1.x AI Faction Progression Thread

[Marcus Ulpius]

Romani campaign 221BC:




The Aedui, Arverni and Sweboz are not fighting each other any more. Instead, Sweboz and Aedui are fighting me, which puts my Northern border on fire. Sweboz are sending small stacks to Aventicum, while Aedui are sending their elite stacks to Massilia and were close to taking the city once or twice. They've also sent a surprise naval attack against Quart-Hadashtim and took Balearic Islands My primary front is the Luso war and they are starting to show signs of breaking which is good - I need those legions against Aedui.

In the East I'm fighting Epiros who managed to take Dalminion and right now I can't spare more troops to retake it without compromising my defenses in Greece. Getae were very ineffective in fighting the Epirotes and are slowly losing. KH are my allies and are very weak. They get new towns only by rebellions and can't hold them for long. Maks got themselves in trouble with the Grey Death and are... well, dying. Same goes for Pontos. Pahlava and Bactria are trampled into the dust by the phalanxes. Saka doing nothing important.

The only power who can probably make some progress against the Grey Death is the Yellow Death who made a comeback in Syria and took Antioch.

Qart-Hadasht - dormant after the loss of Balears and Iberian territories, they sometimes go to war against the Ptolies over Kyrenaika, but soon make peace after it rebels back to Eleutheroi (sp).

[athanaric]

Swêboz in 213 BC (playing on H/M). Conquered the Bosphoran provinces in order to help Hayasdan against the Yellow Fever. Arrived too late, though. Ptolemaioi will die.

Apart from that, business as usual (have been backstabbed by Aedui and Getai; Romani trying to "unite" Gaul).

AS and Baktria are now clinging on for dear life. Pontos and Hayasdan have been annihilated, Rhodos (formerly KH) is still alive.

Rhesus the Carrodunum Defender never turned up, maybe because I stormed the town in ealy campaign.

[Tolg]

This may sound like a pretty stupid question, but where does the game save your screenshots?

I think I found it when I first started playing (vanilla)RTW but I can't remember anymore.

[Mediolanicus]

Rome - Total War\tgas.

[Tolg]

Rome - Total War\tgas.

Thanks, but for some reason all files in there can't be opened/only show a black background in programs which can open them... (Which is way I couldn't find the folder myself)

Edit: I don't have any problems opening other .tga files btw...

[Mediolanicus]

Do a forum search, there are lots of threads about this problem.

[Tolg]

I'm sorry, I didn't find the the search before I registered and didn't realize that it only appears afterwards. I'm really sorry.

[Reenk Roink]

Hi Tolg, welcome!

The black screenshot problem is quite common. In some cases it can be fixed by turning off anti-aliasing thought not in all. Other people just use some third party program like Fraps to take their screenshots and that works well for most (not me though, for some reason I get a ton of jagged edges when using Fraps for R:TW, and so I really have no way to take screenshots ).

Hope this helps.

[Mediolanicus]

I'm sorry, I didn't find the the search before I registered and didn't realize that it only appears afterwards. I'm really sorry.

No need to excuse. I was just suggesting.

I know that's a common problem, which I fortunately don't have, so I don't know the solution to it by heart either. But I know there are lots of threads about it floating around. And I was kinda too lazy to look for them myself.

[Tolg]

Hi Tolg, welcome!

The black screenshot problem is quite common. In some cases it can be fixed by turning off anti-aliasing thought not in all. Other people just use some third party program like Fraps to take their screenshots and that works well for most (not me though, for some reason I get a ton of jagged edges when using Fraps for R:TW, and so I really have no way to take screenshots ).

Hope this helps.

Thanks, changing the anti-aliasing didn't work for me either, luckily fraps did.

No need to excuse. I was just suggesting.

I know that's a common problem, which I fortunately don't have, so I don't know the solution to it by heart either. But I know there are lots of threads about it floating around. And I was kinda too lazy to look for them myself.

It's just that I consider it common sense to always do a forum search before I ask a question yet I didn't which is why I apologized.


