Wrath of Sparta! impressions and discussion

[Hooahguy]

Myth, how is the unit variety to your liking? I know there are a lot of complaints about this and I imagine that its a quick fix using mods, but what are your opinions on it?

[Sp4]

Poke poke poke poke.. row, row, poke poke... You'd think someone back then figured out something that works better against masses of spear armed people than... n+1 people armed with spears.

[Slaists]

Poke poke poke poke.. row, row, poke poke... You'd think someone back then figured out something that works better against masses of spear armed people than... n+1 people armed with spears.

n + 2 people armed with spears ;)

[hoom]

And some unmanly missile/cav here & there.

Specifically the value of the Peltast against unsupported Hoplites was one of the key military lessons of the war.

[Sp4]

And some unmanly missile/cav here & there.

Specifically the value of the Peltast against unsupported Hoplites was one of the key military lessons of the war.

Funny how in the actual game, throwing missiles at hoplites is exactly the kind of thing you want missile units to do to waste their ammo.

[hoom]

Also the only proper Peltasts are Thracian/Thracian Mercs.

[easytarget]

I find the agent spam is still as annoying as ever, the campaign as a whole though has been rather fun so far. It's 430BC and I'm being attacked everywhere by Sparta and their allies. My Athenian empire is sprawled out all over the map and I've lost at least 4 settlements to Sparta or one of her allies.

In short, I find this a rather fascinating campaign primarily because I'm losing it. My strategy at this point is to retrench to a core group of settlements and expand out from there (only not take the home city of the main combatants if I can remember which those are, that should be listed in the campaign objectives given what I understand to be a severe diplomatic penalty if you take them).

This is proving to be another enjoyable DLC for me, and as expected infinitely more entertaining than the GC which I consider easily the most boring thing CA has ever created.

[Myth]

Myth, how is the unit variety to your liking? I know there are a lot of complaints about this and I imagine that its a quick fix using mods, but what are your opinions on it?

I haven't built all buildings yet. Got a visitor so I won't be able to play until Saturday/Sunday. I would say it is lower than R2TW standard overall, but Sparta has decent cavalry now so the fation itself has been made more diverse. I want to see if Royal Spartans have a limit on max unit numbers. Also I haven't seen if Heroes of Sparta are in the game.

[Veho Nex]

What this campaign really needed was more factions on release. I think with the zoomed in campaign map you could have some intense head to head campaigns with friends/foes. With only four factions, and ones that are all neighbors, to choose from it gets kinda boring fast. The campaign had some serious potential. I think they could have added unit variety by including "hero" or just named units for the factions as well having the ability to turn units into heroes for their actions on the field. I think that kind of setup would have worked perfectly for this campaign.

[Hooahguy]

What this campaign really needed was more factions on release. I think with the zoomed in campaign map you could have some intense head to head campaigns with friends/foes. With only four factions, and ones that are all neighbors, to choose from it gets kinda boring fast. The campaign had some serious potential. I think they could have added unit variety by including "hero" or just named units for the factions as well having the ability to turn units into heroes for their actions on the field. I think that kind of setup would have worked perfectly for this campaign.

Agreed. Thankfully it seems like most of that can be rectified by modders, considering they made all factions playable in the GC and added named units as well.

[Myth]

To be fair, they are close by but separated by choke points and other factions. The unplayable factions are no pushovers either.

[Veho Nex]

Athens gets slayed in about 10 turns in every game Ive played with them. Then there is Sparta, Korinthos, and Boiolation League start the game practically in a military alliance with everyone around them. You are then rapidly stuck with two options. Diplomatic penalties for slaying your fellow greeks or spend the entire game with your empire fractured.

[KLAssurbanipal]

Picked Hoplites

"“A warrior carries his shield for the sake of the entire line.” - Plutarch"

The Greek answer to the increasing scale and organisation of warfare throughout the 1st millenium BC was the Hoplite. Citizen warriors, they were trained at the expense of the state, though like the Republican Romans, hoplites provided and cared for their own weapons and armour. Good armour and weapons were expensive, so the majority of hoplites were drawn from the middle classes of Greek society.

While styles changed over time and richer citizens had access to more decorative and protective brass armour pieces, the typical hoplite was clad in in linothorax and helmet, and carried a spear in his right hand and a hoplon shield in his left. This offered him and the man to his left protection, creating a defensive wall in the closed ranks of the phalanx. Hoplites also carried a short sword, which might be adopted in the crush of extended melee.

The finest veteran hoplites were chosen from the ranks and formed units of their own, to be deployed where they might swing the tide of battle. To be a Picked Hoplite was a great honour that came with a great responsibility: to succeed in battle where others would fail.

[lars573]

Athens gets slayed in about 10 turns in every game Ive played with them. Then there is Sparta, Korinthos, and Boiolation League start the game practically in a military alliance with everyone around them. You are then rapidly stuck with two options. Diplomatic penalties for slaying your fellow greeks or spend the entire game with your empire fractured.

Which is how the Peloponnesian war went. Athens over stretched it self and got smacked down by the other major poleis led by Sparta.