A Question: what's the use of an Alliance?
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A Question: what's the use of an Alliance?
Er.. Ive been unaligned with the other Roman factions since turn 10. Its now 182 BC, and there isn't even a sniff of a civil war.Quote:
Better is to get a diplomat to cancel your alliance with one of the Roman factions, wich will start the war too.
I expanded slowly so I could explore more aspects of the game (particulalry economic and cultural) and make good use of the marian reforms. Plus, whats the rush? ~:)Quote:
Well, if you expand rapidly the citizens will love you and you'll get a message that they want you instead of the senate. At that point just attack another Roman Faction you like and the Civil War will begin.
Not that much. Allies are less inclined to attack you obviously, but will still do it if they think it's a good idea, particularily if you share a large border. However, my playstile is that I honorably stay loyal to my allies and should they betray me, I hunt them down mercilessly:charge:Quote:
Originally Posted by GreatEmperor
It makes for a longer and more challenging game then if you just seized every opportunity for quick conquests.
The problem here was that he couldn't get to the point of the game where you can attack the other roman factions. And if you rush your standard with the citizens will grow very high and you can attack them early.Quote:
Originally Posted by Garvanko
Hey there Ya'll,Quote:
Originally Posted by GreatEmperor
Sorry I haven't been able to get back into the discussion in awhile; I had to perform my weekend drill duties. I thought I might add in a little comment about this question from the GE.
I have found in my campaign that making alliances with as many factions early on, as per the advice of both Quietus' and Frogbeastegg's guides to the game, provides for a little more flexibility in my strategy. I have been able to expand my initial trade rights/map information deals early on to gaining some fairly solid allies. Through such relationships I have been able to ecourage Pontus to attack Eygypt earlier than I anticipated the AI would do so. This has caused Pontus to commit vast rescources in the east which will weaken their western defenses enabling me an opportunity to attack them when the time is right.
Spain has been a loyal ally for sometime and has agreed to assist me against Britannia for a moderate sum. I hope to get them to attack the Julli after my war with Britain. This will be a diplomatic coup as they are currently a Julii protectorate. If I can pull it off, it will definately help me when I engage the Roman factions for the win in the endgame.
I am glad that this game includes the more subtle diplomatic approaches that can be taken in the management of imperial power. It definately adds period flavor to the contest.
Well, gotta go....Rotorgun
War!!! :charge:
Took Perguman and Halicarnass from Pontus which gave me enough support from the mob to start the Civil war, which I promptly did by attacking the Scipii.
Neverthess, Im also now at war with the Brits.
Anyone ever seen a Legionary Cavalry unit get routed by a british General's chariot unit, where the General's unit attacked by encircling and mercilessly running rings around the Cav unit? Never seen anything like it - it was like they were caught in a mixer. There is no escape from this, by the way. Its like fighting to the death, except you can't respond at all.
I've finally conceded and given up on BI.
I'm playing RTW 1.0 and playing as the Brutii. It's 263 AD, and I own Appolonia, Croton, Tarentum, Lilybauem and Thapsus. I was hoping to steal Syracuse but the Scipii beat me there. Now heading towards Carthage, but I fear that the Scipii will beat me there too.
More as it comes in..
Hello Craterus,Quote:
Originally Posted by Craterus
It sounds like you are having a good start. It's alright that the Scipii have Syracuse for now, as long as you continue to hold Lilybauem from Carthage, it should give you a toe-hold to prevent the Scipii from taking all of Sicily. It is essential to keep them from controlling Sicily in the late game. I would advise on making peace with Carthage, however. A war with Carthage will invite periously long lines of supply. Let the Scipii fight the elephants for now. You can always blockade them in Africa by cutting them off from the mainland later.Concentrate your strategy against the weaker Greek Cities, followed by the Macedonians. This will win you many advantages such as:
1. Building a great economy through the expanded Agean trade.
2. Acess to great port facilities with which to dominate the sea lanes of the afore-mentioned ocean.
3. A strong central position from which you can expand your empire east or north with, what we call in the military, good interior lines of communications.
Of course, If you are commited to an African extravaganza, be sure to make peace with the Greeks to ensure that your overseas expidition is not attacked by their navy. They are bound to be pissed off that another Roman faction took Syracuse from them, and this can be exploited to give you an ally against Egypt, or the Scipii, with whom you are bound to fight sooner or later.
