (bypassing Iuvavum) and west to spain, the best spot for your capital is Alesia...As for where to build your temples to Andrasta? Right next to a province with a captured "teutonis"/"epona"/"abnoba", with them all bunched together preferably - preferably landlocked provinces. You can import your druids from Tara. Have temples to Britannia at every other 'Minor City' you have - except at places where you've captured some temple that you like. Your governors should only be placed at troop building centers or major trading ports. i found, with 22 provinces, i only had about 7 governors Tara (Priestess of) Brig (Priestess of) Brit (wise) Man (wise) Woman Civil(ized slave) Bard Silk/Spice (merchant) open slot, usually witch, but a 'merchant' you can import all the way from a roman city is nice.
Inland production centres (Priest of) Andrasta (famous) Warrior Merc(enary captain) (Priestess of) Brig Civil(ized slave) Bard (master) Smith open slot, usually witch, but a roman gotten 'overseer' is nice...a wiseman is nice, but i found them hard to come by in the later game. hoard them!
coastal production centers (Priest of) Andrasta (famous) Warrior Merc(enary captain) (Priestess of) Brit Bard Silk/Spice (merchant) (master) Smith open slot, usually civilized slave (or wiseman), but a 'merchant' you got from a roman city is awesome.
major coast trade zones (london, etc) (Priest of) Andrasta (Priestess of) Brig (Priestess of) Brit (wise) Man Civil(ized slave) Bard Silk/Spice (merchant) open slot, witch, but a 'merchant' you got from a roman city is awesome, especially for london.
druids would be nice for governors, but they're hard to come by (even worse are wise men) so hoard them for your war generals. Besides, witches increase chance for offspring which i think is more important in the long run(5)Agents. I've found two diplomats can cover the entire map, clockwise, if you send one inland and the other along the coast. it worked out they were within a season of each other once they reached western sahara, before dropping dead. I figure they had the most fun of any of my troops. Before patch 1.2 i found that spies would become plague carriers. Great if you wanted to include WMD in your game, but lousy when the AI got you too...i'm rather curious after the patch because i find spies tend to die instead of becoming carriers. This is important because i tended to go overkill on my counterespionage network - they're expensive to maintain! Anyways, you'll need spies and assassins. Never build watch towers, but place a spy into each fort you build (more on that later) plus have one in each of your non-britain cities (i used to have two). Buy assassins and place two per army (i used to have three)...I'd prefer to use diplomats for fort maintenace duty, but they'd probably get killed off and i'd lose the fort AND the diplomat.[i]replace them once they hit 60, and strip their retinues, then send the old godgers off to spy on foreign cities - great for sieges cause the doors might be open. Do the same with assassins but try to kill the assassins off with hard missions, since they're super expensive to maintain. Don't bother doing maintenance on diplomats.(6) Forts. Watch Towers suck. Forts rule, except do you place a peasant in them to maintain or an agent? Well, it's simple: if you have merely a spy maintaining a fort it'll never be destroyed, plus it serves as a watch tower too! I have about less than a dozen in my empire and i prefer to build them between cities early on in the game and have them at the range of an infantry movement. I tend to grow attached to these for sentimental value, and really ought to lower my overhead. But they're so darned cute! Besides, in a pinch you can shove a peasant unit in them and totally block a strategic passage for dirt cheap. However, once you're at the stage of using 'rally points' for troop building later on in the game you'll want to remove any forts enroute. By that time you'll have an counterinsurgency army running about making sure your recruits don't get bushwacked by ambushes or surprise raids.btw, as for peasants? exporting peasants from 'shrines of teutonis' is a great idea. Just exterminate each city you capture and build some peasants fast and then replace them with the upgraded kind later.(7) Beer. Well, i think the last topic should be where to build those pubs. I recommend you build them only at cities where there's no governor, that way you can boost the tax rate to very high...i'm fairly certain i see a correlation between drunken ancillaries and vices cropping up when i have taverns/bardics.
so, besides the neat 'overseer'/'merchant' ancilliaries you can get from roman cities, there's not much point in ruining trade agreements with them. Place some forts in the alp passes with a peasant in them and forget about the last Gaulish provinces.
MajorFreak
04-07-2005, 11:14
oh, silly me. the other reason not to tick the romans off is that chariot archers tend to SUCK against armies backed up by onagers and ballistas and other nasty icky siege stuff. actually, if someone can explain how to take out a roman army on a level playing field (ie. no terrain issues) i'd be most grateful. I've become rather lazy playing brits and cruising around in my souped up chariot.
ahhhhh...the days of holding off hordes of shogun armies with a balanced army. *sigh*
Craterus
04-07-2005, 11:17
It was kind of lucky when we got our alliance with the Julii but they didn't help us out with the Gaul.. and when we walked through their land to get to Patavium, they cancelled the alliance and attacked us..
Try and get the alliance if you can, but don't don anything that might annoy them, as MajorFreak says: They are paranoid.
MajorFreak
04-07-2005, 12:13
BRITONS
Brigantia (Healing)
Shrine
Public order bonus due to happiness 5%
Population health bonus 5%
Sacred Grove
Public order bonus due to happiness 10%
Population health bonus 10%
Sacred Circle
Public order bonus due to happiness 15%
Population health bonus 15%
Druids
Ancilliaries: Druid - healing type, Master Embalmer (Sacred Grove or greater), Physician (Sacred Grove or greater), Wise Woman, Witch
Britannia (Trade)
Shrine
Public order bonus due to happiness 5%
Increase in tradeable goods 1
Sacred Grove
Public order bonus due to happiness 10%
Increase in tradeable goods 2
Sacred Circle
Public order bonus due to happiness 15%
Increase in tradeable goods 3
Ancilliaries: Freeman Clerk - trade type (Sacred Grove or greater), Idiot Savant (Sacred Grove or greater), Numismatist (Sacred Circle only), Wise Man
Andrasta (Victory)
Shrine
Public order bonus due to happiness 5%
Woad Warriors
Sacred Grove
Public order bonus due to happiness 10%
Experience bonus to troops +1
Woad Warriors
Head Hurlers
Sacred Circle
Public order bonus due to happiness 15%
Experience bonus to troops +2
Woad Warriors (Experience 1)[/b]
Head Hurlers (Experience 1)[/b]
Okay, who's gotten the fancier retinue folk? i think the embalmer is a typo from egyptians. The others? dunno. Anyone else gotten the listed stuff?
MajorFreak
04-07-2005, 15:21
QUICK START
forgive me for not reading the guide listed in the first page. i've probably repeated alot of advice and i'll further add to repetition. But, i feel this way i can compare notes and give an honest critique later. Anyhows, on with it:
Relevant settings are medium campaign/battle difficulty; Most important issues at the very beginning are right off the bat, before you do anything else, disband the 2 mainland 'warbands', plus the 'slinger' secondly, move Cynfawr a tiny bit southwest to that 'beak' on the coast, and take the spy, plus the archer chariot at london, and send them to Cynfawr Take the general in europe and place him into the city there. Then move your ship due south to the coast and board that archer chariot standing near the shore. Pack them off to where Cynfawr is standing. move all other 'warbands' and 'slingers' to 'britannia superior' and disband them there (even the ones at london. The upkeep of troops you won't need right away is horrendous) at all cities queue up Brigantia shrine then Trader, if needed. At london, instead queue up a Port plus Brigantia, then Trader (roads are cute, but we won't need the movement bonus just yet.) Reduce all taxes to low queue up two diplomats at London Diplomat roaming...To make things simple, just send the starting diplomat towards approx location of the city, Trier.
SECOND TURN with the diplomat, go get an alliance and trade rights with germany at Trier and then send him off to where Mogontiacum should be (the idea being to get a quick spot of the cities for future reference)
THIRD TURN Build a boat Get the diplomat to Mogontiacum and then off to where Iuvavum should be. Now, all there's left to do is grab the shore army and unload at the irish fishing village, along the coast. you detach the spy first, from the unloaded army, and into Tara (25% chance to gain entry without siege gear) then, lay siege
FOURTH TURN Diplomatic exodus: getting diplomats roaming around. One for italy/greece (head down south through Alesia). two for going straight east - one aimed at the black sea the other going across the top of the map. (they'll go clockwise around the map after that ending up at sahara; see earlier post for details)...i don't know what you'll do with the italy/greek diplomat (open up a bizarre at constantinopal when he retires?) Queue up a Trader at london, mines at Deva and Roads at Sama Attack Tara. You'll have enough time to pepper the enemy to death, and the new 1.2 patch lures the troops out chasing arrows enough to rout so you can get easy kills for your druids. Occupy option at victory screen, then build shrine of brigant plus a peasant
FIFTH TURN You'll have a coming of age now, plus Sama will upgrade to next settlement type. grab the spy from tara and send him down south to europe to begin scouting/infiltrating towns (builds up his skill)...grab the other ship and send it to tara Now, you'll have a while before you're cranking out archer chariots so use Cynfawr to build watchtowers around ireland and britain just in case you spot a rebel force - i'd recommend setting them up along the coastline to spot ships too always check your diplomats...having them get "blocked path" during AI movement phase slows them down too much
SIXTH TURN Queue up blacksmith then sacred grove at london shift governor from ebur to deva remember diplomats continue monitoring your spy movements and Cynfawr's tower building spree.
SEVENTH TURN Queue up Port, Blacksmith and sacred grove at Sama...What you'll be doing is preparing to blitz through gaul (avoiding the alps) on your way to spain - Get upgrades to large towns as a priority, plus getting a blacksmith churning out archer chariots at london. Though i'm not really sure how fast you can do this...i'll get back on this subject later today.
I think the really large issue for this "blitz" strategy is the goal of also capturing high-end gaulish temples. I wonder how long it takes till they have them. guess i'll have to use spies and stuff...oh bugger, i spied around and Gaul's still holding mamma's apron strings. looks like any blitz will have to chuck the idea of grabbing advanced gaulish temples.
you'll have 7 archer chariots built from london and sama by turn 14 to add to your current 2 units. It's a shame the AI is so stupid when it comes to sieges because that's pretty much all you'll need to blitz Gaul and slam into spain. Heck, why not build a few more, split the force in two and use your heir and good ol' Cynfawr to pincer movement south then west into spain.i think the seige AI problem doesn't have an easy solution, though stopping them parading in front of a mass of archers would be a good thing. not to mention giving those towers a better range and angle of attack would stop folks like me camping outside the main gates...the thought of rushing a mass of defenders hiding behind competent guard towers with only chariot archers isn't putting a smile on my face. Come to think of it, i'll bet they toned guard towers down because of the overly sadistic castles in Medieval:Total War :furious3:
what really irks me is the way taxes were set up. there's no real disincentive to extermination (if pop is too high), setting tax to low, building a few cheap peasants, and continuing with the conquest a couple turns later. simply because of the law of diminishing returns that's been coded in
Priest of Andrasta is a good ancillary +1 command, 15%movement point bonus ~D
Craterus
04-26-2005, 19:10
Yea, it's quite good, all the priests have positive effects but not many increase your generals' commanding talent.
cunobelinus
04-27-2005, 10:28
i think they should have more traits and that in the expasion and me and craterus had a witch with one of our brittianna campagin but they seem to get all the same traits in our game i think it should be changed a bit!!!
Craterus
04-27-2005, 16:17
I think there are enough trait and ancillaries.. I think the XP should improve AI and give AI factions a boost against the Romans. I mean Carthage actually have a chance against the Scipii, Greece have a chance vs. Brutii, Macedon vs. Brutii..
If it was 50/50 between these it would make the campaigns more unpredictable..
I know if I play 50 years without seeing any of the Brutii expansion and then I was to toggle_fow.. I know the Brutii would be in Macedon and Greece. And I know Scipii would be in Carthage.
MajorFreak, getting highend Gaulish temples is very hard. I've been waiting in my Roman games to see a Sacred Circle of Epona so I can get the really great +5 xp pantheon. Never happens in my games. I'm usually way past 50 provinces by that time. They don't quick build temples it seems.
Disbanding troops is unnecessary. Tech to port and boats. Head for Bordensholm and also ship across the channel to attack Alesia ASAP. That type of blitz would leave you as the dominant power in Western Europe.
Alesia is key as it cripples your main opponent the Gauls and also gets you a large town early on the front lines capable of producing chariot archers soon.
Franconicus
06-14-2005, 12:30
Here some comments about early units:
all your infantry is bad and you have no real cav. However you have some excentric unit types and there are three ways to win your battles:
1. applied psychology
Your units are made to freighten the enemy more than to fight it. With all your singing and screaming units, head hurlers and some chariots in their back the enemy sometimes is willing to route.
2. heavy chariots
they are undisiplined and hard to control. It takes time to turn them. They do not kill infantry as effective as other heavy cav, but they are very good against light cav. And they are beyond compare if you just want to break a frontline. So option 2 is to attack the flak or rear with heavy chariots, break the formation, make the enemy route and chase it with your inf.
3. a combination of 1 and 2
Deus ret.
06-14-2005, 13:04
The Britons' line-up is in some respects indeed quite unique for a Western faction, and even more so for a Barbarian faction. Exploit this, and you will see awesome results. Your strategies work well, but if you allow I might add another one from a friend of mine:
4) Your heavy chariots are great for slaughtering the enemy cav and disrupting his infantry formations....but they fare poorly against spearmen and enemy javs. You have another option: Build armies consisting of the general and as many light chariots as you wish, maybe some heavies for protection...and you can take on almost any army westerners can field against you without a slight worry about being outnumbered 4:1. Light chariots are like horse archers, just better (because they are chariots and because they have a rather high missile attack), and no Western faction has an army that can match them.
The single weakness comes up if you face a large amount of foot archers, but the AI rarely uses them in masses. I'm feeling somewhat uneasy about wiping the floor with the Senate army while fielding only 2nd level units ~D That way, it's almost too effective. Oh, and cities you either have to starve out or wait until you have brought up some (chosen) swordsmen to clear the streets (never ever use chariots for this). But it's fun!
Actually, if it's non-phalanx, then smashing through with 6+ chariots could work.
As for killing Senate, what do you think Scythia has the luxury of doing? With lvl 1 units (Scythian HAs). Germania can also kill the Senate just spamming spear warbands again lvl 1.
CMcMahon
06-19-2005, 06:24
I'm playing VH/VH as Britannia right now, making around 4000 denarii a turn. I'm less than two dozen turns in, but I already control most of Gaul (Cisalpine Gaul and Venetia aren't mine yet, along with the Gaullic portion of the Iberian peninsula), and I'm now making my way into Germania (and beating the crap out of them with a hundred-or-so less men, simply because my chariot generals are that good) after they stabbed me in the back.
Are you autocalcing? Chariot generals stink in combat that you fight out.
CMcMahon
06-19-2005, 14:13
Not in my experience. With one chariot general and four or five warbands, I can easily take out that many spear warbands (along with wardogs and whatever other units are tagging along) without more than 10 total losses. Sicne the chariot general is such a "big" unit, the spear warbands almost invariably end up facing him with their phalanx, allowing your warbands to run into them from the side. At that point, run your chariot general around and run into them from the other side. It hasn't failed me yet.
a chariot general and 4 or 5 warbands?
that's far more than 100 men unless you are playing on small unit sizes.
CMcMahon
06-19-2005, 14:22
Regular. Maybe it's different with large or huge units, but seeing as how I'm still using a GeForce2 in this day and age, that won't be happening any time soon.
And that was more of an example; I beat a full-stack Germanic army with a pair of chariot generals, 2 swordsmen, a slinger, and the rest of the half stack filled out with warbands last night.
Deus ret.
06-19-2005, 17:06
As for killing Senate, what do you think Scythia has the luxury of doing? With lvl 1 units (Scythian HAs). Germania can also kill the Senate just spamming spear warbands again lvl 1.
ok that beats it. Spearmen should do it! Pure HAs though...I never attacked them with Scythia but customized a combat with an army of a couple of vanilla HAs plus two generals against what the Senate is likely to put up by the time you reach it...the infantry was easily outmaneuvred of course but my HAs could hardly shoot them to pieces because they were so busy evading their 5 general units. When they were finally killed I had too little missile cav left to effectively engage the Principes....I'm sure to have missed something but how are you dealing with this %&$§*#-load of family cav?
