Unhappy population

**Knight Templar** · 08-30-2005, 15:44

I got RTW 3 days ago and now I'm playing with house of Julii. Public order in my settlements is often about 95% with low taxes. However, I found 2 main causes to be squalor (although every time my city grows I build palace for next level) and culture penalty. So, how to decrease these two factors?

Thanks in advance

**Oaty** · 08-30-2005, 15:51

As for squalor, the main solution is more troops and happiness buildings.

To get rid of culture penalty you have to replace the other cultures buildings with yours. If you look in the Ludud magna you can see full detail of squalor and for culture issues you can find a link in the useful links stickies.

**Garvanko** · 08-30-2005, 15:59

95% on LOW taxes, with Julii. I smell trouble.

The secret for early success with Julii? Take Carthage, Thapsus and Lilybaem before you even begin to think of an advance on Narbo.. As the money rolls in, you'll be able to pay for Temples and happiness buildings, alongside your military units. And tax as high as possible, every time.

That should translate to 95% on HIGH taxes. Which with Julii, is pretty sound.

**Doug-Thompson** · 08-30-2005, 16:17

Let's be blunt: This game rewards mercilessness.

Frankly, I have a problem with this, but the mechanics of the game practically demand it. I never even killed prisoners in Medieval Total War. I play Star Wars games like "Knights of the Old Republic," and have never played the Dark Side path. Heck, I played one game of KOTOR and never even got a Dark Side point.

In RTW, I routinely exterminate the population and tear down temples of foreign gods. The city is still considered a "large" town even if it has only a few thousand people left. You can build up an enormous number of "happy" buildings before it gets crowded again, staying well ahead of the squalor problem.

One option if you're already stuck is to let a city rebel, then take it over and exterminate the population.

In cities you don't plunder, consider moving your capital. For instance, I routinely move mine from way back in Parthia to Antioch as the Parthian empire spreads west.

Monthly or even daily games at the arena are a very expensive proposition, but they work.

**Elros** · 08-30-2005, 16:21

It's half the fun being merciless. Take in mind that if any tribes rebelled against an occupation the romans would burn the village down and salt the fields. They were a bit no-nonsense in that approach.

**Garvanko** · 08-30-2005, 16:32

Originally Posted by Doug-Thompson

Monthly or even daily games at the arena are a very expensive proposition, but they work.

Apart from that, there is the novelty value. Rome wouldn't be Rome without the Colosseum. Having said that, I generally avoid building Arena's.

I do of course build Hippodromes in strategic cities whenever possible.

**Knight Templar** · 08-30-2005, 21:07

Thanks for answers.

Originally Posted by Garvanko

95% on LOW taxes, with Julii. I smell trouble.

The secret for early success with Julii? Take Carthage, Thapsus and Lilybaem before you even begin to think of an advance on Narbo.. As the money rolls in, you'll be able to pay for Temples and happiness buildings, alongside your military units. And tax as high as possible, every time.

That should translate to 95% on HIGH taxes. Which with Julii, is pretty sound.

It's my first RTW campaign. In the begining of the game Scipions took Carthage and near provinces. It's year 199 BC now and I hold northern Italy, Balkan except territory of modern Albany, eastern France, Poland and Germany. I have plenty of money (220 000).

**Brutus** · 08-31-2005, 10:42

Originally Posted by Doug-Thompson

One option if you're already stuck is to let a city rebel, then take it over and exterminate the population.

Better still, take your garrison out of an overcrowded city, gift the settlement away to one of your enemies and move the garrison back in. You'll be given the option to exterminate or enslave again because technically you conquered the city, though because there was nobody to defend the walls you don't have to actually besiege it and lose troops or anything.

It isn't really fair, but it works quite well.

**player1** · 08-31-2005, 11:02

Originally Posted by Brutus

Better still, take your garrison out of an overcrowded city, gift the settlement away to one of your enemies and move the garrison back in. You'll be given the option to exterminate or enslave again because technically you conquered the city, though because there was nobody to defend the walls you don't have to actually besiege it and lose troops or anything.

It isn't really fair, but it works quite well.

Way to cheap.

While original idea is fair, since you still need to fight rebels.

**Elros** · 08-31-2005, 11:14

It's definately a lot fairer to let it rebel. I tried it with Carthage (The city) about 10 years in once I'd got the palace and I lost half my army trying to get it back.

**player1** · 08-31-2005, 11:30

I really hope they'll fix gift/take/exterminate exloit in BI or futher patches.

You should not be able to gift cities while still staying in war, since you can immedately retake them. Not really a gift.