Ye Gods are against us!

It's a bit of a read, so if large amounts of text frightens or bores you, look away now.

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Despair I cry as my stretched and battered Romano-British army is once again on the backfoot, another foe deciding now is the time to attack us. Sometimes I think I'm taking part in a fantastic campaign, the best in I've had with RTW/BI and other times I think the AI is just being a deliberate pain in the butt intent on making my life a misery!

So I'm playing a VH/H (Campaign/Battle Difficulty) BI campaign that I started way back last October with my unlocked factions and extra hordes mod. I'm the Romano British and after struggling to get my finances in order (it took about 10 years before profit was rolling in) I managed to take on the Celts. A fair bit of time later, I dispatched of them. The braindead campaign AI of version 1.4 made sure they were passive and doomed.

It was then a long time of building up my money and preparing for the invasion of Europe whilst I was powerless to stop the events of the world that were unfolding. By the time I took Samarobriva from the Alemanni, my unfortunate up until then allies, they were already a strong force in the west of Europe after forming a horde and stomping over several WRE regions, taking 1/2 of Spain as well. A stranger on the mainland of Europe, I had a few friends, but none of much consequence. I had to expand, and prevent my neighbours (Alemanni, WRE, Franks, Saxons etc) from growing too strong. And this is where things went sour.

The Alemanni were incredibly strong it seemed, and I was often pinned down in my isolated settlement, but a couple of battles and I had pushed them away. I spent what time I could building up a force powerful enough to push for the next settlement, knowing without any more settlements, my power was limited and I'd forever be on the backfoot. The army required such an upkeep, that profit was again minimal so I had to secure more lands. I think it was this stage I stopped playing BI for many many months.

I resumed the campaign with V1.6 of BI. The AI has improved, and my campaign was about to get harder. The Saxons decided to land a massive army on the coast of England, Eburacum their target. The massive pirate fleet of the North Sea had missed them, and I had only just time to move the army I was building in Gaul back up to Briton in a desperate defence. I won a good victory, but my funds had been massively reduced in the battle, and my army had been weakened. Most of my settlements were growing too fast, and riots would see soldiers killing civilians and the burning of buildings that hurt my infrastructure further. Debt and a weakened army were to become something quite familiar over the next few years. All my allies (except the Goths which consisted of 1 family member and the fleas about his body) broke their alliances when I was attacked. Now I was really alone. Every single diplomatic mission I attempted for peace or assistance was met with anger and disdain.

So I had managed to prevent the Saxons taking my vital British cities. But I still needed to expand, but the massive armies in Europe and lack of funds were a constant worry. I must have spent 2 hours studying the map, my armies and everything around me, taking just 2 turns perhaps in that time. I'd never had to consider everything so carefully before. I was loving the challenge. When I considered I might be defeated, I thought about giving Samarobriva to the Gothic horde or the Vandals, knowing they'd lose it, and their new hordes would sweep the land, allowing me to pick up the pieces. I considered aiming to take the Saxon lands instead, which were weaker, but closer to the hordes that were coming from the east. Finally I decided to stand and fight to the end.

Then the Alemanni, who's strength and wealth were immense despite only having 6 settlements, began sending large armies my way. Again and again I fought them off, with heroic victory one after the other, with my Sarmations taking most of the credit. Then finally it seemed I defeated enough of them to push for Avaricum - the settlement I had longed to capture, but which had always seemed so far away. The army I could muster wasn't large, already weary from defeating 2 of their large armies but it would have to do. I didn't have time to get reinforcements from Samarobriva - I pushed forward. Finally, finally, I would capture the elusive sixth settlement and maybe I could advance and be a real power.

But no. The AI decided I needed another problem to face. Like I hadn't had enough up to this point.

Aside from the folly of forgetting to take my onagers to assault the settlement I was besieging, the West Roman Empire decided at the very point I wanted to take the settlement, to send a massive heavy infantry force to take Samarobriva. I couldn't believe it. I didn't have the manpower to besiege a settlement and defend one against such a force. Then the Alemanni managed to assemble a large force of mercenaries and camped them outside of Avaricum, crushing my spirits further. To make matters worse, the dreaded pirates of the North Sea were preventing my fleet of ships from landing and getting reinforcements from Britain to Gaul after my fleet had been caught out sinking another Saxon navy attempting to land troops on British soil.

