Opinions on Rome Total Realism?

[econ21]

I happened to catch an episode of Decisive Battles on the History channel the other day - it was Romans defeating Macedonians - and it rekindled my interest in RTW. This time, I'm tempted to try the Rome Total Realism mod - partly because I appreciate historical realism and also because it may make my favorite faction (Rome) more challenging to play. What are other people's opinions of this mod? I looked at the website and liked what I read, but how is it practice? Sorry if this is an old topic.

[Zizka]

I like it a lot, it is different and very challenging. Playing the Romans in the Provincial Campaign I found myself the underdog fighting the Greeks in Southern Italy, some truely Heroic battles occured as I tried to defeat Pyrrus's Hoplite army. The carthaginians are a fun faction to play for once. There is almost no hope of holding on to Spain long if the spanish are agressive and taking Sicily is harder than ever, but once done provides you with an empire within an empire. Four cities already over the 6000 population mark and one lower in number.

The germans are neutered until they can get their cities larger, the barbarian factions get to build stone walls, but it takes forever to get a city that large. Overall, I would say that I couldn't really go back to normal RTW. RTR could be better, but then that is why the team keep updating, and with version 6.0 coming out within a week or two, it should get much better.

Also, the troops on the battlefield look nicer. More tribal shields and tatoos for the barbarians, the Roman shields are all Imperial design but still look very nice. the Hoplites look the same as ever, while mercenaries get a nice dull brown colour which is much better than the bright green.

The AI, apears better, but I am not certain. it is better at assaulting cities, but on the battlefield it still an do some crazy stuff, I am not sure it is RTR or the 1.2 patch.

[hotingzilla]

Where can I download this mod? and does it require any official patch?

[RabidGibbon]

http://www.rometotalrealism.com/


You can find R:TR here. It requires the 1.2 patch. I find it to be a great mod, and for me at least it has really boosted the life span of single player. Theres also a growing multiplayer community, with a great big tournament planned for when 6.0 is released.

[Dutch_guy]

when is this tournament , please some more info, I have always been trying to find people interrested in playing RTR MP in a form of a toournament.

On topic :

RTR is a great mod for RTW almost all units are reskinned and look like they should,also a lot of new units have been added.
It is far more realistic than vanilla RTW, you can't just bliz the map as the romans , you have to manage your provinces closely and bring in reinforcemens from your main city s . Also no building new units until you build buildings of your own culture.
And you can't wage a war on 5 fronts like you could in vanilla, even as the romans.

Playing some factions now is a real challange , Armenia as an example ;
You will have Parthia at your back from the start, they have 3 army's with catatanks you have 3 cats total ion your 1 army.... a real chalange that is.

ANd the Romans are far more interresting to play now, with the elephant army of pyrrus in south ITaly, and an uber-senate army to kill
ANd not to mention the bigger map , which I love.

So my advice : get it right now

:balloon2:

[Count Belisarius]

RTR is, IMHO, the best mod out there, especially if you are lazy like me and do not want to learn to mod yourself. The folks who have developed it have volunteered countless hours of their own time, and the results are phenomenal. After installing and playing RTR, there was no way I could go back to vanilla.

You might consider reading up on the other 'major' RTW mod, SPQR, before you go forward. SPQR has a much faster strategic tempo than RTR, which makes for more fighting and less building. If fighting numerous large-scale battles is your thing, SPQR is the mod for you. SPQR has zero build times for most army units, which means you can generate a huge number of troops in a short amount of time.

For me, I enjoy the empire-building aspect of the game. For that reason, I think RTR is the best for its replayability, depth and loving attention to detail. The game is much more challenging than RTW, without being impossible. The only faction that I would classify as 'easy' would be the Ptolemaics and possibly the Macedonians. I am positively salivating over the HUGE RTR update that should be out soon.

[The Stranger]

i think it's great, and probably the only mod, that will ever be able to compeat with EB.

it makes the blitz strategie nearly impossible, cuz there are so many provinces, and though they reduced squalor, you can't just leave cities (of another culture) without a garrisson after capture.

i love the map, though i don't like sum skins. there units are stable. and it's great. but 6.0 is even better

[The_Doctor]

RTR is great. I cannot play RTW without it.

