WRE Strategy Guide/Walk-through
Seeing how the WRE is such a popular subject on this board, I figured I'd post a write-up explaining how I managed to save the WRE and turn it into a world power once again.
Disclaimer: my methods are certainly not the only way to win, nor are they necessarily the most effective; this is only my first game as the WRE. I'll be sure to refine my technique in future games, though there's a good chance I'll start modifying BI a bit in the future which will probably change things. That said, this is what I've done and it DOES work. Also, feel free to deviate a bit in your own game. There are probably a few things I could have done better, experiment. That all said, I played on VH/VH.
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Phase One
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Now, in beginning your game as the WRE, you will find that you are losing money at a rapid rate, your economy is poor, and most of your settlements are restless and on the verge of revolt. Economic woes are due to the fact that most of your cities are undeveloped at the start; you have few ports and even fewer markets. This has a noticible effect on trade income. You are losing money because you start with an excessively large army, most of it being needlessly expensive garrison units stationed in provincial areas (Iberia, Gaul, Illyria). It would make sense to disband most of these units, but therein lies a double-edged sword: they are needed to keep overpopulated, unsanitary cities in check. There are also hints of religious unrest throughout your empire.
The WRE player should divide their game strategy into three phases in the following chronological order:
-Stabilize the empire internally
- Slow/stop the financial hemorrhaging
- Reconquer rebellious provinces
- Build a working economy
- Establish effective frontier garrisons
- Restructure your cities into factory cities/military zones (border provinces and Italy) and strictly economic cities (internal provinces; Gaul, Britannia, North Africa excluding Carthage and Iberia) which can be reconquered and sacked with ease in case they rebel
-Pacify frontier barbarians
-Attack the ERE and conquer Constantinople to win the game
The first part of the game is the most critical and will go a long way toward determining your future success, and it is this that I will concentrate the most on.
While it's not absolutely necessary to concede an early rebellion, it will probably work in your favor to do so, particularly on the higher difficulty levels. As I mentioned above, notice the size of some city's garrisons. Then notice how it costs more to garrison a city than it generates in income. If this is the case, this city is not worth attempting to hold...most of these will be in Iberia and Illyria. An easy way to identify these cities are by how loyal they are at the start of the game. DO NOT abandon or pillage important core cities like Rome or Ravenna. These cities will become factories for producing your better units later in the game.
I abandoned all of Iberia except Tarraco, all of Illyria, Eburacum in northern Britain (I held onto London), Avaricum in Gaul, and Lepcis Magna in Africa. Before you end your turn, though, disband all of the garrison units (except generals) in those cities, and destroy all of the buildings within. It will probably benefit you to leave a barracks or two in the Illyrian provinces; you want the rebel garrisons there to be stronger than the others for reasons I will explain below.
Then spend all of the money you earn in doing so (should be around 15k) on various things of your liking. I recommend a handful of economic buildings, roads, and elite army units (Comitenses, for example). You will need all the soldiers you can get, because you will spend the next several turns in debt. Move all of your generals towards a central meeting point in Gaul (most of them are poorly suited as governors anyway, their bodyguard units are extremely powerful, and with religion, loyalty and other things to deal with, it's best to keep them in the field).
Disband all naval units.
Destroying the buildings in abandoned provinces has two advantages. Besides generating capital for you to spend on the first turn, it will also prevent the rebels from turning up with decent armies. They will, instead, have nothing more than peasants, making the reconquest of those territories even easier. It may also be to your benefit to move your capital a bit towards the north to help keep the Gallic provinces happier, though I didn't do this since I felt maintaining a hold upon Carthage was important.
Be sure to build a couple units in Carthage, to prevent it from being overrun by the Berbers. Carthage will offer you a foothold in later years for the reconquest of Africa, and is also a victory condition.
Within two turns, a good chunk of your empire will break away. None of these should be a surprise: if you played the first turn right, you will have basically coerced certain provinces into doing so. Most of Gaul/Germania, Carthage, and all of Italy should remain under your control. There is where the fun begins.
Once this occurs, there are two early game objectives for the WRE: destroying the Alemanni ASAP will buy you precious time on the German front, since they are one of the faster developing German tribes and the sack and occupation of their city will generate valuable income for the WRE player. Secondly, you want to retake all of the rebellious provinces in Gaul and, if possible, Britain. Ignore Illyria for the moment: it and its rebels have a secondary role as a buffer zone between you, the ERE, and the barbarian hordes to the east. This is why I have suggested leaving at least one of them (Salona, Aquincum, or both) with a barracks, to increase the quality of the rebel troops there. It is unlikely that you will be able to reconquer Illyria before the hordes arrive anyway. You do want to avoid the ERE attacking you early, because they will (probably right as the hordes decide to avoid them and move for you), especially on the harder difficulties. Leaving rebel provinces as a buffer prevents this.
