Which to Conquer?

[Eric]

I'm currently just in the starting phases of a M/M Julii campaign. The problem is: I can't decide which country to conquer. Normally I take out Gaul but I wan't to try something different this time. I was thinking either Greece, Iberia or Carthage. Which do you think would be the best to conquer. By best I mean which conquest would bring me most popularity with the Senate and the People?

[subedei the great]

Greece, cities closer together= more conquest and more popularity, and a lot more money.

[Gunno_Desk]

Really duno about you but i dun think you'll dare mess with them Spartan hoplites with hastati. Well, at least not with MY Greeks at least

[Cradds]

deffinetly greeks, plus its amusing to watch the brutii stand there and think what should we do now :S

[Marcus Scaurus]

Conquer Cisalpine Gaul (northern-Italy) and secure your position by blocking the passes with forts. Make sure you keep a strong army (half stack) nearby in case the Gauls will attack you. Focus on Greece and Asia Minor, and you'll gain money easily. Also, invade Sicily early so the Scipii won't have any chance of conquering it. Do the same thing with Apollonia and Thermon. Conquering Greece & Sicily early makes your civil war a lot more easy. But be aware, you will have a hard time fighting the Carthi's, Gauls and Greeks.

[Cradds]

yea if you let the Brutii get greece you have a long drawn out civil war, if you cant stop the scipii getting sicily thentake carthage, i normally conquer gaul then spain then africa (the province not the contient )

[Maximus Lazero]

It's a very funny thing. For some reason, when you play as the Romans, obviously you'll be expanding faster than your rivals, but that's not the amusing part. What's odd is that, one of the other factions will expand at a moderate pace, while the other one barely moves at all. They'll make occassional bursts outward, but in very small amounts. For example, when I first played the game through as the Brutii, the Julii, taking their time, took control of most of Gaul (for reasons I cannot figure out, the Britions retained one, then TWO territories in western Gaul). The Scipii, on the other hand, well >_> they conqured Carthage, and 2 more African territories, then didn't move. At all.

When I next played as the Julii (I just don't like the Scipii for some reason), the Scipii pwned Carthage AND Numidia....but the Brutii didn't finish off the Greeks in Rhodes and the Thracians, of all people, took control of ALL of Macedon's former territories...and I think Dacia was growing larger too. By the time this was done, I had already pwned Gaul, Spain/Iberia/Hispania, and was moving in to finish the Germans and their last territory. (I never actually finished that campaign, because this was when Rome: Total Realism entered the picture )

[ramsesii]

I think you should go for spain. Because if you go for carthage of greece you block one of your allies so that way the civil war will be a piece of cake and that is not the meaning of the game the civil war should be a challenge ( a sort of vannilla TFT) and in reallity the romans first took carhaginian spain and after that they took on the Gauls so in that way you also play realistic. BUT this will make it more challenging you will have a long and spread out front and the spannish terretories are not verry rich so it will be challenging although on M/m it cant be that hard.

[Sir Matthais]

If you don't want to go after the gauls and you want to be a biht historicly accuarte, go after Iberia. Or if you want money greece. If you want to annoy the Scipii Carthage. For some real fun. Take a huge army and land it somwhere far off. Like Britain or Egypt or Asia minor. I've always said to myself I woul dstart a miny crusade with the britons. But two big armies on a boat and sail through th mediteranian and right to jerusalum!

[shadowarmy75]

If you really want a challenge take all your forces and migrate. Go and settle in another land. I think Carthage and Secludia should be easy because of their bad starting troops. Move as soon as possible.

[Marcus Scaurus]

If you really want a challenge take all your forces and migrate. Go and settle in another land. I think Carthage and Secludia should be easy because of their bad starting troops. Move as soon as possible.

I'm doing this right now. Took Pyrrhus' army, added some Cretan archers and Spartans to it, and captured Rome. My plan is too survive with one city. My army (full stack) costs a fortune, so I have to capture and exterminate a Roman city every turn. By sacking their cities I ruined them, and I'm planning to conquer Italy soon.

[Sir Matthais]

If you really want a challenge take all your forces and migrate. Go and settle in another land. I think Carthage and Secludia should be easy because of their bad starting troops. Move as soon as possible.

I tried migrating with numidai once and it was harder than I thought, If you lose your cities than your game is over. I guess I could leave a unit or two in one city... Migrating is BI in a nutshell! :original:

[repman]

Migrating is an interesting idea. I have never tried this, but certainly I give it a try in a future campaign.

repman

[Boudicca]

Migration works fine for people bored without a challenge. My problem is that even if I take a city each turn, the AI still seems to cheat in terms of money making. They are producing forces where they should not be having the funds to do so. So RTW is bugged even at that level...

[Gogoas]

A good example, egypt. Pulling stacks out of thin air.

[Fabolous]

Migrating with numidia to ireland was always fun. :wink:

[Marcus Scaurus]

Migrating with numidia to ireland was always fun. :wink:

Doesn't beat invading Britannica as Armenia. Had a great time seeing 200 golden chevron cataphracts routing 2500 warband.

[Sir Matthais]

Migrating with numidia to ireland was always fun. :wink:

I should try some of these...

[Marcus Scaurus]

I should try some of these...

Numidia to Britain? That's the hardest campaign you'll ever play. Your missile cav will get annihilated in the forrests and your weak desert infantry won't stand a chance against the full stacks of warband and Caledonians. I survived in Britannica thanks to mercs and a iron fists of cataphracts. If you're not very experienced, try some phalanx faction. Barbarian troops are no match for phalangites, even if the latter are outnumbered 1 to 5.

[adamus]

I'm currently just in the starting phases of a M/M Julii campaign. The problem is: I can't decide which country to conquer. Normally I take out Gaul but I wan't to try something different this time. I was thinking either Greece, Iberia or Carthage. Which do you think would be the best to conquer. By best I mean which conquest would bring me most popularity with the Senate and the People?

I would go for an Eastern expansion into Greece, first taking Segesta, then the two Illyrian provinces (mining income comes in handy), then taking Mediolanium and Patavium to secure the alps.

Once I had a secure base, I would then try to take some of the Greek/Macedonian cities before the Brutii get the chance, particularly Corinth for the Colussus' population loyalty bonus. I wouldn't expand any further east than Thessalonica though, but that still gives Athens, Sparta, Larissa, Apollonia and Thessalonica as potential targets. This strategy has two benefits:
1) Greek provinces are some of the richest around because of their sea-trading potential.
2) Brutii will expand slower and won't quite be so 'cash-rich' when the civil war starts.

I would then sit on my defensive position for several years, slowly building up my cash and armies before blitzing through Gaul and Iberia