Reforms? Didn't ask for them.
I took the time to browse the first dozen pages of the collosseum in search for tips for my current Roman campaign. Surprisingly I didn't find much, apart from the guides. It seems as if we all concentrate on other factions.
I must admit that I also didn't play them properly. My first campaign was Brutii, just to get the feeling, and then I played several factions, mostly Eastern, no barbarians.
Now I'm back to the Romans and am trying Scipii. It's about 30 years into the campaign, I own Sicilia, North Africa all the way to Kyrene (Cyrenaika) where only one last Numidian settlement seperates me from the Egyptians. In the west I took Corduba, Carthago Nova and Orca(?). Carthaginians are destroyed.
It's actually more fun than I thought. The Roman armies are so different from what I'm used to play. The battles are more infantry-based. And that's actually where my problems begin, apart from some economic mismanaging. Just when I got used to using Hastatii and Principes some guy named Marius starts to reform my Empire. WTF, couldn't he have asked me first? ~;)
Just when I took Corduba in a really tough battle, I loose the possibility to retrain my depleted units. The Spanish laugh at me, seeing that I'm stranded there with this joke remnant of an invasion force: 1 8* General, 4 TownW, 4 half-sized Hastatii, 2 half-sized Equites, 1 Archer unit of 13men, 1 slinger unit of 24men, 1 16men BarbMercs, 1 30men Scutarii, 1 8men unit Principes. First thing to do in Corduba was to repair the wooden wall. Just in time before a Spanish army parked right on the front lawn: 5!! Generals (6* leader) + 5 Naked Fanatics, 4 Iberian Inf, 2 BullWarriors and 3-4 Scutarii. :help:
I would almost say that this was one of the largest and best-led army I met in this game. I was really afraid to loose my best General. In the 5 or 6 following turns before reinforcements arrived, I sallied two times against this superior army and managed to lift the siege. Public order was so low that the settlement rebelled just before my reinforcements arrived. When I first conquered it, the population was only enslaved so there're about 13k left in that town. Not easy to oppress. The city was retaken and exterminated. It's a bit more quiet now but the spanish are still strong and march again on Corduba.
How do others cope with the reforms when they occur at an uncomfortable time? Any similar experiences?
I guess I've got to do a lot of disbanding and keep quiet for a few years to restock my armies, right? Another option would be to collect all old units and merge them into one invasion army while you build new ones at home.
R'as
Re: Reforms? Didn't ask for them.
Local mercenaries. ~;)
By the time of the reform you should have a lot of sons and sons-in-law, so you can send them as mobile, mid-point mercenary recruit center. You probably need one for Asian minor, one for the barbarian west, one for the barbarian east, etc. I usually end up carry 5-6 units of barbarian warband merc in Iberia.
You can also train Auxilia & Roman cavalry from local towns - these only require the 2nd level barrack & 1st level stable (both 2000 pop. town). The AI should have built these structures when you take over the towns. ~D
Re: Reforms? Didn't ask for them.
Okay I guess I could move some of those imbecile family members who don't do anything back home. Money is also an issue at the moment. Need to sell more maps, lol.
Auxilia, are they any good?
I think in comparison to Hastatii they rather suck?
R'as
Re: Reforms? Didn't ask for them.
Auxilia is spearmen, so they can be used to stop cavalry on the flanks. They are not great against regular infantry, but are OK meat shield, buying time for Roman cavalry to charge home. In my game against Spain I just use warband merc. for that purpose.
If will be optimal if you have archer auxilia against an infantry-heavy army. ~:) If all hopes are lost you can always resort to "fort-in-your-face". ~D
The Agean sea is a huge gold mine that you probably want to grab soon ~:)
Re: Reforms? Didn't ask for them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maltz
Auxilia is spearmen, so they can be used to stop cavalry on the flanks. They are not great against regular infantry, but are OK meat shield, buying time for Roman cavalry to charge home. In my game against Spain I just use warband merc. for that purpose.
Thx for the reply mate. The stats of Auxilia look pretty weak. Against the Naked Fanatics or IberianInf they won't hold. Combination with Cav seems crucial here. WarbandMercs are cool. Very hard to rout. At least thats my experience. As soon as money flows again I'll get some.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maltz
It will be optimal if you have archer auxilia against an infantry-heavy army. ~:)
Right, I noticed that they have insane range and kill quite fast.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maltz
The Agean sea is a huge gold mine that you probably want to grab soon ~:)
Well, I think I need to shift my strategy a bit. I also picked up some usefull bits from your Julii story.
~:cheers:
Re: Reforms? Didn't ask for them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by R'as al Ghul
Thx for the reply mate. The stats of Auxilia look pretty weak. Against the Naked Fanatics or IberianInf they won't hold. Combination with Cav seems crucial here. WarbandMercs are cool. Very hard to rout. At least thats my experience. As soon as money flows again I'll get some.
Right, I noticed that they have insane range and kill quite fast.
Well, I think I need to shift my strategy a bit. I also picked up some usefull bits from your Julii story.
~:cheers:
One thing I tend to do is keep enough dinari in the bank to buy the lowest level barracks needed to get Hastati/Early Legionary units in towns that are 'logistically difficult'. Like on islands or a large distance from my main population centers. This sets you up for a reasonable level of reinforcement/replacement when the reforms happen. I essentially try to 'forward plan' my production centers based on geographical considerations.
The rest of the suggestions in this thread are spot on with my experience, so nothing to add there.