Military, your army should be structured as follows: a single large, powerful stack of your best units will be a sort of mobile response force for dealing with hordes and barbarian attacks; it is too slow and too valuable to risk using it to retake Iberia, in case you are attacked. I used five generals, a sizable number of Comitenses, and filled the rest of the army out with archers. Equipped as such, and you should have absolutely no trouble in dispensing with anything the Franks or Saxons throw at you, and it will also be useful in taking out the Alemanni. Use the Comitenses stationed in Gaul and in Ravenna and Rome to form your army. Replace them with Limitanei in the cities they garrisoned.
Remember those generals I mentioned earlier? Those that don't find their way into the mobile field army are going to form the tip of your Iberian/British strike force. You'll need these generals and a unit or two of halfway decent infantry (Limitanei or Foederati) to operate siege equipment. The General's bodyguards are one of the most important parts of your early game army: they're extremely powerful, flexible, and the best part is that they regenerate themselves for free! Without hesitation, reconquer Avaricum and exterminate the populace. The looting will help patch up some of the financial losses you suffer at this time, while the extermination will make it far easier to hold this city with a small garrison. You are going to do exactly this to all of the rebel cities you conquer and all of the barbarian cities you occupy. If you have any objection to this, remember three things:
1.) They are traitors!
2.) The smart player cares only about winning, not challenging himself to the point that he actually defeats himself.
3.) The real Roman Empire would have done the same thing.
Now, once Avaricum is yours, move your small generals army south into Iberia and begin to retake Iberia. Once a city is yours, garrison it with peasants as necessary. Rinse, repeat. Your Generals are vastly superior to the rebel peasants, and Iberia will once again be yours as quickly as you can march through it. You are now on the road to economic recovery.
On the Germanic front, send a diplomat to negotiate some alliances with the Germanic tribes. The Franks are a good choice, as they are one of the more powerful of those factions. They will suppress the Saxons for a time, and block the Burgundians, Lombards and such from reaching you. The rest will squabble amongst each other for a few scattered rebel neutral provinces and whatnot. Buying time is the key here.
Meanwhile, in Africa, the Berbers will take numerous shots at Carthage. They'll send some fairly large armies, but you have one tremendous advantage: the walls and towers of Carthage, which wreck complete havoc upon the lightly armored Berber troops. When they attempt to storm the city, place all of your units in the city center and let the city's built in defenses go to work. By the time they reach your army, they should have taken 40-60% casualties and will be exhausted and wavering, making for an easy rout against your rested, confident army. Let it be known that the Berbers will strike four or five times before you are able to build offensive units in Carthage and turn the tables on them.
Once Iberia has been reconquered, your empire should be generating a profit, and most of your debt (which could have reached up to 35k-40k denarii) will have been compensated for by the looting of the traitorous rebel cities in Iberia. If you have the chance, try to make a go for Britannia with the same General's bodyguard armies...or, send them south into Mauretania to help defeat the Berbers. I considered the latter to be the bigger threat, so that was the route I took.
Further rebuilding of the empire's economy is a matter of personal preference, and any experienced TW player should know what to do here, so I won't cover it in detail. Once your debt is erased and you're generating a profit, go at it and get it done. Also remember that you're now able to replace destroyed army units.
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Phase Two
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Conveniently, you'll find that the completion of the empire's economic restoration occurs at approximately the same time that the barbarian factions along the Rhine border start to become a legitimate threat. You might also find that a horde or two has begun heading for your lands. This is where your elite mobile field army will get some real use.
How you decide to deal with them is up to you, but I took the scorched earth approach. I would march to the capital city of the respective faction, conquer it in one decisive battle, and then exterminate the population, raze it to the ground, and destroy every building that I could. Don't bother occupying these; they'll require large garrisons that will sap your treasury. Leave them to rebel or be recaptured by the now greatly weakened faction you took it from. This is a great way to subdue the Franks and Saxons and greatly improves your financial situation in the process...don't do it to factions that only have one province, as some will become hordes which cause greater problems!
Internally, you're also going to focus upon improving your infrastructure. Concentrate your military production efforts into a handful of large, well garrisoned border cities with large or epic stone walls (I used Augusta Trevorum, Ravenna, Rome, and Mediolanum). Garrison the other border cities (Colonia Agrippina, Vicus Alemanni) with Limitanei, archers, and stone walls to prevent them from falling easily into barbarian hands. Internal provinces need only peasants or a unit of limitanei or two; do not use these cities to build or retrain units. They are too far from the action anyway.
