Re: Gaul
So the dogs did not hit your spears head on, were they able to hit your hoplites on the side? And what difficulty, I just started on M/M, so that may have something to do with it. By properly defensed I mean lined up barricading the entire street so nothing can hit them from the side, and (hopefully) it is only your men to the rear.
Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: Psalm 144:1
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
-Henry V by William Shakespeare
Re: Gaul
Tarentum has a large square and my hoplites were across one corner while the dogs were coming from the opposite corner. Usually I wouldn't set up actually in the square (as you said across a street end), but I wanted to draw them to my phalanx. Mostly they attacked head on, but since there were 3 units, some would have overlapped the sides and maybe even got to the back. I wasn't watching when the rout started so I don't know.
Playing VH/VH - the AI seems a little smarter and definitely causes higher casualties.
If I were playing Gaul I would garrison with dogs because they seem hard to beat in auto-resolve sieges. So if the enemy performed an assault I would always auto against it in that case.
Re: Gaul
Right, you did mention you weren't watching, else you could have probably done something. It is the handlers who rout, the dogs live while their handler lives, unless they have been released, then I am not sure, I have seen dogs die on their own. I do not auto-resolve sieges, even if there is no way I can lose, because I like to entirely destroy the enemy army. The dogs target another unit once they have finished off one, so there is that. Realistically, I don't know how effective dogs would have been other than against peasants or untrained units, a unit of armed men could easily dispatch of a group of dogs. Also, would the dogs really distinguish between your men and theirs? That said, I may start training dogs for my war against Spain, I had not thought of that before. Then again, anything better than Iberian Infantry would own the dogs.
Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: Psalm 144:1
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
-Henry V by William Shakespeare
Re: Gaul
^don't know when was the last time you stared down with an angry, angry dog but it's not pretty. :>
Anyway, by this time I am fairly certain that the playable factions in the campaign roster are ordered in the way of increasing difficulty, from the easy-peasy Julii to the pretty hardcore Gaul. I've read many insightful strategies on this topic, and for my M/M imperial campaign, after studying the initial conditions, I opted for:
a) total war against the Julii
b) total war against Spain
c) send the brits packing home
d) pray to Epona that nothing goes horribly, horribly wrong in between.
It's now 265 BC and I've taken Osca and Carthago Nova (+ a doomstack destroyed in Celtiberia, so Spain is pretty much dead). Belgium is well defended, the Julii are history and there's a really nice view of Italy from the walls of Rome. Memorable moments:
1. I met a much larger brittish force is Belgium, but it was broken in two. I had 4 warbands, my faction leader + a unit of light cav and a druid, against an initial army of two warbands, slingers, peasants and two units of chariot archers + reinforcements of warbands and heavy chariots. Luckily, the initial army camped in a forest, so I simply charged in, flanked with my general and caused a mass rout. Chariots move very slowly through forests, so they were easily bogged down and destroyed. I had enough time to hide my warbands, and the reinforcing army walked right into them. In conclusion, everyone died, I lost a maximum of 3 dudes lol.
2. I know from previous experience that sometimes, when landing armies in Italy, the Senate will decide to ruin your day so I did not risk heading straight from Arretium. Instead, my spy opened the gates of Segesta and I cornered about a third of the Julii army there, killing them with no casualties. I camped in the forest on the border of Etruria and managed to ambush another small Julii force. The next turn my spy managed to open the gates of Arretium, and I took down another third of the Julii forces with little losses. Being inside the city, I was fairly certain I could hold off the Senate army if they decided to siege. However, they didn't and next turn I met what was left of the Julii on a hill in Umbria. Killing the last of their royal blood meant that Ariminum rebelled and I was once again nervous that the Senate might march in while I besieged it, but it didn't happen. So, by the eve of 267 BC, one obstacle on the path to greatness was removed.
3. With 6 warbands, 4 swords, 3 units of light cav and 3 warlords I challenged the SPQR on a crossing of the Tiber. The SPQR had no less than five captains, well experienced principes, triarii, and a few units of velites in a full doomstack. Long story short, I managed to pull a perfect Cannae. There were two crossings on the battlefield, the SPQR crashed through one of them right into my boys and bent them into a crescent shape, but as they did that, I raced my light cav over the other crossing and slammed into their backs. It was beautiful, they fought to the last man in a kind of reversed Sambria (if I remember well this was the battle where a union of gallic tribes managed to surprise Caesar's camp, but ultimately ended up surrounded and instead of routing fought to the last man) and I lost about half my army. However, Rome is mine now, and the rest of the latins are pretty much dead (though the brutii may have a stack moving up the dalmatian coast).
