Questions from a newbie

Hey people,

First of all, I've just started playing RTW (stole it from my brother who hadn't played it in years) and I really love it. I have some questions, and I hope you guys can help me with them.

I've started a campaign with the Brutii, and I think it is going rather well. There is a slight annoyance though; Pontus keeps trespassing on my territory. They have not attacked me (and they have been on and off my lands for a long time now). I'm currently battling with Macedon and Thrace, so I really don't fancy starting a war with Pontus just yet, so I can't attack them and send them off my lands. Besides the fact that I don't like other armies on my lands for the sake of other armies on my lands, it also causes some annoyance because I can't move my troops around freely anymore (once they get to close to the Pontus army, they get 'stuck'). I conquered nothing from Pontus, only from the Greeks and rebels - though the one from the rebels belonged to Pontus before it rebelled... - and we have a trade agreement I find profitable. It's nothing major, but I don't like it and I want it to stop. I've tried sending a diplomat in the vague hope of being able to send them a transgression message (as the Senate once send me), but no luck there (I'm guessing it isn't possible at all). How do I keep them off my lands?

Second of all, I will be the first to admit that I cheat, but not a lot. I use the give_trait code to improve my governors and generals, so I have time to figure out the battle mechanics and settlement management at leisure. Yes, I know: I shouldn't. Please don't yell at me for it. However, I have an idiot father: he named both his sons Numerius Brutus (seriously, who would do that to his children???). I can only give one improved traits. Is there any way to give the second the same improved traits? Is there any way of avoiding the issue of two guys sharing a name?

Third issue: I have 3 daughters who are adult enough to marry (well, one is 18...). I've had a couple of proposals to the eldest (25 years), but they were all from old men (age 45 and up). I'd prefer a younger son-in-law. The 23 year old hasn't had any proposals. Won't she get any until her cousin is married, or doesn't that matter? Will the 25 year-old start dating younger men, or does she just like older guys? (yes, I know that in reality, the fathers decided, but that's besides the point)
About marriage: what controls when a general/governor gets married? What determines when a girl marries someone outside the faction? What decides when and how many children a couple gets? How much does age determine getting children? (For example: most fertile between 20 and 35 year, pretty much barren after 45ish?)

Anyway, it would be great if someone could help me out with one or more of these issues! Thank you very much in advance,

Lyran

Hi and welcome! I'm glad there are still new RTW players coming here (and to the game itself). Now, on to your questions:

1. The AI is like that. It likes roaming about your lands when it's too scared to immediately attack but it's definitely thinking about it, and depending on the difficulty settings and if you move your armies away, that could go very up in its priority list. If you leave your towns lightly garrisoned and go away, it will be tempted to attack. If you're there though, and if the difficulty is not Hard or Very Hard, it's much less likely to.

2. No idea about cheating, though really - you should try playing without cheats (no one is yelling at you though :laugh4:) It's funny when you get a slobbering idiot to rule your armies.
3. The candidates for marriage are spawned at random. You will get young guys eventually.
4. Each girl of eligible age has her own, independent chance to get a suitor. However if you have too many generals relative to provinces held, the game won't offer you any. There is hardcoded correlation between generals and provinces held. The more cities you have, the more adoptions/marriages you will be offered.
5. A general will want to marry a girl at random.
6. You can get a maximum of 4 children per couple, this is hardcoded. There will be a significantly reduced birthrate if you have an old wife or if you a have lots of generals but few provinces. Fertility is exactly as you put it.

I'm assuming that the AI has pulled one of it's bone-head "dump an army on foreign shores" routines (Pontus and Macedonia seem quite prone to this:shrug:). If the stack(s) do not contain the faction leader or faction heir, you can bribe them off. The Brutii make piles of denarii, so you should have the money to do this. If either the faction leader or heir is present, find a town out in the wilds (any Dacian or Scythian settlement), capture it, and give it to Pontus. The Pontus stacks will migrate to their new settlement....however, you might have to deal with them in a military manner at a later time by doing this.

Another alternative would be to eliminate those stacks by military means, and then send a diplomat across into Anatolia to garner a peace treaty and trade rights again. Without a common border, they will most likely agree to this. I always do the second option:laugh4: unless there are one or two good generals to be had by bribe....

With the Brutii, you needn't worry about getting good generals....just keep your current ones fighting (and winning) and you will get what you need.