Best Campaign

[Telys]

I started one of these a long time ago. Hopefully this one will work just as well.

Post some screens of your best, favorite or any campaign you want. Explain whats going on little bit and so on and so forth, and if enough people start posting we'll be able to share startegies, help someone in trouble, or just see how other people play the game.

[Telys]

I'll start I guess.



I had Macedon as a protectorate, but somehow they broke the alliance.
That was early in the campaign. I've progressed slightly since then.



It's twenty some odd years after the other picture. I'm at war with most my neighbors, if not all of them. Egypt is dead, Numidia took there homelands. The Seleucids are my biggest threat. They have the largest military and the most territories right now. My best General. I've never had this title before. He's on his way to Rome to finish off the senate and the Julii. Hopefully he wont die before then.

I'll try and post some battles later.

[mrdun]

Sweet campaign.

[Paradox]

Awesome campaign Telys, it's almost like every world power is against you. I might be able to post my Carthaginian campaign later.

[Barbarian]

I have the english version too, but this screenshot is from the russian version of RTW.
Not the best campaign, but the one which I played last. Met the victory conditions 10 turns ago, have 52 provinces now. I am at war with almost everyone too, only Scythia and Dacia are neutral, but they are minor powers, and will soon perish. I have no allies, because I can afford to fight with all the world myself, and all other factions have formed an alliance against me.

Don't be amazed by the small amount of money I have - only around 100 000 for such a huge empire. That's because I do not collect the money, but invest it. I have an income around +60 000 each turn, but after I build something in each settlement, it has all been used.

Now, the civil war is close to it's ending (Scipii have large territory, but few settlements). Have a look: Brutii now live in Egypt, Scipii- in Africa. And they dare to call themselves "romans"!?! They even haven't seen Rome!

There are quite a few factions left, because the small ones have been destroyed by rising empires. It is clear that Julii will have to fight with Egypt to decide which empire will have the total control of all known world.

In army screen you can see my usual composition of legions. The number of siege weapons and cavalry may be different, though depending on the task that will be given for the legion.

[Telys]

Thats a nice campaign there. The war with Egypt will definetely be a long one. Good luck with taking the rest of the world. Post some updates later if you can.

[Barbarossa82]

I'll start I guess.



I had Macedon as a protectorate, but somehow they broke the alliance.
That was early in the campaign. I've progressed slightly since then.



It's twenty some odd years after the other picture. I'm at war with most my neighbors, if not all of them. Egypt is dead, Numidia took there homelands. The Seleucids are my biggest threat. They have the largest military and the most territories right now. My best General. I've never had this title before. He's on his way to Rome to finish off the senate and the Julii. Hopefully he wont die before then.

I'll try and post some battles later.

That's a mighty fine mini-mod you seem to be using

[Hound of Ulster]

nice work with the Greek Cities Telys.

[Quirinus]

I'll start I guess.



I had Macedon as a protectorate, but somehow they broke the alliance.
That was early in the campaign. I've progressed slightly since then.



It's twenty some odd years after the other picture. I'm at war with most my neighbors, if not all of them. Egypt is dead, Numidia took there homelands. The Seleucids are my biggest threat. They have the largest military and the most territories right now. My best General. I've never had this title before. He's on his way to Rome to finish off the senate and the Julii. Hopefully he wont die before then.

I'll try and post some battles later.

Whoa. I've never seen Egypt destroyed and the Seleucids triumphant before, when I'm not actually playing the Seluecids. o.O By Numidia no less!

About your king: great guy..... what traits did you gain to get the 'Avenger' epithet? And your traits are all positive.... I always get at least some bad traits like Poor Farmer or Useless Assessor.

Nice campaign.



