frogbeastegg's Guide to Rome: Total War and the Barbarian Invasion

[Emperor declares jihad]

Hi, Ive downoaded RTR (up through 5.1) and the game starts, but it only lets me choose the prologue. THis was fine, but it doesnt let me actually PLAY the prologue, just sends me back to the startup screen. needless to say, i cannot travel onward to play RTR's campaign...any help would be appreciated, thanx.

[SMZ]

I have wanted to post a small (long) rant weighing the pros and cons of each Roman faction for some time. This seemed a good place to do so as it may be helpful to you. Your guide was very useful to me and included a great deal of information I was not aware of.

Firstly when asked this question one must consider the differences between the factions beyond them each wearing different color tunics. (Although it bears note that the red Julii tunics are much sexier than blue or green.) These differences can be summarized as follows:

1. Economic Position.
2. Strategic Military Position.
3. Temple Bonuses.
4. Gladiator Type.

I have listed these in descending importance according to how I view them.

"Economic Position" refers to the provinces a faction starts with and will conquer most easily. Denarii are the basis of your empire, without them you will be a mild nuisance to be swept aside by a greater power. No matter how strong your armies, you must have the infrastructure to support them. Thus having a strong economy is one's first priority. Sea trade is by far the most profitable form of collecting capital. Land trade and farming are adequate for survival but not to thrive. Mining is a dependable source of income but will always be the icing on the cake not the means of filling your treasury. Sacking cities will also gain you a tidy sum if you avail yourself of the "Exterminate" option. However, depending on this can become problematic as it becomes a circular quandary. (You will need to take a city to fund your army, you will need an army to take the city.)

Finally you can barter state secrets (map information), trade rights and alliances to the highest bidders for another nice boost to your cash flow. Once again however this method should not be your central strategy towards gaining wealth. Firstly, because there are only so many factions to sell these goods to and once sold you must wait for a change in the political currents before they may be sold again. Furthermore as the game progresses and factions are eliminated you will find fewer and fewer potential customers. Secondly, the computer controlled factions will spend their denarii as fast as they can get it, meaning that usually any prospective negotiations will be marked by them asking you for money and not the reverse.

So with these principals in mind it becomes obvious that the Brutii occupy the favored position with their missive to conquer the extremely prosperous Aegean Sea provinces. In general the eastern provinces as a whole are more profitable, as civilization has existed for many years in Persia, Egypt and Greece. Thus the Brutii, seeing as they lie the easternmost of the Roman factions, have the advantage in capturing these provinces. Second, the Scipii also have a good position in that they are tasked with subduing Carthage which is well known for it's trading empire. Where there is wealth for one, there will be wealth for another. By securing Iberia, the various western islands and perhaps moving across Africa into Egypt the Scipii can easily become an economic juggernaut as well. Lastly the Julii. While there is great fame to be gained in beating back the barbarian peoples there is certainly less monetary reward. The Gauls, Germans, Britons, Dacians and Spaniards are mostly poor peoples with underdeveloped settlements due to their stunted technology trees. This is not a recipe for disaster however! With careful planning and diligence the Julii can still have a healthy treasury. The Romans as a whole have an advantage in their use of highways, automatic trade rights with each other, Senate rewards, etc... By combining the above listed strategies into a strong economy the Julii will be able to support a powerful war machine.

Lastly, it bears note that as mentioned earlier once a faction begins to maintain a treasury in excess of 50,000 denarii from turn to turn, their governors begin to exhibit deviant and poor moral traits. Thus while in the early game it will certainly be your priority to squeeze every last coin out that you can, by the mid-game you should be in a strong financial position. Before reading frog's guide I often kept treasuries above 500,000 denarii by the time I had about 15-20 provinces. So while this point is vastly important, with proper management it soon vanishes into obscurity. Any of the factions can do well financially and should.

Conclusion: Advantage Brutii, Second Scipii, Third Julii

"Strategic Military Position" refers to the enemies you will face and your ability to hinder your rivals expansion while pursuing your own safely.

The Brutii will face the Greeks and Macedonians initially, followed by a push thru Thrace, Pontus and the Seleucids with the possibility of a conflict with Egypt. A particularly expansionistic ruler may seek to dislodge the Dacians, Scythians and Armenians but the rewards of such are less clear. A clash with the Parthians will occur eventually but many other foes must be defeated first. The Greeks rely heavily on phalanxes, which while powerful, are easily countered. Especially since they will be your first enemy, most likely they will field mostly Militia Hoplites and Hoplites. Both of which can be crushed by a simple flanking maneuver in a way which the later Armored Hoplites and Spartan Hoplites will defend well against. The Greek cavalry is weak and their ranged weapons ineffective. They are ripe for the plucking.

The Macedonians on the other hand feature both halves of the powerful hammer and anvil stratagem. They also field phalanxes but a Brutii leader who delays slightly will find himself facing Phalanx Pikemen instead of Militia Hoplites. This is quite significant since Phalanx Pikemen have both a greater range (four men engaging instead of two) and lack the morale penalty the Militia Hoplites do. These troops are literally a meat grinder for your infantry and suicide for your cavalry. They will not break from a simple flank attack either but debilitating missile attacks followed by repeated charges may be necessary. Fortunately, like all phalanx based armies, once one portion of the line falls the rest is soon to follow. The Macedonians prevent this by fielding powerful light cavalry. Their horses are fast, moving to the point of crisis easily and yet still capable of a strong charge. Protracted melees will defeat them but with their greater mobility they will seldom allow themselves to be caught in this position easily. The one chink in the Macedonians armor is their lack of strong missile troops. In an engagement with a Macedonian army it is vital to avoid their slow phalanxes as long as possible while you pelt their entire army from a distance. If they attempt to end the bombardment with a charge, have your infantry ready to receive the separated cavalry elements and then bring your own cavalry in on their rear; trapping and destroying them. One must exercise caution however that your cavalry does not become pinned in turn by their advancing phalanxes. Only after you have robbed them of the crucial hammer element to their force should you pick the phalanxes off at your leisure. Always expend your missile units complete stock of weapons against them first, then mob their separated and weakened units; striking first from the rear and then when they turn, striking them with another unit in their newly exposed rear.