Ianofsmeg16
06-19-2005, 17:07
OMG OMG OMG!!!! ~:cool:
i have a great way to kick ass against the romans using chariots.....
so there i was...in the forest in etruria(arretium) and julii attacked me...this was me moving my whole civ to rome to start anew...andthe musta been spamming hastati cos all there army was was 10 untis of (huge) hastati and 1 unit of equites. so now i had all my chariots in one army and all my infantry/archers in another, the hcariot army was facing them. I thought i was going to lose cos all i had was bronze sword upgrade and most of them had no exp but thank god for crappy ai cos the marching they did one unit at a time and i surrounde them...best way to deafeat a roman??? break his tight formation up and send in your swordsmen woh are specialists at this...HAHA praise the smeg!!
To deal with family cav, you may need to resort to some lvl 2 HHM's or just use crap loads of your own family cav.
Biggles20
06-27-2005, 00:17
Hello All, this is my first post on this forum so Greetings from me!
I only started playing RTW recently (though I havent played in about 6 months because I've been away from home at Uni and without a desktop for some time).
Anyways, it seems I'm at odds with most on this forum as I seem to remember struggling on my Brittania campaign (my first ever RTW campaign). I remember that I had conquered the British Isles, as well as all of Gaul, Spain, Dacia and some of Germania and even some of North Africa, all without too much difficulty.
However, I have a few major problems. Firstly, I remember being at war with the Juli, and seem to remember having a serious man-power shortage trying to ward off their seemingly endless stream of full stacks (unfortunately they've just had the marius reforms I think) around the top of the Italian peninsula. I just can't seem to make any gains without losing them again to those damned Romans.
Secondly, I have a huge problem with my fleet of ships as even in stacks of 20 ships, the Roman ships are still far superior to mine - how the heck is one supposed to beat triremes, let alone better Roman vessels?
Thirdly, I dont seem to be able to build Woad warriors or Head Hurlers - do I have the wrong temple(s)?
On one sure and positive note that I can't believe no-one's mentioned, I solve the Britton's inherrent lack of heavy cavalry by hiring mercenary Bastanae (spelling?) cavalry. While initial costs are steep, they seem to have better morale than most units and are almost unstoppable against all but the most heavily armoured infantry - Bastanae infantry are also good if you can get ahold of them! Does nobody except me make use of them?
Anyways, yeah - please advise on how to beat Roman armies as I'm really struggling against them.
Although I won't be home for a few weeks, the time spent learning useful tips on this forum will hopefully allow me to blitz the enemy and perhaps even march on Rome...who knows???
Sorry for the looooooong post - I'm pretty tired so cant word it any better right now!
Cheers for the advice,
Biggles
pezhetairoi
06-27-2005, 04:13
Hi Biggles, and let me be the first to welcome you to the Org! Trust me, your thread isn't long... you should look at some of mine ;-)
Okay, firstly. The Julii full-stacks. You will have problems beating their legionary fullstacks, that is true. I will advocate plentiful bribing to remove those armies you can't fight. Assuming that by Marian times they will have 7-8 provinces (assuming, because no Roman faction has ever survived till the reforms before in any campaign of mine) it will be easy to take down their peripheral provinces to drive them into debt. If they don't, then their home provinces are there are, and if you defeat enough of their armies they will run out of population to raise any more new armies. That happened for me as the Julii against the Gauls. They kept sending 20-stacks, then slowly it dwindled to 15-stacks, then to 5-6 stacks that I just irritatedly bribed away. So it will be for the Julii. Bribe. If you've conquered so many places you must be making at least 20k a turn with full economic infrastructures up and running. Denarii were earned to be spent, so make them well-spent. Save your game before bribing any family member of the enemy, because once you fail he will never be bribable again. If you can't bribe him, then the price is simply not high enough. Save up more. You must be patient with the Julii. Don't try to make gains; just sit back and make Mediolanum-Patavium your frontier, building forts at every Po river crossing. The AI never sieges forts, so your frontier will be safe while you subtly undermine their capability for war. Meanwhile, expand elsewhere to get more money for ever more ambitious bribes. Don't fight the battles you can't win. To quote, 'Infinite gold are the sinews of war.'
If you really want to fight the Romans, lure them into bridge battles whenever possible. I recommend the one just west of Rome. For that, though, you will have to undertake a risk in transporting a full-stack army by sea behind the Julii lines. As long as you stand -on- the ford itself and allow an army to attack you, you will have a considerable advantage in merely defending the ford against any comers. When fighting that battle, simply mass your troops in a semicircle on the other end of the ford. If you cannot fight at a ford, then your battles are sure to be high-cost, but still winnable. In this case you would keep your chariots in the rear, all massed at one spot on the line. You must take the offensive even in a defensive battle if your troops are to stand up to the enemy. Stretch your line to match the length of the Roman line, and engage them along the entire length. Then, when all are engaged, hurl your chariots at weakest point in the enemy line, charging right through the enemy. Since Romans are sword infantry they will not have any bonus against cavalry/chariotry, so you can burst through them. Chariots can frighten infantry, so use that effect to the max. Charge and charge again. If you have light chariots, rain arrows. If you have heavies, then use them for their god-given purpose. After one unit routs, devote your tender loving care to the ones next to them. The more units rout in a short time, the better since the higher the chance the rest of the army will rout. Your chariots will take great maulings, but they are your decisive arm and since in one-to-one combat you cannot beat legionnaires, the only way to kill them is to make them run. After a victory, retreat and retrain your chariots. Then return for more. After you destroy a few of their stacks and you can see there are only one or two left, begin the besieging of their settlements. Keep using bribe if you can to make your life easier. Remember your objective isn't to win every battle, but to capture provinces. So if you can avoid a fight, well and good.
My strategy against the Romans is, despite all that typing, only theoretical, because as I said, I have never faced legionnaires except in the Roman civil war. Otherwise, I make Rome my first priority for conquest so they cannot get Marian reforms. Furthermore I have never played Britannia before, but I have fought them in many campaigns and squared up against Romans as Gaul, which is pretty close I daresay.
Secondly, Large Boats, buildable at shipwrights. They are your only answer (if an inadequate one) to Triremes. Don't get yourself into a naval battle if you can help it. Build only what ships you need to accomplish your transport objectives. That is the lot of a barbarian navy. They are simply -not meant- to engage civilised fleets. Not at such a late stage when they have good ships. Alternatively, if you -really- want to sink a few ships, use multiple fleets. 3 20-stack fleets of large boats will certainly be enough to destroy one 20-stack fleet of triremes. To ensure the enemy does not live to fight another day after his defeat, place each of your three fleets on one of the 8 red squares surrounding the enemy fleet, then put one ship into each remaining square. Being completely surrounded, an enemy fleet once defeated will sink and never surface again. That's the only naval trick you can use without naval battles being played out.
Thirdly, I think you have the wrong temples. Try the one for the god of war or something to that effect. Reading the long description of the temple will give you some good clue to what they can build, since it is not apparent from the description of shrines at the beginning. Alternatively, just google 'RTW + temples list' or something to that effect, and download whatever spreadsheets and PDFs come your way. I have one that is really very good--tells you all the traits, effects, bonuses, and buildable units come with each temple all on one excel spreadsheet which is a little hard on the eye at font size 7 but tells you everything.
Fourthly, there is no such thing as Bastarnae cavalry. I assume you mean Sarmatian cavalry? That's the only heavy cavalry mercenary unit I know of. Sarmatians are good starter troops for shock cavalry-poor factions like Thrace and the Scythians. But after you develop your own cavalry capability they will almost surely be outclassed by your own buildable models. Bastarnae infantry are good mainly because of their 2HP, and I regularly use them in tandem with their brother mercenaries the Thracians, as general-hunting forces. I attract the general to charge, then position them in depth right astride the enemy general's path. They can cut a bodyguard cavalry into pieces in no time.
Hope this has been useful, cheers! Take two bridge battles and see me in the morning. ;-)
Franconicus
06-30-2005, 11:49
Hello All, this is my first post on this forum so Greetings from me!
I only started playing RTW recently (though I havent played in about 6 months because I've been away from home at Uni and without a desktop for some time).
Anyways, it seems I'm at odds with most on this forum as I seem to remember struggling on my Brittania campaign (my first ever RTW campaign). I remember that I had conquered the British Isles, as well as all of Gaul, Spain, Dacia and some of Germania and even some of North Africa, all without too much difficulty.
However, I have a few major problems. Firstly, I remember being at war with the Julii, and seem to remember having a serious man-power shortage trying to ward off their seemingly endless stream of full stacks (unfortunately they've just had the marius reforms I think) around the top of the Italian peninsula. I just can't seem to make any gains without losing them again to those damned Romans.
Secondly, I have a huge problem with my fleet of ships as even in stacks of 20 ships, the Roman ships are still far superior to mine - how the heck is one supposed to beat triremes, let alone better Roman vessels?
Thirdly, I dont seem to be able to build Woad warriors or Head Hurlers - do I have the wrong temple(s)?
1. This is a problem we all had to deal with. I guess you hold these two Gaulish towns north of the Julii. Defend them and gather your armies there. Once you cleared the suroundings go south. You should have three independant corps and some smaler cav units as well as spies. Try to attack the Julii towns simultaneously. If a field army comes to free the town - retreat. Only fight if you are sure to win. Watch all their armies and keep them busy with your cav units. Use spies to take the towns at once. Block all their ports. :duel: :army: :rifle:
2. Avoid the sea. Might be hard for Britons but you can fight them at land.
3. Take a look at post No 62
Good luck!
pezhetairoi
07-05-2005, 01:53
Yeah, Franc and I have the same way of thinking. Great minds think alike, way to go Franc!
But a question. What are your views on the Britons leaving Gaul alone and expanding into Germania as the campaign AI always seems to do?
Franconicus
07-06-2005, 10:28
Pez,
haven't tried that. There might be some difficulties:
- You can form a lasting alliance with Germania; you cannot do this with Gaul.
- Gaul will attack Sambarovia. If you do not want to bother you have to give it to them.
- Germania is so damned poor. You will not make enough money. Gaul pays.
- If you are at war with both, Germania and Gaul, this will effect your seatrade.
Good thing is that in my last campaign Gaul never tried to cross the channel.
I think you can reach the Med going through Gaul as fast as by going through Germania.
If you do not want to attack Gaul first you can chose a more British way and attack Spain. It takes some time to bring your army there.
Another idea would be to leave even Spain alone. Ship all your armies to the Med and attack Carthage, Sicily, Rhodes or whatever you like to. Takes time before the fighting starts, but then it will be fun, I'm sure.
RTW King
07-06-2005, 20:54
I've heard lots of people complaining about British chariots and Generals Bodyguards. I agree that they are dreadful against infantry, so as part of a MOD I call the realism MOD, I have given most chariots around 20 attack and charge bonus, and increased the attack of the swordsmen on them. This makes them capale of actually defending themselves against infantry. I used to lose tons of chariots fighting against rubbish infantry like Warbands. If anyones interested in downloading my realism MOD, it should be in the download section of RTW Heaven fairly soon.
pezhetairoi
07-07-2005, 01:08
Hardly. I realise that it's the mount defence and mount armour that kills most of the time, because a lot of my test chariot battles show that it's the chariots that are destroyed first, not the swordsmen. You need to increase the protection on the chariot because once the chariot goes, so does the entire crew, and so what if they have 3-4 HP? It'll be run down in a moment with such crappy armour and defence.
RTW King
07-07-2005, 09:45
I increased the Swordsmens attack and armour. AS WELL as that, I increased the chariots HP. British Heavy Chariots now have 5HP, and light chariots have 3HP. Along with the increased chariot attack, this made chariots decent against infantry.
Franconicus
07-07-2005, 10:43
No need to upgrade British chariots. Once you get used to them they will win every battle for you. Currently I fought all Roman factions. Usually I try to flank them with two heavy chariots and hit them in the flank or rear. In the meanwhile my ranging troops soften them and the infantry is passive. Firts eliminate all enemy cav. Heavy chariots work very well. Then attack the inf. They will retreat at once. You cann roll through theír lines from one side to the other. When they start routing let your infantry chase them.
RTW King
07-07-2005, 11:45
But Chariots should be used for more than just running round infantry to knock them over while your infantry attack from the front. Chariots should be able to fight at least half-decently by themselves. Normally, Heavy Chariots would lose to units like Warbands if they charged them.
pezhetairoi
07-08-2005, 02:03
Precisely. And that's where the whole mount armour and defence comes in. Increasing HP isn't going to work and it's not realistic because chariots and horses couldn't take all that many hits. It's more realistic to leave the HP as it is but increase the amount of armour slabbed onto the battlecars. Chariots by right were not used as flankers but as shock forces. So the armour of your chariotry should reflect that. As to using ranged troops to soften the enemy, how'd you do that Franc? Every time I try to use ranged troops to soften up ANY enemy, as long as they were not archers, they would be immediately chased by the enemy's cavalry before they even had a chance to fire a volley, forcing my cavalry/chariotry to come out to save their necks.
Franconicus
07-08-2005, 09:23
Just finished my first B campiagn. I changed the boumdaries a bit. My target was to get all islands on the map plus Jerusalem as fast as possible. Restrictions were not to attack any town held by Gauls and not to bribe.
Well, there are two possible strategies: Figjht all the way through Germania to the Med or put your armies on board and swim. I decided to swim. I shipped my armies to Spain and conquered the Spanish towns. I succeeded without major problems. However, Gauls kept on attacking me. Though I could easily kill them it took far too long. I took Carthago Nova in 256. Then I had to wait until 241 until I got the first town on Sicily, my next major target. Once there it was easy. Scippi had the whole island and I 'liberated' it in 235. To secure it and to get more money I landed in Italy and conquered everything upto Capua. Whem I attacked Rome the Senate took me by surprise and killed my army.
Then I took the main army on board again and headed eastwards. Jumping islands was no big thing. Most trouble I had was unhappiness and money. So I erased the pop of every new town.I finally reached and took Jerusalem in 215.
Despite all the others I think heavy chariots are a killer. I fought 52 battles, won almost every one and all the times the chariots made the decisive strike. Rest of your units are weak, besides chosen swordsmen, maybe. I had an army with 7 heavy chariots and they could easily chase every Roman army they met.
Here is something for those who like numbers:
I fought 52 land battles
I killed 42,000 soldiers
I lost 11,000 men.
Killing ratio is 3.7. ~D
pezhetairoi
07-11-2005, 03:29
Ah, but no bribing is a major constraint :-D
Franconicus
07-12-2005, 09:53
Pez,
can you make bribing guide. I never tried to and to be honest I never have enough money to do it. I spend all my money for my own troops.
Big stacks of enemies cost too much. Small ones are just not worth being bribed. You can easily kill them and gain experience.
pezhetairoi
07-13-2005, 01:17
Gladly. I shall attempt to write a guide to diplomacy as a powerful supplement to armed struggle (that sounds communist, hmmm) but I warn that it will not be as professional as Quietus' or frogbeastegg's... I'm a soldier. I don't know subtle, but there's no problem that a big chest of gold and a wall of sharp pointy sticks won't solve. :-)
Franconicus
07-13-2005, 06:56
Why don't you call it:
A guide based on the principles of Marxism-Leninism about diplomacy as a powerful supplement to armed struggle to counter imperialistic agressions especially the US and Singapoore ~D
pezhetairoi
07-14-2005, 00:56
er....Franc? O.o *checks for fever*
Okay, you're certified insane. Lololol....
Kourutsu
07-23-2005, 01:01
Can Britons get stone walls. And I mean in native lands, not a freshly conquered Carthage.
Craterus
07-23-2005, 11:20
Nope, just wooden.
Barb factions can upgrade to minor cities, but they don't have access to the stone walls that would commonly come with a city.
Deus ret.
07-23-2005, 14:26
Which would probably be slightly unfair, at least under some circumstances. Imagine to be able to man your stone walls in every city with, say, chosen archers ....it would take a lot to conquer such a barbarian empire.
Craterus
07-23-2005, 15:14
It's a shame, but I don't think there's any record of barbarian civilisations ever having stone walled cities, so that's why they don't have access in the game.
i gues they did that to make it more historical.
pezhetairoi
07-25-2005, 03:43
...which is fine as far as I'm concerned. Even Alesia and Gergovia only had wooden walls.
grapedog
08-12-2005, 03:37
This is only my second campaign, and my first full(50 provinces + rome) campaign...
