Dealing with the romans

[Zen1986]

I am currently playing the Macedon campaign. my main adversary at the mo is the romans. I am gradually winning the war but the casualties i am suffering are really heavy. around 30-40%. I immediatley realised that my main problem was mobility. so i reduced the amount of phalanx troops and increased the amount of hoplites. even though it still means that more often than not its my cavalry that saves my bacon but how do i deal with the roman pila? any advice is appreciated.

cheers,

Zen

[warsawabruce]

Well, enjoy that you are having a tough time because if you could win every battle with 5-10% losses it would become boring quickly. Playing as Macedonia, the Romans are probably one of your hardest opponents. Enjoy the fact that it is not a walk in the park.
By the way, I think you should try to use some bate for the pila. Add some men that you spare because they are cheap and make them use the pila on them

[Zen1986]

Thanks bruce. Oh I am enjoying it, its the first time the AI has ever been a challenge, I was just wondering whether I was doing anything wrong. I thought about deploying archers at the front and letting them take most of the brunt but I hate sacrificing any of my troops lol. My overall strategy is to use the navy to blockade about 60-70% of the roman docks so that they can't afford the post marian troops.

[Kallides]

I ll give you a tip. When you play as Macedon then you should get the plague sooner or later. Get a bunck of spies and infect them, then send them around to Roman cities. Their economy will drop like a rock and they will start pulling their armies out as they will need them to keep the riots under control. Its very mean and you can keep it going for years to since roman sities are very close together so if you have a few spies you will be able to rotate them around the peninsula.lol There is no honor in it but its very effective and gives you a break from the aggressive nation. Plus who is to say that they didnt use that tactic in those days?

[warsawabruce]

Kind of a cheap trick. Fight them like a man and don't block their ports

[Kallides]

Kind of a cheap trick. Fight them like a man and don't block their ports

What good is honor when you are dead? Use tricks, be sneaky, use assassins and show no mercy. Strike when they are weakest and do it tactically. You have to act like a rogue mate! Short blade but a precise stab.

[warsawabruce]

Well, I prefer to beat my enemies on the battlefield and not starve them to death or ruin their economy

[Bob Bobinson]

Train a few weak troops and send them to the slaughter. Then when the Romans close in, put your Phalanx in a wedge formation.

[Kallides]

Ahhh but where is the beauty of it? Where is the cunning and the cruel ways of warfare? You cant savor all the little things juicy things that the cruelty brings. You have to teach your enemies the harsh lessons of life, this is not a walk in the park. THIS IS:sparta:

[saxdude]

Like the way you think Kallides

[Octavius-Augustus]

Ahhh but where is the beauty of it? Where is the cunning and the cruel ways of warfare? You cant savor all the little things juicy things that the cruelty brings. You have to teach your enemies the harsh lessons of life, this is not a walk in the park. THIS IS:sparta:

I also like your way of thinking, bud. I use everything on the enemy: everything it uses on me. One thing I never do is sink enemy ships with a lot of troops on them. It's kind of dull to fight off most naval invasions just by crushing navies. Let them come! Real men fight on the ground! Plus it's just unrealistic to stop naval invasions this way. I don't use fog of war so I kinda always know when the enemy is coming.. It's all because I get lag when I have FOW turned on, though.

Back on topic, I never had to meet the Romans in the filed, since I almost always command them on the field. I'm really starving for a different campaign as another faction, but I'll wait for RS II to do that.

[Kallides]

I also like your way of thinking, bud.

I enjoy being mean to my enemies but only in the game I am a very nice person in real life. I just try to do anything I would have done to win the war if I was the ruler of a nation and if I know that a more superior nation is threatening the existence of my people. If biological warfare is what it takes (plague) is what it takes then so be it!

Meeting Romans on the field can be devastating, you really realize why they have concord so much after you played against them. I mean those javelins that they discharge before attacking are just very effective. They are not the only ones that use it I know but mixed in with their hardy legions and their famous discipline, well you get the idea.

