[RTW story IV] Julii

Good day.

Welcome to RTW short stories by maltz. This time, we shall abandon the invinsible horse archers and fight like real braves!

http://protein.biochem.queensu.ca/~d...i/Julii_01.jpg

Time is 256BC, winter. With some crazy enslavement over the past 15 years, the imperial palace in Arretium is finally completed with 80% of its foreign labor. Let the celebration party begin!

http://protein.biochem.queensu.ca/~d...i/Julii_02.jpg

You might associate "winter 256BC" with something else significant. Oh yeah, the plague in Macedonia. However, nobody is talking about the outbreak in the Arretium party. There is no negative growth of pop. anywhere under the red house. No worry.

Loads of Julii-red ribbon strips hang from the wall, under which walks bald Senator guests from Rome. A young man, "Gaius Marius", whose age is reportedly negative 3-digits, suddenly pops out from the rest. Wow, he has an idea of military reform!

"Everybody can join the army, and shave the Gauls' butts!"

The host crowd cheered on this idea, because the House of Julii is currently fighting some hairy Gauls on the north. This summer they just sacked the Gauls' capital with a full stack.

However, Senators from the Rome republic insisted "only noble hands shall shave thy butts".

The party becomes a debate, and a debate becomes a quarrel. Punches and kicks follow.

Flavius Julius, the Julii faction leader and one the current Praetors in the Senate quietly watched all of this. Hm... maybe it is about the time to let the royal red to take over control. The Julii already owns 42 settlements up to this time, 6 times as much as the miserable sum of the other Romans.

I am sure you know Flavius very well - he is probably most people's first dead faction leader. As long as we don't charge him into the SPQR trarii, he shall live a few more years without a heart attack.

Through all the years of fighting, Flavius has earned himself lots of titles. He used to be "the mighty", but after prolonged Senate exposure he becomes a good liar and hense "the cunning".

Actually, Flavius has been preparing this very moment for a few years... He came back all the way from Byzantium, and ordered one of his grandsons to build a "donation tent" just beside Rome. They say those tents are walled in order to prevent burglars...

Flavius lied, no surprise.

http://protein.biochem.queensu.ca/~d...i/Julii_03.jpg

Game setting: VH/VH, no mod, no cheat code, non-restricted camera for picture taking purpose, and no restriction for any kind of AI exploit. ~;)

There are of course ligetimate reasons why Flavius built a fort here. In the cheapest way, he can rely on the towers through many sallies - but that won't be glorious enough for a illustrated story. Here are a few clues:

- The AI always stretch their line long, and try to advances all at once. Usually this tactics is deadly especially when AI has the number & quality advantage. There will be easily a series of forced 1 vs. 1.

- In huge unit size, units takes long time to turn and to form lines, so everything moves, esp. turns slowly, especially infantry.

- AI's horses usually rush out much earlier than their infantry, perhaps trying to flank. From the previous Armenian story we know that just through skirmishing, we can lure out individual Senate general.

A fort is perfect to serve multiple purposes at once. It completely blocks the possibility of AI full-line advance, forcing a two-front fight. However, if opposing an experienced human commander, he/she will simply focus all forces on one end, finishing one side then the other.

Distance means "quite a lot of time" now. The Senate army will be
forced to streth thin and come through a narrow stream, only to be swallowed by concentrated attacks one after one.

The bad news is that we can't really defeat the garrison reinforcement by the same shot. Perhaps we shouldn't be so confident yet. ~D

Over the past few years, Flavius raised a well-prepared & blanaced army.

Principe x 12 (proud Arretium origin)
Velite Gladiator x 1 (a previous gift from the Senate)
Wargod, no sorry wardog x 1
Equite x 3 (from the northern Gaul town)
Barbarian cavalry mercenary x 1 (bought during a rebel hunting trip)
War elephant x 1 (also a gift from the Senate, a "major exotic unit" for blockading Carthage)

Flavius laid out two wings quite evenly, with 6 principe & 2 cavalry units on each side. Falvius also added himself and the elephant to the right, so we know where the major advance will start.

