Scipii Campaign Strategy

**camulos** · 09-28-2004, 17:13

I've seen a lot of posts regarding the Julii family but none for the others.

So far in my Campaign I've taken all of Sicily and the 3 other Carthaginian regions. (Carthage, Thapsus and Palma)

Carthage was easier to conquer than i expected. They had a few elephant units that gave me problems but with my superior numbers was able to overwhelm them. They also had a strong navy which caught a few of my units transferring from Sicily to the mainland by surprise.

The problem I'm having is where to expand to next. I am allied with the Numidians and the Senate sends me a nasty note every time I try to chase down the few remaining Carthaginian armies that are hiding out in the Numidian's territory.

The Senate seems to be encouraging me to move the other direction towards the Greek Cities but I am reluctant to do so since there is currently a slugfest taking place between the Greeks, Macedonians and Brutii. I took Thermon earlier as part of a Senate mission but the Macedonians promptly spanked me, killing a family member in the process.

One suggestion I have for Scipii is to be careful who you place in Messana. I lost another family member here when the dang volcano next to it erupted. Luckily i had moved my faction leader to Syracuse a few turns earlier.

How are other people approaching the campaign with the Scipii?

**Orvis Tertia** · 09-28-2004, 18:01

One thing that you might try: If the Greek campaign is hot and heavy with the Brutii, you could keep an eye on it and have an army ready to take advantage of the situation. If the Brutii take a city and are unable to hold on to it, you could have an army ready to quickly re-take a weakened city after the Brutii get kicked out. Keep an army in reserve close enough to the Greek cities so that if you see a weak city that the Brutii have softened up, you could quickly jump in a fleet and grab all the glory for yourself.

**camulos** · 09-28-2004, 18:36

This may work but I am spread so thin with governors / generals that it will be difficult to maintain a foothold there. I have 2 that are whack jobs, had 2 die already and a few more not far behind. My faction leader is in his 60's and my top general in his 50's. I try to avoid using more than 1 general in my armies to avoid the suicide problem but I'm nervous about sending him out there and having him croak from old age.

I may take some time to build up my economy some, then build a force to launch from Palma against Spain. I have an up and coming General, started out as a 3 star commander, who seems ready to take over the role of "conquerer" for my faction.

As an interesting side note, I'm beginning to think there's something not quite right with my family. I have 2 loony governors who are now called Aulus the Mad and Flavius the Mad. Another family memeber, Lucius Scipio got married and immediately started reproducing but lacks somewhat in creativity. So far he has 2 sons who are both named Tertius Scipio.

**Orvis Tertia** · 09-28-2004, 19:42

That's pretty interesting about your family loonies. I'll bet you could do some internal maneuvering to get a new blood line in there. Maybe find a good enemy general that you could bribe. I'd be looking to change to an heir from a different bloodline as soon as possible. In case you missed it, it IS possible to change the heir to the throne. Switch it to a stronger heir and then ride you faction leader to a noble death!

**camulos** · 09-28-2004, 19:48

Originally Posted by Orvis Tertia

That's pretty interesting about your family loonies. I'll bet you could do some internal maneuvering to get a new blood line in there. Maybe find a good enemy general that you could bribe. I'd be looking to change to an heir from a different bloodline as soon as possible. In case you missed it, it IS possible to change the heir to the throne. Switch it to a stronger heir and then ride you faction leader to a noble death!

Exactly what I'm doing. I had an excellent general marry into the family and have him in line as the heir. He had decent command already and i've been building up his management and influence by having him govern Carthage.

It's more the shortage of quality I'm worried about. Half my family is old and the other half is loony.

**desdichado** · 09-28-2004, 23:15

Camulos,

i have done similar to you except instead of Palma I have taken the town lower down (forget name) on the way to Egypt. I am planning to use this as a base for operations against the Egyptians - they seem to grow very quickly and I want to hit them a few licks as they say before they do to me.

Numidians are allied to me so I've decided to play nice.

I was also surprised how easy Carthage fell but their navy has been casuing me no end of grief - huge experienced fleets have cost me a fortune in repairs!

