Post your DTW Empire

[Stilgar CG]

Strangely enough, such a thread was not created on XGM-Diadochi forum. Hope it will fill up quickly with posts and empires.

-----


Here are some pics of my Achaean League campaign. AL rules Greece; Byzantium and Seutopolis has just been conquered.




I am planning to establish my frontier with the barbarian world along the Epidamnos-Sardica-Seutopolis line. There will be just a few passes to block/guard. Plague is ravaging in Pella. Pretty strange and annoying: population was low and I sacked the city before occupying it.



Meet the family. I have plenty of generals, even after I loss one because of plague in Pella. I try to keep strong ties with factions which I do not expect to fight in short term.



I am afraid the fate of AL is to fight TSE in Anatolia. An army of Seleucid (almost full stack) is about to cross land bridge between Anatolia and Europe (I played a bit further). I blocked their path with my own army of approx. equal strength. I guess a nice bloody clash is inevitable (I’ll post a short battle report if it turns to be interesting). Btw, Pontus is also pretty aggressive; I think I have to fight them and TSE at the same time.

The army you see in the pic is heading towards Crete. There is a nasty rebel force on the island (3-4 chevrons hoplites, Cretan archers, and decent phalangists). I’ll add a few higher level units to this expedition force (hoplites and phalangists) and invade Crete anyway. If all goes as I expect, this army will continue with invasion of Rhodes and then Halicarnasus. I also fancy an expedition to Syrene at some point.




This pic is to show the situation in Italy and Sicily. Romans are about to finish Epirus. With all these, Romans look pretty vulnerable to me: I guess Carthage will come upon them soon enough. Would be nice to strike Rome in the middle of Punic wars, but I guess Anatolia is priority nr 1 at the moment. Later, I might send an expedition to Italy. Phyrrus is still alive, but not for long I guess. An assassin’s knife, sword, or an arrow will eventually get him. But the guy kept Romans busy, so the Greeks salute him.




-----
RedFox, I’ll try to find time later today and post my impressions about the campaign, economy, recruitment, battle experiences etc. Just to give info on the gameplay to those interested and some feedback to you. ME

[RedFox]

So far it looks great. I can see you're not playing with the latest patch, but that doesn't really matter. I'm surprised to see that Pergamum got defeated by the Seleucids, which is something I rarely see in my campaigns. I'll be really looking forward to some overview and perhaps suggestions on how to make this mod better (and there are probably a lot of things..).

[Stilgar CG]

On my Achaean League experience on H/H ...

Plain fun! First 10 turns was hell. Fighting Macedonians, which are richer and have better quality phalangists, in the tight space of Peloponessus was tough. After I conquered all three cities in Peloponessus and took Athens, things went better, but I still could not get my economy running: all went into recruiting or retraining. At this point both Macedonia and Epirus turned on me. I was in war with GCS as well, but they were far enough to present no trouble at all. Anyway, I had to fight my way through Macedonia, but also keep an eye on Epirus. After playing cat and mouse with Macedonia and Epirus, where the roles were changing regularly I finally got upper hand in Greece. During this phase I could finally got my economy running and afford better quality troops.

I see that economy and recruitment in XGMD is quite different from those in XGM. First, I discovered that it is cheaper and faster to build military structures (e.g., blacksmith 3 turns for 900; I built one in almost every city ). Then, in second level barrack already you got access to most of the troops you will have access to during the game. This is nice. Although, I still do not have cash to train and maintain all-high-level armies. At the moment I can afford two stacks at best.


On XGMD experience, in general ...

I saw farms having indications -1% to population growth. Was that intended ? Overall, I see that population grow is slow, cause many population-boosting building are relatively expensive and/or less effective, and, in general, economic structures are more expensive and/or took longer to build.

I also observed that rebel armies are very tough: plenty of silver chevrons and "silver/gold" weapons. Well, I'll find the way to break those guys

Speaking the truth, I struggled a bit on the battlefield in the beginning. There was a learning curve of course: many new units, different stats and somewhat different "rules of engagement". My early victories were often Phyrric victories. Indeed, battles lasted somewhat longer. Most of units looked to have very decent stamina and routed not before they lost 80-90% of their men. Well, I think fighting to the last man for levy-level units is a bit unrealistic (and generally, fighting to the last man was not as common an affair as we think). Then, I feel that ordinary slingers and archers seem a bit too tough in melee. Anyway, it's still RTW. So, some of approaches for routing enemy do work in XGMD .

Cavalry. Weakened, indeed. I trained no cavalry in first 20 turns or so: too expensive and after I saw that a bunch of general's bodyguards were unlikely to win many battles for me, I abstained from recruiting cavalry. So, I still have to check the value and role of cavalry in XGMD.

Well, there are a few other considerations. But, I'll leave it for later.
I expect this week-end will be an XGMD week-end: I am eager to test TSE in XGMD world

[RedFox]

On the subject of barracks - there will always be troops to recruit from among the populace. Personally I find it unrealistic to just unlock more troop choices with higher level barracks. In xgmD, it's rather about having a native rich colony which will allow you to train higher level troops.
You will always be able to recruit a somewhat stable army - the higher level ones just "switch" the recruitment style: Militia Barracks // City Barracks // Army Barracks // Royal Barracks // Reform Barracks.
This might make things slightly easier, but it also helps the AI a lot. Once they have an army barracks, they have no choice but to recruit high level units. Though there's still a problem with militia units from the Gov building, but I plan on fixing that with a simple workaround..