After dealing with the Greeks and Macedonians you will be well prepared to face the Seleucids. That is if one attacks them quickly. If one were to wait excessively he would find that the Seleucids field an extremely powerful army. In fact the Seleucids field the most balanced and powerful combination of troops of any non-Roman faction. A quick attack is highly recommended. A late game clash will find that the Seleucids can train Silver Shield Legionaries. These men are identical to Legionary Cohorts (the unit which will form the core of your army) other than a 1 point lower charge bonus. However in addition they will have Silver Shield Pikemen which compare to your Auxilia about as well as a mastiff compares to a poodle, therefore giving them a decided advantage as far as infantry troops. Their Companion Calvary and Cataphracts will outmatch your cavalry in an even engagement. They bring Scythed Chariots and War or Armored Elephants to the table while your unique units are Gladiators and Arcani. Hardly an even trade, ehh? However you will still have the advantage of pigs, dogs and superior artillery as well as missile troops. It makes for a definite challenge. Far better to nip this potential powerhouse in the bud and burn their cities while they still face you with Levy Pikemen and Militia Calvary.

However, the Thracians and men of Pontus field a different form of army. The Thracians will train various forms of riff raff in addition to more powerful units of the Falxman type. While formidable, these units will be no match for your troops, seeing as the Romans also specialize in flexible heavy infantry and your more powerful cavalry, and missile troops will quickly turn close victories into heroic triumphs.

The Pontics have the potential to field Phalanx Pikemen and Bronze Shields but rarely do, more often relying on weaker units to form their infantry core. Their danger comes in their javelin bearing cavalry and their chariots. Pontic Heavy and Light Calvary will regularly beat your own cavalry forces in even matches without close supervision. Chariots can destroy an entire army, by sending your men into a rout if a player does not know how to counter them. Rather than attempting to chase their cavalry from the field initially (an often futile exercise) attempt to counter them with foot archers who's greater numbers and range can quickly destroy entire units. As always be ready to receive a charge in protection of your missile troops. The best method to counter chariots is to put your men into a deeper formation. If it looks like a square you will be ready. Then tell a second unit to stand in the same space as the first. This provides a stalwart wall of bodies which will sap all the inertia from the chariots charge. It is not necessary that you engage the entire line of the chariots. Once even one of the men in a chariot unit is stopped the others will mill slowly about instead of breaking free and repeating the charge. When the chariots stop moving they are dead. (Defense of 1) Never attempt to counter charge chariots with your cavalry. When a chariot attacks a heavy infantry unit most of the men are knocked down but few casualties are taken. I have played games where I may rout an enemy unit and then proceed to chase them down and still have a third of them escape, merely because my chariots continually knock the infantrymen down but do not kill them. However, a horseman does not have the option of being knocked down and getting back up. Hence the chariots will decimate your cavalry unit in mere moments. Even charging them from the rear is extremely dangerous. If you must use cavalry, swarm them with four or five units at once. Sometimes the mere press of bodies can destroy them before they inflict too much damage.

Egypt relies even more heavily on chariots, and their Desert Axemen and Desert Calvary can be dangerous due to their speed. By the time you move in their direction however you should be equipped to deal with their forces. The men of Pharaoh have a powerful and well balanced force but the key is their cities. Rather than attempting to beat them into submission in the field, send a few mid-sized armies out to distract and harass them. Then strike for their heart by seizing the vital cities of Memphis, Alexandria and Thebes. (In that order.) Once you have seized the prosperous heartland of the Egyptians they will be unable to resist you much longer. While you may press on for complete domination, a mere war of attrition will see them vanquished sooner rather than later.

At any point a quick raid into Carthage's provinces of Northern Africa can reasonably expect success and destroy any hopes the Scipii might hold for their families ascendance. The Julii are not so easily countered and a strategy of using your superior wealth to support the Gauls can help them to contain the Julii much longer than usual.

The Scipii will be responsible for dealing with Carthage initially with prospects against the Numidians and Spaniards as well. A Scipii leader will generally end up pursuing a two prong attack at some point as his forces in Iberia begin to meet the corresponding push by the Brutii in Gaul and he then must look to Egypt for further expansion. Conflict with the Parthians and Seleucids will follow, with the Armenians, Pontics and Scythians falling last. The first priority for any Scipii leader should be to secure the western portion of the Great Sea. This can be accomplished by sending a raiding party to grab Corsica, using your army to pacify Sicily and then moving on to crush Carthage. Carthage if left alone can produce strong troops. Their cavalry will be generally somewhat weaker than their Roman counterparts but their phalanxes can become a force. The Sacred Band is stronger than the Greek Armored Hoplite which should indicate its potency. Additionally, their trump card is elephants which, although always formidable, presents a particularly great challenge in the early game. Hand to hand engagement with elephants is never recommended. One can swarm them if you must, but you will take heavy losses. If you can manage to trap the beasts inside a city you siege, then the narrow streets and ability to put your archers on the walls while capturing towers can give you a chance at near bloodless victory. If you must meet them in the field a steady barrage of missiles can have effect eventually, however this requires a massive amount of arrows or javelins and you will most likely not be able to devote this amount of attention to one unit while ignoring the remainder of their forces. Incendiary Pigs are effective but it will require some time before you can bring these creatures with your army. The best early counter is to purchase Mercenary Hoplites and stack these men two or even three times. Even elephants cannot easily charge thru such a bristling wall of spear points, although do not think that such a formation is invincible. Occasionally because of a precise angle or a slight slope or some such factor the elephants may push thru even such a force. However, the percentages favor you greatly.