Back on topic:


Sadly all my previous screenshots are lost but anyway:

Pahlava campaign M/M 193BC




The Lusotanna actually took almost all of Italy including Rome itself while at the same time leading successful wars against the Aedui and numerous rebellious cities (Gader, Emporion, Masallia) and only recently lost Segesta and Bononia.

The Ptolemaioi are slowly but surely losing ground against my royal army after Ptolemais Theron revolted to them (and those damn rebels annihilated my general and his mercenary army when he tried to take it back - 2 gold chevron gold weapons/armour apeleutheroi are scary).

The KH made a comeback after having lost all his settlements on the Greek mainland to Macedonia 30-40 years ago, when they took Sparta back (with a 3 Akontistai 1 Hoplitai Haploi stack that hidden itself in the woods of the Peloponnese during the Macedonian conquest) and are by now the most powerful Greek/Hellenic faction.

The Aedui are busy defending against the Lusotanna.

The Arverni are using Rome's weakness to take back lost territories.

And so are the Sweboz though they have a much more comfortable position than the Arverni.

The Romans themselves are losing. Full stop. They have war on all borders and their country has been torn to piecemeal. I had high hopes for them when they were at the heights of their power owning half of Gaul, Illyria and 2/3 of Sicily but what we see now is an early version of the invasion of the barbarians.

Quarthdast has nice, secure borders and doesn't appear to be content with them.

Epeiros is at war with both Rome and Macedonia but but neither looses nor gains territory in either of those wars.

The Getai are trying to invade Germany but don't stand a chance against the local Eleutheroi.

Sabata is my ally and doing nothing at all.

Seleuceia and the Sauromatae are both my protectorates.

And the Casse haven't even moved their armies in the last 100 years. Rumours are that they are trying to imitate the roman senators during Brennus' attack on Rome.



Please note that I didn't support the Lusotanna at all. On the contrary, I tended to support the Romans with the additional tributes from my protectorates.

[SwissBarbar]

Apart from your huge empire, the Sweboz catch my eye. They invaded Italy, cool!

And the Casse haven't even moved their armies in the last 100 years. Rumours are that they are trying to imitate the roman senators during Brennus' attack on Rome.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

I am REALLY enjoying that Sweboz. I will cry when u have to beat them down.
Keep it up.

[Tartaros]

Rhesus the Carrodunum Defender never turned up, maybe because I stormed the town in ealy campaign.

for sweboz: my first conquer is always eburonum and later carrodunum... that saves a lot of blood and money

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Its because they have a staggered spawn pattern. Starting about 260BC or so they all spawn one turn after the other. If u move fats enough u could get there before them, but thats hard to do, and not NEARLY as much fun.

[athanaric]

Starting about 260BC or so they all spawn one turn after the other.

I suspected as much. Well, doesn't matter now because I stormed Eburonum some time ago and wiped out the population *harharharr*. Boy that was probably the most satisfying EB experience I had. The scripted defender arrived too late and could only watch the pillage from afar. Cost me a lot of soldiers and mercenaries though.

I usually conquer Rugolandam or Silengolandam first. Skándzá is also a good province.



@Tolg

Why didn't you take Sind (SE Indian province)? It's a very rich province with a big port. Plus, it's inhabited by Eleutheroi scum.

I still wonder how the Lusotannan could manage to subdue the Romaioi. Do they use a lot of Ambakaro elite guys?

[Tolg]

@Tolg

Why didn't you take Sind (SE Indian province)? It's a very rich province with a big port. Plus, it's inhabited by Eleutheroi scum.

Because of the elephants. I've been very cautious with those beast ever since the defenders of Taksashila annihilated my entire army in my Bactria campaign. And as I'm using HA-armies I don't have much I can do against them.