[Darkie]

Be happy that you don't have to fight imperial legions

[evenflowjimbo]

I feel you. I was playing the Epeiros and kept losing that city in Italy from the start.. the one at the very bottom to the right. Anyways, the way I dealt with the Romans or atleast cripple them alittle was sack Rome. Well, it help me a ton because they moved all of their armies towards Rome, but I had three full stacks of elite pikemen and such. I think it was mostly luck but I am at a stalemate now holding most of the region above Italy as I am at war with the Gallic, Germanic and Samaritans. Germanic tribes are almost done for and the Gallic are dealing with the plague (no tricks, but I do find that spy idea a good one.) However, once the Samaritans joined with them I had to move most of my forces towards them... which they hold all of the Russia or whatever. Ugh... my only ally is Syracuse and they only hold three cities... so I am pretty much screwed haha. Everytime I conquer a nation two more join together to take me on.

Good luck.

[Chicken]

I feel you.

[Alavaria]

If you're attacking Romans, it help to have a unit of, of, say peltasts in loose formation walk up to them. This way you can "remove" their pila at minimal cost to yourself.

One thing that is very dangerous is attacking them while they're fighting. Say a unit of hastati attacks some of your men - they usually throw pila and charge. They'll still have one pila left per person (usually more). If another melee unit attacks them (by say flanking) if you're looking, they'll go "Reloading" and then use their other pila. Point blank, that is.
-- This can be particularly annoying with pike lines, as a unit might be fighting pikes, and one guy wanders over and touches a separate unit, triggering the pila.
-- Another option is of course to make sure they only engage one unit in melee. If you're using harder battle difficulties this is unlikely, unless you use cheap tactics like flanking with archers.

[ARM3D1US]

While I do like a good challenge it is much more entertaining to see my foes almost entirely annihilated by me. I hit the enemy on all sides as soon as war begins, but my standard rules for war basically mean that I won't be too underhanded, such as outnumbering them 20:1, but aside from that they feel my wrath. As for traitors, they feel the full force of my armies, they often are outnumbered 20:1 (once it was as bad as 100:1) seeing that I deem them a greater threat, I take care of them with precision and force (maybe a little extreme but it gets the job done). So, I basically blitzkrieg my enemies, minus the tanks and aircraft.

[Kallides]

While I do like a good challenge it is much more entertaining to see my foes almost entirely annihilated by me. I hit the enemy on all sides as soon as war begins, but my standard rules for war basically mean that I won't be too underhanded, such as outnumbering them 20:1, but aside from that they feel my wrath. As for traitors, they feel the full force of my armies, they often are outnumbered 20:1 (once it was as bad as 100:1) seeing that I deem them a greater threat, I take care of them with precision and force (maybe a little extreme but it gets the job done). So, I basically blitzkrieg my enemies, minus the tanks and aircraft.

You're scaring me man.

[Velico]

Another suggestion... Get a lot of spies and watch troop movement throughout their lands. Draw their main forces towards your main forces and get strike forces to sail along their coastal cities. Wait for them to be too far away to reinforce and hit their weaker cities. Exterminate them then sail away and find another weak spot. Main thing to remember is not to force anything. Be patient and opportunistic. Find chinks in any way possible and exploit them to great ends. Using marine forces works well because most of the time the AI leaves a small garrison away from the main lines and pays no attention to ships. Just make sure to have a large fleet and dominate their navy, otherwise it won't work.

Another idea is to bait them on campaign map. Guise your forces in forests and leave a somewhat weak garrison on your border town that you want them to come to (note to make sure they don't have siege weapons). Once you draw them in, instead of fighting full stacks against full stacks, send one of your armies to their cities (if there are no small armies around for you to crush) and make the AI either come back or siege. If they siege just outnumber them for that battle and retrain quickly.

One thing to remember... Try NOT to take them on full force. Target their weaker armies and you will see victory.

@ warsawabruce - Sun Tzu would not deem you a worthy general. Just saying...

[Kallides]

@ warsawabruce - Sun Tzu would not deem you a worthy general. Just saying...

lol. How do you know? I ve read the art of war too and yet I dont think I am able to talk for Sun Tzu.