khelvan
12-28-2005, 19:06
Swêbōz Walkthrough
The Swêbōz are not one single tribe, but rather a federation drawn together through common interest and mutual enemies. Despite this, they need a strong ruler to hold them together for the game of politics is not just played out in the Roman Senate or the Hellenistic dynasts. The Swêbōz begin small, with little of value within their lands – however those dark forests conceal great wealth and their determined warriors can march and fight without the soft conditions of the people of the Mediterranean.
This short guide does not seek to tell you everything about playing as the Swêbōz – rather it is a simple narrative of the first few turns of one sample game. Hopefully it will demonstrate that in each and every faction – no matter it's start position – there is both a challenge and an opportunity.
Campaign options
https://img251.imageshack.us/img251/2614/1selectionscreen6zv.th.jpg (https://img251.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1selectionscreen6zv.jpg)
A couple of things here, I tend to play with No Advice on – I imagine that most RTW players who've come to EB will do the same.
You may have heard that EB uses scripts in order to add extra gameplay features that couldn't be added by any other means and that these have something to do with the advisor and so you might think that you have to turn Advice on. That's not the case at all – all the EB specific game significant advisors will appear at the correct time whether advice is on or not. Indeed, I encourage people to switch advice off entirely – with the huge revamping that the team has done, very little of the original advice is relevant anymore anyway.
Secondly, EB changes the standard victory conditions of capturing Rome and fifty provinces to conditions that actually try to reflect the interests of the nation historically. So ignore the Short Campaign box and the victory conditions down in the bottom left hand corner. We'll be talking more about the EB victory conditions a little further down.
Swêbōz starting position
https://img251.imageshack.us/img251/1297/2startposition4ah.th.jpg (https://img251.imageshack.us/my.php?image=2startposition4ah.jpg)
Activating the background script
https://img251.imageshack.us/img251/7233/3scriptactivation0tc.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
The first thing you must always remember to do at the beginning of a new game or after you've reloaded a saved game is to activate the background script. This is simply done by clicking on any one of your settlements – the adviser will then appear, click on him and it will bring up a speech balloon giving you instructions (namely, to press the Show me How Button indicated below). That starts the script and ensures EB runs the way it's intended.
As the Swêbōz, you begin your campaign with only a single province – Swêbōlándám with its settlement Swebotráustástámnoz. We'll start off by having a quick look at the buildings inside. Several of them will appear familiar to you already – though it's always a good idea to have a closer look as their bonuses and capabilities can be significantly different from vanilla.
https://img251.imageshack.us/img251/9454/4startingbuildings9rj.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
The last building in the settlement appears as a throne on a platform with a '1' in the top right hand corner. This is one of the new EB government buildings – whilst the vanilla 'governor' were principally just used to denote city size – the EB government buildings represent the means by which that particular settlement is ruled. A '1' government typically denotes a 'home' government – with the populace and society fully integrated within your faction, whereas a '4' government represents a far looser hold; whilst the city is nominally under your control it's inhabitants will consider themselves to be substantively independent – which impacts both your recruitment possibilities there as well as public order.
Appropriately enough, Swebotráustástámnoz is a 'home' government – which in the Swêbōz case is the Swêborêikjám – direct rule by the Thêngáz.
https://img351.imageshack.us/img351/7418/5homegovernment1gx.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
The building to its left is also new – it is the Nêrthuhárugáz, a holy island; it is a unique location within the boundaries of the province. There are many such examples across the EB map – always keep an eye out for them when discovering a new settlement.
https://img414.imageshack.us/img414/6596/6unique5lo.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
The last unusual building you can see there appears to be a Roman barracks. It's not, of course, it's just a building that hasn't yet had a graphic done for it yet (you'll see another example in the larger pic for the '1' government. Remember, the Open Beta is just that – EB players will finally get to enjoy the hard work put in by the development team, and you'll also have the opportunity to help make EB even better by giving feedback, identifying problems and even contributing material. If you think you can produce professional quality graphics to help fill those gaps then do please come over to the forums and offer your services; EB is always on the look out for talented people able and willing to share their work with the community.
Getting Going
As you can see, whilst they only hold a single province – the Swêbōz are most certainly geared up for war with three war parties waiting to cross into neighbouring territories and a significant reserve back in its settlement. You can see the flip side to that state of readiness if you have a look at your settlement – you're losing nearly 4,500 Mnai a turn. So, if you do nothing, you can be sure that you'll be bankrupt within the year.
https://img414.imageshack.us/img414/3099/7biglosses9wd.th.jpg (https://img414.imageshack.us/my.php?image=7biglosses9wd.jpg)
And it's not simply the case that you can tax your way out of your problems – the Swêbōz economy is not the powerhouse of other factions – there is little income there to tax.
