How do you think a hypothetical Multiplayer EB campaign would go?

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

I've got a little idea on how to give every human player a chance to build up and get organised at the start of the game.

Make up a list of (fairly historically accurate) Eleutheroi target towns for every faction (happy to do this myself). Have a house rule that each player has to take all his Eleutheroi target towns first (unless one or more of those targets is taken by another faction first before he gets there) before he is allowed to attack a town from another faction.

A human player can fight battles in the open field against armies from other human factions at any time, but can't actually seige, assault or occupy any of their towns unless he's taken ALL his Eleutheroi targets first. (Might be an idea to make Taras, Pella and Asaak exceptions to the rule, they are the only places where a factional army starts the game in another faction's territory.)

Also, when the game starts, there are a number of strong Eleutheroi armies dotted around the map. (I can make a list of them.) Make a house rule that the players who have one of these Eleutheroi armies in their territory must destroy that army. They must do this before they are allowed to attack another human player.

This also applies to any big scripted Eleutheroi armies, commanded by an Eleutheroi FM (like Moskon's big army in Spain), that appear in your territory during the game - they must be treated as the priority, forcing the player to go on the defensive against other human players until the Eleutheroi army is destroyed.

This prevents the human players from just ignoring powerful Eleutheroi armies and cities, and blitzing each other right from the start in a chaotic free-for-all. It will also make the human players worry, because if they use up most of their troops against the Eleutheroi, it might make them vulnerable to a blitz from a neighbouring faction that achieves its own Eleutheroi target list first.

So you can blitz at the start, but (apart from the above named exceptions) you can only blitz the Eleutheroi, not each other.


Suggestion:

Here’s a list of what towns you must capture for each faction, before you can attack any other town. You can take them in any order.

Note: Some of the towns are on the list of more than one faction. You can take the target yourself, or you can make an agreement with someone else to let them take it first, but you may not attack any town belonging to another faction (unless it was yours at the start of the game and you are recovering it) until ALL the towns on your list are no longer in Eleutheroi hands.

Note: If you are attacked by another faction, you may defend yourself, and attack enemy armies in the field, and retake any towns that you have lost - but you may not attack any other enemy towns, that were not originally yours, until you have taken all the Eleutheroi ones on your list first (except those that are taken by another faction before you reach them.

Aedui: Avaricum, Dariortum, Lemonum, Patavium, Bratosporios.

Arveni: Aventicos, Tolosa, Burdigala, Avaricum, Lemonum.

Baktria: Kophen, Alexandropolis, Gava-Haomavarga.

Carthage: Garama, Kirtan, Siga, Lixus, Sala, Arse, Emporion, Messana, Syracuse.

Casse: Ictis, Ratae, Ynys-Mon, Attuaca, Emain-Macha, Ivertis (the whole of Britannia and Ireland, in other words).

Epirus: Pella (Macedonian, you can take it right away), Thermon, Dalminion. (Note: you can recover Taras if it is taken.)

Getai: Sarmiszegethusa, Kallatis, Naissos, Serdike, Tylis, Singidunum, Ak-Ink.

Hayasdan: Phraaspa, Ani-Kamah, Kotais, Mtskheta.

Koinon-Hellenon: Kydonia (on Krete), Thermon.

Lusotann: Sucum-Murgi, Tyde, Baikor, Pallantia, Vellika, Numantia.

Macedon: Thermon, Byzantion, Serdike, Tylis. (Note: you can recover Pella if it is taken.)

Pahlava: Asaak (Seleucid, you can take it right away), Gava-Mazskata.

Pontos: Sinope, Trapezous, Nikaia, Ankyra.

Ptolemoi: Ammonion, Kyrene, Augila, Meroe, Axum, Petra, Bostra, Kydonia (on Krete), Halikarnassos.

Roma: Taras (Epirote, you can take it right away), Rhegion, Bononia, Segesta, Massilia, Messana, Syracuse.

