View Full Version : "Horns of the Bull" Out Of Character thread
The Carthage campaign - Horns of the Bull - has officially started.
I am taking the first reign but we are still open to members adding their names to the player list and I'm open to questions anyone has.
Just posting to advise that I'm still active.
I'm currently unwell so may not be able to post over the Easter weekend.
Sorry to hear you are under the weather, Braden. Nothing serious I hope. Have some rest and get well soon. :2thumbsup:
Hi Braden ~:wave:
I hope you get well soon :nurse:
Do you want me to pop down the hill with a card and some fruit/cholocolate? :bounce:
:charge:
Hey, getting better but haven't sat in front of a PC monitor for a week! ("What's up with that!")
Bad cough now but fit(ish) so will resume play.
Thanks for the sentiments guys.....I love you all.
I would like to join this PBeM. I have a few quick questions though:
1) What difficulty will we be playing at?
2)Why is it called play by e-mail, since, as far as I can make out, there is no emailing involved.
I hope to be in all of the PBeM from now on, looks like great fun!
Thank You, Glaucus
Hi Glaucus ~:wave:
Braden is overseeing this PBEM but is a little off-colour and not on-line at the moment. In his absence I will answer your questions:
1) The rules and difficulty for the PBEM can be found in this thread:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=62568
It will be Very Hard Campaign and Medium Battle difficulties.
2) The PBEM's used to be played by e-mail but are now uploaded/downloaded to and from the net. The name PBEM remains and the principal is still the same.
Hope this helps.
:charge:
hi Apu.....
....You're welcome to join this campaign if you wish. Just let me know.
Ok I'm in, and hope to be in more, though my write ups may take some time to mature fully. Yea I'd love to be a part of this, seems really cool, and you guys are like a nice sub-section of the forum. Thank you for welcoming me into this area so warmly!
I'll add you to the player list, initially last on that list but as experience tells us people drop out or have to pass when it comes to their tenure often.
Keep poping in for updates. And on that note........I need to post and update.
- First Update OOC -
Booo…..ha! I’ve not played Carthage in a campaign on VH before (only short play tests). So, excuses out of the way….
We have alliances with Numidia, the Iberians, Gauls (by default as they are now allied with the Iberians) and the Greek city states.
We’ve taken Messana.
The economy is generally healthy.
Carthage can produce Libyan Infantry so we can finally match Hastati toe-to-toe(ish).
We’ve killed a very large number of Romano faction members and heirs…..I’ve lost count really but three went down in Messana, four have died trying to retake her and two were killed in the desert of Byzacium….these are the ones I remember!
Good news out of the way….now the bad news :oops: :
The Brutii sank our navy which has just now been rebuilt to its former level.
The Brutii landed a large invasion force and took Thepsus (we have retaken it but the delay has meant the Numidians beat us to Lepcis Magna).
The Julii took Caralis
The Julii have just landed a full stack on Palma…..there isn’t anything to hold the island.
All sounds quite desperate but….at 72 the faction leader still rides into battle and has beaten several combined Romano invasions against Messana. (I really ought to get another faction member over there to lead his army before he croaks)
Libyan Infantry are being kicked out of Carthage as fast as we can produce them AND as Lepcis Magna is not a target yet we have a spare army which can be divided up so we can retake Caralis using our rebuilt navy.
So, my next phase is to retake Caralis, let Palma fall for now, re-enforce Messana and then kick the Greeks out of Sicily, before mounting an invasion force to retake Palma.
The time to turn on the Numidians will be for someone else to decide I’m pretty sure. :juggle2:
Right. As of last nights close of play we have recaptured Caralis, repelled several more invasions from Scipii, Brutii and Julii against Messana killing at least 6 more family members plus a Brutii faction heir!
I’ve not know one general to ever be the cause of so many faction member deaths. Our starting King must be responsible for about 15 roman family deaths now near Messana. They land, get beaten but can’t get back to their ships so are trapped and die.
The Navy has been rebuilt (obviously) so we can now cover the Northern coast of Sicily to try and stem the influx of Romans landing (they’re down to landing single units of Hastati at the moment though).
Corduba has been under attack from the Gauls and Iberians. The garrison has wonderfully repelled each attack though but needs re-enforcements of cavalry now.
