Germania

[frogbeastegg]

Guide.

[Mightypeon]

Ok, I am currently playing with the Germans.
This are my early game observations:

Strengths and weaknesses:
The Germans seem to be the strongest barbarian Faction.
While the Gallians seem to suck in general the British tech tree requires to much before it can rival the strength of the German Phalanx.
To put it short: No Level 1 unit in the vicinity can beat the German Spears, and even most Level 2s will strife.

German have also very fast acces to an interesting early flanking unit (screaming women).

The Skrimishers are ordinary as is their Light Cavalry.

Their heavy infantry is also oridnanry, they are better than the Gaul counterparts but they do not really reach the brillaince of the German spearman.


Your early battleiline should be composed of your general, 2-4 Spear units, some Light Cav and Screaming women or Axemen.
If you get Archers use them, German Archers are important because they can be used to force your enemy into your hands.

Strategy:
Germany is poor. The first thing I doo is bringng trade and famring income online by builing a road, a level 1 famr and a Merchant in every city.
recruit some peasants to serve as preliminary Garrisons.
Every peasant you get nets you one big angry german Spearman who can be used for rapid early game expansion.
Where to expand?
Well, the Brittains always attack you (their goal seems to be Trier or Begicum or both). put your spears together and kick them around a bit.
The taking of Saxony, should be also clear.
I would recomand to expand into the east and the south.
In detail, try to aquire modern day prussia, modern day Lithunia and possibly Bohemia from the rebels.
If the Dacians beat you to Bohemia skip it.
I have made the experience that it is also possible to get as far a Russia.
You could also take Iovacium.
I would adovocate agasint taking Lugdugmum, this will always lead to a war with the Gauls. use your spy to check the istuation in Italy, once the romans have taken Mediolanum and modern Venice, engage the Gauls.
Try allying with the Juli, bolster this up by allying with the other romans too.
Chances are that the Juli will go for Spainor Karthage.
Now comes a buildup phase.
You may try to sack Great Brittain, however it is usually enough to sink their navy.
Basically, start preparing for the inevitable crush with rome.

[Jeanne d'arc]

This is great fun to play with the germans, the spearbands are the key to victory.Expansion is easy with so much rebel provinces around you for the taking.
Send diplomats to the southeast part, the Dacians will be there and also a few rebel provinces, use your diplomats to bribe any invading armies from the Dacians that are trying to take those.This will buy you some time and will preserve relations to the Dacians.Also get them to sign a trade agreement for like 1500 denari, use that money for bribing if u ever need to.Also make deals like that with the britons and gauls, they will also accept.
The Dacians will easely accept an alliance in my campaign.
The Germans have a very interesting unit roster and i disagree that the game sais they have limited cavalry, they actually have the best barbarian cavalry there is but u will only get these at higher levels.
Good luck!

[Mightypeon]

If have played my campaign a bit farther:
A: The Britains have to die, period.
They will attack you no matter what you do.
Be sure to take the first strike.
Use Bordesholm on low taxes to get a naval base and assume supremacy in the noprhern sea.
You dont have to invade Britain, just crush their navy.
You could even try to make peace after their navy is done for.
In the east some ok rebel provinces (vicus Gothi is nice) are yours to take, expand until Pripet and Tribus Gepide.
Do not engage another power on the "eastern front".
Try to take out Gallia after the Brits are contained, they have a medeterran acces and can get filthly rich. Try to get to good relations with rome too, you can beat them but you should not do it right now.

[chemchok]

I would say that crushing the Britons is more important than containing them. If you let them live, they will be an annoyance at your back for the rest of the game. Plus, once you take the British Isles you can largely forget about them and focus all your resources elsewhere.

A key province to take is Noricum (city = Iuvavum), you can easily seal off the mountain passes to the South to protect yourself from both the Gauls and Jullii. Keep yourself on friendly terms with the Dacians and Scythians on your Eastern front and focus on the Gauls. By the time your armies take Massila or Narbo Martius, the Gauls should have built enough structures (that don't incur a cultural penalty) in those two cities to allow you to churn out your higher level troops. This will provide you with a great staging point to invade both the Italian and Spanish peninsulas.

Remember, the earlier you fight Rome, the easier it will be.

[Basileus]

Its tough at the start but ive found it best to attack both the british city on the mainland and the gaulish capital under trier, wipe them both out as soon as possible or you´ll be in long wars with both. I tryed to play it historicly on my first try but those britons and gauls made my life sour almost evry time.

[Ronaldinho the berserker]

I agree with you fully, well almost. I think you should keep peace with the Dacians for as long as possible so if the romans try to attack you that way they have the Dacians attacking them, make the Dacians attack the Julii but not you. I on the other hand also think it is wise to take out Sythia, they are weak because they are spread out to far and their cities ar to far apart, therefore it is easy to take them and not much of anyone bothers you up there, and the more settlements the better.

[DojoRat]

The problems facing the German player are money and population growth. In my latest game I built few troops at first and went for the rebel provinces of Bordesholm and Vicus Gothi to the north. They're not cash cows, but they are easy to get and hold so attack them first while you send out your diplomats and develope your provinces.

The majority of my temples were dedicated to Freya. I wanted the fertility bonus but also knew that the towns I captured would be well developed to produce high quality troop so it's there I put my temples to Donar and Wotan.

As you build up for war remember your diplomats. Ally with Dacia and Spain and whoever will join you. Travel the world, establish trade and sell map info. Try to use this cash to build farms, markets and ports. Go easy on the troop production because their upkeep will drive you into the red after the these diplomatic windfalls run out. Another good use for this mad money is bribing troops. I took out a couple of Brit 1/2 stacks early on, and the Brits never recovered.

