Guess I'm not getting this game...

[IceTorque]

I would prefer a return to the commander/risk style strat map.

Because, the RTW map just gets too busy. Every turn you need to scan your entire empire for unrest, rebels, agents and wandering enemy armies. With too many small time wasting battles and sieges. Combined with the need to micro-manage and manually move every piece on the board is too much tedium and not enough fun for me. So after I have conquered 30 or so provinces I get tired of it all and stop playing.

With the risk style map I could easily form a front line and hit the shift key to check my empires status in regards to unrest. Simple agent control, drop on target and forget. Infrequent and huge decisive battles, the option to fight or flee when a region was invaded, This made for a faster and imo a more fun game. I lost count of how many times I conquered the entire map in STW and MTW. I have not completed one RTW game as yet, and I have been playing it for well over a year.

-IceTorque

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

I really want to get from France to Palestine in under 4 years. They did it all the time in real life. MTW - dozens of years. Rome - half dozen, maybe? Never needed to do that.

[Rosacrux redux]

Going back to the Risk style would be a huge step back and would destroy the franchise. I am quite sure they won't touch this prospect even with a stick.

[kataphraktoi]

"Because, the RTW map just gets too busy. Every turn you need to scan your entire empire for unrest, rebels, agents and wandering enemy armies. With too many small time wasting battles and sieges. Combined with the need to micro-manage and manually move every piece on the board is too much tedium and not enough fun for me. So after I have conquered 30 or so provinces I get tired of it all and stop playing. "

Now you know hard it is to rule an empire

Some people want realistic games without the realistic drudgery of the small things :P

You conquer an empire in a day do you? (unless of course in games :P) hehe

[Pontifex Rex]

I've been gaming (table top and computer) since about 1974 and I just love the RTW map. The 'big' units do not bother me, it makes them easier to find the troops. Picking where to fight is easy if you zoom down tight on an area, you can spot hills, valleys, rough ground and so on. There are many provinces where I know the terrian and try to force the battle in certain squares and from certain directions to take advantage of the terrain found therein.

The idea of haveing to hold all the counties in a province is *not* really historical. Individual castles dominated entire regions in the middle ages and there possession were the keys to a campaign. Field battles were only fought when one side did not feel secure enough to withstand a seige or they neededto expel a foreign army that was only raising a little hell. Most of the time one side would retreat to the fortress and the other would lay seige. The castles were that important to control of territory.

IMO, the game works surprisingly well as it is (but it does need tweaking) and the occupation of part of a province by the AI forces the player to make a choice go out and chase them off (if strong enough) or hold up in your fortress. Works for me. I also like the fact that policing of the empire and the need to "pay attention to the details" is very important,...that is what empire building (and wargaming) is all about. I see no problem with having to leave behind "patrol" group to watch for and fight rebel bands. I happily construct towers to warn of approaching raiders (small enemy armies) which are also handled by "patrols" send to see them off.

My request to CA is simple,...more of the same with improvements to AI, please.

Cheers.