Faction leader….hmmmm, now then I’m seriously thinking of passing the game on as he just won’t die! He’s 78 years young and seems not to tire.
Suggestions?
Faction leader….hmmmm, now then I’m seriously thinking of passing the game on as he just won’t die! He’s 78 years young and seems not to tire.
Suggestions?
Nah, keep going - you're doing great. :2thumbsup: For a king who was supposed to die after 3 turns, the leader is doing pretty well. You should be able to make a good story out of someone who is supposed to pass away quietly, but just keeps battling on. Sort of like Blucher or even Mugabe. ~;)
Playing out the full life of a King makes for a more characterful experience, but in RTW, it can be a burden on the player. It reminds me of what the late Pope John Paul II said when people said he should retire: "Should Christ have stepped down from the cross?" :sweatdrop:
Of course he'll die suddenly just as I'm about to embark upon some momentous venture....as is the way of things.
...and I think he'd rather be compared to Blucher. His greatest triumphs have been defending what is his rather than striking out against anyone.
Ahhhh...:laugh4: ....of course old Hanno has now died just as I did my first "end turn" tonight :wall:
Typical huh...
Anyway, I was not as prepared for the campaign as I wanted and only have info screen shots to put up.
Have uploaded the .sav file HornsoftheBull - I'll check its available tomorrow as I did experience a problem with the site.
Cannot contact Dutch_Guy as his PM inbox is full! If he hasn't either emptied or started in the agreed 5 days then its onto the next player in sequence.
OK, shame he kicked the bucket, but it sounds like you had a good innings. :bow:
BTW, I need to contact Dutch_Guy too about the Org gahzette. If he pops by and reads this, hopefully he'll delete some stuff from his PM box so we can both talk to him.
Quick update then:
BTW have done my IC write up already.
Ok, we are allies with the Greeks and this has held firm.
Seems I've stopped the Romans now from attacking us although we still need to reclaim Palma from the large army that took it.
Numidia are now Neutral to us so we can strike against them should we gather sufficient force, however, three very small Numidian "armies" have entered our territory this last turn.
Economy is stable but not yet great.
Happy gaming!
Hi Braden ~:wave:
I think you may be looking at an out-of-date list. In the relevant thread I had been promoted to 2nd and Dutch_Guy was last. If I am correct I will start playing this weekend. I will wait for confirmation before I progress.
:charge:
Yup, my mistake. For some reason I don't appear to have updated my own list from the latest agreed on the thread.
....feel free to take the baton up now. BTW - whoa are you in for an "interesting" ride (he, he, he, he) and you're going to find yourself using your ships more for troop transporting than fighting whilst you have to keep moving what forces you have about between Africa, Sicilly and Sardinia to fight off...well, just about everyone I think.
However, there is one jewel that will help...if you don't mind breaking a long standing alliance..
Good luck.
Hi Braden ~:wave:
Just a quick question on extermination before I proceed with my reign. Is there any occasion when you can use exterminate in our PBEM? I think later in the game players will just be dealing with revolt after revolt. For example if you have 10 settlements with maxed out populations. Each time 1 revolts enslavement will potentially tip the other settlements into revolt. This could go back and forth between settlements turn after turn. I know having full garrisons will only go so far in relieving the problem.
:charge:
Braden, your pictures aren't showing. I had a look at the URLs; which revealed you had linked to them from the upload map. The upload map is only a temporary place for the AM to check the pictures before they are moved to the story map (like I did). The new URL's are:
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/carthageposition.bmp
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/carthage257.bmp
Hi everyone ~:wave:
Well my brief and difficult reign is over already. I decided to take Syracuse thus ending our alliance with the Greeks. This got us a little extra money but my ports and settlements were continually sieged. I spent most of my time hunting ships with reinforcements to sink. This then cost me in having to continually repair my fleet. The overpowered pirates incurred my biggest losses!! Corduba had the plague and my weakened garrison was overwhelmed by the Spanish.
On to you now Tricky Lady, I must admit it is a challenge.
A few notes:
We have a single ship off Lilybaum with an army that was going to reclaim Parma. Unfortunately pirates sunk its escort. Get it reinforced straight away.
Carthage is our main troop production settlement. We can now produce Long Shield cavalry and if you upgreade the barracks you can get Poeni infantry. The face on Carthage has just gone red so beware.
