Some questions from a new player

**sasamsa** · October 03, 2008, 09:14 AM

Hi im new to total war games..
My first campaign was Julii with medium/medium. I took 4 Gaul cities but soon Britannia and Spain were sending army after army and I lost money and started a new campaign also medium/medium..

In the second campaign I also took some Gaul cities and then went south and conquered Carthage. Britannia and Spain were quiet in this game and I was making a lot of money so I changed difficulty to hard/hard with RomeSage. I then took Sparta and Athens and some nearby poorly defended cities with wonders..In the meantime I prepared attack on Spain from south at 4 cities at the same time as they had very little garrison in them and whole Spain was mine in few turns..

I can do what I want and nobody can stop me..and nobody attacks me..Every nation is passive.
I never stopped building buildings in cities and still I make so much money.
Income of 100.000 minus 23.000 for wages and 50.000 construction per turn..
I just won a battle vs Britannia 900 vs 900 with my most elite units and I killed them all and they killed about 20 of my men

Im I just lucky or what? Im playing the game for few days and Im destroying everyone and I dont think Im that good..Is this it or will it be harder later in campaign?

**D.B. Cooper** · October 03, 2008, 09:18 AM

If you take Greece then money starts pouring in for you to spam elite units, that you can defea your enemies with. It's too easy to build up momentum and steamroll across the map in Vanilla, especially with the Romans. So I'd just say it's too easy.

Try EB for a real challenge.

**sasamsa** · October 03, 2008, 09:33 AM

I took Athens and Sparta after my Roman ally did the damage..
I have about 30 cities. My roman allies have about 7-8.
I can just take cities and enemies dont try hard to get them back.
I have more problems with rebelling in city than with other nations.
I hear very hard is really tough? Im just a newbie

Is Eb Europa Barbarorum mod?
I have downloaded Rome: Total Realism mod but I didnt install it yet since Im playing for the first time..
What do these mods do anyway? Which is better?

**Xavier Dragnesi** · October 03, 2008, 11:03 AM

Mods change the game files of the game to make gameplay different. Each mod has it's own specialties and qualities. Therefore, you can't actually say one particular mod as "better". It's all down to your own preferences. Out of the two there, EB and RTR, EB is probably more historically accurate in terms of skins, units and events. Though the load times can be a bit long, the quality of the mod is wonderful. RTR also adds similar things, with historically true characters, cities and units, and with the addition of a sub-mod called ExRM (Extended Realism Mod), it's quite fun to play.

**NobleNick** · October 03, 2008, 12:07 PM

sasamsa,

You could have gotten a lucky break with lack of faction aggression, but I rather think you have advanced to needing to start your next campaign somewhere in the difficulty space of H/H to VH/VH.

If that is still too easy, try some of the harder factions (e.g. Numidia or Parthia) on VH/VH. If that is still too easy, shop for some of the mods which make the game harder.

By the way: Welcome to the forums!

**sasamsa** · October 03, 2008, 01:07 PM

Im gonna download and try Europa Barbarorum.

Do romans have the same selection of units as in original and same formations like testudo, because I installed realism mod and there was I think 3 horse units compared to original 7.

It says Europa Barbarorum is best played on Very Hard / Medium.
Is that Very Hard for turn based part and medium for battle?

Rome Total War is really epic game..
I dont know how could I have missed a game like this..

**Scutarii** · October 04, 2008, 08:47 PM

Originally Posted by sasamsa

Im gonna download and try Europa Barbarorum.

Do romans have the same selection of units as in original and same formations like testudo, because I installed realism mod and there was I think 3 horse units compared to original 7.

It says Europa Barbarorum is best played on Very Hard / Medium.
Is that Very Hard for turn based part and medium for battle?

Rome Total War is really epic game..
I dont know how could I have missed a game like this..

No, romans (and all factions) have entirely redone rosters, the Romans actually have 3 scripted reforms allowing for tons of different troops. The Marian troops and onward have testudo, IIRC. And don't forget that besides factional units you have AOR units, like the Bruttians and Samnites, that can be used in place of Factionals.

Thats Very Hard for campaign (the upper one) and MEdium for Battle (lower).

**Roxas** · October 05, 2008, 01:47 AM

yh play vanilla 1st then play a mod like eb or rs as they make battles more interesting

**imak** · October 05, 2008, 02:04 PM

SPQR mod is a really fun one. Tons of units

**Selifator** · October 03, 2008, 03:48 PM

Very Hard battle difficulty, and Medium campaign difficulty. Don't worry, I picked it up about a year after release, but I never stopped playing. I play every week, and usually every other day. If EB is your thing, expect to get addicted.

**Roman_Wolf** · October 03, 2008, 03:58 PM

Originally Posted by sasamsa

Im I just lucky or what? Im playing the game for few days and Im destroying everyone and I dont think Im that good..Is this it or will it be harder later in campaign?

actually vanilla is very easy nomatter what you do. i guess you just can't lose. like the otthers guys said, get a mod.

**sasamsa** · October 06, 2008, 06:28 AM

Im playing RS on h/h right now.. EB is too slow for me. Im having some trouble managing troops in battle as they are not color coded..
Does RS have a system that when I capture African city I can train elephant units and such?

**Selifator** · October 06, 2008, 07:02 AM

I think so, you can probably train regional units, and at a later time upgrade to your own units. It depends on the AOR (Area Of Recruitment) which is coded for each faction as to where they can train their own units, and what other units they can recruit.

**sasamsa** · October 06, 2008, 10:30 AM

I just exterminated Greeks..I didnt want to but I captured free city with Zeus statue and later they attacked me so I had no choice

And now I have so much money..
And I can train Athenian Hoplites at Athens..

**Saint_jimmyz** · October 06, 2008, 01:46 PM

Vanilla Roman factions are designed to be easy. Vanilla is easier than all good mods, and the romans are designed to be the easiest factions on that. Try another faction, maybe a barbarian one or an eastern one before upgrading to VH/VH. In my experience, in VH/VH several superopwers develop quickly and are nearly impossible to counter, depending on which provinces you hold and how rich they are.

For reference, I play R:TR as SPQR is just bad unless your the Romans, and EB has too many building and city options.

**Greve Af Göteborg** · October 06, 2008, 03:52 PM

And i thought that playing as Parthia on EB 1.1 with Vh/Vh was easy ...

**sasamsa** · October 07, 2008, 03:24 PM

Very interesting development in my game.. It was getting very boring in the game and I was getting lots of money, not expanding as much to help AI (I could take 6 Sicilian towns with no problem)..
When my allies Gauls and Macedon suddenly attacked me together and quickly took one city and then sieged another..

But help is coming. Romes finest and archers imported from Athens will walk over anything.
Now all my towns are producing troops and this could be very interesting..

Its RS on H/VH - hardest possible for this mod as creator says VH is bugged, and im playing with normal build times for troops so elite units take 2 turns to train