It is sad....

[Spartan Guard Itachi]

Fighting stack after stack of Selucids as Bactria, taking Selucia, believing the huge greek war is over, only to have your ally (the greek states) turn on you after conquering Armenia.

I guess I can live with this but its so tiring and lacks any real sence, theres far easier nations to attack and why would the greek states strike me when selucid and greeks always go to war if u play as them but they dont fight each other in my campaign.

Conquest and clashing armies is good, just not when its endless stacks, after losing 15 whole stacks to my one, wouldnt they have the sence for peace, or at least a lul in the fighting rather then auto create another bunch of silver shield pikemen and elephants or whatver.

This is with AI bonuses of, i guess im just tired of the repetitiveness and after destroying so many men, it would be nice to see some sort of impact rather then the stacks just spawning and the same thing happens again, theres just no tactical importance in destroying forces as it just gets easily replaced.

Is there not someway there could be a forced peace between countries for a set number of years as a negotiation option? Rather then forcing to become protector (which i just cant do- as it basically ceases that nation to defend or do anything useful or expand)

I enjoy this mod and wonder how the original game even existed id just like to see some sort of variety or gaps in fighting to create a more dynamic and realistic game play to getting bogged down and finding myself irritated and bored.

Thanks and I hope this wasnt to much of a rant

[Webba]

As far as I know there's no way to force a peace on factions. The AI is, and has been, totally unmodifiable in every TW game and all the tricks to manage it in RTW have surely been used by now. There is some stuff I've found to be effective when I play though.

Buffer states by gifting border regions to a 3rd faction. AI is less likely to attack you if it doesn't share any land borders and will accept peace treaties.

The AI in the Alex.exe seems to be less homicidal. If you have overwhelming force or the ai faction is busy with other enemies they will seek you out and ask for peace. As long as you keep your borders well garrisoned they should leave you alone. For pretty much this reason alone I prefer to play with the Alex.exe

Keeping border regions rebellious with spies and diplomats. If they need to keep conquring their own territory they'll be too busy to seek out yours.

Protectorates are good if you can ensure they aren't in danger from other factions. At the very least they can allow your mutual enemy to siege cities that don't belong to you and protecting your economy. I find the most effective way to use protectorates is to do as the name suggests and actively use your army to look after them. They are paying you tribute after all. If you were wondering why they never raise good armies or build big cities its probably because you too their founding monument and forced them to give you all their cash. It's only to be expected.

Final thought is that the name of the game is Total War and sooner or later all your neighbours are going to become enemies anyway. If the battles are draining try breaking your playtime up a bit and do something else in between or auto resolve some more battles. There's no rush to finish a campaign. I played a GCS campaign for a good 4 months this year before I finished it and it was great. Hope this helps a little.

[Spartan Guard Itachi]

hahah yeah thanks i guess it does.

i guess im just sick of fighting greeks rather then sum easterners or barbarians haha

[gennosuke43]

The AI is hardcoded so there is no way to change that. But this depends on what version. RTW 1.5 is very primitive. Barbarian Invasion 1.6 is a little smarter and uses more naval invasions. Alex.exe is the best one I think. Some times the AI actually plays it like a chest game cornering your armies and settlements. But still as you said there is that repetetive strategy in the midst. Then again this is TOTAL WAR not TOTAL PEACE.

[rogergargantua]

The AI is hardcoded so there is no way to change that. But this depends on what version. RTW 1.5 is very primitive. Barbarian Invasion 1.6 is a little smarter and uses more naval invasions. Alex.exe is the best one I think. Some times the AI actually plays it like a chest game cornering your armies and settlements. But still as you said there is that repetetive strategy in the midst. Then again this is TOTAL WAR not TOTAL PEACE.

True, its hard-coded....thats what I found out too. Too bad, the game would be cooler if the AI would act more human when it comes to diplomacy. Nothing that can solve it. Still, the XGM mod is very addictive and kickass! I've had the best battles in this mod.

Still, here's a little suggestion from me. Alternative games/mods of total war if you want good AI, diplomacy or Greek-like factions:
Medieval2 + Kingdoms + mod Stainless Steel : Impressive AI and especially at diplomacy. Thats what I like a lot about the mod Stainless Steel, the AI diplomacy acts more natural. Also a lot of challenge and many different factions.
Medieval2 + mod Agon: Rebirth of the Hellenes: Its like XGM, but then only based on the greek lands and surroundings. It's still in development but promises to be a very great mod.
Their campaign map looks very very cool:

[Stilgar CG]

Guys, what do you expect? If you attack TSE or Carthage, for example, take their cities (usually human player attacks the most advanced cities), then poor AI has no choice, but to spend it's remaining cash on light infantry and use remaining crappy barracks for that, right?

[rogergargantua]

Guys, what do you expect? If you attack TSE or Carthage, for example, take their cities (usually human player attacks the most advanced cities), then poor AI has no choice, but to spend it's remaining cash on light infantry and use remaining crappy barracks for that, right?

Ehh...was that the issue he mentioned? I thought he was more aiming at the endless stacks that is thrown against you. :hmmm:

But anyway, thats what I expect yea. I dont have problems with that. Rather militia and other light infantry units then some Elites.

[Stilgar CG]

Ehh...was that the issue he mentioned? I thought he was more aiming at the endless stacks that is thrown against you. :hmmm:

Indeed. At the same time, I never seen 15 stacks of elite troops marching in my direction. Those stacks are often low-quality troops. So, I was almost to the point .