The combat is slowed down, so the battles last longer and you can use tactics.
new combat system, eg archers are weaker against armoured/large shield units.
Loads of new units.
They have gotten rid of the ahistoric units.
Rome is better to play, because they are not a super power.
Bigger map.

In the next version there will be:
New music
New voice overs for the Romans.
Area of rescruitment, you can train different auxillia in different provinces.
New factions
No senate

You should wait until the next version comes out. ~:)

[PseRamesses]

If it wasn´t for RTR I´d stopped play RTW a long time ago. V6.0 is soon to bee released and you should seriously check out the EB-mod too.

[www2]

I just started to play RTR last week after I finnished my first campain on vanila.....

So far my observations:

1.I dont know if this is just coincidence but the game looks atleast 50 % easier than before.Maybe this is due to more experience i got or .......

2.The battles are better....of course this also could be my imagination

3.I hold 23 provinces and my money is just piling up.In vanilla I never finished a turn with any money.Every turn i got 'bout 10-15 k and spend it imediately.At this moment i have about 60 k and rising

4.I didnt have 1 (one) riot or rebbelion since start and this is very veird coz in vanilla i used to have it here and there almost every turn.

And I have one question concerning no. 4.

Did the RTR change anything about the general happines coz I have every single city on VERY HIGH tax rate and still the happines doesnt go bellow 100 % ????

[The Stranger]

yup EB is awesome, look at their subforum. BARTIX RULES

[Zizka]

www2, I don't know about you, but I have the exact opposite problems, I can't earn enough money, with so many cities, keeping them growing in Pop and then building, I never have enough, and any city I hold with a significant number of other culture buildings is always ready to revolt no mater how many units I station there, oft I have to station a family member with a good deal of Influence in order to keep a large newly taken city happy.

[Aetius the Last Roman]

Well, most of what can be said has been said.

However, I will vouch for RTR, it is brilliant compared to vanillia. So many more units, so many more cities.

An added bonus is that there are RTR mods for RTR and those are worth checking out.

With regards to www2, the game is harder than vanilla. Put the extra ease down to experience. I've never had a revolt for my last 20 campaigns. It really is a joke if you cannot manage rebelious attitudes.

[www2]

www2, I don't know about you, but I have the exact opposite problems, I can't earn enough money, with so many cities, keeping them growing in Pop and then building, I never have enough, and any city I hold with a significant number of other culture buildings is always ready to revolt no mater how many units I station there, oft I have to station a family member with a good deal of Influence in order to keep a large newly taken city happy.


Thats weird.I have money as much as i want and all of my population is happy.Nice to see all of those green faces ~D

Any one no the answer to my question.

[The_Doctor]

Any one no the answer to my question.

What faction?
Difficulty?
Provinces?

[RabidGibbon]

@ Dutch Guy

Sorry my bad, its not a real tournament, more of a campaign map thing with the battles fought online. If your still interested you can find it on the forums at the link above under "R:TR Online Tournaments."

[Dutch_guy]

Ok thanks for the info RabidGibbon, now everyone sign up, so we can get some good online play ( remember CoH is your friend ~D )

:balloon2:

[Mega Dux Bob]

The bigger map and no anachronistic Egyptians alone make it worth it.

[a houston chronicler]

I'm not so sure i dig the new Egyptians in RTR. Playing as Pontus, the battles have become ridiculously boring. Every Egyptian army is made up of the exact same phalanx units. you fight the exact same battles every turn. is it challenging and more realistic? sure. but i wouldn't say it's a jolly good time.
all things considered, it is a very good mod; lots of work has gone into it, and it certainly can't hurt to try it out, Simon. just beware the slog-fest!

[Uesugi Kenshin]

RTR is quite fun and with the exception of a few bugs and a few problems with a small bits of the game is an excellent mod.

[Simetrical]

Faction difficulties vary wildly and somewhat nonsensically in RTR 5.4. The experience will be much harder or easier depending on your faction. Look at the difficulty settings listed when you're choosing a faction—they should be taken probably more seriously than the built-in difficulty setting. In 6.0, which is due out in a few weeks, faction difficulty will also vary widely, but much more sensibly given historical considerations. Hopefully . . .

Anyway, many people love RTR. If you back up your files so you can ditch the mod if you don't like it, it doesn't hurt to give it a try. (Just back up the whole \data\ directory.)

