Roman: Brutii

[frogbeastegg]

Guide

[Doug-Thompson]

The Brutii Blitz

Your goal is to conquer Greece. Therefore, your enemies are the Greek cities and Macedon.

Take everything that isn't nailed down or can be pryed loose and attack Apollonia immediately. This definitely includes your spy, your diplomat and your very best general. The rebel town is just across the straits and the Senate should give you the town as a mission objective anyway.

You will have to leave some garrison troops in Italy, of course, but keep it to a minimum. None of the other Roman factions want to start a civil war yet.

Take the Greek city of Thermon just south and east of Apollonia. When you can, take troops and build a fort at the mountain pass just north and east of Apollonia. The correct fort site will be one-turn's march for a town guard unit. Once it's built, a couple of town guards will be enough to convince the Macedonians not to break through -- if you keep them busy elsewhere.

At some point early in the game, the Senate will give you a mission to take a Carthaginian town in Sicily. Take the mission and capture the town with new troops recruited in Italy, but then massacre the inhabitants and destroy every building you can. Then put your troops back on the boats and sail them back to the real war in Greece.

I don't recommend barbarity as a rule, but this is a case of necessity. The last thing you want to do this early in the game is tie down a large garrison in a town that's in the Scipii zone of control and is just going to get you into a running fight with the Carthiginians and their navy. Do the job and get out. Furthermore, the complete looting of the town will make you very rich in early game terms. This is a very important factor. It gives you a big head start and is almost necessary to successfully fight the relatively powerful Greeks and Macedonians.

Now that the "Sicilian expedition" is over and the troops are in Greece, drive on the Macedonian town of Larissa. You have now split the Macedonians into Athens and Corinth in the south and Thessalonica in the north. Keep attacking the Macedonian armies, beating them in detail and inflicting losses while rebuilding your units every turn in Larissa.

In army jargon, you are using "interior lines" to inflict a "favorable rate of attrition" on the Macedonians by beating their little armies with your one big, army led by your best general. Also, keep pouring garrison troops out of little Apollonia. You'll need them.

When the Macedonians are weak enough, take Corinth and Athens from them. Taking Corinth will give you the Zeus wonder in Greece and some nice prestige.

Beware the Greeks who are left in Sparta. Pound them down with attrition tactics, rebuilding in Corinth and preventing revolts in Corinth and Athens with all those garrison troops from Apollonia. Take Sparta.

Now you're ready for the endgame in Greece. Force the Macedonians out of the north end of the Larissa valley. You may want to build a fort at the north end to hem the Macedonians in Thessalonica before your final push. When you're ready, take Thessalonica and then the town north of there. Any Macedonians who are left will be some fragment at an overseas colony somewhere.

Congratulations; Greece is rich, populous and the source of endless wealth and good troops. Build highways and a navy, and everything else. Build lots of "happy buildings" too. Collesiums give you the option of yearly, monthly or daily games. Frequent games are very expensive but can save you from a revolt. Don't stop attacking, though. There are still more rich provinces to be had.

I like to finish wars that I start, so I always go for the Greek provinces just across the Aegean Sea on the west coast of Asia Minor. There are no less than three wonders there (including the one at Rhodes). Capturing them will greatly enhance your prestige.

Once again, be sure to take a diplomat. Bribery is very helpful. Captains in particular are cheap to bribe. The Greeks are on their last legs by now, allowing you to pick up some family members with their small remnant armies that are cheap to bribe.

Where you go from there is up to you.

[Lonewarrior]

hmmm yes its all so clear now

[Doug-Thompson]

Thanks, Lonewarrior.

[Kaiser of Arabia]

DONT OVEREXTEND YOURSELF BECAUSE OF THE SENATE
I made that mistake (attack Carthage blah blah blah) and I went from a 30000 tresury to the negatives.

[Tzar Kaloyan]

There is an alternative path on Lilybaeum. This is what I did:

1) When the Senate gives you the mission, act quickly -- otherwise Scipii will get there first.

2) Take the city -- fairly easy battle if you brought your Greek army (which is what I did).

3) Enslave the population -- gives you ~2,200 people to distribute to your 3 other settlements as well as ~400 dinarii. This is MUCH better than killing the population over the long term -- i.e. the added people will help your cities reach the next level faster and your tax income will be larger EVERY turn from now on.