And it's at this point I'm writing this, feeling exhausted by what has happened in the campaign. Everytime I think I am in a secure position to expand, disaster strikes and another foe comes my way. Again and again, disaster seems just a turn away. The gaming gods hate me it seems, and I'm destined to struggle forever against an AI determined to see me suffer. To make things worse, although this is self-inflicted, I realised my recent massively impressive heroic victories were a result of using the default stats that came with BI. I have now lowered the killrate which I was using before I upgraded to the v1.6 patch, which will make routing units with my Sarmations much harder, so the challenge is even greater.

Here's the map at the moment:
https://img480.imageshack.us/img480/...twarot4.th.jpg


Has anyone else got any campaigns they've experienced where every step you take seems to be shadowed by an AI determined to bring you down when you can least afford it? It does make for an interesting campaign, yet at the same time, frustrates to the core! I suppose it reminds me of old Carthage and Seleucid campaigns, but the sparsely populated map of BI makes every forward movement a commitment, and increases the vulnerability of those settlements you have. Now if only the AI could give me one break. I'll even sacrifice the neighbour's dog to the gaming gods if it helps.

Sounds fun (the game, not sacraficing some pup)!

Next turn:
One Diplomat bribed and betrays us.
Plague Sweeps the land. My land. Thousands killed, income decreased.

Oh very funny game, throw some more problems my way. You **"£$!%! hateful thing!

Yes, actually -- my own H/H Romano-British campaign! :laugh4:

My RB start is a bit different from yours, I believe -- I start out with Eburacum and exactly 3 family members: the faction leader, his wife, and their son. I figured I'd make the RBs somewhat like the usurping generals that came from Britain in the 4th and 5th centuries, so I actually prefer a small family in the beginning -- it adds to the tension.

First order of business was to take Londinium from the WRE, which was simple enough. Once that's done the *real* fun of a Romano-British campaign begins... :idea2: that's right, INCOME MANAGEMENT!!! Because I prefer turtling, I tried to get my economy going a bit before stepping on the mainland... but it just takes a few sons maturing to throw off your entire economy. Finally it was too much -- my heirs were costing too much in upkeep, I was in the red, and so I sent 3 of them with some sarmatians down to Samarobriva, which was held by the Franks.

I was amazed to see that the Franks had conquered virtually all of Gaul by this point; but then I realized that, thanks to my patient economy-fiddling, the time *had* really gone by quickly -- I was pressing End Year so often that the entire political situation in Europe was very different than I expected. And far from being pushovers, the Franks had about half a stack of Francisca Heerban (amongst other nasties) in Samarobriva. They sallied out on their turn and I waved goodbye to 3 expensive sons.

Their noble sacrifice enabled me to be a bit smarter about putting together an army that was more balanced. Of course, by this time the Celts attacked Eburacum with 5 family members, chariots, dogs, berserkers, panzers, you name it. I really thought it was the end, as the "army" I was making in Londinium consisted of 2 Coastal Levies, 2 Foederati Infantry, 1 Sarmatian Auxilia, and the faction leader and his only son. Eburacum was gone, and the next turn the Celts approached me with an ultimatum: become their protectorate.

I accepted for 10000 denarii, but it didn't matter. That money was gone in 3 turns and I was back into the negative, but it *was* just enough for me to augment my forces enough to consider going for Samarobriva one more time. And at least the Celts were holding up their end of the bargain by not attacking me.

I had some spies moving through Europe and I noticed that the Vandals were moving into France as a horde, the Goths were moving along the Riviera, sacking Massilia and Arles as they went, and the Alemanni had taken Augusta Vindelicorum and Mediolanium. The Saxons had long ago landed a decent army up by Dal Riada, but were doing *nothing* with it, and it turned rebel when they lost their only town to the Burgundii.

The Franks were so powerful I couldn't decide what to do. They had family members roaming around with teched-up Heerbans of every description, and noble cav to boot. While I vacillated between wanting to attack Samarobriva (great trading partner with London, but guarded to the teeth) or Colonia Agrippina (lightly-held, but deeper in Frankish territory), I sunk deeper into debt. Finally the hordes helped me make up my mind. The Goths settled in Aquitania and the Bandals in Lugdinensis. I made friends with these two and patched things up with the WRE, which by this time was nowhere to be seen. Then I sent my troops to Samarobriva with the entire hope of the kingdom on their shoulders.
:help:

Suffice it to say, I won the city, executed the populace, and made it Christian. Money started to come in -- a trickle, but enough. Maybe. The Franks came at me with an ultimatum, but I talked them down to a ceasefire and trade rights. They were in no position to threaten, as they were being gutted by the hordes and pressed from the east by the Burgundii. For once, the AI knew its place and swallowed its pride.