There should be 3 units mercenary reinforcement, some Thracian, Illyrian, and Samnite warriors. Obviously they forgot to adjust back from day-light saving.

Note: On huge unit sizes I have seen much more reinforcement delays on both myself and the AI. I guess the chance of reinforcement delay is related to the total troop numbers?

The Senators' army roughly has the same strengh as the Julii's - ok, ok, weaker than the Julii's. A few turns ago it was a perfect 20-unit army, but perhaps Rome is also crowded with slaves (pop. 31000 at the time!), so they need a few more garrisons.

As expected, the Senate layed out a long line. This battle should be won - as long as we don't let the AI focus on our one end before our the other end arrives.

As soon as the battle starts, the Senate army rushed forward and discovered the bitterness of the arrow tower. They soon backed up a bit to avoid further casaulties - not too disappointing AI performance.

Daylight is short, so we better get going soon as soon as the deployment is complete.

The only longer-ranged unit on the battlefield is our archers, sitting on the back of the real war god - elephants. Flavius sent them out first to harrass the Senate army, trying to elicit some response from the Senators' left.

Great - Some general rushed out with their trarii trailed behind!!

http://protein.biochem.queensu.ca/~d...i/Julii_04.jpg

Let the elephant + cavalry welcome them. Poor souls were routed quickly by easy cavalry manuvering.

http://protein.biochem.queensu.ca/~d...i/Julii_05.jpg

The mobilization of the entire SPQR army soon follows - generally shifting to their left - that is, towards where Flavius is.

This is not good - as mentioned previously. If the entire SPQR army comes, Flavius might be easily outnumbered if they can't rout the incoming stream fast enough.

Oh ya, he had thought about this, and left a secret weapon.

Also, the entire Julii left flank now advances, ready to close up from behind!

http://protein.biochem.queensu.ca/~d...i/Julii_06.jpg

The secret weapon is unleashed! Wof wof wof! Stream of black beast pour into the heart of SPQR army. A suicide mission. Now the SPQR center is confused... they sent their infantry to meet the principes on the right, but their cavalry were busy with dogs. Nobody goes to rescue their left!

http://protein.biochem.queensu.ca/~d...i/Julii_07.jpg

The left SPQR, dreaming reinforcement to come soon, now falls into the trap. Charge time! The war elephants rushed into bodyguard cavalry, followed by flanking actions of Julii's own, plus Flavius covering from behind, avoiding all dangers yet providing morale support for the rushers.

Although two generals were routed in a short time, here comes the world's best trarii with their pointy sticks. In a few seconds, one elephant down, two cavalries start to waver!

Flavius yelled to the guys on the elephants, "Keep charging forward!" While the cavalry men on the right tried to pull themselves out of troubled melee and charge from another angle - success!

Under war elephants' rage, unit after unit of SQPR soldiers wet their pants. Without proper reinforcement, Flavius can now rushing his unstoppable horde to the left. Before that, Flavius has to reach his back for the battle horn...

http://protein.biochem.queensu.ca/~d...i/Julii_08.jpg

"Don't flee, cowards!"

Things don't look very well on Julii's left. After killing nearly all the wardogs, SPQR has concentrated more than half of their army on their own right, too.

Julii principe suffered greatly from the superior SQPR counterparts, especially when there were some big holes between their disformed lines. It is ok - we have reserves just for this. But they are so slow... come on.