Good luck,
Rotorgun
Now you have an understanding of the power of an experienced British war chief! I have also had the pleasure of seeing this type of attack rout my Legionary horse on its way to rescue the Legionary Cohort unit that was just moments before routed by the charge of this tough 8 star leader. All this while watching my entire infantry line pack up and leave the battle after being attacked by the acompanying 3 cheveron, silver sword and shield Chosen Swordsmen, and Warrior Band infantry. This is why I was so keen to have an awsome temple of Mars.Quote:
Originally Posted by Garvanko
By the way, after failing to take Sambrobiva in the time alloted me by the Senate, the Julii took advantage of my careful assassin campaign, which caused this city to rebel, to just move on in....'Good grief Charlie Brown!' I had to admire the AI for its seeming sense of humor.
I live for this game!~D
I've found out something so you can get a city without casualties. Example:
In my campaign the Scipii where laying siege to a Numidian city. I sended an army over there with 2 onagers. I then divided the Army in 2 pieces: The 2 onagers and the rest. The Scipii where still laying siege to the city and they had a lot more soldiers than the Numidians did. I attacked the city with the 2 onagers and the Scipii came as reinforcements. I destroyed the gate and they took the city, but because I attacked it and they were only reinforcements, the city was mine. I quickly moved the rest of the army in so that they wouldn't rebel.
That's a great way for capturing cities that one of your allies is laying siege to.
Yes, they are uberstrong, I admit. But completely lost against missile troops. In that battle, I withdrew all my infantry and attacked with my archers and skirmishers, and eventually just wore the down till they routed. There were Chosen Swordsmen in that British army as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by rotorgun
Crater:Quote:
Originally Posted by rotorgun
What RG is advocating here is, of course, the orthodox Brutii approach. It's a classic precisely because it makes so much long-term sense.
You seem to have begun a Scippii spoiler campaign, trying to take the wind out of their sails by getting their targets first. Nice strat, but you appear to have been a touch slow off the mark. Since you're there, taking Carthage can annoy the Scips further, so go ahead, but enslave, recruit cool mercs, disassemble buildings for cash and give it to the Julies. The Scips won't attack them either and then YOU don't have to deal with the constant rebellions etc. To annoy the other factions further you might then fleet up to Sardinia and Massilia (if the future Caesers aren't there yet), take them, keep Sardinia but give Massilia to the Scips. Same kind of roadblock.
In the long run (if not as immediately as RG is suggesting) though, you should head back to the Aegean. Once it is your trade lake, you really do end up with a hammerlock. It may be the orthodox strategy, but it is so for a reason.
Thanks for the off-hand compliment Seamus. I do have a tendency to play conservatively as I don't have much RTW experience. My predominate experience has been with board wargames, but the general principles of good strategy seem to apply to this game as well. So far in my current Brutii campaign, played in H/H mode, the aforementioned approach has worked for me up to this point. I am a bit stymied as to what to do now however.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seamus Fermanagh
The British are almost kicked out of Europe, and I can either attack the Julii to start the civil war early, or invade Anatolia, currently occupied by Pontus (except for Sardis and Rhodes which I own). I think that the right approach is to go for Pontus, as they are currently engaged in a death struggle with Egypt.~:handball:
Any ideas on how I should proceed? And what does "Illegitimi non carborundum" mean? (I don't know alot of Latin unfortunately)
Thanks, RG
Not meant to be off-handed. An orthodox strategy becomes orthodox because its effective. If you're playing 3R as the krauts, you crunch Poland turn one, you don't attack one block there and go after Yugoslavia. Orthodox is NOT an insult.Quote:
Originally Posted by rotorgun
Starting the CW may not be a bad idea, but if that is your goal then set your defenses elsewhere and pre-set your attack groups to hammer the Julies hard. You'll want to cut them in two to defeat in detail or take a couple of economically crippling locales. Don't overextend at first, of course, since you get visited by lots of roman armies and you'll need to chew them up.Quote:
Originally Posted by rotorgun
Taking Asia Minor would be sound, and probably a bit safer unless you see a real weak link in the Julies territories, but be sure to establish a strong defense line in the passes for when the horse/chariot boys come after you. If you go this route, consider an expedition around the Black sea to make it an additional trading lake for you.
Wild option: if you have/can build the fleets and forces, a massive assault on all the Eggy home territories might catch them with their forces forward toward Pontus. The Nile do be rich too, if you can stabilize it despite the cultural penalty, and there are some good defensive choke points to either side.