I actually had money to raise some British Legionaries and snap up some merc Graal Knights, so I sent a light force north with a family member to take back Eburacum and throw off the Celtic yoke. :charge: For some reason the Celts had picked a fight with the Franks and the bulk of their family was down near Campus Frisii, so Eburacum was easily brought back into the fold. My empire numbered three settlements and I was feeling positively grandiose. The problem, as Professorspatula has put it, is what move to make next. I figured the safest thing would be to pursue the Celts north and take Dal Riada for myself; maybe hop across to Ireland and take that too. Maybe with the income from those towns I could fund a *real* army that could start something on the European mainland.

I took a young family member and an all-cav army north to the weakened Celts. Outside Dal Riada, however, they were set upon from out of nowhere by a just-large-enough Celtic army of Noble Clansmen. To save the general I had to withdraw, but it was a fighting withdrawal, as the Celts kept sending little armies of chariots and wardogs in pursuit. The general made it back to Eburacum with 9 bodyguards and 1 Sarmatian Auxilia (1 man, not 1 unit).

Licking my wounds, now (of course) was the time for the plague to strike Londinium. And here was where I learned that plague will *cancel* all trade happening in a settlement. Never noticed that before, but it becomes pretty obvious when your empire is only 3 settlements big -- and 2 of those settlements are London and Samarobriva. My income took another nosedive into the negative 2000's while I waited out the plague. :wall:


After I recovered from the disaster outside Dal Riada and the general smelliness of the London plague, I was able to put together another army to send against the Franks. They had been threatening me to no avail for some years now and now was the only chance I could take to make a dent in their forces. I took an army of 3 British Legionaries, 1 Foederati Infantry, 2 Sarmatian Auxilia, 2 Merc Graal Knights, 1 Merc Sarmatian Archers, 2 Archers, 1 Merc Equites Veteranii, 1 Merc Foederati Cav, 1 Merc Golden Band, 1 Onager, 1 Monks unit, and my general, all over to Campus Frisii, which was the closest lightly-held Frankish town. I was able to take the town with heavy casualties, but I knew I couldn't hold it, so I was obliged to sack the place and burn all the buildings. I then brought my army back to Samarobriva to refit and then go out against Colonia Agrippina.

Just captured that a few hours ago tonight. The Franks look like they're on the downswing, but the Alemanni have been picking up the scraps in southern Gaul and the Vandals are a force to be reckoned with, even after settling. They've kicked the Goths out of Aquitania, forcing them to horde, so now they're running around somewhere too. Meanwhile the Huns have just showed up near Augusta Treverorum, the Burgundii are pushing up against the Franks, and god knows where the WRE are. I've been getting several messages saying "The Old Order Collapses! -- sic transiit something mundi" -- anyone know what that's about? The WRE are still around, so I assume maybe it means some other faction has conquered the city of Rome....?

Anyway, this campaign is definitley one of the more intense I've played recently -- and that includes the H/H WRE campaign I just won. With the WRE, you can resign yourself to not having any field army to speak of for awhile, but at least you've got a few towns.... with the Romano-British you've got to fight it claw and nail for everything you can get. Glad I was able to make them playable!

Keep us posted, Professor; and if I got off my lazy butt and figured how to put up screenshots I'd post some of my own. Great thread.

CountMRVHS

I'm surprised for the cash-strapped Romano-British you are hiring lots of expensive Foederati units, and even the Veteran legionary mercs. Their upkeep is very high for what they offer. I always make sure I have enough money for the Sarmation Mercenaries - the ones with bows. Get every single one that comes along. Those and the normal Sarmation units are by far the most important units to always have. The mercenaries can kill those annoying Celt hounds and chariots before they can get near your men. Then a few coastal levies and the odd British legionary unit plus archers to hold the line is about all you require.

By the way, when you made RB playable, did you also edit the export_descr_buildings.txt file so you could enable them to recruit Onagers, Repeating Ballistae, Bucellari etc? By default, a few of their units can't be trained. And there's also the issue of Sarmation horsemen lose their experience bonus when you build better stables. If you're using the bugfixer though, you probably don't need to worry about it.

Hmm, I haven't checked about the bucellarii etc. I know I can definitely make Onagers, and I seem to remember reading somewhere (either in one of the game files or in the building browser) that I could also train repeating ballistae and bulcellarii. I haven't made any yet, but that could simply be because I haven't built the requisite buildings (being strapped for cash and all).

