How to deal with the AS

**LordCurlyton** · 02-28-2007, 21:21

Heh I wish it was that easy. But France has become a major battleground with both the Sweboz and Aedui throwing half stacks every other turn or so that way. Personally I need the roughly three full stacks of troops to repel attacks, maintain order while I Romanize the provinces I have, and launch new campaigns every year or two (one of my "Victor Galli" generals is pushing 60 and I'd like to get him a Triumphus, since he is my faction leader, and also a Vanquisher of Germans). I've got another stack starting to march north from Italy to start driving into the belly of the fragile Sweboz empire and my consolidation of Carthaginian territories in Africa is nearly complete so I'm beginning to reduce garrisons and march on their remaining African turf. As long as I stay on my toes I feel I should have most of the fighting wrapped up by 200 BC (I'm hoping to sign a ceasefire with the Sweboz after I take their capital and the territories I need to eventually win). I have no intention of showing the Gauls any mercy, though, since I've nearly taken all the cities the have more than a basic MIC and it gets really annoying slaughtering wave after wave of Lugoae. THEN I get to try and deal with the AS...

**Boyar Son** · 02-28-2007, 23:00

Focus on economic buildings on coastal cities and military inside your domain.

**Count Belisarius** · 02-28-2007, 23:38

Divert a half-stack or so, and pick off Sardinia and Corsica. Good, easy money there - minimal fortifications and (by now) rich and populous cities ripe for the slave markets. If you get some garrison troops in the queue a few turns ahead, by the time the battles are won, and the province minimally reorganized, you can move your field army on to the next target. The Kart-Hadast are on the ropes, so screw 'em.

Finish crushing the Aedui, and concentrate on Romanization (and econ/transport infrastructure) in Gaul. Although you probably don't have much choice, fight a defensive war vs. the Sweboz (for now) until the Aedui are exterminated or accept protectorate status. The problem with your line of advance is that the further you drive into Aedui territory, the more troops you have to devote to defending your extended right flank against the Sweboz.

Speaking of which, the Alpine passes can be held with relative ease because of favorable defensive terrain. All you need are lots of (cheap) Accensii (both to garrison your absolutely free forts in the passes and to rain bullets down on unarmored Sweboz heads) backed by 4-5 (cheap) Lugodae, together with a decent general, and *voila* you can shift heavier units to the conquest of Gaul.

Also, it looks like you have driven past the Alps and taken Segestica on the Adriatic coast. That does nothing but further extend your frontier, and you've given up the advantages of defensive terrain to boot. Don't waste your time tying down decent troops defending it. Either pull back to the Alps and concentrate on the Aedui, or gift the province to the Maks, and see if you can stir up trouble between them and the Sweboz.

Don't worry TOO much about your African holdings, even if you do get tangled up with AS. AS is too far away geographically from where you are now, anyway. The road through the desert from the Nile Delta to Africa Province is loooooong, and you are much closer to your sources of reinforcement. Luckily for you, the AI doesn't know the meaning of the phrase "amphibious operations." You can undercut them by giving cash to their enemies, but other folks have covered that in plenty.

That showdown with AS is really going to be something, whenever you get around to it.

