Carthage vs Rome

[Calamari]

To start, sorry if this has ben done before but a search didn't bring up anything particularly useful.

What is the best way to counter the Romans when playing as Carthage? I know they have the elephant trump card but those units are fairly late game and because of Sicily the player is forced to deal with them early on in the game. From what I have found, Iberian infantry and Lybian Spearman struggle against Hastati. So what options (both early and late game) are there to deal with Rome?

[HeroSK]

IMHO, no carthaginian infantry (especially in early game) can stand aganist romans. The only way is using cavalary spammed armies, use every cavalry you find and roll over them. Charge and retreat, repeat it untill victory is yours...

Good luck

[aznflea]

rome has poor cavalry so use it to your advantage. maintaining cavalry superiority is essential if you want to beat rome.

[Legio]

Cavalry, merc hoplites, and slingers. Even round shields can destroy if in large numbers.

[darthbane7]

I would agree with everyone else here on this matter: use cav. Yes, carthage's early-mid game infantry gets pwned by Romans, so rely heavily on cavalry, but beware, if you ever allow romans to get to marian reforms and access to archer auxilia and the pratorian cavalry (a fantasy unit i personally hate), you might have some trouble putting the romans in their place.

Not to mention the power of legionaries....

[Calamari]

So an early horse spam and rush Italy? Ill give it a go and let ya all know how I get on

[NobleNick]

So an early horse spam and rush Italy?

Yes.

Go heavy on cav. Go early in game; so that the Romans do not live to see the reforms.

[D.B. Cooper]

On good days Carthaginian infantry can hold a line for a few seconds against the Romans, and on bad days they run like pansies...really don't rely on infantry at all. Can't be stressed enough.

[aznflea]

good days? more like good generals.

i swear, carthage is seriously underpowered in that game. elephants are high tier units so you may as well forget about them. try and fight like hannibal did. YOU choose WHERE you fight. try and put those phalanx to good use.

[Calamari]

Im on the verge of getting sacred band. Do they do better than silly little Iberians?

As for the generals, Carthage is royaly screwed in that department. They have 1 60-something with four stars as their best starting family member

[Elite Peasant]

Sacred Band is definitely better than iberians, although - as pretty much everybody said in this thread - infantry won't save your day as Carthage. Have a lot of cavalry and let them charge and then let them charge again.

[Kátz]

Sacred Band is definitely better than iberians, although - as pretty much everybody said in this thread - infantry won't save your day as Carthage. Have a lot of cavalry and let them charge and then let them charge again.

Yeah, but the sacred band is worth your effort getting it as their stats are higher than Macedonian royal phalanx

[Sargon_of_Akkad]

I had this problem as well.

You're best bet is not a stand-up fight with infantry, but poeini infantry can hold the line until your cavalry have overwhelmed the Roman cavalry and swung around to hit them in the flanks and rear.

[darthbane7]

Sacred Band are the second best Phalanx Units, second only to Spartans. I would go with the Sacred Band once you have your ecnomy going gangbusters. Poeni Infantry will only do so-so in front of legionaries, esp. much later ones (e.g. First Legionary Cohort, Praetorians) and poeni are not even an option against exp. and upgraded Urban Cohorts. You need those sacreds to hold the line, because only they have the morale and the armor to withstand that nasty roman AP pila.

Early game, Poeni are pretty good, but if rome isn't killed by the time marian reform comes around, you are screwed with those soldiers.

If you need to use poeni, make sure you have cavalry units that can quickly overwhelm roman cavalry (which isn't too much of a bother, long shields will do, equites suck!).

As for missile units, just chase em down with one or two units of round shields, because velites and even post-marian archers won't do well against the weakest cavalry.

And..... spam sacred band cav/ellies. Esp. ellies, because of their tendancy to panic roman troops, even charging head-on into swords and shields.

[Calamari]

I am training elephants and long shields. This set up is working but my infantry are usualy on the verge of breaking by the time my cav is ready (which isnt very long lol) still it's having more of an effect on them. Now I just need to produce sacred band in meaningful numbers and I might be able to turn the tables.