The Economy
I'll tell you now, if you're not thinking about your economy from the very start then you'll inevitably slide into the red. As soon as that happens, your whole empire becomes as fragile as glass; troops cannot be retrained, mercenaries can not be hired and you stop being able to build the very economic infrastructure that you would need to be able to get yourself back into surplus.
For me, there are two different approaches to an initial financial crisis – expanding my empire to try and capture enough settlements to make my cashflow positive or pare down my forces and reduce my wage bill to allow me to build the trading structures I need before going campaigning.
Unlike RTW, in EB your finances will not simply take care of themselves – EB rewards players who are effective with their troops, not those who are merely extravagant.
In this case, I'm going to do both.
I decide I want to expand to the east and south first to consolidate my position before heading west where I know I'll meet the Gauls. I want my troops on the front line, not lounging around on garrison duty so I disband the garrison units in the capital as well as the troops accompanying Anushárjáz in the north-west.
https://img414.imageshack.us/img414/9063/8demoblise4wh.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
As you can see, that's helped give me a couple of turns grace, the rest must come through military expansion.
https://img412.imageshack.us/img412/5151/9goeast8ls.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
My spies have discovered a town to the east, Ascaucalis. Whilst it is moderately garrisoned it has no walls which means my troops can sweep in more quickly. I set Atháwulfáz marching to take the town, though it will be a few turns before he arrives.
https://img414.imageshack.us/img414/3578/10southeast9au.th.jpg (https://img414.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10southeast9au.jpg)
In the south-east, Hrábnáz chances upon another town, Gáwjám-Silengoz, which is closer. With luck I'll be able to take it next turn, though Hrábnáz's forces are not so strong.
Finally, as a longer-term move I dispatch my diplomat south where I know I will find several factions, there he can establish trade rights with several of my emerging neighbours.
https://img414.imageshack.us/img414/1176/11diplomat7xy.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
Meet the Family
Before we end our first turn, let's take a moment to find out a little more about our generals. One of the most innovative features of Europa Barbarorum is the strikingly different approach to traits
The trait system:
In real life, the same experience can have different effects on different people – success in some will spur them on to greater things, in others it will lead to complacency and sloth; equally, when times are bad some will rise to the challenge while others will break under the pressure. A person is not simply the sum of his experience, rather it is how his nature has reacted to those experiences.
In EB this is reflected in two primary traits, which ever character has that reflects their nature and their personality. Let’s take a look at a few examples:
https://img519.imageshack.us/img519/4020/23bu.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
This is Hrábnáz, our general in the south east.
His nature trait reads Sharp/Charismatic/Vigorous (whilst they’re all bundled together, they’re each considered separately). As we can read from the description he’s naturally intelligent, active and charismatic (and good looking to boot!) – a born leader indeed. However, despite this his personality has developed as decidedly negative, caring for little aside from himself.
It’s important to note at this stage that these traits don’t have a attribute impact themselves, rather they represent the potential of the character and will influence the type of traits he will acquire as he goes through the game.
By contrast here’s Atháwulfáz, our general marching on Ascaucalis:
https://img523.imageshack.us/img523/7775/31ft.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
He’s of similar natural abilities, however his personality has emerged more positively, a brave and dedicated follower of your faction, though as the description notes an unselfish attitude is not always a boon for a military warlord.
In EB, traits not only describe a character’s abilities they also give an insight into the character’s current state – whether he’s happy in his current role or bored, tired or on his sick-bed. It’s a good idea to check in with even stationary governor characters once every few years to see how they’re doing – a bored governor can be invigorated with a turn or two out of the city, whilst a sick general might be best advised to stay put for a while.
There are several traits whose meaning is not always immediately obvious – they may be clues as to special features within the game.
https://img366.imageshack.us/img366/284/40oo.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
Victory conditions
As you will probably have read already, EB has introduced faction-specific victory conditions. As well as being able to read about them on our forums there are also reminders in game. The first of which is the Victory Conditions trait of your Faction Leader:
https://img323.imageshack.us/img323/8113/50rr.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
You can also review them through the advisor by clicking on the ‘?’ button on the Faction Scroll:
https://img519.imageshack.us/img519/8449/65bj.th.jpg (https://img519.imageshack.us/my.php?image=65bj.jpg)
As well as listing them in the text, the advisor will also highlight any specific settlements you have yet to capture on the main map - so you can tell at a glance what is left to do.
https://img523.imageshack.us/img523/4315/71wh.th.jpg (https://img523.imageshack.us/my.php?image=71wh.jpg)
As well as territorial and other victory criteria, many factions also have raiding targets. They can be reviewed simply by clicking the ‘?’ button again at which point, as you can see, the raiding targets are highlighted instead.
Raiding a settlement is just a matter of capturing it and then holding it for a full turn, you can then pillage and abandon it or alternatively try to hold it; either way, even if you lose it subsequently, you will still have achieved that objective.
