Strange Senate Bounty

[belac]

I had a strange experience as the Scipii last night. I was absolutely working out the Carths - land and sea. Met all of my Senate obligations and was working towards Carthage. I laid seige to the city and the next turn - I received a notification from the Senate. I basically said "The Senate appreciates all of you contributions, etc...Please accept this reward/bounty for your service to the Republic." I checked my income/report and didn't notice any increase in funds. No office appointments either.

Anyone had this experience before? It was completely independent of completing a mission - just a little somethin' somethin' to let me know the Senate loves me.

[Quillan]

I've had that every once in a while. It's always been a small monetary grant, so it's easy to miss.

[Basileus]

One annoying thing ive noticed when i played with the scipii, senate ask me to take syracuse when i siege the town they tell its not needed anymore 10 years later same thing happend when they asked me to siege thapsus heh..wtf is up with that, btw my main goal was to only do what the senate asked me to

[belac]

Never had that happen before - always been completed unless another faction captured the target.

I'm not sure what's happening to your campaign - possible alliance struck with the target?

[Patricius]

Well at least they are not giving one blessed unit of mercenary cavalry marching across half of Asia to take a city (Artaxata) that Parthia wants badly. I know Parthia is always a beggar in Vanilla RTW but a large stack of their forces against a half stack of mine far from any friendly city is threatening enough given also that the Greek - as in almost all games - have entrenched themselves very well in Asia Minor. The Senate and people rating are perfectly poised at around seven so there should be no hatred from the Conscript Fathers.

[soibean]

I always love when you're playing as the blue family and you're working on killing carthage and numidia so all your forces are in africa. Then the senate, for no logical reason, asks you to conquer thermon... from the greeks... who you are not at war with and receiving good trade income from... all because the green family is too much of a panzy to take one city. And if you decide to take a chunk of your army away, thus weakening your hold on africa, and attacking and capturing the city, which by now for me is far away from my capital which was moved into carthage to bring down the corruption factor in africa, that it is a piece of crap territory. Even if I give it away, it revolts a turn or so later back into my hands and continues this cycle until the green family can finally garrison it to the max.

or of course when you're playing as the red family and youve conquered the gaulic provinces near italy and out of nowhere they say "blockade londinium"... in 5 turns... so Im supposed to take my 2 ship navy, travel around the iberian peninsula and up the western part of gaul just so you can look favorably on me and not give me any reward whatsoever?

[Jagger]

Sometimes when the authority says jump...you have to say no.

[Quillan]

I've taken to generally ignoring the Senate. Unless their mission has one of those "investigate your finances/reveal your secret" penalties for failure, there doesn't seem to be any negative effect if you don't do it. The Senate does seem like it's deliberately trying to widen my war and stretch my forces, and I wonder if that isn't specifically coded for a reason. As they Julii, while I was tied up with Gaul, they kept asking me to attack Carthage. As the Scipiones, while I am capturing Carthage, they want me to go take out the Greeks. When the Bruti were taking Asia Minor, they wanted me to go down and seize Alexandria. In none of these cases was I at war with the target, and in the last case, none of the Roman factions was at war with Egypt. At first I thought they just wanted me to do what the others couldn't. I'd get orders to go take a city one of the other families had been failing at for years. But the more I play Roman, the stranger the demands seem to be.

In my current campaign as the Scipiones, they opened the game by asking me to capture Syracuse. I did. The next turn they wanted me to take Thapsus. I didn't; I took Lilybaeum instead, and made peace with Carthage once I had secured Sicily. Then I continued the war against Greece, and broadened it to include Macedon when they attacked me. The Senate, however, keeps asking me to blockade Carthage, blockade Thapsus, capture Palma, and I am not doing it.

[Sinner]

Got to agree with Quillan there. Except for the failure threat missions or if the mission just happens to coincide with my goals it often just isn't worth it. Having to withdraw units and perhaps a leader from your main area of operations and travel half the map to provoke a war with a neutral faction is just not worthwhile when often all you get in return is a paltry unit or two, or even worse the thanks of the Senate - a faction I eventually will be burying anyway.

Conquering provinces is all that matters, getting the proles happy until you can attack Rome. I like to imagine my troops capture the Senate and then I get to give them missions... like 'Run away from this hungry lion for as long as you can' with a few more minutes of life as a reward. ~:)

[belac]

I've come to enjoy the unreasonable missions from the Senate. I seem it as a means to set you up for failure - and to persecute you.

Thus your quest for Rome is at times "enabled" by the arrogance of the Senate. That's the way I like to role play it...

I've come to love the Scipii. North Africa, after development can become quite lucrative, plus the invasion of Carthage sets the framework for the best pre-Marian units...all the better to war Egypt with :)

I was just surprised to see the "compliment from Rome". Shortly after the completion of that mission (coincidentally, every previous Senate mission complimented my campaign designs perfectly) the Senate instructs me to take Thermon!

Can I ask - why does every faction roll, but never ever ever can the Brutii ever take Thermon?!?!

I don't think its the fortress of solitude.

[Quillan]

The AI controlled roman families have a hereditary trait of ADD...