Once the Carthagians are dealt with the Scipii will find little challenge. The Numidians are complete riff raff and the greatest obstacle to their defeat is the number of turns it takes to move from one settlement to the next rather than anything they are capable of assembling and calling an army. The Spaniards too do not offer much in the way of competition. The Romans took many of their ideas for their troops from the Spaniards and built on them. This means that the Spaniard troop lineup mainly looks like a weakened version of yours. By the time you reach the Gauls they will already be under assault from the Julii and may in fact already be conquered. If they are not, they will be severely weakened, and you will find little to prevent you from taking their last few provinces as well.

The Scipii will thus not find a challenge again until their armies march upon Egypt. The strategy outlined in the Brutii section will work just as well for the Scipii. From there they should continue their push thru the Seleucids before any settling is done. By continuing the fight to the Parthians, Pontics and Armenians the Scipii can find that they have an empire with few borders. A small border on the north of Iberia and an equally small one running between the Black and Caspian Seas. With their superior navy this equates to a very strong position for the endgame.

A savvy Scipii leader will snatch at least a portion of Greece before the Brutii may. The extreme southern portion with its easily defensibly isthmus and extremely useful Wonder beckons invitingly. The eastern islands also make key assets to a Scipii plan. Securing the rebel Byzantium as a launch-point for your future wars as you return from conquering the eastern world shows forethought and discretion. It is essential that the Scipii seize Corsica before the Julii. Not only does this give you complete domination of the seas but it prevents the Julii from using Corsica as a stepping stone to interfere with your campaigns in Africa. As with the Brutii the easiest way to slow Julii expansion without overextending yourself is to pump money into the Gallic and later British or Dacian economies. Only very rarely will the Germans manage to beat back their attackers on all sides enough to warrant supporting them.

The Julii are responsible for dealing with the Gauls, followed by expansion into the Spanish, German and British realms. Further conquest can be pursued against the Dacians, Thracians and Scythians. If the other two factions are extremely tardy in their expansion a move against the Armenians, Pontics, and Seleucids may be possible.

Gallic armies rely on masses of Spear Warbands supported by Naked Fanatics and Barbarian Calvary. None of which will present a particularly dangerous threat to your troops. The danger comes just as it did for historical Rome; yes you may destroy the barbarian horde, but afterwards what have you gained? If the Gauls are left alone eventually they will produce Forester Warbands which thanks to their temples will arise as hardened troops. Seeing as this unit is already the best foot archer in the game it can make a conquest of Gaul much more difficult, although by itself it will not turn the tide of war. The Spanish as outlined above will present little problem also.

The Germans can be dangerous as they at least have a balanced force with specialized troops. Their Spear Warband can assume a phalanx formation thus making them far superior to comparable barbarian infantry. Additionally their various forms of Axeman while weaker on defense than your troops possess powerful attacks. Generally speaking if you can weather the initial charge and a secondary push by them then your troops will win the day. Their Warhounds are particularly savage with greater stats than their Roman counterparts and greater numbers than any other faction except the Scythians. Their Gothic Calvary is capable of competing with similar Roman forces and their Screeching Women can have a powerful effect on morale. If they are allowed to prosper, their armies will be well balanced and strong. Conflict will rely on your tactics and superior numbers for victory. The German force has no clear weakness to exploit. Perhaps the best method for victory lies in destroying their poorly guarded settlements rather than meeting them in the dark forests of Germania. Barbarian factions cannot build walls stronger than a stockade. You can take advantage of this with a lighting fast string of attacks which will leave the German armies without a homeland and dispersed as pockets of rebel resistance. By purchasing a unit of Mercenary Elephants (which can bash wooden gates down) you can assure that you never have to wait to break straight into a settlement and pillage the surroundings. Otherwise you can bring a Ballista or Onager unit along although this will reduce your troop movement points.

The British have a small but unique selection of units. They will use Warbands, Woad Warriors and Druids as the bulk of their army with a strong force of both speedy British Heavy and Light Chariots accompanying. These Chariots arrange themselves in smaller formations than their eastern counterparts but are particularly suited to their surroundings and fast moving, meaning that if they decide to charge your heavy cavalry you will most likely find yourself with no heavy cavalry. Head Hurlers when used properly are an extremely powerful missile unit with a missile attack of 17 which is effective against armor. However the computer will usually bring Slingers to the battle instead and if it does train Head Hurlers it will seldom use them effectively. Thus meaning you will possess the clear advantage in missile troops and infantry. This should be enough to allow you to secure the British Isles.

