Beginners guide to RTW and SPQR?

[azithinkibe]

I'm new not only to SPQR but also to RTW itself (I was advised early that SPQR was a great mod, and it sounded like just what I was looking for in this game).

I'm finding I don't really understand a lot of what I read on these forums about SPQR though. Things like the garrison script, 4tpy script, kill sheets, blitzing, Marius' reforms - I can find bits and pieces of info on these through the forums/readme, but I still don't thoroughly understand most of them.

Is there a beginner's guide or hints/tips forum thread that would help me with figuring out all these things, learning battle tactics, etc?

Thanks!

[Garnier]

Well first, read all the stickies. They provide tons of information. Then browse the threads already posted by beginners in this forum, and finally start your own thread with all the questions you haven;t seen answered. We SPQR fans love helping new-comers out, and discussing everything about SPQR.

[jegui]

I'm new not only to SPQR but also to RTW itself (I was advised early that SPQR was a great mod, and it sounded like just what I was looking for in this game).

I'm finding I don't really understand a lot of what I read on these forums about SPQR though. Things like the garrison script, 4tpy script, kill sheets, blitzing, Marius' reforms - I can find bits and pieces of info on these through the forums/readme, but I still don't thoroughly understand most of them.

Is there a beginner's guide or hints/tips forum thread that would help me with figuring out all these things, learning battle tactics, etc?

Thanks!

Welcome to TWC azithinkibe !

Garnier has given you a very good piece of advice

But lets sum up some of your main concerns first...

the garrison/4tpy script

This script spawns full garrisons in any computer owned settlement you siege or if you are near it (I think up to 6 tiles/squares away from the settlement). It only works after you hit 'end turn' button and during AI turn. In addition to the garrison spawning the script also extends 1 game year to four turns which represent spring, summer, Autumn and winter seasons respectively. So for every 4 turns you end only one year is added to the ingame 'Year counter'.

To activate it follow strictly the instructions on the link below
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=83011

kill sheets

If you browse your ...\SPQR 6.3 - Total War\SPQR_Readme folder you can find the SPQR kill sheet Excel document and the Talley Sheet word document . To use it you can write down the results of your battles in a printed Talley Sheet and fill in the Kill sheet document later when you finish the game. Alternatively you can run the Kill Sheet Excel document in the background whilst playing SPQR. You need to manually insert the results after finishing every battle by pressing 'CTRL+ALT+TAB' and selecting Excel. You then go back to the game and carry on playing Only use the latter if you have a powerfull PC (preferably Dual Core processor, assign one core to each application )

blitzing
This is a concept that in 'game terms' means conquering as many regions as possible and in as few turns as possible without letting the game engine to build up its cities and armies. You achieve this by building as many units as possible and by attacking every single AI settlement from the start of the campaign, i.e. conquering half of the map in let's say 50/80 turns

SPQR is best played by slowly expanding and gradually building up your regions... this will let the AI factions expand and build veteran armies which it will certainly throw at you later in the game You can be sure that it gets harder later on and you most likely will lose or stale mate if your empire is too strecthed... Use the garrison script and you surely won't be able to Blitz

Marius' reforms

Marius reforms is an ingame event that happens only when you build your first imperial palace anywhere in Italy or Sicily. To do that you must have a Huge city (24k +) and a Great Forum built in it. Once the reforms are triggered you will be able to build late units such as light/sword/spear Auxila and Republican cohorts. They are more powerful and endurable than early game units (hastatii, principe, triary)... you should only start seriously expanding your empire after you have yielded legions composed of these units and not before

[azithinkibe]

Thanks jegui! That helps

Some follow up questions...

What exactly is a garrison then? Is it a specific amount/type of troops every time?

Are you supposed to not be able to save your game during a battle? I assumed it was so that you can't save and load over and over if you make a mistake, but some of these battles are pretty long, so not being able to save and leave the computer is annoying.

Does the unit size setting change any of the game mechanics, or is it just visual?

[lt1956]

You CANT save ingame battles but you can save before or after a fight.

On the script its 2 tiles away not 6. And the Garrisons are different for each faction type. Example is Romans spawn a different garrison than Egyptians. BUt the units are all units you would expect to defend a city mostly Town guards, ARCHERS, PELTAST, and a couple elite units for Bigger cities.

Basically the Script is to do what the AI should have been doing in the first place. If you notice the AI keeps about 2-3 units in each city and thats it. The player on the other hand knows to keep more men on the frontiers but the AI doesnt. This script fixes that. Plus the 4 turns per year give you gameplay time, and also more realism in travelling the map.