There are several buildings that try to combat huge population growth of cities, mainly just to keep it at a desired pace...
There are certain "boss" stacks that are specifically placed to represent an important faction that didn't make the cut as a real faction.
I'd really like to hear what you think of the differences in xgmD stats compared to original XGM. The melee part is designed to last longer and flanking attacks are very deadly due to stat dynamics.

As for cavalry, they're not intended as weak at all, actually. They have rather decent stats, but seem to die quite ferociously. Remember still, this is the age of infantry and charging into spears just won't make a heroic charge, but a rather pathetic slaughter. I've tried adding special hitpoints to the mount animal, but that seems to make little difference.
Cavalry is very effective when used properly, though. They die fast against missile fire, but if they are used well enough as a flanking force, they can easily break and rout a superior unit. (think anvil and hammer)

If you have any suggestions, I'm quite open to them.

[CaesarVincens]

I've tried adding special hitpoints to the mount animal, but that seems to make little difference.

Mount/animal hitpoints only makes a difference in auto-resolve as I understand it.

[gaunty14]

really, hmmm ....... i didn't no that:hmmm:

[RedFox]

Well, all cavalry have secondary armour 3 and secondary defense 1. With their stats, they seem to be perfectly balanced. But they still die ridiculously fast. Perhaps giving them 2 hitpoints and toning down the def stats would fix it? Though I'm not really fond of tanks...

[Antiochos VII Sidetes]

This is my Epirote campaign, 272 BC or some such time. Have been engaging in long and unceasing war against the Roman Republic, and have had a few skirmishes with Carthaginian pirates. Funds are tight, since my army is so large (gotta cope with that Roman baby-making machine). I'm hoping I can conquer some more regions to gain more income, but I'm in a sharp downward spiral as of now.

I have a grand plan to Conquer Gaul and Spain and create a new Hellenistic Empire in the West!

(And Pyrrhus is kickass, by the way)

Oh, by the way Redfox, found a couple of bugs...

Missing Unit Pic for Bactrian Heavy Cavalry and Carthaginian Militia Pikemen.

EDIT: Hmmm, my picture has disappeared on my screen. Can you guys see it?

[Stilgar CG]

Nope, no picture to see, Mr. Cursed.

[Antiochos VII Sidetes]

Damn. Well, imagine it (lol).

[Stilgar CG]

On the subject of barracks - there will always be troops to recruit from among the populace. Personally I find it unrealistic to just unlock more troop choices with higher level barracks. In xgmD, it's rather about having a native rich colony which will allow you to train higher level troops. You will always be able to recruit a somewhat stable army - the higher level ones just "switch" the recruitment style: Militia Barracks // City Barracks // Army Barracks // Royal Barracks // Reform Barracks.
This might make things slightly easier, but it also helps the AI a lot. Once they have an army barracks, they have no choice but to recruit high level units. Though there's still a problem with militia units from the Gov building, but I plan on fixing that with a simple workaround..

These is cool feature, RedFox. No complains there.

There are several buildings that try to combat huge population growth of cities, mainly just to keep it at a desired pace...
There are certain "boss" stacks that are specifically placed to represent an important faction that didn't make the cut as a real faction.

Economy seems slower, indeed.

I'd really like to hear what you think of the differences in xgmD stats compared to original XGM. The melee part is designed to last longer and flanking attacks are very deadly due to stat dynamics.

Firstly, low-level units (and all units, in general) in XGMD seem to have a better stamina. I often see fights till last 10-15 men. And, I play on H/H and with fatique on. With fatigue off, they will probably fight to the last man .

Cavalry is clearly weaker, but saying the truth, I did not try cavalry extensively. Intuitively, they need some extra charge bonus to increase their impact.

Missile units are fairly well balanced, but if used wisely, they can be still infantry killers. I just took down a decent rebels force on Crete and peltats played key role in taking down the enemy elite infantry. Perhaps, if you take the accuracy of missile units a bit down, as DBH has done recently, your infantry will be even more in charge. But I things the accuracy modifiers Dime use in XGM are too high for XGMD. Peltast-type units and all missile units have less personel in XGMD and have less ammo, right? so they are generally less deadly than there colleagues in XGM. I would use modifiers like 0.05 (0.1 in XGM) for peltats and 0.1 (0.2-0.25 in XGM) for slingers and archers. But, this is just an idea. You can see better the big picture of stats in XGMD.