Dacian and Thracian armies possess Falxmen and are otherwise completely unremarkable. Your infantry as mentioned will be capable of beating the Falxmen back and their other forces will merely serve to give your men experience chevrons. The Scythians are a horse people and their armies when controlled by a human player can routinely slaughter foes when outnumbered by as much as 3-1 with minimal losses. The Scythian Horse Archers are more powerful and have greater stamina than other faction's. The Scythian Noble Archers are a more powerful version of the Persian Calvary although the Armenian Cataphract Archers occupy their own niche. Scythian Noble Women combine the more powerful missile attack of the Noble Archer with the speed of the Horse Archer, sacrificing only a smaller unit size. The Head Hunting Maidens are fast moving as well and effective against armor, thus making them a highly mobile and powerful force. The Scythian Nobles have an extremely high charge bonus of 17 as they wield a two handed lance. All this combines to mean that an infantry force can be fired upon at will until it is severely weakened and then descended on by some of the best cavalry forces in the game. Meanwhile almost no cavalry force is capable of catching the fleet Scythians and those that can will quickly wish they hadn't. A human player can also stymie missile troops by adopting the Cantabrian Circle formation and thus becoming extremely difficult to target. In short the Scythians possess a world conquering force which while potent in the forests of Germania and deserts of Africa is almost invulnerable on their home steppe. This may sound disheartening but you have two things working in your favor. First, the computer will make errors on the battlefield that a human player would not and second, the Scythians are poor. Merely maintaining the army they begin the game with will bankrupt the Scythian economy and thus conquest will not be too difficult. Couple that with the computers failure to use the Cantabrian Circle and you have a reliable equation to dealing with them. A large force of archers will destroy their Horse Archers in no time and a few purchased Mercenary Hoplites or even merely using the heavy Roman infantry will prevent their cavalry from charging home to your archers. Without the ability to weaken your units first from the fleet Horse Archers their charges will be largely ineffective and you will be victorious. You should only bring enough cavalry to secure your flanks as attempting to flank them in turn will almost always be a futile effort. No, the strength of your army must be your archers. The Scythians have good foot archer units as well and their Axemen are not the weaklings you might suppose but they will rarely be able to afford to train these units.

If a Julii commander wishes to he can prevent both Scipii and Brutii conquest by merely holding the Gallic forces off while grabbing Corsica and from there attacking Carthage and sending a second force thru Dacia and into Macedonia from the north.

Lastly I will say that for a strong position it is of the utmost importance that you hinder at least one of your rivals expansion. Because of the size of the Gallic faction this becomes prohibitive as the Scipii or Brutii and thus it is recommend that a player not seek to oppose the interests of the Julii. As the Julii maintaining a border and interfering with both your rivals is much easier although this may require neglecting some Senate missions and the penalties thereof. It is further a bit easier to attack Greece as the Scipii than Carthage as the Brutii. As a Scipii player you will find that the Brutii have their hands full with Macedon and Greece and will usually make little progress beyond the first two settlements initially. While on the other hand by taking Carthage and Thapsus the Scipii player cripples Carthage and can then turn his full attention to the Greek world. A Brutii player on the other hand will not be able to crush the Greeks and Macedonians quickly and then turn to Carthage. Rather, he will have to ignore Senate instruction and hurry his men across a distant stretch to hopefully arrive at Carthage before the Scipii, or even possibly, a meddling Julii.

Conclusion: Clear Advantage Julii, Second Scipii, Close Third Brutii

"Temple Bonuses" refers to the diverse deities the three factions get and their respective bonuses. It bears note that each deity has an accompanying Priest ancillary character and encourages the aquisition of certain traits upon your governors. Thanks to lars573 this information has now been calculated into my following summary. In all cases I will consider the end result of these buildings as that is what matters in the long run.

The Brutii worship Juno, Mercury and Mars.

Juno: 25% happiness, 25% health, level 1 trade increase, +2XP
Mercury: 25% happiness, 10% health, level 5 trade increase, +1XP
Mars: 25% happiness, 10% health, level 1 trade increase, +3XP, +1 moral, Arcani

Juno thus provides the greatest bonus to public order for the Brutii and is useful for troublesome settlements. As the god of health Juno is likely to give you ancillaries such as the doctor and to promote traits such as "in the pink", valuable additions both. Mercury provides a significant trade bonus and gives a real boost to the Brutii economy. Mercury's temples will either produce brilliant governors or worthless scoundrels, there is no middle ground. Mars ensures that Brutii troops are well prepared and provides the Arcani special unit. Unfortunatedly a temple to Mars will also see a governors slow decline into a violent, raving lunatic.

The Scipii worship Saturn, Neptune and Vulcan.

Saturn: 25% happiness, 25% law, +1 weapons and armor, Arcani
Neptune: 25% happiness, 10% law, +1 weapons and armor, Corvus Quinquireme, Decere
Vulcan: 25% happiness, 10% law, +1 weapons and armor, +2XP

Saturn is useful for those hot spot cities and gives the Arcani unique unit. Temples to Saturn will produce governors that are well suited for keeping law and order. Neptune gives the Scipii complete mastery of the seas, (Normal Quinquireme 50 men, 10 attack, 5 defense; Decere 60 men, 16 attack, 8 defense) this is particularly important as naval engagements are outside of the players realm of control, all a player can do is try to make sure he has more and bigger ships at a battle. Deceres will smash a force of Quinquiremes when outnumbered 2-1 reliably. On the downside Neptune promotes violent tendencies in your governors, although less than Mars, and so only a few such temples should be built. Addionally Neptune will give various bonuses to your admirals. Vulcan will produce governors that are skilled engineers and miners although their influence will take a hit as they will also be ugly as sin. However, in my opinion, Vulcan gives the Scipii the best troops in the game. The Brutii forces balance an additional point of XP and a point of morale against a point of weapons and a point of armor. The difference to me is that XP can be gained easily in game by simply using said troops. While no amount of use will improve Brutii troop weapons. Additionally, troops trained in other cities can be retrained with the weapons upgrade while the same is not true of an experience bonus. So while Brutii troops will be slightly stronger at production, the Scipii seem to have the potential to be more powerful. Thus it seems to me to boil down to a point of morale against a point of weapons and a point of armor. This may still tip the balance in the Brutii favor, I am unsure as it would require a person who knows how to mod morale bonuses to compare the two bonuses perfectly. However morale is an invisible aspect, I can't see it. I can however see my troops lit up with pretty gold icons and so I prefer this.

