Things you learned from playing vanilla RTW

[Zeibek]

Burning pigs could have been used historically - it was mentioned on QI, any accuracy behind this?

IIRC it was just at the siege of Megara that that was used, nowhere else, and certainly not by the Romans.

[Aemilius Paulus]

IIRC it was just at the siege of Megara that that was used, nowhere else, and certainly not by the Romans.

Pigs were a common weapon against elephants, and some were probably smart enough to guess that if you combine the elephant's biggest fears: smell of pigs, squeal of pigs and fire (fear that all animal share) yo will get better results. Even if the ancient generals weren't that smart, you, acting as the player, could change the history a bit. After all, aren't the Total War games all about creating alternative history? (however not in the sense of Arcani and gladiators, which were grossly inaccurate)

[Zeibek]

Pigs were a common weapon against elephants, and some were probably smart enough to guess that if you combine the elephant's biggest fears: smell of pigs, squeal of pigs and fire (fear that all animal share) yo will get better results. Even if the ancient generals weren't that smart, you, acting as the player, could change the history a bit. After all, aren't the Total War games all about creating alternative history? (however not in the sense of Arcani and gladiators, which were grossly inaccurate)

Umm... like I said they never were common. Possible maybe but not common, and possible does not equate to historically accurate. By that logic the gladiators would be just as historic!

If pigs (specifially burning ones) were so useful, why weren't they used all the time? Burning ones were used AFAIK only at Megara, normal ones used to frighten Pyrhus' elephants but they didn't really do the trick and readapted infantry formations were the key factor, not the use of pigs like some classical writers would have it.

Anyway, point is: all of the things I mentioned referred to the fact that they seemed very commonplace even though they were merely historical anomalies. Not all of the Celts and Germans fought bareshirt like in vanilla, where all but the few elites wore only trousers.

We all know that Rome: Total War was an inaccurate game, but guys, you have to admit it was pretty awesome. No other game could compare with it when it was released. The sheer awesomeness of RTW made EB possible, which had then taken the title of the best computer game from RTW. I still have many good memories left from my RTW days.

And here I totally agree with you. RTW for me was the best game ever until I discovered EB.

[Aemilius Paulus]

Umm... like I said they never were common. Possible maybe but not common, and possible does not equate to historically accurate. By that logic the gladiators would be just as historic!

To set the pigs on fire instead of just using them as they were would be a minor change. To introduce an entirely new unit, especially one as unreliable as gladiators would be a major change. Pigs were already used. Gladiators weren't and for excellent reasons. They were slaves, criminals, and prisoners of war. They would turn against their roman overlords as soon as they got the chance and they have already been know for rebelling. They had little discipline and had no place in a legion. They also usually spoke various different languages, making commanding more difficult. As you can see, introducing them would not be feasible or historic.

[Apgad]

I learnt that the Spartans actually fought wearing red nighties and golden flower pots on their heads.
I learnt that German women can get their men to fight harder by screeching at them. This worked just as well in ancient times as it does now...

[Aemilius Paulus]

I learnt that the Spartans actually fought wearing red nighties and golden flower pots on their heads.
I learnt that German women can get their men to fight harder by screeching at them. This worked just as well in ancient times as it does now...

The red nighties are pretty inaccurate (the Spartans wore red capes and armour), but the Spartan helmets are the same in EB as they are in RTW.

The screeching women are actually somewhat accurate, since the women actually followed the Germanic warriors both during the campaign and battles. The women would stay right behind the men in a battle, and whenever the men would rout or retreat, the women would taunt them, usually succeeding in rallying the men. I am not so sure if the women actually "screeched" or taunted/encouraged during the other parts of the battle though. Chances are they did, at least once in a while. Acting as CA, it would be more accurate to give the screeching women a version of the "Rally" ability.

Despite this, turning the Germanic women into a Total War unit is taking it pretty far, although not necessarily ahistorical.

[General Appo]

Well, you gotta admit that turning them all into hot french maids with meat clevers might have been taking it a step to far.

[Valion]

I learned that being hit by a fire arrow burns you to the point you'r charcoal
I learned that the all mercenaries in the ancient world had a color coded uniform of green>.>
I learned that biological warfare was already used in ancient times.
I learned that Gaul once conquered the whole medeterranian o.O