Bactria (allied with me till ~220BC) took Taksashila and killed most the elephants in Opiana making it possible for me to conquer it with 4 battalions of Indian spearman and 1 battalion Akontistai, Patala however is still properly defended and all my (major) armies are currently in the west preparing to attack the Greek mainland. (No second Marathon!) At the moment I'm moving a 2 Indo-Iranian Heavy cavalry, 2 Dahae Skirmisher Cavalry, 2 Arachosian Skirmisher Cavalry, 1 FM army from Kophen down there, but I doubt it's gonna be enough.
Sometimes loosing can be fun as well. *Eagerly waiting for the Yuezhi to mess up his completely unprotected eastern "border"*


No clue what kind of units the Lusotanna are using though (I'm going to recruit a few spies to find out)

[Ibn-Khaldun]

No clue what kind of units the Lusotanna are using though (I'm going to recruit a few spies to find out)

You can use 'percect spy' to find that out.

Just press F1. Advisor will will pop-up and then you just have to press 'Show Me' button and you can see what other factions have in their settlements/armies!

[athanaric]

Because of the elephants. I've been very cautious with those beast ever since the defenders of Taksashila annihilated my entire army in my Bactria campaign. And as I'm using HA-armies I don't have much I can do against them.

I know how you feel. In my Baktrian campaign I had a single Elephant killing more than more than a dozen Pahlavân bodyguards in a gate fight. Guess who survived.
Daha and Arachosian Skirmishers are good against Elephants, but you need a lot of them. Try to hire some infantry skirmishers as well. Against the Indian Eleutheroi, your main force should consist of javelin-throwing troops of several kinds. Arrows are almost useless against Elephants (especially those nasty bodyguards). Use all your arrows to mow down the Guild Warriors and the Longbowmen. It might be a good idea to hire Hyrkanian mercenaries (they are available in India too), as they have javelins (against Elephants) and AP axes.

[Tolg]

You can use 'percect spy' to find that out.

Just press F1. Advisor will will pop-up and then you just have to press 'Show Me' button and you can see what other factions have in their settlements/armies!

Thanks, I learned something new.


I checked all of their armies but they only had 1 batallion of Ambakaro right next to rome. They use various types of XXX Medium/Light Infantry/Spearmen. The Romani are probably losing because their favorite unit are the Vigiles.

Yes, for some reason the Romans got the Marian reforms although it isn't even 172BC yet and they certainly never had more then 90 settlements.
Are the conditions for the reforms different for the KI factions?


I just conquered Patala with the army I mentioned, it was an incredible close call though, I would have lost if the enemy's Elephantes hadn't trampled down his general in the nick of time.

[Shadowwalker]

@Tolg:

The conditions to get the reforms are quite different for the AI indeed.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

If you like to know it exactly just have a look in the EBBS script (.../Rome - Total War/EB/data/scripts/show me), it's written down in the "2c: Roman Reforms" section (search the file for "2c:" or "Marian")

IIRC it's something like a 6 percent chance after a specific date if they have 20 settlements.

Nice campaign btw.
Oh, and welcome to this forum.

[Mister V]

So this is where I'm supposed to post this.

By 200 in my campaign Carthage swallowed Italy right up to Bononia, further north several provinces were conquered by Epeiros. Rome has taken the place of the Aedui (who still resist! one small village hasn't been taken! seriously, reminds me of Asterix ), and they're getting thrashed by Lusotana, Sweboz and Epeiros. It's the first time Rome has ever been brought to its knees by the AI.
It looks like if Rome does get detroyed completely, those four will be thrashing each other and carnage would ensue. Skulls to the skull throne!

[Tolg]

By 200 in my campaign Carthage swallowed Italy right up to Bononia, further north several provinces were conquered by Epeiros. Rome has taken the place of the Aedui (who still resist! one small village hasn't been taken! seriously, reminds me of Asterix ), and they're getting thrashed by Lusotana, Sweboz and Epeiros. It's the first time Rome has ever been brought to its knees by the AI.
It looks like if Rome does get detroyed completely, those four will be thrashing each other and carnage would ensue. Skulls to the skull throne!

Carthage beating up the Roamns happens sometimes, Epeiros expanding northwards is rare though. Would you mind posting a screenshot?

