Best early game Roman strategies? Plus a few noob questions...

[King Ramses]

Hi,

I haven't played RS in ages and I was never very good at it anyway. Im planning on starting a Rome campaign (0 turn) and what to know how best to get off the ground. So I have a few questions before I get started,some are not specific to Rome but I didn't want to start multiple threads so feel free not to answer all of them.

1) Immediately after starting, what are people's best strategies for defeating Hannibal, both on the campaign and battle map?

2) What is the most realistic difficulty that is still fun to play?

3) Is there a lot of difference between the different .EXE's (BI, ALX, RTW) and which one is the best?

4) After defeating Hannibal, what is the best way to get your economy going for conquest? The whole building system is very complex and I would like some guidance as to where priorities should lie early on.

5) Is it possible to change the garrison script without removing it entirely? I agree that conquering a city should be difficult but based on how many armies the AI is capable of pumping out on 0 turn mode, a more balanced approach would be if the city was garrisoned but not by fully professional units, a few elites and then mostly poorly trained levies would be more realistic surely?

6) What is forced diplomacy? How does it differ from the force diplomacy console command? Can you use it to force diplomatic relations between one AI faction and another as well as between the player e.g to stop the Seleucids facerolling the entire eastern side of the map?

7) Has RS III made any differences to the Roman faction specifically?

8) How do I stop my generals joining "Roman Rebels"? Can their loyalty be controlled? In previous campaigns most of my most accomplished generals ended up turning blue.

9) Is there a 4TPY mod compatible with RS III? I want my greatest generals to conquer great swathes of territory and become Africanus, Asiaticus and such before they grow old and die. I want my own Alexanders!

Sorry if these were answered in part in the sticky threads, it's hard to wade through hundreds of pages of comments on the FAQ. Thanks

[Searry]

Hi,

I haven't played RS in ages and I was never very good at it anyway. Im planning on starting a Rome campaign (0 turn) and what to know how best to get off the ground. So I have a few questions before I get started,some are not specific to Rome but I didn't want to start multiple threads so feel free not to answer all of them.

1) Immediately after starting, what are people's best strategies for defeating Hannibal, both on the campaign and battle map?

2) What is the most realistic difficulty that is still fun to play?

3) Is there a lot of difference between the different .EXE's (BI, ALX, RTW) and which one is the best?

4) After defeating Hannibal, what is the best way to get your economy going for conquest? The whole building system is very complex and I would like some guidance as to where priorities should lie early on.

5) Is it possible to change the garrison script without removing it entirely? I agree that conquering a city should be difficult but based on how many armies the AI is capable of pumping out on 0 turn mode, a more balanced approach would be if the city was garrisoned but not by fully professional units, a few elites and then mostly poorly trained levies would be more realistic surely?

6) What is forced diplomacy? How does it differ from the force diplomacy console command? Can you use it to force diplomatic relations between one AI faction and another as well as between the player e.g to stop the Seleucids facerolling the entire eastern side of the map?

7) Has RS III made any differences to the Roman faction specifically?

8) How do I stop my generals joining "Roman Rebels"? Can their loyalty be controlled? In previous campaigns most of my most accomplished generals ended up turning blue.

9) Is there a 4TPY mod compatible with RS III? I want my greatest generals to conquer great swathes of territory and become Africanus, Asiaticus and such before they grow old and die. I want my own Alexanders!

Sorry if these were answered in part in the sticky threads, it's hard to wade through hundreds of pages of comments on the FAQ. Thanks

1) Move your troops from Rome to the stack near Hannibal, you have to move your own stack to the west a bit first. It's easy to defeat him really, the ground is good and Hannibal usually just charges at you killing himself. Then you just build a fleet and an army with stone throwing siege ballistas and send them to africa on a conquest spree, the Carthaginians might be too busy with the Gallaeci if you are lucky.

2) Medium Medium

3) I use alex.

4) Give everyone citizenship, go super population growh mode in Akragas. Build trade and tax temples everywhere, then start building the more costlier buildings.

5) You can change it in the RS3 preferences editor.

6) You select whatever deal you want with the AI, click the "?" button and click show me how. The AI accepts anything.

7) Not that I have seen no.