My main reason for making Foederati was because the Coastal Levies seemed almost shockingly weak. While playing the WRE, the Foederati seemed to at least hold the line, so I wanted to have an equal mix of them with the Levies. But ultimately the Romano-British are a cav-faction, as I'm now learning while I fight off the inevitable Frankish sieges. It's basically guaranteed that I'll lose the walls, but once the enemy get down on the ground I can usually force them out with my Sarmatians.

My 4-settlement McEmpire is holding....:juggle2: .... just fought off 2 successive Frankish assaults in Colonia Agrippina, when the very strong & scary Vandals decided to besiege Samarobriva. Their infantry looks tough... we'll see if I can hold this one with my 2 coastal levies, 2 peasants, 2 archers, and general. Help is on the way from Britain, in the form of a couple Sarmatians and some more infantry, but... Gulp.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by professorspatula

Has anyone else got any campaigns they've experienced where every step you take seems to be shadowed by an AI determined to bring you down when you can least afford it?

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every single game :wall:
the AI hates me, im at war with every single one of my neighbours in all my games at the moment!
i want the days of peace i had in MTW back :( used to love being a trading nation, slowly building up wealth and power when suddenly destroying a troublesome neighbour in a few turns with uber units :laugh4:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by satchef1

every single game :wall:
the AI hates me, im at war with every single one of my neighbours in all my games at the moment!
i want the days of peace i had in MTW back :( used to love being a trading nation, slowly building up wealth and power when suddenly destroying a troublesome neighbour in a few turns with uber units :laugh4:

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My current Dacia campaign's pretty bad :(

Since I desperately needed some cash, I attacked Macedon and Greece first.
When all my armies (excluding garrisons of course) and all but one of my family members were in Macedonia, the scripted plague hit me :embarassed:
All family members in the region, both settlements I took from the Macedonians, and biggest part of my army got infected:skull:
A Britianian assassin managed to kill my faction heir, who was still in my capital.

Soon after, Greece, Macedon, Brittania, Germania, Scythia, the Brutii, and the Julii started to attack me simultaniously.
Good thing I already destroyed Thrace.

Am losing my settlements in the north pretty fast, but I'm still holding Macedonia and some settlements in and around Illyria.
My economy's way too weak to support 2 armies, so what I gain in the west against the Romans, I lose in the north & east against the Germanians & the Scythians.

I tried sending some diplomats over to some of the southern factions, to sell some map info etc, but they all got bribed before they reached their targets.



Edit: Ugh, now it's really time for a reload - faction leader with about a half stack got hit by a flash flood in Illyria :(

Yea, MTW could see a really passive AI at times. I remember starting a campaign as the English and wanting to abandon my French provences and build up my defenses in Britain whilst letting everyone else do what they want. But I couldn't lose control of the provences for love of trying. I tried letting them rebel but they stayed loyal, and none of the neighbouring factions tried to take the undefended lands. After about 20 years, I switched control to the French and manually made them invade and then switched back.


Anyway, back to my RB campaign, and amazingly in one turn I was offered a peace treaty by the Saxons, and to become a Protectorate of the Alemanni. The AI wanted peace? Knowing there was money to be made from this, I took a few thousand from the Alemanni and agreed to their demands. However, despite the finance scroll showing I was making 5300 profit now (up from 1300 the turn before), I knew I could get more money out of the agreements so saved the game, then reloaded to the previous turn to see what I could in theory make. And here I hit upon something interesting.

I could force 5000 out of the Saxons for a ceasefire (as well as trade rights), and 13,000 out of the Alemanni: total 18,000! But then I'd immediately be paying 5500+ denarii back to the Alemanni that turn in tributes. And I'd still be paying back about the same next turn. If I only took about 10,000 from the agreements, I wouldn't necessarily pay anything back the next turn. But then I'd be paying 4000-5000 every turn after that. I basically be losing money each turn. By lowering my income (reducing tax rate) I'd pay back less and make a small profit. What in the end I realised was if ever my treasury reached about 15,000, I'd start paying tribute - and lots of it. So it seems when forced into a protectorate, take as much money as you can, but keep your total under 15,000 and spend, spend, spend. If you don't have large amounts of cash, your masters won't ask you for tribute. Ha, the fools!

There doesn't seem to be a research thread on Protectorate income at the Org (as far as I could see) so the save game would be a good place to research the subject in future.

