Discussion and Announcements

**DimeBagHo** · 03-07-2006, 06:12

XGM version 3.6.1 is now available for download.

You can get it here.

The major changes are:

-Added Unified Rome provincial campaigns
-"Italian" units re-named to "Italic"
-Spartan Phalangites moved back to Army Barracks
-Greek Sacred Band moved to Royal Barracks
-Minor bug fixes

**Cesare diBorja** · 03-09-2006, 11:27

Cool!

**DimeBagHo** · 03-11-2006, 22:12

XGM version 3.6.2 is now available for download.

You can get it here.

The major changes are:

-All temples can be upgraded by all factions
-Minor bug fixes

**buckZor** · 03-16-2006, 16:50

Im not seeing an explanation as to why the Spartan Royal guard was made a 30 turn build? They are very similar in strength to the Sacred Band. In my case I just love seeing the spartan artwork on the field and I just would rather they be moved to a high level barracks and build time bumped to around 3 years (6 turns). *shrug*

Also, I recently patched to 1.5, installed 3.6.2 of XGM and started a new GCS campaign on Hard/Hard (I'd been playing 3.3.2 XGM w/1.3 forever). I am noticing that I am getting my arse kicked pretty bad, Im struggling to survive and Im wondering about some other changes you've made..

1) Why are the Macedonians so strong at the start? Have you tried to deal with their Phalangites with silly theuropurolalapolopoli? They attacked me in turn 3 and they have plenty of thorokatalakabillybi, pikemen, macedonian cav, yowzer!

2) Whats with the level 3 rebels everywhere in the starting cities? And also, the rebels are aggressive (which I really like :) ) you get close to their cities now and they'll frackin attack!

3) Money change.. I am struggling financially, this has never happened to me before playing GCS.. *boggle*

4) Armoured hoplite art change.. I had to dig quite a bit to find the fix on this, please include instructions with future releases to make the Armo hoppies look bad-arse again :) What possessed you to wussify them?

There are many, many changes you've made that Im very happy with.. I love your mod its the only thing I play now for going on 2 years.

**DimeBagHo** · 03-16-2006, 18:04

Originally Posted by buckZor

Im not seeing an explanation as to why the Spartan Royal guard was made a 30 turn build? They are very similar in strength to the Sacred Band. In my case I just love seeing the spartan artwork on the field and I just would rather they be moved to a high level barracks and build time bumped to around 3 years (6 turns). *shrug*

I really should put some more details in the readme - a lot of people have asked about this. Historically the Spartan Royal Guard consisted of just 300 men. The aim of the long recruiting time is to make it possible (but expensive) to replace losses, but impractical to have more than one unit. You can still recruit Spartan phalangites, which have another version of ATG's model and skin, with an Army barracks in Sparta. So if you just like the art work there is no need to worry. :)

1) Why are the Macedonians so strong at the start? Have you tried to deal with their Phalangites with silly theuropurolalapolopoli? They attacked me in turn 3 and they have plenty of thorokatalakabillybi, pikemen, macedonian cav, yowzer!

Historically the Greek Cities tried to eject the Macedonians from Greece right around the start of the game period, but they got stomped. To avoid the same fate you need to bide your time, recruit a decent number of levy phalangites in Sparta, hire mercenaries, and strike when you have a force that is capable of taking Corinth and then holding off the Macedonians. It can be done, but you have to be cautious at the start. Even taking rebel settlements can attract unwanted attention from the other Greek powers.

2) Whats with the level 3 rebels everywhere in the starting cities? And also, the rebels are aggressive (which I really like :) ) you get close to their cities now and they'll frackin attack!

The rebels have been toned down a bit in recent releases, but they are still no push-over.

3) Money change.. I am struggling financially, this has never happened to me before playing GCS.. *boggle*

Money can be a bit of a struggle at the start, but once you get ports and roads built it should be OK. Later when you get control of Greece and the coast of Asia Monor you will be rolling in cash.

4) Armoured hoplite art change.. I had to dig quite a bit to find the fix on this, please include instructions with future releases to make the Armo hoppies look bad-arse again :) What possessed you to wussify them?

Common complaint. :) I changed them for two reasons - I didn't like the old model, and historically Corinthian helmets were no longer used in the game period. But I probably will write up some instructions for changing them back.