More hope is put on cavalry - always. Cavalry has been rushing for a while...

http://protein.biochem.queensu.ca/~d...i/Julii_09.jpg

It all depends on how fast Flavius arrives to rescue his left wing. The cavalry horde left all infantry panting behind - no SQPR unit could put up any decent speed bump now!

http://protein.biochem.queensu.ca/~d...i/Julii_10.jpg

Manuever is certainly slow in huge unit sizes. The cavalry finally reached the flanking position. But their charge proved to be too weak - SPQR still holding there!

http://protein.biochem.queensu.ca/~d...i/Julii_11.jpg

http://protein.biochem.queensu.ca/~d...i/Julii_12.jpg

Let the right wing close in! Even before the elephant, cavalry of the right wing arrived on time and pushed into the remaining SQPR's back, setting everybody on the run!

http://protein.biochem.queensu.ca/~d...i/Julii_13.jpg

Servius Maxentius, the commander of SPQR, was killed at last.

http://protein.biochem.queensu.ca/~d...i/Julii_14.jpg

About one dozen left-over doggies faithfully chased the routers down the field, along with Flavius and the equites.

http://protein.biochem.queensu.ca/~d...i/Julii_15.jpg

Finally, 1500s kills and 500s losses. Fallen elephant among the resurrected... can't be better.

http://protein.biochem.queensu.ca/~d...i/Julii_17.jpg

Rome and Capua fell in the next round, and the House of Julii wins the campaign! Now enters the new era of the Roman empire! ~:cheers:

***

This is a rather easy battle, I guess. There are not many lessons here - perhaps it will be only helpful for the newer members. Oh yes, if you hear the word "major exotic unit" from the Senate mission - go for it! :balloon2:

Thanks for reading. :bow: In case you really feel bored, here is some bonus material:

http://protein.biochem.queensu.ca/~d...bel_bridge.jpg

Maltz, I'd like for you to give me a link to ALL your other stories. Thanks in advance!

Winning the game within 15 years, RTW must become boring ~;) You're probably one of the best rusher on these fora :yes:

w00t, go maltz!! Your short stories are good, and you must have a lot of skill to win the game in about 15 years.

15 years... *drools*

You are the true god of RTW, Maltz. I take my hat off to you.

I am definitely not the fastest rusher. ~:) You can refer to Zhuge's (the real God) blitz thread for how fast it is possible to beat the game. I also used a lot of evil tips of darkness... ~;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BalkanTourist

Maltz, I'd like for you to give me a link to ALL your other stories. Thanks in advance!

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Thanks for your interests. I haven't been keeping a record of them, and I also had difficulty using the google search. I can't find I-Carthage and II-Numidia but I guess they are not old enough to be flushed out of the page list yet. ~:)

Here are the newer ones:

III - Armenia
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=40197

And the very old STW stories... ~D
http://www.totalwar.org/hosted/maltz/

Now I have a suggestion for your next story; Go for realism rules! That's right. There's an old thread about it somewhere...

I'd really like to take a look at carthage numidia if I can find the links. I'll also find the realism rules thread.

Did you use the eternal tribute for map trick? If you do that, it's always shameful to do it on more than two people.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=39779
Ironman Rules

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=39707
Numidia

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=39606
Carthage

I love that multi-enslavement evil tactics. Was able to upgrade most of my cities into large and huge cities before 220 BC lol.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Maltz

I am definitely not the fastest rusher. ~:)

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Not really, I've used several reloads here and there (I didn't say I would strictly use none). I believe Maltz uses very few or none at all in his earlier campaigns. I also use multi-enslavement which everyone knows is evil. By contributing greatly to population growth, the enslavement growth bonus enables a population boom bonus to public order which then enables you to leave few troops to garrison the town, which is mainly how I managed to move the bulk of my troops onward despite having the rule of having public order for all towns at 85% or higher at the end of the turn.
Depending on how CA intended it, I now believe enslavement to be bugged like the grain resource bonus so I might have been exploiting a bug unknowingly all along... :embarassed:

I agree with Maltz's observation that playing on Huge sizes is a bit more difficult combat wise in terms of maneuvering. I had few similar problems with Normal size units in my Greek campaign and getting regular sized units does not deplete your population so fast, allowing reasonable town growth.

