Help!

[Ezephkiel]

Im playing a campaign as the koinon hellenes. I've got an empire holding all of greece, sicily and a chunk of asia minor and i've been holding it secure for decades.
I've been at war with the romans and pontus for a long time now, pontus as a push over and im smashing them in every battle and i don't want to destroy them as then the ptol's will be on my case.
That was the same case with the romans untill recently, when my western army got smashed in a battle just now.

I managed to save my athenian general, who hates romans and has a roman turncoat, aswell as remnants of the army, which im retraining in amrakia. I've got rhegion and had taras, but it changed sides after i lost the battle.

Anyway, i need help on how to defeat the romans in battle, their infantry lasts a long time and they're fielding more men than me, even though im crippling their economy through blockading their ports.

My army consited of some hoplites, aswell as the phalanx type hoplites, mercenary infantry from the italian penninsula and the usual mix of hippies and skirmishers.

In the battle the only thing that lasted was the hoplites but they hardly dented the romans, who are fielding loads of samnites and their variations and principes/triarii.

Are there any tips on how to defeat the romans in battle, im afriad they might take rhegion before i can rebuild an army, but i can build a fort on sicily to stop them crossing.

Im trying to get messinian hoplites aswell, but need more population in messina, are they any good?

The integrity of the empire is at stake! Cheers for any help.

[The Braindead Colonel]

Hard times ahead no doubt. Just make sure Ney isn't in charge of the cavalry, and don't leave Davout in Paris. Oh wait...

[-Praetor-]

I've got rhegion and had taras, but it changed sides after i lost the battle.

Recover it, if you don`t have Taras, you`ll leave the gateway open for the invasion of rhegion and sicily, and eventually greece herself... besides, that way you divide their forces, if you`ve got only one city in italy, they`ll smash that city with all their forces.

Anyway, i need help on how to defeat the romans in battle, their infantry lasts a long time and they're fielding more men than me, even though im crippling their economy through blockading their ports.

Bad news, you`re wasting your money on fleets. The AI receives cash bonus, so the blockading desn`t do the any harm. Disband your fleets and use the money to train better troops

In the battle the only thing that lasted was the hoplites but they hardly dented the romans, who are fielding loads of samnites and their variations and principes/triarii.

Use gallic mercenaries, they`re pretty useful for smashing the romanii in the back, specially the Enoci-Curoas. Hold them with your hoplites, whell round them with your gallic mercenaries, and smash them in the back. The same effect can be achieved with thrakian peltastai, etc.

Ah!, and don`t forget the cavalry!!!!

Im trying to get messinian hoplites aswell, but need more population in messina, are they any good?

Messinian hoplites?

Wouldn`t them be the Massilian hoplites? Forget them, you need more punch.

Are there any tips on how to defeat the romans in battle, im afriad they might take rhegion before i can rebuild an army, but i can build a fort on sicily to stop them crossing.

Attack, attack, attack!!!!!! Consolidate, movilize, train the recruits on the march!!!!!!!!!!! Disband unuseful units in your hinterland, disband fleets, hire mercenaries, train your best units, use missile units wisely, and once you`ve reestabilized the situation, invade Italy and devastate it completely by extermination and scorched earth!!!!!!! They`ll leave you alone allright after you`ve done that...

My army consited of some hoplites, aswell as the phalanx type hoplites, mercenary infantry from the italian penninsula and the usual mix of hippies and skirmishers.

LOOOOOOOOL!!!!!! I just made the funniest picture on my head of a bunch of hippies on full charge!!!!!

cheers!!!

[LorDBulA]

The AI receives cash bonus, so the blockading desn`t do the any harm

Yes It does harm AI. It takes away cash from sea trade.

[Thaatu]

Yes It does harm AI. It takes away cash from sea trade.

Couple of hundred Mnai per turn, which considering the cheapest fleet costs about 500 is not economically wise. Especially when, as a rule, AI has better economy thanks to scripts and VH bonus.

[Ezephkiel]

Ah, hello braindead, you playing this game too?

Thanks for the advice from everyone else. I should have said i've got that money script which makes the money bonus more realistic for all the nations. I can see on the financial charts they are dropping and are right now a bit lower than i am (60k average) and the fleets arn't sinking too big a hole in my coffers.

