Elephants

[Raglan]

Hi all I'm new to SPQR and love the mod! (except for one moment when i first started and kept getting beat)

ive now adjusted to the battle system and are doing okay agaist the gauls to the north in my latest attempt (5th or 6th cause i kept getting beat so bad there was no point carring on - an i've only had the mod a month or so) but carthage is kicking my arse. the troops are okay but i just can't handle the elephants - i've tried using velites as suggested but they either get routed before they do anything useful or i have to deploy behind lines to protect the meanig that when i'm able to attack the elephants they have destroyed half my army which is then mopped up by carthages infantry!

but concrats to LT i love the feel of the battles just need a way of stopping them elephants

[Hesus de bodemloze]

For stopping the elephants you need to use the right legion against one of the carthaginian armies. You will need Quintus to destroy Hannibal and so on. Turn of skirmish mode and fire at will mode for your velites (to save your ammo for the elephants), now you need to control them by hand only use them to fire at the elephants.

I also suggest your read the SPQR guide that is provided for you on the forum.

[Ejergard]

Best way to do it (for me) is to pack up the Velites behind your Principe line. And if possible, deploy your legion on high terrain, like a slope or a hill. This way, the Velites can throw their spears farther. Grouping behind is important to protect the Velites, since they really are the only unit able of efficiently taking out the elephants, and range usually is enough. If you still have problems, try changing the slingers for more velites. I do this sometimes when I meet armies of 2 elephant units or more. To be effective you need about 2 skirmishers per 1 elephant unit.

[Hesus de bodemloze]

Na it is possible with one velites unit against one unit of elephants. Using 2 against one is just finishing them of a bit fasther.

[Ejergard]

Yeah, but if you are not fast enough, they might trample some (read alot :p) of your men. And no, against the first armies of Theophanes and Hannibal, the standard layout of legions is enough, but when taking Sicily, you may encounter alot more elephants in a single army, and that's where I (occasionally) use more velites.

[czePowerslave]

MIcromanaging velites is all you need to do

[Raglan]

hey thanks for the responce so just to clarify the recomendation is to deploy velites behind my main line and use them exclusivly for the elephants?

what hapens if they run out of ammo

[Hesus de bodemloze]

Well if thy do run out of ammo you best pray thy killed the elephants. Thy should be able to kill all the elephants if you only use them for firing at elephants, be sure to turn off fire at will and skirmish mode. And yes thy are exclusivly for the elephants (if there are in the enemie armie).

[Raglan]

thank for the help i'll give it a go - time to take back benitivum (yep i know spelt wrong)

[Blue_Hoplite85]

yeh, i think if u guys make another patch, you should make the elephants abit less...invincable

theyre elephants for gods sakes......not frickin Tiger Tanks!!!!!

[Raglan]

yeh, i think if u guys make another patch, you should make the elephants abit less...invincable

theyre elephants for gods sakes......not frickin Tiger Tanks!!!!!

no i disagree i might be finding them hard but i like the challange of them - after all the Romans found them a nightmare until Scipios corridor tactics (wish the total war engine was flexible enough for this )

[czePowerslave]

They are easy to bring down actually. You need approx 1-1.5 Velite unit for full elephant unit...not that hard

[Hesus de bodemloze]

If you get your velites to there flanks or realy close thy will drop like flies.

[czePowerslave]

Yes, that is correct - the effectivness of velites decreases with range from which they are firing

[Raglan]

Yes, that is correct - the effectivness of velites decreases with range from which they are firing

ah cool i didn't know that, does it it apply to all missile units

[czePowerslave]

Not sure, but I think yes. If you put bunch of archers right behind hoplites, you will see how they fall

[Raglan]

This is useful to know it'll help when i'm fighting those extreme odds that is quickly becoming one of my favorite aspects of SPQR - at least until i lose

[czePowerslave]

Its sort of AI exploits, because AI will not realize that your missiles will practically massacre him

[Raglan]

yeah i know and thats agaist the house rules,but i've just tried the strategy and it's the first time i've managed anything better than a phyrric victory so until (if) i get better at beating them i'm going to stick with it

now i know its a long way of but do you deal with chariots in a simular way (in vanilla i would just mass up and once the chariots stopped moving kill them is this possible in SPQR)

[Hesus de bodemloze]

now i know its a long way of but do you deal with chariots in a simular way (in vanilla i would just mass up and once the chariots stopped moving kill them is this possible in SPQR)

Yes i believe you should use velites to destroy the chariots.