The Swêbōz are not one single tribe, but rather a federation drawn together through common interest and mutual enemies. Despite this, they need a strong ruler to hold them together for the game of politics is not just played out in the Roman Senate or the Hellenistic dynasts. The Swêbōz begin small, with little of value within their lands – however those dark forests conceal great wealth and their determined warriors can march and fight without the soft conditions of the people of the Mediterranean.
This short guide does not seek to tell you everything about playing as the Swêbōz – rather it is a simple narrative of the first few turns of one sample game. Hopefully it will demonstrate that in each and every faction – no matter it's start position – there is both a challenge and an opportunity.
Campaign options
https://img251.imageshack.us/img251/2614/1selectionscreen6zv.th.jpg (https://img251.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1selectionscreen6zv.jpg)
A couple of things here, I tend to play with No Advice on – I imagine that most RTW players who've come to EB will do the same.
You may have heard that EB uses scripts in order to add extra gameplay features that couldn't be added by any other means and that these have something to do with the advisor and so you might think that you have to turn Advice on. That's not the case at all – all the EB specific game significant advisors will appear at the correct time whether advice is on or not. Indeed, I encourage people to switch advice off entirely – with the huge revamping that the team has done, very little of the original advice is relevant anymore anyway.
Secondly, EB changes the standard victory conditions of capturing Rome and fifty provinces to conditions that actually try to reflect the interests of the nation historically. So ignore the Short Campaign box and the victory conditions down in the bottom left hand corner. We'll be talking more about the EB victory conditions a little further down.
Swêbōz starting position
https://img251.imageshack.us/img251/1297/2startposition4ah.th.jpg (https://img251.imageshack.us/my.php?image=2startposition4ah.jpg)
Activating the background script
https://img251.imageshack.us/img251/7233/3scriptactivation0tc.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
The first thing you must always remember to do at the beginning of a new game or after you've reloaded a saved game is to activate the background script. This is simply done by clicking on any one of your settlements – the adviser will then appear, click on him and it will bring up a speech balloon giving you instructions (namely, to press the Show me How Button indicated below). That starts the script and ensures EB runs the way it's intended.
As the Swêbōz, you begin your campaign with only a single province – Swêbōlándám with its settlement Swebotráustástámnoz. We'll start off by having a quick look at the buildings inside. Several of them will appear familiar to you already – though it's always a good idea to have a closer look as their bonuses and capabilities can be significantly different from vanilla.
https://img251.imageshack.us/img251/9454/4startingbuildings9rj.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
The last building in the settlement appears as a throne on a platform with a '1' in the top right hand corner. This is one of the new EB government buildings – whilst the vanilla 'governor' were principally just used to denote city size – the EB government buildings represent the means by which that particular settlement is ruled. A '1' government typically denotes a 'home' government – with the populace and society fully integrated within your faction, whereas a '4' government represents a far looser hold; whilst the city is nominally under your control it's inhabitants will consider themselves to be substantively independent – which impacts both your recruitment possibilities there as well as public order.
Appropriately enough, Swebotráustástámnoz is a 'home' government – which in the Swêbōz case is the Swêborêikjám – direct rule by the Thêngáz.
https://img351.imageshack.us/img351/7418/5homegovernment1gx.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
The building to its left is also new – it is the Nêrthuhárugáz, a holy island; it is a unique location within the boundaries of the province. There are many such examples across the EB map – always keep an eye out for them when discovering a new settlement.
https://img414.imageshack.us/img414/6596/6unique5lo.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
The last unusual building you can see there appears to be a Roman barracks. It's not, of course, it's just a building that hasn't yet had a graphic done for it yet (you'll see another example in the larger pic for the '1' government. Remember, the Open Beta is just that – EB players will finally get to enjoy the hard work put in by the development team, and you'll also have the opportunity to help make EB even better by giving feedback, identifying problems and even contributing material. If you think you can produce professional quality graphics to help fill those gaps then do please come over to the forums and offer your services; EB is always on the look out for talented people able and willing to share their work with the community.
Getting Going
As you can see, whilst they only hold a single province – the Swêbōz are most certainly geared up for war with three war parties waiting to cross into neighbouring territories and a significant reserve back in its settlement. You can see the flip side to that state of readiness if you have a look at your settlement – you're losing nearly 4,500 Mnai a turn. So, if you do nothing, you can be sure that you'll be bankrupt within the year.
https://img414.imageshack.us/img414/3099/7biglosses9wd.th.jpg (https://img414.imageshack.us/my.php?image=7biglosses9wd.jpg)
And it's not simply the case that you can tax your way out of your problems – the Swêbōz economy is not the powerhouse of other factions – there is little income there to tax.
