New To Rome Total War

[Tsar Alexsandr]

So, I didn't buy it when it was new, but finally got Rome Total War....

And I was curious if any people still play it around here. I'm enjoying it so far. :D I've played as the Samartians in Barbarian Invasion. And Scythia in Rome Total War. I've also tried the Selucids, have a good game going as Egypt, and another as Macedon.

[Ethelred Unread]

I've got it on my laptop - don't know what the MP scene is like these days but it's still enjoyable to get it out on the train!

[Tsar Alexsandr]

I've got it on my laptop - don't know what the MP scene is like these days but it's still enjoyable to get it out on the train!

I bet! I'd like to try it but hmm... well we'll see. I might wanna familarize myself with the factions more before I get myself maimed. XD

[Talimze]

I bet! I'd like to try it but hmm... well we'll see. I might wanna familarize myself with the factions more before I get myself maimed. XD

I have never played multiplayer RTW before (and I consider that a good decision), but considering the game is so old, I imagine most of the people still playing it are people who are insanely good at it. People who have been playing it forever. This is what someone told me before when I asked about what multiplayer was like a few years ago. Chances are you will get maimed no matter what you do. However, being completely and utterly destroyed and humiliated is the best way to learn.

[ReluctantSamurai]

Vanilla RTW can have its' moments. It's decent enough to warrant several hours a week of gaming time. It also has some very glaring problems which you can find by perusing some of the older threads. But all-in-all, still fun to play.

[Tsar Alexsandr]

I have never played multiplayer RTW before (and I consider that a good decision), but considering the game is so old, I imagine most of the people still playing it are people who are insanely good at it. People who have been playing it forever. This is what someone told me before when I asked about what multiplayer was like a few years ago. Chances are you will get maimed no matter what you do. However, being completely and utterly destroyed and humiliated is the best way to learn.

Indeed. A practical school in the Art of War I'm sure. XD

But I wouldn't mind. :D I'd love to see how I could do. Even if I didn't do all that great lol. No better way to learn after all...

[Myth]

The only thing stopping me from playing RTW all the time is the very poor tech tree for barbarian factions. Unrest management is simply impossible with factions like the Britons or Scythians later on, due to the lack of the civilized faction's civic buildings. EB fixes that but it requires a buttload more resources from your PC to run (which i cannot provide ATM)

[ReluctantSamurai]

Unrest management is simply impossible with factions like the Britons or Scythians later on

Not really. Its admittedly much tougher for barbarian factions.....but doable. In my last few campaigns with Germania, Scythia, and Brittania, I had most of my cities in the yellow, at least, and some in the green.......and most without governors. Achieving ZPG is the key. Once you get that, you don't have to worry about revolts.

[Myth]

That means no farm buildings either, which in those piss-poor provinces means utterly slow initial growth... Or you could go for the revolt-slaughter-revolt-slaughter entless cycle but that is annoying.

[ReluctantSamurai]

The best way for me to explain is perhaps to use an example: Germania

Trier, Damme, & Mogontiacum get the Temple of Woden. This is for the exp. bonus and to recruit Gothic Cavalry later on. Bordesholm, Vicus Gothi, Vicus Marcomanni, Batavodurum, Lovosice, and Samarobriva all get the Temple of Freyja......to start. Obviously, I've fast-forwarded a bit to include territories I can conquer rather quickly. Once the latter six reach 2k, I switch the temple to either Woden or Donar (I don't see the benefit of Beserkers over Chosen Axmen so it's usually Woden). All provinces get the max allowable farm upgrades for town size. Taxes in the low population provinces are set to low, to encourage growth. I can usually get 4-5% growth out of the small villages and I don't train any troops unless absolutely necessary.