What I've done so far, is basically cut a swath down the middle of Gaul countries. I took Condate Redonum first, followed by Alesia. Then hit Lemonum and Massilia because it was really lightly defended. Then Lugdunum and Narbo Martius. I also grabbed Tara pretty early on, but that wasn't a big deal.
The Gauls never really gave me any trouble at all, only Germania has been causing any problems by attacking Alesia, Samarobriva and Lugdunum randomly. I threw up 2 forts in the Narbo Martius territory to cut off Spains easy access and one in Aquitania. Also one in the pass near Massilia that leads to Julii territory. The only Gaul outposts left it would seem are in Numantia and Mediolanium. I'm content to let them have them for now as my generals haven't been having many babies...so I'm going to call my forces home for a few turns and work on baby making and town building. I've got watch towers on the borders of Germania territory so I can see when they are coming and keep two generously garrisoned armies in Alesia and Samarobriva.
I have to figure out at this point whether I want to head east into Germania or West into Spain. I was thinking about taking out Spain first since it's a much smaller area to try and control and then I can work East towards Germania once I secure the penninsula.
Suggestions are welcome on what direction I should take, I've got 11 regions and 247 turns left. I have some good generals and thick armies and I'm ready to expand in either direction, I was just thinking Spain since it's a smaller area by far and it won't be so hard to defend.
pezhetairoi
08-12-2005, 07:28
I would say take down Germania if you want to have more diplomatic fun later on fighting other factions. Spain limits you. And if your spanish are still fortified mao in descr_strat, you're going to have a hard time with them anyway, so go for Germania. Somehow, they're always Britannia's traditional enemy, so play by that line. Since you've already adopted a defensive stand on Spain, complete it by fortifying the north-coast approach to Asturica via Numantia, fortify the approach from Numantia to Lemonum, as well as the pass at the southern end of the Pyrenees, and the pass in front of Osca. Defend from Spain and head into Italy via Germania. Once you take the German and Dacian provinces, as well as Segestica and Salona you will have a nice defensible frontier that you can fortify and stop behind. Scythia will never be a threat to you, and the salient you create with Porrolissum and Campus Iaazyges is easily defended because of the protection of the Carpathian mountains. After you get continental Europe you can then sit pretty while you take out Spain and West Africa, and leave Greece and Macedon and the Brutii to fight it out. Otherwise I would say Spain its really not worth your time right now, not until right at the end when you take Corduba-Tingi to get the trade that makes it all worthwhile.
grapedog
08-12-2005, 21:44
I took the plunge into Spain after reading this because when they declared war on me they brought all three of the main roman factions into it as well. So i figure it should be a quick conquest, then on to germania.
One thing I'm noticing, after playing the Julii...it seems that money is a lot harder to come by. Or I should say that the Julii have a lot easier time raking money in via the coastal provinces or at least thats the way it seems to me. I'm not pulling in hardly any money.
Deus ret.
08-13-2005, 18:07
Hmmm do you know that the British are potentially the richest Barbarians IMHO? Even if they more or less stick to their starting provinces.
1) in Britain itself, trade goods are ample. Thus, build roads and traders to exploit this.
2) the sea connection Londinium-Samarxxx in Belgium is your real cash-cow in early game. Be sure to build ports in both settlements ASAP and they will roll in the dough for you.
If you already conquered North Gaul, build ports there as well -- sea trade across the channel is very profitable in general.
3) conquer Ireland and set up a similar sea trade route as mentioned above. You will soon see results.
I never had less financial problems when playing Barbarians than when I played Britain...of course, compared to the Julii you might be on the downside because they get a lot of cash out of the Senate missions and can also gain some nice trade routes by conquering Spain.
Mongerius Scarface
09-27-2005, 16:55
I've played as the Britons for quite some time now and I must say they are much better than all the other factions I've yet played. Though I'm hardly using any of those cursed chariots though. I just took Bordesholm, Batavodorum and Tara at the beginning to get some money. Left big garrisons there, enslaved the populace and soon I was gettin like 6000-7000 denarii per turn. I built most of the trade buildings and the infantry-making buildings and when being able to produce chosen swordsmen (love them :bow: ) I took on against the gauls, leaving the germans for what they are. I easily conquered their whole territory and whiped them out. The Germans didn't attack me yet, apart from some little sieges on Trier and Batavodorum. Now I'm about to attack the Julii which were, up till now, completely crushed against my great swordsmen (love them :bow: ).
By the way I read somewhere on this forum that someone played his first campaign as the Britons. How is that possible, because you have to wipe the faction out first, isn't it? Maybe someone has an answer to this ~:confused: ?
By the way this is my first post on this forum ~:eek:
Craterus
09-27-2005, 17:27
Welcome to the Guild ~:wave: :juggle:
On RTW, you unlock a number of factions after completing your first campaign as a Roman faction. Some others can be unlocked by modifying a Data file.
If you do want to unlock the unplayable factions, make sure to back up the files and make sure you know what you are doing..
Mongerius Scarface
09-27-2005, 19:21
Welcome to the Guild ~:wave: :juggle:
On RTW, you unlock a number of factions after completing your first campaign as a Roman faction. Some others can be unlocked by modifying a Data file.
If you do want to unlock the unplayable factions, make sure to back up the files and make sure you know what you are doing..
My point was that the guy who posted it said that his campaign with the Britons was the first campaign he ever played. So I presume that isn't possible ??
Craterus
09-27-2005, 19:27
It is. With game editing.
If you don't want to play a campaign with the Romans (to unlock the unlockable factions), you can edit the game.
What you would do, is copy Britain from unlockable into playable. After doing so, you would delete Britain from unlockable. Then, you have another faction to choose from for your first campaign.
Mongerius Scarface
10-01-2005, 21:41
All righty then :P
Craterus
10-01-2005, 23:14
Happy to have helped. ~;)
I just played a custom battle with the British - I was testing to find out how many soldiers my graphics card could handle (3200 - terrible), but decided to play the battle anyway. I won it, easily, but my army consisted of only 4 different units (Warlord, Light Chariots, Chosen Swordsmen and Head Hurlers). Has anyone got bored of the Briton units towards the end of a campaign? I got bored of Thrace's roster fairly quickly.
Mongerius Scarface
10-02-2005, 12:12
I really got bored of the British Units. Mainly because of the fact that I actually only use chosenswordsmen head hurlers and Light Chariots (almost the same like you~:cheers: ). Though I really still think the Chariots completely suck. They have a very bad morale and will rout easily if they take too many losses. I just stopped playing after I conquered Rome. Because it really got boring:sleep:
Craterus
10-02-2005, 12:18
Well, the easy tactic when using those units is to send Light Chariots forward, slaughter them with arrows, then let what's left engage with your Chosen Swordsmen - they should be capable of finishing whatever survived the arrows (with Head Hurlers throwing over the top) - and then if your Chosen's aren't finishing the job, send your Warlord round the back to finish the job (while your Chosen's hold the line).
These tactics will work almost all the time, but I have found enemies getting used to tactics in RTW and doing their best to wreck them - I really liked using a defensive crescent of phalanxes when playing Macedon, and by the end of my campaign in Italy, the Julii refused to go into the centre of my crescent.
Mongerius Scarface
10-02-2005, 14:39
Ok I'm reading all kinds of things that people are playing as Thrace and Macedon. How is that possible?
And where do I have to put factions from locked to unlocked?:help:
Craterus
10-02-2005, 20:32
Search for Mikeus Ceaser's "Modding for Dummies", a link should be in his sig, or PM him so he can send you a link. Anyway, this tells you how to unlock all factions.
Tezeu's strategy! :charge:
I play on VH/H.
I read here, I read there. Hmm! What the f...! Let's start and I'll see.
So I analyzed: what position I have on the map, what kind of troops(- and +), Who are my neighbours and which are their strategies ON LONG TERM? But their neighbours? Bla, bla, a lot of questions.
Conclusions:
1. I'm very weak at the beginning.
2. I'm lucky with the position on the map.
3. I have two strong neighbours.
3.1. Germans - strong, at the beginning and most important....very compact position.
3.2 Gauls - strong, lots of armies, very aggresive but TOO LARGE empire and for this reason.....too many enemies.
4. For beeing a really strong faction, I must have a great base of operations on Mediteranean Sea. This will be a point for expand my empire and will help me to take Athens, Corinth, Sparta, the most important cities in the game and also Sicilly.
What I decided.
1. Must important, to ally with Germans. Their are compact and if I get into a war with them, I will be forced to maintain all the time a strong army. This means cost and I will cannot have the posibillity to grow my cities very quick.
2. To ally with everybody is posibly.~:)
3. To ally with Gauls. ~:) They will attack anyway after only few years.
4. To take Tara.
5. To expand Londinium quickly to next level.
6. To strengthen my only city from the continent. This will be at the beginning very important.
The facts:
1. I started sending Cwnbar with a Light Chariot, the druids and two warbands to take Tara. My light chariots killed alone almost all troops(!!!) with their arrows.
2. The rest of the troops I disbanded in Londinium.
3. I set all the towns to law taxes.
4. I send the diplomat to ally with Germans and Gauls. After that, I sent him in Italian Peninsula and to the greeks.
5. I made another one and I sent him through Dacia, Scythia and so on.
6. I sent the spy to expand his abilities through Gauls cities. ~:)
7. For five turns, I create peasants in the two cities from the island and I disbanded them in Londinium.
8. I made shrines, traders, roads and so on.
9. Gauls attacked me with a blocade at Londinium. This was the point were I started pumping troops. In this moment I had money around 23000.
10. I made two armies. I sent one to take Alessia and to stop only after taking Massilia. The second army, I sent to take Condate and all the cities on that side of the map. In this way, the Gauls are practically finished. Their are cut in two.
11. I moved the capital to Alessia.
In this moment I just "arrived" to Massilia. This will be my new base operations for taking Sicilly and greek-macedonian cities.
Second army is continuing it's campain to take Spain. Osca was taken by Julii and this is creating a little problem but I think I will manage the situation.
I'm sorry for my poor english.
If you have comments, please, tell me!
P.S. The chariots with their arrows are awfull. Nobody can face them.:charge:
CountMRVHS
11-03-2005, 13:08
Started my first post-BI Briton campaign a few days back and I'm having a blast. I think my first Briton campaign was with 1.1, and although I won the short campaign (on M/M probably), I was EXTREMELY disappointed by the weakness of the generals' chariots. It seemed like their chariots were made of balsa wood. It didn't seem right for a barbarian warlord to be sitting back out of the action, so I can tell you I lost a ton of generals in the most pathetic melees. My very first test of the chariots was with a tiny rebel force, and when my main force got the peasants to rout, I sent in my general to mow them down. I was horrified to watch the chariots running around in the mob of peasants, flipping some peasants over but NOT KILLING ANYTHING.
Happily, this all seems to have changed. Playing H/H, I am now well into my 1.3 Britannia game, and the generals have performed admirably! They usually get the most kills in my after-battle stats (well, probably because I always make sure to send them after routers ~:cool: ), and I've only lost 2 generals - both to those damn German Spear Warband...after charging them in the *back*~:rolleyes: .... but I digress. The generals' chariots are very effective against almost all infantry, they hamstring cavalry, and they actually *kill* things now. Sometimes they hack down at guys with their swords, sometimes they literally just run them over with the horses. Either way it's great! I find they're best used in combination with infantry (of course): send in the infantry first and follow up with a chariot attack from the rear/flank or just plow through everything and head straight for the enemy general. Sure, you'll knock over your own guys, but they'll get back up and they won't be as horribly demoralized as the enemy.
The Heavy Chariots that you can train at the Weaponsmith are working nicely, too. They're more expendable than my generals, so I usually put them right on the flanks of my main force along with some light chariots, and send them to attack flankers. Once I get enough of them in one army, I plan to put them in front of my infantry and charge them straight into the enemy, head-on, following up with some Chosen Swordsmen and Woad Warriors (for their speed & tattoos ~D ). The infantry should make short work of the chaotic mob of enemy infantry my chariots have just hacked through. Add some wardogs and head hurlers into the mix, with a unit of druids chanting in the background, and it's almost too easy.
My strategy so far has been to turtle up. I took Tara and built, built, built. I made alliances with Germany and Gaul, and Germany was the only one so far to outright betray me. Gaul dropped their alliance but stayed neutral -- they're being slowly ground down by Spain and the Julii. I wanted to keep my kingdom small and let the Julii get strong so they'd be something of a challenge; plus I didn't want to spend the whole game just fighting barbarians. I worked my way through Germany when they betrayed me, sacked Bordesholm, assassinated many family members and whittled down their armies. When I exterminated Mogontiacum and Trier I was pleased to find that the Germans had already built those towns up to the highest level, so I decided to stay for now. So that's where I am right now -- 7 modest provinces, over 60000 in the bank and rising, and the ability to train any & all units. Just waiting for the Julii to come knocking...
CountMRVHS
pezhetairoi
11-04-2005, 02:41
Well, I have only one thing to say about the Britannic chariots, and that is that they suck, historically. All chariots suck historically because they were not strongly made, and easily dewheeled etc. If they were made strong and powerful (like the Babylonian four-man versions) they were damnedly slow and perfectly useless for shock. Hence it is right that they are that weak. Chariots in RTW have only 1 armour, even general's chariotry, and so their multiple hitpoints are used up pretty quickly. And the thing about the unit is, once the chariots are destroyed, that's it for the riders even though they have plenty more hitpoints left to go. Historically the Britannia chariots were not meant for shock, they were meant to pepper the enemy with arrows from a distance before the riders dismounted to fight as infantry.
Simply put, the chariots of the Britons were actually taxis, to ferry the fighters to the front and away if there was danger. They were never intended to come to grips with a formed-up enemy ready for them (practically no chariot ever was). So it's perfectly reasonable that the chariots fall apart so easily when you send them into battle.
Umm... in my Briton game m/m i dont know why but the gauls never attacked me ... hell the only battles since 270bc (its 240 bc now) has been with rebels; i even have a fully stacked out army waiting for action with 10 units of warbands, 2 woad warriors, 1 druid (starter) 2 units of Warhounds , 1 light chariot and my general oh and 2 units of barbarian merc calvary and 1 slinger unit...
its been 30 years and i havent ever been to war... yet
if your wondering about the lack of chariots i hate them... i like warbands they have lotta men plus only a little less better then swordsmen so i like to use them more then swordsmen
pezhetairoi
11-14-2005, 07:14
Well, if you have such a nice army, it's about time to use it on Gaul :) You'll trash them. And by the way, Warbands are not better than swordsmen since whenever I try it, I lose much more warbanders in the same situation as I do swordsmen. And it's less of a strain on your population, too.
Those light chariots are absolute gems. Especially in the early fighting, when there are often no opposing archers.
My starting chariots are at 1 and 2 silver chevrons atm, and great for catching routers and pulling opposing (mostly gaul) armies out of position.
Woad warriors seem like a waste of space once you can get swordsmen, and I refuse to use those silly head-hurlers. I heard of someone who modded them to work like a legion - tossing heads for a morale loss and then charging - and that seems so much better.
Once I played as the Brittanians and just backed up into Ireland. Then, once someone attacked me, I unloaded all my gained soldiers and wiped out Europe! :smile:
-ZainDustin
Craterus
01-25-2006, 22:16
Once I played as the Brittanians ...
I think Britons sounds better. :laugh4:
~;)
I think Britons sounds better. :laugh4:
~;)
People have their own preferences... I really don't care, that's just what I remember remembering.
-ZainDustin
hellheaven1987
02-02-2006, 06:08
People have their own preferences... I really don't care, that's just what I remember remembering.
-ZainDustin
Just put Celt or babarien!:wall:
Craterus
02-03-2006, 22:26
I was just messing.
Sorry if you took offense.
Seamus Fermanagh
02-11-2006, 21:07
Playing vanilla brit campaign. Good thing my family is fecund-- Brit chariots apparently double as hearses for generals. They drop like flies, even against peasants!
Craterus
02-12-2006, 01:42
Hmmm. The generals in vanilla have missile bodyguards anyway, right? So just use that capability and don't even think about charging them in.
Hmmm. The generals in vanilla have missile bodyguards anyway, right? So just use that capability and don't even think about charging them in.