I decided against attacking Spain as I would have to supply via sea and it would seem easy to get mixed up against the Gauls (who are also strong) and the remaining Carthaginian forces.

**Lemur** · 09-29-2004, 07:28

Between work and family, I'm only able to play a little per day. But all of that time has been spent as Scipii.

Taking Sicily is an obvious must. I even changed my capital to Syracruse so's my government would be closer to the action. Carthage gave me some rough dealing on the seas, but I took it out on their cities, and now Carthage is no more. The Numidians never bothered anybody, but that wouldn't save them. I took them immediately.

The last Carthiginian city gave me a foothold in Spain, so I mopped up the gauls there, and then positioned three armies to take out the Spanish cities simultaneously. Frankly, Spain's giant fleet made me wanna get them in one go, and not get my Roman booty handed to me in a protracted fight. Luckily I took out all the Spanish family in the first free-for-all, so their navy went *poof* and all I had to do was mop up rebels.

During all this I took a couple of Greek cities 'cause the weenies in the Senate said I had to. But for the most part I let the Brutii and the Greeks slug it out, just sending in assassins to take care of promising Brutii spawn.

Next the Egyptians fell under my baleful stare. They needed a taste of my wardogs. I trounced across North Africa, exterminating populations left and right, and eventually took Alexandria, Memphis and Thebes in short order. Then the Senate calls up, and they're like, "Hey man, go take Jerusalem," and I'm like, "Yo, Jerusalem doesn't really fit into my Grand Evil Design," and they're like, "You're too popular with the proles already; take Jerusalem or we're goone be rilly rilly mad ..."

So I get bullied into conquering Jerusalem, and then face simultaneous rebellions in Alexandria, Thebes and Memphis. And that's where I left it for the night. The scrappy little Egyptians have their main cities back, I don't have more than one proper army ready to go, and I haven't the foggiest of what to do about it.

Oh, and the Senate's sending me notes about "take those cities back!"

Wankers.

**desdichado** · 09-29-2004, 08:13

lovely

**Orvis Tertia** · 09-29-2004, 13:52

Originally Posted by Lemurmania

So I get bullied into conquering Jerusalem, and then face simultaneous rebellions in Alexandria, Thebes and Memphis. And that's where I left it for the night. The scrappy little Egyptians have their main cities back, I don't have more than one proper army ready to go, and I haven't the foggiest of what to do about it.

Oh, and the Senate's sending me notes about "take those cities back!"

Wankers.

If you have the cash, I'd be looking for a good enemy general or two to bribe, in the vicinity of Egypt.

**Doug-Thompson** · 09-29-2004, 15:07

I started playing the Scipii last night after seeing this thread.

That's some dilemma: Where do you go when Carthage falls?

I'm tempted to say, "Back to Greece." Why let the Brutii have all of it?

Egypt is too far and Spain is too poor.

**camulos** · 09-29-2004, 16:47

Originally Posted by Doug-Thompson

I started playing the Scipii last night after seeing this thread.

That's some dilemma: Where do you go when Carthage falls?

I'm tempted to say, "Back to Greece." Why let the Brutii have all of it?

Egypt is too far and Spain is too poor.

I've decided at this point Greece is the only logical choice. Spain is a 3 turn boat ride away from my major cities so anything i take out there will be seriously isolated. The Macedonians are all but wiped out and the Greeks and Brutii have been slugging it out enough that the Greek cities should be easy to take.

**Doug-Thompson** · 09-29-2004, 17:20

Originally Posted by camulos

I've decided at this point Greece is the only logical choice. Spain is a 3 turn boat ride away from my major cities so anything i take out there will be seriously isolated. The Macedonians are all but wiped out and the Greeks and Brutii have been slugging it out enough that the Greek cities should be easy to take.

The Scipii power base is Sicily, after all. So it looks pretty easy to go by sea from Syracuse to Sparta and possibly Athens too, if you take Carthage soon enough.

From there, I might let the Brutii and Macedonians kill each other while going by sea to Rhodes and the Greek provinces on Asia Minor: Lycia, Ionia and Phrygia.