apple's Republican Legion System

[apple]

These are my addition the houserules when playing as rome at her early stages.

1-turn recruitment

Legion: A legion composition is the following: 4 hastati 4 principes and 4 triarii 4 velite 2 equities 2 Generals (one which is the apprentice) 1 spy 1 diplomat and 1 assassinator
1-turn recruitment

As the enemy forces advance towards your lines, make sure that your velites re-deploy behind your main force.
My advice is to put them behind the principes as they are soon to advance forward and would colide with the velites if they where to deploy behind the hastati.
Your hastati should now be able to toss there pilas against the advancing enemy.
After that they have tossed there second and last pilla make sure that they are ready for direct combat.
Look at your line and make sure that it is thick enough to hold down the enemy, don’t bother if one or too enemy groups try to flank you,
your triarii should be more than able to fight them down without any larger losses.

Your cavalry should now advance towards the flanks and then behind the main battle where the enemies skirmishers should be.
Fight them down by flanking them or riding into them from there back, never ride into them from the front.
Scout for enemy spearmen in the near area as they constitute a major threat on your cavalry forces.
Now when your hastati hopefully are holding the enemy pinned down, make use of your principes two pillas.
Concentrate their fire at weak spots in there lines so that your troops can split them up and surround them.
Make sure that your hastati are holding there line, if not send in some principes to suport that area,
you don’t want the enemy to break through. If your hastati are still holding the line when all of your principes are out of pillas,
re deploy them at the flanks and move them towards the flanks and the backs of the enemy.
Support weak spots with your triari and deploy all your cavalry at the back of your enemy.
They should now be enclosed by your infantry, only leaving a small exit at the back,
order your infantry to push further against the enemy.
Order your cavalry to close the exit by charging them right into your enemies backs creating if timed right a mass surrender.
Cut your enemies down or leave them to run, the Victory is yours.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

• A legion can't be retrained.
• A legion must be stationed in a fort at the end of every turn except in case of siege.
• A legions sole purpose is to complete the by senate decided objective (take a city, destroy an enemy field army).
• A legion must be disband when the mission is completed or if it's unable to do soo because of heavy casualties, a new legion should be raised to replace the disbanded.
  
• No legion (except the praetorian) may enter into Latium (the region which Rome is located in) if the city itself isn't being sieged.
• A praetorian legion are the only legion to be allowed to protect the city except for sieges where others may movie in to protect the capital.
  
• The praetorian legion is allowed to remain in field until your faction leader dies, if this happens the legion shall be disbanded and re-recruited.
  
• A hastati with 1(or more) silver chevron should as quickly as possible be disbanded and replaced with an new unit of hastati.
  
• A unit of principes should also be recruited and replace a principe unit in the legion which should be disbanded. (If you want do the same with the principe and the triarii)
  
• If the legions generals have been killed the legion should retreat to italy and there await for 2 new generals to join it before being allowed to move/react on treat.

A very early legion can be constructed after an active republican legion is disbanded (aka the ve legion should replace the republican one)
After that all republican legions are disbanded, recruitment's of ve legions are aloud to be made whenever needed.

A ve legion can be retrained and be kept alive as long as it suits you as they are payed by a general and are a profesional fighting force.
If the head general of a legion dies should the second in command (the apprentice) should take over as the new head general and a newly recruited general shall be added as his apprentice.


This play style requires a lot of micromanaging and may therefore not suit you, also this is to be played on 1-turn recruitment as otherwise you might get overrun by stack after stack of Ai armies and that is not the purpose of this.

You can't afford to lose a major battle and therefore, each battle is crucial for your survival.
You play as the senate and can therefore raise as many legions as you want, but each of them must be created for a purpose for which they have been raised. The legion must be disbanded directly after that the goal has been completed.
Try to have as few legions in the field as possible and the challenge will be greater.


Strength and honour and may your empire be told in thousands of years to come.

[frankus]

A hastati with 1(or more) silver chevron should as quick as possible be disbanded and replaced with an new unit of Hastati. A unit of principes should also be recruited and replace a principe unit in the legion which should be disbanded.

Why is this?

[apple]

It represent that experienced hastati units being promoted to principes and new recruits filling the lines of the new ones.

[ChrisJoker]

It represent that experienced hastati units being promoted to principes and new recruits filling the lines of the new ones.

wow that sounds great and realistci finaly my hastaii can actualy get their promotion they been waiting all their campaigns for

[Ballacraine]

That sounds very good.

I will have to try that next time I start a campaign.

Very well presented.

[Phalanx300]

Nice, I always did the exact same thing but then just 1 general and 1 archer. Though this one is better(in a Historical sense) .


I might do one on Sparta when RS2.0 comes out.

[apple]

@I usually don't use archers and onagers as I am more of an close combat player, heavily depending on my pilas and my brave romans as they hold the lines while my equities storms the enemy flanks


I has always loved the republican era so my game have usually a long republican period before I trigger the Imperial reform.

I think that the republican legions is somewhat disliked by the average RS player.
I seam like some only seek to play with the named legions and therefor miss the fun playing with theses monsters of soliders.
I know that many players barley plays with the ve legions as they make everything they can to trigger the Imperial reform and that is pity as they are excellent and fun units to play with.
When I after many centuries reaches the Imperial reform I have usually a great time with the named legions.
And the best thing is that by taking it slowly gives you more variation, not just using the named ones.

Variation is what keeps me playing this mod, variation between units and the world map.

