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Dear EBers, would you be so kind as to post your most ridiculous and complicated campaign houserules here.
My Ptolemaioi game goes so easy you call it "Stinkin rich for doing nothing". Guys have more gold in their coffers than Carthage.
In desperate need to complicate things for myself
Thanx in advance
MiniMe.
BTW: should I say "could you be so kind to..." or I should say "would you be so kind to..."?
Either works.Quote:
Originally Posted by MiniMe
We know what you mean either way, but the technically correct way is, "would you be so kind as to."
I plan on implementing house rules and changing the EDU a lot for my next Roman campaign in an effort to better represent the differences between the citizen militia and professional army. That remains to be seen though, I may make an AAR to show my expierment in the stage between the Polybian and Marian reforms.
This is many months away, however. I probably won't do it until 1.1 comes out anyways.
I don't have many houserules.
1) Play with Toggle_fow off. I only turn it on every 5 or so years to see if the AI is doing any interesting expansing.
2) I only use 1 general per army unless I have a younger FM after finishing his academic courses and has a potential to be a great general, to follow along with the main one to build his skills.
3) Playing as civilized nations, I will not destroy any monuments. On the flip-side, any nomadic or barbarian play, I make sure to pillage and destroy.
4)
BTW, only the leading general will gain command bonues, the others can only gain chevrons for their BG.Quote:
Originally Posted by tapanojum
I have tons of houserules (there is an entire thread on that topic on the TWC). Most of them concerning roleplaying of characters, up to the creation of the sub-factions, and local recruitement.
Yes, I do it for experience and role play. Kind of how Philiip II was in charge of the army at Charaeneo (spell check) and Alexander led the cavalry.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pharnakes
1. Never attack a faction unless they attack you first/Never steamroll
2. Always accept another faction's ceasefire
3. NEVER fight a bridge battle with either: 1. any phalanx units 2. any army equivalent or stronger than that of the enemy's
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Here are mine, for the Lusotana campaign, as posted earlier yet slightly modified:
- Pursue the victory conditions and don't expand meaninglessly.
- Always build the Type I and Type II governments where available.
- Favour building up and economy over warfare.
- The throne remains in the Lusotanakum family from all male line. (Since they depleted as all-sons, the throne has passed to the next noblest in line, the Celtikum family.)
- The capital can't be changed unless the candidate town has at least King's Hold and Stone Fortress. In any case, it can't be changed before next year (not necessarily 4 turns) once the turn is ended. (You may rehearse options within the same turn.)
- Every expedition force must be commanded by a general. Small peacekeeping troops against brigands can be commanded by captains. (This has been compromised. I always auto_win against brigands using a single depleted unit. Armies with no generals are still used extremely sparingly though.)
- No campaigning in the winter unless in defence. (Exceptions to this have been made.)
- Never attack an ally before dissolving the alliance.
- Never attack a neutral faction without making/creating/inventing a diplomatic excuse, such as threats etc. (Usually I demand them to attack my foe or pay me an enormous tribute, which they naturally refuse.)
- Armies and diplomats must rest in the minor settlement tiles (mines, markets, vineyards etc.) or otherwise generals build forts, unless they mean to ambush. Spies and assassins may rest anywhere.
- No local autonomy/local taxation. Towns without a governor are directly ruled by the King's loyal servants. Ones with governors are the fiefs of the generals.
- [This one has recently been added] Train cheap levies exclusively for garrison duties.
- Maximum happiness policy in all settlements
- If you are going to keep a settlement, then;
- ~D Occupy
- :blank2: Occupy or Enslave
- ~:( Enslave or Exterminate
- ~:pissed: Exterminate
If you are raiding/sacking always exterminate.- (I toggle fow off but) Let your diplomats travel the world, learn about the states of affairs and build relations. Don't exploit the radar if the fow is off.
Some fine points, such as faction leadership, will naturally vary according to the faction. Tribal identity and influence combined will override blood relation for Getai, for instance.
