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Thread: [TW Guide] RTW: The House of the Brutii

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    Default [TW Guide] RTW: The House of the Brutii



    Author: Astaroth
    Original thread: The House of the Brutii - Faction Guide

    Faction guide #2, the Brutii

    The House of the Brutii


    -----------------------------------------------------

    Introduction
    I. An Overview
    - Your Faction
    - The Senate
    - Civil War
    - The Marian Reforms
    II. The First Step
    III. Facing Macedonia
    IV. Future Conquests
    V. Economy
    VI. The Roman Army
    VII. Summary


    -----------------------------------------------------



    Lucius Junius Brutus------------------------------Marcus Junius Brutus


    Introduction


    „Et tu, Brute?“ Who doesn't know those famous words spoken by the betrayed Caesar?
    Marcus Junius Brutus, one of Caesar's assassins, is certainly of the most famous members of the gens Junii (called Brutii in Rome: Total War). However, there is much more to the history of that proud Roman family. A prime example of that would be Lucius Junius Brutus, the man who was responsible for overthrowing the last Roman king, Tarquinius Superbus. He paved the way for the Roman Republic which would exist for almost 500 years, until eventually being replaced by the Roman Empire. The Junius (Brutii) family was thus undoubtedly of quite a significance throughout the rule and rise of Rome.


    I. An Overview



    Your Faction:



    As the Brutii Romans (green), you begin the game with two cities in southern Italy, Croton and Tarentum. The two regions you own are generally fertile and both have harbors, which gives you great sea trade possibilities. You have one diplomat and one spy as well, who should be used to gain knowledge and trade rights of the whole known world in order to improve your economy. At the start, you are allied to the SPQR (purple), Julii Romans (red) and Scipii Romans (blue) and you cannot declare war on them until much later (more of this later on). You only border with those allied factions at the start, thus a land invasion is out of the picture at that stage. Overseas there is Sicily close to your lands in the south-west, with one allied Scipii city and one settlement of each the Greek City States (beige) and Carthage (white). To the east there is the Greek peninsula with several rebel settlements, the Macedonian kingdom (black) and more Greek cities. The Greeks and Macedonians are the most obvious enemies to your faction as they are the closest geographically. Out of those two, Macedonia is most likely your biggest challenge early on.

    The Senate:


    Since you are one of the three Roman families represented in Rome: Total War, the Senate (the purple Senatus Populusque Romanus faction) will give you many tasks and quests to do throughout your campaign. Those can range from simply getting trade agreements with a certain faction up to taking regions and even being told to sacrifice your faction leader. If you follow their „advice“, you will be rewarded with money, troops and a good reputation amongst the senators which might result in some of your family members being elected to certain positions (for example, Consul or Praetor). If you refuse to listen to them, they might punish you, which can be quite painful. There is no way to stop them from giving you missions unless you destroy the SPQR faction, which is not possible early on.

    The Civil War:


    That leads us to the next point – triggering a civil war. The only way to eventually be able to remove your allied Roman families and the annoying Senate from existence is to gain the people's approval. If you conquer many settlements, the people will love you more and more until you will eventually have enough support to declare war on your Roman allies. However, keep in mind that those other families have powerful armies as well, having access to the same elite Roman troops you can train.

    The Marian Reforms:


    When playing as the Romans, you have the chance to completely change your whole army by triggering the Marian Reforms. Gaius Marius was a great Roman general who was the first to use professional soldiers instead of peasants who would go back to their farms at the end of the day. This is represented in Rome: Total War by changing your Republican army, consisting of Hastati, Principes and Triarii into an Imperial force with Legionaries, Praetorians and Urban Cohorts.
    Those reforms are triggered by building an Imperial Palace, the last upgrade of your city which becomes available once there are 24,000 inhabitants in a city, in any of the Italian cities aside from Rome As soon as it is built, you will not be able to train or re-train your pre-Marian units anymore.


    II. The First Step


    At the beginning of the game the Senate will give you the order to attack and conquer the city of Apollonia, a settlement in western Greece or Epirus. This town is right across the ocean from your starting territories and thus easily accessible. Your first move should be to recruit a few troops and a ship in your two settlements and then quickly attack Apollonia. It is barely defended and an easy conquest undoubtedly. As your „empire“ is very small and not that wealthy, staying back and developing your economy is no option. Direct, strong aggression is your only option! You also have to keep in mind that the Senate will force you to take settlements anyway, making a non-expansionist policy impossible. After Apollonia the next step would obviously be to strenghten and enlargen your small empire by conquering further rebel settlements, such as Segestica and Salona in the north in Illyria.
    However, where you expand from then on is totally up to you.The two most logical options would be either Carthage or Macedonia.