Unfortunately no: the generals get heavy chariots, not light ones. Chariot's main use is to disrupt enemy formations, not to destroy them. Chariots cause chaos in infantry lines, which your infantry can then exploit (though you should not try this head-on against spearmen or quality heavy infantry). They also seem to work quite well against enemy cavalry. Whatever you do, keep them moving and follow up quickly with another unit to exploit the holes they make in the enemy formation. A moving chariot is deadly, a bogged-down one is dead. If you keep this in mind, you may still get some good use out of your British generals, even though they stay more vulnerable than most.
Seamus Fermanagh
02-13-2006, 02:11
I agree, but it is just so easy for them to become bogged down. They can crash through a loose formation pretty well, but even the standard peasant gaggle can stop them long enough to let the factioneer come up a cropper. A unit that's been cut up and fallen down to 1-2 lines of troops can get busted open and your follow on can smash them, but whole units will choke the movement off even when hit from the rear. No blades on the wheels, no missile capability, no spears/lances....
Vanilla Eggies can be used as chariot archers reasonably well, and have blades on the wheels to take out routers, but Brit generals can't even kill routers with any speed, the fellows keep bouncing back up. Pretty hard to acquire chevrons, and you end up with a unit that you need to have for morale purposes, but is WAY limited even when compared to other generals who are "too precious to risk in a fight." At least the average Roman bodyguard group can take a hit or two with some hope of disengaging.
Pontifex Rex
02-25-2006, 14:47
This has not been my experience with the Britons at all. I try to have as many as four Heavy Chariot and four Light Chariots per army (with 2 - 3 slingers, 8 odd infantry and a barb cav) and they create absolute havoc among the opposition, they just require more care.
To avoid bogging down I will usually withdraw them within three seconds of impacting the enmy line. I do not give them orders to attack another group, I pull them right back out of the engagement so they make a clean break. All the while the 4 light cahriots are firing en masse into the enemy and the slingers are adding to the pandemonium. After a second or third charge completely disrupts segments of the enemy's line the infantry can go in and finish off the opposition. Pursuit is not as effective as cavalry but 3 or 4 chariots still do a lot of damage to routing opponents,...and the barb cavalry really help out here.
The chariots may take a few casualties on occasion but rarely does one get crippled (but it does happen on occassion) and they are particularly good at routing cavalry and killing the enemy general. Last night I send 40 Brutii units packing in two engagements for the loss of a total 3 chariots from a unit (plus numerous infantry units, of course).
Pontifex Rex
02-26-2006, 01:15
Here is a screenie showing an example of the point of impact of heavy chariots on peasants. When the chariots passed through the other side, only some 5 rebels were dead but the unit was disrupted enough that 7 more died in the next pass some 5 seconds later. By the end of the battle the rebels were routed for the lost of 2 chariots.
https://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f163/Gerryp1/SuddenImpact.png
Not exactly Sarmatians but for the British it is not so bad.
Seamus Fermanagh
03-02-2006, 04:55
I don't prefer the heavy chariot slam as a tactic, but it works well enough. Casualties are high on very hard settings, but they tear up the bad guys. Its the GENERAL's heavy chariot that malfs.
Pontifex Rex
03-03-2006, 01:38
Its the GENERAL's heavy chariot that malfs.
Good evening, Seamus.
I am not so sure. The series of attached screenies show my preferences for massed chariots. In the battle shown, three British armies with a total of 6 generals attack a Roman (Brutii) legion in Tribus Iazyges. I would have liked to have actual Heavy Chariots but the few units in the army are either rebuilding, en route to the front or further south in Greece. I had about 1600 Britons in 3 armies facing a mixed legion of some 550 odd pre and post Marion cohorts.
Plate 1 shows the army I chose to command, it possesses 3 Generals and 2 Light Chariots (missile) and the only sarmatians I can get my hands on (plus infantry, of course):
https://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f163/Gerryp1/ChariotOffensive1.png
Plate 2 shows the charge and destruction of a Roman Cavalry unit by the generals heavy chariots, without loss. My army has swung around the Roman right and is driving them onto the other two armies seen approaching in the background.
https://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f163/Gerryp1/ChariotOffensive2.png
Plate 3 Shows the collapse of the Roman legion as one of my reinforcing armies charges forward with 2 Light Chariots, 1 General's heavy and its infantry. My own heavies have just been given the order to charge into the retreating Romans and my infantry and cavalry will follow immediately afterward.
https://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f163/Gerryp1/ChariotOffensive3.png
Plate 4 shows the result of the battle after the pursuit. I am not surprised that 30 Romans made good their escape (temporarily at least) as the map edge was quite nearby. The AI lost 1 of my generals but at least the unit went down taking out an entire Roman heavy cav unit. Overall, I find the use of massed generals from multiple armies has the effect of scaring the wits out of the Romans and leaving them vulnerable to a charge.
https://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f163/Gerryp1/ChariotOffensive4.png
Finally, Plate 5 shows the strategic situation in central Europe After the battle. The four Briton armies possess 7 of 9 leaders in the area with the other two scouting and hiring mercs as they move about. I am very much of the opinion that with proper care and organization the Generals heavy chariots can be very, very deadly against central and western based cultures (the need to fight the in the east is unnecessary.
https://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f163/Gerryp1/ChariotOffensive5.png
Cheers. :charge:
Seamus Fermanagh
03-03-2006, 15:44
I'm playing vanilla, and I have read in another thread about their hit-points having been too low by mistake. This might be all the difference.
jingofin
04-24-2006, 00:21
So I take it that its not possible to make Huge Cities for Brittania?
My first campaign was with the House of Julii which I completed very easily, I am now playing as Brittania and have almost wiped out the Gauls but am a bit dissappointed that even though Londinium is at 15000 population it won't allow me to upgrade it any more. Indeed all the towns I hold are over 6000.
Just wondering if there is anyway of getting further upgrades to Brittanic cities, was gonna try and send a spy into Rome but he died enroute, is there any point in sending another one? Are spys even capable of learning military secrets from other factions?
Seamus Fermanagh
04-24-2006, 03:38
In Vanilla you have hit your limit.
If you feel daring, you can let the Romans conquer one, grow it through 4 and 5 and then retake it.....
Craterus
04-24-2006, 18:37
Some mods allow barbarians to tech up to huge city level. Mundus Magnus comes to mind, but IIRC I read that Terrae Expugndae (sp?!) includes Mundus Magnus and a lot of other cool stuff.
Craterus
04-24-2006, 18:43
:oops: Double post! Sorry!
Avicenna
04-24-2006, 19:42
In vanilla all the barbarians' towns can only be upgraded at the 6000 point and no more, to make them powerful early on, taming the Julii. Once the Julii's advantage comes up they expand like crazy into Barbarian lands.
I was just messing.
Sorry if you took offense.
Took me 3 months, but I'm back to say...
It's okay Craterus...
:laugh4:
-ZainDustin
IrishArmenian
05-26-2006, 04:15
The Germans will be a treacherous sort, so watch your back after Gaul is dead, or at least confined to Spain. Most of the time, those Germans attack me from behind. With a group of midsize armies containing Light chariots, Swordsmen (Chosen preferably), Head Hurdlers, Woad Raiders, Warband and Various Calvary Mercaneries, I just ripped through them like paper. The Romans, of course were different. You should amass large armies of what I stated above, plus dogs, other mercanaries, maybe some druids. Make sure you have a lot, becuase I led five armies onto the boot. One came from the North West, one from the North East, One from the South East (by way of boat) and the biggest one of them all landed right next to the Roma, herself. Using my navies, I cut off the Roman's income. I made sure to attack before the Marius reform so that I may still put extreme hurt to them via Light Chariots, Slingers and Head-Hurdlers. I wiped those Jullii right off of the boot (and the planet) with my blitz from the North, destryed the Brutti's section of Italy (leaving a few useless cities in Greece) and in about three years, after starving most of their soldiers and sabatoging their barracks, walls, et all, I sacked the eternal city. The key to Briton is to have lots of resources, or conquer a lot of places, because you must manage you money.
WarMachine420
08-08-2006, 18:41
This has not been my experience with the Britons at all. I try to have as many as four Heavy Chariot and four Light Chariots per army (with 2 - 3 slingers, 8 odd infantry and a barb cav) and they create absolute havoc among the opposition, they just require more care.
To avoid bogging down I will usually withdraw them within three seconds of impacting the enmy line. I do not give them orders to attack another group, I pull them right back out of the engagement so they make a clean break. All the while the 4 light cahriots are firing en masse into the enemy and the slingers are adding to the pandemonium. After a second or third charge completely disrupts segments of the enemy's line the infantry can go in and finish off the opposition. Pursuit is not as effective as cavalry but 3 or 4 chariots still do a lot of damage to routing opponents,...and the barb cavalry really help out here.
The chariots may take a few casualties on occasion but rarely does one get crippled (but it does happen on occassion) and they are particularly good at routing cavalry and killing the enemy general. Last night I send 40 Brutii units packing in two engagements for the loss of a total 3 chariots from a unit (plus numerous infantry units, of course).
lol...read my thread in the entrance hall. I'm not having any problems using my chariots either. :laugh4:
How anyone got the idea that the chariots are "useless" or "immobile" simply baffles me.
After 2 years of playing, I'm thinking now that it's possible for the Brit Heavy/Light chariots to become my favorite unit in the game. I've never had the kind of success with other units I have with these...never, in any total war game.
I'm currently building up a giant army of Heavy/Light chariots with a nice WoadWarrior/Swordsmen/Warband infantry base. I plan on eventually (timing is everything...complicated story as with all campaigns, like I said read my thread) blitzkrieging all of Europe with these giant chariot armies. Just a carbon copy of what good ol' Adolf did with the Panzers.
disclaimer: this strategy is not in any way shape or form an endorsement of the Nazi party.
Private Clark
08-16-2006, 22:18
well...i never could get off that accursed island you start on, those rebels kicked my :furious3: .
Seamus Fermanagh
08-17-2006, 03:50
well...i never could get off that accursed island you start on, those rebels kicked my :furious3: .
I do recall losing a lot of chariot generals to rebels on that contentious island.:laugh4:
Trick was running the economy lean enough while still having an army good enough to play "whack-a-mole" with the rebels. Involved quite a lot of micro-managed sorties from Samarobriva while I slowly knit together the 4 island provinces -- and Ireland took quite some time to get to.
I played Brittania on Hard/Hard and found that keeping my mainland city was very hard v. the Gauls and Germans. They both continually insisted on war despite my diplomatic efforts.
To counter this I retreated to the British Isles and then conquered Ireland. Then I set up two major armies with two fleets. The Gauls and Germans don't attempt to control the seas around the British Isles so you'll have free reign of the seaways. With that I would send my fleets up and down the Gaulic and German coasts, raiding any city that was poorly defended. As Gaul and the Germans begin getting into wars with Rome this becomes much easier.
Once a city was conquered I would enslave the populace to send them back to the British Isles to beef up my tax base and increase city size. The sooner you can get to chosen swordsmen the better, and every person in the population helps. Then I would wreck/sell all the buildings and retreat back to my navy. Sail off to another city and repeat, the larger Gaul/German armies who are travelling by land won't be able to keep up with your raids. Once you've done enough damage to their economies they'll be unable to raise large armies. You on the other hand will be rich from pillaging. Then I moved in and began to take mainland settlements.
Seamus Fermanagh
08-29-2006, 12:59
I played Brittania on Hard/Hard and found that keeping my mainland city was very hard v. the Gauls and Germans. They both continually insisted on war despite my diplomatic efforts.
To counter this I retreated to the British Isles and then conquered Ireland. Then I set up two major armies with two fleets. The Gauls and Germans don't attempt to control the seas around the British Isles so you'll have free reign of the seaways. With that I would send my fleets up and down the Gaulic and German coasts, raiding any city that was poorly defended. As Gaul and the Germans begin getting into wars with Rome this becomes much easier.
Once a city was conquered I would enslave the populace to send them back to the British Isles to beef up my tax base and increase city size. The sooner you can get to chosen swordsmen the better, and every person in the population helps. Then I would wreck/sell all the buildings and retreat back to my navy. Sail off to another city and repeat, the larger Gaul/German armies who are travelling by land won't be able to keep up with your raids. Once you've done enough damage to their economies they'll be unable to raise large armies. You on the other hand will be rich from pillaging. Then I moved in and began to take mainland settlements.
I've thought of trying this strategy, but there is one down side.
Your constant diminshment of Germany and Gaul is likely to create a lot of success for the Julians, who you will then have to face off with to get anywhere. That's a lot of Romans -- probably post-Marius -- with no long range archers to counter their arc-aux units. Tough fight.
Empirate
08-29-2006, 20:56
If you can't outgun them, outrun them. Archer Auxiliaries are good troops, but they can't carry a battle all by themselves. I've never seen the Romans bring many archers, they tend to be very melee infantry heavy. But if they do bring archers, concentrate on bringing more melee troops, preferably cavalry (or, in the case of Britons, chariots). You might lose some troops against the Arc-Aux, but after all is said and done, chariots are a decisive weapon, while all kinds of missile troops are more the "nice to have" support kind of thing. Besides, isn't facing powerful Romans the point of playing a barbarian game?
Besides, isn't facing powerful Romans the point of playing a barbarian game?
So true. I just started playing the game (skipped the roman campaign altogether and began immediately with Britain as that was my favorite Medieval TW faction). The first time I met Rome on the field I was nervous prior to the battle, and my heart absolutely sank to my feet once I entered the battlemap and saw them, an entire stack, in their ordered rows before my uncouth barbarian horde.
I littered the field with Romans that day. I think I lost 60 men compared to their 900+.
Their Aux-Archers fell to my Light Charriots. As Rome was defending (I was sallying from a besieged fort), they awaited my attack. I drew their archers out with my charriots, who ran circles in front of them, dodging arrows, while pelting with a barrage of my own. The archers fell back and my two units of light charriots turned to weakening a weaker force in their center. When my troops advanced, I was able to flank certain positions in their front line. After a brief skirmish, the Romans broke and ran; my light and heavy charriots kept them running, those who survived.
Everytime I've faced them since then, I've used my charriots to weaken their missiles, and it hasn't failed.
I've figured out the Romans. Only things I'm worried about now are elephants and the cavalry-based armies of the east.
Empirate
09-21-2006, 09:10
Concerning cavalry-heavy AI armies: The only ones I've ever really seen were, strange to say, Macedonians. Full stacks of Light Lancers and Companions. The "horse archer factions" rely on their few kinds of infantry a lot. I've seen Pontus and Armenia fielding stack upon stack of Eastern Infantry and whatnot, only occasionally supported by three or four horse archers. Same goes for Parthia. The Scythians seem to love Axemen, but they'll also field a lot of horse archers alright.
The only thing I ever had to worry about with these factions is the super-heavy Cataphracts or Cataphract archers. But these will come in small numbers, so never fear.
Elephants are a similar matter: I've never seen the AI field a lot of them. Fire arrows and swamping with massive numbers work like a charm to set them into panic mode. After that, just keep out of their way if you can. Still, a nuisance, I must admit. Try luring them with light chariots.
To be honest, my beloved rush strategy that I employ with all factions I'm playing whenever possible may make me a bit biased on these topics. I've yet to play a campaign that takes a hundred years...
ive never fought britannia or played them, do they have archers at all? i love using archers so i wouldnt play them if i couldnt use them. also, i dont know why but i cant post a new topic so while im asking about archers, what factions can make them? i know roman factions, greece, egypt and macedon i think. ive never seen macedon use archers but all other factions ive played ive never seen any form of archers and ive played 3 campaigns where i conquered even more than 50 provinces.
Roman_Man#3
10-03-2006, 00:47
briton doesnt have archers, and macedon doesnt either if i remember correctly. scythia does, and i think dacia and thrace do too. gaul do, im pretty sure germans do, egypt does, numidia do, armenia do, pontus do, parthia do.
ahhh ok thank you, now i just have to decide germania or gaul i geuss.
Roman_Man#3
10-03-2006, 01:11
np. but remember, im not sure if germania does, and gauls takes 2 turns to train but is one of the best archers in the game.
Seamus Fermanagh
10-03-2006, 03:14
Britain, in Vanilla, does have chariot archers. They are standard ranged, need a larg edeployment aream and only have 36 shooters (unless you superload) but their hitting power is in the Cretan clas, so they hit hard -- especially against the lighter armored opponents of the early game. Because they fire from up on chariots, they actually cause less fratricides than a foot archer unit when positioned behind the battle line.
