Britannia

[pezhetairoi]

Well, if you have such a nice army, it's about time to use it on Gaul :) You'll trash them. And by the way, Warbands are not better than swordsmen since whenever I try it, I lose much more warbanders in the same situation as I do swordsmen. And it's less of a strain on your population, too.

[Magraev]

Those light chariots are absolute gems. Especially in the early fighting, when there are often no opposing archers.

My starting chariots are at 1 and 2 silver chevrons atm, and great for catching routers and pulling opposing (mostly gaul) armies out of position.

Woad warriors seem like a waste of space once you can get swordsmen, and I refuse to use those silly head-hurlers. I heard of someone who modded them to work like a legion - tossing heads for a morale loss and then charging - and that seems so much better.

[Zain]

Once I played as the Brittanians and just backed up into Ireland. Then, once someone attacked me, I unloaded all my gained soldiers and wiped out Europe!

-ZainDustin

[Craterus]

Once I played as the Brittanians ...

I think Britons sounds better.

[Zain]

I think Britons sounds better.

People have their own preferences... I really don't care, that's just what I remember remembering.

-ZainDustin

[hellheaven1987]

People have their own preferences... I really don't care, that's just what I remember remembering.

-ZainDustin

Just put Celt or babarien!

[Craterus]

I was just messing.

Sorry if you took offense.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Playing vanilla brit campaign. Good thing my family is fecund-- Brit chariots apparently double as hearses for generals. They drop like flies, even against peasants!

[Craterus]

Hmmm. The generals in vanilla have missile bodyguards anyway, right? So just use that capability and don't even think about charging them in.

[Ludens]

Hmmm. The generals in vanilla have missile bodyguards anyway, right? So just use that capability and don't even think about charging them in.

Unfortunately no: the generals get heavy chariots, not light ones. Chariot's main use is to disrupt enemy formations, not to destroy them. Chariots cause chaos in infantry lines, which your infantry can then exploit (though you should not try this head-on against spearmen or quality heavy infantry). They also seem to work quite well against enemy cavalry. Whatever you do, keep them moving and follow up quickly with another unit to exploit the holes they make in the enemy formation. A moving chariot is deadly, a bogged-down one is dead. If you keep this in mind, you may still get some good use out of your British generals, even though they stay more vulnerable than most.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

I agree, but it is just so easy for them to become bogged down. They can crash through a loose formation pretty well, but even the standard peasant gaggle can stop them long enough to let the factioneer come up a cropper. A unit that's been cut up and fallen down to 1-2 lines of troops can get busted open and your follow on can smash them, but whole units will choke the movement off even when hit from the rear. No blades on the wheels, no missile capability, no spears/lances....

Vanilla Eggies can be used as chariot archers reasonably well, and have blades on the wheels to take out routers, but Brit generals can't even kill routers with any speed, the fellows keep bouncing back up. Pretty hard to acquire chevrons, and you end up with a unit that you need to have for morale purposes, but is WAY limited even when compared to other generals who are "too precious to risk in a fight." At least the average Roman bodyguard group can take a hit or two with some hope of disengaging.

[Pontifex Rex]

This has not been my experience with the Britons at all. I try to have as many as four Heavy Chariot and four Light Chariots per army (with 2 - 3 slingers, 8 odd infantry and a barb cav) and they create absolute havoc among the opposition, they just require more care.

To avoid bogging down I will usually withdraw them within three seconds of impacting the enmy line. I do not give them orders to attack another group, I pull them right back out of the engagement so they make a clean break. All the while the 4 light cahriots are firing en masse into the enemy and the slingers are adding to the pandemonium. After a second or third charge completely disrupts segments of the enemy's line the infantry can go in and finish off the opposition. Pursuit is not as effective as cavalry but 3 or 4 chariots still do a lot of damage to routing opponents,...and the barb cavalry really help out here.