4) Sell ALL the sellable building in Lilybaeum and abandon the city. This gave me another ~900 dinarii.

5) When (and if) the Senate gives you the mission to blokade Carthage, go do that (defeat the closest two fleets, but stay away from their large fleet to the west -- it is 3.5 times larger than yours!)

6) On the way back, stop at Lilybaeum and repeat steps 2-4. This gave me another ~1,100 people and ~900 dinarii, plus I achieved a Heroic victory against the storms of peasants (very cool for your general and unit experience).

Overall, the little Sicilian adventure was a nice and very profitable diversion!

Playing on vhard/vhard.

[Doug-Thompson]

There is an alternative path on Lilybaeum. This is what I did:

1) When the Senate gives you the mission, act quickly -- otherwise Scipii will get there first.

2) Take the city -- fairly easy battle if you brought your Greek army (which is what I did).

3) Enslave the population -- gives you ~2,200 people to distribute to your 3 other settlements as well as ~400 dinarii. This is MUCH better than killing the population over the long term -- i.e. the added people will help your cities reach the next level faster and your tax income will be larger EVERY turn from now on.

4) Sell ALL the sellable building in Lilybaeum and abandon the city. This gave me another ~900 dinarii.

5) When (and if) the Senate gives you the mission to blokade Carthage, go do that (defeat the closest two fleets, but stay away from their large fleet to the west -- it is 3.5 times larger than yours!)

6) On the way back, stop at Lilybaeum and repeat steps 2-4. This gave me another ~1,100 people and ~900 dinarii, plus I achieved a Heroic victory against the storms of peasants (very cool for your general and unit experience).

Overall, the little Sicilian adventure was a nice and very profitable diversion!

Playing on vhard/vhard.

Interesting variation, Tzar, although I generally prefer cash early in the game. You may not get a chance to come back, either, which means you leave Lilybaeum as easy prey for a competing faction. Still, it's an intriguing plan.

[Tzar Kaloyan]

I agree -- strategy should be specific to one's particular position. In my case, I saw that had I killed the population, I would have earned ~3,600 dinarii. Enslaving and selling brought in ~1,300 immediately, but the additional ~2,200 people increased my income ~500 a turn. The long-term benefits are that both my Italian cities crossed the 6k population mark many turns before they otherwise would have, thus giving me a tremendous head-start.

The fact that next turn after my conquest and abandonment the Senate gave me the port blockade of Carthage as a mission and I got to re-conquer Lilybaeum was just a gravy

Here are a few things I learned from continuing to play this campaign (and having tremendous fun doing it, btw):

1) When you seige, don't use ladders if there is an enemy unit on the wall. The Greeks did that against me and lost 120 men (armoured hoplites, I believe) climbing on two ladders. My losses ... whopping 5 men (hastatis)!

2) War dogs are great units to flank with, as well as to pursue rioters. Just keep them away from heavy cavalry and make sure they don't get Winded -- if they do, they will become uncontrollable and will start attacking all enemy units around them.

3) Don't fight the Greeks with Town Watch, unless you have the numerical superiority. Sure, if you can flank their Hoplites with 3 of your town watch spearmen, then you are safe. Anything less and the hoplites will tear them apart.

4) When you attack a large city with stone walls, don't hang around the gate too long! Ask the Greeks who charged Corinth. My understrength unit of Hoplites of 34 men, parked right after the gate stopped the Greeks at the gate and held them enough time for the towers to do extensive damage (and the oil too ) It was pretty sad. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end.

5) When you take Corinth, be prepared to go to war against all of Greece. Forget about 'supremacy in the sea' -- at least with me, the Greeks mopped my 14-ship navy pretty quickly with stacks of 20-ship navies. It was a payback for their losses on land

[Doug-Thompson]

I agree -- strategy should be specific to one's particular position. In my case, I saw that had I killed the population, I would have earned ~3,600 dinarii. Enslaving and selling brought in ~1,300 immediately, but the additional ~2,200 people increased my income ~500 a turn. The long-term benefits are that both my Italian cities crossed the 6k population mark many turns before they otherwise would have, thus giving me a tremendous head-start.

Hmmm. The numbers do appear to be on your side.

The fact that next turn after my conquest and abandonment the Senate gave me the port blockade of Carthage as a mission and I got to re-conquer Lilybaeum was just a gravy

I'd rather be lucky than good, but I prefer being good and lucky.