Chariot archers can also be used very much like horse archers. Again, fewer shooters (36 v 54) but they hit at 10 v 7 so the power index is pretty close.
Calgacus
11-08-2006, 15:10
Guys - this may seem like rather a novice question (and is almost certainly the wrong place to ask it), but can someone please explain to me the concept of hit points? I note that British Chariots get 3, Spartans get 2 and Elephants get ridiculous amounts, but how do they actually function? I understand that it makes the unit, in some way, more difficult to kill, but given that my chariots get turned into a nasty paté of sawdust and Shergar if made to fight in a static defensive position, how do hit points function as distinct from attack and defence points? They don't seem to be toughening my brave blue charioteers up at all...
Any advice on this point would be gratefully received.
i think it has to do with the defense of the unit. For example, if a unit has 20 defense and 2 life points, it is the equivalent of 2. I am not sure of this, but it is what i heard on another board. You would probably want a second opinion or someone to verify.
jhhowell
11-09-2006, 02:46
Guys - this may seem like rather a novice question (and is almost certainly the wrong place to ask it), but can someone please explain to me the concept of hit points? I note that British Chariots get 3, Spartans get 2 and Elephants get ridiculous amounts, but how do they actually function? I understand that it makes the unit, in some way, more difficult to kill, but given that my chariots get turned into a nasty paté of sawdust and Shergar if made to fight in a static defensive position, how do hit points function as distinct from attack and defence points? They don't seem to be toughening my brave blue charioteers up at all...
Any advice on this point would be gratefully received.
Advice the first: literally the worst possible thing you can do with chariots is fight while static. As you've seen, they die quickly and horribly. Keep them moving at all times while they're fighting (it can be helpful to pull them out and rest a bit in long battles).
I don't know the precise details of the combat mechanics, but conceptually it seems pretty clear. Defense is a measure of how likely a unit is to avoid a hit, and this depends on facing and type of attack (is the shield in arc; I believe defense skill is ignored and shield is doubled vs. missile attacks; possibly other details like that). Hit points (HP) are how many hits a unit can take before dying. If your generic infantryman gets hit, he drops; Spartans die on the second hit; elephants take a lot of punishment before going down. Chariots are interesting in that they have 3 HP but almost no defense. The gameplay logic of the 3 HP seems to be surviving a volley or two of arrows or javelins on their initial charge. After that, movement plus the "special attack" of knocking people down a lot serves to protect them somewhat. If chariots get bogged down in a mass of enemy troops, they die. Don't let that happen if they're your chariots.
Note also that the reason generals are typically the most powerful units (often by a wide margin) on the battlefield is that they have 2 HP, and the attack and defense are decent at worst, often outstanding.
Calgacus
11-09-2006, 12:17
Thanks for the explanations guys; it's always useful to understand a bit more about the game's mechanisms. I think on the whole I'll just charge through units with chariots, rather than risk getting them bogged down, with my charioteers standing in what are essentially large wooden buckets, being prodded to death by spearmen. I generally only use light chariots anyway, so (unless the battle is going shockingly pear-shaped) they won't be in a melee until they run down routing units at the end.
I really, really like the British light chariots. Though I say it myself, I'm getting quite nifty at using them. Heavy chariots suck - they're only good at running down fleeing men, when the battle's already won anyway. I love it when a gang of feeble peasants rebels against my tyrannical rule and I can send light chariots against them. They're fast, so there's no catching them with anything except cavalry, they fire arrows - on the move, too! - and once the rabble has panicked, you can cut them down from chariot-back with disgusting ease.
Just my penny's worth on the coolest barbarian unit.
TheBritonBasher
12-23-2006, 22:39
In addition to the light chariots, the head hurlers are good because once they run out of heads, thier melee attack is actually quite powerful.:yes:
I need help.
The Briton Faction leader dies, and the capital income turns in very red.What can I do?
Seamus Fermanagh
01-01-2007, 16:26
First off, don't worry to much about the income numbers on the campaign map. The only ones that really matter are the overall numbers on your end of turn report. If they're positive, you're well enough off.
That said, your FL probably had a goodly number of influence wreaths, which influence public "morale" and productivity. Trying to get governors with several management scrolls AND influence wreathes as governors of your key economic cities will be of help.
It's always tough to get an FL-level wreathe total replaced.
Roman_Man#3
01-01-2007, 18:38
I agree with what Seamus Fermanagh says, but I would like to add some.
Londinium(I assume you talk about Londinium when you say the capital and you play as Brittania), I have noticed, likes to stay a very shady red. My advice- concerning any capital- is to keep a modest garrison in it. Not that "two peasant as garrison" trick, but soldiers, such as 3 warbands, or 2 or 3 swordsmen. i would also suggest a missile troop as well as cavalry not only to deal with those pesky rebels, but to maintain a very strong center.
Another would be to build economic buildings -if it does not border with an enemy faction- at the beginning of the game, because capitals tend to have good military builings at the beginning. So I suggest in this order:
1. Roads
2. Port (if available)
3/4. Farms depending on Fertility*
4/3. A Trader or equivalent*
5. Barracks
6. A Temple of ? depends on faction
7/8. Missile**
8.7. Cavalry**
*Switch these if the Fertility of the land is good.
** Doesn't Really Matter which one first. Of course if one is present, you would build the other.
Hope that helps, and it really applies to any faction. It is best if you try to combine these with the tip that Seamus Fermanagh gave you.
Best of luck with your campaign.
Britons are the only barbarian faction who can build temple of trade (Brigantia IIRC)
However, to trade, you'll need trading partners, in the case of Britons, that means getting trade rights with either Gaul or Germany.
In a campaign way back (I was still playing 1.0 at the time), I sold Belgica to Gaul. and got trade right with both neighbours.
Without any continental provinces, I was pretty sure they wouldn't wage war on me soon and that they'll stay my trading partners as long as they kept fighting.
With the money, I developped the island and sent an army to conquer Ireland.
Then, I turtled a bit, built a fleet and a decent army and sent it to take over the spanish peninsula, beginning with Asturica.
Once Spain is yours, you'll have mines, friendly barbarian settlements which are easy to defend thanks to the mountains and... access to the Mediterranean.
Roman_Man#3
01-03-2007, 18:22
That is a very interesting strategy, I might have to try that.
thx
Just make sure you sent a spy in the peninsula beforehand so as to know what you'll meet there (and possibly a diplomat).
And once you sent your army down there, tear down any temple of andrasta (spelling?) you had in the british isles and replace them with temple of health or trade (Brittania and Brigantia, I never know which one is which); health to keep towns under control and trade for the money making cities.
However I remember I sent all my general but one in Spain, and the one who stayed home was barely enough to keep everything under control (usually by trampling ungrateful rebels)
Barbarian factions seems immunized to the vices you get with temples of trade (embezzler, etc...) and although you may not have many management scrolls with your governors, they'll still make some money thanks to the good trader trait.
what's more, with the 1.5 patch, the strategy became easier to implement because sons are appearing where their fathers are (Spain, that is)
Once Spain is yours and if you feel confident, then take Massilia to prevent the Julii from conquering Gaul, let the Gauls develop their settlements and take it from them afterwards.
Now, that's all I can think of.
Severous
01-07-2007, 13:24
London to Belgium sea trade is a huge money earner.
Get that going as soon as you can. You dont need to get rid of Begium to do this. You can trade between your own regions.
Seamus Fermanagh
01-10-2007, 05:11
London to Belgium sea trade is a huge money earner.
Get that going as soon as you can. You dont need to get rid of Begium to do this. You can trade between your own regions.
And the Ireland - NW Coast link is reasonably lucrative too.
Calgacus
03-28-2007, 13:17
Still having a few issues playing as the Britons, both strategic and tactical, and I wondered if anyone had any thoughts.
Strategically, with 'civilised' factions I have always selected certain cities to upgrade to stone walls, and used those cities to defend routes into my hinterland. These cities pretty much defended themselves, and it was possible to beat off attacks from much larger armies with comparatively small garrisons. Obviously, for a barbarian faction like Britannia, heavy fortification simply isn't possible, and I'd be interested to hear how others have defended their territory. Are enormous barbarian armies at all points the only way? Are there cunning ways to defend a stockaded barbarian town which I simply haven't realised?
Tactically, (and again, I'm probably just lacking in originality) I find that the British are rather hampered by the lack of cavalry. I know that it is possible to hire mercenary cavalry, and in any case wardogs and light chariots can be used to pursue fleeing enemies at the conclusion of the battle, but how have others managed to forestall flanking manoeuvres by enemy cavalry. The British light chariots don't seem to fare terribly well in melee with cavalry, and, if they attempt to skirmish, they get charged down and the horrendous splintering/neighing sound of chariots being given the treatment ensues.
Having said that, units such as head-hurlers can make excellent flanking troops against an enemy already engaged with your main battle-line, and they can replace cavalry in that respect (as long as they don't get carried away and charge into the melee of their own accord). A final point concerns the other British foot-missile unit - the slingers. Has anyone found the slingers useful? Are there ways to maximise their efficiency, rather than just sticking them in front of the battle line, or using them (as with the hurlers) as flanking troops to pepper the flanks/rear of an engaged enemy?
Any advice gratefully received.
Seamus Fermanagh
03-28-2007, 17:33
Still having a few issues playing as the Britons, both strategic and tactical, and I wondered if anyone had any thoughts.
Strategically, with 'civilised' factions I have always selected certain cities to upgrade to stone walls, and used those cities to defend routes into my hinterland. These cities pretty much defended themselves, and it was possible to beat off attacks from much larger armies with comparatively small garrisons. Obviously, for a barbarian faction like Britannia, heavy fortification simply isn't possible, and I'd be interested to hear how others have defended their territory. Are enormous barbarian armies at all points the only way? Are there cunning ways to defend a stockaded barbarian town which I simply haven't realised?
In earlier versions of the game, you could sally against the besiegers and have them chase you all around the stockade -- kills on the cheap.
Several mods include stone walls for the barbarian factions (a little weaker structurally, but tactically the same).
Without stone walls though, barbarians are reduced to street traps and square fights (and their streets are often too wide for good effect). You end up needing lots of armies.
Tactically, (and again, I'm probably just lacking in originality) I find that the British are rather hampered by the lack of cavalry. I know that it is possible to hire mercenary cavalry, and in any case wardogs and light chariots can be used to pursue fleeing enemies at the conclusion of the battle, but how have others managed to forestall flanking manoeuvres by enemy cavalry. The British light chariots don't seem to fare terribly well in melee with cavalry, and, if they attempt to skirmish, they get charged down and the horrendous splintering/neighing sound of chariots being given the treatment ensues.
Having said that, units such as head-hurlers can make excellent flanking troops against an enemy already engaged with your main battle-line, and they can replace cavalry in that respect (as long as they don't get carried away and charge into the melee of their own accord). A final point concerns the other British foot-missile unit - the slingers. Has anyone found the slingers useful? Are there ways to maximise their efficiency, rather than just sticking them in front of the battle line, or using them (as with the hurlers) as flanking troops to pepper the flanks/rear of an engaged enemy?
Any advice gratefully received.
To forestall flanking manuevers, try heavy chariots (not generals). Place them behind the line and back a bit, as an enemy cav moves to flank, slash in with your chariots. The scythes carve up horses pretty well (though the low armor on chariots means you'll take some hits too). Light chariots are a waste for this. I don't recommend heavy chartiots as line breakers -- elephants they are not.
I rarely used slingers as a Brit -- save when I conquered a city with a stone wall or brought one unit along as bait for a tactical trap.
WarLord of the East
05-31-2007, 10:18
The british are one of the hardest civs in the game starting position is perfect but as the game advances facing cartage and rome won't be easy since they have no cav. or foot archers . Head hurlers are perfect unıt ın my test they beat legionary chord in 1-1 at each wave they kılled 10 -12 legionary.since they are fast legionary could not get close enough to face them but they are completely defenceless against missile fire as the other unique unıts chariots what can you do agaınst archer axullıa and onagers (nothing! because before you get close enough you wıll have lost your 1/3 or of your caharıots and head hurlers)
rome could be defeated early before reforms as ı dıd ın vh and cartage parthıa selucıds and egypt could be avoıded by not crossıng anatolıa or afrıca but at south europe phalanax pıkeman and macedon cavalary are stıll very hard to beat and armored hoplıtes wıth archers and onagers wıll prove hard resıstance ı dıd not faced wıth them yet but as ı playıng greek, brıtısh were very easy to beat especıally sınce they have no long ranged troops ın brıdge battles ı won only losıng 100-150 man agaınst chosens hurlers charıots etc. ıts very crıtıcal to protect your head hurlers the only weapon agaınst phalanax unıts are them so protectıng them before usıng theır weapons ıs key to vıctory
Seamus Fermanagh
06-04-2007, 00:54
The british are one of the hardest civs in the game starting position is perfect but as the game advances facing cartage and rome won't be easy since they have no cav. or foot archers . Head hurlers are perfect unıt ın my test they beat legionary chord in 1-1 at each wave they kılled 10 -12 legionary.since they are fast legionary could not get close enough to face them but they are completely defenceless against missile fire as the other unique unıts chariots what can you do agaınst archer axullıa and onagers (nothing! because before you get close enough you wıll have lost your 1/3 or of your caharıots and head hurlers)
Give them a target you don't care about.
Generic slingers in front of your line on loose formation. The AA and Onagers will then hammer them.
THEN, race your chariots around the flanks and into the archers. Be sure to charge chariots THROUGH and not into as a bogged down chariot dies quickly. Movement is its armor.
WarLord of the East
06-05-2007, 19:19
good idea and it works against computer:yes: but what about a mp battle i did not bother my missile troops against slingers hitting only the chariots and killing them means victory against britain in my opinion cause they became open to rear and flank charge from cavalary
and i agree with you speed is (and must) their armor but not enough to escape from long ranged archers (foresters, chosens, archer ax. etc.)
Seamus Fermanagh
06-11-2007, 00:41
good idea and it works against computer:yes: but what about a mp battle i did not bother my missile troops against slingers hitting only the chariots and killing them means victory against britain in my opinion cause they became open to rear and flank charge from cavalary
and i agree with you speed is (and must) their armor but not enough to escape from long ranged archers (foresters, chosens, archer ax. etc.)
I don't play MP. Since in MP your opponent would control the targeting, the chariots would be nearly useless. Might be able to use them against a Carthaginian or Spanish opponent since they lack foot archers -- and chariots fare no worse against hefalumps than any other cavalry, but any of the other factions would tear them up too quickly.
Might want to deploy 1-4 chariot units of light or heavy type in MP in order to focus your opponent while you bring the rest of your infantry army up to where you want it to be, but I think that would be about it.
woad&fangs
06-20-2007, 21:16
As you can probably guess i like to play as brittania. I am going to explain my strategy in battles and the campaign. However, I cant control italy cuz the roman economy is impossible to top by the time i get to them. in battles my ideal army is 2 light chariots, 1 general(just for rally ability mostly), 2 heavy chariouts or barbarion cav mercs, 2 wardogs, 1 druids, 2 head hurlers, + whatever infantry i can scrap together. my army ends up looking some thing like this.
.......................................... WW........................
.........LL ......................IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII.............CC
....................................HHH..D....HHH..............
............................................G.................
.
Although after reading this thread i probaly will move the head hurlers in front of the infantry. i use the cavalry to take out missile and artillery then they fight morale increasing troops like gallic druids or germanic schreeching women. My druids chant, my general sits and looks pretty while keeping my army from routing, my wardogs i rush immediatly at my opponents best infantry. most barbarian infantris will advance slowly then charge the last little bit so i pepper them to death with light chars and then head hurlers when they get closer. At this point the battle is basically mine, the last step is to have all infantry warcry and do a short charge into the enemy, half the enemy army will have so low of morale by this time time they will rout so finish off any infantry that actually want to fight then chase the routers with cavalry and light chariots till they leave.:smash:
As for the campaign i sell off the mainland province to gaul. next i ally with them and germania, i send my diplomat to get alliances and trade rights with nearly every faction, i use the mainland army to take over ireland then build up my economy and make 1 of the army i mentioned above and betray germania. after batvodurm, bordeshom, and damme fall fairly quickly Gaul will betryay you, set up a defensive front in germany and by this time i have built another army in londen which i use to take back samarobiva and that northwest tip of france, i then try to build a couple of armies and take alesia(i lose a couple thousand troops taking this place) after alesia falls most of france is easy to take. I do a circle around spain and take over the eastern halve of germania. Unfortunately i hit a wall against the jullii:wall: their armies are so big and their north italy cities are so close together i just cant make a dent and even when i do beat them Spqr and Capua have full stack armies and bruttii usually move a couple armies over from the east and im stuck about 5 provinces short of winning the game every time.:help:
Seamus Fermanagh
06-21-2007, 04:17
Tough call, my woad warrior friend.