The Economy
I'll tell you now, if you're not thinking about your economy from the very start then you'll inevitably slide into the red. As soon as that happens, your whole empire becomes as fragile as glass; troops cannot be retrained, mercenaries can not be hired and you stop being able to build the very economic infrastructure that you would need to be able to get yourself back into surplus.
For me, there are two different approaches to an initial financial crisis – expanding my empire to try and capture enough settlements to make my cashflow positive or pare down my forces and reduce my wage bill to allow me to build the trading structures I need before going campaigning.
Unlike RTW, in EB your finances will not simply take care of themselves – EB rewards players who are effective with their troops, not those who are merely extravagant.
In this case, I'm going to do both.
I decide I want to expand to the east and south first to consolidate my position before heading west where I know I'll meet the Gauls. I want my troops on the front line, not lounging around on garrison duty so I disband the garrison units in the capital as well as the troops accompanying Anushárjáz in the north-west.
https://img414.imageshack.us/img414/9063/8demoblise4wh.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
As you can see, that's helped give me a couple of turns grace, the rest must come through military expansion.
https://img412.imageshack.us/img412/5151/9goeast8ls.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
My spies have discovered a town to the east, Ascaucalis. Whilst it is moderately garrisoned it has no walls which means my troops can sweep in more quickly. I set Atháwulfáz marching to take the town, though it will be a few turns before he arrives.
https://img414.imageshack.us/img414/3578/10southeast9au.th.jpg (https://img414.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10southeast9au.jpg)
In the south-east, Hrábnáz chances upon another town, Gáwjám-Silengoz, which is closer. With luck I'll be able to take it next turn, though Hrábnáz's forces are not so strong.
Finally, as a longer-term move I dispatch my diplomat south where I know I will find several factions, there he can establish trade rights with several of my emerging neighbours.
https://img414.imageshack.us/img414/1176/11diplomat7xy.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
Meet the Family
Before we end our first turn, let's take a moment to find out a little more about our generals. One of the most innovative features of Europa Barbarorum is the strikingly different approach to traits
The trait system:
In real life, the same experience can have different effects on different people – success in some will spur them on to greater things, in others it will lead to complacency and sloth; equally, when times are bad some will rise to the challenge while others will break under the pressure. A person is not simply the sum of his experience, rather it is how his nature has reacted to those experiences.
In EB this is reflected in two primary traits, which ever character has that reflects their nature and their personality. Let’s take a look at a few examples:
https://img519.imageshack.us/img519/4020/23bu.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
This is Hrábnáz, our general in the south east.
His nature trait reads Sharp/Charismatic/Vigorous (whilst they’re all bundled together, they’re each considered separately). As we can read from the description he’s naturally intelligent, active and charismatic (and good looking to boot!) – a born leader indeed. However, despite this his personality has developed as decidedly negative, caring for little aside from himself.
It’s important to note at this stage that these traits don’t have a attribute impact themselves, rather they represent the potential of the character and will influence the type of traits he will acquire as he goes through the game.
By contrast here’s Atháwulfáz, our general marching on Ascaucalis:
https://img523.imageshack.us/img523/7775/31ft.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
He’s of similar natural abilities, however his personality has emerged more positively, a brave and dedicated follower of your faction, though as the description notes an unselfish attitude is not always a boon for a military warlord.
In EB, traits not only describe a character’s abilities they also give an insight into the character’s current state – whether he’s happy in his current role or bored, tired or on his sick-bed. It’s a good idea to check in with even stationary governor characters once every few years to see how they’re doing – a bored governor can be invigorated with a turn or two out of the city, whilst a sick general might be best advised to stay put for a while.
There are several traits whose meaning is not always immediately obvious – they may be clues as to special features within the game.
https://img366.imageshack.us/img366/284/40oo.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
Victory conditions
As you will probably have read already, EB has introduced faction-specific victory conditions. As well as being able to read about them on our forums there are also reminders in game. The first of which is the Victory Conditions trait of your Faction Leader:
https://img323.imageshack.us/img323/8113/50rr.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
You can also review them through the advisor by clicking on the ‘?’ button on the Faction Scroll:
https://img519.imageshack.us/img519/8449/65bj.th.jpg (https://img519.imageshack.us/my.php?image=65bj.jpg)
As well as listing them in the text, the advisor will also highlight any specific settlements you have yet to capture on the main map - so you can tell at a glance what is left to do.
https://img523.imageshack.us/img523/4315/71wh.th.jpg (https://img523.imageshack.us/my.php?image=71wh.jpg)
As well as territorial and other victory criteria, many factions also have raiding targets. They can be reviewed simply by clicking the ‘?’ button again at which point, as you can see, the raiding targets are highlighted instead.
Raiding a settlement is just a matter of capturing it and then holding it for a full turn, you can then pillage and abandon it or alternatively try to hold it; either way, even if you lose it subsequently, you will still have achieved that objective.