    Carthage is intended to be the Scipii's main enemy, but since Sicily and Africa are not that far away from your starting regions, you can take them on as well. Carthage is a strong nation without a doubt, later in the game they will have access to powerful armored elephants, strong spearmen (Sacred Band) and strong cavalry. However, early on they field nothing but light sword units, light melee and ranged (skirmisher) cavalry and skirmishers. That makes their whole army rather vulnerable and your much stronger hastati and principes will have little trouble crushing them. There are advantages and disadvantages that speak for and against taking on Carthage first.
    Pros: the Scipii will be very limited in their expansion, making them an easier target during the civil war; Carthage is pretty weak and vulnerable early on, they are an easy prey; Greece can still be invaded at a later time; taking out Carthage gives you a foothold in Spain as well, another economic powerhouse (because of mines) and will limit the Julii's expansion.
    Cons: Carthage is farther away from your lands than Greece, making an invasion harder and more time consuming; Africa is huge and hard to control; Africa is not that wealthy; it will be harder to satisfy the Senate as the senators will try to make you conquer Greece; your settlements in Greece, Epirus and Illyria will be harder to hold if Macedonia tries to take them; if you do not take out Macedonia early, it might become a massive threat later on.



    Attacking Macedonia would be the second option. Macedonia is very close to your recently taken rebel settlements, making them an obvious next target. While their units are not weak, their late game units are much stronger in comparison, making it a logical step to face them earlier rather than later. Early on they field mainly lower tier hoplite units along with some skirmishers, skirmisher cavalry and Macedonian light lancers, a light melee cavalry unit. Later on, Macedon armies will consist of much stronger elite hoplites and powerful cavalry such as companions. Especially then the heirs of Alexander will be pose a big challenge to anyone.
    Obviously there are again both advantages and disadvantages of making them your next target.
    Pros: they will become seriously powerful if you don't take them out early; Greece is a very rich region with plenty of trade, taking it will make your treasury shoot through the roof; the Greek peninsula is very close to you geographically, making an invasion easier; the Senate will send you there anyway; it is the perfect power base for any future expansions, attacking Asia Minor and even Egypt becomes much easier with Greece as your basis.
    Cons: Macedonia is a tougher enemy than Carthage making the conquest harder; the Scipii can advance unchallenged.

    Considering all of the pros and cons, I personally would strongly advise you to go for Macedonia first. It simply is the best and safest choice. However, if you are a smart and strong leader, you might even advance on both fronts simultaneously, strengthening your empire even more.
    On to Macedonia, show those barbarians that the times of Alexandros Megas are long gone!


    III. Facing Macedonia



    Hoplites in the phalanx formation.

    Macedonia owns 4 regions at the start of the game. Usually they will expand sooner or later, enlarging their territory. If you want to conquer their lands, it would only be logical to take on the settlement of Larissa first as it is the closest to your holdings in Greece. However, when facing Macedon, several things need to be kept in mind: their hoplites and phalanx units are dangerous because they can pin down your army and will slowly mow through them. Thus, facing them head-on is not an option. What you have to do is to apply the typical Roman flanking techniques which were used by the Romans to counter the dominant phalanx warfare. The phalanx is slow and not very mobile, utilize that weakness and you will be victorious! Quickly move your hastati and principes around the hoplites, throw your pila (javelins) into their backs and use cavalry to flank the phalanx in order to rout it as well. Since the phalanx lacks mobility, crushing their supporting units, such as skirmishers, is possible, without them being able to do much about it. After taking Larissa, you should move on to Thessalonica, their capital. Using the flanking technique described above and quickly advancing into Macedon territory, beating them should not be such a huge issue.


    IV. Future Conquests


    Once Macedonia lies on the ground before you, your empire will have grown in size, wealth and power considerably. Your empire now most likely consists of more than 10 regions which is a perfect basis for future wars and conquest! Now that you have reached the first peak, you should spend some time looking around you. Who will be the mighty Romans' next prey?



    Thrace (teal) is an obvious choice. Their lands are very close to your newly conquered, former Macedon regions. Furthermore, they are not a big challenge as they start with few regions and a weak early roster. While they field falxmen, some hoplites and skirmisher cavalry, your Roman troops should have no problem beating them.

    Greece (beige) is the next option. Just like Thrace, Greece is not far away from your acquired regions. Moreover, taking their cities and the rebel settlements around them will let you control the whole Greek peninsula, giving you not only access to lots of rich cities but also consolidating your empire. Your whole southern border will be safe due to the ocean, opening up whole new possibilities of expansion elsewhere. The Greek Cities have a unit roster consisting of a vast amount of hoplite and phalanx units and are thus not that hard to beat if you utilize the exact same tactics you already applied when facing Macedonia. While the unit of Spartan hoplites the Greek have at the start of the game is very strong, it still cannot beat whole armies on its own. Using your heavy infantry's pila and possibly also velites (skirmishers) for even more firepower can help greatly as well. Nothing speaks against charging into their backs with your strong general's bodyguard either.
    Once all of Greece is yours, your treasury will grow at an incredible rate, due to massive sea trade capabilities.
    After those two rather obvious choices, you will have to decide on your next target yet again. First of all I personally suggest moving your border north up to the Danube, in order to make it much easier to defend. Then you could possibly invade Carthage, as long as the Scipii have not done so already. Invading Asia Minor is also one option but those lands are not that rich. You also would have to face several enemies, including the strong Seleucids and powerful Pontics at once. However, the advantage lies in Asia Minor being very close to Greece, making an invasion easy. Taking the cities along the coast will also improve your sea trade even more. A totally different approach would be to invade Egypt.