-Simetrical

[Azi Tohak]

I think it is superb. I really like what happened to phalanxes. The Ptolemaic (Egyptian) first generation troops are great. Which is a real pain for anyone facing them (:

Makes life more exciting though. And the slow downs helped enormously.

I can't recommend it enough.

Azi

[econ21]

I gave RTR a quick look last night. I was surprised how close it seemed to the vanilla game in terms of the tech tree and troops, but then I was playing the Romans and I guess these are not badly done in RTW. One thing that scares me about EB is how much of the original game they are binning. I was also pleased to get a senate mission and it seemed appropriate (they give the Roman game direction, IMO).

I liked Rome starting off with just two provinces - promises to be a fun campaign for them.

I was surprised to be attacked on the first turn by a very powerful Greek army with elephants. I was outmanned but fought the battle for the fun of it. The slow down in the battle speed was very noticeable - both move speed and kill speed. My initial reaction to the slow move speed was frustration - I guess I have got acustomed to RTW - especially as the animations now depict men seeming to run on the spot. However, the slow kill speed made the phalanx-legion battles last much longer and made the battle more memorable, like those in STW or MTW. On balance a very good thing.

The unit strengths and match ups seemed good. The Romans seemed to handle much as in RTW but without the very useful General's heavy cavalry.

The Greeks had light cavalry and I had none, but they seemed greatly toned down from RTW vanilla. They even charged my velites in the rear but did not seem to do massive damage. I did not notice any leaping horse animations and Roman heavy infantry seemed to shrug off the light cavalry, which is what feels "right" to me. The elephants thankfully routed before they hit my line due to pila fire.

The phalanx-legion match up seemed about right - the phalanx wins head-to-head but it is a slow death and the legions can pull off a victory by flanking or going for the rear. I did not notice the AI being so useless in handling its pikes - in vanilla, they veer off in all directions at the last minute and so can be destroyed in detail - but this may be because I was so outnumbered and outmatched.

Archers and balearics did not seem too decisive. I had none and did not feel too disadvantaged, although the slingers were surprisingly handy in a melee - killing my general.

I'll restart (I lost the battle by a whisker) but it looks like this mod is a keeper.

[Slaists]

I like the mod. I do have a question though: does any site/forum contain a comprehensive list of the changes they have made to the vanilla game? The readmes for the downloads contain mainly change notes for version 5.2 and up (i.e., comparing the most current realism mod to the previous version).

[a houston chronicler]

you might try their homepage at
http://www.rometotalrealism.com/

[Brave Sir Robin]

I would recommend RTR to everyone.

I'm on my first campaign, as the Romans, and after playing for a week (i manage about 2hrs each day- computer game playing that is) i'm still hooked.
The bog standard game (is that what people call vanilla?- is that after original icecream?) very rarely held my interest after this time as i would normally be on the ascendency with very few competitors and the game would just become a dull process of going through the motions - a bit like a day at work with Mr Grey making grey goods for the grey people we all know and wish to shoot electrical charges into their grey cells to give them a shot of life.

Anyway getting back on track, in the game i was initially confronted by the Greeks and in their army a band of elephants (where was my cohort of mice when i needed them?). Eventually i repelled the feta cheese brigade from mainland Italy and turned my attention to the North and the hairy men with the stripey trousers (or pants if you prefer - but i always think of people in y-fronts when people say that term). I've now pushed them back to modern day French borders and have set my armies on freeing the mafia in Sicily, and then i'll show the Greeks who's the big cheese - well i view myself as a wensleydale - crumbly but a bit tasty.

RTR is worth it although if you only have 56k connection learn to knit as the time it will take to download you will be able to master the art and create a scarf Tom Baker would be proud of. ~:)

[Divinus Arma]

RTR is a good solid mod and adds a new flavor to the game. It is an excellent "stop gap" (as someone else referred to it) until EB comes out.

I am very pleased with having downloaded it, even though I was reluctant at first.


Gragh

[antisocialmunky]

I would recommend RTR to everyone.

I'm on my first campaign, as the Romans, and after playing for a week (i manage about 2hrs each day- computer game playing that is) i'm still hooked.
The bog standard game (is that what people call vanilla?- is that after original icecream?) very rarely held my interest after this time as i would normally be on the ascendency with very few competitors and the game would just become a dull process of going through the motions - a bit like a day at work with Mr Grey making grey goods for the grey people we all know and wish to shoot electrical charges into their grey cells to give them a shot of life.