The chariots may take a few casualties on occasion but rarely does one get crippled (but it does happen on occassion) and they are particularly good at routing cavalry and killing the enemy general. Last night I send 40 Brutii units packing in two engagements for the loss of a total 3 chariots from a unit (plus numerous infantry units, of course).

[Pontifex Rex]

Here is a screenie showing an example of the point of impact of heavy chariots on peasants. When the chariots passed through the other side, only some 5 rebels were dead but the unit was disrupted enough that 7 more died in the next pass some 5 seconds later. By the end of the battle the rebels were routed for the lost of 2 chariots.

https://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f...ddenImpact.png

Not exactly Sarmatians but for the British it is not so bad.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

I don't prefer the heavy chariot slam as a tactic, but it works well enough. Casualties are high on very hard settings, but they tear up the bad guys. Its the GENERAL's heavy chariot that malfs.

[Pontifex Rex]

Its the GENERAL's heavy chariot that malfs.

Good evening, Seamus.

I am not so sure. The series of attached screenies show my preferences for massed chariots. In the battle shown, three British armies with a total of 6 generals attack a Roman (Brutii) legion in Tribus Iazyges. I would have liked to have actual Heavy Chariots but the few units in the army are either rebuilding, en route to the front or further south in Greece. I had about 1600 Britons in 3 armies facing a mixed legion of some 550 odd pre and post Marion cohorts.

Plate 1 shows the army I chose to command, it possesses 3 Generals and 2 Light Chariots (missile) and the only sarmatians I can get my hands on (plus infantry, of course):

https://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f...Offensive1.png

Plate 2 shows the charge and destruction of a Roman Cavalry unit by the generals heavy chariots, without loss. My army has swung around the Roman right and is driving them onto the other two armies seen approaching in the background.

https://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f...Offensive2.png

Plate 3 Shows the collapse of the Roman legion as one of my reinforcing armies charges forward with 2 Light Chariots, 1 General's heavy and its infantry. My own heavies have just been given the order to charge into the retreating Romans and my infantry and cavalry will follow immediately afterward.

https://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f...Offensive3.png

Plate 4 shows the result of the battle after the pursuit. I am not surprised that 30 Romans made good their escape (temporarily at least) as the map edge was quite nearby. The AI lost 1 of my generals but at least the unit went down taking out an entire Roman heavy cav unit. Overall, I find the use of massed generals from multiple armies has the effect of scaring the wits out of the Romans and leaving them vulnerable to a charge.

https://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f...Offensive4.png

Finally, Plate 5 shows the strategic situation in central Europe After the battle. The four Briton armies possess 7 of 9 leaders in the area with the other two scouting and hiring mercs as they move about. I am very much of the opinion that with proper care and organization the Generals heavy chariots can be very, very deadly against central and western based cultures (the need to fight the in the east is unnecessary.

https://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f...Offensive5.png

Cheers.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

I'm playing vanilla, and I have read in another thread about their hit-points having been too low by mistake. This might be all the difference.

[jingofin]

So I take it that its not possible to make Huge Cities for Brittania?

My first campaign was with the House of Julii which I completed very easily, I am now playing as Brittania and have almost wiped out the Gauls but am a bit dissappointed that even though Londinium is at 15000 population it won't allow me to upgrade it any more. Indeed all the towns I hold are over 6000.

Just wondering if there is anyway of getting further upgrades to Brittanic cities, was gonna try and send a spy into Rome but he died enroute, is there any point in sending another one? Are spys even capable of learning military secrets from other factions?

[Seamus Fermanagh]

In Vanilla you have hit your limit.

If you feel daring, you can let the Romans conquer one, grow it through 4 and 5 and then retake it.....

[Craterus]

Some mods allow barbarians to tech up to huge city level. Mundus Magnus comes to mind, but IIRC I read that Terrae Expugndae (sp?!) includes Mundus Magnus and a lot of other cool stuff.

[Craterus]

Double post! Sorry!