I'll try recruiting some of the gallic mercenaries for flanking then and maybe get some hoplites for holding, do a hammer and anvil effect, just got to make sure i outnumber them, as they are wrapping round my flanks.

I've not found cavalry to be that effective, but i have been only using hippeis and i think im using them to early in the battle, i should wait till the melee has worn on a bit and use them at the crucial moment.

Cheers.

[The Braindead Colonel]

Indeed I tried to (that’s why I signed up here), but my computer doesn’t even meet the minimum requirements of RTW, so the huge loading times and many CTDs were more than I could handle. From what was I was able to see though it’s an amazing achievement.

[mlp071]

Ah, hello braindead, you playing this game too?


I've not found cavalry to be that effective, but i have been only using hippeis and i think im using them to early in the battle, i should wait till the melee has worn on a bit and use them at the crucial moment.

Cheers.

Cavalry in EB is not powerfull as in vanilla.Plus Hippies are not such great one neither.Best way to use them is to concentrate 2 or more and charge at enemy from behind, pull back, then rinse and repeat.

Beware though, if they suffer to many casualties they tend to rout very easy.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

I've not found cavalry to be that effective, but i have been only using hippeis and i think im using them to early in the battle, i should wait till the melee has worn on a bit and use them at the crucial moment.

Go and recruit some Thraikioi Prodromoi instead, you'll see the difference soon. For Hammer & Anvil, better use the heavier Hippeis Thessalikoi, they work wonders. I think you can get them as mercenaries as KH.

[LorDBulA]

Couple of hundred Mnai per turn, which considering the cheapest fleet costs about 500 is not economically wise.

Yea blocking some small stinky fishing village is not wise but blocking Athens that make 2K from trade easily is wise.

[Ezephkiel]

I've managed turn the tide for now, got taras back. I've rebuilt my army, my main battle line consisting of spartans and hoplites (in the phalanx formation), with flankers being mercanry samnites and some more hoplites.

Also using my peltasts different as they wasted their shots usually in the front of a unit, killing hardly anything. Now I save them with fire at will off and run them round the back to try and cause maximum damage.

Instead of hippeis i've brought over some of the successor cavalry, seems to be doing the job and i've noticed the difference, can't seem to recruit them in sicily or in italy though, so i assume i'll have to boat them to ambrakia to retrain them.

I turned the tide in a few close battles, one was a loss and the second i managed to win just, but it wasted their best general and alot of their elite troops, now i outnumber them in most battles and they're having to recruit cheaper infantry.

Cheers for the advice everyone.

[d'Arthez]

Cavalry in EB is not powerfull as in vanilla.Plus Hippies are not such great one neither.

Hippy cavalry.

[-Praetor-]

Now that vou`ve reestabilized the situation, remember to push worward, raid Capua and Arpi, burn them to the ground and exterminate everyone.

that`ll make them very angry, but after they run out of mercenaries, they won`t be able to fight back for some looong years.

[Kralizec]

The KH do get the Illyrioi hippies, yes? Use those guys, they have a much better punch then your standard, bong smoking hippies.

Now that you have Taras back you'd do well to tech up to get those Samniti Milites yourself. As flankers they're a brilliant addition to your phalanx or shield wall.

[blank]

I'd say screw Taras, and go for Arpi.
Because it's usually more lightly defended than Capua, and you can get some strong units there.
The units being Samniti Milites, with their 10 attack, 28 defense they will take most Roman troops apart. IIRC you need level 4 regional MIC to get them, could use some verification about that

[pezhetairoi]

Recruit mercenary pezhetairoi, for goodness. They can take a lot of heat off your lines during the battle if you put them in the centre. By the time any of them get through your pikes in any noticeable numbers the wings will already have been routed and you can crush them. If you set them to look for enemies to kill instead of waiting for them to attack you, even better, because then the enemy will just charge, get impaled, then stand in front of your spear hedge, wondering what to do, making the occasional foray into oncoming spearheads, and being generally tied up until it's time to get flanked or reared. Or your own Iphikratous and Epilektoi would already be good enough. Really. And get some Xystophoroi! Hippeis are pathetic. Xystophoroi are armour-piercing. Just the thing to use against their triarii. And if you're not averse to it, get some sphendonetai. Those are wicked cool against hastati and principes.