The Julii worship Ceres, Bacchus and Jupiter.

Ceres: 35% happiness, 10% law, 2.5% growth
Bacchus: 50% happiness, 10% law, 1% growth
Jupiter: 35% happiness, 10% law, Arcani

Ceres gives a substantial public order bonus and a large growth bonus. The issue with this is that after about the 6000 population mark I find my cities growing faster than I can build to satisfy them anyway. Perhaps a plan of building temples to Ceres until the population begins to boom and then destroying them to build another would be effective? Too large of a population causes unrest and encourages plague. A city of 25,000 hardly needs an extra 2.5% growth tacked on. In Ceres's favor she does promote fertility among your governors and has useful ancillaries. Bacchus gives the highest overall public bonus of any Roman faction. However, Bacchus also will see to it that your governors are wenching, gluttonous and greedy in no time, thus counteracting any benefits he may provide. Jupiter provides a decent public order bonus as well and allows for recruiting the Arcani special unit. Jupiter will promote traits that make your named charater both a good general and governor. All in all the Julii gods seem uninspiring to me. Saturn and Juno both outperform Jupiter as a leading diety. Ceres's growth bonus equates to twice as many headaches in the late game, while Bacchus's effects on your governors undoes any benefits he offers.

SIDE NOTE: All Roman factions can adopt the Spanish (or Gaulish) diety known as Epona. The only requirement being that the Spaniards or Gauls must have previously built the level three Sacred Circle to Epona. A Roman who captures such a province can then upgrade this Sacred Circle to an Awesome Temple to Epona and then a Pantheon to Epona. This results in a 25% happiness bonus and +5 XP. This is obviously quite significant and could render Mars somewhat obsolete. The main problem here is that you must take what the Spanish leave. So of course you may have to wait quite a while for them to build this temple and upgrade it to level three. Even then it will likely become a strain to attempt to recruit all your troops from the one or two provinces you manage to find like this. All of which means that although this could have a large impact on your strategy it may prove completely fruitless.

Thus it becomes a matter of comparing Mercury's trade bonus with Neptune's naval power. I always, as in the case of comparing Vulcan and Mars, consider attributes in the light of supply and demand. Denarii are limitless, with many ways to obtain them. Corvus Quinquiremes and Deceres are a Scipii monopoly. Additionally the ability to blockade the other factions ports, at will, means the Brutii economy can be crippled regardless. While Economic Position and Strategic Military Position are more important factors at their base, the deities strongly influence a factions ability to act on those factors.

Conclusion: Clear Advantage Scipii, Second Brutii, Distant Third Julii

"Gladiator Type" refers to the difference in the type of gladiator each faction gets. Additionally, they receive the gladiator unit at different stages of the game. With the Brutii getting their Gladiator from the Arena, the Julii getting theirs from the Amphitheatre and the Scipii getting theirs from the Coliseum. I list this merely because it is a difference. In actuality it carries little weight.

The Julii have the Samnite Gladiator with these stats:
Attack: 14
Charge: 4
Defense: 14
HP: 2
Excellent Morale, Very Good Stamina, Charge w/o Orders, Sap

The Brutii have the Velite Gladiator with these stats:
Attack: 12
Charge: 7
Defense: 14 (Shield 5)
HP: 2
Excellent Morale, Very Good Stamina, Charge w/o Orders, Sap, Fast, Bonus vs. Elephants & Chariots

The Scipii have the Mirmillo Gladiator with these stats:
Attack: 12
Charge: 7
Defense: 14
HP: 2
Excellent Morale, Very Good Stamina, Charge w/o Orders, Sap

Overall the Samnite seems to be the best, however the Mirmillo in situations where a downhill charge is possible will perform better. The Velite has both benefits and drawbacks. Their benefits being their use in engaging the always troublesome Chariot and Elephant units and performing better against such than any other unit. Additionally, their speed means they have greater mobility than either of the others. The drawback is that unlike the others a good chunk of their defense comes from their skillful use of their shields. Thus an attack to their flanks or rear, be it by missile or hand-to-hand units, will be especially traumatic to them whereas the two other gladiator units seem to generally work well regardless of the direction they are facing. The Velite despite it's drawbacks however, or maybe because of them, occupies a unique niche in the Roman troop line-up as a powerful light infantry, whereas the other two may find themselves obsolete by the time they can be built. It's early availability further adds to the units benefits.

Conclusion: Advantage Brutii, Second Julii, Close Third Scipii

Synopsis: The Scipii occupy the middle ground as respects to both Economic Position and Strategic Military Position. The Brutii hold the advantage in one respect and the Julii a clear advantage in the other. The Scipii hold a clear advantage however in their Pantheons while the Julii lag awkwardly behind. In the lesser difference of gladiator type The Brutii have the advantage due to their early availability and unique unit role.

Overall Conclusion: Advantage Scipii, Close Second Brutii, Third Julii

I hope this is of some assistance.

- Nate

[frogbeastegg]

Sorry for the even worse than usual delay; I was stuck on this time consuming, boring, compulsory course for a few weeks, and I only just got my life back to myself again.