I use the force diplomacy mod extensively but scarcely fall to the temptation of exploiting it. :angel:
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Mine for the Roman campaign were:
1) No slinger units of any sort. Combined with the powerful Roman infantry, it's like, ownage.
2) Garrisons should be made up of the cheapest available units nearby. Leves, Lugoae, Akontistai, Milites, Gund-i Palta. That's all that's allowed.
3) I am permitted to pre-empt an enemy if he masses a fullstack anywhere on my border or crosses it, but if he remains even one tile inwards on his territory, I do nothing.
4) Generals are purely governors. They also lead mercenary anti-rebel armies, but may not lead legions in attacks.
5) Never attack an ally without first dissolving the alliance.
6) Attack a neutral faction only if they have resources that you want or view as being in your 'sphere of influence'.
7) Fullstacks must be maintained as fullstacks and their composition must be institutionalised for the duration of a campaign, i.e. they will retain the same ratio of units throughout.
8) Reinforcements in a campaign will be delivered via halfstacks to each fullstack following about a turn or two behind. No in-city retraining allowed until the legion no longer opposes a faction.
9) Always exterminate unless the city is less than 6000.
10) Maintain tax rates on Low throughout, except for Italia, which pays Normal rates.
11) Unless the opposing side ceasefires, or to do so would result in uncomfortable proximity to another faction, the ultimate end of a campaign must be the utter destruction of the enemy.
If you're looking for a challenge, the triple gold chevron elites that the Makedones have in the ALX.exe thread look pretty challenging.
Apparently, the AI retrains.
Here's one: set camera_fov in preferences.txt to 250. That's a challenge.
What does that do? o.O General's camera?
Pezhetairoi, why do you not have generals leading your legions?
It tips the battlefield upside down. :laugh4:Quote:
Originally Posted by pezhetairoi
Here are a set of House rules I put together for a Pontic AAR I've been working on in my spare time. I'm up to 230BC right now and it has been a lot of fun. I think I'll publish the first chapter later this week when I get past 200 (want to make sure it's worth reading, after all).
Also, a lot of these came from reading Konny's rules and reading AAR's.
Anyway:
Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy is determined firstly by the personality of the Faction Leader; however, if other key family members or generals have enough influence, their personalities will also impact the decisions of the King. Also, characters with the selfish/disloyal combination of traits will be more likely to make decisions on their own, especially if they are far from the capital city.
The second determinant of foreign policy decisions comes from economics and trade. The trade screen for the cities shows who the city is trading with. Sometimes this may result in a war to capture that trading partner or, depending on diplomatic relations, a war to help defend a key trading partner.
Conquest and Government
When conquering cities, with a few exceptions, the city must begin as an allied state and continue as one until either the death of the client-ruler or some other event regarding role-play which makes the arrangement out of place. The exceptions to the rule are as follows: Mazaka in Kappadokia can immediately provided with a Type I homeland government due to the number of Kappadokians living there. Sinope and Trapezous may begin as a Type III Phil-Hellenic Satrapy because of their proximity to Amaseia and their historical connection to the Persian Dynasts who ruled over those regions prior to the conquest of Alexander the Great. This not to say that they will begin as Phil-Hellenic Satrapies, but rather that it will not be against the rules to do so.
Succession
Succession will be determined firstly by the principles of agnatic succession, but other factors may come into play depending upon role-play. Those other factors most likely will be related to the fact that the Pontic family line is wrought with deep familial struggle between the Persians, Kappadokians, and Hellenes. Thrakians, Galatians, and Skythians, may also play a part, but most likely as a secondary struggle among each other or for their benefactors.
Battles
Battles are fought as realistically as possible. The only way I know how to do this is to make both strategy and tactics dependent upon prior experience of the commanders. Moreover, a generalized strategy must be put into place before the battle. That order of battle can only be changed provided the General or his lieutenants are nearby the units to provide them with new orders. If units are far from the General for too long and their initially planned tasks are completed, they will be put under AI control until the General or a Lieutenant can rejoin them.