I think my best game was with the Brutii. My faction leader even got the trait 'Virtus', a step up from 'Good Honest Roman' (I think), which gave him the epithet 'Augustus'-- his name became 'Tiberius Augustus'. How cool is that? But then I popped off one too many Germanic princes, and his epithet got changed to 'the Killer' right before he bought the farm (or the Latifunda, or the Great Estates.... ;) )

Though now that game has gone to seed with widespread corruption and a streak of madness running through the family. As amusing as the description for 'Deranged' may be ('There are some who say that this man speaks like a deranged rock ape. The rock apes will take offence at this slur.'), seeing a once-great administrator neglect his duties to drown spiders ("....you treacherous little buggers...mutter....") in vinegar or the great conqueror of the Balkans whimpering about 'the Great Wine Pressing', is not amusing in the least.

[Telys]

Yea, I'm using the vbm mod so egypt tends to not spread very far or die most of the time. My leader got a trait called avenger, and I'm guessing thats what gave him the title. The trait description says something about sweeping across enemies land leaving a trail of destruction or ruin, something like that. He did have one bad trait in that picture, it's towards the bottom of the list traits he had gained along the years, useless assessor. Now though, he has gotten old, his title changed, he is a plague bearer and he became minion .


I was trying to get him the great title, but i dont think he has enough time left for that. So I've started on a new general.



I gave him pretty much an invincible army. Hopefully he will take all of asia minor, and then some.

Some screens of the battle


I had more screens but they came out horrible, so that is all I have of this battle.

The Seleucids have been sending all there armies my way. I wasnt really prepared for that, but I've been holding up rather well. Carthage has started reclaiming there homelands now that the scipii are dead. The julii are almost dead. They anly hold caralis. Dacia has been attacking less and less, I think they are running out of men. I think germania is going to attack soon.

That's a mighty fine mini-mod you seem to be using

Yes it is. I've made a few changes to the mod though, mostly just recruiting. I've noticed there is a problem with sardis though. It wont expand past it's original level no matter how large the population get, a little frustrating when playing as the seleucids.

[Quirinus]

Oh.... I see. What does the 'vbm mod' do? I see that it changes some city names too..... I don't recall Pella being the city in Macedonia.

On-topic, lol, your faction leader likes it in the butt. Still much better than my faction heir in one of my Egyptian games though. He has the trait 'Arse'. xD Is it just me, or do the Egyptians get these 'Minion' traits more often?

Doros the Brave doesn't sound too bad...... It sounds better than 'the Avenger', at any rate. :P I only got a 'the Great' epithet once when I was playing the Parthians, and were owning the infantry-heavy factions against overwhelming odds. But then it quickly got replaced by 'the Horseman'. I don't understand the logic of these things. One would think that being called 'the Great' would be the ultimate title.

[Telys]

Oh.... I see. What does the 'vbm mod' do? I see that it changes some city names too..... I don't recall Pella being the city in Macedonia.

On-topic, lol, your faction leader likes it in the butt. Still much better than my faction heir in one of my Egyptian games though. He has the trait 'Arse'. xD Is it just me, or do the Egyptians get these 'Minion' traits more often?

Doros the Brave doesn't sound too bad...... It sounds better than 'the Avenger', at any rate. :P I only got a 'the Great' epithet once when I was playing the Parthians, and were owning the infantry-heavy factions against overwhelming odds. But then it quickly got replaced by 'the Horseman'. I don't understand the logic of these things. One would think that being called 'the Great' would be the ultimate title.

I'm not sure exactly what it does, but i do know it makes it so brittania starts only in britannia so it takes a little while for them to expand, and it gives other factions like carthage, the seleucids etc a little extra push so they dont die so quickly. It also adds three settlemnts, one in asia minor for the seleucids, and two for carthage, one next to the city of carthage and the small island above caralis has a city. There are some other little changes that dont effect too much of the game.

The last couple of julii campaigns ive played, every single family member I had that stayed in a settlement for more than a couple years got the minion trait. I got angry so I quit the game. I've had the great title twice. Once in a greek campaign and one in a scipii campaign. In the scipii one I got it right before the general died.

[mrdun]

I have just started a Bosphoran campaign on Roma Surrectum. I'm not sure how I can expand as my economy is rather poor by RS standards and I am surrounded by free people with 1/2 stacks outside each settlement. I am trying to build up my economy so I can compete in troop numbers. I think it wil only take one settlement then I will be rather rich.