... War dogs are great units to flank with, as well as to pursue rioters. Just keep them away from heavy cavalry and make sure they don't get Winded -- if they do, they will become uncontrollable and will start attacking all enemy units around them.

Unless I am mistaken, war dogs main purpose in real life was to pursue routers.

========

The other good tactics you describe are helpful in making the conquest of Greece more effective and less costly. Now, on to the very pleasant topic of what to do with Greece once you have it.

First off, use the Brutii faction's "Temple of Mars" boosts, of course.

Second, I've found that the combination of colesseums for loyalty, taxes for population control and money, peasants for use as settlers and upgraded shipyards for trade and movement to be a very potent one.

You can march across Asia Minor, wiping out the poplations, and use peasant units from Greece to garrison them. Disband the peasants and -- poof -- instant new citizens.

Squalor in the Greek cities is reduced. Population in the growing East booms, added to by your loyal transplanted peasants. Naval superiority and rich trade is assured by your multiple Greek shipyards.

Wait for the Reform of Marius, and then kick everybody's rear.

I didn't go to war with Thrace after conquering Macedonian. I'm pretty sure by now that was a mistake. I'd have an almost-complete land bridge to Asia Minor for my settlers if I had Byzantium.

The Brutii have a huge head start in their ability to conquer all of civilized Greece before the other Roman factions get a chance.

[Tzar Kaloyan]

DT: "Unless I am mistaken, war dogs main purpose in real life was to pursue routers."

I am not sure about the historical usage of dogs. After some more experience with them, though, I see that I have used the war dogs unit incorrectly so far! What I see on the map are a bunch of dogs running for the enemy and getting slaughtered. To save them, I was being forced to rush my entire army into a rapid attack, thus incurring extra casulties. Thus, I felt incredibly stupid when I finally realized what is going on! Turns out that the war dogs unit is made of handlers and dogs. The dogs themselves are expandable -- i.e. think of them as the limited number of arrows or javelins that the missile troops have. As long as the handlers survive, they will get more dogs for the next battle. My error was that when I see the dogs running around, I start trying to control the unit, thus getting the handlers in trouble -- i.e. killed And since the war dog unit costs a very high 680 dinarii, you can imagine my unhappiness ... I wish there was a good explanation somewhere of the war dogs unit.

I like your description of the peasant strategy! Wil have to try it -- the Greek cities are very hard to control and tie up large garissons to keep the peace.

[TinCow]

I wish there was a good explanation somewhere of the war dogs unit.

Use the wardogs as a one-shot attack. Hold them behind your main infantry line and then send them in just before the initial clash. After your handlers have released the dogs, pull the handlers back and keep them safe, do not use them to attack anything. The dogs will keep killing and attacking until the battle is over or they are all dead. You cannot control them once they are released, but they'll go after anything they see.

I always try to have 2 wardog units in my main armies. They are extremely useful in breaking up enemy lines when combined with a pilum volley. They also prevent many casualties to your men from the initial clash of arms and can be very useful at disposing of routing enemies.

[Doug-Thompson]

I like your description of the peasant strategy! Wil have to try it -- the Greek cities are very hard to control and tie up large garissons to keep the peace.

It's the cure. It's especially effective on large unit size and, presumably, even better on huge.

Any unit will reduce population, but peasants reduce population by 120 for $100 dinarii in initial cost and $100d for upkeep. That makes peasants dirt chip for moving population around.

I like to use Sparta as the gathering place for "settler" going overseas. Although a land bridge would be nice, Sparta is much harder to blockade that Athens. Thessolonica is even easier to blockade.

By the way, did I mention that the fact that NEUTRAL ships block your path really chafes me?

Trouble is, Sparta takes two turns to get all the way across to Asia Minor and unload. It's safe, though. The fleets can sail along the coast of Crete.

I'll have to see if Larissa is better placed. If it can make the trip in one jump and isn't easily blockaded, that may be the best choice.

[Inuyasha12]

First off, use the Brutii faction's "Temple of Mars" boosts, of course.

[Tzar Kaloyan]

Thanks Tim, excellent explanation on using war dogs!

[Doug-Thompson]

WARNING!: If you are not a Brutii fan, you're about to be depressed.

You have been warned.


Temple of Mars: +1 Valor to all units produced in that town. This includes peasants and, I believe, ships.