I will post my write-up tomorrow.
Enjoy!!
:charge:
P.S. You can find the file HornsoftheBull2 here:
http://www.totalwar.org/Downloads/Rtw_Uploads/RTWupload/
Sorry but I struggled with Braden's link.
Tricky Lady
04-23-2006, 12:41
Huh??? Uh-oh... so it's my turn.... rrrright.
Well I downloaded YAKOBU's link, and have played two turns, but as it's been over five months since I last played RTW, I predict a disaster. I keep on losing my navy and there's a huge Brutii army heading for Messana.
So if you guys really want a challenge and don't mind being reduced to Carthage-Thapsus-Caralis, I'll play.
If you guys want to "win" this game, I better abstain from playing (believe me, I'm bad).
I say you just do your best. In reality, I'm sure every civilization had a weak comander as leader(though I'm sure a very nice one ~;)). It will be more realistic and challenging for the rest of us. And I'm pretty bad also, so I don't think its a problem. But thats just my opinion...
Gaulgath
04-23-2006, 14:22
Hmm, it seems that the Pbem for newbs is dead. Well, can I join this one? I wouldn't mind being placed at the end of the list, of course.
Hi Tricky Lady ~:wave:
Sorry to leave you in such a difficult position. I haven't played a full campaign on VH/M before or as Carthage and it is an eye-opener. I couldn't believe how relentless the romans were with landing armies on the island. Those pirate navies really don't help our cause either. I was also surprised when I attacked a roman army from 2 sides for it to adopt an L-shape to combat me. The house rules make it more difficult as well especially no extermination. It has been a refreshing change as I've not really got into 1.5 before and my enthusiasm for RTW may be returning :2thumbsup: .
:charge:
Right!
Well, I'm sorry that YAKOBU had such a short reign?? What was that about :dizzy2:
Anyway, I will say that I will like Tricky_Lady to play her turn....ultimately you will only get better by playing since you've been away so long and none of us will expect you to be uber-leader!
So, please take the mantle. If we loose...we loose, its a game and equal enjoyment is gained from loosing as it is from winning.
Pointers -
Libyan Spearmen are a fair match for the Romans Hastati, couple them with some flanking Iberian Infantry units and you have a winning formation. Add in some Round Shield Cavalry and you'll bet the odds against the Romans.
Use cavalry in wide flanking moves whilst your infantry "hold the line", when you get a chance, charge your Iberians down Roman engaged flanks whilst your Cavalry harass their rear.
Syracuse is a great win. Hold it and recruit from it.
I have to admit that I've continued to play this game and have lost Corduba twice (this last time was final) but have marched on the Numidians as well as taking Syracuse.
Poeni Infantry from Syracuse
Cavalry from Carthage
I still have to keep shipping troops around though to counter invasions on the islands.
Hope these pointers help.
Gaulgath - I can add you to the list at the end if you want to join.
Gaulgath
04-23-2006, 21:15
Right!
Gaulgath - I can add you to the list at the end if you want to join.
That would be good! ~:)
Tricky Lady
04-24-2006, 16:56
Okay, I'll play, and will try to keep as many regions as possible, and -who knows- maybe I can conquer some territories from the Numidians...
I think I'll play towards the end of this week. The coming days will be quite busy, and I fear I'm getting ill, so I'll have to fight an illness as well :embarassed:
So I'll post an update later this week.
Oh, before I forget, a quick question: what about the time I play? What's the rule? 10 years or the entire faction leader's career? Mine is currently in his early 40s so this might become a long game for me. :2thumbsup: or :sweatdrop:, it'll depend.
Hi Tricky Lady ~:wave:
My impression was that you finished the faction leaders reign. You had to pick an heir that was within 20 years of your faction leaders age to minimise the length of reign. Unfortunately I had no-one that fitted that critera and had to choose someone a little younger. This was further compounded by my faction leader dying peacefully at a very young age ~:mecry: !!