[Telys]

I have just started a Bosphoran campaign on Roma Surrectum. I'm not sure how I can expand as my economy is rather poor by RS standards and I am surrounded by free people with 1/2 stacks outside each settlement. I am trying to build up my economy so I can compete in troop numbers. I think it wil only take one settlement then I will be rather rich.

I've never played RS so I can't really give my opinion on the subject. If you post screens shots I might be able to share my ideas on your situation.

[Barbarossa82]

Yes it is. I've made a few changes to the mod though, mostly just recruiting. I've noticed there is a problem with sardis though. It wont expand past it's original level no matter how large the population get, a little frustrating when playing as the seleucids.

You're right - another user pointed out that problem and I've released a corrected descr_strat file over in the mod subforum.

[Telys]

You're right - another user pointed out that problem and I've released a corrected descr_strat file over in the mod subforum.

Thanks for the info Barbarossa. I'll definetely check it out.

[mrdun]

I don't get that much time on it at the moment but one of the free peoples armies went somewhere so I quickly took their departed city I think this will be a war of safe attacking and ruthless defending Very fun. What I am aiming for is to take all the cities around the sea, a bit of a trading empire

[mrdun]

I took my chance when for some reason they abandoned another settlement, leaving only a minimal garrison. Now I am in better shape. Pontus are expanding rapidly on the coastline and now border me. I think I will attack and lead an offensive. Hopefully giving me momentum to suppress them.

[Telys]

I see. If you're going for coastal cities pontis would definetely be a good target, seeing that they control the eastern half of the black sea. The only problem with holding coastal settlements is that you'll share your borders with many factions which will probably want those cities eventually, which will lead to many enemies on multiple fronts.

Well, I had to start a new campaign. I decided to go with the greeks again. I tried something new this time and abandoned everything except sparta and rhodes. Surpisingly I only lost money for about two turns. I formed an alliance with the romans and waited for macedon to attack, they did. Luckily a scipii army was in macedon territory, so now the romans are at war with macedon. I decided to see how far I can go with this alliance with the romans, probably not the best idea in the world.

I gave all of the roman houses, including the senate, military access. Then the following turn demanded access in return. Surprisingly they accepted. I'm not sure how long this alliance will last. At the moment it seems to be a fairly stable situation.

[Quirinus]

I'm not sure exactly what it does, but i do know it makes it so brittania starts only in britannia so it takes a little while for them to expand, and it gives other factions like carthage, the seleucids etc a little extra push so they dont die so quickly. It also adds three settlemnts, one in asia minor for the seleucids, and two for carthage, one next to the city of carthage and the small island above caralis has a city. There are some other little changes that dont effect too much of the game.

I see..... I was wondering why a small part of Numidia (the territory) near Africa had a different colour.

By the way, in your screenshot, is Caralis owned by Dacia? I just noticed, but it seemed a little incredible-- I've never seen Dacia with any overseas settlements.

Barbarossa82, could you link me to that mod you're talking about? I can't seem to find it.

I got my faction leader killed on Rhodes in my Macedonian campaign yesterday-- by wooden wall defenses no less! How luckless can you get?

I'm starting an Armenia mission soon. Haven't got the urge to play the Eastern factions for a while, but I was inspired by Barbarossa82's AAR.

[Barbarian]

I have decided to start a new campaign with Greek cities. This one will be unusual. Usually, Parthia gets destroyed early in the game, and I have almost never played against AI Parthia. So, I changed the files to give them 1,5 million denarii (!!! ). I hope this will be enough for them to invade egypt and take over the rest of the world. I have also set some important rules for myself:

