Re: Optimal Early Armies?
I'm surprised that a player would have success with an army like that - I haven't tried an army of only cheap spears. Of course, they can be useful. They can be 'speed-bumps' to absorb the impact of an enemy charge. Spear infantry with precursor javelins can screen enemy cavalry threatening your flanks or rear. Playing as Cimmeria, I initially thought that I should take advantage of the ability to recruit hoplites early on, but then I realised that a combination of large numbers of steppe spearmen and slingers can be effective against the horse archers of steppe factions in the early campaign.
Rome II seems intended to reward players who bring combinations of different types of units and who use combinations of units on the battlefield (for example, using your cavalry to disrupt the charges of barbarian swordsmen who rely on their charge bonus, then charging in with your melee infantry.) For that reason, my early armies usually try to have a good balance between spears, swordsmen (if they are available), cavalry and skirmishers - like the armies of Messy Angelo and Superginge.
The Roman Battle Line which BrianHolmes suggested looks like an effective tactic. I like the ideas of Phred and BlackCrowActual about using armies based on auxiliaries. (Playing as Rome, I found auxiliary swordsmen and archers recruited in Gaul to be useful).
Last edited by Alwyn; October 07, 2017 at 03:37 AM.