:charge:
Tricky Lady
04-24-2006, 18:16
I see. :sweatdrop:
If my reign lasts too long, I might get our faction leader more committed in difficult battle situations. :sneaky:
Hi guys,
The house rules :book: stipulate that you play "by Reign", we have encountered difficulties with this faction though...mainly that the faction members are all young(ish). This means we've been unable, so far, to abide by one of the other rules (as mentioned by Yakobu) but the rules are flexible and so am I :2thumbsup:
Tricky, if you want to put your faction leader into the thick of fighting....that's your call entirely. The benefit in the early game of having a heavy cavarly unit of significant numbers can't be underestimated. I used my faction leader constantly until his 78th and final birthday. Romans still didn't get him though!
As to game plan - Numidia seems a viable target as a small army can crush most of their much weaker armies (5-6 infantry unit + 3-4 cavalry). Just as long as you've got enough to hold the cities you take. Just watch the Numidian missle cavalry as they are remarkably resilient in hand to hand against your cavalry I've found.
This thread is here for players to ask help, assistance or just general questions so keep us posted on your developments and if you need help don't be shy :embarassed:
Have fun above all else.
Gaulgath - you're "in" now. take a seat and don't wait up....could be a long wait. :2thumbsup:
Tricky Lady
04-30-2006, 10:51
Hello guys,
A short update status... I haven't played much yet :embarassed: I'll play eventually, but the coming days are going to become much busier than anticipated (am buying an appartment + stupid work :furious3: )
So I was wondering if someone else is ready to play right now. If this is the case perhaps I can be moved down the list a bit... Just asking this as I know that when the PBM pace slows down a little when someone doesn't play for one week or more, the PBM is sometimes forgotten by other players...
Braden, can you move me down the list if there's another taker for the next reign? Sorry for being so annoying :wink:
I think PBMs are re-entering a dry-patch, with people getting preoccupied with other things. It might be best to forget about formal lists and just have Braden try to fix up the current player and the next in line.
AFAIK, the old list was:
Braden
Yakobu
Tricky_Lady
TinCow
Menelmacar
Zomby_Woof
Simon_Appleton
Mount_Surbibachi
Dutch_Guy
So it seems TinCow could be bumped up above Tricky_Lady. He posted in the WRE thread that he is getting over his Oblivion craze, so he's probably available.
I would suggest PMing Gaulgath to see if he would be willing to take the turn after TinCow. He volunteered in this thread and since he recently did a turn in the Seleucid PBM he should be reliable. Glaucus also wanted in, but I'm still waiting to hear if he is going to take up the now vacant slot on the Seleucid PBM that he volunteered for.
Most of the other players in the list either pulled out of recent PBMs or have not finished their write-ups for them. They, like Tricky_Lady can always post again when they are ready.
I'm still willing and available.
Simon, trying to stay with the list but I'm sure we'll get to you.
Have Pm'd TinCow, we'll see if he's available. Shame you couldn't make much of a go of it Tricky_lady. Any chance of ensuring the available .sav file is the most current?
Gaulgath will be Pm'd if TinCow cannot take over.
Good thing I checked in. Sure, I suppose I can play it. I'm still not quite over my Oblivion addiction, but I can take a day or two out help move this along.
Qs:
Should I be playing from where Trick_Lady left off should I play from Yakobu's save?
Do we want to impose a temporary 'reign' time limit due to the young age of the faction leader?
Tricky Lady
05-02-2006, 08:45
I think you better just take Yakobu's .sav file....
Hi everyone ~:wave:
My initial reign was very short so I am happy to share the reign of this leader if allowed. If you agree then TinCow could play him to a certain age and I will take over.
:charge:
Hi everyone ~:wave:
My initial reign was very short so I am happy to share the reign of this leader if allowed. If you agree then TinCow could play him to a certain age and I will take over.
:charge:
It might make more sense for you to keep playing and then TinCow take over at a certain point - presumably you have plans etc that were in mid-execution so it might be nice to be able to see them through. How old is the new leader? If you take a life expectancy of 65, you could divide the reign up so that you and TinCow have roughly equal play time (including your short stint as the previous ruler).
It might make more sense for you to keep playing and then TinCow take over at a certain point - presumably you have plans etc that were in mid-execution so it might be nice to be able to see them through. How old is the new leader? If you take a life expectancy of 65, you could divide the reign up so that you and TinCow have roughly equal play time (including your short stint as the previous ruler).
That sounds more appropriate to me. If the faction leader is in his early 40s as indicated above, we could just say he should play until 55. That should then give me a good 10 years, which is about what we wanted.