There are many, many changes you've made that Im very happy with.. I love your mod its the only thing I play now for going on 2 years.

I'm glad you like it. :)

*Edit* I have added instructions for restoring the old Armoured Hoplite model and skin to the readme.

**buckZor** · 03-17-2006, 21:43

Thanks DBH for your responses and continued development! If you'll endure me, I have some follow-up ones:

Levy Phalangites in sparta...? huh? I believe that unit is only available to the Macedonian uber-horde.. and they have plenty of them.

You commented on my level 3 rebel statement, but Im still curious as to the reasoning for beefing up Rebels? Im on the fence whether I like it or not. One thing Im noticing also is Rebel Pirate ships.. yowch! They are all over me, I have to move in fleets of 3 if I leave a port or BAM arse kickin.

and finally.. what about the sub alliance between the Greek states that has been often mentioned in recent versions? I expected some sort of loose alliance between the other Greeks similar to the Roman faction alliance..?

My game is now at turn 15 or so and Im holding my own against the Macedons, I managed somehow to wrestle Corinth from them. The Scipii have beseiged me at Apollonia and now the Seleucids have attacked me with serious venom, I took a peek with FOW disabled temporarily and they have HUGE stacks enroute, I am sure to lose my footing on their continent. What perplexes me is that there is no combat going on anywhere else, the Gauls and Julii just BARELY have begun their combat, on like turn 12.. The Seleucids are at war with NOBODY else, why pick on me? I have two cities on their continent, and they are surrounded by other factions which they are not allied with.. This is just such a different campaign than I've seen before and frankly I don't believe I can win on Hard/Hard and would be surprised if any above average players could (without cheating).

**DimeBagHo** · 03-17-2006, 23:49

Originally Posted by buckZor

Levy Phalangites in sparta...? huh? I believe that unit is only available to the Macedonian uber-horde..

I think the GCS equivalent might be called Militia Phalangites. Of course if you can get a City Barracks built and start recruiting regular Phalangites that is even better.

You commented on my level 3 rebel statement, but Im still curious as to the reasoning for beefing up Rebels?

I didn't make the Mundus Magnus map - the original set-up made by ngr had *much* stronger rebel garrisons. Some of them had 9 exp!. I think the idea was to slow development and make the rebels more of a challenge. Personally I prefer it if the other factions expand more rapidly so I have progressively toned down the rebels. In the current version of XGM they only get 2 exp, less money, and I am planning to replace rebel Phalangite units with Militia Phalangites.

One thing Im noticing also is Rebel Pirate ships.. yowch! They are all over me, I have to move in fleets of 3 if I leave a port or BAM arse kickin.

I've noticed that as well. I think I like the pirate fleets - it really keeps the pressure on to maintain control of the seas.

and finally.. what about the sub alliance between the Greek states that has been often mentioned in recent versions? I expected some sort of loose alliance between the other Greeks similar to the Roman faction alliance..?

I think you are refering to the sub-factions? That is just within the GCS. Instead of all your family members being "of Sparta" they are now "of Sparta", "of Athens" and so on. You get leaders for each of the major city states. Mostly this is just to facilitate role-playing the city states as mini-factions. The Greek factions will continue to war with each-other just as they did historically.

My game is now at turn 15 or so and Im holding my own against the Macedons, I managed somehow to wrestle Corinth from them. The Scipii have beseiged me at Apollonia and now the Seleucids have attacked me with serious venom, I took a peek with FOW disabled temporarily and they have HUGE stacks enroute, I am sure to lose my footing on their continent.

You may have tried to expand too quickly - in my current campaign I didn't make a move in Asia minor until the Seleucids moved on Pergamum in 252 BC. The war with them has been tough - I lost two major battles - but it is still going my way.

What perplexes me is that there is no combat going on anywhere else, the Gauls and Julii just BARELY have begun their combat, on like turn 12.. The Seleucids are at war with NOBODY else, why pick on me?

It does take a while for the war between the Gauls and the Julii to heat up. In my own campaign there is a massive war going on between them now, which has helped a lot to keep the Romans off my back. An alliance of the Jullii and the Germans finally has the upper hand - so I expect hordes of red legionaries to be comming my way soon. Which is why I am busy establishing Thrace as a buffer state in the Balkans and on my northern border.

The campaign is definitely winable. It's not like the AI has suddenly become smart or anything. But you do need to employ some strategy.