Civilization vs Total War

[mlc82]

Yes, I did give it a brief stint. However, it came back to the same thing- I simply couldn't lose battles, period. Plus, the AI is still so nonsensical on the strategic level its baffling. This is not the fault of the EB team at all- I commend them for doing so much with so little and having such commitment to a project of which they do not charge money. Fact is, the core of Rome was totally rotten for me- just not enough to work with to make a game I could enjoy.

A few things:

If you happen to have RTW Alexander laying around, the "Alex" mods for EB improve the AI a LOT! It can still be pretty stupid at times, but nowhere near it's usual level, and has at times given me battles that felt like playing Medieval 1 again.

2. Try out the "Darth Formations" minimod for EB. In my experience it helps the AI maintain their formation at least until contact in battle, instead of tending to attack piecemeal. The EB formations do this decently as well, but from my experience the Darth formations make it even tighter.

3. EB is a must-roleplay kind of mod. There are hordes of threads about this on the EB board, and it REALLY makes a big difference in the fun factor, along with providing some challenge vs the lackluster AI that feels a little less like deliberately handicapping yourself. Things such as low-end generals can only lead a single legion (as Rome of course, and there is a breakdown on the EB forum as well of what units a single roman legion should consist of, it's nowhere near a full stack). I've even worked on a set of rules for an "extended general cam" mode, just haven't posted or put them in practice yet, but trying to make EB play a little more like the "Take Command" tactical games, though you'd need some serious self discipline to stick to it!