I think I got things in control battle-wise, but I'm not sure how these guys will fair economically throughout the campaign. Their tech is very, very limited, agriculture and trade produce little revenue and taxing will be a major problem once cities become large. The plan is to conquer the whole of Italy and Spain, Sicily if need be to vanquish the Scipii, and then I'll head for Greece. Sometime in between I'll jump the channel and kill those brittish bastards too.
Re: Gaul
It pays to be aggressive with the Julii, in the long run. I've tried the tactic of being defensive using the two bridges in front of Mediolanium and Patavium while I overran Iberia, kicked the Brits off the mainland, and smacked Germania down to the point where they pose no real threat. It works but....it can get annoying and sometimes downright dicey fending off the Julii until I get to Chosen Swords, Forester Warbands, and the like.
I would say you got really lucky concerning the SPQR. Times that I've tried sacking Ariminum and Arretium, the SPQR reacted immediately to attack me...not a pretty sight early in the gameand the main reason I usually opt to wait for better troops. But kudos for defeating them so early. Be aware that the composition of the SPQR doom-stack is level dependent. At VH/H (my usual setting), that stack will contain advanced Cohorts including Praetorian
Economically, Gaul can do very well once you control all of Iberia with its' mines and port cities. You're right in assessing that farm income will not be very high, but port trading and mines will be your mainstay. In playing any barbarian faction, it's important to stabilize population growth once you hit 10-12k. It's not easy with the buildings available, but it can be done. I had screenies from some of my Gaul & Germania campaigns, but somehow they got 'lost' when I transferred my online account from ImageShack to PhotoBucket
Speaking of screenies...you should add some to your campaign AAR's. It's nice to see visually what's going on....
High Plains Drifter
Re: Gaul
Ok, here's a pic of Magna Gallia in the making, 15 years in.
I find these guys to be pretty strong in the early game. Those swordsmen are beasts and their light cav is as good as any other light cav, or even slightly better. Fighting late game greece or egypt might be problematic, but until then it's easy sailing.
Re: Gaul
Always liked the Chosen Swordsmen. But if/when you ever play Germania, you might not look back on playing any other barbarian faction. Even better infantry, and far superior cavalry, IMHO. Chosen Axmen, Zerkers, and Gothic Cavalry rule! Chosen Archers are amongst the elite in the game.Those swordsmen are beasts and their light cav is as good as any other light cav, or even slightly better
Nice screenie...With the Romans gone, you shouldn't have much problem with anyone else. I do find it strange that you've dipped into N Africa? I assume you're after Ellies
High Plains Drifter
Re: Gaul
The Scipii are holed up in Sardinia but I will take care of that very soon. The Brutii have some mudholes on the dalmatian coast and I'll probably have to deal with that as well since no one else seems interested.
I find it impossible to maintain good relations with neighboring factions. They will declare war sooner or later, and when I saw doomstacks pilling up in Corduba it was clear what had to be done. Also, I didn't fancy seeing war elephants and sacred bands churning out of Carthage in a couple of decades. I'm rather certain I don't have anything close to an adequate answer for that (maybe mass skirmisher/archer armies with a few units of heavy cav for decisive blows, but I'm really not accustomed to fighting like that; I'm a infantry man myself with a liking for cavarly support).
That aside, I had to declare war on Egypt when I landed in Africa because they had parked a fleet right in my way. Bastards. I'm rather certain I don't have anything close to an adequate answer for elite egyptian armies + chariots either, but hopefuly they don't have any western ambitions. Keeping the germans at bay is a bit annoying because I have only light cav detachments up north and they make huge phalanx armies, but it's doable. Britannia is pretty much dead at this point and the dacians have suffered their first crushing defeats.
After North Africa is occupied I'll probably go for the Balkans.