Viriato, nice discovery. I'll try to add it somewhere, when I actually get chance to work on this confounded guide again.

Junkertubs, to change the unit size go to the main menu screen, choose options, graphic options. Now tick the box labelled 'advanced options'. This will bring up a whole load of new options, including one for unit size.

sockerconny, hold down the right mouse button when the unit is selected and move the mouse. You should see a ghost of the unit appear. By moving the mouse you can set the number of ranks. Simply release the button to issue the order and start the unit moving into position.

Sid Arthur, thanks. That is a known mistake, a hangover from the 1.1 days, and it's right up at the top of my to-do list. Sadly I just haven't been able to work on the guide in months.

Emperor declares jihad It's been ages since I tried RTR (back around 4.0) but I remember that you need to complete the tutorial and prologue with an unmodded game first. Then apply the mod, then choose the newly added 'provincial campaign' option. All other game modes crash, except that one.

There is a .txt file edit you can do to fool the game into thinking you have completed the prologue, but I don't remember what it was. Someone else will know :waits for helpful person ...:

SMZ, yikes! I will have to come back and read through that later; I'm only passing through in a hurry right now. At a skimread it looks like very good information

Junkertubs, Enderel, furball, thank you. As ever it's pleasant to hear all my work has been appreciated.

Think that's everyone ...

[Infidel]

Now this one is right from the school of “I’m here to kill you.” Notice how all the phalanx units are in a single line with only tiny little gaps between them? That’s as close as the game will easily allow you to deploy them. This phalanx is strong. You will notice an array of other units scattered about; this is because you should never use phalanx units unsupported. They need some other unit types to guard their flanks, in this case units of cavalry. Peltasts (javelin units) are deployed out front to skirmish and break up the enemy before they reach the phalanx; they will need to draw out of the way to the sides, not straight back. Why? Because if they go right back they will disrupt the phalanxes and that does not help your cause much. It’s usually possible to run your skirmishers about to the sides, then support with cavalry if the enemy pursue them. Behind the phalanx line are some archers; they will fire over the heads of the phalanx and keep on disrupting and demoralising the enemy even when melee is joined. Make sure you turn skirmish off for them though, or they will scuttle back when the melee begins. You can also send the archers forward if you are on the offensive, to pummel the enemy before sending in your infantry. The cavalry are there to support the flanks over and above all else. They are not rout chasers, not unless the flanks are safe and will continue to be so. If the enemy hit the flanks of this line then things will more than likely go to hell in a hand basket. The general and his bodyguard take a central position, nice and safe, ready to support if needed.

First of all, this guide is overall a great and helpful piece of work.

And what I'm about to mention might have been said before, as I was, I admit, too lazy to read through the following 150 replies.

It certainly is very right to deploy phalanx units without gaps inbetween them, but only after the skirmishers in front have used their spears or arrows and were able to move back. Yes, back, not off to the sides.

From what I read on Roman tactics, the heavy units were deployed in a zig zag, with the skirmishers in front of them. The skirmishers engaged the enemy to cause some turmoil and then withdrew fast through the gaps between the heavy units. Those then closed their ranks to the solid front you depicted.

This kept the cavalry on the sides free from the task of protecting the retreating skirmishers and free to do what they should do: Fall in the enemy's back once it engages your main attack line.

Infidel

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Infidel:

In terms of historical accuracy, you are quite correct. In terms of game mechanics -- using my mouse and command buttons to represent troops moving according to training -- I believe I prefer FBE's approach. Besides, if you can get an enemy to pursue your skirmishers breaking to the side, they'll be handing you a chance to either flank the chasers with your spears or wedge the spears into their center and split them in two. Then you pin one and smash the other, then repeat!
If you follow the roman model, but aren't really precise with your clicking, you'll end up recreating Agincourt -- from a historical French perspective -- with your shock troops muddled by their own support group.

[Ciaran]

This, as well as your Medieval unit and beginner´s guide, is a real piece of cake, Frog, great work, I apreciate these very much, they´re both helpful and very well written.

However, even if I´m a mere Newbie both to this forum and to the Total War series (I finished two long Imperial campaigns though), I´d like to give some piece of information about what I´ve found out so far:

Players report that having a Protectorate seems to do no good for the conquering faction, while actually Becoming a protectorate is great... you can worry less about invasion, you pay no taxes to your conquerors, and you can use the time to recoup losses and build your economy. Protectorate status breaks down if you do anything to harm your status as Allies of the other faction.

Quite on the other hand, being a Protector is a Good Thing indeed, for a couple of reasons (I´m using patch 1.2):

First, it´s good for the ego. If having a once mighty and still large empire trembling for fear of your big iron fist isn´t good for your ego, then what is?
Second, it gets you all the benefits of an alliance with military acess without having to go all the schmoozing way, a simple "or else" does it. It also keeps your borders quiet, unlike alliances, I´ve never had a Protectorate betraying me.
Third, a protectorate adds to you "controlled regions" counter. Every province the protectorate holds counts as if you yourself had troops in their cities. So, you can get a lot provinces without having to guard or manage them, taking a huge strain both from your nerves and your treasury.
Forth, and most important, you get money. And a lot of it, if your protectorates are rich empires.