Hi there ~:wave:
I'm at work at present :embarassed: so not sure of age of leader. I'm happy to take the reign again as I did put Tricky Lady in a difficult position. Hopefully I will be able to turn it round before TinCow takes over. The only problem I have is that my next few days are very busy but I should definately finish my reign by the end of the weekend.
It will be great to get to some of those higher level troops as what I had were a little lacking :idea2: .
:charge:
Yakobu, can you find out tonight some answers for me so I can rule on this?
What year is it?
What age is the current FL?
What age is the next oldest Family member?
From this I can think of a way we can improve on the playing experience for the next people (i.e. you, TinCow etc)
Will do but if anyone can access the file before then please feel free to provide the information !! ~:cheers:
:charge:
P.S. On my write-up my faction leader died at 250BC.
Okay here are the answers:
It is 250BC Winter
The faction leader is Theages age 43.
He has a brother Asdroubas 34 (Heir); uncle Bomilkar 33; and cousins Bisaltes 29 and Juba 23.
I await your decision.
:charge:
Hi everyone ~:wave:
I'm a little concerned that this PBEM has stalled and Braden hasn't come back with a decision. Can we have a group consensus between the remaining players to see how we will continue?
:charge:
I agree - I second TinCow's recommendation that you play until your king is 55. I can't see that Braden would object to this, as it preserves the play order he set and seems to suit both you and TinCow.
I would just get started now - I know the weekend is prime gaming time for people with weekday commitments. I am sure Braden will not mind being presented with a fait accompli.
Moring guys and gals! Sorry, I've been unwell (again!) so haven't been able to concentrate on the computer side of my life this past week.
Anyway, I back econ21's suggestion.
Lets get this rolling again.:juggle2:
Hello again everyone ~:wave:
I have taken the current leader Theages to the grand old age of 55.
I have spent most of the reign stopping Roman fleets from landing armies on our islands. To reduce repair costs I tended to just target those fleets landing armies or blockading our ports. We have 3 fleets of 3 briremes each but the 1 near Sicily and the 1 near Palma need repairing.
We have a a 6 star general named Abascantus who I used to retake Palma. He is only 24 and is currently sat in Palma twiddling his thumbs. I look forward to hearing of his future exploits. Juba and Asdroubas (Heir) are also 4 star generals. We have also taken the Numidian capital of Cirta.
We are now making £6K a turn profit!!
Points to note:
Our faction leader Theages resides in Syracuse.
Our faction heir currently sits outside Thapsus and is set to auto-move to Carthage. Be careful as there are 2 Numidian armies close by.
I have done my write-up but must apologise as I am not a good story-teller so tend to just list the facts :embarassed:. On a plus side there are a few pics to look at.
I am enjoying this campaign amd may continue the save game as I have not played with Carthage before.
Over to you TinCow:
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/pbm/HornsoftheBull3.zip
:charge:
Ug... I spent the entire weekend playing the WRE PBM and I haven't finished yet. I volunteered, so I'll soldier up and keep pounding away, but it may be a couple days until I can get to the Carthage PBM. I need to finish playing WRE first, then do the write-up (I'll do most of it at work though, so no 'important' time will be lost, lol) before I can start on Carthage. If someone else wants to skip ahead, feel free. Otherwise, I promise that I will play it and do a write-up for it, you'll just have to be patient.
@ YAKUBO - well done! I've just saved the write up to my HD for reading tonight but the results can't be sniffed at. Good show and don't worry if you feel the write up is lacking, all anyone wants is what happened. Embelishment past that is just extra gubbins :dizzy2:
@TinCow - As long as you keep us updated and that your prepared to do this then I'm happy.
I started playing last night. Only got through a few turns, but my faction leader is relatively old, so I should be done by the end of the weekend, if not sooner.
Good work TinCow, Gaulgath is in the running for next player.
I will PM him now.
:2thumbsup:
Gaulgath
05-13-2006, 00:13
As you may know by now, Braden, I got your PM and am ready to play. Can't wait! ~:)
Ok, I'm done playing and have uploaded the save game:
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/pbm/HornsoftheBull227S.zip
Write-up should be posted sometime next week.
