The computer does work!

[MuffinBear]

I've been playing this and found that the computer factions DO work and expand...it just takes them a while to do it.

I guess it just takes a while for them to get all the financial buildings built and that's why it takes a while for them to start expanding.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Make sure the script is activated and they should expand. They just won't do any vanilla blitzing of the rebels. (Though in c230 all of the rebel generals will die and any remaining rebel territories will be blitzed.) EB is balanced for slower gameplay, so the AI, thankfully, are made to go slow as well.

[gaius valerius]

But I unfortunately ain't . I think it's good the EB team tweaked the rebels to be more of a challenge although I must say they can be quite a pain in the ass. A few questions.

1 -Playing for example romans i find the rebels in the north to be quite a pain. I mostly starve them to dead to avoid long battles. Especially the Alps are a bummer. But the AI doesn't seem to have a lot of trouble. The gauls never seem to be bothered by there infinite loss of money. Well that's because the AI cheats I suppose? Could someone explain me more or less why the averni or adui - despite their lame ass economy don't go broke and still conquer all of gaul? I play on H campaign so they aren't supposed to get that 10000 mnai/turn.

2 - Is conquering rebel regions easier for the AI then for the player? The romans have pretty good troops, even in the Camillian era. Yet conquering the Alps is pretty hard. Yet I see the Gaul factions - who are broke, don't get good troops till 2nd reform which in my case they never get - conquering all of gaul - including helvetia - with ease. Is this coincidence?

3 - If I was to wait till 230 BCE when the rebel generals die out, all would be much easier?

4 - How slow am I supposed to play? I mean its been a topic more than once that when for example playing romans, the reforms take to long, especially the marian reform. I suppose I have the vanilla habit of blitzing myself which, as the year turns 200 BCE makes the game very boring and leaves me only with the yellow death as absolute buggering enemy.

5 - a last question, not related to the pace of the game: the cataphract reform for the seleucids... I never am able to lose 2 large battles against pahlava. Not to brag, but I'm to good for them Sadly this won't give me cataphracts. Will there be a specific date set in next versions as for example they are triggered when a prerequisite is met, but if they aren't met by lets say 210 BCE you get them anyway?

6 - oh yeah and this: what is the ideal unit size? large or huge? I prefer large as huge drains cities on the other hand later on I could use draining my cities Would changing the unit size effect the AI? As for example they can't recruit as many armies initially as cities don't support them with enough populace? So by using huge settings you can slow down the game? On the other hand it could slow down battles as well due to sever spawning of units

thx

[MuffinBear]

Make sure the script is activated and they should expand. They just won't do any vanilla blitzing of the rebels. (Though in c230 all of the rebel generals will die and any remaining rebel territories will be blitzed.) EB is balanced for slower gameplay, so the AI, thankfully, are made to go slow as well.

How do I make sure that the script is activated?

[Hax]

If you load a game, and you click on a city, the advisor will pop up.

DO NOT EVER IGNORE HIM!

Read what he has to say and then click the "Show me how" button.


People should read the FAQ more often.

[Ludens]

@ gaius valerius

1) The A.I. will get a cash infusion every few turns if they are in debt. The EB team feels this is necessary because the A.I. tends to blow its money on units and is therefore unable to build up its towns and, more importantly, its economy (konny disagrees with this though). Also there is a hardcoded 10.000 mnai bonus at VH campaign difficulty.

2) No, the A.I. has just as much trouble taking towns as you. However, certain areas (Numantia and the Alps) are protected by respawning stacks of quality troops. This to indicate that the area was dominated by a powerful confederacy that didn't make it into the faction list. I don't consider the Gauls to have bad troops, BTW.

3) No, IIRC the respawning stacks will keep coming until you take the town they are protecting.

4) It's entirely up to you. Just try constrain yourself to the logistical possibilities of antiquity, i.e. don't immediately attack Lilibeo and Carthage when playing as Rome, but go for border towns and don't expand to far without installing governments. This is probably not going to stop the Yellow Death, though.

5) There used to be a set-date at which you got them, but this does not appear to be the case anymore.

6) IIRC both unit sizes will work. The A.I. gets its population refilled when they recruit a unit, so huge units will hurt you more than them, as far as population is concerned.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

The town garrisons around the human player are larger than they would be if the AI was in control of your faction. This may be part of the reason it seem harder for you to take settlement than the AI. This was done to add a challenge, slow down human blitzing, and attempt to encourage the AI to expand in certain ways.