"Never let the bastards grind you down."~:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Rotorgun
I got Carthage and Syracuse!!! I bribed the Scipii army sieging Syracuse, and the Scipii were too scared (for lack of of a better word) to siege Carthage. So, I had time to build up an army from Lepcis Magna. With Carthage under my belt, I now have a great trading routes between mainland Italy, Sicily and Carthage/Lepcis Magna. I making lots of money each turn.
I don't want to do the traditional route of the Brutii, I will let the Macedonians get wiped out by the mighty Thracian empire (6 provinces :wow:) :eek: and the similarly struggling Greeks. The Thracians and Dacians both have expanded. Dacia are going at Gaul territory, and Thrace have just stormed southwest.
Although the Senate is willing me to go after the Greeks and Macs, I went after the Dacians (1, in case they get too big for their boots, 2. more interesting route into the Aegean) then I will hit Thrace in their homeland and then take the Aegean.
In the diplomacy, under what the sente thinks of each faction and how they should be treated it says something like: The Dacians are far from our thoughts. We should not be in war, and should try to make an alliance and get friendly relations..
I now own: Tarentum, Croton, Lilybauem, Syracuse (Capital), Lepcis Magna, Appolonia, Segestica and Salona. I am going for Noricum (Dacian) and Aquincum (Dacian).
And if those Numidians (own the rest of Africa as far as egypt) stab me in the back, I swear to hunt them down and kill them all. :evil:
Appreciate it SF, and your right, standard strategies in most games are a good way to proceed. I am not so obstinate, however that I won't consider a change of plans.Quote:
Seamus Fermanagh]Not meant to be off-handed. An orthodox strategy becomes orthodox because its effective. If you're playing 3R as the krauts, you crunch Poland turn one, you don't attack one block there and go after Yugoslavia. Orthodox is NOT an insult.
A very interesting proposition to take on Egypt. I have, coincidentally, been tempted by the idea already as Pontus has been a fairly loyal ally so far.(We have killed each others spies and assassins a few times ~;)Quote:
Wild option: if you have/can build the fleets and forces, a massive assault on all the Eggy home territories might catch them with their forces forward toward Pontus. The Nile do be rich too, if you can stabilize it despite the cultural penalty, and there are some good defensive choke points to either side.
I like this translation!Quote:
"Never let the bastards grind you down."~:)
I'll keep y'all posted about which strategy I take.
Rotorgun
Go for it Craterus!:charge:Quote:
Originally Posted by Craterus
I shall follow your campaign to see how much more differently it proceeds compared to the traditional approach. The Dacians and Thracians should be well matched opponents if you can engineer a treaty with one, or the other, and get them to attack each other. After the Dacians are fully engaged you can always break the peace and then hit them. (Beware of their fast moving Horse Archers and Axe wielding Falxmen, for they can be deadly!)
That was a great coup to pull off against the Scipii! What are you planning to attempt to slow down the Julii ? A Spainish province perhaps?
Nike!(Victory!) ~:cheers:
Rotorgun
yes, the carthiginian route is always fun, and immensely profitable of course. ~D
My own campaign is hitting top gear. The civil war looks like it will be a cake walk, which is fine, as it will allow me to concentrate fully on Pontus - it is likely that we will be the only two factions left in the game in around 20 turns or so..
Ive found the most balanced army to be.
2 Generals
4 Roman/Legionary Cavalry
4 Archers Auxilia
8 Legionary Cohorts
2 Urban Cohorts/Onagers
Rome will fall soon, and with it comes First Cohort training facilities. Oh yes!
This is pretty much what I shoot for also, although I will substitue 2 Auxillary Cavalry for the Roman or Legionary units if I am going to face opposition with Missle/Horse Archer Uuits.Quote:
Ive found the most balanced army to be.
2 Generals
4 Roman/Legionary Cavalry
4 Archers Auxilia
8 Legionary Cohorts
2 Urban Cohorts/Onagers
Rome will fall soon, and with it comes First Cohort training facilities. Oh yes!
Question: Does the AI always allow one of its big stacks to have more than twenty units? Seems like I'm always facing these huge super-stacks up to one and a half times the normal size of my own. I only usually count no more than twenty enemy units on the battlefield however. Surely a phenomena.
Rotorgun
When you view an enemy army (with a spy) their rows are only 9 spaces long (as opposed to the 10 per row for the human-controlled army). Therefore, big armies always have 2 units on a 3rd row. It looks like their armies have more units, but they don't.
