GAAAAH! Aedui Avalanche!

Hi all

Fairly new to RTw/EB. In a word - :help:

I've tried various strategies with Rome - mostly trying to secure the Italian peninsula, then going after the Mediterranean islands, and subsequently expanding east and west along the northern coast on either side.

For most of the early stages, the Aedui stay quiet, and from what I can gather from various posts on here it's best to leave them be. Problem is - they seem to suddenly spring into life and make mine very difficult, and I always seem to end up expending all my resources and units fighting an endless war with them in Cisalpine Gaul and Northern Italy.

This time around it's started in 243BC. In the north I'm holding Segesta, Bonona, Patavium (which has just fallen), and in the South, Taras and Rhegion. I did actually bribe them into a ceasefire with 1500 mnai and trade rights and the swine still waded in!!!

What I'd like to know is, are there certain triggers which set in motion AI faction behaviours (I know Carthage breaks off it's alliance and declares war if you expand into Sicily for instance). I've read that the Aedui tend to ask for a ceasefire early in the game if you leave well alone but that's never happened with me :no:

So is there some strategy I've missed out on or should I admit my lameness and change settings to easy/easy:embarassed:

Thanks in anticipation - aside from this little difficulty I'm really enjoying the mod!

The reason why the AI factions are somewhat easygoing at first is that there are really strong eleutheroi forces around them, which they're really bullheaded about taking out or so scared of they'll camp around until someone else clears them away. Once those barriers are gone they're going to look for trouble and will find it at your place. If at all possible you should make a punitive expedition to capture and raze the settlements of theirs that are making the best units. That will give you some 10-15 years of merely lowlevel stacks rather than elite stacks. You can easily fend off those and take their bordering settlements to hold.

Edit: BTW EB is really hard compared to vanilla. If you're playing on VH/VH, you've made a mistake, as you should play on VH/M, that is medium battle difficulty.

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Originally Posted by bovi

The reason why the AI factions are somewhat easygoing at first is that there are really strong eleutheroi forces around them, which they're really bullheaded about taking out or so scared of they'll camp around until someone else clears them away. Once those barriers are gone they're going to look for trouble and will find it at your place. If at all possible you should make a punitive expedition to capture and raze the settlements of theirs that are making the best units. That will give you some 10-15 years of merely lowlevel stacks rather than elite stacks. You can easily fend off those and take their bordering settlements to hold.

Edit: BTW EB is really hard compared to vanilla. If you're playing on VH/VH, you've made a mistake, as you should play on VH/M, that is medium battle difficulty.

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I see! So I guess there's a case for going after the Aedui settlements in close proximity straight away (perfect example being, can't remember, the one just my side of the alps - Mediolanum is it?)

Well at the VERY beginning they will accept peace and not bother you; the Arveni are going to give them enough problems. You can even ally with them, if you want. Though if you're up to it, take your beginning northern armies, march through the Eleutheroi lands, and take Mediolanum. Then sign peace. You probably won't hear from them again, unless the Arveni get humiliated in a few battles.
If the Arveni are around in your game and you've made peace with them, you might consider trying to take some of the outlying Aedui settlements and giving it them in exchange for an alliance, and military access if you can pull it off (though that is not strictly necessary). That way you get a nice buffer between the Aedui and you and if you play it right you can extend the civil war in perpetuity until you are ready to take Gaul.

Train some new Armies, send them northward retake your lands. And then keep moving north and start razing cities. Leave them alive if you want or kill them.

IF your playing Vh/M you can leave them alive, IF your playing Vh/Vh KILL THEM!!!!

Thanks all

Time to start another new game methinks!:2thumbsup:

just make sure this time you don't get cough off guard. Leave forts in key places to delay the AI advance. And make sure you can train an defending army at a moments notice.


OR....


RUSH 'EM.....and kill them while they are weak........ (is not fun in M difficutly though, too easy)

Damn, I thought this was an AAR. Would have been the AAR-name of the year.

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Originally Posted by Thaatu

Damn, I thought this was an AAR. Would have been the AAR-name of the year.

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:laugh4:

Gimme a few weeks Thaatu!

Well folks thanks to your advice, I think I've cracked it.

Scraped together a full stack army and north I went. Mediolanum eventually fell, in spite of a few interruptions by small stack relief armies (meanwhile I had to see off an Epeirot siege of Capua - it never rains :furious3: )

I sent a few agents north to see what was what, and it looks like the Aedui and Averni are involved in a real bun-fight - I tested the water with an ambassodor and the Aedui agreed to a ceasefire - all I handed over was trade rights. A quick look around tells me there are no big-stack Aedui armies either in the field or in towns so (touchwood/rabbit's foot/lucky horseshoe) I'm OK for the time being.

Now about those Epeirots......:juggle2: