Carthage - how to play

**Hrobatos** · September 08, 2010, 07:01 PM

so I'm playing Carthage in Carthage campaign, and I'm doing quite well, I play on H/H
Hanibal is still alive, with full stack in Italy, I conquered eastern italy region, cant remebrer the name right now, east from Etruria
I kept Hanibal alive by sending aditional troops from Iberian colonies, manny cavalay of them, did several heroic victories in Etruria, keeping large Roman forces in central Italy trying to stop hanibal while with another army trying to conquer Siciy, I even added elephants, which allowed me to take two sicilian cities in a single turn
I once even raised siege of Rome but I had to retreat, I was outnumbered

I am beating Romans with cavalary, my infantry is a lot weaker than Roman, what I wondered is what types of cavalary are you using? do you find Numidians to be better than Lyiban cavalary?
or perhaps some Iberian horsemen?

which are the best against Romans in your opinion? what tactics are you using to stand against Romans?

**Mutalisk** · September 08, 2010, 07:50 PM

Roman infantry is superior in any aspect including mobility , their cavalry is weak but is equally strong as Averni Medium Cavalry which is only good for chasing skirmishers and attacking flanks of light infantry and these horsemen have NO shock value dont expect to rout anyone with them.However Libyan Cavalry has Frightening ability which Libyphoenician or other cavalry units you have acces to lack.Which makes this unit priceless for utilizing hammer and anvil or mass rout tactics.I also find Elephants to be extremely useful both in terms of brute force and shock value but you cant afford to lose expensive ones and theyre hard to replace(Hannibal also had this problem).
Roman infantry is also very cost effective whereas Celtiberian Spearmen , Libyan Late Spearmen or other mercenaries dont give enough bang for their buck.Early Libyan spearmen and light libyan infantry are really cost effective so i reccomend using these .Scutarii used to be really cost effective in vanilla but in RSII Libyan Light Inf. beats them both in effectiveness and price.However if you can get your hands on Elite Scutarii get them theyre awesome.

Either get standard archers or Balearic Slingers they both have their pros and cons.

So my solution to all this was getting Sacred Band Hoplites(which costs the same as Celtiberian Spearmen but is much more effective and has useful Abilities like inspire),Sacred Band Cavalry Stone Hurling Ballista and Armored Elephants AND camping a river with 9-10 star Hannibal.Obviously you can only supply one front with one Elite barracks so you need another Elite Barracks somehere and if your economy cant support this it may be better to spam cost effective light infantry and have them running around as double stacks.

And disband Naked Fanatics because theyre ACTUALLY naked; when i first started playing the mod i was examining the units and i was like : Wow nice mohawks on these guys(skirmishers) , nice shields (scutarii early libyan spearmen), hmm that shield looks like a hastati shield(late libyan spearmen) , wow thats one long spear, OH WAI-(naked fanatics)

Also i dont know if its possible but Phalangites would really help if i could get my hands on them , is there a way to get mercenaries , or bribe them into your faction?

So this is pretty much my opinion and what i do in my campaign.

**Hrobatos** · September 09, 2010, 02:21 AM

I alredy use Balearics and archers, basicly I wondered has anyone found a way for effective usage of Numidian cavalary, I myself prefer Lybian, as they are lancers
and Naked fanatics are awesome, they look...the way they do but they are good warriors

**DarthLazy** · September 09, 2010, 02:36 AM

Liby late spearmen; these men are going to be Key, they can hold on to any infantry (even segmenta legions on M but yours is H) So make sure to use these, Upgrade barracks to get atleast 1 units of Sacred band for each army, not for using them in battle but for the Morale boost and guarding you silly arse. Always make sure you outnumber his cavalry no matter what, and balaeric slingers rule

. Keep in mind this is from a MP PoV since im playing a Roman Campaign

**torzsoktamas** · September 09, 2010, 03:51 AM

Regarding cavalry:Yes libyan cavalries are good.The numidians are quite usefull too.They are fast,..so get them to the back of an enemy and pepper the enemies rear with missiles.They are good for routing skirmishers too(altough some medium cavalries are better in this).Another cavalry witch I like very mutch is the iberian medium cavalry.It has javelins to pepper the enemy and are quite durable too,...they can beat the equites in melee if I remember due to their falcatas.
Regarding infantry:I think a good tactic is that use infantry that is enough durable and can hold the line for quite long,..even if they aren't that lethal to actually rout the enemy.And always use a superior(or if you can MUTCH MORE superior) cavalry force.Then you can kill the roman cavalry easely and very fast,..than with a massive charge rout the roman infantry.