8) Haven't seen a way to do this.

9) Not that I know of.

[LavaCreeper]

1. I usually move my army next to Ariminum, reinforce it with a few hastati and attack Hannibal right away.
2. I always play on H/H, since RS was built for it. VH is buggy, don't use it.
3. ALX is the best for steam compatibility. Apart from that, I personally have no preference. BI does add shield formations for triarii and a few other units, which are quite useful against cavalry charges.
4. Abandon Dyrrhachium (destroy all buildings, send your army to Italy by boat). It's isolated, and the macedonians will throw stack after stack on it until it falls. Not worth sending constant reinforcements there, I think. I prefer concentrating on Carthage early on.
The above advice "Give everyone citizenship" is not a good strategy, nor is it history-friendly. I give citizenship to italian cities, because it makes sense, but you better annex other cities. It gives you access to special barracks with auxiliary units. If you give citizenship, you don't have any way of building units other than in Rome, until much later in the game. Build roads, trade missions...
5. Use siege engines. As long as you attack directly the city, and don't end your turn, the garrison script won't fire. It's a bit cheesy, so use with moderation.
8. Depopulating settlements does lessen the chance of revolts, but I don't know how to stop it entirely either.

[King Ramses]

Thanks. So there really is nothing that can be done to stop a general rebelling? That's annoying. When I'm conquering a large foreign power I don't want mighty Africanus to suddenly rebel. There should surely be some way to control loyalty, that seems like amn unnecessarily punishing design choice...

[Ovidius Empiricus]

1) Immediately after starting, what are people's best strategies for defeating Hannibal, both on the campaign and battle map?

Gather some infantry garrison units in the nearby towns before attacking. Exchange a couple of the skirmishers/slingers (don't recall the exact composition) in the attacking army for cohorts/triarii, so you'll have a stronger infantry line. They should hold long enough for you to kill Hannibal and send Carthage's cavalry into disorder. Hannibal is an excellent general, and you want to eliminate him ASAP, with ranged and cavalry (so be careful about friendly fire) to make sure infantry in his vicinity don't get a morale boost. They'll rout a little sooner and you can avoid some casualties. If Hannibal does charge into your lines before your cavalry get to him, he'll probably die fairly quickly. And you'll be set to fight off the rest of his cavalry. If the battle were just your infantry vs. Carthage's, yours would have an advantage, so try to turn the battle in that direction (with some of your cavalry remaining to pummel them near the end) by negating those other factors that can complicate matters.

2) What is the most realistic difficulty that is still fun to play?

I always play Hard/Hard (1-turn). But I'm sure Med/Med is fine, especially if you're new or returning to the game after a long hiatus.

4) After defeating Hannibal, what is the best way to get your economy going for conquest? The whole building system is very complex and I would like some guidance as to where priorities should lie early on.

Trade temples, tax temples, roads, mines, ports and markets are the first things I'd focus on, in roughly that order I think. If a city doesn't have the basic level-1 version of one of those building types, make sure it does before improving something else even more. The tier-1 blacksmith is good for some cash too, once it's available, and you'll want to improve it to a foundry if you're recruiting from there and want better weapons/armor. Generally, cheaper and faster building options should come first, since your income will usually grow more quickly and you'll more to spend on additional projects. But you may want to build some things like mines early, even if cheaper/faster options are available (and affordable), since they can give a relatively large boost.

Also, you need to keep tax rates at High (not VH) and the people happy. Law and health bonuses offer additional benefits (reducing corruption and promoting growth, respectively) that simple "Happiness" bonuses do not, so those typically have priority. For locations closer to your capital corruption won't as big of an issue, but you at least need enough of these buildings in order to maintain High tax rates. Every city should aim for a scriptorium and an aqueduct, and you can make more improvements on a case by case basis.

Over the long run, your governors will benefit from a diverse city with a little bit of everything. So while there are lots of potentially-confusing choices to think about, few (if any) will be very bad for your city/empire, just not as optimal as they could be.

[ur-Lord Tedric]

0) - 1-turn - always, always and always - for 'reasons' so numerous

1) Fabian! You are 'supposed' to lose that first battle and badly - so I don't fight it. I have always brought the main bulk of overseas troops home and deal with the Socii rebellion first; then deal with Hannibal moving North and then look outwards.