Re: Gaul
You have access to one of the better skirmisher units available...Spanish Mercenaries. Basically Spain's Scutari unit. If you pull up the Carthage guide to where I posted a couple of my Carthage screenies, you'll see an army of War Ellies and Spanish mercs. These guys can stand up to moderate melee after they've expended their javelins, and that's their advantage over straight up skirmishers.maybe mass skirmisher/archer armies with a few units of heavy cav
That aside, I had to declare war on Egypt when I landed in Africa because they had parked a fleet right in my way. BastardsThe AI can be downright devious, at times....
High Plains Drifter
Re: Gaul
Well, I've been busy with other things but it's great to get back to the campaign. So, here's the current situation.
I need 4 more cities to win but I am THROUGH with pacifying barbarians -.-
Those bastards have developed the perfect defense: keep all your towns level 1 mudholes and swarm the enemy with endless waves of dirt farming peasants. Bleah. It's been quite an adventure to establish the beachhead in Thermon though. The greeks have a MASSIVE fleet, I've never seen the AI build so many boats before. I wanted to get to Sparta initially but it was impossible with my rafts, so now I'm going to ferry armies in one go from Tarentum to Thermon and invade by land. It's nice to fight the greeks. They've got a slight infantry edge, but I've got plenty of troops to flank with since Foresters can also double as anticav infantry.
By the way, how do druids stack their chanting, if at all? Do 2 units give a bigger boost than 1?
Re: Gaul
Have no ideaBy the way, how do druids stack their chanting, if at all?I tried them the first few times through...didn't see any benefit that a good old-fashioned warcry won't bestow. Never used them again.
High Plains Drifter
Re: Gaul
It may depend on your difficulty, but it seems the enemy routs faster if you have druids chanting. Like, they rout as soon as they engage your troops. Bear in mind I have only played on E/E and M/M, with barbarians only on E/E, I believe. If you are concerned about realism, they are not a realistic unit, Druids were exempt from military service. That said, I always have a unit of Druids with my armies. The problem is, they require a specific temple, and in some places, it behooves one to have a different temple than the Druid one, Esus, if I remember correctly.Originally Posted by wooly_mammoth
By the way, the Julii can upgrade the temples of Epona to Awesome Temple/Pantheion of Horse, as many Roman cavalry units adopted Epona as their patron deity. Pantheion starts your units trained there with two silver chevrons, Awesome Temple with one silver chevron. Something to keep in mind if you did not know that already and want to play as the Julii. I think that can only happen if it is a Sacred Circle when taken over.
Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: Psalm 144:1
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
-Henry V by William Shakespeare
Re: Gaul
I've been playing the factions in the order listed in the roster (noticing the increasing difficulty pattern while at it
In general, with regard to temple specific units, I do not mind that requirement for support troops such as druids, because they are less likely to get in the middle of the action anyway. It's the temple melee infantry that's problematic, I tend to avoid those units since I want to be able to retrain quickly the forces that take most of the heat.
As for gauls and temples, my default choice is Esus anyway if the province has a port, because the law bonus reduces corruption and helps maximize income from sea-trade. Otherwise it's an equal distribution of Epona and Abnoba. I avoid Teutakis since I find naked fanatics pretty useless and the extra chevron from Epona is certainly more valuable than the weapon upgrade from Teutakis.
Last edited by wooly_mammoth; 06-16-2015 at 03:58.
Re: Gaul
Don't sim your battles, then, because your Druids will get involved and they will take casualties. Have you encountered Egypt yet? None of the Barbarian factions are really set up to fight Egypt. That should be interesting. Forester Warband should REALLY come in handy there.I've been playing the factions in the order listed in the roster (noticing the increasing difficulty pattern while at it
In general, with regard to temple specific units, I do not mind that requirement for support troops such as druids, because they are less likely to get in the middle of the action anyway. It's the temple melee infantry that's problematic, I tend to avoid those units since I want to be able to retrain quickly the forces that take most of the heat.
As for gauls and temples, my default choice is Esus anyway if the province has a port, because the law bonus reduces corruption and helps maximize income from sea-trade. Otherwise it's an equal distribution of Epona and Abnoba. I avoid Teutakis since I find naked fanatics pretty useless and the extra chevron from Epona is certainly more valuable than the weapon upgrade from Teutakis.
