I may need to rethink my strategy!

**Ybbon** · October 23, 2009, 03:22 AM

So I started a new 1.6 campaign as Rome on H/H, I have 5 full stacks and haven't expanded anywhere yet, I was sort of following the idea of giving the AI time to get going - well it's now something like 485AUC and I just made 700 denarii profit in the last turn! I have been building the economy buildings and some cultural ones and I have only fought a few brigands, I haven't really been profligate that I was aware of and have been trying to get income going as much as possible or so I thought. Rome itself is a huge drain -8950dn a turn!

Last I checked, the Syracusans were about to take Croton, Cannae has a full stack in, Tarentum has a full stack in and half out, there are 5 Volcani stacks hanging around Mediolanum and Bononia, Genoa is also full - so attacking anyone is going to be costly.

If this is a precursor to RSII then I think waiting 25 years for the AI to get going as per house rules may be a somewhat suicidal strategy

Not a whinge, I'm having fun, I'm wondering whether to go for Cannae and Bononia or Genoa - losing some of my army would help my money situation for sure

or I may restart and not wait as long, it's all good fun, but obviously no good just trying to play the same as in 1.5

**Mirionis9** · October 23, 2009, 04:12 AM

Restart the campaign mate.

**welwelwel** · October 23, 2009, 04:51 AM

Normally those rebel army's shouldn't be to mutch of a problem. I normally can take on 2 to 3 full stack army's with one republican legion... Not at the same time though

**Beggar** · October 23, 2009, 05:41 AM

Originally Posted by welwelwel

Normally those rebel army's shouldn't be to mutch of a problem. I normally can take on 2 to 3 full stack army's with one republican legion... Not at the same time though

True. Pila just annihilates them. Those rebels - they are there already in the beginning of the campaign, always. So restarting the campaign basically just destroys the progress you've made. Tarentum also has a big stack, and Epeiros declares war on you quite fast after you take Cannae. I'd say, secure your south. Besiege Croton if Syracuse fails to capture it, besiege Cannae with another army and attack Epeiros with the remaining armies. After they have fallen, attack Syracuse. Syracuse settlements are more wealthy than the northern settlements so they'll provide you some money for capturing Patavium and such.

**Ybbon** · October 23, 2009, 05:59 AM

Originally Posted by Kohvi

True. Pila just annihilates them. Those rebels - they are there already in the beginning of the campaign, always. So restarting the campaign basically just destroys the progress you've made. Tarentum also has a big stack, and Epeiros declares war on you quite fast after you take Cannae. I'd say, secure your south. Besiege Croton if Syracuse fails to capture it, besiege Cannae with another army and attack Epeiros with the remaining armies. After they have fallen, attack Syracuse. Syracuse settlements are more wealthy than the northern settlements so they'll provide you some money for capturing Patavium and such.

With 1.5 I waited for Macedonia to attack Epirots on their side so I knew they'd have no reinforcements and Syracuse were too busy fighting Carthage to worry about for a while. Patavium in particular is just a village near enough so I know what you mean about their value.

I may just go back to 1.5 for a bit, finish off the Gauls once and for all and go and fight the scary number of stacks of Ptolemaics! Good thing I've got a lot of legions to fight with!

Anyone else found the economy in 1.6 to be harder? It's a good thing, as I said, was really just commenting on the need to maybe adapt the 1.5 house rules about waiting a while before doing anything.

On a completely different note, I noticed a few rebel armies where they ran around changing their positions a lot before I'd even started moving towards them, such that when I got ready to engage, a number of their units were showing as tired or even exhausted and I hadn't done anything other than manoeuvred for position?

**Beggar** · October 23, 2009, 06:22 AM

Originally Posted by ybbon66

Anyone else found the economy in 1.6 to be harder? It's a good thing, as I said, was really just commenting on the need to maybe adapt the 1.5 house rules about waiting a while before doing anything.

On a completely different note, I noticed a few rebel armies where they ran around changing their positions a lot before I'd even started moving towards them, such that when I got ready to engage, a number of their units were showing as tired or even exhausted and I hadn't done anything other than manoeuvred for position?

It doesn't seem harder to me; though I never played with Carthage on 1.5. And I think the position changing is a bit of a bug. For example, siege engines have hard time moving in the new environment, despite that the next tree might be 100 meters away. I think I read that it's going to be fixed in RS2. And who anyways would use siege engines in regular battles?