[Avicenna]

In vanilla all the barbarians' towns can only be upgraded at the 6000 point and no more, to make them powerful early on, taming the Julii. Once the Julii's advantage comes up they expand like crazy into Barbarian lands.

[Zain]

I was just messing.

Sorry if you took offense.

Took me 3 months, but I'm back to say...

It's okay Craterus...



-ZainDustin

[IrishArmenian]

The Germans will be a treacherous sort, so watch your back after Gaul is dead, or at least confined to Spain. Most of the time, those Germans attack me from behind. With a group of midsize armies containing Light chariots, Swordsmen (Chosen preferably), Head Hurdlers, Woad Raiders, Warband and Various Calvary Mercaneries, I just ripped through them like paper. The Romans, of course were different. You should amass large armies of what I stated above, plus dogs, other mercanaries, maybe some druids. Make sure you have a lot, becuase I led five armies onto the boot. One came from the North West, one from the North East, One from the South East (by way of boat) and the biggest one of them all landed right next to the Roma, herself. Using my navies, I cut off the Roman's income. I made sure to attack before the Marius reform so that I may still put extreme hurt to them via Light Chariots, Slingers and Head-Hurdlers. I wiped those Jullii right off of the boot (and the planet) with my blitz from the North, destryed the Brutti's section of Italy (leaving a few useless cities in Greece) and in about three years, after starving most of their soldiers and sabatoging their barracks, walls, et all, I sacked the eternal city. The key to Briton is to have lots of resources, or conquer a lot of places, because you must manage you money.

[WarMachine420]

This has not been my experience with the Britons at all. I try to have as many as four Heavy Chariot and four Light Chariots per army (with 2 - 3 slingers, 8 odd infantry and a barb cav) and they create absolute havoc among the opposition, they just require more care.

To avoid bogging down I will usually withdraw them within three seconds of impacting the enmy line. I do not give them orders to attack another group, I pull them right back out of the engagement so they make a clean break. All the while the 4 light cahriots are firing en masse into the enemy and the slingers are adding to the pandemonium. After a second or third charge completely disrupts segments of the enemy's line the infantry can go in and finish off the opposition. Pursuit is not as effective as cavalry but 3 or 4 chariots still do a lot of damage to routing opponents,...and the barb cavalry really help out here.

The chariots may take a few casualties on occasion but rarely does one get crippled (but it does happen on occassion) and they are particularly good at routing cavalry and killing the enemy general. Last night I send 40 Brutii units packing in two engagements for the loss of a total 3 chariots from a unit (plus numerous infantry units, of course).

lol...read my thread in the entrance hall. I'm not having any problems using my chariots either.

How anyone got the idea that the chariots are "useless" or "immobile" simply baffles me.

After 2 years of playing, I'm thinking now that it's possible for the Brit Heavy/Light chariots to become my favorite unit in the game. I've never had the kind of success with other units I have with these...never, in any total war game.

I'm currently building up a giant army of Heavy/Light chariots with a nice WoadWarrior/Swordsmen/Warband infantry base. I plan on eventually (timing is everything...complicated story as with all campaigns, like I said read my thread) blitzkrieging all of Europe with these giant chariot armies. Just a carbon copy of what good ol' Adolf did with the Panzers.

disclaimer: this strategy is not in any way shape or form an endorsement of the Nazi party.

[Private Clark]

well...i never could get off that accursed island you start on, those rebels kicked my .

[Seamus Fermanagh]

well...i never could get off that accursed island you start on, those rebels kicked my .

I do recall losing a lot of chariot generals to rebels on that contentious island.

Trick was running the economy lean enough while still having an army good enough to play "whack-a-mole" with the rebels. Involved quite a lot of micro-managed sorties from Samarobriva while I slowly knit together the 4 island provinces -- and Ireland took quite some time to get to.

[Mookus]

I played Brittania on Hard/Hard and found that keeping my mainland city was very hard v. the Gauls and Germans. They both continually insisted on war despite my diplomatic efforts.

