Im new:D Please read and answer me please! :D

[Zues!]

I just started playing this game...well I been playing it but I put it away because I didnt think i was able to make the right choices in game due to my young age (excuse) but now I picked it back up a couple days ago and im doing quite well, better than I used to do. Im playing as the Romans doing what they do best, you know marching their armies every taking anything they want. I have a question though...When does the game become more nation based? Because I know many factions are running around fighting with merc. units and the same units, but when do we actually get OUR own units? Like the Roman Legions for example

[Apgad]

Check out this explanation of MICs: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=73928

As you can see, better quality troops generally require higher level MICs, and these take time to build. And better quality troops cost more to raise and upkeep, so generally speaking you'll need a more developed economy to support them.

You might find the first 30 or 40 years consists of all factions running around trying to capture as many rebel settlements as possible, before slugging it out with each other. Do that too.

Many factions have reforms that take some time to achieve (see https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=84854). By "roman legions" I'll presume you mean Marian legions. To get these you'll need to go through 2 sets of reforms, each with its own specific conditions.

Other factions will also take some time to get their reformed troops, so it can be a while before you see all of the elites that you might be expecting.

And don't forget to activate the background script!

[Zues!]

Reforms? Can you explain that to me please?

[marodeur]

Reforms? Can you explain that to me please?

By achieving specific goals you will get other units available. That's called a reform, cause historically Rome changed it's unit composition quite a few times in it's history, every time an other great leader being responsible (for example the augusteian military reforms by Augustus). You will have to look up which goals are necessary to get a specific reform.

[Zues!]

BTW the link on MICs you posted above made no sense...I dont even knowa what a MIC is, yet along a local native and stuff

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

The reforms are explained in the FAQ. See the stickied threads in this forum.

MIC = barracks.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

And if dat thread aint clear enough for ya here the tl;dr version.
Two kinds o'barracks: cheap ones for local units (Gallic levies in Gaul, Egyptians levies in Egypt) and the factional (and MUCH more expensive) ones are for your factions "iconic" units (Legionaries for Rome, uber heavy Phalanx for Greeks)

REFORMS tl;dr version
some factions need to have reforms occur before they can get their bestest troop types (Imperial Legionaries for Rome, Kata-tanks for nomads, and other types of units)
ALSO a few faction need to get reforms for improved factional play. Pahlava and Haydisan are the two BIGGEST ones in need of said reforms. For more info on reform plz refer to threat about them.

[Zues!]

Two more questions

1. What difficulty settings should I play on because on medium battle settings the battles are kinda too easy and on the campaign every body wants to attack me for some reason.

2. How do I keep alive? Im fighting the people east of italy, and the people north of italy! I didnt pick a fight with the fellos north of it I forget their name but it started with a "A" and the people to the west their name starts with a "E" i picked that fight but then Makedonia join and helped them!

I let Makedonia punk me out of my honor and pride just to save my ass..im their Protectorate! is that bad btw??

[chenkai11]

1. FAQ recommend VH/M, I personally recommend H/M.

2. I think the A people and E people are hostile with your faction from the start even you didn't pick the fight. To stay alive? Fight them and kill them all!! This is total war.

If you are someone's protectorate, you have to pay tribute.

[Mulceber]

2. How do I keep alive? Im fighting the people east of italy, and the people north of italy! I didnt pick a fight with the fellos north of it I forget their name but it started with a "A" and the people to the west their name starts with a "E" i picked that fight but then Makedonia join and helped them!

The A people are either the Arverni or the Aedui - both Gauls. The E people are most likely Epeiros. Early on, when you conquer the heel of Italy (Taras), it's wise to immediately make peace with Epeiros - they generally don't need much convincing. From there you can concentrate on uniting Italy and developing your economy and military. You shouldn't have to worry too much about being attacked - the Aedui and Arverni are too busy fighting each other to make any significant effort on you. With Carthage as your ally, you should be in a state of relative peace, apart from the rebel settlements you're scarfing up.

From what you described though, it sounds like you're well beyond that and are in a distinctly bad position. If it were me, I'd start the campaign over.

1. What difficulty settings should I play on because on medium battle settings the battles are kinda too easy and on the campaign every body wants to attack me for some reason.

What's the campaign difficulty setting? Sounds like it's too high. I'd dial it down to medium if I were you.

MIC stands for Military Industrial Complex. In the original Rome Total War, you had a barracks for infantry, stable for cavalry, archery range for archers, etc. For Europa Barbarorum they replaced it with one building that would produce all those units. They called it MIC because it's more multi-purposed than a barracks.

