Gaul

[Revenant69]

Well, I just finished my first Gaul campaign on H/H. It is the year 247 BC and all my enemies, well except Brutii who are reduced to one settlement, are crushed and lie six feet under.
FACTIONS ERADICATED: Spain, Britain, Germania, Julii, Scipii, SPQR, Macedon.
ALLIES: Dacia, Carthage

No, I'm not an agressive player, it's just that Gaul gets attacked by all his neighbours pretty much from the getgo. I'll try not to repeat the advice that was given by the previous posters. I'll just say that you need to use the strengths of Gallic armies (war cry, druid chant, advantage during the winter, forest advantage, amazing generals) and avoid their weaknesses (some poor provinces, lack of good cavalry support - although Barbarian Noble Cavalry does a decent job, especially after being trained in a city with a Sacred Circle of Epona).

All in all, I must say that, after unifying my lands, I got attacked by Spanish, British and Julii off the bat. Fight on three fronts was difficult, however, luckily the Germans did not attack me yet. British were pushed off the continent and then Vindex with half a stack was sent to conquer England, after which he became known as Vindex the Conqueror. Well, at the end of the game I had about 4 Conquerors, one of them being Conan the Conqueror

The war with Spain was the war of attrition - I couldn't afford to send a lot of troops to Spain as other theaters of war were more important. After being pushed off the continent, British were pushovers. Julii were promptly defeated after a few unsuccessful attacks on the bridges in northern italy near Patavium and Mediolanium. At this point Germania entered the war. Their Spear Warbands are a nightmare when all you have is swordsmen, skirmishers and warbands. However, it was a good practice in defeating the phalanx-like armies. I must say that Germans took a chunk out of me, kill ratios of 2 enemies for every one of my soldier were not uncommon, whereas against other factions my kill ratios are usually 5 - 10 to 1.

After I was able to train the Chosen Swordsmen, Forester Warbands, Barbarian Nobles - the game became easier. The good thing with Gaul is that you hit the top of the tech tree pretty soon, so settlement management becomes really easy. The usual late period army consisted of 6-8 Forester Warbands, 6 - 8 Chosen Swordsmen, 1 General and the rest - Barbarian Noble Cavalry.

All that practice against the Germans paid off when fighting the Macedonian phalangites. MAcedonians wiped out Thracians and were sitting with 7 or 8 stacks on my now expanded border. I called it the "Black Plague". Took me lots of turns to crush these armies - my supply lines were overextended as most troop production was concentrated in Italy.

CONCLUSION: A very fun and challenging faction to play. A definite must try for someone who hasn't played a Barbarian faction.

[Ozzman1O1]

y ou guys got it all wrong,take britain!send every armie to briatan,whipp there buts!then head south to rome and sicily,and if your crazy,then germany.

[Ozzman1O1]

im having trouble playing as gaul,julii and germania have full bannered armies and attacking samarobriva and massilia,so i think im going to have to wait on invading italy.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

I've actually favored a two-prong "retreat" as Gaul. Conquer Spain and defend the Pyrenees (nice narrow front) and conquer the UK (which never seems to get counter-invaded. Loss of original provinces is not too bad.

Eventually, the Jollies and Krauts begin to tangle, and then you can push back.

I used to love it when you ended up with a province to defend in Asia Minor in some games -- always a hoot!

[Ozzman1O1]

english please

[Ozzman1O1]

dude im telling you,you need to understand me,if you just do what i did,erase rome and sicily,my bad,then take spain,sail to caralis,capua,then at last...mighty rome,thats how you win as gauls

[silverhand]

in my gaul campaign the first move is to destroy the julii as fast as you can, and then reunite your land. Create a solid fortress in center of spain. After you can train chosen swordsman head to rome and kill all those old bitches
dont worry about britons and germans they need time to train forces to crush you. Just focus on your southeast borders. after julii destroyed theres no threat in that regions and you can concentrate to dominate spain or that big island in north. i crushed julii in 4 turn just with two army full of warbands. i play on vh/h.

[Ozzman1O1]

i think repelling german invaders is esseintal to a gallic victory

[Morgoth-NL]

hello i am new here
i play a gaul campaign and i took italy but the rest of france is taken by the britons what can i do now shall i fight against the britons or shall i take greece

[Abokasee]

hello i am new here
i play a gaul campaign and i took italy but the rest of france is taken by the britons what can i do now shall i fight against the britons or shall i take greece

Booting the Britons off we be good, you need that money for a war with factions like greece, they all use phalanx, you don't, so Strongly suggest you take out the britons, and then germany, dacia, basically take out all the other barabarian factions, then start thundering down on thrace, then macedonia or Greeks (sometimes the greeks will do better than macedonia and elimate them, or the other way round) then smash out pontus, if Selucid hasnt already, once there out, it shouldnt be too dificult, with the exception of egpyt who you may want to get rid for certain, armenia won't be too hard, it should be easy from then on.

