Post your EB empires!

[Shokifer]

I have fully explored Italy and Spain, and now realised how screwed I truly am. Contrary to what I thought, the Lusitanians control ALL of Italy, while the Romans are stuck in Syracuse.

On the bright side, probably the worst they can do is oust me from Germania. I'll still have Britain at least. Although, given that I'm using BI.exe, I probably shouldn't rule out a naval invasion, especially after Macedon conquered central Italy before being kicked out by the Lusitanians.

Also, after this war, there'll only be one major superpower in western Europe.

[huth]

Also, after this war, there'll only be one major superpower in western Europe.

So it's gonna be epic war :D

[Saldunz]

So I think I've won this VH/VH campaign (without ever using the Force Diplomacy mod) and, thus, EB as a whole.



This was my Getai campaign that I started back in 2010. I've posted about it in the past twice, here and here.

These last 30 game years were spent at war with Baktria, the Carthaginians and the Greek Alliance - curiously named since they only held Italian settlements!

I could probably keep playing the campaign and go for a world conquest, but that seems to go against the spirit of the mod. I've sacked both Rome and Carthage within a year of each other (119 BC). I possess the only navy worth anything in the Mediterranean. My conquests spread from the North Sea to the Arabian Sea. And the Dacian-Thracian homeland is so secure and safe that no Daco-Thracian ever has to risk their life in war again. Why bother, when I have cities filled with Greeks, Arabs, Iranians and Celts all eager to die for their drunken Getic overlords?

And it was all done without having any of the benefits of having access to phalangites!

All in all, I'd say this a job well done!

[Jive]

So I think I've won this VH/VH campaign (without ever using the Force Diplomacy mod) and, thus, EB as a whole.

And it was all done without having any of the benefits of having access to phalangites!

All in all, I'd say this a job well done!

For sure Saldunz, definitely well done. But how in heck do you win battles on VH? You sure you're not cheating or anything :-)? Don't think I'd even consider it; most I've tried was H/H as Romans and that was done more or less on a wing and a prayer. Anyway yeah, congratulations!

[Saldunz]

For sure Saldunz, definitely well done. But how in heck do you win battles on VH? You sure you're not cheating or anything :-)? Don't think I'd even consider it; most I've tried was H/H as Romans and that was done more or less on a wing and a prayer. Anyway yeah, congratulations!

Cheating's not necessary - you just have to slightly modify your own approach to battles to survive VH battles. VH battle difficulty gives generous boosts to most of the AI's units' stats, but their morale remains unchanged. So in VH, almost every single battle is about causing a rout. Their stat bonuses don't count for much when they're running away.

There are many different ways to do this. The most common that I use, especially against stacks of phalangites, is setting up my infantry against theirs, and either using cavalry or javelineers to sweep around them from behind and break the AI army. Keeping that in mind, it's extremely important to keep your infantry on guard mode, otherwise your line may break and rout before you can get the cavalry/skirmishers in place.

There's also a lot of little notes that go with this, like if the AI army is lead by a FM, you need to focus your efforts on killing him. If you have too many weak units on your side, you can fake a rout and get the AI to split up its forces to chase you, while your main units engage and terrify the fractured army one piece at a time. The only near-impossibility of VH is fighting against horse-archers without phangites. But even then, all you have to do to tip things back to your advantage is fight them on steep hills and wear them down with your archers and slingers while they get exhausted trying to reach you.

You'll lose battles, or be forced to run away more than you're used to, but I guarantee you that the first Heroic Victory you get on VH/VH will make you feel very, very heroic!

[Jive]

The only near-impossibility of VH is fighting against horse-archers without phangites. But even then, all you have to do to tip things back to your advantage is fight them on steep hills and wear them down with your archers and slingers while they get exhausted trying to reach you.

Yeah, those armored HA's and Noble Heavy Cav are really awesome. I read somewhere their armor wasn't iron or steel, but overlaid pieces of horses' hooves attached to leather. Quite ingenious. And it isn't always easy to find a steep hill when they're in the vicinity!

Update: Now I'm playing the KH on VH/H (still not ready for VH/VH). Not all that difficult once you get the hang of it. What's made it easier is taking control of bridges, so the AI has to attack you at extreme disadvantage. Otherwise better look for any height advantage. Cheerio!

[Jive]

Hmmm. The cobwebs have gathered on this thread, gotta dust 'em off. So here's a couple thumbnails from my current Pahlava campaign, played on VH/H with BI exe and battle time limit ON. (BTW also posted at TWC, but with different commentary.)

There's a story behind the first shot. It was supposed to be a quick punitive raid on Alexandria, but nearly resulted in disaster when my troops refused to climb the siege towers. Turns out there's a bug specific to Alexandria, at least when assaulting from the eastern side. Fortunately a spy had opened the gates so it was possible to enter, although you'd expect heavy casualties from boiling oil poured on invaders passing through the gates plus wall towers firing frontwards and backwards.

Yet losses were relatively minor--15 or 20%--since the defending garrison acted lethargically (the two elite phalanxes just stumbled around without using their pikes at all), the tower guys seemed kinda sleepy, and the boiling oil fellas apparently didn't show up at all (no burn injuries far as I could tell). As I suggested at the TWC technical section in the thread "Siege towers not working" maybe it's not a bug, but a deliberate feature by the game designers to show the effects of that infamous Nile Delta parasite called schistosomiasis (bilharzia) on people who hang around that marshy, low-lying area.

Anyway after enslaving the populace I demolished just about anything trashable in Alexandria except for Alexander's Tomb (for obvious sentimental reasons) and the naval port (might need those transports later to invade the last Seleucid bastion on Cyprus), realizing about 65,000 mnai for my efforts. Plus most of the raiding force got away clean after leaving a token garrison behind to slow pursuit. Not too bad, eh?

Thanks for your kind attention and Happy Thanksgiving to Stateside EB fans!