Like the Roman Legions for example

You won't be seeing Roman legions until at least 172 BC - before then, Rome's heavy infantry was primarily Hastati, Principes and Triarii - all of whom were Roman citizens who owned land. -M

[Zues!]

After conquering Sicily I moved east across the ocean to take some more land from some poor faction thatwasnt Roman, now Im really good at battles, and defending is my specialty, so when I get over there I take the 3 or 4 settlements along the coast, but the darn E people wont leave me alone! How do I get them to accept the fact that even if they take their city back that im only going to bring a large army to take it back? I keep one large army over there that does the main fighting, but after about 4 or 5 battles maybe a little less I have to send the army back to rome bit by bit to retrain them to full stregnth. but that is a hassle to me because they take advantage of that and put one of the town under seige...simply put how do I get them to leave me alone so I can deal with the A people north of Italy?

[Zues!]

The A people are either the Arverni or the Aedui - both Gauls. The E people are most likely Epeiros. Early on, when you conquer the heel of Italy (Taras), it's wise to immediately make peace with Epeiros - they generally don't need much convincing. From there you can concentrate on uniting Italy and developing your economy and military. You shouldn't have to worry too much about being attacked - the Aedui and Arverni are too busy fighting each other to make any significant effort on you. With Carthage as your ally, you should be in a state of relative peace, apart from the rebel settlements you're scarfing up.

From what you described though, it sounds like you're well beyond that and are in a distinctly bad position. If it were me, I'd start the campaign over.




What's the campaign difficulty setting? Sounds like it's too high. I'd dial it down to medium if I were you.

MIC stands for Military Industrial Complex. In the original Rome Total War, you had a barracks for infantry, stable for cavalry, archery range for archers, etc. For Europa Barbarorum they replaced it with one building that would produce all those units. They called it MIC because it's more multi-purposed than a barracks.



You won't be seeing Roman legions until at least 172 BC - before then, Rome's heavy infantry was primarily Hastati, Principes and Triarii - all of whom were Roman citizens who owned land. -M

Thank you soo much!! All of you guys im starting over now.

My primary mistake was simply put GREED I wanted too much...Before I had a stable military I went out to fight. I got one full stack and went on a rampage with it, taking things I couldn't maintain. And I also conquered Sicily which Made the Carthage people hate me:( once again thanks

[Mulceber]

My primary mistake was simply put GREED I wanted too much...Before I had a stable military I went out to fight. I got one full stack and went on a rampage with it, taking things I couldn't maintain.

Yeah, it sounded like you were biting off more than you could chew. Believe it or not, in Europa Barbarorum, the best strategy is to just not start wars with anyone. Ever. The AI will usually declare war on you when you border them. In my game I've defeated the Arverni, Aedui, Sweboz, Epiros, Ptolemaioi, Lusotana and Karthadastim and I didn't start any of those wars. All of them were started by the other guy.

And I also conquered Sicily which Made the Carthage people hate me:( once again thanks

Yeah, the game is programmed to represent a treaty the Romans had with the Carthaginians in real life - the treaty basically stated that they were friends, but that the Romans were to stay out of all the islands between Italy and Africa. So when you enter Sicily, you've violated the treaty, the Carthaginians break their alliance off with you and attack you shortly afterward. -M

[Zues!]

So what difficulty settings do you think I should play on?

[Mulceber]

I'd say a medium campaign setting. -M

[Zues!]

one more question

Whats wrong with the AI? their main idea is to charge? I dont mind them chargin but when they approach me they come up look like crap...is their a way I can get them to have a better formation or somthing

[Zues!]

Another thing what Autonomy?

And I also bought somthing in a city that hat IV on it what is this and and what the difference between the others?

[Mediolanicus]

Read the FAQ and read the building descriptions. And have some patience getting to know the game.

Type I : Homeland gov (except for KH: Sparta gov) --> factional units
Type II : Surrounding regions gov (except for KH: Democracy e.g. Athens) --> factional units, but a few regionals too
Type III : Outlying regions gov --> most likely only regionals here
Type IV : Client states --> Just must recruit an allied general to govern this city when you build one, this gives you the highest level of regional MIC (= barracks)


AI is hard coded so their suicidal behavior can't be changed.
There is (are some) formation mod(s) available though on the sub-mods sub-forum here.

well I been playing it but I put it away because I didnt think i was able to make the right choices in game due to my young age (excuse)

Not to be rude or anything, but if you can't bring up some patience and read information, this maybe shouldn't be in the paste tense, oh Zeus (mmhh.. Zues apparently)

On the other hand, it is a game. There are no "right choices". Do whatever you want as long as you have fun. Just don't forget to activate the background script and listen to your advisor (Vanilla crap has been cut, so everything he has to say is relevant for EB).