Your early strategic goal is to take Alesia and defeat the Gauls in the field but then eliminate the Brits. Take Sambrovia and Condate Redoran (sp?) and then jump across the pond (don't stay on board!) to take London. Usually the Brits oblige and send whatever they have left back to Gaul (you can wave to them as you pass!) so taking Britain is a walk in the park.

I focus on troops in London but concentrate on trade in the rest. That is why Britain is good to take first. It has all that extra trade income, and besides the occasional rebel is easy to maintain. Once Britain is secure it's easy to roll up the rest of Gaul.

I usually enslave as I go, unless it's a tiny settlement, then I occupy.

On to Rome!

[The Witch-King]

Ah, Germania, always a lot of fun. Here's an interesting strategy I read on the boards at TWcenter and which I've pulled off with great success. If it works, you've won the game, it's as simple as that. When you begin take ALL your troops and gather them into two large stacks near the town below your capital, I believe it's called Mongotiacum. Don't spent money on your towns, you won't be staying in these worthless lands. Buy a couple of spearbands in Mongotiacum and Trier and send them to join your armies while you wait for the troops from Vicus Marcomanni to arrive. Build some diplomats too (another two will do), they'll be invaluable to get money, which you'll desperately need. Now march south into Noricum, but ignore the town, you have bigger fish to fry. Send your diplomats to sell trade rights and maps to everyone you come across, you can often make 5000-10000 denarii with this. March your two armies into Italy and cross the Po river into Julii lands. Attack the Julii and lay siege to both their main towns. Build some rams, attack the next turn and exterminate, you need the money and you an't afford to keep a large garrison. Make Arminium your capital, you are here to stay! By now all the Romans will be at war with so push on to Rome as soon as possible. The Senate army is your greatest foe, the Scipii are probably busy on Sicily and it'll take the Brutii some time to march some troops to northern Italy. Lay siege to Rome, but do not attack. Those walls are deadly! If you're lucky the Senate will do something stupid, like attack your besieging army (you did remember to bring as many troops as possible, didn't you?). Defeat the SPQR army (nasty buggers with good weapons and armor, so use your spearmen to hold the line and flank them with your cav), if you're lucky you can destoy the SPQR troops inside Rome as they join the battle and capture the city the next turn. Exterminate the populace. Congratulations, you've captured Rome, including some very nice 3rd tier buildings!.

By now the Britons will undoubtedly have attacked your deserted holdings in your old lands. Let them! The lands are worthless and you did sell all the buildings, didn't you? Let the Britons waste time and effort buidling up these tiny hamlets. The Gauls will also inevitably attack you with their crappy warband/swordmen combo armies. Easy fodder for your spearbands, just don't let them swarm you. In the mean time your diplomats are running all over Europe selling traderights and maps to everyone they meet. By now you will have built up a large deficit (-10000 k and you'll be losing money for some time) and you need to get out of the red fast! Your armies will have taken losses and you need pecunia to retrain and reinforce your troops!

Retrain and reinforce your army in Rome (be sure to build shrines everywhere, preferably to Wodan) and march on Capua. Be careful here, I suffered a nasty defeat when the Scipii faction leader sallied forth from the town. He's a nasty bugger who can devastate your army. I destroyed him in a second battle but he took a while to die, so don't overextend your forces!

The Brutii will keep sending small to medium sized armies to Arminium, so keep a sizable force there. Hastati and Velites are no match Spearbands and Barbarian Cav, so it's shouldn't be a prob. The Julii are effectively neutered with their two main towns gone. It's possible they've taken both Caralis and Segesta. Take Segesta from them to drive them off the mainland. They may land armies but it's probably just a ragtag band of Hastati, peasants and townwatch, easy fodder for your spearbands (great unit and the key to victory!) so ignore Caralis for now. After you've taken Capua reinforce your army and swiftly march on to Tarentum, siege it, take it next turn, exterminate and march on to Croton. Rinse and repeat.

By now the Brutii are stuck in Greece and the Dalmatian coast and the Scipii are probably holding all of Sicily. Keep a large army near Croton and Tarentum, both the Scipii and the Brutii will occasionally send armies to take those cities. In northern Italy the Gauls are probably making a nuisance of themselves, so help yourself and take the two cities they have there and reifoce the pass leading to transalpine Gaul. Your original homelands have probably been taken by the Britons or have rebelled due to unhappiness. No matter, you now possess all of Italy and you should be making a profit by now and have some cash in your treasury from all those sackings. Build up Rome to make all those highend units you normally can't build until 150 BC. It won't take long, due to the excellent infrastructure in the Roman towns. Now build up an army and a fleet. A small expedition will be enough to finish of the Julii. The Scipii will take more troops but shouldn't really be a problem. And what do you do when you've taken Sicily? By now you're in a practically unassaillable position to take over the world! Be sure to send the Gauls and Britons your regards, preferably by a large army made up of Gothic Cavalry! I'm sure their warbands will appreciate the gesture. :p

[DojoRat]

Interesting. It's also more historically realistic to have the Germans launch a huge raid on Italy than create a nation state in the forrests of northern Europe. But I just don't see it as a necessity.

It doesn't take to 150 bc to build highend units. As soon as you take London and build the temples to Wotan you can get Gothic Cav. That should happen in 20yrs/40 turns. It also only takes two upgrades to make chosen archers, which to me is a far more important unit and makes your slow moving spearbands truly devastating.

But the strategy does have a more barbarian slash and burn feel, so i might try it when I cycle through the factions again.

