Quote Originally Posted by Empirate
Besides, isn't facing powerful Romans the point of playing a barbarian game?
So true. I just started playing the game (skipped the roman campaign altogether and began immediately with Britain as that was my favorite Medieval TW faction). The first time I met Rome on the field I was nervous prior to the battle, and my heart absolutely sank to my feet once I entered the battlemap and saw them, an entire stack, in their ordered rows before my uncouth barbarian horde.

I littered the field with Romans that day. I think I lost 60 men compared to their 900+.

Their Aux-Archers fell to my Light Charriots. As Rome was defending (I was sallying from a besieged fort), they awaited my attack. I drew their archers out with my charriots, who ran circles in front of them, dodging arrows, while pelting with a barrage of my own. The archers fell back and my two units of light charriots turned to weakening a weaker force in their center. When my troops advanced, I was able to flank certain positions in their front line. After a brief skirmish, the Romans broke and ran; my light and heavy charriots kept them running, those who survived.

Everytime I've faced them since then, I've used my charriots to weaken their missiles, and it hasn't failed.

I've figured out the Romans. Only things I'm worried about now are elephants and the cavalry-based armies of the east.