Now to build up my kingdom and finally punish my enemies for once and for all!!

Defeat!!!

Or, rather, forfeit. Around 440 AD (even my WRE campaign didn't take me to that point), I finally decided, after being in the negative 2000-range (with no sign of getting out of the hole), after losing Samarobriva to a Vandal assault, and after losing my wonderful faction heir to some cheap mis-clicking on my part, that this game was not salvagable.

I had done alright, but made some key mistakes in waiting to make my move off Britain. By the time I felt I could put together a decent army, the Franks were very strong and in control of all of Gaul. By the time I actually *did* take Samarobriva, the Vandals had captured nearly all of Spain and were working their way north toward me, with crazily teched-up steppe raiders, swordsmen, and heavy spears. By then there were no soft targets for me on the continent, so I turned my attention to Dal Riada. *Never* underestimate the Celts. The disastrous Scottish expedition set me back twenty years, and resulted in the temporary loss of Eburacum.

Although I was able to capture and hold Colonia Agrippina and Augusta Treverorum, thereby forcing the Franks to horde and head east, the Vandals were simply too much. I fought off maybe 5 assaults against Samarobriva, but my economy started to falter and then dive; frantically, I put together an army with my young, 4-star faction heir and sent them south toward Avaricum. I intended to set up an ambush, but the Vandals just attacked; I attempted to withdraw, they pursued, and I took up a defensive position. Things seemed to be going ok when I made one of those critical mistakes that can cost you a battle: I accidentally somehow selected ALL my troops and ordered them to attack a target. My general being in combat, when he attempted to pull out of the scrum, was killed.

The next turn, the Vandal army that had been besieging Samarobriva attacked. The town simply didn't have a chance, so I autocalced and took the defeat. That left me with a family of old men and no kids on the horizon; a -2000 debt that was steadily piling up; and the loss of the critical Londinium-Samarobriva trade that had been my bread and butter.

Even if I *could* salvage this one, it would simply take too long. Hey, it took me a couple tries with the WRE before I could make them work. I'll get the Romano-British next time. Until then, I'm starting a Saxon campaign.

CountMRVHS

That's unfortunate. You let the Romano-British down, the shame is yours forever! You must play quite quickly if you reached 440AD already. I'm still a couple of years shy of that number, and my campaign has gone on for ages. Although I admit to studying the map for long periods of time, pondering what strategies could be possible.

I'm doing much better than you it seems. When I reached peace with the Saxons and Alemanni, I suddenly had a positive income of around 5000 a turn to spend on my military. That kind of money is insane for the RB! I built up my cities that had been neglected, then trained up a large army. I could finally afford whatever units I wanted, including much needed legionaries. Peace was brief, however as I spotted this ship near my coastline:
https://img179.imageshack.us/img179/...downks6.th.jpg
Those sneaky Saxons!

So I sunk that ship. That rocked the Saxons, and they asked for peace again! Not this time chaps, it's time for you to die! I had my new army of assassins kill everything in sight, and with so many enemy spies, assassins, diplomats and minor family members around, I soon had 4 9-10* assassins under my command, earning my faction leader the title, 'The Executioner'.
https://img243.imageshack.us/img243/...aleryw8.th.jpg
That title only lasted 2 turns though - he reverted back to 'The Good' after that. Bah! I took one Saxon settlement, then made a bit of an error - I wiped out the Saxons by assassinating their last family member too soon. They'd form a horde if I tried to take their cities, so this was the best way, but I hadn't enough men to take their 2 remaining cities from the rebels. I took their northern most one, but the Lombards took the other. And then the Alemanni tried to assassinate the governor of Samarobriva, but failed, and that lead to immediate war!

I quickly took Campus Frisii from them, but my money and manpower was incredibly stretched again. I also tried to convert one of the Saxon regions to Christanity, but I barely had enough power to sway the pagans, causing all kinds of trouble.

And now again, I am facing a massive onslaught of Alemanni forces. I think I fared better than you here - I have the infantry heavy Alemanni to deal with, you had the horse heavy Vandals. The Alemanni use lots of cavalry, but not missile cavalry. Here my sarmation mercenaries play an important role in protecting the Romano British empire. I've also wiped out the Goths through assasination (just 1 family member was left, roaming like a pariah). And then I murdered about 10 Burgundian family members, wiping out their horde. Probably not a great move, as they were giving the WRE massive grief, but now the WRE are free to attack me again.