2) Lots of testing covering multiple starting periods - Hard/Medium

3) If playing Romans and all other things being equal - BI

4) Lots of choices - read the blurbs - try and with much practice.

5) Because of 1-turn - I leave the Garrison script as designed - for more 'reasons'.

6) Never use - the whole game is designed as 'Total War'. TBH thins is one area Rome II actually works better overall

7) No, not really.

8) I cancel the Rebellion completely - it's just too scripted. Hope to make time to work with dvk' in the future to make it 'better'.

9) Not yet I don't believe.

[Alavaria]

Hurry up and take Genoa, then the Carthage AI will make Hanibal run back to Iberia (which are its closest land-accessible holdings).

You can even "trap" him as when the AI is trying to retreat him, it will not attack, so with a unit on either side, he can only move one square per turn, letting you keep him stuck for quite a while

I want my greatest generals to conquer great swathes of territory and become Africanus, Asiaticus and such before they grow old and die. I want my own Alexanders!

You can, as I've done it. Basically you want to blitz with them. Siege engines help a lot here as you can start taking multiple settlements per turn in some cases.

[King Ramses]

As for Hannibal, I just didn't attack and then he tried to siege Ariminium, at which point it was safe to engage with a stronger army, I just cavalry charged Hannibal the moment he was pinned down and when he dies the whole army's morale nosedives. it was easier than I remember, though they turtled super hard in Genoa during the civil war and i had to send two stacks at it. Now I'm just very very very upset with Hiero II.

[romavictoria]

Hi,

1) Immediately after starting, what are people's best strategies for defeating Hannibal, both on the campaign and battle map?
2) What is the most realistic difficulty that is still fun to play?
3) Is there a lot of difference between the different .EXE's (BI, ALX, RTW) and which one is the best?
4) After defeating Hannibal, what is the best way to get your economy going for conquest? The whole building system is very complex and I would like some guidance as to where priorities should lie early on.
5) Is it possible to change the garrison script without removing it entirely? I agree that conquering a city should be difficult but based on how many armies the AI is capable of pumping out on 0 turn mode, a more balanced approach would be if the city was garrisoned but not by fully professional units, a few elites and then mostly poorly trained levies would be more realistic surely?
6) What is forced diplomacy? How does it differ from the force diplomacy console command? Can you use it to force diplomatic relations between one AI faction and another as well as between the player e.g to stop the Seleucids facerolling the entire eastern side of the map?
7) Has RS III made any differences to the Roman faction specifically?
8) How do I stop my generals joining "Roman Rebels"? Can their loyalty be controlled? In previous campaigns most of my most accomplished generals ended up turning blue.
9) Is there a 4TPY mod compatible with RS III? I want my greatest generals to conquer great swathes of territory and become Africanus, Asiaticus and such before they grow old and die. I want my own Alexanders!

Hello!

1.Reinforced (unlimited men) from other cities (not no generals just brunt legionaries) and velites (now you can surround Hannibal)
2.Hard/Hard
3.Yes actually it is, BI is insane, the AI throw stacks, after stacks at you,
Alex is actually better, behaves more like a human, better AI at battlefield, better diplomay AI (no need for forced diplomacy)
4.Building tribal justice building first, then temples then roads, then aceqduct and not least the roman citiezenship (if they are in Roma/Italy)
otherwise use annexation.
5.No usage of that one, full stack=more realistic, get used to it..)=)
6.Dont use it (or seldom used it) used it once with BI.exe, as playing with Alex.exe i didnt have to use it /yet...
7.Yes, quite a big impact on performance and overall gameplay (for the better)
AI doesnt throw stacks after you, (it cant) it actually behaves better (my personal opinion)
the BI.exe is just like a computer who throws everything every turn making it impossible to counterattack, well not that hard maybe but irritating
when all you do (as i perhaps do) is want your empire to grow (like the real thing) its a balance attack/counterattack/defense.
8.No idea i think its hardcoded, playing with Alex didnt occurs..
9.Perhaps, but i think RS3 is really close to emulate 4-point script...didnt need to bother, if the generals live longer the
game would be far easier, as it is ,im quite pleased.