Recruitment
Recruitment will follow three lines of organization: (1) city; (2) general; (3) faction.
(1) Each city will recruit along the following formula: one peasant, two citizen, one noble. Peasant units are things like slingers, archers, and skirmishers. Citizen units may be units like classical hoplites, Kappadokian infantry, or pantadapoi phalangitai. Noble units are expensive units that require high upkeep; therefore this is often cavarly. Because the early Pontic campaign has an abundance of family members, no noble units will be recruited until the discrepancy between family members and armies is reduced. However, as the wealth of the Kingdom increases, some units at first considered citizens may later be treated as peasants (the best example are the Kappadokian Hillmen).
(2) Each General will keep the mercenaries he recruits with him at all times, but generally speaking, a large number of mercenaries within the city walls will be looked down upon.
(3) The Faction will have a royal army that goes wherever the King orders it to go. The King need not personally lead the army, but it will be composed of a professional and uniform force (e.g., at the beginning of the game, it is the Royal Army that will be the only force with the Pantodapoi Phalanx).
Garrisons
Each city will have as its garrison one unit of the cheapest peasant units of the city’s culture for every 3,000 male citizens capable of wielding arms. So, if Amaseia has a population of 6,000 (assuming that the number represents only those who could be recruited, and not the total population of old men, women, or children), then it will have two unit garrison of artesh-pada/ Eastern Skirmishers. This should help slow both city growth and economic surplus while at the same time representing the men-at-arms who would voluntarily defend their homes if attacked. These men are considered immobile.
Admirals
While the game unfortunately does not permit family members to serve as admirals of fleets, for the sake of realism, I ensure that every fleet has an admiral on it (family member) and skirmishers/ close combat men for the purpose of boarding. It is costly, but it makes the game more enjoyable.
Here are the rules from my Arverni game on VH/M:
On the strategy map:
- Pursue the victory conditions and don't expand meaninglessly. (Thanks to Mouzafphaerre for reminding me – I, for some reason, didn’t even think about putting this on my list, even though (or perhaps because?) that’s how I normally play anyway.)
- Taxes according to the governor’s personality. For example, an unselfish one can never under any circumstances have taxes on very high, high only during short periods if fund are low/running out/non-existant, and in normal state would be kept at normal or low taxes. A selfish one are almost unable to set the taxes to low, and will normally keep them at high or very high.
- When...
A) ... conquering: (preferred options in italic)
If unselfish: occupy or enslave.
If selfish: occupy, enslave or exterminate
B) ... raiding (preferred options in italic)
If unselfish: enslave
If selfish: enslave or exterminate
C) ... sacking: (preferred options in italic)
If unselfish: exterminate
If selfish: exterminateExceptions can be made, but hasn’t as of yet.On the tactical map:
- No campaigning during winter. Either find a settlement or build a fort. Pessimistic generals can not fight during the autumn either (unless it’s directly impossible to avoid, such as being attacked again after already having retreated once). Optimistic generals will not go on an offensive during the autumn, and will usually avoid defensive ones too.
- No capital changes unless of course the capital is lost. In that case, the second most important city is chosen as the new capital, no matter where it is.
- Faction leader is chosen after influence.
- Settlements with the Type 4 government are allowed local autonomy
- Pop-up rebels are auto-won without mercy.
- Never attack an ally without dissolving the alliance first. (Thanks to Mouza... for reminding me to add this one too.)
- Never attack a neutral faction with the intent of conquering without making/creating/inventing a diplomatic excuse, such as threats etc. Warmongers may ignore this, though. (Taken and slightly edited from Mouza..., thanks!)
- Before a raid, an unselfish general must make the same thing as in point above. A selfish general may ignore this. A warmonger will ignore this. (Inspired from Mouz..., so thanks for the last time!)
