Refuse to use bribes in RTW

[Spartiate]

Is anyone else finding that it is entirely too easy to bribe enemy armies when led by Captains and as a result the campaign is just too damn easy.I have started playing now with a strict rule of no bribery and i am enjoying the game much more as a result.Mind you i have always played this way in STW and MTW as well.In RTW i keep an assassin close by most armies as well and any Emissary who even glances in their direction gets a club on the back of his noggin.

[Doug-Thompson]

You may well have a point here. As I described on a similar thread, I wiped out the Pontus faction using mostly bribes and mercenaries.

Now the reforms of Marius have kicked in, and I've got a room full of dinarii. I'll have to see what civil war is like, but the Brutii looks unstoppable at this point.

On the other hand, I look forward to playing this game with the "poor" factions like the Parthians.

[Red Harvest]

I don't even trust family members. They all get to travel around now with a spy or diplomat in their entourage (usually diplomat since they seem to have longer movement range.) All of my settlements keep spies and/or diplomats in them to avoid losing to bribes.

[NagatsukaShumi]

I'm a serial briber I'm afraid. (Atleast, when it comes to massive armies)

Although, I do find that this tactic isn't viable for every faction. I've only been able to bribe away my problems as the Ptolemy Aegyptians and the Seleucid Empire as they hold some VERY weatlhy provinces (I'm currently in the 200,000's whilst also buying units and buildings every turn as the Seleucids) and maybe it is the cowards way out, but I see as diplomatic genius, bribe away my foes until I am able to atleast put up a fight against them rather than let them march on my cities and utlimately crush me like a little bug because I can't mass the manpower required to put up a decent fight, it seems realistic to me to be honest.

But then again, I could easily bribe every army on the map within a few turns and just walk across everybody which I do see as unfair really, bribes need to atleast be made easier, sure they sometimes ask for a bundle but if your rich it means nothing what-so-ever, should make bribery alot harder to accomplish because I've got diplomats who have just been "built" who can bribe huge armies, the experience of diplomats seemingly mean nothing when it comes to bribes.

Ah well, off to spill my coffers into the weak again......

[Tamur]

Agreed here as well. I can bribe a ten-unit rebel army who are disrupting trade for 2700 denarii. With 134.000 in the bank, it's negligible. Also, with my 10-influence diplomats, I can bribe almost any family member of any faction it seems. Couple that with an economy that produces 40k denarii per turn, and I have in two experienced diplomats an unstoppable faction crusher.

I absolutely adore the new diplomatic engine, but when you can use a single tool to come close to winning the game, you know it's too much. If we could bribe the peasants in cities so they don't revolt, we'd have a game-winning unit.

Influence needs to be knocked down a bit when bribing, and ALWAYS have a 5% possibility that you'll get a refusal. That may be in the game, but I just got done with a string of 27 bribes and had zero refusals using a seven-influence diplomat (well, he started at 7, ended at 10).

[Doug-Thompson]

I don't recall ever having a bribe refused. They always name their price and I've frequently refused it, but there's always a price.

[Longasc]

I am no 1/10 as rich as the Brutii, but I can bribe whole Armies per turn, with just 12.000 Denarii at the start...

Too easy, indeed.

[Basileus]

I had over 1mil with the greeks and evry army that came near my provinces i bribed heh, right now i dont bribe faction armys only rebels.

[Tricky Lady]

When I just conquered Massilia and had my main army still stationed in the city, the Gauls layed siege to the settlement with a full stack army. As I felt rich enough, I decided to bribe them. It costed me 10500 denarii (treasury was 12000) and after that I had some troubles getting my economy back on track again.

But at least it's given me a new cool family member with black signs on his cheeks

[Hamburglar]

I've never bribed anyone. Just seems kind of cheesy. I occasionally did it with rebels in MTW but in RTW I never seem to even have a diplomat around. I only have 2 or 3 just to bounce around and ask for ceasefires and trade rights.

If bribing is as easy as it sounds I'll probably never do it because I think the campaign, at least as Julii, is easy enough.

[ChaosLord]

Bribing seems much too easy, even if you aren't gettin the units most of the time. It also seems silly that the army just dissapears, a sucessfully bribed army should be directed away from your territory/its previous target. Not just up and disperse into the land. And has anyone else noticed the AI valueing its maps more the its men? I was told I needed 30k to bribe a large army to disperse, get that factions family member and take control of the city. I was told a map would cost me 60k.

[ICantSpellDawg]

you peopel may say im a horrible cheater, but i modded the game to give me 9999999 denarii at the start of the julii game

i have like 40 "family members" now and it rules
many in baby production


total cheater, i know - but its fun

[Oaty]

Well for me the Gauls always turned me down from a bribe and yet the gauls did bribe one of my garrisons.

[Quietus]

As Julii, I had to bribe a the main Carthagian army. I got swiped 14000+ denari! I had over over 100000+ denari at that time so it wasn't cripplingly too much - or else my expedition in North Africa would have been moot with that army eventually going after Caralis too.

Right now I have 500000+ denari, yet I don't bribe because 1) It is way too expensive and 2)I have trust in the new Roman Army. Although I admit, I'm scared of the veteran stack of Dacian Falxmen and other uber units (along with a 6-7 star general commanding them).

I'm pussyfooting around taking out the smaller army and towns around their Capital. I have to be quick since the Brutii has a lot of stacks just south around the corner. And good news, I think the stack left the capital to face the Brutii.

[Bob the Insane]

I am another serial briber I am afraid...

It seems fair enough for rebels and such like to be sent on their way with a pocket full of cash..

Perhaps the faction leader and possibly the diplomat in question should start pinking up some negative VnVs if they bribe all the time that make bribe more expensive (you are seen as an easy touch) for example...

Question: Does having a spy, assassin and/or diplomat along increase a unit's loyalty???

Note that the AI will try to bribe away your units sometimes too, but I have not lost any family members yet..

Also Faction Leaders and Faction Heirs appear to be unbribable so it is worth placing them with important armies...

[Spartiate]

I think Chaoslord came the closest to the solution i would personnally like to see to the bribery issue in these games.Instead of bribing them to join you,they should be bribed to get their army away from your cities for say 10 turns.The general in question should then suffer some sort of loyalty penalty to his faction with the chance of turning rebel maybe.I just feel bribing is too easy in the TW series and a new approach is needed to it.
Nuff Said.

[Doug-Thompson]

I wonder if bribing brigands encourages more brigands.

[Lord Ovaat]

Haven't used bribes yet in RTW, and seldom ever used them in MTW. Bribery wasn't that easy, just as it isn't now. Besides, I prefer building quality troops and thrashing them soundly. "Off with their heads!" Gawd, but I love the sound of severed limbs dropping to the ground.

Uummm. That might be a character defect, huh?

[Mr. Juice]

Bribing didn't sound so evil to me when my family members weren't making any babies, and the enemy family member was just standing there....