Have you EVER lost a game??

[thisismyusername]

People have been talking alot about how the game is too easy on account of a number of factors ... something which I am inclined to agree with. I therefore would like to ask the question if anyone here has EVER lost a game.

I am not talking about getting defeated and then losing hope and starting a new game because you think that it will take too long to build back up from your seemingly hopeless position ... I am talking about having the AI defeat you and conquer every last one of your cities, thus causing you to LOSE the game.

I am particularly interested if anyone has ever lost as one of the ROMAN FACTIONS ... since the game is ROME TOTAL WAR.

I for one have never LOST a game (even on VH/VH) especially with a ROMAN FACTION... and no i'm not bragging that I'm some super great computer game player who obsesses on winning games because I'm NOT ... I am a relatively amateur player who plays games on his free time.

If you have lost a game, please list the faction you were playing as, and the difficulty level ... i'm curious to see other people's experiences.

In my opinion if it is not possible to lose the game as a ROMAN faction ... then what is the point of playing ROME TOTAL WAR????

[hung41584]

yes you can lose one of many different ways.

1. play on short campaign and don't get 15 provinces before someone else does(especially egypt or one of the other roman factions)

2. really mess up and let the gauls destroy you. less likely though for the other roman factions because of the required sea invasion.

3. ATTACK ANOTHER ROMAN FACTION AT THE BEGGINING AND YOU ARE A GONER.

4. Play too long and forget there is a 300 year limit.

those are the primary reasons. if you end up only having the territories in rome, the SPQR will usually help you out. but you might only have 1 city though because they aren't that helpful. And with one city, its hard to say you are anything near winning or wanting to play anymore.

[thisismyusername]

I thought i made it clear in my post, but what I meant by lose is being CONQUERED by the AI ... I know its possible to lose the game in the long run by simply not winning ... but what I wanted to know is if it is possible for the AI to conquer the human player ... especially if u are a Roman faction.

[The Stranger]

i only lost once because i started a exodus and forget to keep one town left, so i ran out of provinces. they said i lost. they weren't conquered though i let them rebel.

[Paul Peru]

Only once - there was some infertility and some recklessness involved, and then my lone leader snuffed it before an heir had matured.

[Didz]

I've given up a few times when idea's and strategies didn't work out but I've never hung around long enough to actually get beaten.

[Epistolary Richard]

In my opinion if it is not possible to lose the game as a ROMAN faction ... then what is the point of playing ROME TOTAL WAR????

I don't know, have fun, meet new people, conquer the world?

Seriously though, if you're finding that the game needs more of a challenge then I should check out some of the threads in the modding forums where some people, such as frogbeastegg, are tweaking the game to do just that... here's some of her changes:

Ok, here's what I have done:

-All peasant units have had their build cost tripled.
-All militia/levy/warband type troops have had their build cost doubled.
-All buildings with less than 6 turns build time have had one turn knocked off, except the temple lines and farm lines.
-All buildings with build times of 6 turns or more have had two turns knocked off except the temple and farm lines.
-All temple types now progress smoothly with an increase of one extra turn per level, removing a sudden step up of two turns to the build time.
-All farms are now 2 turns to build regardless of level.
-The town centre types now all sport a +5 law bonus, just like a law god shrine.
-The first two levels of town centres have a 2% population growth. The third level has a 1.5% growth bonus. The next level has a 1%, and the remaining level has no pop bonus.
-All unit types can now be built one barracks/stables/archery range level before the default.
-The final barracks/stables/archery range level gives a +1 bonus to all unit types coming from that building, with the exception of all elephant and wardog types.
-Romans no longer have wardogs.

I've tested all my changes and they are working, so I got my editing right (). I just need to play for a few hours and see how it goes. I think the 2% for the first town levels should be enough to bump the AI past the tricky smaller populations, and it will have the advantage of shifting the AI towards more advanced units sooner.

I'm playing Greece, VH/M with the changes I listed above and this is more like it! I've had to work right from turn 1, work like a mad thing just to hold on to what I have. I just encountered an absolutely massive, well balanced Carthaginian army, the Scipii keep tossing triarii and principes at me along with the usual hastati, and the Macedonians are showering me liberally in assorted cavalry. It’s now summer 264BC; I'm only just barely managing to hang on to everything, and my money is spent the instant I get it. My armies are battered and really in need of refitting as they consist mostly of exhausted, beat up hoplites and my assorted general’s cavalry units. I need more navies, and the ones I do have are barely still afloat. If I lose even 1 battle now I think my game is effectively over. I’m being blockaded and besieged in at least one place each turn.

I'm one happy frog

[Didz]

Personally, the only changes I consider worth making are those that improve the quality of the oppositions play.