1. Avoid field battles against Romans with your standard infantry army. Win or lose, you will simply take too many casualties for what you earn. Against post Marian Romans, it is even more likely that you will lose. If you must fight them with infantry in the field, try hitting with heavy chariots followed IMMEDIATELY by infantry (and then pull out the heavies). This will sometimes break up their formation enough to let you mob the unit under. You will still take heavy casualties.
Instead, use your troops in city assaults. Sapping, Towers, and sometimes ladders work well. Dogs make a wonderful "forlorn hope" unit for taking breaches since you don't care about the doggies surviving (only the handlers) and they can create enough space for you to deploy infantry to follow. HTH, your chosen sworders are okay in street fights where pila are harder to hit with. Plus, you can often create 2-1 fights since the AI will almost always keep a unit or three in the square. Always have at least one unit running around the walls taking towers from the Romans -- every single one killed by a tower will help you.
2. For field battles, try Parthian tactics with quarter to half stack groups of light chariots. Shoot and evade until time runs out. Requires a good bit of micro-management, but can end up giving you excellent attrition ratios overall and prevent the Romans from relieving a besieged town. This is especially true on defense since it would count as a "win."
3. Send generals off on raids to recruit interesting mercenaries for your forces. It will take a while to get them back to your training zones, but Sarmatians are a good medium cavalry with a much better charge than barb cav; Horse archers are almost always useful (see 2 above); Merc hoplites are always useful as an "anvil;" Balearic Slingers are a great unit to use as a shooter from atop a Stone Wall; Spanish infantry give you a javelin ability to mix in with your pure swords; and (if you can sneak a boat there and back) Africa could net you Jav Cav, Libyans, or even War Elephants once in a blue moon. Cretans, Bastarnae, Rhodians, and Eastern Infantry are all harder for you to get, and aside from the Cretans are duplicated by other units you have/can get.
4. Create ambushes when possible. Put out some tempting bait a couple of squares behind your warriors hidden in the forrest. Sometimes this is enough of an advantage to beat Rome in the field (as Q. Varus would attest....had he survived).
woad&fangs
07-11-2007, 17:56
Alright My eastern army finally was defeated outside of Ariminium but the Julii are on the ropes and that last battle took out more than a third of Spqrs forces and the jullii have a quarter stack in italy and a full stack in palma. Italy is almost devoid of troops so once my western army arrives should easily kick the romans out of their homeland. thanks for the Ambush tactic Seamus:charge: I killed more than half of the julii's totals army in three battles with that tactic. I also realized something interesting about the light charitots.... THEY HAVE SCYTHES!!!!!!!
Seamus Fermanagh
07-11-2007, 19:09
Alright My eastern army finally was defeated outside of Ariminium but the Julii are on the ropes and that last battle took out more than a third of Spqrs forces and the jullii have a quarter stack in italy and a full stack in palma. Italy is almost devoid of troops so once my western army arrives should easily kick the romans out of their homeland. thanks for the Ambush tactic Seamus:charge: I killed more than half of the julii's totals army in three battles with that tactic. I also realized something interesting about the light charitots.... THEY HAVE SCYTHES!!!!!!!
You are welcome.
Yeah, the scythes on the lights give them at least one hard "thonk" against any cavalry that chases them down and can really hammer a non-armored infantry unit too. Just remember to get moving again quickly -- they do NOT have the staying power to follow up the initial charge-hit with the scythes.
Pannonian
07-11-2007, 22:20
You are welcome.
Yeah, the scythes on the lights give them at least one hard "thonk" against any cavalry that chases them down and can really hammer a non-armored infantry unit too. Just remember to get moving again quickly -- they do NOT have the staying power to follow up the initial charge-hit with the scythes.
Which reminds me of a wonderful city battle I once fought against the Pontics. My legionaries cleared the walls, then I sent my Cretans up to do some damage to the mass of enemy below. Among them was a unit of scythed chariots. Fire arrows soon sent them amok, and they then ran through their own ranks. What an enjoyable sight and sound it was as I zoomed in, watched the enemy being cut to pieces by their own chariots (including their general), and the sound of plak! plak! as men's and horses' legs were sent flying into the air. I swear that unit of chariots would have gone from novice to triple gold chevrons if friendlies counted for experience.
woad&fangs
07-11-2007, 22:35
LoL!!! can british chariots run Amok? I've never seen them do it but I might just not be very observant.
They can't, Scythed Chariots are the only chariots that can run amok.
woad&fangs
07-12-2007, 14:35
Thats good, just another example of why brittania is the best faction. Now that I understand how to use Chariots(click behind the enemy and then hit them again before they reform) I Should crush the romans.
Master Young Phoenix
11-05-2007, 15:47
I haven't had much debacles playing the Brits. The chariots took some time to get used to, especially manouvring them before they engage 'cause they mess up your own "formations" as well, be it not lethal. (and, silly enough, I thought Chariots needed stables, but it was Blacksmiths! so for about a decade, my only chariots were family members and the light ones from the begining, such ignorance!)
I mostly left the Germans alone, except for the occassional punitive expedition when they were naughty and tried to take Alesia. I Plundered trier and had it rebel.
I did not wait for the Gauls to attack me and made my move first, taking Condate Rendonum and Alesia, and the rest of Gaul soon followed. Use your slingers to draw their cavalry at your line and overwhelm them with warbands, then regroup and deal with their infantry. These should be attacked by warbands in the front and chariots in the rear. the will rout within seconds if you can make such a combined attack.
I haven't done a lot of direct charges with generals bodyguard, but a rear-attack with any type of chariot is usually enough to break the enemy, 'cause the enemy is hit suffering 2 things that damage morale: 1. the chariots themselves, and 2, the fact that it's in their rear (or flank) while engaged to the front by warbands. Most of the time, this rear attack is so effective that it's effect (enemy rout) is immediate, meaning your general can butcher at will without getting damage.
after Gaul I finally got to conquering Hibernia (Ireland), which was quite easy... and then the Romans (Julii) came knocking at my gates.
Using "devide and conquer" tactics, succesfull ambushes and the meagre garrissons of Italia cities to my advantage, I conquered Italy in a few decades. Italy is an important province to conquer for all factions, but especially for the barbarians 'cause Rome is almost full-tech and you'll have the all important chosen swordsmen!
I try to NEVER fight siege assaults if I can manage, especially as barbarian and even more so against the Romans. When I'm the besieger I enjoy it most to have an enemy relief force come and be destroyed, but my main object in such a battle is always the garisson of the besieged city. If you manage to wipe out the garisson troops joining the battle and beat the relief force, the city is yours!
If I really need to assault I use up to 5 rams for wooden walls and pallisades and try to deploy in an area where there are the fewest towers.
Against stone walls, I use only siegetowers and sap points (though, towers mostly). Boiling oil is terrible, I try to stay clear. I usually have 2 towers with elite troops attack the wallsections beside the gate, so I can conquer the gate and have the rest of my army walk in securely, and another tower as a diversion or sneak attack. If the gate is conquered, i do not rush the city square before the towers I will pass heading there are conquered, this prevents casualties on my side, and if the enemy comes to reclaim their gate, will damage the enemy!
Hound of Ulster
11-13-2007, 00:17
Head Hurlers and Chariots are a wonderful combo, especially against other barbarians.
woad&fangs
11-13-2007, 00:22
How would y'all go about beating Ellies with the Brits. I tried a Brits vs. Carthy Custom Battle and I was on a rampage until the Ellies joined the fray.
Seamus Fermanagh
11-13-2007, 01:02
How would y'all go about beating Ellies with the Brits. I tried a Brits vs. Carthy Custom Battle and I was on a rampage until the Ellies joined the fray.
Chosen sword to pin the Ellies in one spot. Head Hurlers on directed fire for as many rounds as possible -- apologies to the sworder widows, but eggs and omelettes -- swarm with all available foot troops thereafter. No pretty way to take out ellies with Brits unless you somehow rent Cretans.
Chariots and head hurlers are of almost no use, expecially againts factions better than some retarded barbarians. Head hurlers can't cope even with velites because of their tiny range. Chariots can do well in flanking but when they are charged (and againts a decent army they will be) just don't stand a chance.
Becuse of lack of lack of any cavalry at all, Britons have to rely on barbarian merceneries which are really expensive for a faction as poor as Britons.
Choosing among barbarians, I would rather go for Gauls or expecially Germans.
edward13
12-08-2007, 08:29
wel i played as brits b4my present camp, and al was going GuD until i met wit e carthys n their ellies! had2gt sm cretans al e wy fr greece to counter them in iberia!! ma ploy's always a protracted battle, A defensive ATTACK! Take a full stack army n invade n lt e enemy wear off by attacking:-)usu use ma missile troops2e fullest!!once i was able to gt merc phalanx NO one cud gt thru a bridge to attack me:-)Nw ma brits hav e map al e wy2e steppes!
edward13
12-08-2007, 08:40
for garrison duty usu use e peasant militias! field army consists of heavy n choosen swords, slingers n head hurlers/cretan arc. warband,heavy chariots! i don't use light chariots in a standing army only in field garrison troops to counter rebels in e province,i use them Lk HA's quite handy to shoot Dwn rebels and nt take damage! thank God4e romans they had already built highways&high end tech struct by e tm invaded ITALY N NW & NE alps!CooliO
Monsieur Alphonse
12-08-2007, 16:56
wel i played as brits b4my present camp, and al was going GuD until i met wit e carthys n their ellies! had2gt sm cretans al e wy fr greece to counter them in iberia!! ma ploy's always a protracted battle, A defensive ATTACK! Take a full stack army n invade n lt e enemy wear off by attacking:-)usu use ma missile troops2e fullest!!once i was able to gt merc phalanx NO one cud gt thru a bridge to attack me:-)Nw ma brits hav e map al e wy2e steppes!
Can someone translate this please. I have absolutely no idea what is talking about. I hope he did win his battles.
Seamus Fermanagh
12-08-2007, 22:48
Alphie:
wel i played as brits b4my present camp, and al was going GuD until i met wit e carthys n their ellies! had2gt sm cretans al e wy fr greece to counter them in iberia!! ma ploy's always a protracted battle, A defensive ATTACK! Take a full stack army n invade n lt e enemy wear off by attacking:-)usu use ma missile troops2e fullest!!once i was able to gt merc phalanx NO one cud gt thru a bridge to attack me:-)Nw ma brits hav e map al e wy2e steppes!
Reads as:
Well, I played as the Britons before my current campaign, and all was going well until I met with Carthage and their elephants. Had to get some Cretans all the way from Greece to counter them in Iberia. My ploy is always a protracted battle -- a defensive ATTACK. Take a full-stack army and invade, then let the enemy wear themselves out by attacking you. I use my missile troops to the fullest!! Once I was able to get merc phalanx, NO one could get across a bridge against me. Now my Britons own everything on the map all the way to the Steppes!
He's using the classic approach advocated by Von Moltke of the defensive offensive. On the strategic level, you move quickly to put yourself somewhere vital to the enemy (preferably with high defensive force multipliers), somewhere from which they must dislodge you, and then take the tactical defensive with all its advantages to maximize your tactical success. One of my favorites as well, and probably the best option for anyone who does not wish to "blitzkrieg."
Good Ship Chuckle
01-30-2008, 03:35
If it weren't for the Gauls being so enjoyable, I would have to choose the Brits as the most favorable faction. Sure. No straight up cav, but deal with like a man, and play to your strengths.
First equation of the day:
Strengths=Light Chariots.
Simple as that. One chariot can pick off a few men with its archers, but when you horde multiple units together, they become a whirlwind of death, shooting anything that calls itself a roman to bits.
Second equation of the day:
Light Chariots=Whirlwind of Death.
Thus by using the transitive property (a=b, b=c, then a=c), we can infer:
Strengths=Whirlwind of Death.
By my mathematical postulate, you can easily see that the best way to play the Brits is by using the light chariots to cut down you enemies from a distance, like a Whirlwind of Death. This effect is greatly magnified by the fact that each unit can fire a whopping 60 volleys.Check it under BRITONS (http://totalwar.co.kr/rome/indexx.html) That's more arrows than I know what to do with.
Again, today's lesson has been about the faction known as Brittania, and how one should use the Light Chariots to become a 'Whirlwind of Death', and thus most effectively acquire victory. Any questions should be made into posts that follow this one, and should be written in a pompus and uptight manner. (British accent would work well here)
Thank you for your time.:7detective:
woad&fangs
02-02-2008, 02:00
Light chariots are indeed the best unit available to you as Brittania. They're also very good at mowing down enemy cavalry and chasing enemy archers.
Hannibalbarc
02-02-2008, 04:29
Chariots and head hurlers are of almost no use, expecially againts factions better than some retarded barbarians. Head hurlers can't cope even with velites because of their tiny range. Chariots can do well in flanking but when they are charged (and againts a decent army they will be) just don't stand a chance.
Becuse of lack of lack of any cavalry at all, Britons have to rely on barbarian merceneries which are really expensive for a faction as poor as Britons.
Choosing among barbarians, I would rather go for Gauls or expecially Germans.
The britons light chariot and head hurler combo will destroy any phalanx army and head hurlers and heavy chariots can easily take care of the romans, add some chosen swordsmen and a few druids for good balance and almost any enemy army will fall, also headhurlers aren't meant to fight against missile units, they decimate heavy inf though, and heavy chariots are really good against nonphalanx inf, the only real problem are eles but the romans usually take care of the carthaginians for you.
Good Ship Chuckle
02-04-2008, 18:57
I agree with Hannibalbarc. Anyone who smacks around the Britons should be smacked around as well. The Britons are a more than capable faction, as long as they are in the hands of a good leader.
gaiusmarius8
02-26-2008, 23:07
Hello Im quite new but am a very good player of Rome: TW and BI. I beat the game with Britannians. So lemme tell you how it is done.
When starting the game, I took 3 warbands and held them towards Tara on the Britain Side. I left them to also clean up rebellions until I got a navy. I concentrated on building the Temple for Woadies first and getting Light and Heavy Chariots. Gaul was rash in sending armies after armies to Samarobriva, my idea. Sneak behind with 1 chariot unit, while they readjust, I took another unit and cut up their generals then they would always rout ane leave. I concentrated on Germania because they had more cavalry per army than gaul and Rome. I took them out simple by concentrating warbands as a trap so Woads can cut at flanks in often fought in forests of the Germanic tribe Area. Gaul was still repelled by my chariots and now Head Hurlers. Rome though got into war with Gaul and eased my annoyence of these Barbarians. I then took sight in rebuilding my defenses. Bad Time! My economy was awry, Rome took Alesia and now I just received word of an attack on Lemonum which was the only Gaul town I was wanting to take. Rebel Pirates arised from Spain and attacked my ships worsening my situation. I decided to take Sun Tzu's proverb into consideration "You will only be victorious if you know yourself and the enemy". I sent spies to sniff out the game plan and received each attack defensively and kept going good. Now Spain was getting washed up and Thrace had gone to the west fighting Dacia. I decided to go east once again and took out the Cavalry stressing Dacians and Scythians. Now I had 2 enemies. Thrace and Julii were boring in so I decided to send assassin's to kill their people and I took out Thrace with the help of Macedon (weak though) and Brutii. Carthage was still in trying to resist Julii power which they pressed on them. I took this chance to steal Masillia, Arretium, Ariminum, and Segesta. They repelled on me and Carthage took southern tip of Spain. I set out for the biggest siege for me, to take Narbo Martius! Triarii and Principes versus Slingers, Woads, Warbands, and Chariots. I won luckily. My chariots were wiped out by Triarii but I managed to break the main line with my Woads and infected them to chaos with my Slingers and Woads. I killed their general (8 star) with my (3 star) chariot general. I took Narbo Martius soon after with little resistance and their cities started to defect and I eventually killed them. Carthage was also out by Scipii. So I had Spain to Lovosice avoiding Scipii (dealing with Numidia and Egypt) and Brutii (Dealing with Greeks and Pontus :laugh4:) I then took on a harsh enemy... Armenia!