[DojoRat]

Rome fell with a whimper. You know Rome is weak when the Brutii and not the Julii have control of Massila in southern France. \

It was more a matter of logistics than tactics to take Milan and Venice (still Gaulish!) and the two Julii cities. I was surprised to see the "faction destroyed" flag when the Julii cities fell, usually they own Sardina/Corsica and survive till you get around to raising a fleet. The Brutii sent a few stacks out of Illyricum but they had little to guard their cities and they quickly fell. I besieged Rome until they emerged at the end to fall on MY swords. The Scipii but up a good fight and even brought troops over by boat to try to raise the seige. The second battle must have killed the last of their line because when Capua fell they were gone.

My anti Roman battle plan is a simple, one sided end run.

(OOPs wrong button.)

The side will change depending upon the terrain/circumstances but I find one overwhelming envelopment works best against legions. 4-5 spearbands with 4 archers, 1 screamer, 1 general, 3 lc 2 hc and the rest axemen and wildmen. I set my spears/archers in the center but only a few covering forces on the weak side and mass the rest on the other. I use my cav to keep the velites at bay because they can cut you up if you get bogged down fighting some experienced legions. They will also provide a final straw, if needed, to crack the Roman battle line.

Dacia is next, followed by Macedon. I wonder if Macedon will be tough.
I hope so.

[Dragoncrusader]

A guide to the Germans

Troops
Type No /Experience /Attack /Total /mele/missil /Charge /Weapon Type /Defence Total /Armour /Skill /Shield /Hit Points /Recruit Cost /Upkeep /Special factors
Barb Peasants 120 0 1 1 light 4 3 1 0 1 150 100 Woods Snow
Skirm Warband 80 0 6/9 4 missile 3 0 1 2 1 220 130 Woods Snow
Chosen Archer 81 1 12/14 5 Missile 13 8 5 0 1 560 180 Flaming wod/snw
Spear Warband 121 1 10 8 light 12 3 4 5 1 510 200 Phalanx Wod/Snw
Screech Women 80 0 11 7 heavy 1 0 1 0 1 320 130 Woods Snow
Hounds 40 0 14 4 light 3 2 1 0 1 612 60 Woods Snow
Axemen 81 1 12 7 heavy 10 3 5 2 1 450 120 Warcry Wod Snw
Chosen Axemen 81 1 20 9 heavy 7 0 7 0 1 522 200 Warcry Wod Snw
Beserkers 24 2 22 8 heavy 7 0 7 0 3 756 120 Warcry Wod Snw
Naked Fanatics 80 2 16 6 light 9 0 4 5 1 430 130 Warcry Wod Snw
Night Raiders 80 1 16 8 heavy 11 3 3 5 1 486 130 Warcry Wod Snw
Barb Cav
54 2 11 9 Light 12 3 5 4 1 400 90 Wedge Wod Snw
Noble Barb Cav 54 0 11 10 light 15 6 5 4 1 600 160 Wedge Wod Snw
Gothic Cavalry 54 3 17 10 light 23 10 9 4 1 632 190 Wedge Wod Snw
Generals 24 0 14 10 light 14 4 6 4 22 940 92 Snow
Hastiti 80 0 8/12 2 heavy 14 5 4 5 1 440 170
Equites 54 0 8 7 light 12 3 5 4 1 390 110 wedge

Tech Tree

Town Large Town Minor City
Govern Warrior Hold (Peasants) Warlords Hold (Diplomat) High Kings Hall (Gen Bodyguard +1)
Walls Wooden Palisade Stockade na
Barracks Musterfield (Spear Warb) Meeting Hall (Axemen) Hall of Heroes (Chosen Axemen)
Stables na Stables (Barb Cav, Hounds) Warlords Stables (Barb Noble Cav)
Rangesna Practice range (Skirm warb) Archery Range (Chosen Archer)
Smiths na Blacksmith needs trader (weapons +1) Weaponsmith needs market (Weapons +1 Armour +1)
Port na Port (1 trade fleet)(boats) Shipwrght (2 trade flt)(large boat)
Farm Land clearance (food +1) Commnl farming (food +2) X
Roads Roads (trade + travel) x x
Tavern na Tavern (Public Order +5%) Bardic Circle (Order +10% Nightstalker)
Trade Trader (populus + 0.5%) Market (populus +0.5% Spy) Great Market (populus +0.5% Assassin)
Freya Happy +5% Populus +0.5% Screeching Women Happy +10% Populus +1% Happy +15% Populus +1.5%
Donar Happy +5% Happy +10% Experience+1 Happy +15% Experience +2 Beserker
Woden Happy +5% Experience+1 Happy +10% Experience+2 Naked Fanatics Happy +15% Experience +3 Gothic Cavalry


Short campaign set at medium/medium. Objectives 15 provinces and outlive Dacia and Scythia. These factions are very similar to Germania but the Dacians have some armoured infantry and the Scythians lots of horse archers but neither have any spears.

Overview
Your starting position is good because you have five provinces in Central Europe and these are surrounded by rebel ones. But you are going to need it because you have a small population, low population growth and low level technology (Germania can only build up to Minor Cities) and this can present a challenge in a long game. So the plan is to expand widely and fast before the other factions can get established and to challenge the Romans early as possible.