And now to show you something that has saved Samarobriva time and time again against incredible odds. The Fort & the Hills battle!

Place a fort in the position shown, and place a unit of levies or peasants to guard it.
https://img172.imageshack.us/img172/...tionjx9.th.jpg

The enemy will attack it. Now send a relief force from Samarobriva to attack the enemy who are besieging the fort. It is crucial you have archers, a few legionaries and spearmen to form a rudimentary battleline, 3-4 heavy cavalry units, a general, 2+ missile cavalry units. Onagers are a good bonus.

You end up fighting a battle that has that rarity of terrain features that give an advantage - namely a rocky hillside that poses difficulty for an enemy to attack your position!
https://img237.imageshack.us/img237/...tle1fm5.th.jpg

The pictures were taken at various stages of 2 battles, so aren't wholly accurate, but give a good idea of what happens.

Because the AI is on the defence, it won't attempt to attack your starting position unless provoked. Form a battleline facing left, then send your skirmisher cavalry down the right hill to pepper the enemy with arrows. Their cavalry will give chase, usually a unit at at time. Have their cavalry chase you back up the hill, where your heavy cavalry charge down and intercept the enemy, routing them quickly.
https://img66.imageshack.us/img66/35...tle2nl7.th.jpg

That isn't a great pic to be honest, but I don't have any others. You can see the enemy has already moved an attempted an attack up the left flank. You battleline should cope easily enough, but you need to move your heavy cavalry back to protect your weak infantry.

https://img480.imageshack.us/img480/...tle3xh4.th.jpg
This is the left hillside. The enemy have been massively weakened by onagers and skirmisher cavalry and by my sarmations that crushed the enemy cav on the right hillside. By using the hillside to prepare the final attack, the enemy is doomed. My archers outrange even their lombard archers, and infantry running uphill break before the storm of arrows.
https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/91...tle4ra4.th.jpg
Ah bliss. I'm glad I kept the Pagan temple with it's experience bonus for those archers, not to mention the rest of the army.


https://img176.imageshack.us/img176/...tle5va6.th.jpg
And so another famous victory! That is actually the last battle I fought in the campaign (except for another crushing one against the WRE). I must have killed around 4000 in this location for about 300-400 deaths. However, I don't think I can protect the passage where the fort is this time - they've sent 2 armies to attack! I have too few arrows to rout that many men, so I'd be lucky to win without losing a large number of my men. And there's another couple of armies approaching. My quest to take Avaricum is yet again so far away. Happy days!

[Edit: So much for that. I pulled in a couple more units, hired some throwaway mercs and thrashed the enemy. The army is strong enough to march for Avaricum at long last! Everything should be much easier when I take that.]
https://img131.imageshack.us/img131/...tartab4.th.jpg https://img181.imageshack.us/img181/...gainrm3.th.jpg

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I think this campaign has reinforced that one thing I've found great about Barbarian Invasion's map - there's very few 'safe' regions. Many of the settlements remain on the frontier and need to be garrisoned. Barbarian units are cheap for this, but Roman ones are very expensive, thus keeping you on your toes throughout.

call me a noob...but how the hell do u make romano british playable on campaign lol??? :help:

Go Professor!

The reason I got to 440 so quickly was simply because of my "wait and see" approach to the RB economy. I figured I'd try to keep afloat with just Eburacum and Londinium, building up a little army in the meantime, so it meant there were *many* turns where I just clicked "End Turn".

And the Vandals were actually very infantry-heavy in my game. They seemed to spam the Steppe Raiders, which are a good foot archer/melee unit, and I saw tons of Steppe Heavy Spearmen and Steppe Swordsmen. In an average Vandal stack I'd see maybe 3/4 infantry, with a couple units of HAs and maybe a unit or two of melee cav. So my big problem with them wasn't their mobility; it was their experience and upgrades, which they had had tons of time to develop while I was clicking my life away up in Britain.

I really love the RB position so I'll definitely give it another shot. They're similar to the WRE, but have the advantage (from my point of view) of not having a sprawling, bloated empire to worry about from the outset. Everything is simpler in a way, so you can try to nurture each town.

Gerudo, you can check out the modding forums for a post I made last week when I made the RBs playable. It doesn't detail everything but if you know some modding basics you can at least piece together what I did and avoid some silly mistakes I made. If you know what you're doing, it only takes a few minutes to get the RBs playable in your campaign. As it was, it took me a few days.

CountMRVHS