**LordCurlyton** · 03-01-2007, 07:10

Hmmm....*looks around for a free half-stack* well I *could* divert some troops from Africa since Carthage is doing *censored*-all to retake anything and the AI has essentially given up on even trying to fight for the remains. Though I most likely need a full stack, since I sent some spies over to each island to see what's going on and each has slightly over a half stack of units, mainly Libyan and Liby-Phoenician Spearmen, and I like crushing superiority.
I took Segestica because I started receiving German assaults from that direction which led me to send out a punitive expedition which, while destroying a couple stacks, found to its horror that Segestica had been taken by zee Germans. Not wanting to give them a port and a mine I took it from them. They don't seem to eager to take it back, though as its yet to be assaulted. Apparently pouring thru the Alpine passes or veering towards Patavium works for them (and for me). And after crushing another full stack+ that probably had the most diverse bunch of folks in the game (Scandinavian warbands, Celto-Germanic warbands, Chauci warbands, standard Germans, Baltic light infantry...) they have practically run out of mobile field armies on my front it seems. Now all I need to do is retrain the field army I used to beat all these stacks (it suffered roughly 30% casualties) and I should be able to take the offensive since I have found that once the AI seems to think you are going to march on their lands they start spamming their cheap, low-level units. Or at least the Barby factions have done so. That (along with Gallic intransigence towards a ceasefire) is the major reason I pushed into Gaul, since if I sit around the AI eventually starts building better units like the Northern Gallic Swordsmen or Gaesatae and sending them my way. As long as I stay aggressive the AI seems to be fine just spamming the Lugoae with the occasional Gaesatae. And some Iberian units emerge now and then from their one Iberian settlement. Its just a matter of retraining and smart thinking and I should be able to baloon out from the Alps. And don't worry, the Carthaginian islands have been on my "To Do" list for a while. In retrospect I should not have ended the First Punic War as quickly as I did and instead have taken those islands then since Carthage readily accepted peace but oh well, I'm not too inclined to reload from a save THAT long ago. Again, thanks for the advice folks and I'll keep you posted on the developments and do my best to provide halfway decent screenshots when I get around to attacking the AS.
EDIT: Oh and btw, would it be a good idea to possibly either just send an army or two on a "Raze and Kill" mission? IE, take a town, raze it, leave and let it rebel? Would it go Eleutheroi or would the Sweboz get it back? *If* it goes Eleutheroi I can inflict some major damage then since the "field army" I am thinking of consist of nothing but Polybian Pricipes, Triarii, and Pedites Extraordinarii, plus 1 General. Its the one that just wiped out 3-4 full stacks of Sweboz troops and will be retrained soon. Failing that, could I take some of their outlying towns and say, give them to the Maks or Getai? I'm allied with the Getai who are now Mak protectorates and I wonder if giving some border towns to the Maks could secure an alliance (maybe with a small tributary offering as well)? If it won't secure Mak alliance making the Getai stronger couldn't hurt, I'd think.

**bovi** · 03-01-2007, 08:44

Destruction raids are very effective. If you think you can pull it off, do so. It'll hurt the cities for later when you're going to own them, but the AS is the worst enemy and will bear more of that burden, rebuilding the cities while you finish up elsewhere.

But if you can't divert half a stack to Corsica and Sardinia, you won't be able to do that...

**LordCurlyton** · 03-01-2007, 20:28

Well I CAN do that to the Sweboz, who are an immediate threat. Like I said, I have a full stack of nothing but high end units to go beat on them once they retrain. I'm not worried about punitive raids with the AS yet. THAT is a whole new ballpark (I'm thinking that whne it happens I'll be using an 8 stack minimum to lead off). I may very well wait until the Marian reforms since i hear that you can train legions just about anywhere then which would greatly simplify the logistical aspects of the invasion. SO my real question is/was: if I march on Sweboz towns, would they revolt back to the Sweboz if i let them or do they go Eleutheroi? And whatever answer that might be, would it be better to perhaps strengthen the Getai, Maks (in exchange for alliance) or even Sauromatae by gifting them some Sweboz turf? The answer to those questions will greatly determine my course of action over the next couple decades.
Alternatively, I could just continue playing defensively with the Sweboz and use my Stack O' Doom to take the Carthy cities.....*lightbulb goes on*hmmm, now I need to think...

**bovi** · 03-01-2007, 20:59

In the end it does not matter who controls the territories you take there, they will become your enemies sooner or later. Destroying all buildings there will make the place useless for quite a number of turns though.

Also, giving the settlements may help keeping up relations with someone you want to be nice to for a while. Possibly giving a settlement to other factions will give the Sweboz a lot of new enemies due to rebellions? If you do it with the entire front, the settlements may even act as a buffer so that the Sweboz won't see you as an immediate threat anymore and may accept peace. Then you can use that full stack somewhere more profitable.

**Sarcasm** · 03-02-2007, 01:01

It'll cost him quite a bit for another faction to accept those territories though. Best thing he can do is deny the enemy land with mines, and take those islands that will be untouchable until the end of the campaign and that produce fortunes through trade.