Development
You have 2 large towns Damme and Mogontiacum with 3000 souls and a technology goal of 6000 and these should be developed first into your troop producing centres and you should aim to get at least one of them up a tech level to Minor City. I had Mogontiacum, as a cavalry and missile troops centre for Noble Cavalry and Chosen Archers so that there was less of a drain on the population and built it first into a Minor City. I built the temple line to Woden to get Gothic Cavalry. Damme became the infantry centre and had the temple line to Donar and developed more slowly. Develop the other towns with level 1 items such as a palisade, farm, roads, trader and a temple to Freya for population growth. Have a garrison of 1 Peasant in each and 3 spear warbands on frontier towns. I doubt if there will be enough spare cash or people to develop any of the Towns into Large Towns early in the game but if you can, build a musterfield in Batavadurum and use this to supply extra warbands. Later you can build a port here when it grows into a Large Town. You only get four family members so have a governor in each of the two large towns and two armies. In the early game I make it a rule only to spend the PROFITS from each year and to leave the balance as an emergency fund. You will have to more population into the three towns that you are developing and you can do this by recruiting peasants, sending them to the developing town and then disbanding them.

Economics
Normally your low tech level, would be offset by trade income and you would have plenty of money. Not Germania. You will be short of cash all the game and I only managed to keep two 20 unit armies in the game with a 10 unit reserve and three frontier garrisons of four units each. About 65 units in total and about 10 diplomats and spies. Your farm income is low at between 300d and 450d a province and less than 200d in internal trade (due to poor roads) and you only get one mine in Vicus Gothi another 200d. External trade is difficult to get as you only have a port onto the North Sea and can only trade with Britannia and Gaul, both of whom are at war with you most of the time. My trade with Londinium was worth around 700d when it got going. Trade does build later when you capture the Black Sea and Gallic Mediterranean ports but by then you are facing the Romans, so you are going to need it. I kept two diplomats full time selling map information, one in Italy and Spain and the other in Greece and Anatolia. At between 5,000 and 15,000d a time this was a major source of revenue.

Tactics
Your troops are some of the best barbarian soldiers and the spear warband in phalanx formation is very powerful. Coupled with some Barbarian Cavalry to run down missile troops and routers and some axmen to cover flanks of the phalanx that is your early game army. It will defeat all the barbarian opponents, often when you are heavily out numbered. Just roll the army forward into the enemy and watch their centre crumble! Later you can add Noble Cavalry to crush the enemy’s cavalry and their flanks. When besieged just roll a phalanx into the breach and wait for the enemy to kill themselves. I normally have just three spear warbands so that I can cover all the breaches and a missile unit to keep off their missile units. I have seen just such a force kill an entire army of besieging Britons.

Against the Scythians, you will need to take armoured cavalry to destroy their cavalry and infantry (and survive the arrows) and as many Chosen Archers (guarded by 4 spear warbands) and Mercenary Horse Archers as you can muster. You will suffer casualties but your firepower should keep the Horse Archers at bay and they are not a strong faction.

Against the Romans, you need to guard your flanks but again you just need to roll the phalanx forward to destroy their centre. A single unit of spear warband is on a par with a unit of Hastatii so try and get all the armour and weapon upgrades that you can. Keep your units tight in a line so that you get local superiority when the Romans are more spread out trying to outflank you. What I find odd is that the recruitment cost of the Spear Warband is 70d greater than a unit of Hastatii and the upkeep 30d more. They have about the same combat power but you have a lot less money and population than any Roman Faction so these are relatively expensive units. You will need to fight every battle yourself so that you do not lose any men that you do not need to.

Strategy
You have a central position and will have to fight a war on two fronts using your interior lines to mass your troops against any threats that develop. Luckily you have the Alps to the south and if you can capture Iuvavum you can put a fort in the Alpine pass to the south to stop the Gauls/Romans coming that way. That leaves Gaul and Britannia in the West and Dacia, Macedonia and Thrace to the east. My strategy was to keep an army in the West and fight a slow war against Gaul and to neutralise Britannia through diplomacy – in the end they fought the Gauls instead. In the East, I sent every spare unit (about 30) to capture Dacia with Macedon and Thrace as allies and then sent a two pronged thrust into Scythia, one prong going along the Black Sea coast and the other through Pripet. I had just finished that in 243bc when the Brutii attacked from Pannonia but I was able to bring the army back from Scythia and Gaul to stop them. Game won. Continuing the game, I will take Greece to improve my economy and population and then southern Gaul and finally move into Italy.

Starting Strategy
270 BC Mass all your troops at Mogontiacum and your spy as your Eastern Army and send them to capture Lovosice, Vicus Marcomanni, Vicus Gothii and Bordesholm from the rebels. Move south to capture Iuvavum and built a fort in the pass through the Alps garrisoned by 3 spear units to stop forays from Italy. 263 BC Use Lovosice as a base to build up and retrain the army and then move into as much Dacian territory as you can before the Brutti get there. Capture Dacia by around 245 BC and then strike into Scythia using Vicus Marcomannias a base. The distances in the East are huge, so split up into small armies and try to capture as much of the Scythian hinterland in the first strike. It is not well defended as the Scythian army is at Campus Scythii facing the Thracians. Concentrate again at Tanais and destroy the Scythians in the province of Scythia around 230 BC. You are then positioned to move into Greece or against the Brutii as you wish but you have now won the short campaign.

270 BC In the West send the diplomat to Alesia to get an alliance with the Gauls and sell them map information and then onto the Britons for trade agreement and map information. Build an army Batavodurum as the Britons will attack soon. When they do, counter attack and capture Samarobriva which should finish the Britons on the mainland for a while. If the Julii fight the Gauls, you may get peace there for a long time but if they go into Spain then the Gauls will attack you. They attacked me around 263 BC and I captured Alesia and sent about 1,500 of its population to Mogontiacum which finally became a minor city in 253 BC. The Gauls kept sending small armies up to Alesia which were easy to kill and kept the Britons under control with a diplomat. Around 240 BC having destroyed the bulk of the Gallic armies, I captured Lemonum and the British re-appeared on the mainland, got a bloody nose at Samarobriva and so went off to besiege Condate Redonum- a Gallic town! Captured Massilia around 230BC but kept other Gallic provinces alive as a buffer against the Julii.

