RTR....how the game should have been

[Darius]

Chances are you may have installed something in the wrong order. Try doing a fresh install of RTW, then the 1.2 patch, then install 5.2, followed by 5.3 and it should be fine.

So far I've managed to slowly progress through Illyria, and the area is littered with heroic victories. Unfortunately my armies deep in Greece have made little progress, and are the only reason my armies to the north are making any headway. Wave upon wave of Greek armies crash upon my lines, and my treasury is being taxed to the limits trying to replace the losses as I retrain the battered remnants and ship over new recruits whilst trying to avoid the Greek navy that hunts my meager navy.

Recent news from the lands of Africa tell of how the Carthiginans have eliminated the Numidians. This does not bode well, as the Punic armies will now be able to focus their attentions fully outward rather than in two directions. As it stands they have captured all but Syracuse on Sicily, and their armies in Spain are holding the Iberians at bay.

The Gauls, though at one point hemmed in by both the Britons and my Romans, are now able to focus solely on me as the Britons have acquired peace with the Gallic horde and have now begun tearing through the lands of Germany. It will likely be a long time before I am able to leave the comfortably defendable passes of the Alps to bring the war to the Gauls, as my war with the Greeks is seemingly getting only more intense with each passing turn.

I recently paid my allies the Thracians to begin a war upon both the Greeks and the Dacians. So far they have only had minor skirmishes within the Greek province of Byzantium, but their armies are making a large nuisance for the numerous Dacian people, whom I hope will be too occupied with their Thracian invaders to attempt to attack my holdings along the Aegean Sea.

Now the Greeks have once again sent a diplomat to speak with me. I am about to let out a sigh of relief, only to see that they wish for me to become their Protectorate. This has left me with an intense desire to personally open the Greek King's skull to see what is making him so insane to think I would agree to these terms. He and his people shall pay for their arrogance and shall soon see his lands under the firm rule of Roman steel.

[Simetrical]

I must stress that while 5.2 was, in fact, extremely buggy, 5.3 is not. There are virtually no confirmed crash bugs in 5.3, and the only significant one is rare and can be worked around if necessary (and we haven't the foggiest clue what causes it, incidentally). 5.2 was basically an open beta, but not labeled as such—I plan to push for 6.0 to be labeled properly, as it will also doubtless not be playtested very extensively (RTR has a history of this). Yes, we have pride in our work, but it's a waste of time for us to playtest the mod when we could have others do it far more thoroughly than we possibly could. The only problem is when we don't inform them that they're playtesters.

-Simetrical

[AntiochusIII]

Hehe, I see. The Realism of the RTR Playtesting Conspiracy...

On the other hand, seeing Darius got himself beaten by the Greeks once and again (historically correct, right? Marathon? ) I think I'll give RTR a try.

Do I have to download 5.3 after 5.2 to play with Rome 1.2 or just download 5.3 immediately, without 5.2 installed?

[Ciciocle]

if i have allready installed RTR v5.1, i have to uninstall it before upgrading to v5.2 and v5.3? or i could just install 1.2 patch and then RTR patches over previous version?

[Cid]

On their site they recommend a new install, followed by patch 1.2, followed by RTR 5.2 and then 5.3. I had trouble downloading the file initially (got a "Corrupted File" message) but downloaded the Get Right utility (they provide a link to it on the FAQ part of the site-it's free) and it worked A-OK.

As far as I'm concerned, this mod has completely rehabilitated RTW- both historically and in game play terms. As Rome there's a significant (as well as historical) Greek threat to the south and other factions such as Carthage are far more formidable! Things tend to unfold closer to the way that they actually did...I had my own Phyrric battle with Phyrus and his merry men as per Darius above! Fought in woods, barely lost (damn trees) then built my remaining forces back up and kicked the Greeks out of Southern Italy- "Take what's left of your pride and get out!", etc. During the battle, two units of Triarii and about 1 and a half Phalanxes slugged it out with neither side routing for over 10 minutes which DID NOT (in my experience) happen pre mod, so every aspect of the game seems greatly improved...I like the new main screen too!

There's really no downside that I can see. Those who haven't already oughta get it!

[Bob the Insane]

I have now reached 250 and have only just secured the land that the 4 Roman factions start with in the un-modded game!!

The exceptions are that I have taken Corsica and Sardinia but hold no land on Sicily yet. Sicily is still divided between Carthage, the Greeks and Rebels.

The conflict with Greece has tailed off abd their other conflicts have forced them into accepting a ceasefire and the reopening of trade with us. Dispite some naval skirmishing a peace been maintained with the Gauls. With a lot of prompting by the Senate we started out campaign against Carthage who up to the start of the conflict had been a staunch ally assisting us in some naval battles. I started by building up a new legion and making some rediculous diplmatic demands on Carthage and canceling our alliance and other treaties when they refused. I then invaded Corsica, which fell after a short battle with our legion. Having reinforced our army with a large mercenary contingent and another general we moved on to Sardinia. All was going well but I was uneasy, Carthage was highly rated as a military nation but we had so far encountered nothing but levies and militias. Then a large Carthaginian naval force appeard off the coast and deposited a large Carthaginian army on Sardinia, easily equal in numbers to our deployed legion and mercenaries and containing large numbers of cavalry. The battles that followed were very bloody with large numbers of casualties on both sides, but Roman morale was stronger and armies of Carthage were cut down fleeing the field.

