Which faction provides the biggest test?

[Vincent Butler]

your battles will look more like the Carthaginian elephants in the game intro

Who used by the AI would get owned by the Praetorian Cohort, against the cav maybe a different story. If the AH were marching with phalanx up, they should not have decimated the Elephants. Same thing happened to my Cataphracts against Militia Hoplites. They don't get their anti-cav bonus with spears up, do they?

[williamsiddell]

AH were marching with phalanx up

I've agreed with RS that I've said enough about a certain unit which will remain nameless (let's just say it's got big ears). Aye, it was a disappointing outcome.

[Vincent Butler]

Actually I am curious in general, phalanx units not in phalanx don't get the bonus vs cav, right?

[ReluctantSamurai]

If the AH were marching with phalanx up, they should not have decimated the Elephants.

They didn't:

a war elephant unit into one of the AH. The elephants promptly routed back through my own troops.

Who used by the AI would get owned by the Praetorian Cohort

Reverse that and it's the Praetorians who get owned.

They don't get their anti-cav bonus with spears up, do they?

They shouldn't, but there might be an issue there that needs investigation.

[ReluctantSamurai]

Same thing happened to my Cataphracts against Militia Hoplites.

Cataphracts and Elephants are two of the most powerful units in the game. They are not, however, invincible. Set them on an impossible task...let them get flanked or overwhelmed by sheer numbers and they will fail. A single Cat or Ellie charging head-on into a group of enemy units does not exactly instill fear and disruption. But a wall of flesh and steel bearing down on enemy lines and striking at full charge, will likely win the battle for you right then and there.

I'll get down off of my soapbox now

[williamsiddell]

phalanx units not in phalanx don't get the bonus vs cav, right?

There seem to be lots of things about this game that are not fully known, mostly I think because much of how the AI behaves is not open to plebs like us. Two examples - ten years on and I still can't get a definitive answer about rebel spawning and I have no idea of how Man of the Hour is decided. The best you can do is run little tests if you come across possible issues like that to satisfy yourself.

I'll get down off of my soapbox now

Too late! Those things with big ears? I am now willing to admit I was talking about elephants. It's true the elephants had routed and not yet gone amok (usually only a matter of time though). I've only just discovered you can kill them off when they do.

A single...Ellie

My understanding is even if only one of a group of elephants is surrounded the whole lot can amok.

Finally, i think they did a good job with the AI considering how old the game is (though I doubt if modern AI is much better), but I only rate it as maybe as clever as a crow.

RTW2 up to patch 14?

VB - I know you're interested in history. Have you seen the reports of a large tomb that's just been found in Macedonia from about the time covered by this game?

[williamsiddell]

My final word (mainly because I have no elephants left). I had built another War Elephant in Antioch before the debacle at Ancyra so I sent it south against Egypt. A big battle outside Palmyra. This time I kept the ellies wide attacking one wing with support from 2 cats and 3 gens. It was doing well having trampled several units and I was arranging to flatten a routing unit with my generals when I spotted the red flag in the view. They still had 42 left but had gone amok. I used my new found ability to end them - only just in time as they were turning toward my generals. I couldn't see anything obvious to cause the amok so I came to the conclusion that a nearby Nubian phalanx had released some mice. Interestingly after the battle there were still 15 elephants left. How they survived a spike in the brain is beyond me, suffice to say I think they'll be worse than ever. (still not seen ellies that didn't go amok)