Romani Realism

**Boosey** · April 25, 2009, 04:44 AM

Hi, sorry if I'm being a total moron but I swear there was a thread around here that dealt with how to compose a historically accurate Polybian Army for the Romani and I just wondered if anyone could post a link?

Decided to take it a bit more seriously from now on

Cheers in advance

**aznflea** · April 25, 2009, 05:52 AM

http://www.fanaticus.org/DBA/armies/II33.html

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._formation.PNG

give me rep plz

the first is a more detailed view on the polybians. its actually a chessboard kind of game i dont know but the first few paragraphs is quite useful. and the second is a picture on how the actual army was layed out. the cavalry would be at the wings. the triarii would be half the size of the hastati and principe maniples. 160 men i thnk

**Boosey** · April 25, 2009, 12:49 PM

Cheers Aznflea, thanks for your help!

I'd be happy to give you rep but firstly I have absolutely no idea what that is or secondly, how to give it!

**DraeKlae** · April 25, 2009, 02:23 PM

Here:
http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=101787
You'll find QuintusSertorius' ultimate guide to playing historically as the Romani, although the historical expansion has not been finished yet. It has detailed instructions on how to use the armies historically for Camillan, Polybian and Marian legions.

**Boosey** · April 25, 2009, 03:54 PM

Thank you DraeKlae, this is precisely what I was looking for! Again, I'd give you rep if I knew what the hell I was doing

**aznflea** · April 25, 2009, 05:34 PM

lol there is a green + button right next to the report button, which is under your avatar

what difficulty are yuo going to play your roman campaign on?

**Boosey** · April 25, 2009, 07:32 PM

Says I have no rep to give, sorry!

Playing on medium battles and hard campaign, seems to be going well so far, money certainly isn't a problem but the Aedui are certainly are more difficult to defeat than I remember them in RTW. The Carthaginians are a bit of a paper tiger though so it's all swings and roundabouts I guess!

What faction/difficulty do you recommend?

**Rob of the Julii** · April 25, 2009, 07:50 PM

To get a generally accurate Polybian army I take 5 hastati, 5 principes, 3 triarii, 2 velites, a general and at least 1 unit of equites. That gives you 3 free slots to fill with allied troops, normally use another cav and some spearmen to cover the flanks of the infantry.

**johnhughthom** · April 25, 2009, 08:12 PM

Originally Posted by Rob of the Julii

To get a generally accurate Polybian army I take 5 hastati, 5 principes, 3 triarii, 2 velites, a general and at least 1 unit of equites. That gives you 3 free slots to fill with allied troops, normally use another cav and some spearmen to cover the flanks of the infantry.

An accurate army should really have equal number of allied troops. Personally my Polybian would be 1 Accensii, 2 Velites, 2 Hastati, 2 Principe, 1 Triarii and use FMs as my cavalry. That leaves 10 spaces for allies, I actually roleplay it as two legions and usually split it into two armies as it would be overpowered for one in my opinion.

**DraeKlae** · April 26, 2009, 09:37 AM

Originally Posted by Boosey

Says I have no rep to give, sorry!

Playing on medium battles and hard campaign, seems to be going well so far, money certainly isn't a problem but the Aedui are certainly are more difficult to defeat than I remember them in RTW. The Carthaginians are a bit of a paper tiger though so it's all swings and roundabouts I guess!

What faction/difficulty do you recommend?

I'd recommend M/M; that's how I always play when I do it historically.

Medium battles because I think the EB team has balanced the unit stats to work on medium, on which no sides get bonuses (easy you get bonuses, hard and VH the AI does).

Medium campaign is good if you're playing historically. The AI doesn't get crippled too much as in easy, but it doesn't steamroll like in VH (try playing as Pontus in VH, three full seleucid stacks come knocking on your door).

**johnhughthom** · April 26, 2009, 03:49 PM

I have read (from reliable sources) that the AI doesn't hire mercs on medium campaign difficulty. This is the reason I have never tried it, that would make the game too easy in my view. Personally, I always play H/M.

**Boosey** · April 27, 2009, 03:17 PM

H/M seems fairly easy as Romani, I can afford five nearly full stacks and my production is at a constantly high level; money is very easy to come by with a firm grip on the dalmation coast (although apparently the Casse have the most money by a looooong way). And has the campaign ai been tweaked because unlike in RTW factions give in when they're on the ropes (except for Koinon Hellenion, but then I would expect nothing less of the sons of Herakles

)

No one seems to be buying mercs though except for me.

Who should I play as for a harder time? Might give pahlava a go as they are apparently nails to play as.

**aznflea** · April 28, 2009, 01:18 AM

hayasdan, pahlava and pontos are all quite hard. baktria is also very hard because you cant afford to lose a single battle.

**Boosey** · April 29, 2009, 04:28 AM

Started a game as Pahlava last night, bloody hell it's hard! My economy is in a nose dive, my army is tiny and Baktria are making me think that they aren't as friendly as they're making out. That said I have had more heroic victories in the first 30 turns of this campaign than my entire Romani game, horse archer tactics are unstoppable when well used. Looks like you were right Johnhughtom! Every chevron they gain makes them more powerful as well, genius!
Might take Aznflea's advice and try Baktria as well but at the minute I'm having too much fun as Pahlava

**aznflea** · April 30, 2009, 12:36 AM

tbh, every eastern faction is hard to play compared to lets say rome and carthage.

boosey, i recomend you look up nomadism vs pastoralism thread that i made earlier and read up on it because it is very important. you might screw up your campaign if you choose the wrong building order.

**DraeKlae** · April 30, 2009, 10:24 AM

Try the Saka next, they're "nigh-impossible" (as the faction selection screen states). If you're used to roman-style fighting, it might be hard to adapt to cavalry tactics to play as the Pahlava or the Saka. If you have such problem, I highly recommend the Saka and "How to use cavalry" guides in the guides sticky, really useful even if you're not playing a nomadic faction.