With taxes set to low in most provinces and small populations, I don't need governors. The Germans get very few family members with management traits anyways, so there's nothing to lose there. Within 20yrs., (give or take a few), my small towns can start turning out troops in earnest. I usually have at least one port so I can train a small fleet to keep Britannia confined until I've dealt with the Gauls as far as I'm comfortable expanding (usually Alesia, Condate Redonum, Lemonum, Lugdunum).

At that point, I invade Britannia and eliminate them. At about the 40yr mark, the Julii have about cleaned out the Gauls and begin to sniff at my borders. Unless I've made some horrible mistakes, or had very bad luck, they will be facing Chosen Archers (I keep the Abnoba temple in Alesia for the archer bonus if the Gauls build one), Chosen Axemen, Spear Warbands, and Gothic Cavalry. At this stage of the game, against Hastati, Velite, and Principes, it's no contest

Nearly every one of my cities is at ZPG, and my main training centers in Damme, Mogontiacum, Trier, and Alesia produce most of what I need. The other towns will train as needed, and maintain enough garrison to keep things quiet. Most towns are 'yellow' loyalty, a few 'green', and maybe one or two 'blue'. I have no rebellions to put down, and governors in Damme and Mogontiacum only (or as available).

Unfortunately, I erased my last Germania save-game or I'd post a screenie. I might have one from Scythia....same story, different area. I'll look to see if I have one.

[Guyus Germanicus]

I'm an RTW addict. Have been playing it pretty consistently since 2006. Ancient history and ancient warfare is an interest, so I'm sure that lends to my obsession. There are definitely some bugs in the game, especially with siege towers against large and epic stone walls. The soldiers will pile up sometimes at the entrance to the siege tower. I end up having to play a game of start-stop to get them to trickle into the siege tower a few troops at a time.

I used to love coming to the Guild site for RTW a few years ago when some of the serious experts were still playing and contributing comments. You can learn alot by going back and reading some of those old posts.

I wanted to 'ditto' ReluctantSamurai's comments about ZPG. When I first started playing RTW, public order issues were a constant 'worry' regardless of who I was playing with. And as I discovered over time, an unnecessary one. ZPG eventually slows the growth of your city to nothing. If the city isn't growing, neither is the squalor. And if the squalor isn't increasing, your public order becomes stable. In fact, one of my bigger worries was making sure that the city was growing at all or growing fast enough. some cities you simply have to 'goose' to get them to grow. (Which means building every farm and city building that aids growth in any way.) Otherwise, the city might not reach the next admin threshold, and then you can't build the military buildings that provide your best troops. If my city is growing at 2% or less, I figure it's time to build a farm or some water works project or a market.

I like Samurai's tax strategy with German cities. Have never really played that way myself, but it makes good sense. And the big problem with German cities, as with all the barbarian factions, is you want to get to those next higher admin thresholds fast so you can recruit your best troops, especially the archers. The sooner you get there, the sooner you can get at the Romans with good troops. You don't want the game to get so far down the road with the Romans still on the game board and have the Marius event pending. The basic barbarian units are large groups of spearmen. When you recruit one of them from a city, the city's population takes a hit, slowing its growth down, which in turn delays it's reaching that next admin level.

The two main Julii cities Ariminum and Arretium definitely need growth aids to keep them going. That means building farms early and building the Temple of Ceres series. Two cities that never seem to need growth enouragement are Alexandria and Carthage. When I play Greece, Sparta usually needs help. I occasionally have to recruit peasants in Corinth and disband them in sparta to get Sparta to the next city admin building so I can build the army barracks that allows me to recruit Spartans.

[Tsar Alexsandr]

The ancient era certainly is a fun time period to play in! :D

As a cavalry afficianado....I never thought I'd enjoy leading phalanx's so much. (As Macedon.) Naturally, I can still use my cavalry, but I'm depending on a lot of different units and different strategies. (Every faction will require you to change your strategy. XD) I'm also really enjoying Egypt and the Brit's ranged chariots. Fun stuff. :D Definitely a time period full of depth. And with the promise of plenty of battles and war.