**Hrobatos** · September 09, 2010, 04:08 AM

Roman armies I meet almost dont even have cavalary, in first few battles with Hanibal I defeated theri armies from Etruria and Rome, which had cavalary, Numidians were excelent at kiling roman cavalary, and new recruited armies, eventualy have general, and some velites and maybe Triari, rest are usualy Alied Cohorts

thats my tactic as well, infantry which can hold the line agains Romans, usualy spear armed, with Belearic slingers an archers on left infront of the army and javeliners in right
and on flanks of infantry I have light infantry like Libyan light inf, celtic light swordmen and Scutari, and then cavalary units

once my infantry and roman engage I go around with cavalary anc charge, they usualy rout

but I prefer Lybian over Numidian

elephants are very powerful, especionaly useful with sieges, in two turns I conquered Sicily, and three Roman towns there

**Brusilov** · September 09, 2010, 04:42 AM

Numidian cavlary are excellent skirmishers but you need to micromanage them on the battlefield otherwise they may be trapped by a more powerful cavalry unit. I try to use two units in tandem and tire out the enemy cavalry. If possible I have a 'fighting' cavalry unit around to help out if there is a melee.

At the start of the battle I will try and remove the AI's cavalry - remove the mobile part of the army. Once that's done I try and take out any skirmishers that are operating behind the battleline.

I have my Carthage army still in northern Italy defending Genoa. I've managed to kill off four or five Roman armies but three more are approaching at once - I've just destroyed one in battle. I've shipped some reinforcements over from Carthage and the second batch has just been sent (they're needed).

I don't think my army will survive much longer...

I will probably get an army together and invade Sicily. I'd much prefer to hold that than northern Italy. There is decent trade with my homeland.

Iberia is a bit of a holding action at the moment, I am at peace with the Gallaeci and the rebels and am trading with both. The first Roman army has appeared near Saguntum - but are blocked by the fort I placed at the river crossing to the north.

**Visarion** · September 09, 2010, 04:49 AM

Originally Posted by Mutalisk

And disband Naked Fanatics because they're ACTUALLY naked

what !!??

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**Hrobatos** · September 09, 2010, 04:51 AM

just keep Hanibal there, he is excelent general si your troops will fight harder, and Rome will keep seinding forces there to destroy him, so this will mean les soldiers in Sicly, Sardinia and southern Italy

so while keeping Hanibal alive by sending reinforcments from Iberia, and training local barbarian units such as celtic light swordmen, wiht another army or two, at same time you can easily conquer Sicily and Southern italy

I plan to take out first Roman colonies, and then the Rome itself

**Brusilov** · September 09, 2010, 04:53 AM

Originally Posted by Mutalisk

And disband Naked Fanatics because theyre ACTUALLY naked; when i first started playing the mod i was examining the units and i was like : Wow nice mohawks on these guys(skirmishers) , nice shields (scutarii early libyan spearmen), hmm that shield looks like a hastati shield(late libyan spearmen) , wow thats one long spear, OH WAI-(naked fanatics)

There is a modesty patch available. It's mentioned in the Release Thread.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

In the data\_IMPORTANT_STUFF folder there are some interesting bits and pieces.

**Visarion** · September 09, 2010, 05:01 AM

Muttalisk were you reffering to low defence or it bothers you that they are naked!? if so try the modesty patch like Brusilov told you above and units will have clothes!

**Brusilov** · September 09, 2010, 05:06 AM

Originally Posted by Visarion

Muttalisk were you reffering to low defence or it bothers you that they are naked!? if so try the modesty patch like Brusilov told you above and units will have clothes!

They won't have clothes they will have a loincloth......

I've retained them in my army and they've been used as 'shock troops' (OK< flanking force). The Romans don't like them!

**Hrobatos** · September 12, 2010, 06:05 PM

I thought that there will be more Carthage players out there

anyway wanted to ask for your experiences with elephants? I use one unit with every army, they are great siege weapon which allows to attack even two cities in signle turn

alo when they charge in rear of infantrx they are excelent to routh and destroy enemy and often i dont loose any

stilll haven tried those with tower and archers on, too expensive, I just dont think its worth of money
its upkeep us 1500 i think

also I wanted to ask for your expiriences with iberian units, are there any good iberian cavalary? like good as Numidians or Lybians?

are Celtiberian spearmen worth their money by your opinion?

also I noticed that using baleric slingers to flank the enemy once infantry has engaged, and then to get them kill Romans is very effective, almost better than cavalary charges...