oh no... is it really this easy?

**frogbeastegg** · 10-09-2005, 22:15

A question for any kindly CA person passing through, who can spare the time to answer, please.

Is there anything the player can do to ...encourage the AI to take an aggressive line towards the player, as opposed to a more passive one?

For example (many more details, if you want them, can be found here, starting from post number 65) I've started two games as the Saxons, both very hard/medium. The first I was practically ignored; no armies, diplomats, anything came my way, and I was able to expand without opposition. The second, oh how I love my second attempt at the Saxons! The WRE attacked me on turn 4, and has been sending sizeable, well-composed armies my way frequently. My barbarian neighbours are fighting each other and eying my lands in a way which leaves me no doubt they intend to invade. I am very literally fighting for survival with everything I have, and I fear I might be defeated, something I have not felt before in RTW. The odd thing is that I did virtually nothing different in either campaign, until the AI forced me to.

In fact the two campaigns are so different I can hardly believe it's exactly the same game.

So, while I can see myself appreciating the random factor of BI when I've played enough to really see it in action, I would also like to have many more campaigns like my second Saxon one. Is there anything I can do to make that more likely? This second game is ... hmm, it's pretty well everything I want from the game: challenge, unpredictability, a need to work hard, needing to react instead of simply act, a real need to plan carefully and then plan again as my old plans get scuppered by the AI. The thought of not finding another campaign like it really worries me. That first game was almost everything I don't want: easy, boring, challengeless, pervaded by the feeling I was the only faction actually 'present' in the game.

As I play I have this feeling I might not get another game like it, but will instead end up with more like my first one, and that's the only damper on my second Saxon campaign. Well, that and a complete lack of time to play, gah!

I'm really very anxious; I hate the thought of losing the game I'm currently loving.

Amphibian conscience demands I add that the first game might have improved if given another 20ish turns, making 40 turns total. But I only get to play for a few hours each week, often a turn at a time, so those 40ish turns before things get interesting last for a very long time. At which point I lose interest; I’d rather write, read, something, anything, than putter about in that boring, isolated world, night after night, week after week. The lively world of my second game, however, now that has me eating my porridge in front of the PC, and has left me rushing to get to work on time two mornings in a row now. The only reason it won’t be three mornings in a row is that I have tomorrow off.

Or as I find myself posting on a rather frequent basis while relating my second Saxon game: Weeee!

**nameless** · 10-10-2005, 05:49

I dunno about easy, I'm playing as the WRE on M/M.

The cities that were about to revolt I pulled out the troops and razed the buildings so when they revolted it was easy to smash and loot the money

Any general that had a low loyalty rate I sent into suicidal missions.

I pulled out of England, Illyria, Africa and Gaul. I strengthened by position in Spain because of the gold and silver mines there and it is in a good position for a contingency plan if Rome falls. I disbanded most of my elite troops in favor of the liminate spearmen, Foedetira cavalry, and archers and stationed a small force at the bridge leading into the mainland of Italy with 4 generals.

Mediloam, or the city that is above the bridge in Italy is my "throw-away" city in the event a horde runs by.

All islands I am keeping in line easily. For the time being I started to convert my cities into christian except for Syracuse which would need a large garrison to keep them from revolting so I left them as pagans and built sewers and such to keep them happy.

Later on I started to get at least 3-5K thanks to the gold in Spain and keeping Massila and the nearby city to allow trade between the two provinces.

Then the hordes came, 4 stacks of GOTH hordes assaulted my bridge defenders, outnumbered but I was able to defeat them one at a time. I noticed that if I take out the general their morale falls down like mad and their easy pickings. I basically pulled my troops from the bridge so their out of range from their many horse archers and allowed them to cross the bridge enough for me to flank and surround them. I defeated 3 of the stacks and the GOTHS eventually sat down with me and negotiated with me for peace, they had lost at least 5-6 family members

Their remaining stack picked up and headed into france by passing through Massila and then assault the WRE rebels and settled there in Gaul.

I was notified of a Vandal horde coming my way so I quickly rebuilt my forces and being short on cavalry I hired a few mercenaries. I also noticed my general had a loyalty of 1 now because of his many victories(I'm beginning to wonder what's the point of having a general if his victories make him less loyal to me) so I sent him to die against 6 vandal hordes. Using the same tactic of pulling back out of their archers range I used a scorpion to cause panic in their ranks and now they are down from 6 to 2 hordes. This may sound good but I'm losing tons of men as a result of this and they just keep coming

Luckily though the tactic preserves most of my cavalry which is crucial in smashing the enemy's flanks.

Even worse now I have 7 Hunnish hordes coming down on me so I'm planning on building a fort to keep them busy while I replenish my forces. Argh. If this was on H/H I would've been dead by now!

**Jambo** · 10-10-2005, 10:17

frog, I'd say stick with every campaign, no matter how easy it may appear to be at the start. I thought my Alemanni campaign (VH/H) was a going to be a breeze after I raced to controlling 10+ of the WRE's settlements without much in the way of resistance. The nice thing about BI is a horde faction can really spice things up and the domino effect can cause havoc...

What then happened was a Goth horde moved through my lands and settled in the two WRE settlements on the very West and North of nowadays France. They were at war with the WRE so I thought no bother. However, their Westernmost settlement proceeded to rebel and all of a sudden the Ostrogoths appeared! Hmm, not good news, and so it proved to be... The same settlement rebelled again, this time returning to the WRE, and now I have a huge horde of Ostrogoths on my doorstep. They then proceeded to sack the 1 remaining Goth settlement thereby creating yet another horde!

Now I have 2 hordes in my lands, of which the Ostrogoths have just laid siege to my poorly defended capital. That's where I stand at the moment, with my once proud 10+ settlement empire now looking incredibly fragile...

**frogbeastegg** · 10-10-2005, 13:05

Jambo, as I said:

Originally Posted by frogbeastegg

I only get to play for a few hours each week, often a turn at a time, so those 40ish turns before things get interesting last for a very long time. At which point I lose interest; I’d rather write, read, something, anything, than putter about in that boring, isolated world, night after night, week after week.

I can't get enough time to read and write - no amount of time will ever be enough. Not to mention I also have a pet boyfriend. Every minute spent being bored in BI is a minute I could be using to far better effect, both in terms of results and enjoyment, and I know it. But my second Saxon game I don't have that feeling of waste because I am enjoying myself, I am doing something, and there is more point to it than passing time and waiting in the hopes something vaguely interesting might possibly happen.