Sabyn: Tamane, Sabata, Carna, Ubar, Homna, Gerrha, Bostra, Petra.

Saka: Chach, Gava-Saka.

Sauromatae: Tanais, Gava-Yugra, Gelonus, Gava-Thissakata, Olbia, Chersonesos, Pantikapaione, Kabalaka, Kotais, Mtskheta.

Seleukia: Ankyra, Pergamon, Halikarnassos, Nikaia, Palmyra, Ani-Kamah, Phraaspa, Alexandropolis, Pura. (Note: you can recover Asaak if it is taken.)

Sweboz: Gawjam-Rugoz, Gawjam-Kimbrioz, Gawjam-Skandzawarjoz, Gawjam-Habukoz, Gawjam-Heruskoz, Arctaunon, Gawjam-Silengoz, Ascaucalis, Carrodunum, Gintaras-Ostan.

[Ludens]

There should be a house rule against blitzing full stop. It's too easy to launch long-distance raids, particularly over sea, to devastate lightly-garrisoned cities. Obviously, an undefended border province would be asking for it, but there's nothing to prevent cheesy tactics like marching through eleutheroi provinces or using a few boats. In reality, logistics made such attempts very difficult*, but in EB it's easy and devastatingly effective. It takes only a few turns to assault a city and raze all the buildings - and infrastructure is expensive and takes a long time to rebuild.

So my proposed rule would be that you can only invade neighbouring provinces, and that naval invasions are allowed only over short distances and when escorted by a sufficient number of ships. (But there would be no restriction on ferrying troops to allied cities, provided you have military access. That way, smaller factions can be used as beachhead by stronger ones.)

Are there other cheesy tactics that need to be checked?

(* It's true the Vikings did so successfully, but circumstances were rather different. For one thing, Europe was thoroughly disorganized and defences were primitive. For another, individual raids were often small and, though traumatizing, didn't take out an entire province. The major, long-term destruction came from the fact that these raids happened again and again and again. Then there was the superior design of the longship and the fact that logistics are substantially easier when the warriors are also the rowers, etc.)

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

Good ideas, Ludens.

RE: "Marching through eleutheroi provinces or using a few boats"

How about a house rule that says you can march into an Eleutheroi province, but you can't march out (unless you retreat back into your own province) unless you take the Eleutheroi town first.

Same with amphibious landings in Eleutheroi provinces - your army can't leave that province until you take the Eleutheroi town first (unless your army retreats back to its fleet, and then the fleet retreats, over two turns, to a friendly port).

My own view on naval invasions and ferrying troops by sea is that armies can only be embarked in ports, not anywhere on the coastline - although they can land anywhere. No player's fleet should be allowed to both leave port and land troops in the same turn, no matter how short the distance involved - even if it's a tiny, tiny distance. The invasion fleet must stop in mid-ocean between 50% and 75% of the way to the target, and wait there until the player's next turn. This is to give any opposing fleets a chance to intercept - and it must happen this way even if no enemy fleets exist.

[Ludens]

Those are good suggestions, but in an MP game it's best to keep the rules as simple as possible. That way there's less chance of mistakes and less scope for wrangling about what is and is not a legal move.

[Arjos]

I think that golden chevrons Horse Archers, will kill every moving creature :P

Pretty much like EBO, rules will be decided as it goes on: I hope we'll have a MP campaign in EBII!

[Brave Brave Sir Robin]

And much like IRL, those golden chevroned HA won't be able to do anything against a stone-walled city. :p

[Arjos]

And much like IRL, those golden chevroned HA won't be able to do anything against a stone-walled city. :p

Oh, they can graze in the fields and wait, there's no rush :D

Function is currently turned off to ease modding, but I think its a simple fix to turn back on.

Awesome!

[Tanit]

I think that golden chevrons Horse Archers, will kill every moving creature :P

Pretty much like EBO, rules will be decided as it goes on: I hope we'll have a MP campaign in EBII!

Function is currently turned off to ease modding, but I think its a simple fix to turn back on.