Anyway getting back on track, in the game i was initially confronted by the Greeks and in their army a band of elephants (where was my cohort of mice when i needed them?). Eventually i repelled the feta cheese brigade from mainland Italy and turned my attention to the North and the hairy men with the stripey trousers (or pants if you prefer - but i always think of people in y-fronts when people say that term). I've now pushed them back to modern day French borders and have set my armies on freeing the mafia in Sicily, and then i'll show the Greeks who's the big cheese - well i view myself as a wensleydale - crumbly but a bit tasty.

RTR is worth it although if you only have 56k connection learn to knit as the time it will take to download you will be able to master the art and create a scarf Tom Baker would be proud of. ~:)

Have you tried the Legionary pilum? Do they tear apart a formation like a phalanx like in real life?

[econ21]

I've got a little further with my first RTR campaign as Romans (267BC) and I must say this mod is absolutely brilliant. The Greek in Italy have put up a real fight, including shipping a full strength army of reinforcements! The Senate has dragged me into a cold war with Carthage and the Gauls have invaded the north while I am in a life or death struggle with the Greeks.

I've had a few pitched battles against the Greeks and think RTR has gone a long way to compensating for the AIs weakness when handling phalanxes. RTR seems to have pumped up the hoplite stats - they are better than Triari - and although they do still tend to fall apart due to meandering then being flanked etc, their high stats compensate. I agree the campaign is a bit of a slog, due to more provinces and slower battles, but I have adjusted to the latter. One battle where the Greeks had a lot of cavalry and reinforcements was particularly frenetic.

I really like what has been done to cavalry (and archers) - greatly toned down from vanilla, but still very useful in their proper roles.

The only slightly strange thing I've observed was a Greek scorpion battery, which seemed like some a WW2 155mm artillery battery, the way it wiped out half of my general's spearmen in a couple of shots. If ancient artillery was so good in reality, I think all armies would have relied heavily on it.

A really excellent mod. I can't see myself going back to vanilla after this. It may even make RTW better than MTW and STW. It allows you to keep the much improved campaign map (which feels like running a real war, rather than playing Risk) and unlike vanilla still have a challenge.

[lars573]

My opinion of RTR? It's crap, will always be crap, and can never be anything but crap.

[Brave Sir Robin]

My opinion of RTR? It's crap, will always be crap, and can never be anything but crap.




~:) lol, don't sit on the fence now lars573!!

[caesar44]

rtr - the best mod until now
had a few bugs but v 6 is almost out so...

[Ianofsmeg16]

dont agree with 6.0's legionaries, round shields?????blah!!!

[econ21]

dont agree with 6.0's legionaries, round shields?????blah!!!

Round shields? Yuck. As a small "c" conservative, one thing I was pleasantly surprised about RTR is how much of the vanilla game it retains. For the Romans at least, most of the buildings and units in RTR 5.4 are very familiar. It really is RTW as it should have been. I very much admired the MedMod for MTW but lost interest once it rewrote every unit from the ground up and became unplayable without learning a new set of (not necessarily better) unit stats and tech trees[1]. I was disappointed to learn that 6.0 will be dropping the Senate, as I thought that was one of the big improvements of RTW over MTW - sort of a development of the Glorious Achievements. It gives some direction and rewards to the Roman player, making the single player game more fun IMO.

[1]I may be persuaded by EB, whose unit previews look glorious.

[IceTorque]

dont agree with 6.0's legionaries, round shields?????blah!!!

1. they are historically correct.
2.they look really cool.
3.you won't be dissapointed.

[player1]

Round (or better said round edged) shields, were used by all pre-marian units as well as early after marian units (early cohort).

[antisocialmunky]

If you don't like it, you could probably download another model and use that instead. Legionaires had different looks at different periods.

Though I agree, the bodyshield looks > all shields.

[Shambles]

RTR is better than just playing rome,
But even with it rome does not appeal to me compared to the other TW games

[econ21]

Just had a battle between a full stack of Romans and one of Gauls. In vanilla, this would have been a cakewalk, but here it was touch and go with more than 1000 dead on each side! Reminded me of some of those brutal MTW battles.

Cavalry might have been weakened a little too much, though. I had a unit of peltasts charged by the Companions guarding a Macedonian general and they won.