1) No, world conquest. I will only take Athens from rebels and Corinth from Macedon. I will probably give away Syracuse to Scipii early in the game, to prevent unending fights around that settlement. Not decided wether I should take Kydonia and Halicarnassus, your comments needed.
After doing it, I will stop expanding and ensure peace with all factions. I will only fight defensive battles, and try to prevent war for as long as possible.
While other factions will be fighting their greedy wars, I will establish prosperity and growth in my settlements. So - I will have a small state with few cities, but it will be a paragon for other factions in Cultural level and set standards for civilized world.
I will only consider taking a new settlement, when all my former settlements will have reached the highest level and when all the possible buildings will have been built. But the settlement must be taken from enemies - no invasions of neutral lands.
2) My intention is also to act a lot via diplomacy to keep the factions of hellenic culture allied, or at least neutral.
3) Military. Minimum or no use of mercenaries or low-tier troops and levies. I will have a small but elite army, form the finest soldiers, hardened warriors in the best armour available.
Spartan hoplites must be trained only in Sparta, nowhere else.
4) Must work on the traits of family members, try to maintain a clear Greek, especially Spartan, bloodline, meaning no adoption. Faction leader, as well as any other family member must be an example for other troops in the battle. Fight in the first lines, not fearing glorious death: ask nothing of your soldiers, that you are not ready to do yourself.

All of this should make a very challenging campaign. I don't mind ending the campaign in the streets of Athens or Sparta, dieing under 1000 Parthian arrows, as I have never lost any campaign yet in any of the total war games..

PS: I just hope that Parthians will send a diplomat to me with a message: "Be afraid. Sparta will burn to the ground! The thousand nations of Parthian empire descend upon you!"

[mrdun]

Only have your daughters marry men with Greek names e.g. -_ _ _ of Athens

I always like a mess around campaign. My current is with Julii, no superfaction.

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Hullo Quirinus

...could you link me to that mod you're talking about? I can't seem to find it.

You can find the latest version of the Barbarossa's Vanilla Balancing modification (v5) here. The thread in question also contains two other similar modifications by Barbarossa82 for R:TW's expansions - BI and Alexander.

[Barbarian]

A little update. Everything goes as planned. I have taken Athens and Corinth, have a plan to take Kydonia, but I won't attack Halicarnassus. I managed to prevent war with Scipii by giving Syracuse to them and leaving Sicily. I also got one extra army (the garrison of Syracuse) this way, which I used to defeat Macedonian reinforcements. I have decided to stop expanding now, but Macedonians do not accept ceasefire. Thats not a big problem - all their armies march somewhere north, to Dacia, it seems that the war with me doesn't seem important to them. And when romans will arrive, they will forget about me completely. I will just wait till their diplomat comes with the proposal of ceasefire.
Parthians are not doing much with their 1 500 000 denarii, they are too passive and their armies, which are quite huge though, simply wander around. However, they are wandering more and more closely to Seleucid towns
But the real reason I made this post was to show you a rare sight - king of greek cities and king of Macedon meet in battle to fight a heroic duel:





guess who won?

[Quirinus]

Whoa, you modded in Spartans as your general's bodyguards? Nice. Doesn't that mean that you lose your 'rally troops' ability, though?

[Barbarian]

No, but spartans, who are in general's bodyguard unit can't swich of their phalanx formation. But that is not a big problem.
I messed it up a bit, so also Macedonians and Seleucids have spartan bodyguards. However, it is not so bad, because now AI doesn't loose it's generals so soon - pikemen are a defensive unit, while cavalry is offensive.

[Paradox]

I like the way you managed to arrange a one on one battle between the generals, it's brilliant and cinematic, I have to try that sometime.

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Very interesting screenshots there Barbarian. I only wonder how you managed to prevent the Macedonian general's bodyguard from getting too involved.

[Quirinus]

Maybe they were all slain. >:D

[Paradox]

Barbarian, can you tell me how you changed the general's bodyguard unit to Spartan Hoplites? And how did you make the two generals face each other without the troops interfering?

I have done this once while playing as the Julii, I advanced my general's unit to the Senator's (S.P.Q.R) bodyguard unit and made them engage each other while the other troops slaughter themselves. So they did fight, but some fool interfered and killed him. I forgot to mention this was a custom battle too, so it was much easier arranging it here.