Quintus.JC
02-27-2008, 21:57
Never fancied Briton, chariots just weren't my cup of tea. plus the lack of cavalry was really a pain in the rare-end.
The Wandering Scholar
03-04-2008, 23:58
Hello Im quite new but am a very good player of Rome: TW and BI. I beat the game with Britannians. So lemme tell you how it is done.
a little bit cocky
my idea. Sneak behind with 1 chariot unit, while they readjust, I took another unit and cut up their generals then they would always rout ane leave.
Is it?
gaiusmarius8
03-05-2008, 03:44
WanderingScholar, I didnt mean to be "cocky" and try my idea, it works 80% of the time.
The Wandering Scholar
03-05-2008, 22:20
:sorry:
gaiusmarius8
03-06-2008, 12:09
:sorry:
That wasn't even necessary.
Good Ship Chuckle
03-06-2008, 22:10
The generals chariots are really only good for one thing (besides dying unexpectedly)>>>
Chewing up the mounted generals of other factions.
Quintus.JC
03-07-2008, 20:30
I do not like chariots. They are weird.
Xipe Totec
03-07-2008, 22:00
Whilst I have found a group of two or three briton generals to be a wonderful way of quickly mincing up Gaul or Roman general cav and other cav on the flanks, they are too fragile and unwieldy to be bodyguards for your glorious leaders. Caught in a town they are incapable of manoevering and are just death traps for the hapless general. Against phalanxes including the basic infantry of neighbours Germania they die on contact anywhere. Being so spread out it's hard to avoid getting tangled up with infantry, especially on huge. :no:
Light chariots are devastating archers, can usually escape from pursuit and can tear fleeing armies to shreds at lightning speed before they can escape. For Britannia against German phalanxes they are majestic out in the open but atrocious if confined by impassable battlefield terrain or trapped in a town.
Loads of fun to play with but not authentic. Creating an empire across Europe with the Britons in this era is a shocking anachronism anyway but I suppose that could equally be said of Dacia, Thrace, Scythia, Spain, Numidia and even the Greeks, but it is fun to recreate a wildly different version of history where someone other than the Romans gets a look in for a change.
For us 'Britunculi' especially the arrogant Romans need to be taught a lesson. The shamed daughters of Boudicca must be avenged!:furious3: Let's throw some limey heads at them, and chant them into submission!
Hannibalbarc
03-07-2008, 22:39
I do not like chariots. They are weird.
I don't like to use them on the battle field either, they always run into phalanxes or places you don't want them to go, but they are totally awesome when you autoresolve, I used 4 scythed chariot against a fullstack of Seleucids general included, and won killing 3/4 of their army losing 1/4 of my chariots, and 2 of my chariots got 4 exp and the other 2 each got 2 exp, the odds were 5:1 in their favor and I still won, but it was on medium.
The Wandering Scholar
03-08-2008, 01:04
Chariotsare so annoying, they should not even be included in the game due to their historical letdowns.
Seamus Fermanagh
03-12-2008, 23:22
No more ahistorical than screeching women, units of roman wardogs, or devastating legionary cavalry.
You want hyper realism, play EB.
https://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg74/The-Brave-One/caesarlandings.gif
Brittania
Britannia are an interesting faction. I like to call them the power house of the north. To the novice TWer they could be a challenge as their units such as the chariots are not the easiest unit to control.
Temples provide the Britains with much needed units such as Woad Warriors and Head Hurlers. The basic battle tactic against other barbarians is to charge with upgraded infantry after the head hurlers have used up their ammo while you have them under a constant barrage of chariot fire and finally a charge to completely rout them.
Depending on how offensive you are you should have at least half of Gaul and east to Dacian lands before you come into contact with the Romans. This is where the fun starts. You will need to recruit, no, SPAM, elite infantry to duke it out with them. A hard slog will now be played out, the Romans are rich and have high quality units. Hopefully you can become victorious, and reap the rewards.
The Black Sheep
03-23-2008, 16:58
Romans versus barbarians is always intresting, but mostly turns out in a Roman victory. This scenario is most likely if the Romans are under your command, but the barbarians on the other hand, can prove to be very tough if you control them right.
The strongest ability of barbarian units their bravery, which is also causing fear in the enemies hearts:yes: Britannia is especially good at this, because they can field units like the woad warriors, the chariots, and the head hurlers.
Altough some people find these units worthless, they can be quite useful.
Agianst Romans, every barbarian warlord has a hard time, because of their discipline, numbers, stats and organisation. Their ranks of infantry are coming at you like a wall, and may look invinceble, especially if you play on H/H or even harder. But, that Roman battering ram can be defeated, at this part, your chariots will become at handy. Find an spot in the Roman line with only sword infantry, like princepes, in the center. These are tough units, but will be tossed aside, altough not destroyed, by your chariots if you race them in.
The best place to batter your chariots in is the center, I will explain why:
Behind an disciplined Roman army stands a good general, which raises the moral of the Roman troops. He sits on a horse, and could be an headache if you let hem charge in your line of woad warriors and swordsman. But his horse is also his weak point, as chariots are strong agianst horseman. So put your melee chariots in front, and as soon as the enemy closes in, charge them into the general. Not only will they throw the princepes around, they will also (with a bit of luck) kill the general, this is a devastating blow to Roman discipline.
At this point, you still got the rest of the Roman army left, so what to do with them? Barbarians are good individual fighters, use that ability! Split their army in two at the point that your chariots race trough the princepes. Right after they have tossed the Romans around, order your infantery to attack the princepes while their still on the ground. This do requires some timing.
Your woad warriors will slaugther them as they stand up, and you have an scared, divided Roman army in front of you. The rest is all old school slaughter:smash:
hihappy21
04-04-2008, 23:49
Personally, Britannia is one of my favorite factions to play. They present slight diffulculty getting used to (chariots w/barbarians who would have ever thought of that) but overall I think that they are very fun to play.
As with all RTW barbarian factions one thing that you must watch out for is the population of your settlements. This is true for all factions, however even more so for barbarians because the # of squalor control buildings are somewhat limited. Once the Britannian Empire spreads down to the very fertile provinces of Patavium and Mendlonium (cant spell it) you have to watch out your settlement's population. There are two ways I employ to solve this problem
1. DON'T build farming upgrades especially playing as a barbarian. Building farm upgrades will make your population shoot through the roof. However, sometimes when you have taken over a province the previous owner has already built a some farm upgrades then I usually employ the 2nd method.
2. Train tons of troops. This may seem quite obvious however it works. When I captured Patavium the previous owner (Gauls) had built all the farming upgrades they could and I had my population growing at 7%. Since you can't destroy farm upgrades I really had no choice but to start cranking out troops like crazy. The troops I train depend on whether or not this province is near my enemy or not. If it is I usually trains warbands and chosen swordsman. If it is not I train peasents (peasents are far cheaper to recruit and maintain however can't fight for their life)
I don't know if anyone else experienced this but in the early game I had a few financial difficulties. I wasn't exactly going bankrupt however I wasn't rolling in wealth either. One thing that made tons of money was building ports in Samarobriva and Londinium and the money will start rolling in from those two cities. By the later part of the game those cities were each producing around 3000 denarii.
Praetor Rick
04-05-2008, 02:49
1. DON'T build farming upgrades especially playing as a barbarian. Building farm upgrades will make your population shoot through the roof. However, sometimes when you have taken over a province the previous owner has already built a some farm upgrades then I usually employ the 2nd method.
This is sound advice for fertile provinces, but there are actually plenty of provinces in (notably) Germania where farming upgrades are an unmixed blessing. If a province has poor fertility and thus grows slowly, farms are quite helpful in getting it up to the point where you can build good troops from it, and where you don't have to worry about depopulating it. These provinces grow slowly enough that squalor will never be a major problem.
2. Train tons of troops. This may seem quite obvious however it works. When I captured Patavium the previous owner (Gauls) had built all the farming upgrades they could and I had my population growing at 7%. Since you can't destroy farm upgrades I really had no choice but to start cranking out troops like crazy. The troops I train depend on whether or not this province is near my enemy or not. If it is I usually trains warbands and chosen swordsman. If it is not I train peasents (peasents are far cheaper to recruit and maintain however can't fight for their life)
Patavium has this problem no matter who controls it - trust me, it isn't the farm upgrades that are the problem. There are always a few cities that just grow out of control no matter what you do, and this problem is worse for barbarian factions who have limited options to deal with it.
When building peasants in an overpopulated city, remember to march them to some other, less blessed city and disband them, so they contribute to population there. As I said, there will always be a few cities that can use a boost.
Does plague have any scope as a population control measure?
Large peasant garrisons, then a band of carriers who move on/off ships, on a route between the towns who's long term growth needs inhibitting? That actually would in a way be more faithful to history, as large towns required constanst instream of migrants from countryside to maintain their populations at a steady level.
When you enslave populations frequently, the population growth increases to a recovery rate, so in long run, you've moved ppl amongst your provinces, have increased growth rate of some retainers, and also increased the growth rate of captured town, which tends to bounce back quickly.
This can be seen, if you compare Patavium growth rate, as Julliii. Just capturing the small city, initially means less money, and a slower medium term growth rate, as about 2% slower growth is seen in the town than occurs after it's been de-populated.
The model of population growth, used in Caesar games seems more convincing to me, there a good economy attracted migrants and larger healthier families with higher survival rate; it was during downturns that trouble would flare up. The challenge of rebellion due to population explosion seems like an artificial way to increase game difficulty.
Lack of food and economic troubles leading to large numbers of desperate poor, tend to be the triggers for unrest. Farm upgrades and economic improvements ought to reduce unrest.
How hard would it be to have a Mod with a large size "Migrant Tribe" unit, which would be an expensive Peasant style unit, with say 4 times the man power, which looks for fresh underpopulated lands to settle?
hihappy21
04-06-2008, 18:18
Does plague have any scope as a population control measure?
Well yes, since Britannia's only health benifits come if you build a certain type of temple (can't remember to which) as the settlement becomes larger and larger the possibility of a plaque becomes more and more likely. Plagues will drastically lower the population. A problem that I have with strategy is that I cant control when I want the plaque so I usually try not to let my settlement have plaques.
The idea is that you maintain plague carrier peasants in your over-populated cities, and put them on a circuit to re-infect, every time you want to cull.
Praetor Rick
04-07-2008, 01:21
The idea is that you maintain plague carrier peasants in your over-populated cities, and put them on a circuit to re-infect, every time you want to cull.
A particularly ruthless application of the basic "plague spy" concept, applied to your own settlements rather than those of your opponent.
I admire your capacity for evil. :laugh4: It never even occurred to me to spread the plague among my own settlements, even though now that you have suggested it, the benefits seem quite obvious. Just make sure not to infect a settlement you're going to want to use for the next few years, of course. :oops:
Note that I'm pretty sure that just forcing the settlement to rebel, reconquering it, and exterminating the populace is still likely to be more economical, even counting the maintenance and re-training cost of the army you use to reconquer. Not much you can do if you just don't have an army convenient, though - but then again, you're likely to have more armies lying around than you do plague bearers.
A particularly ruthless application of the basic "plague spy" concept, applied to your own settlements rather than those of your opponent.
I admire your capacity for evil. :laugh4:
It's not evilness, it was thinking through the actual historical limits on population growth.
A plague city has to have lowered tax rate, I think (but am not sure) that trade income falls off, though I found a plague ridden Carthage's ports appeared to remain open for business as usual, so I'm not sure. As the city is over-populated you would just go on recruiting peasant plague carriers.
If the over-population of fertile cities is an issue, maybe making the Peasants a 0 turn recruitment unit, would allow resettlement on mass.
Iñnsomñni
04-13-2008, 15:58
Most of my tactics have been said, im not sure this has though
Chariots
These can be extremely useful, if you use them successfully.
Charging
When you charge at an enemy with chariots, i have found that charging at an engaged enemy unit, from any side, results in heavy casualties to the enemy, and a rout, with minimal casualties to you unit...
Also charging an enemy in loose formation is just a slaughter, the chariot has nothing to stop its momentum and carries on right through the enemy, slaughtering them all.
What Not to Charge
Those Germanic Spearmen are a real pain, i flanked them and charged and still lost the majority of my chariots with minimal losses to the spearmen, but with them engaged you should get better results.
Distances
When you charge with a chariot, a longer distance is always better, as it builds up momentum and the chariots usually group together, creating a hole in the enemies formation when it hits.
Light Cavalry
Light chariots and light cavalry dont stand a chance against heavier chariots if you can get them up close, you will take minimal losses for maximum effect, usually routing the enemy within a second
Well i hope that helps with Britannia chariots
Good Ship Chuckle
04-13-2008, 18:18
I personally would never go near a german phalanx whatsoever, even if they are engaged by your infantry. I had a bad experience once.
I was clearing up a routing german phalanx with a unit of light chariots. Somehow, the unit recovered its morale as I was clearing them up. The German phalanx didn't even need to recovered its formation, before it routed my light chariots. I wouldn't touch a unit of german phalanx with a forty-foot pole, when using light chariots. :wall:
Praetor Rick
04-14-2008, 01:52
I personally would never go near a german phalanx whatsoever, even if they are engaged by your infantry. I had a bad experience once.
I was clearing up a routing german phalanx with a unit of light chariots. Somehow, the unit recovered its morale as I was clearing them up. The German phalanx didn't even need to recovered its formation, before it routed my light chariots. I wouldn't touch a unit of german phalanx with a forty-foot pole, when using light chariots. :wall:
German Spear Warbands vs. Briton Light or Heavy Chariots is an absurdly mismatched fight even in the most terrible tactical situation for the Germans. I've never gone in against chariots of any sort with spears before, so it's possible that all spears are just as deadly to chariots as the Germans - it seems plausible, given that the Germans don't even need to be in phalanx formation to slaughter the chariots in job lots. The light chariots are at least somewhat threatening, since they engage with arrows, but the heavies are a waste of cash against spears - they basically burst into flames and explode the minute a phalanx capable unit enters the battlefield. It's probably the number one reason I advise Germania players to go after Britannia first - it's so absurdly easy, and the isles are quite profitable once you've kicked the Britons out. The Gauls, wimpy though they are, are likely to be a more substantial threat just because their generals aren't chariots. Not that cavalry does well against spears, but it does better than chariots.
Darkvicer98
04-15-2008, 10:17
If any type of chariot goes near a phalanx,its suicide. One touch of a spear and the chariot's dead. Since britannia is all chariots,germania have an advantage against them. I don't bother with chariots because they don't like me and i don't like them so i just keep the warlord back while the rest fight the battle.
Seamus Fermanagh
04-17-2008, 13:12
I agree with the thoughts about brit chariot generals. They are WAY too fragile. You really need to keep them out of the fight until its time to mow down routers.
Chariots hitting the front of a phalanx are usually trashed. Mind you, this can be of value if you're willing to lose your heavy chariot unit solely for the purpose of breaking their formation. The spear boys will not take many casualties and you will lose 2/3 or your chariots, but there will be gaps and bends in their formation. Followed quickly enough by cavalry or sword infantry, this can result in a breakthrough -- but its going to be hard on your chariots.
Light chariots are a must with Briton for their missile ability. They're nice in that they can usually outrun anyone who can really hurt them and their scythes hammer the light cavalry that can catch them. It's a pity nobody in England ever considered using a bow while standing afoot rather than in a moving chariot. Must be something to do with "being sporting." :smartass2:
Iñnsomñni
04-17-2008, 15:56
Another thing about German Spear Warbands, i have finally gathered enough info to decide that an infantry assault in their front is the best thing, maybe flank. Just hit them with every single infantry unit you have and watch them crumble, and the flanking of the enemy begins, as do the mass routs
German spear warbands have little armour, their weakness is against missile attack and their slow speed in phalanx mode. Light Infantry (& Light Missile Chariots) who can kill at a distance, are the way to destroy German AI armies, which tend to be based on spear phalanxes. Sometimes you can tire out inexperienced phalanx units, having them chase light chariot first, they'll take heavier losses faster when engaged by swordsmen and rout sooner.
Seamus Fermanagh
04-18-2008, 02:54
Another thing about German Spear Warbands, i have finally gathered enough info to decide that an infantry assault in their front is the best thing, maybe flank. Just hit them with every single infantry unit you have and watch them crumble, and the flanking of the enemy begins, as do the mass routs
RE: your sig
There is a "hunk" thread in the Backroom. Warning: Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter There.