[Slaists]

I haven't encountered this before, but, in RTW, it seems, the AI really LOVES scorpions and ballistae... Playing Romans, I have encountered numerous Greek armies filled with scorpions, ballistae and onagers... I have not seen this happen on vanilla. Something must be messed up about the building priorities for these... :(

[econ21]

I heard that build priorities cannot be modified. But I also heard that RTR v6.0 is taking out onagers. I wonder if they will extend it to allow field artillery? I cannot recall hearing that they figured in ancient field battles. In sieges, yes, but then in RTW you don't really need siege artillery.

[Butcher]

What? No more batterries of 10 onagers? GAH!

[Slaists]

In RTR (even more so in SPQR) the base defense rating of many units has been bumped way up compared to the vanilla version of the game. I was wondering, given that certain tactical situations should produce defense/attack bonuses/penalties (height advantage, attacking in the rear, flanking, etc.), the ultra high base defense rating of the mod units should make these tactical considerations negligible (as long as they are fixed +/- defense/attack numbers)... Example: -4 to defense for being attacked from the rear would have much less of an impact on a unit that has 40 defense than one thas has 10 defense... (10% versus 40% loss) of course, with the ultra-high base stats, effects of armorers and experience become negligible too...

[BrutalDictatorship]

well thank for the input Lars :)

as for installing the mod...I have a question about RTR...i want to install it and play it (and am at the official site now) but I'm a little hazy on one issue: How exactly do I do this? Do i have to install RTR1.0, then RTR2.0 etc etc or can I just download and install the latest patch of rtr?

although the mod and the website look fantastic, they fail to explain this anywhere...and it's needed.

[BrutalDictatorship]

never mind...i see now, i have to start with 5.2 and go from there...sorry about that

[econ21]

In RTR (even more so in SPQR) the base defense rating of many units has been bumped way up compared to the vanilla version of the game. I was wondering, given that certain tactical situations should produce defense/attack bonuses/penalties (height advantage, attacking in the rear, flanking, etc.), the ultra high base defense rating of the mod units should make these tactical considerations negligible (as long as they are fixed +/- defense/attack numbers)... Example: -4 to defense for being attacked from the rear would have much less of an impact on a unit that has 40 defense than one thas has 10 defense... (10% versus 40% loss) of course, with the ultra-high base stats, effects of armorers and experience become negligible too...

Interesting point. I don't think anyone outside of CA knows the formula for how the combat stats affect kill probabilities. Apparently, they are very different from STW and MTW, but in those games stats had a proportionate effect. (Each point of attack or defence affecting kill chances by X% where X might have been around 20%). On that model, I am not sure your argument holds. A -4 modifier would have the same proportionate effect on your chance to kill a unit with 40 defence as with one with 10. It's just that the base kill chance would be so much lower (I guess the absolute effect would be smaller).

I've noticed that phalanxes which are flanked (as AI ones inevitably are) hold out much longer before crumbling. But they do crumble and they would not do if they were fought frontally. So, the possible watering down of tactics is not bothering me much. I didn't notice height advantage in RTW vanilla (whereas in MTW it was very important and in STW it was god-like), so I don't miss that in RTR. I also did not notice experience much (and it probably favours the human, who can retrain vets to keep them full strength). I'll be glad to see armorers and weapons upgrades downgraded, as I find them gamey.

Apparently v6.0 will tone down casualties even more, making moral the key thing. The game probably has lots of modifiers to morale based on tactics, MTW did, so this might appease you. However, I am afraid the game will slow to a crawl as did another "total realism" type mod of another game, Steel Panthers WW2.

More generally, I find the slower battle speed and larger AI enemy stacks least for the Romans) make me savour tactics in RTR more than in RTW vanilla. In vanilla, after winning one big fight, it was usually just a question of walking over weak AI stacks. In RTR, I'm having repeated large scale battles against Macedon and Greece, even Gaul to a degree.

[Mongoose]

In RTR (even more so in SPQR) the base defense rating of many units has been bumped way up compared to the vanilla version of the game. I was wondering, given that certain tactical situations should produce defense/attack bonuses/penalties (height advantage, attacking in the rear, flanking, etc.), the ultra high base defense rating of the mod units should make these tactical considerations negligible (as long as they are fixed +/- defense/attack numbers)... Example: -4 to defense for being attacked from the rear would have much less of an impact on a unit that has 40 defense than one thas has 10 defense... (10% versus 40% loss) of course, with the ultra-high base stats, effects of armorers and experience become negligible too...


