Dear all:
First, I wish to say that RTW has excelleng graphics and sounds. Gameplay is great if AI is smart; this part I guess we can wait for a patch. I was trying to squeeze out some RTW war story as I did in STW (thanks so much for repairing the link, by the way). My computer is a little outdated, so I hesitate a little with the poor graphics.
More hesitation comes as I try to recall the process of my last Brutii campaign. It was just a few straight-line conquests with little variability. What's so fun to repeat the bribe-siege process for 40+ times and the total number of cross-sword left were less than 3... and there were almost no field battle in the late game because I just wanted to bribe anything out of my way. ~:eek:
OK, I admit I ruined my fun with the old men in white. ~;) But I can't resist using them because I am not a very patient player facing the same old AI. I always want to finish a game as soon as possible (in a sense of achievement: Yeah! I beat the VHard/VHard campaign in 23 years!).
The mid and late gameplay drags a little too long. In terms of game time it all happened in 10 years, but in reality they seem to take forever. In STW, we could at least see the horde and face a few decisive battles, but in RTW it is just several cruise control cars on the great prairie, 1000 km straight one-lane highway. I've seen too many rather defenseless towns.
At the moment my campaign finished, I only feel relieved because finally I've collected 50 provinces. I was counting down from 10 left. From 20-50 it took me a lot of time and I didn't remember any battle remarkable. Bribing actually solved a lot of problem so I don't have to
fight so many small battles here and there, but I couldn't resist to bribe the larger army eigher ~;)
It was tedious; however, it is quite realistically tedious. As one of the in-game quote says "A large army is always disorderly," a larger empire is always chaotic, too. Being a good "empire manager" is not easy and not very fun.
In RTW I only found the "early game" of a few clans remarkable. For example, I just reported my Carthage experience in the "RTW Guide Forum", about how I wiped out all Romans in 10 turns, leaving 3 cross-swords on the field. But later on it is the same process repeating. I expanded northwest like Julii and go east like Brutii.
I heard that Numidia is the hardest. I am thinking the wild possibility of giving up all starting African holdings and take Carthage capital, then jump right to sicily and pour everything on Italy. Carthage and Rome are the 2 most advanced city in the center of the map. It will be fun to try out different factions to march bravely towards the rich, hostile area head on - after that things will be easy and it will be the similar radiating expansion again. Plan B is to pull everything and kill Egypt and replace it. However it does not have so many expansion potential.
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After the STW stories I also made war stories for other games. The best memory always coincide with the greatest struggles, such as a tiny faction in the heart of a much larger empire, with crappy leader and generals and no way out. After the early challenge is past then there is little challenge...
I was playing some online MP war game a few months ago. While my own country grows larger, the other countries also grow big so it is always a challenge till the end. I just hope we can see MP campaign total war soon, which I will use a separate thread to voice some of my ideas. ~:)
Thank you for listening.