[Hoplite God Scot]

@I usually don't use archers and onagers as I am more of an close combat player, heavily depending on my pilas and my brave romans as they hold the lines while my equities storms the enemy flanks

Hey Ive noticed that Pila in this mod absolutley devastates ,most units it is used against (except Macedonian Royal Pikemen - in a huge war with them over Anatolia ) yeah sometimes my Legionaires (VE) dont even have to engage as the entire enemy line is thinned to about 2 men .. is this Historically accurate ? cause it feels a bit cheap (i mean they have like 4 pila - i thought they only carried two?)

[welwelwel]

Three pilla to be exact

[Phalanx300]

I also like the Republican era alot, probably even more then the Imperial era.

And yeah, I also don't like archers, which is why they never have a important part in my armies, just 1-2 units max.

For Historical armies(Hellenic-Roman) I usually go by the rule, max 5 cav and max 5 missle. Now this can still lead to overpowered armies which is why light cavalry and light missle units should be used.

[legio_XX]

HEY!! lol im trying to wait for 2.0 to come out. SO STOP TRYING TO MAKE ME WANT TO PLAY IT

at any rate I will try to do what you said then I plan to make rome take what it had then.....well slowly destroy it by using more auxilia and few legions lol dont ask why i do it all the time in damn near all my rtw games.

but SPARTA shall be my first

[century x]

Very nice.

[apple]

Thanks for all kind words

I also like the Republican era alot, probably even more then the Imperial era.

And yeah, I also don't like archers, which is why they never have a important part in my armies, just 1-2 units max.

For Historical armies(Hellenic-Roman) I usually go by the rule, max 5 cav and max 5 missle. Now this can still lead to overpowered armies which is why light cavalry and light missle units should be used.

Indeed

Many players tend to skip the lower based unit types like velites, hastati, spear trowing cavalry and other light troops.

This makes the diversity lesser.
For example didn't Hannibal have a army made of heavy units like his experienced african troops.
The main composition where in fact lighter troops (com-paired to the roman counterpart at least).
He won because he knew how, were and when to use his heavy and experienced troops.

Also the fact that an only heavy based army would cost tremendously much more than a army with lighter troops and a smaller core force of elites.

Luckily this is somewhat going to change in RS 2 as many lighter troops be the base of an Ai army.
Many unit will for example be based on a spear throwing unit, but still be able to take up the fight as a medium infantry force if needed.
They will be like the scutarii in RS 1.5.

So to come to an conclusion, the battles of RS 2 will be between two (or more) divers armies instead of RS 1's sometimes stack after stack with the same units.



The Battle of Cannae:
The battle is counted as the single most costly battle counted in human life's until the outbreak of WWI.

Carthage

• Total:
• 54,000
• 40,000 heavy infantry
• 6,000 light infantry
• 8,000 cavalry

Rome

• Total:
• 86,400
• 40,000 Roman infantry
• 40,000 Allied infantry
• 2,400 Roman cavalry
• 4,000 Allied cavalry

Causality:

Carthage

• 6,000 killed,
• 10,000 wounded

Rome

• 76,000 killed
• 50,000 killed
• around 11,000 captured

Of those where 80 Roman senators.

[drazeN]

I have one Roman camp going on but I'll have to start another one just to try these new rules.
Thanks Maxim for this nice addition to House Rules. +rep

[apple]

I have one Roman camp going on but I'll have to start another one just to try these new rules.
Thanks Maxim for this nice addition to House Rules. +rep

[Elodman]

Congrats on these strict, reality-aimed houserules!

Firing hastatis makes sense. Now I begin to understand why enhanced experience/upgrade system would play lesser importance in your code of gaming.

Your mentioned higher heavy infantry costs sounds nice.
In addition to that, it would be good to have legions a higher logistics upkeep, when far-very far from their recruit area. ( Maybe its implemented already, I havent had the chance to test it yet).

And how do you think about armies' huge movement capability on campaign map? It seems to be so strange that AI can endanger huge areas in one turn. (but it resolved an AI jamming in terrain problem - if I remember well)

[MarcusTullius]

Great job!

[apple]

I'm glad that I could help
And yes the video is great, it's from the film Hannibal-Rome's worst nightmare.

[Legio]

Great guide, Maxim.

[-Traiano-]

I've just discovered this amazing mod and i'm playing my first roman campaign using my personal game rules.
Opposite to those above i'm an imperial-consolar numbered and named legion's fanatic!!therefore i have reached the imperial reform as early as i could, after 40 years of campaign i was already sending my first 2 consular legions (XI Claudia Pia Fidelis and VIII Augusta) to keep the frontline in sicily!! I still keep regiments of the I, II and III Republican legions to guard the Gallic front and the illiric front.
I find this mod absolutely amazing, love it insanely!! I recruited 1 Imperator that i renamed as Augustus Octavianus like the first real, then 1 praetorian prefect and 1 regiment composed by I and II praetorian legions and others elite troops like "veteranii". Then i placed 1 proconsul for each big region (Cisalpine Gaul, Italy, Sicily for now) and governors for each city, then military tribunes to lead legions in the open field and little forts and watchtowers placed everywhere across the several "limes"...well guys thank you for this amazing game experience, i didn't feel so excited playing rtw since years ago!! I stopped playing MTW II...

Another genial feature is the excel file to record all about your consular and imperial legions, i like this kind of features!!
I play with "0" turns in order to have lots of legions and very bigger battles than ever and i'm trying to follow the historical conquests map of the Roman Empire, the onli difference is that i like to play with legionary troops instead of using republicans ones as much as Maxim does.