To counter this I retreated to the British Isles and then conquered Ireland. Then I set up two major armies with two fleets. The Gauls and Germans don't attempt to control the seas around the British Isles so you'll have free reign of the seaways. With that I would send my fleets up and down the Gaulic and German coasts, raiding any city that was poorly defended. As Gaul and the Germans begin getting into wars with Rome this becomes much easier.

Once a city was conquered I would enslave the populace to send them back to the British Isles to beef up my tax base and increase city size. The sooner you can get to chosen swordsmen the better, and every person in the population helps. Then I would wreck/sell all the buildings and retreat back to my navy. Sail off to another city and repeat, the larger Gaul/German armies who are travelling by land won't be able to keep up with your raids. Once you've done enough damage to their economies they'll be unable to raise large armies. You on the other hand will be rich from pillaging. Then I moved in and began to take mainland settlements.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

I played Brittania on Hard/Hard and found that keeping my mainland city was very hard v. the Gauls and Germans. They both continually insisted on war despite my diplomatic efforts.

To counter this I retreated to the British Isles and then conquered Ireland. Then I set up two major armies with two fleets. The Gauls and Germans don't attempt to control the seas around the British Isles so you'll have free reign of the seaways. With that I would send my fleets up and down the Gaulic and German coasts, raiding any city that was poorly defended. As Gaul and the Germans begin getting into wars with Rome this becomes much easier.

Once a city was conquered I would enslave the populace to send them back to the British Isles to beef up my tax base and increase city size. The sooner you can get to chosen swordsmen the better, and every person in the population helps. Then I would wreck/sell all the buildings and retreat back to my navy. Sail off to another city and repeat, the larger Gaul/German armies who are travelling by land won't be able to keep up with your raids. Once you've done enough damage to their economies they'll be unable to raise large armies. You on the other hand will be rich from pillaging. Then I moved in and began to take mainland settlements.

I've thought of trying this strategy, but there is one down side.

Your constant diminshment of Germany and Gaul is likely to create a lot of success for the Julians, who you will then have to face off with to get anywhere. That's a lot of Romans -- probably post-Marius -- with no long range archers to counter their arc-aux units. Tough fight.

[Empirate]

If you can't outgun them, outrun them. Archer Auxiliaries are good troops, but they can't carry a battle all by themselves. I've never seen the Romans bring many archers, they tend to be very melee infantry heavy. But if they do bring archers, concentrate on bringing more melee troops, preferably cavalry (or, in the case of Britons, chariots). You might lose some troops against the Arc-Aux, but after all is said and done, chariots are a decisive weapon, while all kinds of missile troops are more the "nice to have" support kind of thing. Besides, isn't facing powerful Romans the point of playing a barbarian game?

[lot]

Besides, isn't facing powerful Romans the point of playing a barbarian game?

So true. I just started playing the game (skipped the roman campaign altogether and began immediately with Britain as that was my favorite Medieval TW faction). The first time I met Rome on the field I was nervous prior to the battle, and my heart absolutely sank to my feet once I entered the battlemap and saw them, an entire stack, in their ordered rows before my uncouth barbarian horde.

I littered the field with Romans that day. I think I lost 60 men compared to their 900+.

Their Aux-Archers fell to my Light Charriots. As Rome was defending (I was sallying from a besieged fort), they awaited my attack. I drew their archers out with my charriots, who ran circles in front of them, dodging arrows, while pelting with a barrage of my own. The archers fell back and my two units of light charriots turned to weakening a weaker force in their center. When my troops advanced, I was able to flank certain positions in their front line. After a brief skirmish, the Romans broke and ran; my light and heavy charriots kept them running, those who survived.

Everytime I've faced them since then, I've used my charriots to weaken their missiles, and it hasn't failed.

I've figured out the Romans. Only things I'm worried about now are elephants and the cavalry-based armies of the east.