Warrior Farms

[Darius]

In the Rome Total Realism mod, each area has its own distinct units that can be recruited there over time, as well as a diverse mercenary selection to choose from. In order to ensure that my armies were always composed of only the best of the best, I began making what I thought of as "Military Colonies" in order to gain access to units that I wouldnt normally have access to for quite a long while.

First thing I'd do is send out my ships with diplomats to do the usual routine of getting trade rights with everyone while scouting out the map. What I was mainly looking for was a relatively weakly defended city (preferably rebel to preserve trade treaties) in a different region that would allow access to new troop types. Once a suitable site was located, I'd load up a random, unimportant family member with a small but decent amount of units, and have them seize control of it.

You have to keep in mind that this city, being far from your capital (Let alone any of your territory for that matter) will likely be very unhappy for a long time, so this is NOT something you want to do while under any economic hardships. In the initial phases this place WILL be a steady drain on your economy, but given time it will stabilize and eventually provide enough to pay for itself or close to it.

The real profit here is the versatility that these units can provide your military. Doing this can allow you to augment your forces with horse archers, powerful skirmishers, devestating missile troops, and formidable phalanxes. All you need is a steady shipping lane and to occasionaly invest in some infrastructure (And defensive walls to protect said investments) and you'll have a finely tuned combined-arms factory up and running in no time!

[Quillan]

I've done some of that. Although, to be honest, I typically don't worry about rebel status. My experience with RTR is that I'm going to be at war anyway, so why bother going out of the way to avoid it. I tend to take Kydonia away from the Greek Cities and park a family member there to hire Cretan Archers as quickly as they appear in the merc queue. You can recruit Lybian spearmen in Lilybaeum, Illyrian spearmen anyplace in Illyria, Thessalian cavalry in Larissa, Macedonian slingers throughout Macedonia, and Gallic warband/swordsmen/slingers throughout the gallic territories. Some of these are important, because several of your good troops vanish with the Marian reforms. I love the Italian spearmen and the Funditores. Neither one can be recruited post-reform, though the spearmen still appear as mercenaries in Italy.

[Celt Centurion]

I tend to take Kydonia away from the Greek Cities and park a family member there to hire Cretan Archers as quickly as they appear in the merc queue.

That would be very unusual for me.

Taking Kydonia from the Greek Cities. The only ones I've ever taken Kydonia from are Rebels. Of course, I usually tend to take it very early in the game, and make it a priority to build up economically. There seem to be plenty of mercenaries around, and they are often better than ones I can recruit, such as Cretan archers and hoplites.

I had always thought that the AI left Kydonia alone, because if I can land a general there, buy up all the mercenaries, and take the town, it's pretty much mine and left alone the whole game.

Maybe I've just been lucky to date. Next time I go there, I'll probably have to fight a combined Greek, Selucid, Macedonian alliance for it.

Strength and Honor

Celt Centurion

[Quillan]

What version of RTR are you playing? I've only played Platinum Edition, but in that one I've always found Kydonia in the hands of the Greeks, with the other city on Crete belonging to the Ptolemaic Empire. I've never played AS the greeks, though, and I can't recall the name of the Ptolemaic city, although I'm fairly sure it begins with an H.

[Celt Centurion]

What? There is another version, "Platinum" you say, where there is a second city on Crete? Here this is, I put in RTW, then the 1.2 patch, then the BI upgrade, and recently the 1.6 patch. Is there something I haven't done yet? I have never seen Crete as anything but a great place to hire mercenaries, build markets, ports and all their upgrades. Then, over time, when there is more money, I build up the blacksmith, armorer, and foundry. As I said, once I have made a decent size settlement, the most difficult thing to do sometimes is to get another family member there if one dies without a heir apparent.

With the market and port upgrades, Crete brings in a lot of money, and the AI does not seem interested in taking them.

Cyprus, on the other hand, is more trouble than it is worth, as are Jerusalem, Cordoba, Carthage, and Thapsus. Those, even after I eliminate the culture penalty, and have a full garrison, they still riot and then revolt, rarely more than 20 turns between the riot/revolt cycles. I have to take it back, butcher everybody, and retrain casualties. They riot when they approach 11,500 people, and often, just before being able to build a "Large City", and "Huge City", they riot, kill a few thousand citizens, and then revolt. Sometimes, I think that I'd be better off to just ignore them than take them into the fold. I can not tell you how many times I was nearly completed building a Pro-Consul's palace, or an imperial palace, then that the people revolt, out of the blue, and the palace under construction goes away, and when I retake it, I have to exterminate again, down to between 2,000 to 5,000 people.

Strength and Honor
Celt Centurion

What version of RTR are you playing? I've only played Platinum Edition, but in that one I've always found Kydonia in the hands of the Greeks, with the other city on Crete belonging to the Ptolemaic Empire. I've never played AS the greeks, though, and I can't recall the name of the Ptolemaic city, although I'm fairly sure it begins with an H.