Lastly I was playing with the Greeks which everyone knows are filthy rich to the point of burning money to light cigs ~D and start with an unfair 5 provinces. Having a solid economy to start with, allows early rushing. Had I started with Numidia where the nearest target was 3 turns away, it would have been impossible to do the same. Don't forget that even if the Greeks hire no mercs, they still start with a Cretan Archer unit and a Rhodian Slinger unit and believe me, by abusing the "shoot them in the back while they are standing still" and the "shoot the parade" tactics, those units make a lot of difference.

Anyway, I've always liked how battles are handled/performed in the stories, and somehow the comments never fail to crack me up ~;) , so here's another vote to get them collected in one place for easy reference. Without a good search engine, I find myself depending more and more on therother's forum index which he keeps updated most diligently.

First my thanks to Silver Rusher for providing all the links. :bow:

I even don't remember how many evil techniques I have used in the campaign - so please don't ask me anymore about what exploits I have used ~;) I am sure if I don't ask for temporary protection fee from AI factions, the campaign will take much longer to complete. ~:)

Now I will try more of the "city swap" thing and see how much I can gain from it. ~:cool:

Very cool story I enjoyed reading it.

I have to play on small units size because my laptop would scream in pain otherwise and it is great to see how epic it all looks.

What is the 'grain resource' bug?

Do people rate wardogs? I used them loads pre-Marius reforms to break pinned down enemy infantry, they were really quite devastating. Now I am late into the game and have elite Urban Cohorts I am not really bothering anymore.

I like the elephants.......maybe I should do more Senate missions instead of just always ignoring them! ~;)

I must say that these stories always have me laughing... ~D It is like you have made a combination of those funny-pic threads and the funny-stories threads.
I look forward to the next story.

Ahhh, delicious again, Maltz. :frog: Thank you.
I'd like to know your tips on maintaining public order.
Seeing how fast your empire expands I figure that your troops are spread rather thin? In this limited time it should also be difficult to build any public order buildings. Do you exterminate every city or do you keep garrisons?

R'as

Thanks again for the feedbacks. ~:) I am not really that great because there are a few tricks here and there, but I would like to share them now:

(1) Enslavement

Enslavement, while in mass-scale, will give you a lot of population growth bonus as high as 10% (the most I have seen so far) in a lot of settlemtns. So there can be a great deal of pop. boom happiness allowing the "highest tax" to apply. Tax income is great - about 60% of my total income is tax. If you still have too many pop. to keep happy due to squalor (which I encountered only after getting 50 provinces) you might want to first enslave, then exterminate. To do this you can give the settlement back to your enemy (or another enemy faction), then claim it again in the same turn, with appropriate treatments. Then you will effectively reduce the population to a low and happy level. Again some might think this is too gamy and shouldn't be done. So I leave this option up to you.

(2) Quene up peasants

In all settlements I only use a few units of peasants to garrison. In HUGE unit size, queneing up multiple peasants unit will rapidly drain the population, thus making squalor low & garrison size 80% in the same round of conquer. This way my generals don't even have to wait one round for shrine of Jupitor, but can immediately continue to the next target.

(3) Sell maps ~D

Many people consider this a serious exploit/cheap - so if you feel uncomfortable please don't use it. In my opinion it is ok as long as my benefits are still "largely limited". I sell all my maps for 99999 turns of 1k or 2k tribute as long as the AI is willing to pay (some refuse for even a small 100 denari per turn, perhaps their income was already negative?). Although the initial payment is small and it doesn't really stop the AI from buying more units in the near future, it is a steady income source you can rely on. However, the tribute stops whenever you go to war with them. If you expand fast enough, that tribute money isn't really much more than a one payment map sale. Of course, if you are going to attack them soon, then 1-time payment should be more profitable for you.

(4) Army upkeep

I don't really have a lot of armies around, maybe 4 or 5 groups at the time of the story was made. A lot of battles are close match-ups. You really don't need to carry a lot of lower-level infantry because you can always retrain the depleted soon. However, you do want to pick up a lot of Crete archers & Rhodian slingers in the Asian minor direction. They make your infantry's life much easier. ~D

(5) Buildings

After builing temples of Jupitor & paved roads, for financial purposes I don't really develop towns that I am not going to train troops. ~:)

Other smaller things: I am sure you already know that Rhode island boost sea trade income. Also, I moved my capital to Byzanlora (might spell wrong), which is closer to my cash center and other directions of expansion. Probably due to the reduction of corruption, I found moving the capital gave me at least 10k more income per turn!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by the_rydster

What is the 'grain resource' bug?