I don't use Naked Fanatics either. They are a decent shock infantry, but I don't really use infantry for shock, that is what cavalry is for. My brother would field one or two with his armies as shock troops, but they are a specialized infantry and not to be used in the line. Even Warband aren't much good, because they rout too easily and demoralize your other troops. Great for garrison, though.
If I am in a port city, I use whatever maximizes trade, for temples. I don't remember Gaul's bonuses. I know not everybody has a temple that helps trade, I don't think Gaul does, correct me if I am wrong. I am compiling, if I ever get around to finishing, a spreadsheet with the information about every temple in the game.
Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: Psalm 144:1
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
-Henry V by William Shakespeare
Re: Gaul
It's been done already. Look in this topic:I am compiling, if I ever get around to finishing, a spreadsheet with the information about every temple in the game.
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...ide-to-Temples
Partway down is a link to an Excel d/l over at twc. I'm not a member there anymore, so I can't tell you if the link is still viable. If it's not, PM me with an email addy and I can send you both files.
And no, Gaul does not have any trade bonuses (or economy, for that matter) attached to any of its temples.
High Plains Drifter
Re: Gaul
The only battles I sometimes autoresolve are against rebel stacks if I'm attacking with specialized cav armies that have the sole purpose to wipe them out. However, due to the fact that I tend to keep these armies quite small and that autoresolve will score you victory only if you have an overwhelming stat advantage, I need to fight personally a lot of these as well. As for campaign battles it goes without saying that I never ever autoresolve, since I just take huge amount of casualties and kill very little of the enemy. Nothing like taking a 2% casualties percentage on your side and obliterating 100% of the enemy heh.
As for Egypt, I probably won't get to fight them since I'm so close to finishing the campaign, but I'm pretty sure the Gauls would slaughter them so bad it wouldn't even be funny. Chosen Swordsmen will destroy any and all of their infantry, while all of their support units are inferior to foresters. Pretty sure those bushwhackers can obliterate pharaoh's bowmen and even win in melee against any of their light cav or chariots with their spears. + they are ridiculously easy to retrain.
Re: Gaul
I wouldn't count on Egypt being easy. You have nothing that gets a bonus vs cav, that I know of. Now chariots are not that hard to defeat, but your units are too light (not including Chosen Swordsmen) to really stand up to chariots. Now if you can prevent them from breaking up your Warband units, they could do OK, set the Warband to Guard mode, they might do better. Just experience dealing with Britain's chariots.
Pharoah's Bowmen have insane armour (for archers) and long range as well, so they would stand up to your Foresters. They are really the problem for me, the best counter is cav, who would then get wiped out by their chariots. Note, chariots get destroyed by elephants, so Elephant Mercenaries aren't a bad idea anyway. Lightly armoured units such as swordsmen would fall prey to their slingers. Chosen Swordsmen could handle any of their infantry, provided you flank their phalanx. I am sure that is what you do anyway with phalanx, as your units are not armoured enough to stand toe-to-toe with a phalanx. Your cav as Gaul is only mediocre to decent, but just as good at least as theirs.
Then again, I don't know the makeup of your armies. Personally, I would rather use my bowmen to wear down their phalanx. But I always find I have to shell their bowmen eventually. I have never tried a Barbarian vs Egypt, by the time I got over there with Britain the Scipii had already wiped Egypt out. I am sure I could devise some strategy, as I am sure you would too. Just curious, what difficulty are you playing on?
Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: Psalm 144:1
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
-Henry V by William Shakespeare
Re: Gaul
I play on M/M. Anything else is too hardcore for me.
Also, it's good to know that anything vaguely resembling a pointy stick (including peasant's forks or forester's hunting spear) has a bonus vs. cavalry, even if it not listed in the "abilities at a glance" list. Even town watch or warbands are competent at holding off a cavalry charge, and you sure never ever charge directly into an infantry unit having pointy sticks for weapons, no matter low lowly they may seem. Now, just out of fun I tried a custom battle with foresters vs egyptian chariots. The chariots got completely obliterated, as I was expecting. A few volleys of arrows whittled their hp a bit, and then the spears kicked in.