The armies:
- Always use general cam no matter what. The general also works under a “sphere of influence”. The size of the sphere is dependant on the general’s influence, and the units deemed to be outside of it cannot be controlled, and are usually put under AI-control. Exceptions to this are Army Orders, i.e. orders that are given to every unit in the army, like when marching to the enemy. Another exception is when the general has a pre-planned tactic - but that is only for the more tactically sound generals.
- Generals not taking active part in fighting would be the exception to the rule.
I think that’s it. I do use force diplomacy mod somewhat, and I also use the cheat command add_population Settlement to keep my settlements in reasonable sizes. I use toggle_fow only for the progression thread's sake.
- Historically plausible armies (like, for example, no full stack of elites).
- Garrisons are always locally trained.
- Offensive armies should have a majority of troops from the same settlement. Reinforcements may come from different settlements, but those units can’t merge with depleted units from differing settlements. Defensive are usually the same, but in case of need a joint effort could form an army of different tribes to unite in the fight against a foreign invader (and in that case, having the same settlement origin is not necessary for merging, but is preferred).
- Offensive armies must be led by a family member. Defensive armies should too, but that’s a less strict case.
I too have developed a bunch... mostly tweaked from Konny's contributions over at TWC.
I've developed a spreadsheet ledger I use to conduct Cursus Honorum and Character updates yearly as well as a complete "Census" yearly. It helps me see trends in development, slows down the game, and makes me think about my characters.
So here goes:
1. Politics
I use a rather non-historical Cursus Honorum system where cities are tied to offices.
Roma is a consular city.
Capua, Taras, and Arretium are Praetorian cities.
Ariminum, Arpi, and the northern Italian cities are Quaestorial cities.
Characters must serve in Roma from 16 to 20. At 20 they join a legion to become Tribunes. At 30 they are eligible for election as Quaestors.
Only Consuls can command full stack legions. Other members are restricted to garrison units that can only be mobilized up to 1 adjacent region away.
Only characters with the Aedile or Quaestor (or ex-) trait may be elected to Praetorships. Only ex- Praetors may be elected to Consul.
There are no term limits, elections are held yearly. If there are not enough family members to fill positions the positions remain vacant.
2. Levy Recruitment
Recruitment for legions depends on the income of a city. I take 1/2 the income of (farms+trade+taxes) as upkeep limits for my legions. Any mining income goes straight to the overall treasury to be applied as I like... mostly for "noble" class units.
I define units as "peasant," "citizen," or "noble." Peasant units upkeep < 250-ish. Citizen <500-ish. Noble >500. The number of units in a legion can never exceed a ration of Citizen=Peasant + Noble.
Each city recruits based on it's contribution and available units. If there is excess from a city (due to restrictions on what units can be produced there or the balance of the legion's make-up) excess goes with mining into a treasury. (Sort of a "we can't send no more troops so we'll send money instead kinda thing.") The leftover treasury is applied to bolster the legion.
The remaining 1/2 income is used for upkeep of garrisons, naval units and building projects.
3. Military Deployment
As noted earlier, only Consuls may command legions. Tribunes attached to a consul & legion may take small groups of units back to original cities for retraining. Units are retrained in the cities from which they originate in the levy recruitment phase (I update the levy every 5 years.)
Flexibility is allowed in times of emergency... but only things like updating the levy and temporary raising of troops (2x normal allowance) within the 5 year census cycle. A dictator may be appointed as well. But Consuls ONLY may command legions. I typically don't scrap much of my system for the sake of "emergency."
Once a legion embarks for a destination, there is no turning back unless it makes sense in a strategic manner... aka... the consul would make such a decision. In this case, Consuls sometimes take a whooping rather than turn from a questionable battle to make it a sure thing.
4. City Management
Only cities with governors may build things (troops or units.) Troops for legions may only be built if the Consul dispatches a diplomat to said city. Otherwise, governors may only raise troops for garrison purposes.