Good theory...but incorrect(At least for SPQR). You have to actually try the mod...some stats don't apply to the units back (such as shield rating).

In SPQR flanking is even more effective then in vanilla, it's almost a problem :dizzy2:

[RollingWave]

It's a good mod to say the least, the team put a lot of time and effort into it it is easy to tell...

The only real grudge i have with the current version is that the Ptolemic are still too powerful, historically they went back and forth with the Selucids until the Selucids killed themself against the romans.... but in the current 5.4 RTR the Egyptian empire will just steam roll over the Selucids and everything else on the eastern half of the map with in a few decades....

That and the fact that Pontus and Armenia seem to start without hope, they are totally surronded on all sides by the Selucids or the Ptolmic and Parthia, non of them can be beaten, sure they might get a few city off the Selucids but then the unstoppable Egyptian machine or the super Cataphract armies of Pathia will roll right over them.

But 6.0 will balance out the eastern theater and will tweak the greeks, which should be nice.

[Slaists]

Good theory...but incorrect(At least for SPQR). You have to actually try the mod...some stats don't apply to the units back (such as shield rating).

In SPQR flanking is even more effective then in vanilla, it's almost a problem :dizzy2:

actually, i have played SPQR and that's where i actually started thinking about the effect... for one, in SPQR the missiles become even more crucial than in vanilla; second, flanking works, but seemingly not because the kill rate goes up but because of the morale drop. try flanking a high defense/quality unit (hoplites, for example) in SPQR with a high-attack, low defense unit while a good unit of yours is pinning the target. result: an annihilated flanker... the same issue is present in RTR though.

with SQPR i have another "issue"... what's up with that annoying music? :) really irritates me... :)

as for suggestions for simon: i propose trying out the Roma mod to RTR: it does make playing romans hard. i am a bit annoyed by the weakness of the genera'ls cavalry though... they are, basically, equities... :)

[Mongoose]

And RTR equities get beaten by peltasts. :veryangry:

[econ21]

as for suggestions for simon: i propose trying out the Roma mod to RTR: it does make playing romans hard. i am a bit annoyed by the weakness of the genera'ls cavalry though... they are, basically, equities... :)

Um, thanks - just had a look and it seems exactly what I want. (Even with RTR, playing the Romans on medium is easy - just not a brain-numbing like vanilla.)

I understand your point about the general's cavalry - it's fun to have a royal knight type unit, but it is unbalancing in vanilla. I think equite-type Roman bodyguards are coming in RTR 6.0 too, apparently. But it does sound historical. Maximus's cavalry charge at the start of the film Gladiator was a blast but not how I envisage most Roman general's behaving.

[KSEG]

What is EB?
Is it some sort of MOD?

[Mongoose]

It is the mod!https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=70

It will be better then the xpac! :charge:

[Slaists]

Um, thanks - just had a look and it seems exactly what I want. (Even with RTR, playing the Romans on medium is easy - just not a brain-numbing like vanilla.)

I understand your point about the general's cavalry - it's fun to have a royal knight type unit, but it is unbalancing in vanilla. I think equite-type Roman bodyguards are coming in RTR 6.0 too, apparently. But it does sound historical. Maximus's cavalry charge at the start of the film Gladiator was a blast but not how I envisage most Roman general's behaving.

hehe, wait (in Roma) until u find out just how weak your italian allies really are (even agains gauls): their morale must be equal to the one of peasants (since the stats are not that inferior to proper roman units)... romanization: the only way for Roma to go... but it takes a lot of a time... and cash...

as to general's equities: i'm fine with the tone-down. nonetheless, cavalry charging in the rear of an engaged infantry unit being massacred on impact does not feel right...

[antisocialmunky]

Um, thanks - just had a look and it seems exactly what I want. (Even with RTR, playing the Romans on medium is easy - just not a brain-numbing like vanilla.)

I understand your point about the general's cavalry - it's fun to have a royal knight type unit, but it is unbalancing in vanilla. I think equite-type Roman bodyguards are coming in RTR 6.0 too, apparently. But it does sound historical. Maximus's cavalry charge at the start of the film Gladiator was a blast but not how I envisage most Roman general's behaving.