[Ozzman1O1]

im sorry to burst bubbles but i couldnt help point out that last post from the guy in the spartan avatar(sorry i didnt read your name) played as gaul(ancient france) and called gaul france.lol and confused

[mrdun]

hello i am new here
i play a gaul campaign and i took italy but the rest of france is taken by the britons what can i do now shall i fight against the britons or shall i take greece

im sorry to burst bubbles but i couldnt help point out that last post from the guy in the spartan avatar(sorry i didnt read your name) played as gaul(ancient france) and called gaul france.lol and confused

???

[Morgoth-NL]

Booting the Britons off we be good, you need that money for a war with factions like greece, they all use phalanx, you don't, so Strongly suggest you take out the britons, and then germany, dacia, basically take out all the other barabarian factions, then start thundering down on thrace, then macedonia or Greeks (sometimes the greeks will do better than macedonia and elimate them, or the other way round) then smash out pontus, if Selucid hasnt already, once there out, it shouldnt be too dificult, with the exception of egpyt who you may want to get rid for certain, armenia won't be too hard, it should be easy from then on.

thanks man i shall take the britons but i have much money because i take italy

ozzman i am sorry but i don't know what you try to say

[Caius]

thanks man i shall take the britons but i have much money because i take italy

Dont let the Greeks grow. Just take sure that you fight against both of them. Brittons are esential, because they will be good and powerful some day, and that will be a pain in your *insertpartofyourbody*

[Morgoth-NL]

ok but the only roman famaly who is alive is brutii and they are in greece so i think greece will soon be gone

[Ozzman1O1]

OK,i think after taking briton you should take spain,there units are defenslis against flaming arrows,and live in a very wealthy country,(whas that too hard to understand!)

[Morgoth-NL]

im sorry to burst bubbles but i couldnt help point out that last post from the guy in the spartan avatar(sorry i didnt read your name) played as gaul(ancient france) and called gaul france.lol and confused

no i mean this

[Ozzman1O1]

now im confused.....

[mrdun]

Ok.. Ozzman said that "Spartan Guy" said "Ancient France" not "Gaul" but Ozzman is wrong.

Let us get back on the topic of Gauls... thankyou.

[Ozzman1O1]

whatever,once you take rome,better yet before....you sould have a full bannerd army in capua(the capuans will attack rome if the senate loses it)I suggest using the family member eperodix to attack capua....hes a skilled roman turncoat,so oneless you whant to spend millions of denaria to take a city that you will lose....take capua first or instantly after rome.

[Shieldmaiden]

the capuans will attack rome if the senate loses it

Yes, assuming you've destroyed the Julii getting to Rome, you'll still have the Scipii in Capua and the Brutii (a little later usually) to worry about. This is why you should bring reinforcements to repelish your Rome siege loses.

I suggest using the family member eperodix to attack capua....hes a skilled roman turncoat,so oneless you whant to spend millions of denaria to take a city that you will lose

Lose? Um... a Roman Turncoat (+1 bonus to fighting Romans) is just a useful Ancillary. You'll find Ancilliaries are determined by what your General goes through and what you build, etc. If you lose because of a +1 bonus or lack of, your doing it wrong.

I find open Battles easier than city Battles using Gauls (and other Barbs), let the Romans sally forth and crush 'em

[Ozzman1O1]

When invading italy one thing you should do is never do is head into sicily and attack carthage,you should sail to greece instead and take sparta,with a character that has good TRAITS

[Seamus Fermanagh]

When invading italy one thing you should do is never do is head into sicily and attack carthage,you should sail to greece instead and take sparta,with a character that has good TRAITS

In general, Greece is more lucrative than Sicily, but after swallowing Italy, your money problems are probably over anyway.

Part of the directional decision depends on who's still playing. Greece and Macedon, in particular, are tough for a barbarian force to attack well. The walls of spears can give you fits unless you have lots of javelin troops. Remember, you don't really have much in the way of heavy cavalry, and lights do not fare well against spears even on the flank.

[Ozzman1O1]

well...im a specialist on attacking phalanxes,i have a lot of costum battles when i experiance how to kill them,buy mercinaries.....duh...

[Shieldmaiden]

In general, Greece is more lucrative than Sicily, but after swallowing Italy, your money problems are probably over anyway.

Part of the directional decision depends on who's still playing. Greece and Macedon, in particular, are tough for a barbarian force to attack well. The walls of spears can give you fits unless you have lots of javelin troops. Remember, you don't really have much in the way of heavy cavalry, and lights do not fare well against spears even on the flank.

I'd take Sicily before going East, simply due to it (usually) being Scipii controlled. Never let an enemy behind you!

[Ozzman1O1]

messana is fine,what i meant was dont wage war on carthage,if you destroy the scipii,carthage will become richer by invading spain,and that includes numantia!