[Aper]

You should take a look at the Mini-Mods section, there's interesting stuff there: I suggest you Lz3's Mod Pack, here https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=105242, it includes all the best creations of your fellows forum members, like better formations for the Artificial Idiocy and a fix to run EB with Alexander (ALX.exe), that have a less stupid AI than RTW or Barbarian Invasion.

[Mulceber]

Another thing what Autonomy?

And I also bought somthing in a city that hat IV on it what is this and and what the difference between the others?

Yes, another one of the changes to EB was the creation of a governmental system. It represents that when a faction conquers a city, they set up a regional government to control it. For the Romani, these governments are as follows:

Type I - Italian Ally - this type of government can only be set up in the cities of Italy. The Italian allies were, except for on a couple of occasions, extremely loyal to Rome and supported its rise to Empire, providing troops when called upon. In the game, an Italian Ally provides all of your "Roman" troops - the Hastati, Principes and Triarii, as well as the rorarii, velites, etc.

Type II - Roman Province - These provinces conquered by Rome were put under direct Roman rule, complete with a governor, and would be heavily indoctrinated in Roman culture. In game terms, you won't be able to create your factions units here, but Roman Provinces are very stable and can provide some, though not the best, regional troops. Also, one of the requirements for the Marian reforms (the reforms which give you legions) is that you have a certain number of settlements with Type II governments, so that's something worth keeping an eye on.

Type III - Lightly Romanized Province - basically just like a type II except not as heavily indoctrinated in Roman culture (and thus, not as loyal).

Type IV - Amicus Populi Romani (Friend of the Roman People) - Technically speaking, settlements with Type IV governments don't actually belong to Rome - they are controlled by independent kings who rule them. But these kings are always puppets of the Roman government, and even though they aren't technically Roman, settlements with Type IV governments are very much in your control. These settlements are the quickest to create and provide the best selection of regional units, but they aren't necessarily the most loyal and when that puppet ruler dies, all hell can break loose. -M

[Subotan]

Remember; EB is much harder than Vanilla (Original) Rome Total War. You can't storm off around the world, painting the map red like you did on the vanilla. Several tips you might appreciate:

1. Eleutheroi - The Eleutheroi are NOT just Rebels. They represent factions that couldn't be included in the game due to the faction limit (Something that is hardcoded into the game by CA, and we can't change.) or a lack of historical knowledge. For example, you will find the Boii (About Switzerland) much, much harder to defeat then, say, Rhegion. So when you attack them, anticipate a hard fight.
2. Upkeep - It is much more expensive to upkeep soldiers in EB than in RTW, to reflect the cost of running a standing army. (Navies are particularly expensive)
3. AI - The AI freak out if you border them, they view you as their prime threat (Usually). So be prepared to go to war if you accidentally start to border a faction.

[Dayve]

I find the best way to get used to playing EB is to read. Read everything. Read every trait, read every ancillary, read every unit description (even if they're enemy units), read every building description, hover your mouse over interesting things on the campaign map and read about how wine was produced here, read the "this year in history" notifications that come up once every 4 turns...

When you read everything, EB becomes second nature to you. For instance, when you conquer a new settlement you will see a building called "military occupation" or "regional pacification". The name tells you what it is, but read it anyway and you'll see that military occupation represents your troops keeping order with an iron fist in the short period of unrest and rebelliousness after you conquer it and before a government can be set up.

Once that is built, you have anywhere between 2 to 4 governmental options. Type 1 government is your homeland. If you are playing as Rome, you want to put homeland government in Italy. Homeland government represents the heart of your faction, the most important and most culturally-alike cities. Type 2 is is similar to type 1, but type 2 cities don't have the same rights as your homeland government cities. They don't have voting rights. Type 3 is a lightly Romanized province, ruled by Rome but allowed to keep most of their old ways and mostly rule themselves. Type 4 is a puppet regime. This is good for any city you just conquer because it makes the people very happy very quickly. They're given the illusion of freedom or alliance with Rome, they are governed by one of their own people (represented by a recruitable mercenery general) and pay tribute to Rome.

You wouldn't know any of that unless you read the building descriptions, and although it seems daunting to have to read everything it's well worth it.

So... get reading!

[Mulceber]

I have to say, that's really some good advice. The more you read, the faster you'll become acclimated to EB. -M