Has anyone seen or used Spartan Hoplites in campaigns?

**Horatius** · 03-05-2006, 01:33

I play as Greeks often, however I generally find that Spartan Hoplites are not worth it. You can only train/retrain them in a few cities, they take two turns, and if you have two Spartan Hoplites that means they have plenty of Elephants, or other ultimate units that tears my army apart, and because other civilizations ultimates are raised everywere you need a number advantage to make up for it.

I also feel cheated when I creat Army Barracks and it is exactly the same as City Barracks.

**Uesugi Kenshin** · 03-05-2006, 02:38

I train them, mainly because I like to have a mix of Spartans and Armored hoplites. Elephants are easy enough to deal with, get some peltasts and archers and they will never give you too much trouble. The main problem with the Greeks is their complete dearth of good cavalry, but that can be made up for with skillful use of bodyguards, Militia Cav and Greek Cavalry.

**Horatius** · 03-05-2006, 02:59

I just find it to be useless to send away all the way to Sparta for Spartan Hoplites, and then need to send them all the way back for retraining everytime they take some type of beating. I personally don't see why that is better then just having many Armoured Hoplites with Heavy Peltasts.

**The Spartan (Returns)** · 03-05-2006, 04:20

i find them quite useful against Romans. easily took Rome.

**Uesugi Kenshin** · 03-05-2006, 04:51

I generally use them until the unit is gone. Since I use them carefully away from missile units the unit is usually either obliterated quickly, in one spectacular battle, or very slowly. They are worth the trouble, and if you don't want to retrain you can always retire half-used units and just move new ones up....Tis a fitting fate for such great warriors to retire on estates that they helped conquer.

**Avicenna** · 03-05-2006, 09:48

Uesugi: what self-respecting Spartan would retire before being 60? :P

Horatius: the Spartan hoplites can massacre any enemy on a bridge. (any army without v long spears anyway.) They are your most dedicated and strong warriors, with higher stamina than others and kill much more quickly. They are the secret Greek weapon: use them wisely.

**Seasoned Alcoholic** · 03-17-2006, 20:11

Originally Posted by Horatius

I play as Greeks often, however I generally find that Spartan Hoplites are not worth it. You can only train/retrain them in a few cities, they take two turns, and if you have two Spartan Hoplites that means they have plenty of Elephants, or other ultimate units that tears my army apart, and because other civilizations ultimates are raised everywere you need a number advantage to make up for it.

I also feel cheated when I creat Army Barracks and it is exactly the same as City Barracks.

If you're playing an unmodified version of RTW, you may find it tedious to keep training Spartans in Sparta and then transporting them around your empire. To speed things up significantly, all you require is a superior navy to your surrounding rivals. Once you control the sealanes, you can swiftly ship depleted Spartan units back to the capital, retrain them, and then redeploy them either at the frontiers of the empire, or as elite garrisons in selected settlements.

**Mithras** · 03-18-2006, 18:02

Spartans are like elite guard of any faction. You use them when it's vital you win. limit them to your core army and their limited supply shouldnt be a problem. They're also quite good for fronteer towns under constant attack where they'll butcher anyone who gets past the walls.