Thing has not all gone our way however. A new legion was rasied and sent to invade Sicily under the command of a young and ambitious general. While besieging a Carthaginian settle the legion was attack but the large army Carthage had been maintaining on the island. The battle initially went well for the Romans with the Carthaginian infantry being routed but the overconfident Roman troops over extended in pursuit and the substantual Carthaginian cavalry on the field attacked, routed and cut down the now isolated Roman troops. By the time the Romans had regrouped the bulk of carthage's infantry had rallied and turned on the now hopeless outnumbered Romans.

60 turns into the game and I have only just got out of italy. I am forced to maintain my navy as the enemies navies are both active and dangerous and often loaded down with troops. Money is no longer the problem it was. In fact with all the extra provinces in Italy I am positively rolling in the stuff. But the increased build times and depopulation brought on by constant war means I don't have very much to spend the money on!!

[Darius]

Currently in my Campaign, I have left well enough alone with the mammoth sized Carthigian Empire and am working furiously to put an end to the Greeks while holding the thrice damned gauls at bay. I was able to take two of their settlements to the north east of Italy, but upon sending a fresh wave of about 650 some hastati/principes/triarrii to take care of the third and final settlement that lies almost directly north of Italy, my troops found themselves surrounded by over 2000 bloodthirsty Gallic madmen baying for their blood. They cut me off from the pass, and to my armies backs was a river and mountains. I erected a fort and couldnt help but imagine them praying to Jupiter and Mars to protect them long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

I hastily reassembled my main northern army which had been retrained after a few nasty encounters with previous attempted Gallic invasions, and rushed them there as soon as I could, 1,600 strong. Alas, they didnt make it in time. Just one turn prior to their arrival, the Gauls had assaulted my fort. In real time I'd have to say the battle took about 45 minutes to an hour. Never in my life have I seen a battle this fierce last for so long. With nowhere to run, and the Gauls battering the walls, my legions stood firm.

Yet despite every pila being thrown and the towers mercilessly slamming arrows into their men, they swarmed in through the breaches. My hastati and principe were split up to hole up each breach, and my triarii charged and recharged into the enemy whenever they seemed to be pushing through. My general dashed back and forth along the line, giving heart and hope to his loyal Roman soldiers.

Sadly, for all their gallantry, valour, and bravery, the enemies numbers and ferocitiy proved too much. With several bloodcurdling war cries, the enemy burst through the main gate, and those who were not falling back to the center were ordered to do so on the double. My hastati formed a defensive line and managed to hold off the horde for those last precious few seconds for my men to form up along the square before being surrounded as their flanks were broken through and were surrounded. Each and every one fought to the death.

So with all hope for survival gone, my men were instead determined to make sure that when they died, it would be with as many Gallic corpses beneath their feet as possible. Upon reaching the square the Gauls let forth one final warcry, and then charged into my lines. My line held, and a few warbands fled rather than face my desperate legions a second longer. Then the enemy warlord made a thundering charge into my men, and in his wake the Gauls followed, and my men were swarmed from nearly all directions. As one final act of defiance, my General and his bodyguard personally slew their leader. My general himeself was the last to fall, fighting to the very end, and when he was finally struck down, his body lay right beside those of his brave soldiers, whom had served him with strengh and courage to the end.

In the end, the Gauls abandoned the fort, and their army of now nearly 900 men marched off upon learning that the Britons had ceased their attacks on Germany and had once again turned their eyes upon the Gauls.

Roman honor was intact, but not assuaged. My northern army assaulted the Gallic settlement and slaughtered nearly all the inhabitants.

In Greece, the war goes well for the Roman people. All lands along the Aegean are now under my rule and Sparta itself was successfully taken. Their king was defeated in battle, and the city was left untouched, and was instead occupied in order to provide a future military center from which one day many a legion and navy would spring. As I speak Athens is under siege, and I intend to either starve them out or force them to come to me. I shall not needlessy throw away any more of my mens lives when they are so far away from home and hearth.

Meanwhile, the Selucids are slowly being pushed farther and farther to the East, and the Ptolemies are growing stronger by the turn. Pontus has grown far stronger than had been expected, and has even taken Hatra ( I think ) from the Seleucids themselves. Believing this to be solely due to the Seleucids current beleaguered state, when my Armenian allies chose to make war upon the kingdom of Pontus, I chose to support the Armenians in thier endeavor and cancel my alliance with the other. Surprisingly, Pontus not only pushed the Armenians away, but have begun attacking them in their homelands. It seems that Pontus too will be a force to be reckoned with in the future, provided they dont butt heads with the Ptolemies.

With a war on two fronts, and the Senate demanding a war upon Carthage as well, my economy is always streched to the limit. I am constantly hard pressed to choose between new recruits, upgrading or constructing military buildings, or improving upon my economy. Perhaps when the battles in Greece subside my financial woes will be eased, but for now, every denarii is required to simply keep my empire alive.