Alexander first impressions

[econ21]

I've installed Alexander with no problems and played a turn and a half. My overall initial impression is that it is going to upset a lot of critics of RTW but looks interesting to me. In an ideal world, I'd like the critics just to pass by but no doubt they will feel the need to vent.

Some specifics:

1). When it starts, you can only play Macedon. Persia is locked I guess. There are four "brown" factions that I think are minor - Illyria, Thrace, Scythia and Dahae. I suspect they are unplayable (upkeep=1 gold!).

2). The Macedonian unit roster is small, but with the phalanx and Companions as the "ultimate" units. Their stats are like vanilla, but Macedonian infantry seems half the upkeep of vanilla (I guess it has to be as they have about 2 full stacks of troops but only 2 settlements to support them).

3) The strange thing from an EB/RTR player perspective is that the hypaspists are lower down the tech tree than phalanxes and inferior to them. In stats, they are very like hastati (including two "pila") but with a large unit size, spears and less armour. They look nice and will no doubt be useful on the flanks of a phalanx but it's disappointing not to have some truly elite "foot companion" types.

4) Macedon has no archers - some "heavy peltast" type javelins is all the missiles they have. They don't fare well against archers. Well, at least I won't be relying on my Cretan machine-gunners etc to gun down the Persians.

5) The other units Macedon can recruit are hoplites, prodomoi (light cav but no missiles), Auxiliary Thracian Cav (like prodomoi in RTW), and Allied Cav (sub-Companion heavies). There are some interesting mercs - notably Thessalian cav, who are like Companions but less armoured.

6) I've only fought barbarians so far (Thrace and Illyria) - they are pretty generic from RTW. Their "chosen" type foot so far are sicklemen. Their generals' units are equal to Macedonian generals (better attack, lower defence) but also fast cav.

7) The initial couple of battles suggested that not much has changed from RTW. A barbarian general still ripped apart a phalanx head-to-head (47 dead vs 8). Javelins seem weak (one volley => no barbarians killed). It was very fast paced as we've come to expect.

8) The campaign map looks large to me and the campaign seems rather epic. You have 2 stacks of infantry, 2 cities and a pitiful fleet to take over the known world in 100 turns. Macedon is described as "hard". Sounds like fun. I must get back to it. Gotta find me some Persians.

[Ludens]

Thanks for the information, econ21. It sounds good so far, though if the battles are very unbalanced I may pass this expansion.

Still, please keep us informed of your impressions .

[econ21]

I would not say the battles are unbalanced - lack of missiles hurts the Macedonians and the barbarians have been tough, although that is largely due to their 2HP general units. Looking at the stats for the Persian generals, they are even more powerful (think BI Sassanid Immortals). I'm looking forward to fighting the Persians, as it should be rather asymmetric: the Macedon phalanx is ideal for killing infantry, but Persia's strength seems to be archers and cavalry.

I'm probably doing things all wrong[1], but the campaign so far is hard. It's very early days (only on turn 6) but money is very tight - I've waited 3 turns and not been able to build anything. Macedonian infrastructure is very basic so the troops you start off with are going to be all you have for a long time.

[1]Probably should have exterminated the first two barbarian towns I took and maybe disbanded some expensive units.

[Ultras DVSC]

Illyria, Thrace, Scythia and Dahae are unplayable, are you sure?

[econ21]

Yes, they seem to each be one province states - basically just like rebels. Illyria and Thrace are killed off by (my) Macedon very early. Dahae looks like it is falling to Persia on turn 8 or so. Scythia is too out of the way and may not be targeted.

[makkyo]

This game will be a challenge. It is extremely balanced against Alexander. All of the barbarian factions are allied against you and you have only one small army already in Asia Minor. The Persian fleet looks like it's going to be a huge headache, but I think that once you manage to get Alexander across the Aegean you'll be set.
The Macedonians are very infantry-focused but have decent cavalry as well. What hurts you most, as econ said, is the lack of missile units. The Persians seem to be more cavalry/archer focused and are almost identical to the People of Pontus or the Parthians, except that that have HUGE armies and a seemingly infinite supply of men. It looks like I'm going to be forced on the offensive (both tactically and strategically).
Listen to Brian Blessed. His advice is works.

But what is new tournament mode? I haven't noticed that before, and nothing is there when I try to pick battles. Is this an invite to the modders to make battles? I don't get it.