Gave up trying to control rebel armies, as I always seemed to have four and I could never seem to bribe them, even family members.

I quite liked playing the Germans but got fed up with the lack of money and always having to scrape together units to get together a decent attacking army. Also the task of taking on Scythia was very dull as the distances were so huge and you were vulnerable to an attack back home. But they have the best barbarian army and can take on anyone. Am now going to try this emigrate to Rome strategy. Sounds like fun!

[Es Arkajae]

Ah, Germania, always a lot of fun. Here's an interesting strategy I read on the boards at TWcenter and which I've pulled off with great success

Thats a good idea.

Playing as Germania I abandoned Germany after building roads and one unit of peasants in each province and a couple extra spear warbands, and then moved all my forces down to the mountain pass just above Mediolanium.

I took Mediolanium, built a fort blocking the road to Masilia to stop Gaul reinforcements and then took Patavium. Building up some more units over the next few turns (some axemen and naked fanatics), I also hired some barbarian cavalry mercs Then it was war against the Julii and other Roman factions. The battle against the combined Julii/SPQR armies was something fierce but from a good defensive position I let the Roman armies break on my wall of spears.

Overtime I lost all of Germania to the Britons, Gauls and rebellion but I have all of mainland Italy and just took Sardinia (a quick hop from Rome and the AI usually won't attack ships in port).

I couldn't have done it without the money gained from selling maps and sacking cities but now I have such an extensive domain I have money rolling in and two major armies in the field.

The Julii are gone, the Brutii have been reduced to Salona and Apollonia, Rome is taken and is now my capital.

The Scipii control all of Sicily, Thapsus and they're about to take Carthage, so I'll need to take them but it shouldn't be too diffcult with some smart transporting.

Of course when I start going up against some phalanx armies my battles will probably get more difficult but a spear wall works wonders against the Romans.

Great game, great idea mate

Edit: as this is a guide I should probably add some better tips:p

Here they are.

* Spear walls are your friends, if on the defensive then find a place where you can protect your flanks and plant a wall and let your enemy come to you, place some axemen behind the line to send in as reinforcements to endangered parts of the line. Hold back your cavalry to chase routers or destroy missile troops that hang around after you've smashed their heavy infantry.

* If on the offensive then march your spear wall right up to the enemy and then stop, same effect instead this time the mountain is coming to Mohammed. Just watch their cavalry around the flanks, use your own cavalry to intercept these or pin them until something better can arrive, standard stuff.

* The AI will hardly ever attack forts, just four well placed forts in Northern Italy will help guard your back whilst your armies conquer their way South, at the worst case the enemy will attack, you won't be able to bribe them and you will lose the fort and the single unit inside. However you will have bought time to rush one of your armies north to reinforce your two northern cities.

* The AI will hardly ever (if ever) attack ships in port, Sardinia is just one quick hop away from Rome, Sicily from Capua and Carthage from Lilybaeum, you don't have to engage the Roman navies just avoid them when you transport an army.

* A tactic I considered when going up against the Julii/SPQR army, its a gross exploit so I didn't use it, by result the battle was much closer but I felt more manly but if you're stuck then maybe its for you.

Plant your spear wall right in the corner of the deployment screen on defensive battles with a flank on each edge, as soon as the battle starts move them backwards so that there is no way around their flanks at all, stick all your other units behind them. Use screeching women/warcries whatever to buck up your line, maybe stick some skimirshers behind it too.

Unless you fight like 'an old woman or an idiot' you will not lose that battle.

[Agravain of Orkney]

* A tactic I considered when going up against the Julii/SPQR army, its a gross exploit so I didn't use it, by result the battle was much closer but I felt more manly but if you're stuck then maybe its for you.

Plant your spear wall right in the corner of the deployment screen on defensive battles with a flank on each edge, as soon as the battle starts move them backwards so that there is no way around their flanks at all, stick all your other units behind them. Use screeching women/warcries whatever to buck up your line, maybe stick some skimirshers behind it too.

Unless you fight like 'an old woman or an idiot' you will not lose that battle.

Yep. In multi-player battles we have a name for this tactic -- "corner camping". Many tournaments have a rule which bans it. It is ok to use a feature of the map like a village, rock outcrop, or water to anchor one or even both ends of your line, but using the edge of the map is considered cheesy.

[Rurik the Chieftain]

Big object of emphasis for Germany: TAKE ROME EARLY. I decided to conquer all of Gaul instead of heading down to Italy, and by the time I got there, things didn't seem so bad. The Julii had idiotically allied with the Gauls and had about 3 provinces, so were no problem. The real problem was the Brutii. In my campaign, the Brutii had all of Greece up to Macedonia, and all of Southern Italy. The Scipii were all in Africa so not a problem. Apparently, 3 of the roman factions sat around and did nothing, while the Brutii became unstoppable. Right now I'm at around 173 B.C. and in a continuing deadlock with the Brutii. They are at the point where they can just send a continual river of full stack armies to my 3-4 cities in north Italy. I'm trying to go through their back door by sending armies through the balkans to greece. But right now they show no signs of stopping. Hopefully I'll make a breakthrough soon and deal with the other, weak romans. Believe me, fighting 20 legions every turn isn't fun.