The Civil War.
Because I have only played short campaigns thus far (something, such as this guide, has been sucking up my free time so a long game is impossible) I have not actually hit the civil war myself. This is all based on reading. :winces:

Ok, the civil war will begin when the Senate outlaws one of the three other Roman factions. If they really fear you they might ask for your faction leader to commit suicide. If you comply then they will calm down for a bit; if you refuse they will outlaw you. You do not have to let your leader commit suicide unless you want to avoid the war. There is usually a very good chance that the senate will request the suicide of the man who replaces your recently departed leader, and then the man after that, and the man after that, until you run out of people to kill. So suicide can only buy you a little bit of time at rather a high cost.

The civil war ends when only one Roman faction is left, and that had better be yours unless you want to lose.

Quite interestingly you can actually sometimes negotiate peace treaties with the individual Roman factions after the civil war begins. If you are very fortunate you can even be at peace with all the Romans while the civil war is officially still in progress.

Here´s something to be said as well. I´ve never been patient enough for the Senate to become so much afraid of me that he wants to see my patron dead, so I´m not sure if that what happens then is the same as if you start the Civil war yourself. Yes, you can do that. Simply send a diplomat to a sentate army or Rome itself and cancel all treaties, they´ll immediately declare you a traitor and at the beginning of the next turn, they also outlaw the other factions and the free-for-all begins. To win the game, you don´t have to beat all other factions, if you have 50 provinces (including protectorates) and Rome, you rule and are given the option to finish. Of course, you can go on, crush the other factions and conquer the world if that´s your ambition. Having Rome gives you also the possibility to build a First Cohort, you can only do that in Rome.

You also didn´t mention some of the new strategic features, namely the reinforcements. Unlike the earlier games - as far as I know, at least - now you can have quite a couple of armies on the battlefield at the same time. You can´t control more than one of twenty units, but you can still have them join the fight. Of course, the same goes for your enemies. If you want a AI- controlled second army on the field, better make sure it´s not commanded by a family member, for you can´t guarantee their savety. The AI isn´t that bad, actually, at least in my opinion, when I once was fored to watch my reinforcements handle the major part of a battle.
The best use for the reinforcements, in my opinion at least, is to weaken city defenses. If you attack a small enemy unit close to a city with your army (preferably you´d want to make sure they can´t retreat any more) the city´s force will come out to help them (this doesn´t work if the city is being besieged already) and you can handle them in the open. If you manage to kill of their generals and kill off their men (a unit with six or less men is disbanded automativcally, save from generals), you can take over the city as it´s whole defence has been crushed outside it´s walls. And even if you didn´t manage to completely destroy the forces, they will be considerably weakened, making the siege battle a lot easier.

[gardibolt]

Is there a site or other place that shows what territories are held by which factions at the beginning of the game?

[Ciaran]

One thing for the MTW veterans who read Frog´s unit guide, you can translate some things from there to Rome, most obviously the tactics for MTW´s spears and pikes translate to the RTW phalanxes (keep the formation in order and the flanks guarded) and RTW spears equal MTW polearms, at least as far as anti-cavalry tactics are concerned (charge the cavalry instead of receive their charge).
Just some small addition.

[Krauser]

Is there a site or other place that shows what territories are held by which factions at the beginning of the game?

There is a map I found that showed this. It's really high quality but has all the information you need.

http://lazarus.elte.hu/~hzsolt/terke...al_vanilla.png

[gardibolt]

Excellent, thank you, that's exactly what I was looking for.

[frogbeastegg]

As I've been saying here and there rather a lot today, I've been out of action for 17 days because my PC got fried by a thunderstorm. I only just got it back, and I'm still settling things back to how they should be. I'm also playing one heck of a game of catch up.

I'm planning to come back to my guide and read all the recent posts properly once I've caught up with emails, PMs, and assorted moderator stuff.

[eccentricity]

As I've been saying here and there rather a lot today, I've been out of action for 17 days because my PC got fried by a thunderstorm. I only just got it back, and I'm still settling things back to how they should be. I'm also playing one heck of a game of catch up.

Hi froggie! I'm glad you're back, I've been reading through your guide and its very thorough and helpful so kudos to you!!

Which part of your comp was fried? Whenever I get electrical storms around here, I'm the first to unplug anything of value till the front passes. It seems that UPS backup and surge "protectors" hardly ever help. Although I think the correct term is "processor" because I never see them listed as protectors in the ads for sale.

p.s. My girlfriend gets very angry whenever I mention you around her, so if your nose ever itches, its because you're being thought of.

[frogbeastegg]

I know, I know, this isn't soon. But I have a good excuse, honest. I've got a new job, and it came with incredibly little warning, right out of the blue. For anyone who is interested, I'm now a part time bookseller. I'm still rather in shock. But I do love the 20% staff discount.

I also had to reconstruct my manuscript version of the RTW guide from scratch because my in-progress versions were lost in my PC disaster. I've reverted to backups, but a lot of work has been lost, and to be honest I'm still quite confused as to what is writen down and what is not, such is the extent of the change between my lost version and my backup.

eccentricity, my motherboard and processor were both cooked. The motherboard had acutally exploded in some places, and was oozing fluid from the capacitors around the processor. The powersupply was a bit singed. My old RAM was also highly likely to have been damaged, and wouldn't fit in the new motherboard anyway. Drive C: was corrupted to the point where windows couldn't even begin to boot, so only information which was on my secondary hard drive, and the couple of folders I managed to transfer before my dying PC gave up the ghost completely and corrupted C:, survived. Because my PC is so different many of my old backups, and my hard drive mirror image, are useless.



The rest I shall come back to tomorrow, amphibian's honour. It's 7:20 PM here, and I haven't eaten since ... I don't remember. I also suspect it's going to thunder again

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Frog:

Get off the lilypad before the lightning strikes...and stop testing the air with a sarissa while its wired to your PC.

