Century X's Auxilia Legion System
AUXILIA LEGION SYSTEM
Hello. You all know me as Century X. I'm a proud player of this great mod. And I love to help out other players of this mod as much and at any time I can. Here I will explain my method on how to use Auxilia legions wih your named legions on Campaigns. The reason I put this up is from what I can see some players have problems winning extended campaigns with their legions. So I developed a system which I find to be very effective and efficient. If you have any questions just ask. Also I haven't tested this system on a 1 turn recruitment game. I always play on zero turn so I believe it will work on one turn recruitment but it will just take a long time to muster the troops together.
Here we go.
First off we will start with the composition of a legion. It pretty much follows the same composition as stated by the RS team.
1 General
1 1st Cohort
9 Cohorts
6 Auxilia Units(4 Light Infantry Cohorts, 2 Light Auxilia Infantry(Missle)
1 Archer Auxilia
2 Legionary Calvary
This by itself is a very powerful force but even the most powerful legion needs support especially on extended Campaigns when your far from home and unable to retrain your Legion.
Now for the Auxilia Legions. I have three types of Auxilia Legions. A battle field Auxilia Legion and two types of Siege Auxilia Legion.
This is for the Field Legion.
1 General
9 Auxilia Light Cohorts
5 Light Auxilia Infantry(Missle)
3 Archer Auxilia
2 Legionary Calvary
This is the Siege Legion
1 General
8 Auxilia Light Cohorts
5 Light Auxilia Infantry(Missle)
3 Archer Auxilia
2 Legionary Calvary
1 Heavy or Regular Onager Unit
This is the second Siege Auxilia Type.
1 General
7 Auxilia Light Cohorts
5 Light Auxilia Infantry(Missle)
3 Archer Auxilia
2 Legionary Calvary
2 Heavy or Regular Onager Unit
Now with these Compositions you can have a very Effective fighting force since the Auxilia units are cheaper than legion cohorts this won't hurt you money wise But if your not careful it could.
So the goal of this is you have your main legion Example like Legio III Gallica in front and have your Auxilia Legions behind it. I usually have 2 Field Auxilia Legions and 1 siege legion this is in total of 4 armies and troop count of around 15,177 troops. With this you can have extended campaigns and not worry about retraining if your main legion is low on numbers you just simply replace the weaken units with fresh ones from your Auxilia Legions.
Now I usually don't like it for any of the Auxilia legions to go into direct battle with a enemy army of course they can fight small groups but beyond that I don't let them fight of course you can have 1 or 2 of the Auxilia field legions as reinforcements to your named legion. Just make sure your controlling them.
Now I have tested the fighting capabilities of a full strength Auxilia Legion against a strong Gaul and German army. They are able to hold their own due to the massive amounts of projectiles in the air(Pilum, javalin, arrow, etc.) But since its all light infantry they have a little difficulty on defeating the heavy units like naked fanatics and swordsmen of course you can take the deaths due to that these units are cheap and can be recruited pretty much anywhere. But remember this is the way I play any other player can send them into battle and do what they wish to do with them.
Its all about players preferences.
Forts.
For me the key to a successful campaign in the proper way to use Forts and terrain. Especially in Gaul, Iberia, Britian(I don't believe it was called Britain back then. I forgot what they called it). But like places like this.
But as DVK and the RS team have said. They rarely exterminated populations back then. They needed the people for slaves and Auxilia.
I like to set up a system of forts in recently conquered regions to establish your rule. I garrison them with Auxilia units and mercenaries. Now with garrisoning units in forts It will be pretty much up to you and the situation you are in If you need entire legion in the front to beat back the enemy then you have to compensate and figure out a way to balance the two. This in a way represents the way the Romans conquered. They just cound't conquer a region stay there for a week and leave and hope that the locals will stay in line. With a fort system you can easily put down any rebellious thoughts from the locals. Now of course you don't make these forts permanent homes. Just leave them there until the region is at peace and has accepted roman rule.
But there are exceptions to that rule Try to set up forts on borders of your empire And make it so that the troops are able to properly fight in any situation.
Now with my system. I try to follow the roman way Whenever they conquered a region They will form Auxilia Cohorts and legions Now the thing is the will make these people fight in regions that are FAAAARRR from there home. So they won't get any ideas of abandoning the army If I recruit a Auxilia Legion in Narbo Martius I will after the immediate war is dealt with in their region I will ship them out to a different front. Like patrolling the regions in Greece or send them to Sicily to scare Carthage a little. The way I keep track on who's where and where they were originally recruited I have a lab top so I write all of the cities on where they were first recruited. And where they are at any given moment It helps out a lot to write it down And in all of this writing I' am doing This creates a form of unity among your Legion cohorts and your auxilia cohorts. I mean "Yes" this has no effect on game play but I just like to have it this way and its a lot of fun. That's how it was done back then. This also slows down conquest a bit As you have to organize yourself to win a war or multiple wars You get to enjoy it more and appreciate the mod even more.
Terrain.
This is short. Always have you Auxilia Legions at an advantage In height or anything else Try not to do bridge battles a lot due to that cause random CTD's and can be a REAL pain.
Auxilia Legion Tactics.
I will expand on this section as in my own campaign expands I'll be posting pictures and everything. So Stand by for that one.
Well since its going to be a while till I get this part of my thread going. I thought I put up two pictures up that will give the basic understanding on how to use Roman Tactics.