Also, I just won the campaign. I Hopped a large cavalry force over in Thermon to keep garrison while I moved the main army and took Larissa. Sadly, I never got into a really serious fight with a greek doomstack. That would have been fun. As I was taking Larissa I also trudged through the forests and took the last german town (defended by their women hah). Some dacian guy defending by himself the final town that I needed died of old age, and I just walked in. Sweet victory. The dacians did try to offer some resistance in the field as I was advancing, so at least that was fun.
Germania is next.
Re: Gaul
Expect money problems with Germania.
Glad to see somebody else who plays on that level, it seems like everyone else plays on some combination of VH and H. I have yet to try harder than M/M, I have only completed Greek campaign on M/M. Then again, I play till I cover the map. Yeah, that takes a while. I usually have two or three campaigns current at a time. I have covered the map as Seleucia, Greece, Macedon, Julii, and Brutii. I usually get tired of one campaign after a while, so I start another one, and switch between the two when I get bored.
Forester Warband have good enough defense to handle a chariot charge, and good enough melee attack to defeat them. Like I said, those Pharoah's Bowmen are my main problem. They seem to wear down my Archer Auxilia if they want, and Archer Auxilia have decent defense for archers. Also, Egypt like Onagers. When you send your cav to deal with them, their chariots will own your cav.
I will hit Town Watch with heavy cav such as Legionary or even Roman Cav. Peasants are worthless enough not to bother about. Warband and Town Watch can hold in a battle line till the iron fist hits, whatever that may be. I hit them individually. On Guard mode, they receive the charge even better.
Are you aggressive in the battle or defensive? I am defensive, relying on heavy infantry to receive the enemy attack. Gaul is not going to be effective against Egypt like that. If you are aggressive, that may work better, so maybe it is just my fighting style that seems like Gaul would have problems with Egypt. I guess that would require playing the campaign, if my money supply can last long enough to get there, it usually does not. If I can make it into Greece, that should help.
Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: Psalm 144:1
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
-Henry V by William Shakespeare
Re: Gaul
Onagers are completely useless against units. Just put your guys on loose formation and you'll lose something like 1 or 2 extremely unlucky dudes if the enemy has a full onager doomstack and you just sit back looking at the sky. If you have long ranged archers either focus fire the crews down (or use flaming arrows to burn the engines, but the former is usually faster), if not just close the distance and they are completely annihilated.
Now, the kind of gallic set-up I would use to invade Egypt would be:
1 general + 1 noble cav + 2 light cav (bronze wep/armor + 3 bronze chevrons from Epona)
8 chosen swordsmen (bronze wep/armor + 3 bronze chevrons from Epona)
6 forester warbands (bronze armor, gold weapon from Abnoba)
2 druids (bronze wep/armor)
I'm pretty sure I can beat any AI Egyptian army with this. However, I am very certain I could not beat my ideal Egyptian set-up:
1 general + 3 heavy chariots (gold wep/armor)
8 pharaoh's guard (gold wep/armor)
4 pharaoh's bowmen (gold armor)
4 chariot archers (gold armor)
+ combat bonus in deserts for all those bastards.
Will try a custom battle for fun on medium difficulty, but I think the sheer technological advantage + insane number of chariots makes it impossible. However, I've never seen the AI tech-up so much and create such an army. Pharaoh was still shuffling nubians around when I was winning the imperial campaign.
Re: Gaul
Dunno why you would waste time and money on Druids. First, they are a 32-man unit (on normal size) with weak melee stats. Wasting two unit slots on a militarily weak unit is....well...silly. As a barbarian faction you already get Warcry which has a more immediate and predictable effect (besides giving a temporary boost to stats). Having a bunch of tree-huggers chanting and burning incense....well my Cataphracts would be laughing so hard they'd likely fall out of their saddles2 druids (bronze wep/armor)
If you liked Forester Warbands, you're going to looove Chosen Archers....the best, IMHO. And you're going to relish Germania's infantry, especially Bezerkers. And Germania has the best cavalry of all barbarian factions....Gothic Cav rule!
As with any barbarian faction. However, Germania has the Temple of Freyja to boost population growth. Used in every backwater town that isn't named Damme or Mogontiacum until such time as growth no longer is necessary.Expect money problems with Germania.