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There appear to be some issues regarding grain distribution. These were more or less confirmed by Jerome Grasdyke. I suppose they might be corrected in the coming patch. For details see:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=37751

Recent findings on the slave resource/distribution appear to reveal similar issues, which had me wondering whether this was also bugged.

Okay, that was darn fast. I would love to hear the story on how you got to this point (civil war, reforms) so fast.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gunboat

Okay, that was darn fast. I would love to hear the story on how you got to this point (civil war, reforms) so fast.

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For the speed of pop. growth it was because some mass-scaled enslavement. Before Arretium hit 24,000 mark I was losing 12% of pop. in the city. ~D So you can see how many new slaves I have to feed in.

People's support actually came much earlier - I think about 30 or so settlements like everybody else has experienced. I expanded to Balkan as soon as I took the 2 northern Gaul settlements. I guess that opens up a lot of new expanding directions. ~:) (and more map buyers ~;) )

Here's a suggestion for your next conquest while you are plugging away at that ultimate challenge mod: Try one of the historical battles and rewrite history with your own story. ~:)

I've tried a few and felt some were fairly challenging as you tend to get ambushed from the start. You get to play with really high end and well experienced units (which us blitzers might miss out on regular campaign play) so I believe it may offer a slightly different experience. You've done 4 campaigns so far. Would be nice to have 1 historical battle just for the record. ~:cheers:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Maltz

For the speed of pop. growth it was because some mass-scaled enslavement. Before Arretium hit 24,000 mark I was losing 12% of pop. in the city. ~D So you can see how many new slaves I have to feed in.

People's support actually came much earlier - I think about 30 or so settlements like everybody else has experienced. I expanded to Balkan as soon as I took the 2 northern Gaul settlements. I guess that opens up a lot of new expanding directions. ~:) (and more map buyers ~;) )

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Forgive the newby here - but what does "mass-scaled enslavement" mean? just enslaving all cities captured or some tricky "let the city rebel and then re-enslave" [it sounds like the first, but as RTW is my 1st TW game, I am a real newby]

Hello: Sorry for the confusion. I meant I enslaved a lot of city (pop. > 2000). As a gamey option you can also let a city go rebel (or easier, give it to your enemy) and reclaim it in the same turn - this way you can enslave again. ~D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Maltz

Hello: Sorry for the confusion. I meant I enslaved a lot of city (pop. > 2000). As a gamey option you can also let a city go rebel (or easier, give it to your enemy) and reclaim it in the same turn - this way you can enslave again. ~D

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Thanks for the answer - I did not think you went the gamey route, just wanted to be clear though.

On a side note, are you thinking of doing a another "story" with a different roman faction?

I don't recall any city required a "double enslavement" treatment until Syracuse & Carthage gave me a headache - but I am not sure whether that happened before or after the story was made. As I said I don't restrict applying any AI exploits, so I don't really keep an record of evil deeds. ~D

I must admit that later on I fully enjoyed doing it with all Egyptian settlements. ~D An enslave-exterminate combo brings down the pop. to 1/8 of the original. Great stuff! (Shamelss, you! :furious3: )

NEED MORE!!!!! Come on Maltz all of us are dying to hear from you!!! PLEASE!

What about Seluc's or Germania

Brilliant! ~:cheers:

This is an art. Though I personally like the "Carthage's War" more than a single battle description; this is fine to me too.

Besides, it's your work and your idea (and your brilliance :bow: )

Keep up the good work!

P.S. Could you give a brief description of how could you get Mr. Flavius Julius and his faction to that point of the game? I'm just curious ~D