Advice on Roman vs Roman tactics?

[econ21]

I've reached the point in my first imperial campaign (Julii, medium/medium) where I am thinking of starting a civil war. Has anyone got any tips on battlefield tactics?

As Julii, I am used to fighting barbarians and have relied on Rumsfeld-type lean armies of 4-5 heavy infantry, 3 archers, 2 cav, 2 dogs. The superiority of Roman infantry over unarmoured barbarians and the relatively modest size of AI barbarian stacks means that battles are rather unchallenging with friendly fire often the worst threat (shades of Rumsfeldesque combat here too!).

However, the other Roman factions have amassed some very large stacks and have heavy infantry to match mine, so I have been wondering about how to go about this.

To some extent, I can rely on the greater command skills of my generals and the higher tech nature of my most modern troops (e.g. Praetorians) but that still sounds too much like attrition for the Donald Rumsfeld in me. So I wondering what to do. Two ideas suggest themselves:

(1) Lead with mass archery, sort of traditional US overwhelming bombardment tactics: say 6 units of archers per army rather than 3. RTW AI on the defence is sometimes rather passive in the face of archery. This tactic sounds pretty safe and low cost, although whether the AI will allow me to pull it off...

(2) Use more cavalry: say 4 units of legionnary cavalry going for the flanks and rear. This sounds more risky and costly, although it was very effective in MTW (although, contrary to the developers claims, my impression is that flanking may be was more devastating in MTW than RTW).

What have other people tried that works?

[Octavius Julius]

Build some big stacks. Use them as bait. Let the other Roman factions attack you. This way you have an advantage on the battlefield getting the most from archers and pila throwing legionaires.

I found that cavalry is not that effective against massive armies of legionaires, therefore I only suggest fielding the same number as cavalry as the enemy just to make a balance.

Onagers work well against legionaires as they are normally tightly massed and never march fast until close.

Undoubtedly, all the enemy Roman factions will have excellent generals. Focus on these before the battle by trying to assassinate them. (Historically, this happened very often). If that fails, use cavalry sorties to primarily focus on killing the enemy general. Light Auxilia Cavalry are good here with one or two heavy Praetorian Cavalry units to give substance against the Roman General's unit. If this doesn't work, then you must go to battle on the big scale.

As I said above, let them attack you because you can defend a hilltop and they will try to fight you there.

If you have any hastati or pricepes left, use them to lay siege so that their income will fall. This way you are not worried about them sallying out and killing loads of these obsolete troops.

If you are using Town Watch, Civilians or Auxilia units and hoping to win, forget it. You will be crushed.

[eeyoredragon]

Cavalry is always useful. Single charge and break. Just smash into the rear of the unit and they're basically gone and you can mop them up with infantry.

CHAAARGE!

[Sinner]

I went for option 1. I tend to be archer heavy anyway, the combination of long range killing power plus low cost and upkeep of the Archer Auxilia is just too seductive. Plus I knew when the war was coming and could prepare to eliminate the other factions by taking their cities in the first couple of turns, but that's my strategic plan rather than battlefield tactics.

At battle start I would look first for the enemy archer units and target each in turn with all mine at once, this quickly gutted them with the minimal number of return volleys. In the meantime my own infantry would form a blocking line far enough forward that my arrows would arc over them, and my cavalry would deal with any flanking attempts, reinforced by the infantry at the ends of the line if necessary.

Depending upon time and boredom, sometimes when the AI just sat & waited for me I'd just let the archers rip them up while I ran the battle on high speed, other times I'd provoke the fight by dashing a unit forward enough and then back into formation. In the latter case, or when the AI was more aggressive, I'd generally leave my infantry to fight their own battle and keep an eye on my cavalry so that they didn't get isolated or chase a routed unit halfway across the map. I'd concentrate most of my attention on the archers, targetting enemy units not yet in melee with my own, especially dealing with any flankers that were likely to or had bypassed my cavalry.

With teched up and experienced archers I could even use them to help fill the gaps in the line after they'd used up their arrows or when the risk of friendly fire was too great. Sending 2 or 3 archers after a single unit or 1 or 2 to reinforce one of my infantry kept losses fairly low, but since they're cheap to replace and normally took few losses anyway, I didn't worry about the occasional battle where my archers got mangled.

[TinCow]

Superior armor/weapons. Superior commanders. Superior numbers.

I find that the Romans work best with the infantry steamroller, with a few cavalry for emergency flanking and cleaning. If you use masses of cohorts, you will be fine if you can get the above three factors in your favor.

[Parmenio]

I found the Roman AI on defensive tends to be vulnerable to massed infantry rushes. Doesn't seem able to react in time.

[Somebody Else]

In the strategy map, bribe everyone left right and centre. Then use their bribed soldiers to conquere their own cities.

[Aries]

dont just bribe the armies on map bribe the citys to easy win i know but you need all the easy ones you can

[Dark_Magician]

Place your mighty amries with onagers outside of the gates of Rome and few their cities just a couple of turns before civil war breakout. Then take them, adding perhaps even some more powerful units, this will weaken your enemies so you will outproduce them.

NB: Take Rome in same 1st turn. This way their remnats which include lots of fleets will become "rebels" and this considerably shifts balance of power.