A few RTW questions...

[Lokaar]

Hi all,

i've recently started playing RTW again and come up with a few questions while i've been doing the brutii campaign:

1) is there anyway to 'replace' general's bodyguard members who were killed in battle? Or do they regenerate over time (like when a general becomes faction heir/leader etc you gain a body guards each turn until it reaches the final amount)?

2) Loads of my generals have picked up lots of bad traits. is this because i left them in my capital for 30 odd years?

3) When I fight, my infantry rarely end up seeing much action as my archers and cavalry seem to do most of the work, despite half the army being infantry. I usualy line up my infantry, archers and skirmishers and walk them towards the enemy line, then try and flank with the cavalry. The archers and skirmishers do their thing, but if i advance my infantry the enemy runs away (not routing) - its like the enemy retreats just at the sight of 10 units of principes walking towards them. If they advance on my line, they split and go for the two flanks, ignoring the men in the middle, usualy only hitting the men on the flanks by chance as they chase after my cavalry. Has anyone got any tips on how to alter my playstyle to correct this? should i try and avoid using my cavalry until after the infantry engage?

4) My initial efforts at diplomacy didn't improve my diplomats' stats so i gave up. However i am currently being attacked by thrace and the dark blue guys in turkey and they both refuse to ceasefire despite the fact that i've wiped out loads of their armies and taken over half of thrace's citys from them (they have 2 left). I was very impressed with my hastati and town watch - 14 units of them managed to defend my city from four separate 1400+ armies (on different occasions). Meanwhile my diplomats utterly failed to bribe those armies. Is there any easy way to force the blue guys to ceasefire? I can easly wipe out thrace, but the blues require more effort (i have to rebuild my armies post reform before i go there)?

Thanks for any answers.

PS good game, pity about the bugs. btw, does BI add much to the gameplay (other than new units/factions/cities etc)?

[symball]

1) the generals bodyguard regenerates over time- two or three turns should do the trick.

2) yes- have a look in the guides section, there is a great example of how to optimise your generals there. *edit- here: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=45969

3) tricky one to answer from that description- if your cavalry get too close to the enemy before your armies are in range they will attract attention. try moving your line closer to the enemy as you skirmish and keep a good distance with your cav. you might find they do more charge damage when they do arrive as it can take quite a way for them to build up to full speed. they will also be more effective if the enemy are already engaged (pinned) with your infantry.

4) diplomacy can be hard sometimes- often good offers are turned down where stupid ones seem to be taken up straightaway. again there is a very good guide to diplomacy in the guides section (*edit: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=36993), but if you have already beaten thrace then I wouldn't worry about it- you will still be able to build up your armies and just merge pre- reform units as is required (tip on merging- always pick up the unit with the lowest armour/weapons ugrade and drop it on one with better upgrades, experience will average out but the weapons stay the same)

Finally- BI is certainly worth it. it breathes a whole new life into the game and introduces some very different challenges. the effects of hordes really do change the gameplay and the reduced cities remove the number of boring seiges you have to take part in. There are some problems involved with it (and the 1.3 patch) but these are far outweighed by the benefits. don't get too excited about night battles though. they are few and far between, and not that exiting once you have had a chance to do one or two of them.

[Ludens]

Welcome to the Org, Lokaar. Symball already answered all your questions, but I'd like to add that installing patch 1.3 (if you haven't already) and downloading Darth Formations 8.5 (http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=37679) will improve A.I. performance strongly (though it will still behave like an idiot at times).

[Lokaar]

thanks for your replies. The generals link was rather enlightening - i never realised gaining traits was such a complex aspect of the game, and one that is giving me lots of problems. I put my faction leader into a city for a turn and he gained two minor negative traits :'( Its a bit annoying that you have to keep the taxes high or risk negative traits - i have no need for the money, but population is always good.

I've also seen the generals' bodyguards regenerating now - i got one general down to 1 bodyguard, and he was back up to 12 by the next turn.