"Barbarian" populations

[soibean]

I'm playing a roman campaign on h/h in the latest version of RTR and I've begun to battle the Gauls, Greeks, Macedonians, Carthaginians... yea... the Senate just loves having me do random battles and start random wars for no reason whatsoever. But anyway, I'm working my way through Gaul, capturing cities here and there, and I notice that just about every town I capture has a population of 500...
So basically... all Gaul does is mass produce its warband to the point that its cities can't grow, its so in debt from having all these giant armies running around that it can't expand its cities, and because of that my superior forces just cut through them.

Are you guys doing anything for the AI so it doesn't force its whole population into the military and force the nation into poverty? I said Barbarian populations because I've only noticed the Gauls and Germans doing this, Greece and Carthage seem better suited to developing cities.

[shifty157]

I think thats part of the AI. I know there are several different styles of AI that can be assigned to each faction to give them each a slightly different outlook and strategy.

[soibean]

But what kind of a strategy is it to prevent growth in your cities and impoverish your nation? It took the gauls 10 years to get skirmishers to fight against me.

[Chilly5]

well, the gauls were a warrior nation, everyone in the army . ..

[Ranika]

Actually only a small percentage of Gauls were actually part of the army; they were essentially the equivalent of modern upper-middle class. They were the part of society allowed to vote for the magistrates and kings (non-warriors could only elect local officials). Anyone not in the warrior class only fought for short periods as militias. Most Gauls were either professional tradesmen or farmers (both skilled and unskilled labourers), not soldiers. There's no possible way they could have existed as long as they did with a majority in the military; they would simply collapse under a lack of food, a lack of armaments for their army, a complete lack of settlement development (IE; there would have been no oppida), etc.

[PSYCHO V]

I'm playing a roman campaign on h/h in the latest version of RTR and I've begun to battle the Gauls, Greeks, Macedonians, Carthaginians... yea... the Senate just loves having me do random battles and start random wars for no reason whatsoever. But anyway, I'm working my way through Gaul, capturing cities here and there, and I notice that just about every town I capture has a population of 500...
So basically... all Gaul does is mass produce its warband to the point that its cities can't grow, its so in debt from having all these giant armies running around that it can't expand its cities, and because of that my superior forces just cut through them.

Are you guys doing anything for the AI so it doesn't force its whole population into the military and force the nation into poverty? I said Barbarian populations because I've only noticed the Gauls and Germans doing this, Greece and Carthage seem better suited to developing cities.

Ranika's spot on.
And yes, in EB you'll find the Gauls playing alot more interestingly / historically correct than in vanilla. I can't comment on RTR because I haven't tested it enough myself.

[pezhetairoi]

Well thank god for that. I was getting sick of Gaulish warbands that I can cut through with a 20-light-lancer charge.

[Danest]

Hey, as long as a light cavalry charge pops like a water balloon when it hits a powerful, trained phalanx head on, I'll be happy.

[pezhetairoi]

...it already does. It's what happens when it hits something that isn't in phalanx that matters...