As for cavalry, they're not intended as weak at all, actually. They have rather decent stats, but seem to die quite ferociously. Remember still, this is the age of infantry and charging into spears just won't make a heroic charge, but a rather pathetic slaughter. I've tried adding special hitpoints to the mount animal, but that seems to make little difference.
Cavalry is very effective when used properly, though. They die fast against missile fire, but if they are used well enough as a flanking force, they can easily break and rout a superior unit. (think anvil and hammer)

I agree, even in its current state cavalry can be useful, but I saw archers and slingers keeping cavalry busy unreasonably long. Improving the chance for cavalry to charge properly and gain some initial advantage against the unit it attacks seems appropriate. A moderate extra charge bonus or shorter charge distance would help cavalry a bit, particularly low-level cavalry, but will not make it deadly.

Just 0.01 $ of mine.

[RedFox]

I really agree on the point of both Cavalry and Missile units. I have tried my best to make these units reasonably strong. Seriously, I dislike super cavalry, but they seem a little bit too weak at times. Perhaps some stat changes should be made..

Personally, I have little time to work on xgmD, but if any of you would like to help out, I could set up a Subversion server and share the workload.. (ME, interested? =P)

[Stilgar CG]

Sure, I'd be willing to help, for what my newbie's knowledge is worth. I'll PM you, RedFox.

[Athenogoras]

As for cavalry, they're not intended as weak at all, actually. They have rather decent stats, but seem to die quite ferociously. Remember still, this is the age of infantry and charging into spears just won't make a heroic charge, but a rather pathetic slaughter. I've tried adding special hitpoints to the mount animal, but that seems to make little difference.
Cavalry is very effective when used properly, though. They die fast against missile fire, but if they are used well enough as a flanking force, they can easily break and rout a superior unit. (think anvil and hammer)

If you have any suggestions, I'm quite open to them.

If you want to improve cavalrycharge and dont want to see them die so fast one way is to tamper with descr_mount file. Escpecially the x_radius numbers.
A larger number(say 0,8) will make them charge for a much longer time and they will not die so quickly.

[Stilgar CG]

Just a short post to remind that you can post your XGMD empires here. This could also serve as useful feedback to RedFox.

Gargantua, would be great to see a nice big screen shot(s) of the strategic map in your Epirus campaign. Would be nice to see how other factions are doing (a screen shot with fog of war - off, perhaps?). ME

[jakobh94]

Well heres my latest campaign with the greeks playing with 0.93 (just installed 0.931)
Settings: H/H
Fatigue: Off



Well will post more pics later, imageshack is ed up

[rogergargantua]

Great AL empire you got there, ME! I just found out about this thread today.
The date of your topic was from 19th September, but you still play this campaign? It seems the war against TSE is inevitable yes, but its best to fight em off now before they really get HUGE.

Its weird to see Epirus losing it from the Romans in your AL campaign
But that's due to my own AAR, haha!
I guess when AI has control over Epirus, they always end up being destroyed. Perhaps that should have a better balance in future?

Magister and Redfox, I will post full screenshots of my empire, strategic map, etcetera at Monday. I will try to tell what happened so far and my experience with Epirus and the campaign in overall. And how other factions are doing. Unfortunately, I don't have time in weekend for both of this and my own AAR. I will continue Monday and post it up here.

From here, I can clearly tell that the Achaeans were destroyed easily by the Makedonians. Does this often happen in most of campaigns?
And most other factions are still holding grounds steadily.

[Stilgar CG]

Jacobh94, looks like interesting campaign. I see you gave up your lands in Crimea and Anatolia. Did you choose to do so or was "asked" to leave? But Massalia seems to be yours still . Nice expansion in Greece and Italy in nevertheless.

(I switched to using photobucket.com: seems a bit more user friendly and robust.)

@ Gargantua. I am not playing that Achaean League campaign any more: I am playing on updated XGMD, which is not save game compatible. But, memories are still fresh . That was a great adventure.

[jakobh94]

@Magister

I mostly choosed, didnt pay any attention to those lands so they fell, Byzantium also fell but my generals campaign was sucessfull and he conquered back Byzantium.
Malissa is still mine because of Loyality Revolts, has been atleast three of them... I cant get it why they want to fight for me when im such a pig?

[rogergargantua]

Here some screenshots of my campaign so far.
I play the Kingdom of Epirus on H/H
Year from screenshots is 262 B.C.

My empire is almost all of Italy. I also own the 2 islands on the left of Italy ( Aleria and Calaris ). And I have 2 cities at Greece: Ambracia and another one ( forgot the name ). Its the cities you start out with anyway....

Picture below shows the Hellenistic area. Makedonia destroyed the Achaeans with ease....and they're now after me. The Attalids on the east are holding off the Seleucids with succes ( they started out with 1 city and now have 4 or 5 I believe).
The Greek City States are still scattered across the map, they dont have a vast empire.
The Romans were crushed by me. But it didnt went easily. See my AAR ( see my signature ) how the battles went. All depends on the first battle and what the outcome is.
On strategic map you can see that the Gauls are pretty much owning the Celtics. And Carthage is invading Iberia but not with much impressive progress......




Picture below shows how the Seleucids are invading Ptolemy ( Egypt ) in a slow manner.




This picture below shows the area up north from Hellenistic area (Greece)
The brown villages ( Gesatea? ) pretty much owned Thrace which now holds a few villages at the sea you see on the right.
A close-up of the Strategic map is positioned above the sea.....you can get a good indication of how big some factions are....and some not