A few questions

[Laughable Butane Bob]

Hi,

Firstly i want to say how much i love this mod, the amount of detail is amazing and it's better than RTW in every way (ignoring the odd crash), so well done :) . Anyway, i'm doing campaigns with Casse and Saka Rauka at the moment and have a few questions.

Why do my chariot generals die so easily? I've learnt now to get my chariots out of melee as fast as possible, but even when they do get stuck, i would have expected my generals to be one of the last men to die. I use Generals loads with other factions (my Saka generals are my main melee force) but with Casse i'm reduced to using them as skirmishers and for the odd charge when i know the enemy will break straight away.

What do the Casse/Saka reforms actually do? I'm guessing i got access to new units but i don't know which...

What was a typical Casse army made up of? At the moment I'm using Belgae Swordsmen and Gaeliche supported by chariots, champions and axemen.

In RTW I used archers exclusively but they seem less effective in EB, so are slingers and skirmishers worth using or are all missile units less effective? or am I wrong about archers?

Could anyone reccomend a book on the celts of this period? (bearing in mind I'm a complete novice when it comes to history.)

Apologies if there are threads answering these already, but i couldn't find a search function.

Thanks in advance :)

[Ludens]

Chariots were outdated by the time of EB: the only reason the Britons are still using them is because they lack proper heavy cavalry. To make things worse, the engine cannot properly model chariot engagements, so they are even weaker than they should be. You should keep them out of melee combat, and watch out for missile troops (especially javelineers, which get a bonus against chariots) and charging cavalry. That said, chariots have four uses:

1) Breaking up infantry formations: order your chariots to charge through an enemy infantry formation and follow up by heavy infantry: this will play havoc with enemy combat efficiency.

2) Breaking up cavalry formations: chariots are one of the few units that can effectively counter charge heavy cavalry. Don't get stuck in a melee, though, or allow your chariots to be charged when they are bogged down.

3) Missile support: chariots are skirmisher cavalry that carry loads of javelins. Use them as such.

4) Morale support: Briton chariots improve the morale of nearby allies, while scaring nearby enemies. Combined with javelins and the ability to break through enemy lines, this can cause a massive morale penalty, allowing you to quickly rout all but the best units.

The main advice about chariots is that they should be kept moving. A mobile chariot is deadly, an immobile one is merely dead.

[Laughable Butane Bob]

Thanks for the reply.

"order your chariots to charge through an enemy infantry formation"

Do you mean I should order them to run to a point behind the enemy, or get them to charge and then immediately disengage behind the enemy?

I'm about to start a war with the Romans (just got to finnish of the Averni), should I bring along lots of chariots to break up their formations, seeing as that's one of the Roman's key strengths?

[Ludens]

"order your chariots to charge through an enemy infantry formation"

Do you mean I should order them to run to a point behind the enemy, or get them to charge and then immediately disengage behind the enemy?

Either is possible. Remember to take them off skirmish-mode, though. I wouldn't recommend more than two units of chariots per army, and that includes bodyguards. They don't kill much and you need only one or two to disrupt the formation of many enemy units. Also, Roman legionaries still fight pretty effectively without their formations.

[SwissBarbar]

Chariots were outdated by the time of EB: the only reason the Britons are still using them is because they lack proper heavy cavalry.

yes, but the AS also uses chariots, just heavily armored ones (with spikes and stuff)

[Ludens]

yes, but the AS also uses chariots, just heavily armored ones (with spikes and stuff)

Different tactical usage. In game there is not much difference between Celtic and Eeastern chariots, but in reality there was. Sadly, this is beyond the engine to simulate.

As for the OPs other questions, the Saka reform gives the access to several heavily-armoured Greek units, while the Casse reforms unlock many new champion units. The Casse need these champions, because they have nothing else in the way of armoured infantry. IIRC the Casse reforms also make the better Belgae units available: Milnath, Tarramonnos and Remi Mairepos, but I am not sure, since I haven't played the Casse since 0.8.

We don't have that much information about the typical Briton army, but chances are that if the Casse managed to conquer Britain, Belgium and Gaul, then their army would have looked substantially different from history anyway.

All missile units have been toned down. Now they will make little impression against properly shielded troops, especially when they wear armour. However, they still can do some damage when shooting into the unshielded side, especially slingers, whom are effective against armour. I use javelineers mostly to bait and distract the enemy.

There is a search function button at the top right of the forum.

[Mediolanicus]

Do a search for the chariots. Lots of threads about it.

They are one of the most deadly and effective units when I get my hands on them.