Legions

[mrdun]

When playing as the Romans what units do you use to make up a legion? Early Middle and Late. I believe that one legion is half a stack, I think that has been debated somewhere, If I am wrong please tell. OK, your legions please.

[econ21]

Pre-Marian legion:

1 triari, 2 hastati, 2 principes, 2 velites, 1 Roman archer, 1 equites, 1 general
+ up to half stack of mercs to represent allies

Post-Marian legion:

1 first cohort; 9 cohorts, 1 general + up to half stack of auxiliaries

[mrdun]

The mercs are a really good idea.

[Charge]

Hmm, don't know is it a good idea, but..here's my uber-war-machine from one julii campaign:
1 many-star-general, 4 urban cohorts, 6 late legionary cohorts, 4 archer auxillia, 1 skirmishers, 1 dogs, 3 praetorian cavalry, 1 auxillia cavalry...:D
all except praetorians had 4 exp from start.

If seriously, my earlier army usually has :
2 generals, 6 hastati, 2 principes, 2 triarii, 2 archers, 2 velites, 2 equites, 2 dogs...

late army:
1 general, 1 praetorian(urban) cohort, 8 late cohorts, 4 archers, 1 skirmisher, 1 praetorian cavalry, 2 legion. cavalry, 1 cavalry aux., 1 dog...

always train whole stack, and fight at once as many enemies as possible.

[mrdun]

Nice. My half stacks are normally:

1 general
5 Hastati
2 Velites
2 Equites

[Celt Centurion]

It really depends upon what is available. I'm rarely able to get much triarii before the Marius event so I usually have about 4 hastati on the front line backed up by 6 principes on two lines behind them. A couple of velites go out from the middle of the formation to engage once the battle starts with a few Roman archers behind. Some equites on the far edge of the field, hopefully to chase away the enemies routing.

Post Marius, I prefer the legionary cohort rather than the early cohort. I like to use about 8-10 of them with four units of archers. Three units of Roman cavalry on each flank provide good cover and to cut down those running away. This also provides me with a full or near full stack.

When going against Egypt, Urban Cohorts are good to have around but they are much more expensive. I find the Praetorian cohorts to not be as tough as they think they are as I've had legionary cohorts kick their butts.

I do not care too much for the other types of cavalry available to the Romans, but if faced with a really tough opponent, I'll bring in Praetorian Cavalry much like the Urban Cohorts.

I used to keep old units and retrain them to full manning to have a sort of continuity, but now I like to discharge the "obsolete" in favor of the stronger, and example being, I will recruit a legionary cohort and discharge an early legionary cohort one for one until I have the army that I want. The drawback to this is that sometimes I'll take a city where I cannot retrain them. Here, I'll drag and drop to bring most to full strength and build the Army Barracks when it becomes available to retrain the rest. If I can get them to a place they can be retrained in one move, I send them that way exchanging one for one.

As said before, I upgrade every man's armor (except peasants) and when there is a valor or experience upgrade to be made, I make those as well. I often trade complete garrisons from one city to another for these upgrades. They do tend to pay off.

Strength and Honor

Celt Centurion

[TruePraetorian]

I do it historical to the T (someone please explain what that means)

I use a full stack for both

Pre-Marian:
-4 hastati
-5 princeps
-4 triarii
-1 velite
-1 generals cavalry
-5 merc units of any type

This is very traditional. I set up the Hastati into the forst line. I put the velites inside the line to re-enact the actual 5 hastati (120 in each maniple and 40 velites, whereas the princeps had 160) and turn skirmish mode off.
The princeps make uo the second line, which is shortened to be like the hastati, and so is the triarii. My general is in the rear with the mercs on the flanks or sometimes in the front to act as a buffer.

Post-Marian:
-5-6 regular cohorts. 5 if i have a first cohort.
-4 early cohorts
-4 infantry auxillia
-1 Generals unit
-1 archer auxillia
-2 units of artillery
-2 units of mercs depending on location (barb mercanarys in gaul, hoplites in greece, spanish in spain, iberians in Carthage, etc)

Again, very traditional. I set up the Cohorts in the original fashion of two lines, alternating between regular and early cohorts (you can google it to see) with the first cohort on the top right side. The infantry auxillia are for the flanks, along with the mercs. I place the artillery and archers infront of my double line. When the enemy closes in, I advance my legionarys so that the archers and artillery are safely in the middle, able to shoot. My general is behind all of this (not far behind though)

The reason for the regulars and earlys is it very hard to train regulars in the outer provinces.

These methods work surprisingly well, in fact I won the game witht this style!

[mrdun]

mercs are good to recruit, have a field battle then disband, no upkeep

[Punicus]

mercs are good to recruit, have a field battle then disband, no upkeep

I also like to hire weak and inexpensive mercenaries as temporary garrisons if I have to keep my army on the move fast while at war. For example I'll conquer a city, put some mercenaries in there and move on with as many troops as I can without causing a rebellion.

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

mercs are good to recruit, have a field battle then disband, no upkeep

I try to avoid that strategy since I consider it a bit of an exploit - it's a house rule I use.

I also like to hire weak and inexpensive mercenaries as temporary garrisons if I have to keep my army on the move fast while at war. For example I'll conquer a city, put some mercenaries in there and move on with as many troops as I can without causing a rebellion.

I've never tried using mercenaries for garrisons in that way before - primarily because I never really thought about it. I'll give it a try in the future though. Unfortunately, since merceneries have a higher upkeep cost than units of a similar class and their numbers are limited, I'll probably only use them as a temporary measure until I can draft in my usual batch of rabble.

[mrdun]

Usual batch of rabble, haha. Do you have an merry band of town militia following?

[Quintus.JC]

The Romans were really big on artellaries. I remember the starting scene in Gladiator (film). fantastic!

[Quirinus]

Usual batch of rabble, haha. Do you have an merry band of town militia following?

Actually, I do! Not following tightly, but generally, once my main army has left their base city and started campaigning, I start to churn out militias from peripheral troop-training centres-- those that have a respectable population, but do not have the infrastructure to be full-fledged troop factories yet.

I try to avoid that strategy since I consider it a bit of an exploit - it's a house rule I use.

Why would you consider it an exploit? This strategy would be extremely costly, wouldn't it? Paying full recruitment price for one-shot use? I do use a variation of this tactic though-- if I think that I am in no danger of losing a battle on the way, I only hire mercs before a big battle or siege. Money conservation is pretty important for the Julii.