Things you learned from playing vanilla RTW

[Dumbass]

Hmm... Good point.

I learnt that the Romans used burning pigs in the heat of battle to scare elephants and that war dogs were a common sight on the battlefield.

Burning pigs could have been used historically - it was mentioned on QI, any accuracy behind this?

[Aemilius Paulus]

Burning pigs were actually a common sight in elephant battles. Wardogs were used as well, although rarely, and definitely not to the extent that they were trained by the AI in RTW.

As for the German pikeman unit, they were reasonably dissimilar in comparison to the Makedonian phalanx. That is probably one reason why they do not have the option to form a phalanx in EB. I always thought that the German pikemen were underrated in EB though. Their pikes are very weak because any unit can get through them, which is definitely not the same with the seemingly impenetrable Hellenic pike phalanx.

As for the bare chest, that was pretty common with the barbarian tribes. It was a sign of bravery that was used not only limited by the Gaesatae and Uirodusios. Just look at the Celtic and Germanic units in EB - most of them are bare-chested.

[gamegeek2]

- I learned that the Scythians were a major power in 270 BC, and that the Alans were subjugated by them.
- I learned that Iberians fought naked or with bull horns on their helmets.
- I learned that the Germanic tribes spoke Modern german.
- I learned that Celts gave their towns Latin names.

[Skandinav]

We do not know anything about the phalanx of the germanic peoples other than it is described by Caesar when he was in Alsace fighting Ariovistus as "their ( the germanic tribes ) usual phalanx", which sounds as if it was widely used and could be interpreted as if they had a style of their own, but it must have shared a lot of characteristics with the hellenistic phalanx for him to label without further ado.

[Aemilius Paulus]

We all know that Rome: Total War was an inaccurate game, but guys, you have to admit it was pretty awesome. No other game could compare with it when it was released. The sheer awesomeness of RTW made EB possible, which had then taken the title of the best computer game from RTW. I still have many good memories left from my RTW days.

[Centurion Crastinus]

The good old Sith like katana wielding arcani.

[Ludens]

We do not know anything about the phalanx of the germanic peoples other than it is described by Caesar when he was in Alsace fighting Ariovistus as "their ( the germanic tribes ) usual phalanx", which sounds as if it was widely used and could be interpreted as if they had a style of their own, but it must have shared a lot of characteristics with the hellenistic phalanx for him to label without further ado.

I am not sure about that, since the term phalanx could be used for any reasonably-ordered formation. The specific term for the Hellenistic pike phalanx was IIRC syntagmata, not phalanx.

We all know that Rome: Total War was an inaccurate game, but guys, you have to admit it was pretty awesome. No other game could compare with it when it was released. The sheer awesomeness of RTW made EB possible, which had then taken the title of the best computer game from RTW. I still have many good memories left from my RTW days.

[General Appo]

I´ve learned that if the Egyptians had conquered Ireland, thousands of Nubians would immediately have moved there to be recruited as Nubian Spearmen.

I´ve learned that the Pharaonic age of Ramses II never ended in Egypt, and that the Egyptians fought in the same way as thousands of years before, albeit with ultra über killing machines known as Pharao´s Bowmen.

I´ve learned that the Roman Senate would often demand powerful generals to commit suicide, less they decide that the Senate was bad and turned against it. For some strange reason this seldom worked.

I´ve learned that Spanish warriors often worshipped the Bull and this gave them magical powers to carry a golden plate between the horns of their helmet without the plate actually touching the horns.

I´ve learned that Naked Fanatics weren´t actually naked. And not really all that fanatic either.

I´ve learned that there was only 1 Consul, 1 Praetor, 1 Aedile, 1 Censor and 1 Quaestor in Rome.

[Hax]

I´ve learned that if the Egyptians had conquered Ireland, thousands of Nubians would immediately have moved there to be recruited as Nubian Spearmen.

Really? I just thought they magically moved the weather with them...funny.

[Skandinav]

I am not sure about that, since the term phalanx could be used for any reasonably-ordered formation. The specific term for the Hellenistic pike phalanx was IIRC syntagmata, not phalanx.

