Casse with BI

**Parkev** · 09-07-2007, 10:00

1. Is it possible and if so advisable to run EB on bi.exe. I have found a few threads but they seem rather inconclusive and outdated.

2. Will playing with bi.exe confer any benefits to a Casse camapign (eg possibility of Naval Invasion or better AI)

**mcantu** · 09-07-2007, 12:36

This is the absolute easiest way to run EB with BI...

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=88717

It really should be stickied

**Parkev** · 09-07-2007, 13:15

Thanks very much for that. Kind of surprised me that it wasn't stickied.

My main question however is whether BI will make a island Casse vulnerable to naval invasion from the mainland, which would add a little more to the gameplay I would think and whether anyone else had played both RTW and BI engines and could compare them.

**johnhughthom** · 09-08-2007, 04:26

I have found using the BI.exe the AI does a lot of naval invasions, too much in my opinion. I went back to the RTW.exe as I got sick of Carthage and the Greeks sending boatload after boatload of one and two unit armies to Italy. I also found the AI to be slightly more aggressive which I did like.
Most people seem to like the changes the BI.exe makes, though, so its all about personal preferences.

**PershsNhpios** · 09-08-2007, 14:07

Creatures of the forum, the man is questioning not of Rome and the Carthiginians, he is interested to know if BI.exe gives the Casse tribe more flexibility and involves them more within the game.
A question I myself would enjoy answered.
Cue.

**Bootsiuv** · 09-08-2007, 16:55

Originally Posted by Glenn

Creatures of the forum, the man is questioning not of Rome and the Carthiginians, he is interested to know if BI.exe gives the Casse tribe more flexibility and involves them more within the game.
A question I myself would enjoy answered.
Cue.

Well, if they're the AI, then they'll actually invade mainland Gaul....if you're the Casse, you'll enjoy the standard BI benefits (shield wall, shilltrom, etc).

**Tiberius Nero** · 09-08-2007, 17:53

And you are more likely to be invaded by sea.

BI changes the battle AI as well, not only the strategic map AI. Generally I have found that with BI the AI could almost be classified as "idiotic" as opposed to "brain dead" of the RTW .exe (hey, its an improvement).

**Ferromancer** · 09-08-2007, 18:35

Author of the installer that enables EB for BI here.

I'm currently playing as Casse on EB for BI. I expanded aggressively and avoided declaring war on anybody at the same time, so I didn't get a naval invasion in Great Britain. I'm sure if you made the Aedui or Arverni angry, they may deploy and invasion force. The AI is definitely challenging in this. After the Sweboz were unable to defeat a town in Germany, they simply bribed it away from me. Same thing for the Romans in Austria, so it's definitely a challenge: you have to be more agressive with assassins, and recruit more diplomats. I thougt I was going to have Casse won by 240 BC, but the AI's bribery stopped my advancement dead in its tracks.

Watching some of the AI's movements, the Greeks took over a few towns in anatolia, presumably using naval invasions.

**Elminster12** · 09-08-2007, 18:58

Playing as Pontos(I finally have managed to get past the point where I could lose at any moment!) BI with the Balance mod is going well. The KH landed troops near Pergamon and Halicarnassus(though they failed to capture either of them.) I snagged Pergamon, and the Ptolies got Halicarnassus. The Romans and Carthies are at war over Sicily(the Romans have expanded....shockingly correctly too.) The Ptolies have thev Seleukids on their heels(but they ain't finished yet) and they just betrayed me(and they're going to get rocked, already have Halicarnassus under siege, and Oxydates is going straight for Tarsus after he relieves Mazaka. I would recommend it, as it seems to help more than naval invasions. Here're a few examples from my campaign...
-Hayasdan just took Trapezous. Grrr...I wanted it!
-Sauromatae captured Tanais, expanded west(capturing Gelonus and whatever is west of that) and have besieged Chersonesos(I know because I got the event pop-up...but I have no navy

)
-Maks have expanded nicely and are currently trying to get their homeland back from the Epeirotes, who have the entire province festooned with forts.
-Carthies and Lusotannan have expanded heavily in Iberia, and will probably be at war soon.

And I've been playing with BI.exe for a while now, and can safely say that this is more or less the norm....

**Ludens** · 09-08-2007, 19:10

Originally Posted by Tiberius Nero

And you are more likely to be invaded by sea.

BI changes the battle AI as well, not only the strategic map AI. Generally I have found that with BI the AI could almost be classified as "idiotic" as opposed to "brain dead" of the RTW .exe (hey, its an improvement).

I've heard it reported before, but I in my experience the A.I.'s battlefield performance does not change significantly. A good formation mod works better.

Originally Posted by Bootsiuv

Well, if they're the AI, then they'll actually invade mainland Gaul....if you're the Casse, you'll enjoy the standard BI benefits (shield wall, shilltrom, etc).

That would requiring modding of the unit files as well. Simply installing EB on BI doesn't add them.

**mcantu** · 09-08-2007, 20:04

Originally Posted by Ludens

I've heard it reported before, but I in my experience the A.I.'s battlefield performance does not change significantly. A good formation mod works better.

That would requiring modding of the unit files as well. Simply installing EB on BI doesn't add them.

Ferromancers BI installation mod takes care of that...

**Bootsiuv** · 09-08-2007, 21:37

Originally Posted by Ludens

I've heard it reported before, but I in my experience the A.I.'s battlefield performance does not change significantly. A good formation mod works better.

I would have to agree here. I've heard much of the improved battlefield AI of BI, but the difference was negligible at best, unnoticeable at worst. Like Ludens says, a good formation mod will change the battlefield AI much more noticeably than BI ever did.

That being said, I'm still going to install EB for BI now that I know there is an installer, simply for the naval invasions. I have yet to see ONE naval invasion using EB with the RTW.exe.

**geord** · 09-10-2007, 11:07

I'm playing Casse on EB-BI

120 turns (30 yrs)

No invasions of Britan Yet? ( shouldn't have said that)

Pirate navies are a nightmare (lost 2 diffrent armies in the channel, before they could land),(( should have loaded them the next turn or not as it turned out))

Land battles for Gaul are great, all the major factions have decided that i should not be on gaulish soil, adeui averni & sweboz all vying for suppremacy, not sure if they have allied against me ( will have a look at that later)

invasion of gaul has cost me nearly 100,000 to fund and i'm poosibly at a stalemate at the moment.

shieldwall in battles is working well against the sweboz cavalry with spearmen support. Not sure of any reforms for the casse so i manage with whats available. not sure what will become available from the building policy i have. just hope the generals get better chariots, i think my guys have oval wheels!!

Ai looks to be aggresive especially the romans. but they are heading south, "phew".

Also have the balanced mod loaded

Geord..