Started a campaign last night

[Slaists]

I have not played much with the latest patch (house guests, real life, etc.), but the few turns I did with Carthage (Barcids) looked promising. Roman AI has taken full control of the Italian peninsula (sparing the Northern regions which are under firm Ligurian control) and now they look more threatening than ever especially since, as Barcids, I cannot afford much of an army. Anyway, CA has made great improvements in the campaign relative to the roll-out version of the game. I wish I had started playing the game now, not some 9 months ago, LOL.

As to naval battles: the bigger ones are crazy; in smaller ones though (up to 10 ships per side), ramming with proper naval ships carries the day for me. It is a costly affair though.

[Alcibiade]

Roman AI has taken full control of the Italian peninsula (sparing the Northern regions which are under firm Ligurian control)

A surviving Rome AI ? That's quite a surprise ! Without using any mod ?

[Jarmam]

In my experience AI Rome has become more resilient than it used to be. I'm glad that it's not just a fluke in my few games.

[Slaists]

A surviving Rome AI ? That's quite a surprise ! Without using any mod ?

Yes, a surviving Rome AI (no mods, vanilla, patch 12 beta). My game is only some 15 turns into the campaign. Given that I am playing as Carthage, Rome is not likely to survive for long though ;)

[Spoonska]

I started a new campaign about a week ago with the goal of achieving "This Is Total War" and the win without auto-resolving achievements. It's been some fun. It reminds a lot of Shogun 2 because I'm constantly under attack and under agent spam.

It's been really slow going. I'm at turn #100 I think, maybe a little under that. All I own at the moment is pretty much modern day France. It's not a lot but it's enough to support 6 armies and 1 fleet. I've had a lot of fun with Barbarian armies. This is my first Barbarian playthrough. My armies mainly consist of : 1- Oathsworn General, 2 - Balista, 4-5 Slingers, 4 Chosen Spearmen , 2 Heavy Horse, 6 Chosen Swordsmen.

The campaign map has been uninteresting I would say. From what I've seen Lusitania has conquered almost all of Iberia and Rome has Italy + the alps. I don't see anyone gaining map, but it's nice to see some big factions for once. The most frustrating thing from the AI is still sieges. It really seems like 1 in 4 sieges the AI is inactive.

I like my strat however I need to adjust some before Civil War happens. I've pretty much kept full stacks in cities along bordering countries, while I have 1-2 stacks pushing out. Like I said though slow going. Hopefully by the end of today it won't be a problem. I'm planning on getting a lot of playing time in and I should start to snowball if I play my cards right.