Carthage imploded

[Papewaio]

Just did a half hour autoresolve Carthage campaign.

Easy Battles (Autoresolve) / Medium Campaign.

In no time I was earning 14k a turn.

The first thing I did was build ports everywhere. If they couldn't build ports they built farms. They then built the complementary temple. Trade bonus for ports, farm bonus for farms. This also means my small cities are growing quickly and over the long term can be useful.

Also as aggressively as possible wiped out the Scipii from Sciliy. Move, end turn, attack garrison, attack leader, step back into city and retrain. No more Scipii in two turns.

Lots of money, want to avoid 50k and want to avoid Scipii coming back... fleets are the answer.

[AntiochusIII]

Just did a half hour autoresolve Carthage campaign.

Easy Battles (Autoresolve) / Medium Campaign.

Might I point out that, in the end, it's the Campaign difficulty level that affects your autoresolve odds, not the Battle difficulty level, which only affects the battles you personally command.

In no time I was earning 14k a turn.

That's impressive. Half an hour campaign as Carthage...how aggressive were you, and how large was your military?

The first thing I did was build ports everywhere. If they couldn't build ports they built farms. They then built the complementary temple. Trade bonus for ports, farm bonus for farms. This also means my small cities are growing quickly and over the long term can be useful.

I might point out to others with less experience with the game than Papewaio that farms are a dangerous business. In small, low-growth cities, they are incredibly beneficial; but never build a farm in Carthage, or Egypt, or Syracuse, for that matter--check the growth factor in your city management screen and look for the base growth (the "farm" icon); if it's high, don't build more farms. Overpopulation in those cities will be your management nightmare.

Also as aggressively as possible wiped out the Scipii from Sciliy. Move, end turn, attack garrison, attack leader, step back into city and retrain. No more Scipii in two turns.

Hm...the Roman-rush tactic. I'd like to advice the thread starter to read into details at the guide forum. Many give their advices on how to neutralize the Romans so early in the game with so puny a force.

Lots of money, want to avoid 50k and want to avoid Scipii coming back... fleets are the answer.

I'd like to point out to the thread starter that Papewaio "want to avoid 50k" because, if your treasury is at or above that level, several "corruption" triggers will be active for your generals/governers, and that won't be good. His choice, building fleets, is most effective indeed: fleets can give you naval supremacy, something that is always useful, especially with all those ports that need your protection, and fleets can be disbanded in cases your finances go bad.

[Kull]

A trick I just recently learned is to use specialized rotating governors. Look for generals with cost reducing VnVs for infrastructure and units (usually one guy won't have both), and use them as temporary governors. For example, I have a guy who can build infrastructure at 30% off sticker price. I move him into a city and make sure he's the "official" governor (sometimes have to move another general out), then have him "buy" one or more improvements. I then move him on to another city and repeat the process for every city he can reach that turn. You know how queuing items removes money immediately from your treasury? That's why this works. Even after he moves on and another general takes control of the city, the cost saving stays. In fact, you can use another general with unit cost saving VnVs on the SAME turn and use him to buy units for multiple cities.

It can be something of a hassle to micromanage at this level, but the cost savings really add up - it's definitely an effective method for stretching out a tight budget and maximizing your $$.

[Melmoth the Wanderer]

I try to keep my finances under control by spending money on ports, markets and mines; and having just my capital (and two or three other strategic cities) where I fully develop barracks and stables. I train armies in these settlements and then move them to the provinces or to the front with family members. This strategy also means that when towns do rebel they have low grade soldiers and are easily taken back.

Sometimes I have to go round my settlements cutting troop numbers to bring the finances under control.

I have just completed a successful Carthage campaign. It was very difficult at first and I nearly quit. I wasn't making much money and everyone seemed out to get me: the Roman factions, the Spanish, Gaul, Numidia and Greece. I had one friend and that was Egypt who eventually stabbed me in the back (but paid dearly for it).

Early on I lost Corduba in Spain to Gaul and had little choice but to concentrate on winning and holding the islands next to Italy. The Julii and Scipii failed to expand because they were busy sending small forces to my well garrisoned cities. To prevent this I eventually landed forces in Italy, taking along some war elephants. The Brutii put up a fight but the Eternal City fell without much fuss.

I found that a wall of hoplites with units of Sacred Band infantry, supported by cavalry and slingers defeated most of the Roman armies sent against me. They were very experienced troops by the time I marched on Greece - engaging the Greek phallanx whilst Sacred Band cavalry flanked them and charged the rear.

I would have liked some archers in my armies, but slingers are good too - if you don't stand in front of them. And of course there are few mercenaries out there who can use a bow.

One mistake I did make was to "pacify" enemy towns in Egypt by destroying all military buildings. I garrisoned them with peasants so I could move my armies further into Egypt. These cities rebelled and I ended up with towns full of Egyptian peasants. When I took them back I stationed proper armies in them and they remained loyal until the end of the game.

Nice to write this to members as my work colleagues might mock me in the office tomorrow