Roman Legion composition?

[Knight of Heaven]

well im saying that becouse how can you put one legion in chess formation (quintus) with only these cohorths, it doesnt make much sence, normaly what i read some time a go and saw on other forums was the core roman legion made by romans in chess formation and the alies on the flanks,alies army,infantary and cavalary. In post marian legion, 1 legion was compose by 10 cohorts, each,And each cohort had 500 to 900 plus man,maybe more sometimes of course the cohorts varius in type, evocata, veterani, praetorian, first cohort etc.As well Auxiliares wich number was arround thousands in the flanks. well in game you can put whatever you want truly :) whats more fun indeed, but game engine its diferent, maybe to represent that these formations were created.i belive its another way of putting things, to balance gameplay as for reaching more fun while playing the most historical possible. But that comes in manny forms, its important for each player have his on rules to achieve that. This guide show this i belive :P
What im saying is i made my own rules, i like playing historical too, but to do that i dont have exactly folow these rules. :)

[Chris1959]

I'd recommend Konny's Allied Legions mod in the unofficial mods section. It allows you to recruit Bruttians, Ligurians etc in Italic settlements, in fact you can only recruit high end latin troops in Rome.
Also give a nice description of Camillan/Polybian Consular Armies including the allied legions.
One of the best add on mods for EB I feel and I've found very stable.
In fact Bruttians are my favourite Roman unit!

[paramedicguyer]

Camillan

4 Hastati
4 principes
4 Triarii
4 Accensi/ Leves
3 Cavalry (any really)
1 general

My battle setup is traditional


Polybian

4 Hastati
4 principes
4 Triarii
4 Velites
3 Cavalry (any really)
1 general

My battle setup is traditional

I have been known to replace the velites with archers when dealing with eastern factions. My primary goal is always to capture crete to secure the archers.

Marian/Augustan

10 Cohorts
4 Cavalry (any, but generally auxilia of some sort)
5 archers (generally i will use cretan archers, but from attrition I generally have to recruit locals to replace losses)
1 General

I have two battle setups

C = Cohort
A = Cavalry
M = Archer

A C - C - C - C - C A
A C - C - C - C - C A
M M M M M



A C C C C C A
A C C C C C A
M M M M M

Generally I employ the former when fighting eastern factions where I have to manuever around a phalanx. the latter I employ so as to provide easy reinforcements when fighting the "barbarian factions". I have found this setup most effective especially when defending. Fighting on hard I have been able to destroy 25% of an army before they hit my legionaries (before they throw there pila). Again generally I use cretan archers, which are quite superior to most others, the effectiveness of the setup goes down when useing other archers

[satalexton]

There's already threads on Barbaropolis army compositions, try searching for them.

Your formations are not bad in terms of gameplay, though I think the composition and formation are more of a Late Roman variety.

[Aemilius Paulus]

There's already threads on Barbaropolis army compositions, try searching for them.

I know, we get these every month . Just like the monthly LS threads of the good old days...

[Celtic_Punk]

Checker board was a Marian invention wasn't it?

[Aemilius Paulus]

Checker board was a Marian invention wasn't it?

If by that you mean the manipular formation it was the result of the Samnite Wars, which would be Polybian, not Marian reforms.

[Dutchhoplite]

There's already threads on Barbaropolis army compositions, try searching for them.

Your formations are not bad in terms of gameplay, though I think the composition and formation are more of a Late Roman variety.

At it again?? Tell me, what have you learned this week??

[Macilrille]

I am no fan of Sata, in fact he is on my ignore list, but he does not actually do anything wrong here except possibly calling Rome some silly byname... be fair.
He is actually not for once screaming, "burn Barbaropolis!", merely saying what many others do to those recurring "once-a-month-questions" that the answer is around in abundance if one searches for it- especially in the AAR and gameplay guides section.

Be fair, go for the ball, not the man. No need for personal persecution, Sata as well as others has a right to contribute usefully.

When pointing a finger at others, how many is it that points at yourself? Who is attacking someone now? Were we not meant to stop and behave in a restrained way (though it evades me that we ever left it)?

I will shut my gob now, for I am no angel myself. Just saying, give him a break when he actually behaves himself.

[satalexton]

QS's guide is extremely useful, though abit outdated.

Yes, even I find it useful How best to wipe them out Cannae style, for one.

[Aemilius Paulus]

At it again?? Tell me, what have you learned this week??

Well, I for one, agree with you. No matter how small a transgression is, it is a transgression. No Romaioiktonoi means no Romaioiktonoi, and not "no wasabi on Thursdays" or anything of that sort. You see, another thread is now derailed because of a single word.

People indeed, learn very little. But of course, punishment tends to speed up the learning process; you can tell a child all you want about the dangers of fire, but he/she will only learn once they got burned.

[A Very Super Market]

It wouldn't be that bad if you just ignored the "Barbaropolis" and read it as "Rome", would it? Overreacting tends to quicken derailment, doesn't it?

Wait a minute! Calling him out has effectively derailed the thread more than if you moved on! Aww, shucks.



When playing as the Romans, I immediately ditch the Equites. Wastes of mnai, those suckers. Campanians are more versatile, and since both aren't meant to charge, there's no sense in recruiting native Roman cavalry. The set-up tends to go like this.

3 Leves
3 Hastati
3 Principes
3 Triarii
3 Rorarii
2 Campanians
2 Accensi

And of course, the general. It's not terribly efficient, but the closest to historical I can get without resorting to those bloated aristocrats and their ponies.