For anyone who is interested, here's the current state of the world. I'm rather surprised by Greece.
https://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b203/TinCow/Carthage%20PBM/mapend.jpg
Gaulgath, a few notes:
There's a big Gallic army right outside of Corduba. The city was full, so the last recruits and a new family member adopted there both appeared in single stacks alone and outside of the walls. Don't forget about them. Corduba also has a lot of unrest problems. I was going to knock down the current temple and build the Baal one for the added happiness bonuses, but never got around to doing it. That may help keep that city in order though.
The new faction leader is currently in Dimmidi. I was about to send him east and the army on the road was waiting for him. He's a bit old, but the next youngest guy didn't meet the 20 year requirements. Mine lived into his late 60s though, so may still have a long play time.
There's a lone family member on the northern coastal road who was on his way to Tingi to be governor. There's another lone family member on the road east of Dimmidi who was on his way to take Asdroubal's place.
There was a full stack Numidian army just outside of Cirta last turn, that's why the large stack of Sacred Band is in there. However, the stack has disappeared and I'm not sure where it is now, so keep your eyes open for it... and don't forget about the Sacred Band.
Brutii and Scippii keep landing armies on Sicily, some huge, some small. I've found a lot of success in sinking their armies while they're still at sea with the Sicilian fleet.
Gaulgath
05-13-2006, 21:27
Save has been downloaded, I will begin play... now.
Excellent work TinCow and thanks Gaulgath, have pm'd you back a big "Thanks".
Looking at that map my personal inclination would be to take Cyrene but leave the Numidians with Libya as a buffer between you and Egypt.
Cyrene is a great staging post to then take Crete.....and have nice Creeeeshan archers!! :laugh4:
As for Corduba, I don't think I've ever had a Carthage game where I didn't have serious unrest issue there so turning to Baal might be a good idea as long as you're ready for the big initial hit whilst the settlement doesn't have any type of temple....
......over to you now Gaulgath,
(darn great position we have now...thanks again TinCow)
Avicenna
05-15-2006, 11:28
Preparing for the great march Gaulgath?
Good point Tiberius, it’s quite possible that Gaulgath will be in a position to start kicking out Elephants and hence to consider the great Alpine trek in the rules.
…now THAT’s something to write about!
Parts 1 & 2 of my write-up have been posted. Parts 3 & 4 should be done tomorrow or Friday.
Good read TinCow, :book: , looking forward to the next parts.
My mind is now turning to who/what to do for the next PBM....I know its still quite a way ahead but I've got lots of playtesting to do before I decide on a short list of Faction or even what version of Rome:TW to use.
Gonna be a busy bee :coffeenews: :stupido:
But we're doing very well here and deserve a nice group hug...~:grouphug:
Part 3 is up now. Part 4 will be done tomorrow.
Gaulgath
05-19-2006, 10:58
I have been pretty uninspired to continue, so sorry for the wait. I will play as soon as possible, and should finish in a week.
As long as we know you're still around and intend to play, that's all that's needed.
Just to let the Players "in waiting" know, I have PM'd Gaulgath for an update. Progress needs to continue so I await his imminent update on his progress in the campaign.
:2thumbsup:
Gaulgath
05-28-2006, 02:53
Well... this is a sticky wicket.
Sorry for the wait guys. I was pretty uninspired to play RTW for a while. And I couldn't show you my progress because my internet connection was down. My CD drive has also jammed, and I can't get RTW into it. :no:
Hi Gaulgath ~:wave:
You have had the download for over 2 weeks now and twice you have mentioned that you were "uninspired" to continue. I appreciate you are also having problems with your computer as I am in a similar position. To keep PBEM's from stalling we need players who have a genuine interest in completing their reign. Should we let someone else take over the reign and if you get your problems sorted out and become a little more "inspired" then you could rejoin later?
@Braden, sorry not trying to do your job mate, just a suggestion ~;)
:charge:
Severous
05-28-2006, 13:13
I am ready to step up to play if you need me.
Have today and tommorow to play :2thumbsup:
If it is me do I have constraints or can I go for Rome in whatever way I see fit ?
I think YAKOBU is quite right.
Severous - why don't you download TinCow's save game and start playing right now?
Hopefully Braden will give this the ok retrospectively. But at least you will have some fun today and tomorrow.