[Stefan the Berserker]

Ah, Germania, always a lot of fun. Here's an interesting strategy I read on the boards at TWcenter and which I've pulled off with great success. If it works, you've won the game, it's as simple as that. When you begin take ALL your troops and gather them into two large stacks near the town below your capital, I believe it's called Mongotiacum. Don't spent money on your towns, you won't be staying in these worthless lands. Buy a couple of spearbands in Mongotiacum and Trier and send them to join your armies while you wait for the troops from Vicus Marcomanni to arrive. Build some diplomats too (another two will do), they'll be invaluable to get money, which you'll desperately need. Now march south into Noricum, but ignore the town, you have bigger fish to fry. Send your diplomats to sell trade rights and maps to everyone you come across, you can often make 5000-10000 denarii with this. March your two armies into Italy and cross the Po river into Julii lands. Attack the Julii and lay siege to both their main towns. Build some rams, attack the next turn and exterminate, you need the money and you an't afford to keep a large garrison. Make Arminium your capital, you are here to stay! By now all the Romans will be at war with so push on to Rome as soon as possible. The Senate army is your greatest foe, the Scipii are probably busy on Sicily and it'll take the Brutii some time to march some troops to northern Italy. Lay siege to Rome, but do not attack. Those walls are deadly! If you're lucky the Senate will do something stupid, like attack your besieging army (you did remember to bring as many troops as possible, didn't you?). Defeat the SPQR army (nasty buggers with good weapons and armor, so use your spearmen to hold the line and flank them with your cav), if you're lucky you can destoy the SPQR troops inside Rome as they join the battle and capture the city the next turn. Exterminate the populace. Congratulations, you've captured Rome, including some very nice 3rd tier buildings!.

By now the Britons will undoubtedly have attacked your deserted holdings in your old lands. Let them! The lands are worthless and you did sell all the buildings, didn't you? Let the Britons waste time and effort buidling up these tiny hamlets. The Gauls will also inevitably attack you with their crappy warband/swordmen combo armies. Easy fodder for your spearbands, just don't let them swarm you. In the mean time your diplomats are running all over Europe selling traderights and maps to everyone they meet. By now you will have built up a large deficit (-10000 k and you'll be losing money for some time) and you need to get out of the red fast! Your armies will have taken losses and you need pecunia to retrain and reinforce your troops!

Retrain and reinforce your army in Rome (be sure to build shrines everywhere, preferably to Wodan) and march on Capua. Be careful here, I suffered a nasty defeat when the Scipii faction leader sallied forth from the town. He's a nasty bugger who can devastate your army. I destroyed him in a second battle but he took a while to die, so don't overextend your forces!

The Brutii will keep sending small to medium sized armies to Arminium, so keep a sizable force there. Hastati and Velites are no match Spearbands and Barbarian Cav, so it's shouldn't be a prob. The Julii are effectively neutered with their two main towns gone. It's possible they've taken both Caralis and Segesta. Take Segesta from them to drive them off the mainland. They may land armies but it's probably just a ragtag band of Hastati, peasants and townwatch, easy fodder for your spearbands (great unit and the key to victory!) so ignore Caralis for now. After you've taken Capua reinforce your army and swiftly march on to Tarentum, siege it, take it next turn, exterminate and march on to Croton. Rinse and repeat.

By now the Brutii are stuck in Greece and the Dalmatian coast and the Scipii are probably holding all of Sicily. Keep a large army near Croton and Tarentum, both the Scipii and the Brutii will occasionally send armies to take those cities. In northern Italy the Gauls are probably making a nuisance of themselves, so help yourself and take the two cities they have there and reifoce the pass leading to transalpine Gaul. Your original homelands have probably been taken by the Britons or have rebelled due to unhappiness. No matter, you now possess all of Italy and you should be making a profit by now and have some cash in your treasury from all those sackings. Build up Rome to make all those highend units you normally can't build until 150 BC. It won't take long, due to the excellent infrastructure in the Roman towns. Now build up an army and a fleet. A small expedition will be enough to finish of the Julii. The Scipii will take more troops but shouldn't really be a problem. And what do you do when you've taken Sicily? By now you're in a practically unassaillable position to take over the world! Be sure to send the Gauls and Britons your regards, preferably by a large army made up of Gothic Cavalry! I'm sure their warbands will appreciate the gesture. :p

I did this also, but keep one of your heirs at the western border and build peasants for Garrison in Germania after you reached Italy. When you attack the roman Cities, enslave their population and the northern villages will soon grow fine... Then you'll be having two Empires, the grown-up Germany and the captured Italy. If you connect the two pieces to one by captuering Iuvavum, Mediolanum and Patavium from the Gauls you have the H.R.E.o.G.N. in the Ancient!

Other emigrations do also work, you can easyly win the short Campaign if you travel to the Balkans and put up somekind of Austria-Hungary in the West or Ostrogoth-Empire in Romania...

[Hurin_Rules]

Just finished my first campaign as Germania on m/vh. Really fun. A few points I noticed:

First I tried smashing the Britons right off the bat. This did not work. The problem was that by attacking Samarobriva I overextended myself and invited attacks by both Britons and Gauls. I took Samarobriva, but had to fight off three major armies in about 6 or 7 turns. I defeated them all, but my army was battered and the Gauls immediately took the city back. I spent a lot of money and was back to square one.