    Asia minor at the start of the game, Pontus (blue) in the north-east. In the west there is one Seleucid (grey) town (Sardis) and one Greek town (Pergamum).



    Egypt (yellow) is a powerful kingdom stretching from the deserts of Africa to the coasts of Palestine. Early on, they field mainly chariots, light cavalry, skirmishers and Nubian Spearmen. Their lands are prosperous but somewhat hard to keep from rioting.

    Your next moves really depend on what your neighboring factions do and what you want to achieve. There are certainly many possibilities. The sons of Rome can fight anywhere at any time and will always be victorious! Roma aeterna!


    V. Economy


    The Brutii Romans are probably the wealthiest of the three Roman families as they have access to the wealth of Greece relatively early in the game. They also have trade relations with their Roman allies, further strengthening their economy. Therefore, getting a great economy running and increasing your treasury really is not that hard when playing as the Brutii. Only some general things have to be kept in mind, such as gaining trade rights of as many factions as possible, selling map information to others for money, building roads for faster army movement and an improvement in trade and, most importantly, building harbors everywhere as your empire will soon be very sea-trade based.
    If you apply those basic rules and concepts, it should not be hard to succeed economically and thus eventually also militarily.


    VI. The Roman Army



    A Roman legionary, holding a pilum (javelin/spear) and a scutum (shield).

    Throughout its long history, Rome adopted plenty of successful weapons, tactics and strategies from other nations, peoples and kingdoms. Their armies and military were amongst the most powerful and successful in the whole antique.
    Since the Brutii are a Roman faction, they obviously have access to a vast arsenal of troops. Their units range from powerful lategame cavalry units (such as Praetorian Cavalry) over strong auxiliary archers up to the famous Roman legions. On top of that, as described above, the Marian reforms change your whole army significantly. However, that does not take that long to get used to as most post-Marian troops are simply much stronger versions of the earlier troops you had.
    Roman generals obviously used countless different strategies, always varying slightly from battle to battle. However, one of the most famous ones was certainly the standard Roman manipular formation (see below). It was used mainly during the era of the Roman Republic and consisted of 3 battle lines, the hastati (the least experienced troops) in the front, the more experienced principes behind them and the triarii spearmen, the oldest and most experienced soldiers, forming the last battle line. The men were organized in maniples that were not tightly packed but kept some distance between each other instead, in order to allow the velites (skirmishers) to retreat between the lines once the enemy was advancing.



    Here you can see the famous manipular formation.




    Those are some other main Roman battle strategie, which can also be highly useful and might ensure victory if used correctly.


    Last but not least, here are some Brutii army compositions in order to give an idea of what a standard army should be like:




    This is an early army. As you can see, hastati, principes and triarii make up for the majority of the troops. Some velites are added to pepper the enemy with their javelins before the melee begins. The cavalry should mainly be used for scouting and chasing routers as at that time, Roman cavalry was relatively poor. Only after the Marian reforms did their cavalry improve. Still, if used correctly, those equites can turn the tide of the battle, especially in combination with your general and his bodyguard.


    This is a relatively late Brutii army. The pre-Marian hastati, principes and triarii got exchanged by legionary cohorts, much stronger units, representing the imperial Roman legions. The amount of cavalry has been considerably increased, as their quality and strength is much higher than that of the pre-Marian equites. Those legionary cavalry units are a force to be reckoned with. Furthermore, the velites got removed and instead, auxiliary archers got added. Not only do archers have more range, their ammunition is also much bigger and thus lasts longer. Since Rome finally has access to proper archers now, it would be foolish not to utilize them. Last but not least, you also may build siege equipment now, which isn't only very helpful when sieging but also poses quite a power on any battlefield.

    Of course, Rome has many other possible army compositions and also even more elite units, such as Praetorian Cavalry and Urban Cohorts. Still, this gives a pretty basic and simple overview of their army and will hopefully help you as a foundation for other things. May you lead Rome's troops to the ends of the known world!




    VII. Summary


    The Brutii Romans are without a doubt a very intriguing faction. Nobody can pretend that he isn't fascinated by the Romans, the people who conquered a massive empire and left significant signs all over Europe. With the Brutii, you have the chance to experience the massive wars against Macedonia and the Seleucids which Rome had to fight during its rise to the top. While the Brutii campaign might not be a very hard one, it will still be very enjoyable and fun. Build your empire carefully, invest into the massive Greek trade network and not much can go wrong.
    May Roma conquer everything from sunrise till sunset, may the whole map be colored in Brutii-green! Long live the eternal Rome.



    Last edited by Saint Nicholas; September 04, 2010 at 11:38 AM.
    Ερωτηθεὶς τι ποτ' αυτώ περιγέγονεν εκ φιλοσοφίας, έφη, «Το ανεπιτάκτως ποιείν ά τινες διά τον από των νόμων φόβον ποιούσιν.


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    οὕτως ἀταλαίπωρος τοῖς πολλοῖς ἡ ζήτησις τῆς ἀληθείας, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ ἑτοῖμα μᾶλλον τρέπονται.


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