Rome PBeM game, who next?

[Braden]

So which faction would you like to see as a start for a PBeM campaign? I will propose the rules to be virtually the normal (Hard Campaign / Medium Battle/Large Size Units) but with a 15 year turn base between players.

I have no preference and have chosen this list due to the abilities of each faction to be quite user-friendly and capable of creating an interesting, long running campaign.

Campaign will be to version 1.5, my own version is modded to remove Green Place Arrows and extra large unit banners. I also use the minimal UI. All these are easy mods with instructions on Froggbeasteggs guide if you want to use them (I have them mainly as they make for better screen pics), if you don’t wish to use them this will not effect the .sav files so is 100% compatible. The only other thing to consider is the mod to make factions playable - but this will only apply IF a normally non-playable faction is chosen.

[econ21]

I was just looking at the list of completed RTW PBMs and it seems mighty short. Indeed, I can only find one - for Germany:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=44997
For that reason, I would be inclined to veto Germany - been there, done that.

But the others seems fairly open. PBMs for Carthage, Gaul, Julii and Scipii all seemed to have stalled.

Like Mount Suribachi, I think Carthage might be fun - it was rather challenging when I participated in a failed PBM for it.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=40057

To up the challenge, I would advocate some constraining house rules. No retraining (apart from full units or fleets) would be one. No extermination (except for Rome - payback time!) might be another. Glorious achievements might be fun for this faction - for example, I think players should be required to march some elephants from Carthage to Rome via Spain by the time Hannibal managed it.

I'd also play on very hard campaigns to keep the AI armies up to strength.

[Braden]

My own first inclination was Carthage, being one of my favourite factions, but as I haven’t played a Gaul campaign at all yet….I voted that way. If Germania doesn’t get the votes, it won’t be selected. As I’ve said I have no bias with this, I personally feel Germania is too easy anyway, hence I also voted Gaul as a potentially challenging Barbarian faction.

Campaign difficulty – Yes, I would have to agree with Very Hard. Even with the improvements in 1.5 campaign difficulty is still below par, I’m currently doing some play-testing on the factions listed (20 year stints) and started with Hard setting, which as been VERY easy for Carthage for example. I do want the campaign to remain balanced so it’s accessible to all potential players – including those who only play normally on Medium. This can be corrected as those less experienced players could be added mid-term in the game and benefit from the previous players gaming. Its another factor I need to build into the House Rules.

House Rules:

Some will be decided once a Faction has been chosen. I would agree with the No extermination rule (except for stated settlements), but I don’t understand the “No retraining” rule. What’s the thinking behind this? In my experience retraining is a last recourse as it depletes unit experience more than merging.

Glorious Achievements are planned to be a big part (if I can get suitable targets). To use your example though there may be a requirement to get a unit of Elephants from Corduba to Rome via Massilia by a certain date OR from Carthage to Rome via Massilia but with no definitive year. A similar GA for Carthage would be to ensure control of Tingi, Siwa, Carthago Nova & the Islands Sicily, Crete, Sardinia, Palma and Rhodes (not Cyprus) as well as Rome & the Elephant trek & 50 provinces. I want to make the GA’s challenging without being near impossible.

[TinCow]

Carthage would definitely provide for some interesting campaigns. I love the idea of having to take Rome via Iberia.

[YAKOBU]

I would love to play Germania again but have already completed a PBEM with them so am going to join the consensus and vote for Carthage. I don't think I've really played them individually or by PBEM.



P.S. Its 12.43pm here in the UK and I'm just wondering how long it takes Tricky Lady to spot this PBEM

P.P.S If anyone is wondering Tricky Lady is a good friend from another country that I have met through the org. My PBEM's would not be the same if she didn't join!

[Tricky Lady]

P.S. Its 12.43pm here in the UK and I'm just wondering how long it takes Tricky Lady to spot this PBEM

Well, about 4 hours and a half, it seems

Voted for Macedonia, even though I am currently playing a Macedonian campaign (ahem, well, more precisely: that's the last campaign I have been playing, must be some two months ago).
We could create some nice rules here to, for instance only expanding to the east to subdue the other hellenic nations (can imagine this being not too easy when the Roman factions are attacking you from the West at the same time).

But as I probably won't join this PBM my vote doesn't really matter
I'll see; it's just that I dropped out of the WRE PBM as I thought the rules were a bit too harsh for a player like me who likes to play an easy game If you're not going for the Ultimate Challenge or if you can't find enough players to sign up, you can count me in. I'll keep an eye on this thread to check which direction you'll take.

PS. I noticed that I failed to complete my write-up(s) in the Germania PBM. Oopsie, I completely forgot that I still had to update those posts.