Large Temple of Mars: +2 Valor

Awesome Temple of Mars: +3 Valor.

Greek cities are the greatest center of population and wealth on the map with the possible exception of Egypt and the rest in that corner. Therefore, you have the money and city-size to build awesome temples, and have a bunch of them in one compact mass that happens to be one very short boat trip from Italy.

My search for a favorite Roman faction was, well, rather short.

(Note: Edited and corrected. Temple is needed, no shrine.)

[The_Emperor]

Now thats a pretty nifty temple bonus! I think i'll play them next, (after I conquer with the Greeks first)

[Lonewarrior]

Which way should I go, west into spanish territorry or up north?

[Doug-Thompson]

After taking Greece? East. Get ready for the war with Egypt.

[Lonewarrior]

Yes I was planing on doing that

[Doug-Thompson]

If the reforms of Marius haven't kicked in yet, you may want to wait for that before killing the Egyptians.

Most important, though, build up the navy. Egypt has very rich trade but only a few ports. Blockade them and the Egyptians are in trouble.

[Lonewarrior]

Yes thanks Doug

[vodkafire]

Also, temple of Juno halves culture penalty! Too bad the Brutii doesn't have a good naval temple, like Neptune, but I guess Mars makes up for it. The Julii seem to have the weakest temples, especially since bacchus causes drinking traits in your governors...

[Doug-Thompson]

Also, temple of Juno halves culture penalty!

Wow. I overlooked that one.

Better and better.

[Lonewarrior]

Man my income keeps going down??? even after I have build great roads for trade.

[Doug-Thompson]

Man my income keeps going down??? even after I have build great roads for trade.

I ran into a money crunch before a successful war with Egypt. Now, no problem.

Egypt is the promised land. Loot and then rich trade galore.

Also, the Hanging Gardens wonder in Babylon increases farm income in all provinces by about 20 percent, I think. That was very useful.

[Inuyasha12]

I think i can now safely say the brutii are my favorite roman faction.
Great temple bonuses, access to the rich greek lands and later egypt. A very comfortable position to launch attacks europe and the balkans too!!

Go brutti

P.S. Is there a guide somewhere to all the temple bonuses.

[Sinner]

P.S. Is there a guide somewhere to all the temple bonuses.

Funny you should mention that, but I'm halfway through writing one... aiming to finish it in the next day or two.

[Lonewarrior]

I ran into a money crunch before a successful war with Egypt. Now, no problem.

Egypt is the promised land. Loot and then rich trade galore.

Also, the Hanging Gardens wonder in Babylon increases farm income in all provinces by about 20 percent, I think. That was very useful.

Thanks Doug

[AssasinsShadow]

Brutii do have a great start position. I have over 400k and I'm not even to Egypt yet (In fact, I'm still dealing with the annoying Pontuns(sp?)). Would have taken over faster, but after aquiring half of Turkey and finally eliminating the Macedonians, the Senate attacked me. So I took Capua from the Scipii and called it a day.

[Tzar Kaloyan]

The Egyptians are tough. I made a strategic error to not take the Greeks out early. Instead, I went to Africa, took the two rebel towns there and got myself attacked by Egypt. Had to ask for peace for 5 turns before I could bring in a decent size army for a show-down. Fun and hard battles followed -- the Egyptians have so much cavalry! And those chariots seem to plow right through my legions ... I finally prevailed and repulsed their attack, but taking them down will be hard -- those buggers are very rich.

One easy front has been the north for me. I sent an 8-star general that way with a decent army. Then I used the following strategy:

1) Take a town, leave your army in, take the general for a walk.

2) Build temple of Juno

3) Move about your new domain, setting towers at strategic locations

4) See where the next rebel province is (generally light brown border)

5) Raise a mercenary army, join them with whatever units you can spare from the town (given that public order stays decent)

6) Move to the next town.

Using this simple strategy, I went all the way to the North Edge.

Be careful with Dacians. They have some phalx infantry that will totally ruin your day and plenty of archers. Their faction leader is an 8-star general -- hardly an easy beating.

One thing that is totally bugging me is how you guys deal with squalor?!? I took Siracuse early on and have had nothing but trouble with the city -- it grows fast, it is totally unprofitable and seems completely overtaken by squalor! Trade isn't good there either ... Athens seems to be the same bad deal, just slightly better.