That basically means a much better AI or the ability to play against other human players.

[Mayfield The Conqueror]

I thought i made it clear in my post, but what I meant by lose is being CONQUERED by the AI ... I know its possible to lose the game in the long run by simply not winning ... but what I wanted to know is if it is possible for the AI to conquer the human player ... especially if u are a Roman faction.

I have played Carthage on VH/VH, and the AI beats me 1/2 the time. The early game is a tough one.. but I play it for the challenge.

[Colovion]

I've never had a lost campaign on RTW. I've lost only a handfull of battles. Most of them were forgone conclusions before the fighting began.

The game has no challenge, thus, no fun.

[Razor1952]

I've nearly lost by mucking around(basically do nothing except loose a few battles) for the first 20 turns.The start playing seriously. As Brutii i'm having to work very hard to best Macedon at present, victories are narrow and hard. The ai hasn't made too many stupid on field mooves and I'm still being surprised at times. I guess I'll eventually pull it out but still things are close.

[hoom]

Closest I've come to ever being conquored was Shogun & I was beaten down to ~10 people in a besieged castle.
My courageous last charge down the hill broke the enemy army and led to my eventual ascencion to Shogun of the Empire

Oh, I've had a few where I ran out of family in both Shogun & Medieval

[Come Together]

The only time i was beaten, was in the prolouge. For some reason, it's harder for me then the real campaign.

[The Stranger]

I've never had a lost campaign on RTW. I've lost only a handfull of battles. Most of them were forgone conclusions before the fighting began.

The game has no challenge, thus, no fun.

i only loose battles when facing a army that has 5 times my strength, on VH/VH. their is no challenge indeed, but i'm busy modding and maybe this will help ai getting better armies soon.

[Degtyarev14.5]

In answer to the question, no, I've never let the AI bludgeon me to death. There have, however, been many occasions on which it would inevitably have happened had I not accepted the hopelessness of my situation, given up and restarted.

I recently tried playing Numidia.

Turn 1: Egypt marched into my lands
Turn 3: Carthage beseiged one of my towns
Turn 4: Scipii began blockading my docks, while landing invasion forces within the next couple of turns
Turn 8 or 9: Spain decided it wanted in on the action

I gave up at this point, and started a campaign as the Seleucids.

Within ten turns, I was at war with Egypt, Parthia, Armenia, and the people of Pontus. I held the tide for another thirty turns or so on a threadbare budget, but had to again admit defeat.

I have a question: I play with the campaign map difficulty set to Very Hard. Can I attribute my misfortunes to mere bad luck, or is the AI coded to gangrape the human player?

A.

[Old Celt]

Interestingly enough, I've just started a Numidian campaign as well. Your observation is correct. The VH Campaign setting does create a "gang rape the human" scenario. If you play on medium Campaign and VH battles, you should have all the challenge you want with Numidia.

My first attempt saw me pounded by Carthage but I learned enough from that to try again, and I just captured Carthage after a desperate struggle with basic units and nearly 8000 denarii in the red before that battle was won. Great campaign so far, plenty fun.

[Degtyarev14.5]

Challenge, perhaps. But to me it smells of cheeeeeese...

Imagine beginning a MTW campaign as the Danes, High Period and having England, France, the HRE and Russia swamp you on the first turn. Not a nice thought, is it?

A.

[Old Celt]

On VH/VH a Numidia campaign is cheesy, but on M/VH, it is difficult but doable. Numidia is not playable IMHO at campaign difficulty of Hard or Very Hard because they lack the proper resources to handle the AI cheating at those levels. But perhaps I misunderstood you. How would you say it is cheesy at M/VH?

[brutii_warrior]

they wouldn't swamp you on the first turn.

i have played both games and they won't destroy your faction on turn one maybe turn two but not one.

when it is setup like that you have to be on your toes.
do all the battles your self and when you trian units trian men to plug the whole for you castle then train archers.

when on rtw just train archers, lots of archers.

once you make it past the first 10 turns or so start building men to expand your faction. allies are much needed at a time like this.

in mtw most factions rush you to be your allies. or they'll rush to kill you.
have fun with it.

[The Stranger]

i played with the julii and in my cities only town watch and auxilias garisoned.

[Jonny Dangerously]

I've been slaughtered as Julii pre patch VH/VH. I started a new game and as an experiment I attempted to stay on peaceful terms with all other factions and make all my money from trade and agriculture. Fat chance, Gauls double crossed me and swept me away. That was a lesson learned.

The first two times I played Macedonia on VH/VH I would have gone the same way but I re-started. With Greece, Scipii and Brutii attacks every round I just buckled.