Praetor Rick
04-18-2008, 21:19
German spear warbands have little armour, their weakness is against missile attack and their slow speed in phalanx mode. Light Infantry (& Light Missile Chariots) who can kill at a distance, are the way to destroy German AI armies, which tend to be based on spear phalanxes. Sometimes you can tire out inexperienced phalanx units, having them chase light chariot first, they'll take heavier losses faster when engaged by swordsmen and rout sooner.
The problem with Briton Light Chariots is that they spread out into such a huge formation that they are likely to brush the speartips of a Spear Warband and die even when trying not to. Foot archers or skirmishers or slingers are, IMHO, a better solution to the Spear Warbands. Or just mass flank action, like most phalanxes they are terribly unsuited to dealing with non-frontal attacks.
A balanced army is always better; Slingers & Archers are Light Missile Infantry so a good solution to soften up poorly armoured spearmen at a distance.
Now in some situations, Light Chariots are even better. If you wait till you can get Archer units along, or extra slingers then you'll take towns a turn or so later than someone who's more flexibly minded, and willing to use cavalry to full potential.
Ibn-Khaldun
05-03-2008, 14:05
Britons can not recruit any foot archers :no:
Good Ship Chuckle
05-03-2008, 14:50
I wouldn't complain that they can't recruit foot archers, because light charries fill that role easily enough.
You should really complain about the fact that they can't recruit a single horseman (not counting barbarian mercs). That's the real problem.
Celtic_Punk
05-04-2008, 18:06
i dont like britannia...the historical inaccuracies (head hurlers :jawdrop: Heads were considered TROPHIES to the Celts, not missiles) and crappy unit selection make this faction lame and terrible to play...
btw someone needs to give the celts some archers in barbarian invasion...
Darkvicer98
05-04-2008, 18:17
Britannia has a limited selection of cavalry. They can only recruit Chariots,no mounted units which makes them vunerable to the German Spear Warband,one touch of a spear and they're dead. Its a shame that,:thumbsdown:.
In Barbarian Invasion the Celts should have archers other than crossbowmen which have the most basic range i've seen. They might as well run because they fire so close to the enemy troops.
Celtic_Punk
05-04-2008, 18:45
they do have slingers tho :chinese:
the gallowglasses are amazing tho.. superior to the comminates
Good Ship Chuckle
05-06-2008, 03:30
Another historical inaccuracy is BI is the celt's unit called the Hounds of Culann. This wasn't a type of soldier, he was a hero in a myth. :book:
Celtic_Punk
05-06-2008, 09:32
hehehe this hound of culaan kicked some serious ass then eh!?:duel:
proud to be Irish :D
Edit:
just did a bit of preliminary research... The hound of Culain (actual name was Cúchulainn) didnt fight as an infantry man, but preferred to fight from astride his chariot... hmmmmm CA has to touch up on their homework methinks
Good Ship Chuckle
05-09-2008, 02:26
Raise you hands up if you like being Irish!!!!
:ireland::2thumbsup::ireland::2thumbsup::ireland:
Btw, there's mod out for Alexander Total War (the lesser known expansion of RTW) that's called Gods and Fighting Men. It focuses soley on Ancient Ireland. :2thumbsup: I haven't tried it because I don't have Alexander. But it looks cool, and sooner or later I'll play it! You can find a lot more about it on TWcenter. Check it out!
Xipe Totec
05-11-2008, 03:16
I recommend the Pogues 'Sick Bed of Cuchulainn' from their album 'Rum, Sodomy & The Lash' if you want a rollicking good Irish drinking song with some folklore thrown in. Its long been a favourite of mine.~:cheers:
Good Ship Chuckle
05-12-2008, 21:34
Ah yes. What a good idea. Playing some Irish drinking songs as you play Brittania. Then again, any time is a good time for some Irish drinking songs! :ireland:
:hijacked:
er...*ahem...Back on topic now. Brittania...et cetera, et cetera....
Xipe Totec
05-23-2008, 08:49
Britannia can be a fun faction to play if you don't mind escaping from reality in a big way and enjoying the novel visuals. My favourite army in my current campaign consists of a main body of head hurlers and woads, with slingers in front and light chariots on the wings or behind the hurlers if the enemy has a lot of cavalry. All units have Andrasta circle upgrades and +3 missile upgrade from a captured Abnoba grove / weaponsmith in Alesia.
Moving the army up to slinger range the enemy gets quite pelted. Any units which attack my lines get hit by slingshot, arrows and heads before getting into chariots scary range and finally meeting a brick wall of non-skirmishing hurlers. Even Generals tend to rout from that and most casualties I get are from friendly head fire. :juggle2:
Has so far proven very effective against Gauls, Germans and Romans. Only snag is that enemy cavalry will eventually almost always charge the slingers, so they must retreat behind the lines at the first sign of that happening. As a wooden wall assault force it is deadly also, with the huge amount of missiles taking out most of the enemy before going in with a hurler assault. :smash:
Retraining is essential due to the high amount of casualties suffered by the lightly armoured assault troops, so a lot of Andrasta temple building is required as you progress. One good thing about Woads and hurlers is how fast they are at chasing routers. You just got to love the squelchy noise that heads make as they hit an enemy unit as well! :laugh4:
Darkvicer98
05-23-2008, 17:21
I dont' mind playing as Britannia but they are a little low on income and their position on the map with only 1 settlement in Gaul which has low population.
Plus they only get Chariots as Cavalry which are useless i think in both settlements and open land so i don't bother with them and just leave them out of the battlezone unless their Missile Chariots which i keep out of the battle but in range of their units. In settlements they can't really move.
They are an Infantry Faction i'd say because of their Druids and Woad Warriors and Chosen Swordsmen. I just conquer Gaul and Germania and ally with the Roman Julii.
Agent Miles
10-20-2008, 19:07
I made lots of money as the Brits (VH/VH huge units). Right from the start, I took all of the spare population in Samarobriva and sent them north as peasants to upgrade Eburacum and then Deva. I then abandoned it to rebellion. This prevents early war with Gaul/Germania, who always attack this settlement. I then took Tara and demobilized part of my army there. Now I have four settlements with 2k+ population. I don't need a standing army, so I upgrade like crazy with about 2k-4k income per turn. I ship my peasants around to get all of the settlements quickly up to 6k. I also like building watchtowers so that I can see as much as possible.
I have enough cash so that each settlement can construct all of the buildings (except for the beer hall variety). I put one of each temple in the three settlements in Britain so that I can rotate my family members around to get the best of each temple. By hiring mercenaries and fighting rebels I can usually pick up a couple of retinue to raise command by 1 each as well.
In the meantime, Gaul gets into trouble with Spain/Germania/Julii. When my forces are ready, I invade. By 230, I have overrun western Gaul without any problems. My army consists of 9 Chosen Swordsmen, 6 War hounds, 3 Light chariots and one heavy chariot (all +2 experience level and +1 armor/weapons) with a 6+ star general. All of these units conspire to cause a lot of fear in any enemy force. If you wish, by periodically landing a general in Gaul you can gradually hire several Barbarian Cavalry, too. I usually have a mobile reserve of B. cav and chariots to spank rebels behind my lines. This way, I even got two generals who had the “+1 command when leading cavalry” trait. With a large war chest, my diplomats can snatch up small settlements too.
Light chariots are great missile platforms and can run down any routers. I had one unit cause over 340 casualties in one battle. Heavy chariots are great at turning flanks. I usually charge through a unit, i.e., don’t target the unit, target the opposite side of the unit. Hit them when they are disorganized.
Having won the short game, I plan on expanding my force to include the special units. I’ll crush Spain and Germania next and then take out those darn Romans.
Seamus Fermanagh
10-21-2008, 05:19
I made lots of money as the Brits (VH/VH huge units). Right from the start, I took all of the spare population in Samarobriva and sent them north as peasants to upgrade Eburacum and then Deva. I then abandoned it to rebellion. This prevents early war with Gaul/Germania, who always attack this settlement. I then took Tara and demobilized part of my army there. Now I have four settlements with 2k+ population. I don't need a standing army, so I upgrade like crazy with about 2k-4k income per turn. I ship my peasants around to get all of the settlements quickly up to 6k. I also like building watchtowers so that I can see as much as possible.
I have enough cash so that each settlement can construct all of the buildings (except for the beer hall variety). I put one of each temple in the three settlements in Britain so that I can rotate my family members around to get the best of each temple. By hiring mercenaries and fighting rebels I can usually pick up a couple of retinue to raise command by 1 each as well.
In the meantime, Gaul gets into trouble with Spain/Germania/Julii. When my forces are ready, I invade. By 230, I have overrun western Gaul without any problems. My army consists of 9 Chosen Swordsmen, 6 War hounds, 3 Light chariots and one heavy chariot (all +2 experience level and +1 armor/weapons) with a 6+ star general. All of these units conspire to cause a lot of fear in any enemy force. If you wish, by periodically landing a general in Gaul you can gradually hire several Barbarian Cavalry, too. I usually have a mobile reserve of B. cav and chariots to spank rebels behind my lines. This way, I even got two generals who had the “+1 command when leading cavalry” trait. With a large war chest, my diplomats can snatch up small settlements too.
Light chariots are great missile platforms and can run down any routers. I had one unit cause over 340 casualties in one battle. Heavy chariots are great at turning flanks. I usually charge through a unit, i.e., don’t target the unit, target the opposite side of the unit. Hit them when they are disorganized.
Having won the short game, I plan on expanding my force to include the special units. I’ll crush Spain and Germania next and then take out those darn Romans.
Don't expect too much from the dogs or the heavy chariots versus Roman Legionaires. Your light chariots will still work, but almost all of the romans are armored as well as your chosen sword, so your kill ratios will drop. Head hurlers are quite effective though -- unrealistic buggers as they are -- since you have javelins that are just as hard hitting as those of a Praetorian, but carry 6 to their 2. Your hurlers will get torn up by his archers though, so be careful.
Agent Miles
10-27-2008, 15:40
So far, the AI won’t put together a full stack. I see several groups of 12 or fewer units. With nine Chosen Swordsmen, I can just overwhelm their line while flanking with the chariots. I chose hounds, chariots and CS because they are easy to replace in most settlements. I do have some head hurlers now for those armored units. Gaul is gone. Spain, Germania and the Julii are down to two or three settlements each. Thanks for the tips.
Lord Reid of Britannica
12-18-2009, 12:53
My experience with the Britons was that i immediately emptied my island of all troops save peasants, and took Bordesholm up north. I then acquired generals quickly, built up economic infrastructure AND got alliances with both Gaul and Germania.
Germania eventually declared war on Gaul and so i supported them. Gaul asked for out alliance back and i took Condate Rendonum from them in exchange for Alliance. I then betrayed them on the next turn and took Alesia. Two Gaul settlements in quick succession without much blood spilt, and firm friendship with a potentially problematic Germania.
I now have strong infrastructure and Armies, ready to crush the remainder of Gaul, along with spare generals to lead those armies.
thatdude123456
03-13-2011, 20:12
Right i'm doing a campaign right now as the britons on vh/vh. does anyone agree that the germania are seriously op when compared to the britons. can anyone offer some advice on tactics to use against their damn spear warbands early in the game. currently i'm embroiled in a war of attrition with them and it seems my warband/swords simply can't compete with their spears and my cavalry/chariots are useless as they just seem to drop dead even in a flanking manoeuvre. any tips on how to smash the germanic scum?????
thatdude123456
03-13-2011, 20:12
also i'm not very experienced at all with barbarian factions so any help would be greatly appreciated ;)
ReluctantSamurai
03-17-2011, 18:37
Germania has only two settlements from which they can train troops with any regularity...Mogontiacum and Damme. All their other starting settlements, and the few they may capture have tiny populations...so they can't train units very often from them. Capture those two, and they are finished. Easier said than done, though......
I use missile fire to whittle down those spears before taking them on. Head Hurlers are a nasty skirmisher that can do the job as well as your light chariots. Don't be afraid to hire merc warbands. It's a bit expensive at first, but once you overwhelm their early roving stacks, you should have no problem taking the above two settlements.
You have great potential for sea trade...build it up and you should have enough money to attrit them. You must move quickly because if they get to Noble Cavalry and Chosen Archers, you are in deep trouble.
Vincent Butler
07-14-2014, 22:01
Briton is interesting. The lack of archers is a bummer:wall:, I use my Light Chariots for that role. I have not used Heavy Chariots much since their melee stats are close to Light Chariots. They could be nice for breaking up a formation, then nailing it with Swordsmen. Have to try that next Briton campaign. Light chariots could probably do that as well, though. Since their slingers are ineffective against armoured troops, at least from the front, and have less range than Rhodian/Balearic slingers, they may not really be worth using, if you are fighting barbarians you can get away with it, as slingers are good against unarmoured units and chariots. I usually do have them simply to get another missile unit. I don't use head-hurlers, they are unrealistic and require a special temple. The temple is why I don't use Woad Warriors either. My armies are mainly Swordsmen, with one or two Chosen Swordsmen. That number increases against Rome. I do like to have Warband along, a cheap unit that is retrained anywhere and can hold the line long enough so that my better troops can get into action. Once they get experience they are actually worth having. The Druids are good to have along. I typically like to have at least one city in a central location that can train them. I don't consider the Woad Warriors or Head Hurlers worth following the same strategy, I could be wrong. Watching my brother use Naked Fanatics with Spain, Woad Warriors are probably similar, decent attack, low defense, use as shock troops. I like to knock out Gaul so that I can hit Rome before they get Marian reforms. If I can get to that point, my finances are such that I can usually field two armies. I don't bother too much with Germania right away. From Italy, you can go into Greece, a great idea as Greece seriously helps your finances. By then, Scipii will probably be at Marius, unless you can get into Sicily as well and deal with them. Be aggressive. I was more defensive at first, preferring to trade and make money rather than fight, probably not a good idea with Britain. By the time I got into the Middle East, the Scipii had wiped out Egypt, so I don't know how Britons fair against Egypt. I don't imagine very well.:no: Probably good to use a lot of mercs at that point.
So they hired thirty and two thousand chariots, and the king of Maachah and his people; who came and pitched before Medeba. And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their cities, and came to battle. 1 Chronicles 19:7 KJV
They lost, by the way.
Vincent Butler
07-18-2014, 23:14
Ok, I started another campaign as the Britons, on M/M. After EB, it is amazing how fast enemy units rout in RTW. My main army is now four Chosen Swordsmen, one Swordsman, two Warband, one or two slingers (not effective against Rome), two Light Chariots, one Druid, and a General, though I may ditch the Warband, too low morale. Should I still keep them? I fight in a checkerboard formation. Rome is in Marian reforms, that is why I have four Chosen Swordsmen instead of normally two. I have found out that the warcry is vital, combined with the enemy being frightened by my chariots (and possibly by my Druids chanting?) my Chosen Swordsmen can rout Praetorian Cohort (at least with help from another unit, have not really seen one on one). Against barbarians slingers are more important, and I don't use Chosen Swordsmen, instead I use Woad Warriors. Dogs are good against Gaul, don't know about Spain, I am allied with them. Dogs are not effective against Germania. SPQR is no more, I vanquished them at 2-1 odds against me, though I took very heavy casualties. Stupid Urban Cohort.~:angry: Now the question: should I take Sicily or Greece? I am leaning towards Greece, but I don't feel like taking on Roman army after Roman army, as I am sure is there.
ReluctantSamurai
07-19-2014, 05:42
Never prosecuted a Britannia campaign to the bitter end, but you are correct on several counts---Warcry is essential, as are Chosen Swordsmen; Warbands lose their usefulness against advanced troops; and Wardogs are not of much use against heavy infantry with good morale. Druids are a waste of time and money, IMHO...just stick to the use of warcry.
The trade nodes from Greece tie in much better to your Italian conquests than does Sicily. If you've already taken places like Massilia, and Narbo Martius, then taking Caralis opens all the trade routes between your western Italy ports and southern Gaul. To take full advantage of Sicily's trade routes, you'd need cities like Carthage and Lepcis Magna.
There are three trade nodes that maximize routes in RTW: Caralis for the western Med; Crete for the central Med; and Salamis for the eastern Med. It seems like every damn trade route in those respective areas runs through the afore-mentioned cities:thinking2:
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