I started again and went with the "let Trier be Verdun" strategy-- build up Trier as a defensive town to suck in the inevitable attacks by Gaul and Britannia, while concentrating on expanding into north and east into the Baltic in particular. Once I had some good incom from places like Bordesholm and Vicus Gothi, I could hold off both Gaul and Britannia. After building up a while I got Batavodurum to build a ship, landed and took Londinium. After that, the Brits slowly weakened and I turned my attention to Gaul. They were fighting the Julii so it went easier than expected. I took all of France and made some forts to guard the Pyrrennes and the Alps. Then I invaded northern Italy (taking out Dacia, which was one of the conditions for short campaign victory), pushed into and took about 2/3 of Italy, including Rome. Things slowed a bit after that as Marius' reforms meant his troops outclassed mine (and I was getting to lazy to fight each battle--autoresolve sucks!). Then I sent my fastest troops and mercenaries east to take Scythia. That took a long time, as he had stretched all the way to campus Alanni, and it took 15 turns just to get there!

In terms of tactics, chosen archer warbands are great against the Romans pre-Marius. I just set up my phalanxes and dared him to attack; if he didn't, my archers decimated his troops; if he attacked, my spears pinned him while my cavalry flanked. I hope they work on the AI for the patch, as it is pretty stupid.

Never found naked fanatics to be of much use-- too fragile. Gothic cavalry are good; I also bought some Sarmatian mercenaries but I was disappointed in their performance.

[Mightypeon]

I found out that it is possible to hold the western border, expand into Behmiea, civus Gothi and Bordesholm and crush rome in the same time.
However you would have to do some "phase spear" or deploy at the end of the field abuse for it.
For those who dont know: phase spear takes advatnadge of the affect that Phalanx troops can attack through Walls. Place you Phalanx directly beihind a gate (put guard on). You should see their spears sticking out on the other side.
The approaching enemy rams will not be able to do damage because your spears are long enough to kill the first 2 soldiers who man the ram.
The other abuse invloves setting up in the edges.
4 Phalanxes can esily strecht an edge, make sure that there is no room to flank you nad have a field day.

[Franconicus]

Here’s my first post. The guide is an excellent work. Thank you, Mylady!!
It really helped my armies in many battles.

Germania is my third campaign, after Julii and Carthago. I played hard/hard with the unpatched version.

Germania has really strong spearbands, but it is poor and so you will not have much fun if you are passive. I tried first to be defensive in the west and start collecting the rebel provinces in the east. It didn`t work. I could easily win Saxones, Gothi and Locus Gepidal but that doesn’t help. I found myself in massive defensive battles against Gauls and Britons very soon. It took too long to win and conquer Gaul. When I finally made it the Julii were very strong and killed me. So I tried again.

De Bello Gallico

I gathered my armies near Trier. While waiting for the troops coming from the east I produced new units (spearbands, light cav, women) nearby, fought rebels and took Saxones. Then I marched directly to Alesia, the capitol of the Gauls and attacked it at once. I didn`t have many troops and they were inexperienced. But I made it after a tough fight. Holding Alesia breaks the backbone of the Gaulish and it is a good production center. If you get it so early, however, there is not much infrastructure here.

I refilled my army and rushed south the valley of the river the natives call Rhone. The garrison of Alesia was build by reinforcements I received from home. I took Lugundum. I didn’t go directly to Massilia, because I expected to meet the Julii there. So I took Narbo Martius. I had to reject an Gaulish attack near Alesia. The resistance was poor. I installed a steady flow of reinforcements from Damme, Trier and Alesia south. I also send an army towards Samarobria. They should watch and catch the Britons if they try to invade. Here I had my first major battle.

My armies used to have spearmen and light cavalry. First to hold the front line second ones to flank and attack. In this battle I had three spearbands, two light and two heavy (chief’s) cavs. I had also some naked fanatics, two skirmishers and one unit of screaming women. I attacked an army of the Britons that was twice as strong in number.

The battlefield: hills on the right and forests on the left. I told my fanatics to hide in the wood as well as the skirmishers and the women. I posted my spears in the middle of the field and my cav at the right.

The Britons had a longer frontline than I. They had chariots at both flanks.

I waited for them to attack. However, that was exactly what they didn’t. I advanced my spears a bit. Nothing happened. I grouped my cav in two pairs (each heavy and light) and let the first pair advance and the second follow. When I almost reached the enemy the chariots on this side attacked. Now there was a big gap between my cav and my spears and another gap between them and the forest. Fortunately my cav killed all the chariots on the right flank easily. The general of the Britons finally decided to attack. His infantry moved to my spears and the chariots from the left came to attack my cavs on the right. My cavs hit them hard and as soon as it was clear that the chariots would loose I sent one light cav in the back of the enemy’s infantry. My spears engaged them frontal and my forest troops attacked screaming on the left flank. Not many enemies left the battleground alive.

Then I attacked Massilia. I besieged it and took it. Then I built a fortress with a garrison at the mountain pass to Italy. They should protect me from the Julii. With new reinforcements I sent troops to the border of Spain and then north along the Atlantic coast. I walked over any Gaulish troops on the way.

When I besieged Condate the Britons came with another full army. Again they had more troops with a lot of chariots. The field was plain. I had 4 spearbands, 2 skirmishers and cav. We stood face to face but their frontline was much longer, especially at my left. So I sent my cav there. It was defeated. I send my chief and some skirmishers. My chief was killed. I sent a spear unit to support the left flank. Right then the Britons started to attack my center with chariots and warbands. The chariots broke through (!) and my spears flew (!!). This battle was a disaster.

I was seeking for bloody revenge. The rest of my beaten army was strengthened by troops from the homeland and the victorious army coming from Condate. Together they had lots of spears, few cav. skirms, women and even some peasants. I besieged Samarobriva. They tried to burst with their infantry. I absorbed them with my spears, softened with skirms and flank them with cav. Their attack collapsed and only few men could run back to the city. I took the gate and send the women and peasant to chase the refugees. Right then the chariots attacked my troops outside the town. They flanked them before they could build their formation. Inside the town the women and peasants took the centre without losses, outside the rest of my army was slaughtered. They run away, followed by the chariots. So my troops in the town were left alone. I had lost this battle but won the town.