I wish you could get Legionaires to duck and cover like Maximus's Legionaires in Germania. Freaking sweet move.

[econ21]

as to general's equities: i'm fine with the tone-down. nonetheless, cavalry charging in the rear of an engaged infantry unit being massacred on impact does not feel right...

Yes, been there, done that. I agree it doesn't feel right. (Although have you tried the game "Mount and Blade"? - it nicely simulates the vulnerability of horses when they at rest and inter-mingled with foot.) My equites are now just like weak hobilars, reserved for running down routers. I daren't even charge peltasts with them. However, I used Samartian mercenary cav last night in RTR and they were much more like RTW cavalry I have come to know and love! I still did not dare charge them into the rear of Macedonian infantry, though...

[Slaists]

Yes, been there, done that. I agree it doesn't feel right. (Although have you tried the game "Mount and Blade"? - it nicely simulates the vulnerability of horses when they at rest and inter-mingled with foot.) My equites are now just like weak hobilars, reserved for running down routers. I daren't even charge peltasts with them. However, I used Samartian mercenary cav last night in RTR and they were much more like RTW cavalry I have come to know and love! I still did not dare charge them into the rear of Macedonian infantry, though...

don't get me nostalgic for the MTW hobilars... :) those things were great! cheap and effective... an all hobilar or hobilar + spear army in the early battles against the french....

[antisocialmunky]

don't get me nostalgic for the MTW hobilars... :) those things were great! cheap and effective... an all hobilar or hobilar + spear army in the early battles against the french....


I build about 30 from Aquitaine and got about four 3-5 star generals out of them

One conquered France, another subjugated the Irish at 200%, another crusaded to Jeruselum and another conquered the Horde.

[Slaists]

Actually, I am joining Simon on regretting the removal of SQPR in the upcoming version 6 of the RTR mod... The Senate missions regardless of how retarded they were at times, kept me from rushing the computer (it is still possible even in RTR to a degree) and provided nice (false) sense of "purpose". :) I kind of miss the big Roman civil war with only one Roman faction being available too... In the end game (and after the Marian reforms), the other romans are the only worthy foes... I know, I know it's Rome Total War REALISM... :)

[player1]

I prefer Total War FUN! ~D

[Spartiate]

I'm a huge fan of RTR and could never go back to Vanilla RTW.For those of you however who are already feeling jaded again............download the Hannibals War mod for RTR(comes with a patcher and uninstaller so you don't have to worry about back-ups) and you will get a real challenge for once.You can only recruit local troops every step of the way.In Spain you get African Veterans and Scutarii showing up every now and then but only as mercs.You can only train Iberian infantry and Iberian tribesmen in Spain plus your cavalry.When you get to Gaul all you can train is local Gallic troops and in Italy you get Italian spearmen(crap morale).It is tough to maintain a good income to keep hiring mercs and the placement of ambushing rebels(huge stacks) along your path is really well done.Go and download it or at least read the Readme and "House Rules" for this mod.You will not regret it.I'm gonna try the Rome mod on monday.

[LestaT]

I'm playing RTR 5.41 plus some add on mods. One time I did some mix I found that I couldn't built ship unless the province had timber. Hmm.. now after I reinstalled it back I couldn't find the setting anymore. Any idea ?

Some mixies that I had :

1. TCB mod

2. Bug fixers 1.58 & 1.59

3. Skymod (?)

4. Weaker phalanx mod (?)

5. Movement correction mod (?)

6. TFT mod (?)

Maybe some mixes of these ? I dunno. Couldn't get it anymore. Maybe I have insta;lled the RTR custom edition and uninstalled it. Somehow the setting stayed. I have also installed and uninstalled the Roma mod.

But now I play pure RTR 5.41

Hmm...

Helppppp !!! I like ships to be built only in timber producing province. Maybe just a simple mod ? Anyone ?

[caesar44]

Some one said (above) rtr is crap...

Why is that ?

[LestaT]

RTR money is only in the beginning , now later I became a philantropist ... Too much money rolling.. As Roman , I'm finacing Sarmatian so they can kick back Ptolemaic back to the nile valley ....

Only Gauls refuse my money even I'm offering large sums to be either my protectorates or even have a ceasefire (We had wars since the beginning of time) but they still refuse. Hmm . is that hard-coded or what ?