VH on the campaign map isn't really that fearsome. It just means that enemy/rebel stacks will be of higher quality, at the start, and that brigands will actually do something besides stand around being fodder for your armies-in-training. They will sometimes band together (if you don't wipe out spawns immediately) and attack your cities. I found that refreshing and fun.it seems like everyone else plays on some combination of VH and H
VH on the battle map is too much for me. The first time I lost after conducting a battle that I should have won, simply because the AI gets insane stat & moral boosts, I stopped playing VH for battles. Too much not having fun. I can have fun if I lose, but beat me because you had superior troops/tactics or because I made a mistake, not because the devs were too lazy to develop a better AI (play Shogun for an AI that is smart and is fully capable of kicking your ass without bonuses).
Last edited by ReluctantSamurai; 06-16-2015 at 23:14.
High Plains Drifter
Re: Gaul
Sounds decent. I might go with two Noble cav and one Barbarian cav. One Druid for me. RS, I think their melee stats are actually decent, but I may be wrong. Also, Wooly, what are their hit points, one or two? Yeah, forget the Warband (except as missile fodder, if you do that, I don't) and even regular swordsmen. You need armour when facing Egypt. Kind of an expensive army. But by the time you are over there, you should be doing better for money anyway, if you go through the Balkans/Turkey.
If an Onager with flaming missiles hits your troops, it is a lot more devastating. Less accurate, though, but if they do land a hit it counts for more. I like to counter Onagers with Onagers, if fighting Egypt. The problem with siege engines, it is one more thing to watch out for them trying to hit. I actually put my siege up front, then move my units in front of them when the enemy gets close.
Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: Psalm 144:1
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
-Henry V by William Shakespeare
Re: Gaul
Let me put it another way...on normal unit size, a 32-man Druid unit costs 490 denarii (90 upkeep) for 13/14 attk/def and takes two turns to train. An 81-man Chosen Swords costs 680 denarii (210 upkeep) for 13/17 attk/def and takes only a single turn to train. The only difference between the two, other than defensive capability, and cost, is the Druid Chant. Considering what a well-timed Warcry does for a temp morale and stat boost, is a single Druid unit really worth more than twice a Chosen Swords unit? Not to me, at least, which is why I consider them a waste of money. Also, you need a specialized temple to train (or re-train) Druids which can be a pain for a fast-moving offensive.RS, I think their melee stats are actually decent, but I may be wrong.
One.what are their hit points, one or two
Last edited by ReluctantSamurai; 06-17-2015 at 02:48.
High Plains Drifter
Re: Gaul
OK, but as Wooly pointed out, they are not a combat unit. Of course, it is up to whoever makes the army to decide what they want. It seems that the chanting more intimidates the enemy than helps your own troops out. At least, that has been my experience. The temple thing is more of a problem, I agree on that.
Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: Psalm 144:1
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
-Henry V by William Shakespeare
Re: Gaul
I like druids for the added swag.
They are a nice unit to have around and make the army a bit more diverse. Not that I ever got a chance to use them in a serious battle in the campaign, I only got to have 3 such units around, the one you start with and 2 which I ferried to Greece, but who never saw a really major battle. Not sure if that chant actually does something, though.
Re: Gaul
OK, but as Wooly pointed out, they are not a combat unit.Alright....last attemptwho never saw a really major battle. Not sure if that chant actually does something, though.A 'non-combat unit' who 'never saw a really major battle' is one you might afford at normal difficulty (and even at that you got lucky that you were never really pressed hard by a multi-stack attack). At the next lvl of difficulty you will more than likely wish you had a couple of Chosen Swords when facing a doom-stack attack by elite Roman cohorts who will impale that "added swag" on the points of their pilum just before they cut you into little pieces. I would rather depend on a known tactic, Warcry, that works 100% of the time, than an iffy tactic that depends on poor morale and poor leadership on your enemy's part.
It seems that the chanting more intimidates the enemy than helps your own troops out"That chant" will have no effect on seasoned veterans led by a good general. You are better off with Warcry....but whatever floats your boatNot sure if that chant actually does something, though.