On with my Brutii campaign:
I took Noricum but pulled my armies out of the Dacian Empire to deal with a much bigger threat. The Thracian Empire has now taken most of Greece. Macedon are left with Corinth and Athens, and Greece are left with Sparta and Thermon (on the mainland, they do still have Rhodes and Pergamum). All of these cities are poorly garrisoned and easy pickings for the Thracian "horde" that is rampaging through the Balkans.
I took my Dacian army, and piledrived into Bylazora. Only to find 2000 falxmen waiting! :eek:
The army that was protecting North Africa has been sent to deal with the Thracian menace as well. I will try to pincer them at both ends of the Balkan peninsula.
In other news, the Gauls, whilst holding their orginal provinces, are taking land in Spain and it looks like the Julii may have given them enough leway (sp?) for them to run rampage. The Britons are going into the Germanian territory, and the Germanians (large empire) have expanded towards Scythia. It seems the Barbarian Invasion sort of stuff is happening already, except that Rome is still on top. Oh, and surprise surprise, the Egyptians have put the Seleucids down to one city (Seleucia) and it is only 250 BC.
I have a 10 city empire, in 20 years. I know, I am a slow mover but I tihnk it is going OK. I knew I'd have to take the Balkans at some point. But at least the Dacians tasted Roman steel before I did it. 3 generals of theirs down, and I think I've given them a grudge against the Romans, even thoguh they accepted an alliance almost immediately after war.
I never really use Cavalry Auxilia after the marian reforms. Ive never felt the need to have them in my armies.Quote:
Originally Posted by rotorgun
Armies however, are dominating my game at the moment. A sea of red Julii and blue Pontic stacks are camped on both my frontiers in Europe and Asia Minor. Its fun, but every battle is a major engagement, and it is taking a lot of time. Im attacking on the western front, and trying to push on to Rome, but the Scipii (by virtue of having never really left Italy all game) have about five stacks sitting next to Capua, while Rome has three stacks of their own. The Julii are sending more down as well, so I need to take Rome soon or there could well be a stalemate on the peninsula.
Pontus is interesting though, and perhaps more dangerous, and as a result Im playing a purely defensive strategy here. They control all of what used to by Scythia, parthia, Armenia, Egypt and of course the Seluecid Empire - they've taken Thapsus as well. I don't think they were too impressed with my incursions into Asia Minor and having taken 4 provinces, and two 'wonders' to boot, i think I've grabbed a little too much of their attention. Around ten of their stacks have made their way down from Persia.
I might give this a few more years and if I take Rome, I'll stop and try the Greeks.
Thanks for the insight Craterus. I guess I never noticed this before.Quote:
Originally Posted by Craterus
Aren't those falxmen just wonderful! They can really tear up a cavalry unit if it should happen to misjudge its charge.Quote:
On with my Brutii campaign:
I took Noricum but pulled my armies out of the Dacian Empire to deal with a much bigger threat. The Thracian Empire has now taken most of Greece. Macedon are left with Corinth and Athens, and Greece are left with Sparta and Thermon (on the mainland, they do still have Rhodes and Pergamum). All of these cities are poorly garrisoned and easy pickings for the Thracian "horde" that is rampaging through the Balkans.
I took my Dacian army, and piledrived into Bylazora. Only to find 2000 falxmen waiting! :eek
Does this mean that you have abandoned your North African venture?Quote:
The army that was protecting North Africa has been sent to deal with the Thracian menace as well. I will try to pincer them at both ends of the Balkan peninsula.
Ten cities in twenty turns is "movin' at a fair pace" in my neck of the woods. I agree that you had to do something about the Thracians however. Perhaps you can give a region back to Dacia in return for trade rights and for their assistance against Thrace? This should give you some "leeway" to reorganize your forces for the coming attack. Beware of the deadly combination of Thracian Heavy Cavalry, Phalanx, and Bastarne infantry combination. Don't underestimate its latent power to disrupt a well formed Roman legion'. They fight a little differently than the Macedonians and Greeks,much faster in the attack, if I remember.Quote:
I have a 10 city empire, in 20 years. I know, I am a slow mover but I tihnk it is going OK. I knew I'd have to take the Balkans at some point. But at least the Dacians tasted Roman steel before I did it. 3 generals of theirs down, and I think I've given them a grudge against the Romans, even thoguh they accepted an alliance almost immediately after war.
Good luck, and your campaign sounds fascinating!