@Tolg:

The conditions to get the reforms are quite different for the AI indeed.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

If you like to know it exactly just have a look in the EBBS script (.../Rome - Total War/EB/data/scripts/show me), it's written down in the "2c: Roman Reforms" section (search the file for "2c:" or "Marian")

IIRC it's something like a 6 percent chance after a specific date if they have 20 settlements.

Nice campaign btw.
Oh, and welcome to this forum.

Thanks, although I didn't find the AI conditions (Just an seemingly endless procedure to count the latifundiae) it's great to know that there is a chance to fight against proper roman legions one day. And thanks for the welcome.

[Mediolanicus]

Romani 180BC

[Shadowwalker]

@Tolg:

Want to know it exactly?
Just open the spoiler.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

This is the complete script used to trigger Marian reforms for the AI (red lines):

;Unconditional AI Reforms
monitor_event FactionTurnEnd FactionType seleucid
This is just to make sure the script checks at the end of every player turn (when you hit "end turn") if the following conditions are met
and not FactionIsLocal
This mean the AI is controlling the Romani (the local faction is always the one you play)
and I_CompareCounter Romanii_Reform = 1
This just means that the polybian reforms have already taken place
and I_NumberOfSettlements seleucid > 20
The AI romani has to control at least 21 settlements. To change the settlement requirement just replace the "20" with the number of settlements you wish. The higher the number the more unlikely the AI will manage to have te reform. I would however not recommend to set it too low since the AI needs to meet the same requirements as the player to get the Polybian reforms. So setting the number to (for example) 5 would be below the requirements of the Polybian reforms. This will mess up the script! I would recommend to set the settlement number not below at least 15.
But if you change the percentage chance (see below) you can also leave the "20" untouched. It's up to you.
if RandomPercent < 6
If conditions are met, a random number between 1 and 100 is generated. If the number is below 6, the reforms happen at the begin of the next AI Romani turn. Once again, you can change this easily by replacing the 6 with for example 100 to make sure the reform happens in any case if the AI has had Polybian reforms and controls the required number of settlements.
set_counter Romanii_Reform 2
terminate_monitor
end_if

end_monitor

The last three lines just make sure that the check is finished so that it can start again every turn until the reform happens or you end the game.

Important: before ever editing any of the game files make sure you have a backup of the file!
And don't open the files with editor (this sometimes doesn't work). Use WordPad or Word (or the adequate OpenOffice application).

Hope this is helpful.

[SwissBarbar]

this is very helpful indeed, thank you

[Marcus Ulpius]

213 BC, Romani Campaign



That's the situation at the end of Lusitanian war.

Aedui and Sweboz are desperately trying to take Massilia and Aventicos respectively, but without any success.

Getae and Epiros are fighting each other and aren't moving anywhere although Getae appear to have the upper hand.

KH are locked by me in Greece, but they still get and lose a town by rebellion here and there on AS territory.

Hai are fighting the Sauros with unclear result.
Bactria are besieging the last town of Pahlava.

The AS is a monster, they rule undisputed in the East and now invaded Egypt. They seem to have trouble holding on some Asia Minor settlements, but they reconquer them without problem because there's no one who can pose any military challenge to them. Maks are dead and Pontos are dead.

Carthage has eaten up all of available rebel territory and it'll be interesting to see where will they go now - invade Iberia or move eastwards to finish off already stretched Ptolies.

[SwissBarbar]

Arverni-AAR-Campaign - southeast





This is the most northerly expansion of the Saba I've ever seen (it's 239 BC). I didn't help them in any possible way, I didn't even have contact with them so far. They managed it on their own.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

Arverni-AAR-Campaign - southeast





This is the most northerly expansion of the Saba I've ever seen (it's 239 BC). I didn't help them in any possible way, I didn't even have contact with them so far. They managed it on their own.

I think that they were just lucky and Petra rebelled to them, though.

[SwissBarbar]

you may be right, but they took hierosolyma as well, they have a 3/4 - stack army there

[Hax]

And don't forget Damaskos.