Personally, I have never followed all of the house rules. Or I might have, but I want to play my campaigns differently depending on the faction or mood. Anyways generally my playing style is quite slow, so by the time the real action starts to happen, other factions have already grown in to nice size (Macedon annihilating everything and seleucids getting beaten badly).

**welwelwel** · October 23, 2009, 09:03 AM

Originally Posted by Kohvi

and Epeiros declares war on you quite fast after you take Cannae.

Rome is already at war with Epeiros when the campaign starts

**Beggar** · October 24, 2009, 02:39 AM

Originally Posted by welwelwel

Rome is already at war with Epeiros when the campaign starts

Ah, you are right. I forgot since I almost everytime make peace with them in the beginning of the campaign.

No one uses siege in field? You also need siege to assault a settlement. Now, imagine a settlement surrounded by "magical" forest, with wooden walls. You can't get a ram up to it.

This has happened to me, and I was not amused that a single enemy unit basically can hold off an army for 3 years because we couldn't push a ram up. (you can autoresolve, of course). For settlements though, the problem is actually easily fixed, thankfully.

I see. I usually starve my enemies; if I don't, I attack settlements with very small garrison and autoresolve - In the few sieges I've fought I hadn't experienced that bad situation yet.

**Darkside** · October 23, 2009, 06:26 AM

Quick question...why is it so common for the seleucids to just get the crap kicked out of them almost every time?

**Beggar** · October 23, 2009, 06:52 AM

Originally Posted by Darkside

Quick question...why is it so common for the seleucids to just get the crap kicked out of them almost every time?

Probably because just about everyone around them hates them and will attack them. They are big but they would have to defend everywhere and therefore they get no chances to get on offensive. Lets see... Parthia, Armenia, Pergamum, Ptolemaics, Pontus. All of those will usually attack them. I think they all have some seleucid territory as victory conditions.

**General Brittanicus** · October 23, 2009, 10:55 AM

Originally Posted by Kohvi

Probably because just about everyone around them hates them and will attack them. They are big but they would have to defend everywhere and therefore they get no chances to get on offensive. Lets see... Parthia, Armenia, Pergamum, Ptolemaics, Pontus. All of those will usually attack them. I think they all have some seleucid territory as victory conditions.

Ive played a campaign as rome before where the seleucids got the crap kicked out of them as usual at the start of the game, but then they started makin a comeback- they managed to push armenia back to its original lands and started takin Jeruslaem and all those provinces down that way from egypt, but at least the good old soldiers of pergamum managed to stand firm against them.

**Alavaria** · October 23, 2009, 11:40 AM

Well, AI units tire more slowly than the players, and fatigue is less of an penalty for them, if I remember.

They might not be moving about all that much, but if there are more hills, etc - running up and down will definitely tire them out more than running on the previously flat-as-a-table terriain, true.

**Herr Lindstrom** · October 24, 2009, 01:57 AM

One tip for you... if you have only 5 stacks. March Divided, fight concentrated. IE it doesn't matter how the stacks get to where you need them to go just make sure you use ALL of your stacks when you're attacking a city

that way you will be able to deal with any marauding stacks the enemy have hidden and also make sieges alot easyer..... just make sure all of your generals are in the stack you plan to attack with because the AI loves to send them into the fray once there is a breach..... happened to me during my Cimbri campaign and I was not too thrilled to see the Heir to die within 5 minutes of breaching the walls

**Alavaria** · October 24, 2009, 07:32 AM

Originally Posted by Herr Lindstrom

just make sure all of your generals are in the stack you plan to attack with because the AI loves to send them into the fray once there is a breach..... happened to me during my Cimbri campaign and I was not too thrilled to see the Heir to die within 5 minutes of breaching the walls

Its fine to have generals in other stacks - in fact I want that as I rather have more infantry in my attacking army than cavalry.

Make sure you uncheck the "AI control" for all the other armies. Then you're safe.

Sometimes the game is crappy and gives AI control to the armies even though you said not to. If you've saved, just quit the battle, reload and redo it - usually at some point the game will remember to NOT give AI control to reinforcements.

**Timefool** · October 25, 2009, 01:01 AM

Originally Posted by Alavaria

Sometimes the game is crappy and gives AI control to the armies even though you said not to. If you've saved, just quit the battle, reload and redo it - usually at some point the game will remember to NOT give AI control to reinforcements.

So it's NOT me going crazy then.