My battle with Xanthippos, the aftermath, and a thanks to the EB Team :)

[mighty_rome]

(This is relatively long, but it does have a point, I promise)

After defeating my best general, Caivs Avrelivs Cotta, near Syrakousai (yes I lost a battle on Medium :) , Xanthippos marched towards Rhegion. There's only one problem; he left his army behind.

He originally landed near Lilibeo 2 turns ago with a massive stack of Garamantines, Aanatim Lubim, Aanatim Aloopim, Misthophoroi Phalangitai and hundreds of cavalry. I engaged him in what I hoped would be a challenging battle (I was outnumbered 2:1 and 10:1 in cavalry) and I did indeed lose.

Most of my units performed very well; my center, which was composed of Hoplitai Haploi and Principes, held off several units of Aanatim Aloopim and Aanatim Lubim for much longer than I could have hoped, while their cavalry charge on my right flank ended up destroying about 40% of my force along with virtually all their cavalry (5 units of Carthaginian Citizen Cavalry charged some Thureophoroi/Triarii/Samnitici Milites on my right flank). On my left flank, my Toxotai Kretikoi engaged the Garamantines in hand-to-hand combat after loosing all of their missiles, and they managed to hold them off just long enough for Cotta to ride in from behind and rout most of them. Xanthippos and his Spartan guard, along with several units of Aanatim Lubim ended up surrounding my veteran Triarii, Samnite Heavy Infantry, and Classical hoplites, and they fought bravely until the end. They finally routed after the rest of my army was finished off by a few units of Aanatim Aloopim/Mercenary Phalangites. Unfortunately they just had too many men. My Triarii were close to finishing off Xanthippos but they didn't quite get him.

After the loss, Cotta (who survived), retreated with a few men back to Syracuse. Next turn, the remaining army retreated west, while Xanthippos himself marched east. I don't know much of what is scripted for Xanthippos, but I heard something about him not being an oridinary family member, and something about him "spawning" at some point, and maybe having some scripted actions. So, that being the case, I just wanted to let you guys know about this behavior by the AI. Whether what I heard was BS or not, I just wanted to give you some feedback regarding what seems to be a pretty silly move by the AI (whats new? :) I know if you could control this you probably would have done so.

Aside from this, my campaign is really heating up. Half the cities in Greece and Anatolia are under siege by numerous factions; Halikarnassos was captured by KH; Demetrias was captured by Epeiros; and Pontos has made it all the way to Byzantion!. The AI is finally launching some naval invasions. All this with RTW 1.5, not BI. It took a while but I am glad I stayed with this campaign, it has been great so far (if a little quiet, until now)

I also thought I'd go ahead and give a big thank you to the EB team; what can I say, it's really the greatest game of all-time. And I've been a video game fanatic since 1986, so I have a pretty good idea about what other kind of games exist. An added bonus is that I've also learned more about the ancient world from this game than I have from any class I ever took. So, again, thank you guys.

(Heres a screenshot of what Xanthippos did:)

[Bootsiuv]

Interesting....sounds like good times.

Although this might be more appropriate in the gameplay guides forum, I do understand you wanted to thank the team....

[mighty_rome]

Yeah, I thought this was probably the most appropriate forum, since the post wasn't limited to *only* one thing like a (possible) bug report OR battle report etc...

[mighty_rome]

Just in case someone wants to see what one of my main points was, and doesn't feel like reading all the junk I wrote, it is this:

Next turn, (Xanthippos' army) retreated west, while Xanthippos himself marched east (alone). I don't know much of what is scripted for Xanthippos, but I heard something about him not being an oridinary family member, and something about him "spawning" at some point, and maybe having some scripted actions. So, that being the case, I just wanted to let you guys know about this behavior by the AI. Whether what I heard was BS or not, I just wanted to give you some feedback regarding what seems to be a pretty silly move by the AI (whats new? :) I know if you could control this you probably would have done so.

[johnhughthom]

Well he is a merc, maybe he was impressed by the fight you put up and wants to join you and sent his army away so the bribe would be less. More likely it's just hardcoded AI stupidity.

[runes]

yea, the cotta for me as well are one awesome family

[Atilius]

...Next turn, the remaining army retreated west, while Xanthippos himself marched east. I don't know much of what is scripted for Xanthippos, but I heard something about him not being an oridinary family member, and something about him "spawning" at some point, and maybe having some scripted actions.

Mr. Xanthippos is indeed a spawned character and not a member of the Qarthadast family tree. Only the time of his appearance is scripted, however. What he does after he turns up is entirely up to him. I'm pleased that you enjoyed your encounter with the X man; he is certainly a great favorite of the Qarthast team. I confess that, in spite of my having had a hand in his creation, I am extremely antipathetic toward him.