[gardibolt]

By the time you're hitting the phalanx troops of Greece/Macedon, you should have control of Rome---which means Forester Warbands, which means pincushioned phalanx. Nothing like targets that intentionally move as slowly as possible.

[Ozzman1O1]

However,a few elephants from the south can take care of some foresters,but you shouldint have to worry about that

[gardibolt]

The range on foresters is enough that the elephants should be out of control long before they hit the Gallic lines.

[Vitellus]

Hm, just started a Gallic campaign tonight and it's proving a wee bit tricky.

As per my usual procedure, I didna read any of the advice here before I went in, so I started completely cold. Dunno if any of the following advice is repetitive or not, but I warrant there's some new information here.

The Alps inconveniently divide your empire into two right off the bat. Even once Massilia and Lugdunum fall (took a bit later in my game than I expected), Mediolanium and Patavium are both essentially isolated from outside reinforcement. With this in mind, and the fact that I knew how much of a juggernaught Roman factions tend to be if they're given time to develop, I decided on an aggressive strategy.

First turn, I gathered all my forces in northern Italy and put them in striking range of Arretium. The forces in France were gathered into two armies (one from the two southern provinces, one from the northern). I meant to link those up to make assaults on the rebel provinces, but circumstance meant that was impossible for the first few years. In the meantime, I started training another army at Alesia and one in Patavium, to deal with the Britons and to serve as reinforcements for the coming war with the Julii.

That war went surprisingly well. The Romans took Segesta first turn, as usual, nicely exposing their capital to me. Gallic hordes swept down behind them and snatched Arretium from their over-large noses. The Julii field army scrambled to deal with this incursion, most of it bypassing Arretium to the north to bolster the defenses around Ariminium. The faction leader, however, remained at Segesta, so I dispatched part of the army to take it and kill him. This mission done, I hurried back to Arretium, my forward base, and rebuilt the army and bolstered it with some swordsmen.

A year or so later, I advanced against the main field army, and in a series of battles drove them into Ariminium. The siege commenced, I reluctant to assault due to the large number of family members in the city and my lack of spearmen - with a massive SPQR army less than a turn's march to the south I didn't want to deal with large numbers of heavy cavalry and get my army mauled. I delayed too long, hwoever, and a Scipii diplomat appeared, offering alliance. It'd be nice to quiet the Roman front due to developments elsewhere, so I agreed, ending the first Romano-Gallic war.

Other fronts were faring less well. In Numantia, the garrison devastated a large Spanish stack sent to sack it, whilst around Narbo Martius my southern field army relieved a Spanish siege of the town and destroyed that, before marching east, rendezvousing with the northern field army (which had taken Lugdunum), and storming Massilia. I then turned and began marching for Osca.

As I fought through the mountain passes, disaster struck. I had trained yet another army in Numantia (my 5th sizable force), and had just marched it out to take the westernmost Spanish provinces. The very turn I marched it out, Numantia was attakced by a massive Carthaginian army that used war elephants to batter down the gates. The two warbands and general inside were unable to stem the white advance, and all of a sudden my field army was outnumbered and stranded in enemy territory. I hastily withdrew to a river crossing and have destroyed several Spanish armies from this position.

I couldna send reinforcements to the area, hwoever, as the Germans had declared war and marched on Lugdunum. A moderate-strength field army at Alesia, of maybe halfa dozen warbands, 3 swordsmen, and 2 barbarian cavalry units, plus a general, had just been completed, however, so I swung down on the Krauts' rear and destroyed them. While I was away, however, a massive British stack descended on Alesia.

It was here that the defensive system I had concieved of some years before proved its worth. Strapped for cash, I simply kept a few warbands in each province as a garrison, hoping to use them to quickly concentrate in an emergency. That's exactly what happened as the British attacked. 3 warbands from Condate Redonum, plus 2 from Lugdunum, the small army that had beat the Germans, and the Alesian garrison were all within reinforcement range of each other within a turn of the British attack. I immediately attacked, despite being outnumbered, hoping to drive them away from my capital.

I'm quite proud of that battle. Due to a misclick, I wound up only controlling 3 warbands, with a host of AI reinforcements, against the entire British army. I managed to use those 3, however, with brilliant effect, defeating personally 8 enemy warbands, a skirmisher warband, a light chariot unit, and the warlord - over half the army. This was done by staying tightly together and lots of swift movement - flanking two or three enemy warbands at a time, fading back when my own flanks were threatened, and exploiting whatever openings appeared. By the time the British were fleeing over the border, over half my little army was dead, but the main force hadn't even suffered.

Oh, and in the meantime a second war broke out in Italy and I exterminated the Julii after one last great field battle (they had rebuilt their army in the peacetime). That's where I stopped for the night and swung over here.

So, learn what lessons you will from this tale. I'll let y'all knwo how the wars go - they've only just begun, after all! Still have 5 Roman cities, 3 Spanish, and the Carthaginian Empire to fight!