And on E/E is the rub, mateIt may depend on your difficulty, but it seems the enemy routs faster if you have druids chanting. played...with barbarians only on E/EYou are already getting a +4 to unit morale and attack rating [Easy=+4 morale/attk to the player; Medium=no bonus either side; Hard=+4 morale/attk for AI; Very Hard=+7 morale/attk for AI]. But let me ask something else...as Britannia or Gaul you've had to deal with Germania and those ultra-silly Screeching Women, which are basically Druids with weaker stats. Did their "hag-nagging" screech ever cause any of your troops to rout? Probably not because your troops were seasoned and led by, at the least, a decent general. So why would you expect chanting to work when the situation is reversed?
Last edited by ReluctantSamurai; 06-17-2015 at 11:00.
High Plains Drifter
Re: Gaul
I'm going to predict that at some point you will get bored with winning as easily as you appear to be, and crank up one or both difficulty settings. That's the route I went, and the one a lot of other players did, as well.I play on M/M. Anything else is too hardcore for me.
This is a good discussion on the effects of difficulty settings:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...tle-Difficulty
And to amend my earlier comments about campaign map settings...the higher the difficulty, the greater the penalty on income. IIRC, the range is +15% to -15% (Easy to Very Hard) but I'd have to check on that.
High Plains Drifter
Re: Gaul
OK, I did not know the differences in all the difficulties. I use Warcry as well, but it wears off, Druids can keep chanting. I fight defensively, so I let the enemy come to me, usually. I don't know how many times I have done a Warcry, and they attacked only when my guys were almost done. Anyway, I think enough said on that. Yeah, I don't use Screeching Women. I don't like the idea of sending women to combat, so that carries over into my gaming.Alright....last attempt
"That chant" will have no effect on seasoned veterans led by a good general. You are better off with Warcry....but whatever floats your boat
And on E/E is the rub, mate
Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: Psalm 144:1
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
-Henry V by William Shakespeare
Re: Gaul
Like I said....whatever floats your boatI fight defensively, so I let the enemy come to me, usually.
Here's a situation...in my last Germania campaign I was attacked by two full Britannia stacks, one from the front, the other from the rear (doesn't matter how good you think you are, the AI can pull a concealed stack out its hat sometimes). The only stack I had spotted was the one in front of me and true to RTW's screwy way of determining battle map starting positions despite what the campaign map looks like, I was at the south end of a north-bound kangaroo. I know it's Germania, but Screeching Women is their equivalent to Druids.
Two choices...retreat and live to fight another day (don't remember the odds but a betting man would have wagered the farm against me), or fight. I'm not a betting man so fight it is
I put everyone including archers into melee mode (with Chosen Archers that's just like having another melee unit) and charge up the hill to take out the first army before the second can catch my tail. I manage to rout that army with moderate losses, regroup, and turn to face the second army which is just reaching the bottom of the hill. After a protracted fight, what's left of them retreat...I don't pursue because my guys are dead tired. Historical marker left on the field of battle.
The point of this long-winded description is that "chanters" would have been a liability due to lower combat skills, and the lack of time to use their special. I am usually the aggressor when it comes to battles, except when facing multiple-multiple stacks. Chanters are of little or no use.
True enough, but Warcry works 100% of the time...chanting requires the enemy to have low morale which might occur early in a campaign (depending on who you are facing) but mid to high level troops will have good morale and even better with a competent general at the head. And chanters can't do anything else or benefit disappears. Now if you can afford having one or two units standing around doing nothing but their "Om-Mani-Padme" thing, then you really need to crank up the difficulty slider. I can just imagine what the troops in that SPQR doom-stack defending Rome might think when they see Druids in an approaching Gallic army....they'd be peeing themselves from laughing so hardI use Warcry as well, but it wears off, Druids can keep chanting.
Then don't play ScythiaI don't like the idea of sending women to combat, so that carries over into my gaming.They have two female units...Head-Hunting Maidens (a very good light cavalry unit with AP capabilities), and Scythian Noble Women (a horse archer unit with good enough attk/def stats to melee).
And definitely, Amazon Total War won't be your thing, either
Last edited by ReluctantSamurai; 06-17-2015 at 19:04.
High Plains Drifter
Re: Gaul
Anyway, just to clear things up for Vince, druids aren't supposed to lower enemy morale but boost your own troops in that department. I guess their use depends whether or not you need an extra fighting unit or a support unit that can make your existing fighters perform better and last longer.
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