Building projects require a the presence of a governor or a governor/ consular agent (diplomat) for the entirety of the build-time.
Taxes are only raised from Normal levels to reflect times of dire need or budget imbalances.
Homeland regions only receive, automatically, a Level I gov-type. All others begin with Level III and follow a process of assimilation. 1 generation for L3-L2 (30 years.) Level IV are instituted in strategic locations or things that make sense in the overall picture of the campaign. Going from L4-L3 requires 30 years.
Also, overall, characters make decisions and get sent on "missions" based on their traits, not what is convenient for me.:whip:
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Most of these are not original in their conception. I give Konny and that other dude at TWC credit for that.:2thumbsup: But it makes the game long and fun and detailed for me.
O, first post, but been lurking awhile. Hi all. Great freaking mod.:yes:
i dont keep a lot of houserules, but for my current carthage campaign i have a few:
Generals only allowed to command a total of 10 units at the green lvl (the trait that counts the number of battles a general has been in) with 1 more unit able to be commanded at each level
faction heir allowed to control 15 + "bonus" for combat lvl
faction leader allowed to control all 20
always general cam unless defending a stone walled town
Some very intresting ideas here, thanx all of you.
1) No cheats apart from toggle_fow when I finish a gaming session and wanna have a look around the map.
2) No retraining.
3) No destroying of buildings ever in captured settlements (apart from the foreign government buildings of course in EB, you can't do otherwise, but everything else stays).
4) Only exterminate or enslave 1 in 10 captured cities at most.
5) No bridge camping.
6) Balanced army compositions, no uber stacks of elites or slingers and other sillyness.
7) With Romans, extra house rules about command limit of generals; only a consul can command a full stack e.g. etc.
8) General's camera.
9) No pause.
- No reloading, except for bugs/crashes and pathing SNAFUs.
- Substantial armies move with a general and suffer seasonal movement penalties etc. [I don't worry about the odd unit moving between the MIC and the army on its own.]
My Casse campaign:
1. no declaring war on other Celtic factions
2. no exterminating Celtic settlements (no matter who controlled the settlement at the time of its conquest)
3. encourage "colonization", i.e. taking settlements mixed with other faction's provinces or beyond provinces belonging to another faction, rather than expanding along a line. Currently I hold Burdigala and Toulon, for example, while the Arverni and Aedui control the provinces in between that an Bagacos, which I also hold. Great fun, I can't wait until the Aedui break the alliance, which they probably will next turn, because a roman stack (allied to the Aedui traitors!) is moving towards my army next to Iuvavovaeta.
4. no using toggle_fow
5. no other cavalry than missile cavalry and max 2 units until suffering defeat from or meeting an enemy with >5 cavalry units
6. no retraining more than 1 unit of a specific type at the time, i.e. after losses first merge all damaged units so many disappear due to the merging, then maybe retrain
7. at least 50% levies in each army
8. [considering to add it]: since Casse can train troops in so many settlements, roll a dice when taking it, to determine whether I will allow myself to train troops in the settlement (if I get 5 or 6 on the dice). This can simulate that some settlements were taken in such a brutal manner that prevents local support, or that there's ongoing unrest in some of them
Organise an expedition to that island province in the Baltic and see if you can get a colony going there. Make sure you bring a big fleet though, damn pirates...
Rule no.1 No backstabbing allies, unless playing as Rome.
Rule no.2 No playing as Rome, hence rule No.1 always applies.
Rule no.3 Generally trust your allies, unless you have valid RP reasons not to do so (e.g. they are Roman). This means that when the AI eventually backstabs you, you will be shocked and outraged. Also caught with your pants down.
Rule no.4 No campaigns without generals. Self-explanatory.
