It's a bit of a read, so if large amounts of text frightens or bores you, look away now.

******

Despair I cry as my stretched and battered Romano-British army is once again on the backfoot, another foe deciding now is the time to attack us. Sometimes I think I'm taking part in a fantastic campaign, the best in I've had with RTW/BI and other times I think the AI is just being a deliberate pain in the butt intent on making my life a misery!

So I'm playing a VH/H (Campaign/Battle Difficulty) BI campaign that I started way back last October with my unlocked factions and extra hordes mod. I'm the Romano British and after struggling to get my finances in order (it took about 10 years before profit was rolling in) I managed to take on the Celts. A fair bit of time later, I dispatched of them. The braindead campaign AI of version 1.4 made sure they were passive and doomed.

It was then a long time of building up my money and preparing for the invasion of Europe whilst I was powerless to stop the events of the world that were unfolding. By the time I took Samarobriva from the Alemanni, my unfortunate up until then allies, they were already a strong force in the west of Europe after forming a horde and stomping over several WRE regions, taking 1/2 of Spain as well. A stranger on the mainland of Europe, I had a few friends, but none of much consequence. I had to expand, and prevent my neighbours (Alemanni, WRE, Franks, Saxons etc) from growing too strong. And this is where things went sour.

The Alemanni were incredibly strong it seemed, and I was often pinned down in my isolated settlement, but a couple of battles and I had pushed them away. I spent what time I could building up a force powerful enough to push for the next settlement, knowing without any more settlements, my power was limited and I'd forever be on the backfoot. The army required such an upkeep, that profit was again minimal so I had to secure more lands. I think it was this stage I stopped playing BI for many many months.

I resumed the campaign with V1.6 of BI. The AI has improved, and my campaign was about to get harder. The Saxons decided to land a massive army on the coast of England, Eburacum their target. The massive pirate fleet of the North Sea had missed them, and I had only just time to move the army I was building in Gaul back up to Briton in a desperate defence. I won a good victory, but my funds had been massively reduced in the battle, and my army had been weakened. Most of my settlements were growing too fast, and riots would see soldiers killing civilians and the burning of buildings that hurt my infrastructure further. Debt and a weakened army were to become something quite familiar over the next few years. All my allies (except the Goths which consisted of 1 family member and the fleas about his body) broke their alliances when I was attacked. Now I was really alone. Every single diplomatic mission I attempted for peace or assistance was met with anger and disdain.

So I had managed to prevent the Saxons taking my vital British cities. But I still needed to expand, but the massive armies in Europe and lack of funds were a constant worry. I must have spent 2 hours studying the map, my armies and everything around me, taking just 2 turns perhaps in that time. I'd never had to consider everything so carefully before. I was loving the challenge. When I considered I might be defeated, I thought about giving Samarobriva to the Gothic horde or the Vandals, knowing they'd lose it, and their new hordes would sweep the land, allowing me to pick up the pieces. I considered aiming to take the Saxon lands instead, which were weaker, but closer to the hordes that were coming from the east. Finally I decided to stand and fight to the end.

Then the Alemanni, who's strength and wealth were immense despite only having 6 settlements, began sending large armies my way. Again and again I fought them off, with heroic victory one after the other, with my Sarmations taking most of the credit. Then finally it seemed I defeated enough of them to push for Avaricum - the settlement I had longed to capture, but which had always seemed so far away. The army I could muster wasn't large, already weary from defeating 2 of their large armies but it would have to do. I didn't have time to get reinforcements from Samarobriva - I pushed forward. Finally, finally, I would capture the elusive sixth settlement and maybe I could advance and be a real power.

But no. The AI decided I needed another problem to face. Like I hadn't had enough up to this point.

Aside from the folly of forgetting to take my onagers to assault the settlement I was besieging, the West Roman Empire decided at the very point I wanted to take the settlement, to send a massive heavy infantry force to take Samarobriva. I couldn't believe it. I didn't have the manpower to besiege a settlement and defend one against such a force. Then the Alemanni managed to assemble a large force of mercenaries and camped them outside of Avaricum, crushing my spirits further. To make matters worse, the dreaded pirates of the North Sea were preventing my fleet of ships from landing and getting reinforcements from Britain to Gaul after my fleet had been caught out sinking another Saxon navy attempting to land troops on British soil.

And it's at this point I'm writing this, feeling exhausted by what has happened in the campaign. Everytime I think I am in a secure position to expand, disaster strikes and another foe comes my way. Again and again, disaster seems just a turn away. The gaming gods hate me it seems, and I'm destined to struggle forever against an AI determined to see me suffer. To make things worse, although this is self-inflicted, I realised my recent massively impressive heroic victories were a result of using the default stats that came with BI. I have now lowered the killrate which I was using before I upgraded to the v1.6 patch, which will make routing units with my Sarmations much harder, so the challenge is even greater.

Here's the map at the moment:



Has anyone else got any campaigns they've experienced where every step you take seems to be shadowed by an AI determined to bring you down when you can least afford it? It does make for an interesting campaign, yet at the same time, frustrates to the core! I suppose it reminds me of old Carthage and Seleucid campaigns, but the sparsely populated map of BI makes every forward movement a commitment, and increases the vulnerability of those settlements you have. Now if only the AI could give me one break. I'll even sacrifice the neighbour's dog to the gaming gods if it helps.