Strategy for Playing E/W Roman Empire in BI

[Taurus]

Hi Probus ,

Sounds like a very nice strategy and it seems you have been planning it for a while .

Personally I would like to start as maybe the Huns or the Vandals but when I do take my turn at restoring the Roman Empire either as the East or the West then I will most probably hold my frontiers from the beginning maintaing a nce perimater and allowing my armies to build up. Then once I fell my armies are strong enough I will then take the war to them.

Thanks

[Doug-Thompson]

Rome Total War's diplomacy game will come closer to the fore in the Barbarian Invasion, I'll bet.

I realize that just sent a shudder of dread through any players reading this.

Seriously, though, I think the diplomacy game design of RTW was very ambitious — maybe overly so. The period of history in the original game didn't lend itself to diplomatic solutions. It was much easier for any but the weakest factions to build some units, conquer some weaker factions, get the economy going and steamroll everybody.

The "Decline and Fall" period is a whole different ball game politically. With a few key improvements to make alliances and protectorates, it could be a situation with a seriously weakened empire having to make short term deals constantly, playing one enemy against another, making sure some factions are defeated but not crushed so they can remain in play, or wiping others out completely.

[Steppe Merc]

The question is, will the diplomatic system be able to handle it?

[Probus]

Hi Taurus,

Thanks for your thoughts on strategy. I hope that you enjoy your first BI campaign, whichever of the Barbarian factions you decide to play first.

You are correct, I have been thinking about my W/Roman strategy since I learnt about the BI XP and the separation of two Roman factions, which I think is both realistic and fantastic in terms of game play/strategy etc.

Having read the latest FAQs, I now know that rivers remain impassable on the campaign map, so I will attempt to hold the Barbarians on the bridges/fords along the Rhine/Danube frontiers, as well as the gap between the two, which from the Sept' UK PC Gamer is where the Alemanni are headed for, not to mention the new city located just north of the eastern North/South pass through the Alps. I will also defend the river frontier of the consolidated W/R' province of Illyria/Dalmatia, which borders the E/Romans north of Salona in RTW.

I omitted to mention Diplomacy and the use of other agents, but I will certainly be aiming to use all three types of agent to maximum effect, which makes me wonder how spies/assassins will be able to interact with Barbarian Hordes? I will definitely use diplomacy to play of

I will have to refine my strategy when I see what armies/garrisons are available to me when the games starts in 363 AD, as I now understand that quite a few cities will also be in revolt from the off. I may strike out and take Tara/Caledonia if it proves to be profitable?

Similarly, I will have to refine my strategy in terms of Religion, having read the latest info' on the interaction of Governor's religious affinities and that of their respective populaces. I also intrigued by mention of sending clergymen to slowly convert settlements to your chosen religion, though I understand that there are not any new types of agents in the BI XP?

Units wise, as said before I intend to be very selective about which Barbarian auxiliary troops I make use of, and generally, as much as my finances will allow, debarbarize my W/Roman armies. From some messing about with BKB's Ad Decium battle, I am now fairly certain that the W/Romans can recruit Plumbatarii, as logically they should, as i found a ready made unit card for the W/R' version.

In terms of Generals revolting, I may try keeping my best generals close to but separate from large armies, with the addition of diplomats/spies, as well, in order to try and discourage large-scale internal revolts.

I was maybe a bit too narrow in singling out the E/W Roman factions, so it would be good to here any other thoughts on strategies for playing any BI factions.

Cheers

[Grifman]

Having read the latest FAQs, I now know that rivers remain impassable on the campaign map, so I will attempt to hold the Barbarians on the bridges/fords along the Rhine/Danube frontiers, as well as the gap between the two, which from the Sept' UK PC Gamer is where the Alemanni are headed for, not to mention the new city located just north of the eastern North/South pass through the Alps.

I suspect this will be pretty much impossible if CA has built this game properly - after all if you can hold the Rhine, Danube, it won't be much of a challenge, will it? You're going to have too many barbarian hordes and WE revolts on your hands. If you lose your army on the frontiers trying to do the impossible, you've lost the game and can't recover. Trying to hold on the frontiers will doom you to disaster.

I suspect that for the WE, at some point, Gaul and Britain will have to be abandoned. There will just be too many hordes crossing the Rhine for you to hold them off. You have to keep Italy and Africa, maybe Spain if you can, but Italy and Africa are the core. You might waste away your armies trying to hold a province that is impossible to do anyway. Timing will be important on when to relinquish control.

This leads to the strategy of not spending money upgrading provinces you can't hold in the short term. Hold Gaul as long as you maximizing your revenue, then fall back, hold the passes in the Alps and Pyrenees, and let the barbarians fight for Gaul and Britain. Sending money to various factions to keep them killing each other might be a viable strategy. Or allying with a weaker faction or two. Whatever you do, keep a strong enough navy to squash any attempts of the barbarians to "vandalize" Africa.

Build up Italy, Africa to produce revenue, watch your back in the East, then retake Spain first (or whatever part of it you lost) since that will be easier to defend once you've taken it. Then build up and try for Gaul.

Should be an interesting campaign if you can pull it off. But trying to hold the Rhine should be a recipe for disaster.

[Orda Khan]

I agree, it does not look ( nor should it ) possible to hold these positions and consolidating seems to me to be the sensible strategy

........Orda

[professorspatula]

A bit early to be coming up with good strategies I imagine.

Anyway, from what I've seen of the campaign map in the recent screenshots, as well as from the demo, the Western Roman empire commands a large portion of the map, but the settlements are spread out and not as dense as in the barbarian lands which seem to consist of many more smaller regions. This suggests lots of armies will come at you (possibly in a short space of time), but it'll take time to bring up reinforcements from across your empire. This coupled with the very high unit upkeep costs for the Romans (in the demo anyway) means you might not be able to even afford an army to keep the hordes at bay when the campaign starts. I imagine a few settlements will have to be sacrificed and a few brave defensive battles on the open field will be required just to keep the barbarians in check before a proper fightback can commence.

Of course, if the AI remains dire, a few cavalry units and medium infantry will destroy anything the AI throws at you and it'll be a walk in the park again. Hoping it isn't like that though.

[Doug-Thompson]

The question is, will the diplomatic system be able to handle it?

That's a fair question. We'll see.

[sapi]

i hope so.....