Gaulgath
05-28-2006, 21:34
Ok then! Go ahead, and have fun with it Severous! The good news is my computer is fine now. ~:)
Severous
05-29-2006, 00:12
Hi Gaulgath. Great that you got your computer working ok. :2thumbsup:
Ive done a couple of turns now. Had my first full stack v's full stack battle for a long long time. Dont have many of them so I took lots of screenshots.
Hi Severous ~:wave:
Just a note in case you missed it: If you are taking Italy from the South you can only conquer as far as Capua and Tarrentum. Any further conquest needs to be from the North working down.
:charge:
Severous
05-30-2006, 07:35
Hi Yakobu
Thank for the interest and comment. I clocked it. So expect to have many fights holding against SPQR whilst my other troops work their way around Spain/France.
Special task...Elephants are on their long march.
Simon, thanks for keeping a “tab” on this in my short absence. Had internet issues over the Bank Holiday weekend….and being a holiday I couldn’t get any tech support!
Anyway, as a note for ALL players: I will be moving house in the next two weeks, unfortunately this means I will have to source a new ISP so I will only have net connection at work.
Gaulgath, glad you sorted your computer system now. Problems I’m sure I’ll mirror when I do my planned upgrades shortly.
Severous – that’s great news! I will be utterly on top of this PBM now so, any issues and questions you have feel free to PM me or post here.
Severous
06-04-2006, 00:42
Hi
I have been playing for a week now and taken 201 pictures. Most of which are in the thread.
Ive got a Gladiator Uprising to report tomorrow which includes Egyptians and Amazons.
The campaign position is becoming strong. 30,000 in the bank and two Roman factions out of the game. We have several spies, an assassin, Onager,Quinmarine, 10Star leader, War Elephant,Sacred band infantry,peasants(lots)...etc.
I am ready to hand over now despite my 60 year old faction leader still being alive. Im sure I can go kill him if I need to but he is a useful govenor and he would be a waste to kill just to pass the campaign on.
Is there anyone who wants to take over ?
I will play on....but now ready to hand over.
Hope people have found the pictures and story interesting.
Regards
Ps. Pity the thread jumps around so much as it loads up the bigger pictures.
That sounds like a major effort, Severous. :bow: Please can you zip your savegame and upload it?
Last I checked, the play order was:
Menelmacar
Zomby_Woof
Simon_Appleton
Mount_Surbibachi
Dutch_Guy
But I haven't seen much of Menelmacar lately. Braden might want to PM Zomby_Woof.
Severous
06-04-2006, 20:24
Hi
I didnt see the reply above and played on today.
My faction leader died in a riot.
Thread updated and ive now uploaded the save game:
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/pbm/HornsofBull222s.zip
Have PM’d Zomby_Wolf will await response over the next 48hrs
Severous,
Well done! Good game my friend, to be honest we don't look that far away from completion now thanks to the last three players. :2thumbsup:
Just a note to say I have picked up the savegame and got to 220 Summer.
It's a more interesting situation than I feared, as the fact that we cannot attack north from Capua leaves our strongest armies with nowhere to go.
The faction leader is about to leave Spain with the elephants, but he has only one army. The rest of the troops are locked up garrisoning very disloyal settlements. I will probably have to send one army from south Italy to keep the Gauls off his back as he marches on Italy. The money situation is getting tight, perhaps because I am splurging on mercs (to be historical).
It's been a little hard adjusting to vanilla RTW battles after spending most my time with BI, EB and RTR. Some of the deficiencies of the vanilla game that everyone complains about do stand out. Perhaps especially for Carthage because their infantry are rather weak. Enemy lines seem to melt quickly. But enemy generals are monsters - one chewed up three of my infantry units, including one Poeni infantry. I should not be surprised, as I've seen that with Silver Shields in the Seleucid campaign but it is not what I've got accustomed to from EB and RTR.
However, I'm trying to run fairly historical Carthaginian armies[1] and that does entail a lot of variety. So the battles should be fun, if a little bloody for us.