True, it is only a phalanx-like body of soldiers in close formation that is described and not the hellenistic phalanx specifically but the characteristics I referred to was rather their long pikes and shield-wall together with this, both of which of course weren´t a rare sight on the ancient battle-field in this regard. But Caesar only uses the word twice or so perhaps deliberately meaning that it differed somehow from the other formations used by the celtic and germanic tribes, which are mostly described only as hosts and such, but some of which may have similarly been in tight formation and also, as we know it as a common weapon in those parts, used spears which often prompts a tight formation but without Caesar dubbing them the latin form of the greek word aswell, if that is, these two accounts are not the only occasions where he faced men using this tactic.

[Zeibek]

Burning pigs could have been used historically - it was mentioned on QI, any accuracy behind this?

IIRC it was just at the siege of Megara that that was used, nowhere else, and certainly not by the Romans.

[Aemilius Paulus]

IIRC it was just at the siege of Megara that that was used, nowhere else, and certainly not by the Romans.

Pigs were a common weapon against elephants, and some were probably smart enough to guess that if you combine the elephant's biggest fears: smell of pigs, squeal of pigs and fire (fear that all animal share) yo will get better results. Even if the ancient generals weren't that smart, you, acting as the player, could change the history a bit. After all, aren't the Total War games all about creating alternative history? (however not in the sense of Arcani and gladiators, which were grossly inaccurate)

[Zeibek]

Pigs were a common weapon against elephants, and some were probably smart enough to guess that if you combine the elephant's biggest fears: smell of pigs, squeal of pigs and fire (fear that all animal share) yo will get better results. Even if the ancient generals weren't that smart, you, acting as the player, could change the history a bit. After all, aren't the Total War games all about creating alternative history? (however not in the sense of Arcani and gladiators, which were grossly inaccurate)

Umm... like I said they never were common. Possible maybe but not common, and possible does not equate to historically accurate. By that logic the gladiators would be just as historic!

If pigs (specifially burning ones) were so useful, why weren't they used all the time? Burning ones were used AFAIK only at Megara, normal ones used to frighten Pyrhus' elephants but they didn't really do the trick and readapted infantry formations were the key factor, not the use of pigs like some classical writers would have it.

Anyway, point is: all of the things I mentioned referred to the fact that they seemed very commonplace even though they were merely historical anomalies. Not all of the Celts and Germans fought bareshirt like in vanilla, where all but the few elites wore only trousers.

We all know that Rome: Total War was an inaccurate game, but guys, you have to admit it was pretty awesome. No other game could compare with it when it was released. The sheer awesomeness of RTW made EB possible, which had then taken the title of the best computer game from RTW. I still have many good memories left from my RTW days.

And here I totally agree with you. RTW for me was the best game ever until I discovered EB.

[Aemilius Paulus]

Umm... like I said they never were common. Possible maybe but not common, and possible does not equate to historically accurate. By that logic the gladiators would be just as historic!

To set the pigs on fire instead of just using them as they were would be a minor change. To introduce an entirely new unit, especially one as unreliable as gladiators would be a major change. Pigs were already used. Gladiators weren't and for excellent reasons. They were slaves, criminals, and prisoners of war. They would turn against their roman overlords as soon as they got the chance and they have already been know for rebelling. They had little discipline and had no place in a legion. They also usually spoke various different languages, making commanding more difficult. As you can see, introducing them would not be feasible or historic.

[Apgad]

I learnt that the Spartans actually fought wearing red nighties and golden flower pots on their heads.
I learnt that German women can get their men to fight harder by screeching at them. This worked just as well in ancient times as it does now...

[Aemilius Paulus]

I learnt that the Spartans actually fought wearing red nighties and golden flower pots on their heads.
I learnt that German women can get their men to fight harder by screeching at them. This worked just as well in ancient times as it does now...

The red nighties are pretty inaccurate (the Spartans wore red capes and armour), but the Spartan helmets are the same in EB as they are in RTW.

The screeching women are actually somewhat accurate, since the women actually followed the Germanic warriors both during the campaign and battles. The women would stay right behind the men in a battle, and whenever the men would rout or retreat, the women would taunt them, usually succeeding in rallying the men. I am not so sure if the women actually "screeched" or taunted/encouraged during the other parts of the battle though. Chances are they did, at least once in a while. Acting as CA, it would be more accurate to give the screeching women a version of the "Rally" ability.

Despite this, turning the Germanic women into a Total War unit is taking it pretty far, although not necessarily ahistorical.