Rule no.5 If you aren't at war with a faction your ally is at war with, then you owe your ally war subsidies. Only exception is if you're monumentally getting your ass handed to you.
my house rules are relatively simple
1. don't attack someone w/o a reason
2. don't attack ally
3. if an ally breaks an alliance with you don't go to war with them just cuz your mad.. unless of course say your KH fighting the Arche and Egypt is aiding you then all of a sudden the alliance breaks and they wage war on your ally the Saba.(yes that happened to me.. threw me in a war wit Arche, Egypt, and Rome. then Saba and Hai both simultaniosly broke alliance...)
4.only toggle_fow occasinally every 4-6 years to check up on expansion. put the view in the sea of course and only look at a factions land if im no where near them and wont be attacking them any time soon.
5.keep armies somewhat realistic no all elite and no all levy unless for garrison OR my economy is low.. like super low.
6.no all cavalry armies, not even as a nomad faction. i hate the thought of it and who's going to carry the siege equipment?
7.always have a general leading an army except in garrison duties does not have to
8.don't care about governors they help but not to worried about them.
9.no destroying buildings except with my KH campaign when egypt attacked me i took all of there mediteranian bordering provinces (yes even alexandria and that area.) and destoyed everything.. EVERYTHING they diserved it.
10.homeland regions get lvl 1 subjacation get lvl 2 gov. etc. unless there starting areas and they have a diffrent gov. i.e. athens has a lvl 2 gov not 1.
11.not every single city frontline or not is a military deployer.
12.no farms.. sure it isnt historical, i just hate them.
13.accept ceasefire if absolutley needing it unless your rep. is selfish(and on the front lines), disloyal, or a captain, disloyal generals and selfish generals who arent on the front lines can accept a ceasefire even if you absolutley don't want to.
14.captains cannot command a mainly mercenary army
15.preferably no all/mostly mercanary armies unless there is no chance or point in retreating from the front lines, or if the general is disloyal.
16.dont expand meaninglessly try as hard as i can to stay to campaign goals unless at war with an unrelenting foe that is outside of your campaign victory lands i.e. the Arche.
17.no capital changing unless finding a better more advantougous capital AND has been upgraded to or past the current capital in most acpects. or having a selfish ruler who wants the capital where he is.
18.no cheats minus fow to look at expansion
19.preferably only one general per army unless having a new soldier training under a veteran for like 2-3 battles or in a campaign in which the general may die of age/assassin/risky battles, and a general is a neccesity to the mission
although alot there relatively simple at least to me they are and there may be more and i just cant think of more
Cheers! ~:cheers:
I really like your first 2 rules! :yes:Quote:
Originally Posted by pockettank
Tactical houserules:
1. Do not exploit the size of the battlescreen. The battlefield is the space the two armies occupy (zone of deployment); everything else is considered to be outside the battlefield. So you will not move any forces, cavarly in particular, around the enemy army to attack its back or flanks. To do so you must first defeat the enemy units on this flank.
Exception: with Barbarian factions, like the Sweboz, you can lay ambushes on the battlefield by hiding a part of your army in a wood outside the zone of deployment.
2. In bridge-battles you will act like a (good) historical commander and place your army a good deal behind the river to attack the enemy when he has just got over the bridge. So, no blocking with one Phalanx.
3. Do not attack the AI when it is trying to get in formation. The AI often runs stupidly around until it has formed a line. You will wait with your attack until has finished.
4. Always try to form up parallel to the AI line and attack head on. Anything else will throw the AI immediatly into awfull confusion.
5. Do net let its horses run into your phalanx because of it hunting with Hetairoi after your slingers. If possible counter these attackes with your own cavalry before they reach your main line.
6. To get any reasonable results from the AI you should always try be the attacker. The AI is able to defend itself up to some degree, but has absolutly no idea how to attack.
This is especially true with Hellenistic armies that employ phalanxes.Quote:
Originally Posted by konny
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I'm not nearly as chivalric as konny. ~;p My avatar would hate me. :skull:
Honestly, I'm only marginally better than the AI in the battlefield. :shrug:
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