[1]Some rules of thumb:
1 general
1 elephant
No more than 4 cavalry, only 2 heavy (long shield, SB); the rest light (round shield, Numidian, barbarian merc).
max 1 each of Sacred Band infantry and cav (still unhistoric, but they can represent our best troops)
2 slingers max
6 spears (Libyans, Poenic, merc phalanxes, SB)
4 swords (Iberians, Gaulish & Spanish mercs)
2-3 javelins
No more than half the army Carthaginian - the rest mercs, Libyans, Iberians etc
Severous
06-09-2006, 19:54
I thought maybe our Italian army could launch an attack on the Gaul on the adratic coast. March up that coast and assault Patavium. Help clear the way of Julii armies for the faction leader approaching through France.
Money was easing in the last two turns after those big Roman city captures. If you engage in much toop building or mercenary hires you could tip the finances into the red unless expansion also occurs.
There are plenty of low quality troops around.
Good luck.
Just a note to say I am up to 214 Summer[1], currently besieged in Mediolanium, A lot of hard fighting awaits between here and Rome. IIRC, the faction leader is 48 and we hold only around 24 provinces.
[1]This PBM has been a little squeezed out by the time required to oversee the Will of the Senate one.
Severous
06-28-2006, 21:04
Glad its still progressing. Hope the elephants for the special mission are safe.
Hope the elephants for the special mission are safe.
Yes, they are - there was a tense moment when my elephants were among a lot of legionnaires throwing pila and I suddenly started to wonder what I was doing. But they all surivived and then I realised they were not the elephants for the special mission anyway! ~:doh:
I've made it to Rome with the elephants in tact. I'm thinking of stopping here. The faction heir is 52 and we are far short of 50 provinces, but the rest of the campaign looks like being a slog.
The savegame is romefalls.zip, so anyone who wants to take this campaign further can download it and play on.
I'll post a write-up in a few days.
I may interject a ruling here where; as long as we’ve completed our other objectives; the “Obtain 50 regions” objecting will be unnecessary.
So:
Have we captured our target regions?
Have we eliminated our target factions?
Do we control Rome?
If the answer is “yes” for all these I will close this campaign as a complete success as I am long a believer that a good campaign does not require 50 regions to be held but rather to reach that “critical mass” where defeat is near impossible in the given game settings.
Another Note: I am currently without a home PC, I installed some hardware and the PC died as a result (being looked into now). So, whilst I’ll have my new net connection at home this week I won’t have a PC to use it!! (damn!).
My aim is to playtest for two new campaigns:
1) an RTR based one
2) a BI based one
Once I have a working PC at home I will work towards setting up both these if possible.
Have we captured our target regions?
Have we eliminated our target factions?
Do we control Rome?
As of the savegame I uploaded, we controlled the Rome and the regions. I did not realise Numidia was a target faction, but playing on a couple of years, we take their last settlement (and knock out the Julii).
My aim is to playtest for two new campaigns:
1) an RTR based one
2) a BI based one
Once I have a working PC at home I will work towards setting up both these if possible.
Sounds good. I would recommend checking out Goth's "all factions" mod for BI (or even his Julianorum mod if you want to do a mega-Roman campaign). It brings the game up to (about) RTR standards - with very nice unit graphics - and makes the hordes more threatening. You can find them on the RTR forum on the featured mods sub-forum.
Econ21 - can you finish that last little thing? Seems odd to pass it to a new player if that's all that's left to do.
I can declare the PBM a success then!
There you go, Numidia destroyed - plus elephants resting in Roma.
https://img148.imageshack.us/img148/6649/carthageend7gf.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
I hereby formally Close this PBM as a Major Victory!!
- now everyone cheer. Go on!
and there was much rejoicing...
http://www.geocities.com/fang_club/much_rejoicing.jpg
Severous
07-06-2006, 21:47
Thank you Braden for organising the campaign and allowing me to participate.
I enjoyed using the Elephants to batter a way into towns and crush AI infantry standing in the breach. It was the four AI attacks over one end of turn that I will remember most. Never been so heavily attacked before.
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showpost.php?p=1158665&postcount=19
Patriarch of Constantinople
07-07-2006, 03:43
dang nvm
Yeah, Capua appears to have been a strategically important juncture of the campaign and hard fought for accordingly.
Once we had it though, Carthages Navies couldn’t be stopped!
Hannibal99 – Once I have repaired my currently broken home PC I will be conducting another (perhaps two more) PBM’s so keep looking.
Avicenna
07-07-2006, 13:26
You Carthies are going down in the WotS
:boxing:
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