This is just a picture on how to organize the legion and the initial attack on the enemy. This can prove very effective in fighting barbarian factions. Of course there will be deaths but they can be easily replaced.
Here is an example on how to win against a barbarian army.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
This picture is just to let you guys know that he is the greatest guitarist of all time.
What happens when your Named legion is destroyed and your deep in enemy territory?
With the system I use. You have the ability to make your Auxilia Legions be babysitters to the destroyed legion. They will be able to beat back pretty much anything in the way of your retreat And if the Eagle is lost Then you have the ability to take it back quicker than ever due to that now you don't have to figure out a way to get a fresh legion to the front and take it back.
What if the General of the Legion is killed?
This does happen. It happened to me on a lot of occasions As in the house rules says If the general of the legion is killed then the legion becomes in active until a new one can be appointed. Since the Auxilia Legions are also commanded by Generals You can just simply transfer over the General to the Legion This is of course you think he is worthy Sometimes they are not worthy of the legion so its up to you.
The use of archers in Siege legions?
I found that it is a little weird to have archers in Siege legions But there there for a reason. The main goal of a siege legion is to just carry your siege equipment. Thust relevening your named legion of having to do it. So when ever you wanted to attack a city you just simply replace a unit from your named legion and put in one of the onagers from your Auxilia Legions. Or If the city is going to be hard to take You just put them as reinforcements That's if your field Auxilia legions are unable to join the battle which will happen a lot. For me archers are good to be there to defend the onagers if that legion is attacked or if the numbers are low in your other legions you can just simply replace those archers with weak ones in the other Auxilia Legions.
A Logistics Nightmare.
A lot of you guys will say that having 3 armies supporting one named legion will be a bit to much. And sometimes I agree with you. BUT, if you relax and sit back and take in the numbers you will be recruiting you can handle it. For if you don't IT WILL BECOME A LOGISTICS NIGHTMARE.
Well Like I mentioned before I use Excel to Organize my Legions I put examples in the sheet to show you guys how to do it With Legio III Gallica in sheet one and V Macedonia in Sheet 2.
Here it is.
To Retire or not to Retire; That is the question.
A Lot of you fine players have your own way of using your generals and family members. They are the leaders of the legions and the ones who govern your republic. So they must be treated with respect and never as second hand citizens.
For me the way I use them is simple but effective When ever I get a coming to age meaning a new general they are at the age of 16 years old THAT IS WAY TO YOUNG to command anything I try to keep them in ROMA until their past the age of 19 When they reach 21 or higher is when I give them a command of a legion or a city. A lot of you guys already do this but just to make sure I'm putting it up.
I have just finished a campaign in Macedon which I invaded with 11 legions I believe. Once the campaign was finished and peace brought to the land I always retire the generals and disband the legions in the cities they were recruited the generals go to cities that have been conquered and become the governors until they past away. They fought well for Rome so I believe they deserve a good retirement I use this same system in the Auxilia Legion system. After a campaign is over in whatever region I'm taking over. I usually will retire the generals who are commanding the legions. Now of course you don't retire a general who is in his 20 or 30s That's still young and he can still command If any of your generals are over 44 and a campaign is over Just retire them and make them governors of newly conquered lands Now the advantage to this is if there is a random rebellion in a area near a city or the like. You can have your general leave retirement for a battle or two and lead a local Auxilia legion to victory over the rebel scum.
Works fine for me and hope it can work for you. Now of course when I retire them I write them down on where I retired them helps me really organize on where everybody is at.
Through the fine works of ciprianrusu he had improved the Excel file and makes it more organized than before and more colorful. Mines was just super simple but his makes it in a way even easier to understand.
Here is the link to the download.
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/downl...o=file&id=1883
I suggest you guys download this version for now on as it is superior to mines.
Here is the link to the second version of the legion organizer. I give credit for the organizer to ciprianrusu
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/downl...o=file&id=2145
Number of Legions to take.
Yes its true fellow roman players. Sometimes we can accidentally build wayyyyy to many Legions and before you know it you have a bunch of Legions just sitting around in enemy territory doing nothing due to that you have plenty of other legions to be on the offensive and to secure your newly establish borders.
Now of course this all depends on who and where you are invading A place like the isle of Britain.(Wasn't called Britain back then, someone please correct me). A place like this does not require half of your military If you follow my system a full strength army consists of 4 Legions. One named legion and 3 Auxilia legions now that's all you need to have a successful campaign there now lets say you want to invade Africa now you are going to have to muster up more than just one army In my experience I invade with 2 to 3 armies that's 12 legions if your going to invade with 3 armies. Cause remember there are a lot of full stacks there roaming around looking for trouble Its good to be prepared for that.
Now a place like the middle east. This is something which can change depending on your situation Whenever I invade the Middle east I take 90 percent of my Military the other 10 percent is for border patrol across my republic. The middle east is HUGEEEEE and usually I always fight the Seleucid's for control. But once I beat them then I have to go up against the parthians and there no easy faction to beat(Of course there are other factions there but I'm just stating the big ones). I invade with something like 7 armies which in total is about 28 legions. Remember its the middle east you will have multiple fronts to fight.(Turkey, Egypt, part of Saudi Arabia, etc. This system was designed so that the legions will act independently. You can have one army doing the battles while another is patrolling hot spots. Remember 1 army is 4 legions.
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Originally Posted by century x