[pezhetairoi]

Well where range is concerned Chosen archers are good enough for me. My Germanic battles are always fought under the umbrella protection of my archers' fire, except when victory is already a sure thing upon which I let the cavalry leave the umbrella and skewer the fleeing cowards. It seems to me that the Germanic legion does not need a missile cavalry capability in their destined theatre of operations, i.e. the west, which fits me perfectly since as good as HA are, they are only available in the far east, so it may be a little inconvenient to bring up reinforcements when you are in, for example, spain.

[Quintus.JC]

Germany have the best army any barbarian faction could field. Spear Warband could form Phalanx, which is a great advantage over all the other nations. later on they'll get top-notch Axemen, including the fearsome Berserkers. and also they have one of the best cavalry in Gothich Cavalry. Their archers also have releatively good stats. overall the Germainan army looks very impressive. their early target should be Britain, conquer all Britain while the Gauls are holding the Romans at bay, ally yourself with the Dacians. after Britain you can gradually move your forces south into a weakened Gaul and then into Italy.

[Quirinus]

I read with great interest the unusual strategy The Witch-King put forth (abandon starting provinces, head down to Italy and Rome)-- it certainly sounds more attractive than slugging it out with Britannia and playing hostile takeovers with dingy rebel backwaters.

I have a question (two, actually), though-- wouldn't the culture penalty from all those high-tier buildings in Rome lead to intermittent riots without committing huge garrisons? And wouldn't that exacerbate Germania's chronic money problems? Or would Germania be no longer be poor due to Italy's wealth?

[mrdun]

I cheap shot way to eradicate that problem would be to make the temple of Juno availiable to the Germans. That halves culture penalty I think.

[Good Ship Chuckle]

An easy solution would be to move your capital to one of the newly conquered cities. That would ease public order in reference to the "distance from capital" penalty.

[eddy_purpus]

The best infantry in the whole game is in Germania . . .
The berserkers is the best heavy infantry unit in the whole game . . .
even fighting the romans . . .
those soldiers wont give up even fighting their Praetorian Guards . . .
only thing i had to say .
thanks




Edvard0

[Xipe Totec]

Always found the Germania campaign to be rather frustratingly slow because I play on huge and their starting lands start small and grow so slowly. Being inevitably at war early on with Britannia and then Gaul means you have to recruit armies of spears to defend yourself which rapidly depletes your populations. I have always ended up conquering Britain first whilst holding off the Gauls, and then you finally get going. Even then the economy can barely support enough troops.

I was inspired by recent posts to try a different approach, and send most of the starting armies south to Rome and leave the starting lands to defend themselves and forget about growing or developing much. I took Patavium and Mediolanium quickly thanks to my spy opening the gates whichg helped to boost the army enough to quickly wipe the floor with the Julii, Senate and take Capua from the Scipii. Meanwhile I haven't lost anything I started with despite war from the start with Britannia and Gaul as usual. The extra cash from butchering Roman cities has funded the war up north as well as keeping them from rioting. So far most has been achieved by spear warbands with cavalry support from family and much barb cavalry. As always near Rome I find the best way to fight the Senate is to force them to attack you. The Julii were no problem but the Senate killed most of my army: those triarii are a nightmare. The good thing is you can retrain the survivors when you take Roman cities cause they have big populations and good buildings even early on in the game.

This has been a campaign where its all gone right so far but I've still had many very close large battles so its stayed interesting and Germania has a great set of unique and effective units I can look forward to using. Berzerkers are especially great fun if they don't get shot up by archers or javelins. Funniest thing I ever saw in RTW was when I met Carthage's elephants with some of these whirling maniacs!

[The Wandering Scholar]

Relocating to Italy is one of the best options for any faction, except maybe Egypt or Greeks/Macedon.

[Quintus.JC]

I just played slowly, first vanqishing Briton then Gaul. After that it's the Romans, even with their legions + elites they were no match for my superb axemen (chosen ones) and berserkers. Germanian cavalry is awsome and their archer is also class.

[Praetor Rick]

OK, I give up.

I can't win a short campaign as Germania. Scythia starts so big, with 5 provinces, each of which is huge, that it takes forever just to physically send armies to each of its provinces. Further, their archery heavy (and horse archer heavy especially) unit roster is murder on the early German armies, which tend to rely on generally slow moving Spear Warbands. By the time I can recruit enough Chosen Archer Warbands to really do well against Scythia, Egypt has already won because the Seleucids shrivel up and die from being attacked by 4 or 5 enemies at once.

Is there a good solution for Germania to conquer Scythia quickly? Holding the Britannia/Gaul front with minimal investment of money and units is pretty easy, and taking out Dacia is simplicity itself, but even being able to focus my efforts on Scythia, it takes forever to conquer them. My best efforts have been blitzing Italy and gifting the Seleucids with an extra province somewhere far from Egypt - it's even worked sometimes - but it feels cheesy, and sometimes the Seleucids refuse. My most recent effort looked good until Scythia took the Crimean peninsula away from the Seleucids after I gave it to them. In retrospect, I should have made the Scythian province just north of Crimea a top priority in my campaign, but I was trying to reach their furthest province in the east ASAP.

Any advice?

[RLucid]

Have you tried luring the Scythians into a town without the military recruitment buildings they need, and then immediately re-besiege it, so their cavalry are forced to fight to death in a confined area?

Might need a chain of forts to avoid attrition, which may be too expensive.