[ReluctantSamurai]

And the big problem with German cities, as with all the barbarian factions, is you want to get to those next higher admin thresholds fast so you can recruit your best troops, especially the archers.

That's where the 'growth' temples come in handy. I always had an aversion to these because of the negative traits/ancillaries they often bestow. But since most barbarian factions don't get family members with a pile of management skills, one can safely use them to advantage. I also don't have any problem with switching temples once the original one I built has served its' purpose. Some folks just hate to destroy infrastructure they've already paid for, but for me it's all about achieving the desired affect. Small temples are rebuilt rather quickly anyways, but I will even tear down an awesome temple when its' use is done. I also always destroyed the taverns when I captured a city with one to stay away from the 'drinking' traits, but since I rarely use governors for barbarians, the tavern can be just that last piece of the management puzzle that gets me to ZPG.

[Guyus Germanicus]

I also don't have any problem with switching temples once the original one I built has served its' purpose.

Ditto, that idea. I've been doing that myself. Guess my play is not as eccentric as I thought. :)

[Tsar Alexsandr]

I hope my people don't mind when I re-dedicate the city to a new god lol. I do it a lot lol. I have trouble picking which one is right for each city... XD

[Octavian_of_the_view]

I'm an RTW addict. Have been playing it pretty consistently since 2006. Ancient history and ancient warfare is an interest, so I'm sure that lends to my obsession.

This goes the same for me. I absolutely love this game despite its faults and recently ordered it for my mac so well see how this experiment goes.
Also I hope some people still play MP, I've never had a chance to play it so i want to try my hand.

[smooth_operator]

I clocked plenty of hours on RTW...and i find nothing regrettable about it...Still one of the best of the TW series

[ytghazal]

So yah just like the guy who started the thread i just bought Rome total war, just a month ago i bought medieval 2 and medieval, ive played beginning of campaign in medieval,halfway through a medieval 2 england campaign (won campaign conquering the world) anyways i started up my rome total war yesterday (day it arrived) and right away set campaign to to m/vh figuring from medieval and medieval 2 id have the experience in battles. so i start up, rebel army WOOHOOO first rome battle (i skipped tutorial) send my troops, i choose to go to battle map, first thing i notice is my mouse is suddenly very very sensitive (graphics are on full). Secound thing i notice is that Morale goes down much faster than in medieval 2, in medieval 2 i usually send cavalry to charge the archers and get some kills, weaken them out, one volley and my cav are running for their lives,one united routed, ok i say time to take this slower got to get to know the new tactics, ooh look skirmishers, so i send my 3 battallions of skirmishers, dont turn of the skirmish option finally have to micromanage them by then they are routing after one volly of spears against a phalanx which did nothing but kill 2 For ROME, send 3 legionaries with my general behind, they last longer but i lsot most of my troops and was now at the number and hight disadvantage, barely won it.

Apparently unlike medieval and medieval 2 people day way faster (need to get used ot this), Also troops lose Morale very quickly if their arent troops and a general nearby (unlike medieval 2 (more experience for me in medieval 2) where you can send one battallion to go on a crazed killing spree if you micromanage against the right enemies, also requires more rush entire army tactics needs getting used to) now my mouse is overly sensitive and only on rome, medieval and medieval 2 its fine as well on the rome demo and the others i have so any help here would be nice, Sapping is way cool they should have had it in medieval 2. Troops also move way faster, I like how if you run cavalry through your own troops they get knocked down, i also like when enemy army is running and your shooting arrows how ppl dont just fall they also slide a little, What i dislike is that if you send a cavalry battallion to charge (which is easier to do in this game) they always run for middle of enemy battallion (unlike medieval 2 where yo can get them to hit just the right side(coming from the front) of the battallion,also i have yet figure out how to use the whole spear throwing yet, any tips are nice although i plan to read up on forums and become a decent player by the end of the week. ty guys.