[frogbeastegg]

SMZ, I've finally read your very thorough rundown of the three Roman factions. It's good work It seems a bit of a shame to leave it sitting buried here, so I'll try to think of somewhere it can go to reach a wider readership. If you have any ideas as to where to put it I'm open to suggestions. Perhaps as an appendix to my own guide, if you like? Although I admit my guide is currently in a Mess with a capital 'M' thanks to that aforementioned loss of my current in-progress version.

Infidel, I'm afraid I'm going to echo Seamus Fermanagh. Your suggested tactics are nicely grounded in historical ones, but in the game it's very hard to get them working correctly. That's not to say it can't be done, or that it will never work, but it takes quite a lot more skill to use than my basic version. It's also less reliable.

Ciaran, thanks. I shall try and work those into my supposedly in progress update of the guide ... when I've finished working out what exactly is in my guide, what used to be but isn't now, and what was on my now entirely gone 'to do' list.

You had a good experience with Ai controlled reinforcements? Lucky you! I used them back in 1.0 and 1.1 and it always seemed to turn out that either they never reached the battle because I rushed my own forces forward to keep the AI out of things, or I wasn't fast enough in doing that, and all my AI controlled troops routed without doing anything useful and were mown down.

Seamus Fermanagh,

[Zukarakox]

Here is the exact formula for farming income, you CAN get bad farms from what I've experienced... but I've only noticed it once when I restarted my campaign so it happens more in the beggning most likely.


Farming Output = % gained from base farming x 200 + Numbar gained from farms. (Its listed in the info of farms)
Farming Income = (72 + 4 x Level of Town(Town = 1, Large town = 2)) x Farming Output

Now, anyone wanna help me find the one for Trading? Because its a rather harder formula than farming I think.



Lol I remember a fight with AI controled troops.... the enemies army was about 3x as large as my Controlled army but with AI and my army we were about as big.... but I held off attacking so my AI troops would come to help, then somehow, they got routed before I got in the fight so I just said.... ahhh w/e and charged with all my men. I completely stomped them.... as in my general got 400 kills even though I still was using Hastati and Equites... Silly AI.

[SMZ]

:) Whatever you think is best. I get funny moods sometimes where I enjoy doing tons of odd work for little or no gain... so it was fun to do.

You might want to consider sacraficing a goat or two to Zeus...

[Taurus1]

I just finished reading the majority of this guide and it is very informative. Thanks frogbeastegg

[JonEire]

Very impressive, enjoyed reading this guide and found it to be excellent also even though I have completed RTW on very/hard very hard with most factions I still learned a ton of new trivia.

I say again Great Guide.

[Darmus]

I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to all of the people who have brought the issues in this thread to the forefront. As a new player this is without a doubt the most useful resource I have encountered. I look forward to more information being released shortly.

[Nuke_trt]

Very useful, and very well written. Keep up the good work.

[Olorin I]

Greetings, Lady Frog. Your guide is superb. You make reference to completing a multiplayer chapter/section in the future. Any idea on when you might get around to penning your thoughts on multi-player strategies and tactics? Thanks for your work and contributions.

Olorin I

[Mouzafphaerre]

.

All this unlocking stuff is console crap and I refuse to do it!
Honestly it’s probably easier to just play an easy/easy short 15 province campaign, but if you insist on modding I shall quote Steppe Merc’s short modding guide:
“1) Find the file "descr_strat" in ...\Rome - Total War\Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign.txt

2)Open it up.

3)cut the faction you want to play as from the section its under (either unlockable or nonplayable, and copy it into the playable section, that should do it.

froggy,

It's now (1.3)

\Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\desc_strat.txt

I retreated a heated rant post in the last minute (having found it myself) since this isn't mentioned anywhere, including the modding boards.
.

[CTW311]

One small piece of information about First Cohorts: You can recruit them in Rome, and only in Rome, if you own the city.

[Unregistered]

I think that was introduced in 1.2?

[frogbeastegg]

The 1.2 update of the guide is dead. Never going to happen.

However, BI is proving to be the game RTW 1.0 should have been. It's also the reason why the 1.2 update is entirely redundant. This guide now needs to cover BI and RTW 1.3.

Time is still very much an issue, so don't hold your breaths and wait in hope. But I already find myself noting things in my mind, ready for use if I do get opportunity to write again.

[General_Sun]

Hi, Ive downoaded RTR (up through 5.1) and the game starts, but it only lets me choose the prologue. THis was fine, but it doesnt let me actually PLAY the prologue, just sends me back to the startup screen. needless to say, i cannot travel onward to play RTR's campaign...any help would be appreciated, thanx.

There's an option in preferences.txt called firstimeplay or something similar. ctrl for first and you'll find it. :D Then turn from TRUE to FALSE.

[gardibolt]

The 1.2 update of the guide is dead. Never going to happen.

However, BI is proving to be the game RTW 1.0 should have been. It's also the reason why the 1.2 update is entirely redundant. This guide now needs to cover BI and RTW 1.3.

Time is still very much an issue, so don't hold your breaths and wait in hope. But I already find myself noting things in my mind, ready for use if I do get opportunity to write again.

That doesn't surprise me much, given remarks you've made elsewhere about your disappointment with 1.2, but rest assured dear FBE that there are many, many, many of us out here who will be waiting for your definitive guide to all things 1.3 and BI.

[Breeze]

Is this guide downloadable in a PDF format It prints way off the page from the browser.

[therother]

Try the Printable Version, accessible from that link or via the thread tools menu.