GottMitUns
03-08-2008, 03:14
Walked away from the game a year and a half ago after winning the regular game, just started the BI campaign last week. First as Saxons. Realized how rusty I was trying to find the best balance between size of armies and income.
Impressions from 20 or so turns in-
Saxons:
Starting unit selection is not that great despite the immediate need to start annexing territory. The spear units are very very good to start but beyond that I had to rely on mercenaries (golden band mainly) for heavy infantry. Once chosen axemen and hearth troops entered the formula I pretty much dominated the wre wherever I fought them. Difficult keeping rebels from hurting income both on land and at sea. Hordes seemed to dominate me. I blame this on my rustyness.
Alemanni:
Very good starting unit selection. Night Raiders are essentially golden band with added bonuses. Spear units not as good as saxon spears, but entirely adequate for my combat style which relies heavily on out maneuvering larger armies and hitting flanks with shock troops. The Alemanni are GREAT at a highly aggressive style of play. Attack attack attack. The kinds of long defensive, attrition type battles of the regular RTW game are a thing of the past for me. Rarely do I find myself using the tried-and-true method of pinning a unit with spears so I can flank it with another unit. What seems to work allot is holding back calv. and hitting a large army as it moves with inf (1 part spears, 2 parts heavy inf.) moving the calv to either side of the battle and then hitting the enemies flanks as it fights. The difference between this and "pinning" is that enemy formations are much more fluid (sometimes entirely broken) when attacked on the move as opposed to simply defended against. Fluid formations are more easily divided and annihilated.
Last but not least, Hordes are not near the problem they were when I was playing the Saxons. Not quite sure why, but they seem to refuse to engage.
Altogether I think the Alemanni are a bit easier than the Saxons because it seems like the other factions are more active against the WRE and hordes. The key seems to be attacking the WRE ALLOT, making friends with neighboring barbarians, and extending ones territory to the southern mouth of the alps (Mediolanium) as quickly as possible. If the northern mouth of the alpine pass seems like a good defensive position, Mediolanium is just as good if not better. Plenty of bottlenecks.
Just some impressions. Can't wait to get berserkers.
Impressions from 20 or so turns in-
Saxons:
Starting unit selection is not that great despite the immediate need to start annexing territory. The spear units are very very good to start but beyond that I had to rely on mercenaries (golden band mainly) for heavy infantry. Once chosen axemen and hearth troops entered the formula I pretty much dominated the wre wherever I fought them. Difficult keeping rebels from hurting income both on land and at sea. Hordes seemed to dominate me. I blame this on my rustyness.
Alemanni:
Very good starting unit selection. Night Raiders are essentially golden band with added bonuses. Spear units not as good as saxon spears, but entirely adequate for my combat style which relies heavily on out maneuvering larger armies and hitting flanks with shock troops. The Alemanni are GREAT at a highly aggressive style of play. Attack attack attack. The kinds of long defensive, attrition type battles of the regular RTW game are a thing of the past for me. Rarely do I find myself using the tried-and-true method of pinning a unit with spears so I can flank it with another unit. What seems to work allot is holding back calv. and hitting a large army as it moves with inf (1 part spears, 2 parts heavy inf.) moving the calv to either side of the battle and then hitting the enemies flanks as it fights. The difference between this and "pinning" is that enemy formations are much more fluid (sometimes entirely broken) when attacked on the move as opposed to simply defended against. Fluid formations are more easily divided and annihilated.
Last but not least, Hordes are not near the problem they were when I was playing the Saxons. Not quite sure why, but they seem to refuse to engage.
Altogether I think the Alemanni are a bit easier than the Saxons because it seems like the other factions are more active against the WRE and hordes. The key seems to be attacking the WRE ALLOT, making friends with neighboring barbarians, and extending ones territory to the southern mouth of the alps (Mediolanium) as quickly as possible. If the northern mouth of the alpine pass seems like a good defensive position, Mediolanium is just as good if not better. Plenty of bottlenecks.
Just some impressions. Can't wait to get berserkers.