Rotorgun
In fact, it's 10 cities in 40 turns. I have not abandoned North Africa, but I have taken the good force out of there. What remains is Hastati and Town Watch. If the Numidians decide to betray me, I will have to outnumber them since the troop quality isn't great.
I have agreed an alliance with the Dacians, and I hope that they will take the oppurtunity, when I hit them in the Aegean, to take their homelands, which, as I understand are poorly defended. Waaay too many commas in the above sentence. You may need to re-read it ~;).
The Senate has asked me to agree trade with Germania, so I've sent my only diplomat off into the wilderness. I could really do with one in case I need to bribe a Thracian stack. And I could also do with a ceasefire with Carthage and the Greeks. That should keep Carthage off my back, and Greece will be paying out for me protecting them... More as it comes in, and you're right, it is fascinating.
One problem, because of the whole fiasco with BI, on my main computer, I installed upstairs and had a go with huge units (never had a campaign with huge unit size before), the specs are much the same as mymain computer, but I thought I'd have a go anyway. I get CTD's on the epic battles, even thouh in custom battles the computer says I can have 3200 soldiers on the battlefield with no problems. In battles with 2000 (1000 vs. 1000) men or more, it CTD's. I think I'm going to have to fight some pretty epic battles against Thrace, and I'll have to auto-calc on some important battles, with expensive armies. Should I start again on large, or keep going on huge? :help: A little dilemma for you all to help me work out.
Hmmm...I'm not sure what size video card your using, or how much ram you have available. I had a similar problem when going for huge units until I upgraded from a 64 meg Video card to a 128 meg Raedeon 9200. I also added another 512 Ram stick to give me 1 gig of ram. I can usually run any battle up to 20 full sized units per side without alot of delays, as long as I keep some of the other options, such as unit details, ground effects, and other such eye candy to a moderate level. You can probably go to the video options and play with these settings to get the most out of your system. I am still saving for another ram stick and a 256 meg VC to improve my system's performance.Quote:
Originally Posted by Craterus
If these adjustments won't do, than go for large units; then you can increase the amount of detail for a more satisfying experience. There is also a default "performance" option on the game video settings which gave me a good starting point. From there, I would play a small custom battle to see if I liked it and then adjusted from there. I still seem to get the best performance out my machine with large units. ( I still enjoy those great "huge" battles every now and then) I hope this was helpful, as I'm not the greatest techno-geek in the world.
rotorgun
Sorry for breaking this into two separate posts; I just thought that this was a topic that needed to be dealt with by itself. You've made a good diplomatic move with Dacia. Have you been able to get them to agree with your requst to attack the Thracians? You might have to spend some denarii and give up some map info. You might even need to offer a previously owned Dacian town back. It will be worth it to see them embroiled with your rival!Quote:
Originally Posted by Craterus
As for the Senate's request, no problem. I took the advice of some others and sent diplomats to every corner of the world to established trade with as many factions as I could initially. This not only has brought me more wealth, but has gained me some valuable allies in my current campaign. Create more diplomats by all means. Make as many freinds as you can. This was the real secret of Roman success. They were able to get many countries obligated to them which enlarged her trade and increases her recruiting pool; hence the Auxilia units when you take over a foreign province.
I am really enjoying this series of posts about the Brutii. I have such a busy life, that I am not able to play my own campaign except for weekends. At least I can get alot of good ideas from talking with my fellow players in the meantime.
Appreciate the time y'all take to correspond.
Rotorgun
Hail Garvanko!Quote:
Originally Posted by Garvanko
So what's it like to engage the Pontic armies in battle? I have yet to do a practice custom battle with them. Can these Persians fight? Are they actually even Persians? ~:) Do you offer any suggestions on how to train myself to deal with them? I'd be greatful for any insights that you can give me.
Rotorgun
In my opinion the best way to train yourself to deal with them is to fight with them. Just go into a singleplayer battle and let the AI choose the characters.
Sounds like a good idea. I'll give it a try this weekend. So how is your campaign coming along?Quote:
Originally Posted by GreatEmperor
Thanks, Rotorgun
Yes, but what I'm asking is:Quote:
Originally Posted by rotorgun
Should I quit this campaign and re-start with large units, instead of huge, or have I gone too far? Maybe I'll try the Julii, as the only Roman faction I haven't had a good go at?
If I continue, I know it (CTD's and auto-calc ing important battles) will annoy me, even though it was getting fun with Thrace and all.
Re-start with large units, Craterus.
RG, fighting Pontus is a bit like fighting the Greeks, except their Cavalry is superior.