Campaign Feedback

[tinceiri]

Hello,

I love Extended Realism, and I think that it has gone in a good direction. I'm not the best player, and there are some things (I think) that need to be addressed with two particular factions:

First, Republic of Rome:

In my opinion, this is the easiest faction in the game. I usually play as this faction on very hard / very hard, but even with the huge bonuses given to the A.I. it is still extremely easy to steamroll five or six factions by 260 B.C.E. once you've gotten the right set-up. I know that Rome is supposed to be an extremely powerful faction, but right now certain early choices seem to reward this faction too much.

There are a few things that can be done to fix this, and I'll describe why this faction is too easy and how to establish this set-up. I'm not sure how this would impact balance issues for some of the other faction. two big issues with this faction:

#1: Cisalpine Gaul:

This place is a joke if you know what you're doing. My starting strategy is to usually push into Arrezo and Arrimium, and then I'll go into Bononia before pushing into here. I'm not very concerned with the Epirotes early in the game, as they're usually too busy fighting in Corfinium or Rhegium which are irrelevant at this point in ths game. If I haven't taken many casualties in the first four or five rounds, then I'll usually take Aleria and Caralis from Carthage as well.

You need a surprisingly small army to conquer Cisalpinne Gaul, and there are two reasons for this. First, the Gauls have no army. Second, Noble Cavalry absolutely destroys any morale that a Gaulish army might have had. Noble Cavalry have good stats, but this isn't why you want them. Their fear effect is extremely overpowered. Even if you've only got three of these guys left from your initial stack, then there is no reason not to keep them. They will still turn the tide of many battles simply by standing behind your lines.

I think that the fear effect needs to be looked into, and some of Gaul's units also need to have their morale looked at.

#2. Illyrian Mines:

This faction suffers from a lot of the same problems that Gaul has, which is namely a lack of morale and staying power. Unlike Cisalpine Gaul, however, this place is loaded with mines.

There is no one that can stop you from expanding into this area. Illyria usually has no army at this point, as they've destroyed it from fighting rebels. Thrace can be a threat, sometimes, but they're usually too busy with the Germans or the Galatians. Each city in this region has a mine, and that can later become an improved mine. So, there is no reason not to conquer this place as soon as possible.

Dalmatia and Segestica have incomes of anywhere from 2500-3500, which is insane. This does not make any sense to me. Salona and Scodra are both extremely good, but they "only" provide 1500-2000 in income. By 270 B.C.E. Illyria is usually off the map and I've secured this area.

Second, Pontus:

This faction is annoying because you can't play as Pontus historically without being wiped off the face of the map. I've had to immediately expand into areas that Pontus hasn't historically been associated with, such as the Bosphorus and Dacia. Dacia is a surprisingly good choice for expansion, as you can turn the region into an economic powerhouse while the Sarmatians can do nothing but look on. Thracians also provide surprisingly good infantry.

After you've taken Sarmatia's costal cities, there is simply the matter of keeping Macedon in check.

If you lose your cities in Asia Minor to the Seleucids (which is what always seems to happen) then you're still in a position to reclaim them from Europe. It's better that then being wiped off the face of the map, I guess.

I'm sure that there's a way to historically play Pontus, but I haven't figured this out yet.

[despot_of_rhodes]

IMHO, the easyest faction to play are Epirotes - i´ve managed to repeatedly annihylate Romans within the first starting year, thanks to elephants to take Capua and the Nightfighter ability of my faction leader, who got 7 ( or even 8? ) command stars from the beginning. Plus there are absolutly no culture penalties for them in Greece, Macedonia or seleucid posessions in Asia Minor down to the Persian Gulf...
But there is no reason to do so, if you want the Romans to give you several good fights

Playing as Pontus i had the toughest and coolest campaign ever while playing RTW/RTR or ExRM. It took me 30 years and about 100 battles to bring Asia Minor under my control, while i was fighting all my neighbours simultaniously ( Seleucids and Ptoleys decided that my little Pontic "Empire" was enough threat to make an alliance and Macs declared war on me, while allying them with all my enemies allready before we used to share common boarder )

Gauls were supposed to be split up in two factions, Cisalpine and Transalpine ( to use the common roman determination of those areas ). Illyrians weren´t supposed to be present in the future versions of ExRM anymore.

And, last but not least, it was allways too easy to play Romans in any Total War version, mod etc. except in SPQR - and that i "know" only from reading this forums, without have had tried that mod myself.

[Arkaeyn]

The Romans should be easier to play as - their tactics, adaptability, and military abilities did conquer most of the known world, after all. This is where the three-Roman faction system is missed. Instead of competing against weaker enemies, the Romans competed against themselves.

[Vae victis]

A more ahistorical approach is needed if you want to play smaller factions like Pontus on harder difficulties. You sometimes need to expand into differant areas in order to defeat an aggressive AI. The Romans should be easy because they have the best troops and tactics at their dispossal. It is easy to beat the AI armies with these weapons. I think that with the right human leadership, the other factions should be able to compete against an AI Rome. The other factions troops might not be the best, but if given some brains, they can do just as well, even though it might be more challenging.

I am currently playing an Illyrian campaign and the player needs those gold and silver mines there to be able to fend off the phalanx and hoplite armies of Greece and Macedon. It wouldn't be impossible to do it without the mines, but it would be much more difficult. The Illyrians and the smaller factions are sometimes more fun to play. I hope that the next patch doesn't remove too much from them.