The biggest challenge you will face is the arrival of the eastern hordes. These are typically consisting of some of the following factions:
-Vandals
-Huns
-Goths
-Sarmatians
-Roxlani
Usually the first three. This is where Illyria comes into play. The ERE, noticing a couple of juicy rebel provinces, will send an army or two into Illyria, as might one of the northern barbarian factions. Most importantly, most of the hordes also take this route on their way into Italy; the weakly defended Illyrian cities are far more profitable than the bleak (and difficult to subdue) barbarian wastelands of Germania. Thus, much like today, the Balkans become a smorgasbord of factions who hate one another, resulting in a series of ravaging wars. Keep in mind that all of the barbarian hordes hate one another, hate the ERE, and hate the settled tribes in Germania. Coming into contact with one another is a recipe for disaster, and carnage ensues. The best part is that this does not happen on your lands, it happens on rebel lands. You'll have ERE armies fighting Hun hordes fighting Goth hordes fighting western Roman rebels. Yes, the Balkans will be ravaged, but at the same time they'll just be that much easier to conquer once you've dispensed with the hordes.
To further encourage this mess, place your field army at the choke point just north of Ravenna, between the Alps and the Adriatic sea. Seeing this, some of the hordes will be encouraged to seek another route into Italy, and will run right into another horde or possibly even an ERE army. They'll both fight and come out significantly weaker as a result. Sooner or later, one of the hordes will emerge victorious, and come after you for real. Once this has been done to your satisfaction, move your army out of the choke to invite the victorious horde (in my case, the Vandals) into Italy, and then attack them or block them (inviting them to attack you) with your field army.
The ensuing battle will likely be one of the most difficult you will face in all of your RTW campaign games, but rest assured that your units, while outnumbered, are superior and you will have the upper hand. This accomplished, you will find that exterminating hordes completely is a difficult and agitating task; numerous splinter units of various hordes will circulate throughout your lands for some time - too weak to take a city, but too strong to be done away with by a regional army - before you're able to hunt them all down.
All the while, you'll find that some of the Germanic tribes will recover for a time and make another run at your border provinces. Your garrisons should by now be strong enough to repulse them. If need be, go back in and destroy their capital city again. At this point in my game, I still haven't found the resources to dedicate an army seperate from the main field army (which is now dealing with the ERE) specifically for fighting and permanently conquering Germania.
You'll probably notice I haven't spent any time on religion at this point. That's because I don't feel it's quite the key to victory that some players do. Best strategy? Simply ignore it and don't waste time on "converting" certain regions to one religion or the other. Simply encourage paganism in pagan-dominated provinces (I did find that putting large temples of Mithras with the exp bonuses in some of the factory cities, Rome aside, really bolstered the quality of troops that they produced), and likewise Christianity as such. Doing otherwise will likely incite revolt, which you don't need, especially in the early game. If you'd like to add a measure of difficulty (or fun, as it may be) to your own game, you can toy with religion, but I found that you don't actually have to if you want to win the game. Perhaps in a future game I might do otherwise.
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Phase 3
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Now comes the end game and the big show down. Against the ERE, you probably won't be faced with massive Chalons-style battles like you were against the hordes, but you will be facing a much tougher individual opponent who has the ability to replace and repair depleted armies. The ERE's better units are just as good as yours, which makes tactical maneuvering the key to victory. That much depends mainly upon your generalship skills, so I can't help you there.
Most likely, the ERE will attack you first, while you're dealing with the hordes, or shortly thereafter. They'll probably follow the hordes into Illyria and take these cities in their wake. The advantage you have is that they're fighting on your turf, so reinforcements will be hard to come by and their armies will trickle in. Defeat them and prepare to attack Illyria.
If you can spare the resources (and with Germania secure, Britain and Iberia reconquered, and your economy bolstered by ports and markets that you didn't have at the game start, you should be able to), build a mid-sized army at Carthage or in Italy and send it towards Egypt. The ERE's defenses in this area will be downright pitiful, and your attack should take them by surprise and earn you some very rich provinces in short order, forcing them to divert now-precious resources away from your main thrust in the north. Quite frankly, I've found that the AI struggles to react well to two-pronged assaults...it's very possible that they will never respond in force to your Egyptian/eastern mediterranean force, allowing you to whittle away at their resource base while you defeat their main forces in the north. At the same time, they probably still have the Sassanids to worry about (though in my game they had done quite a number on the Sassanids and conquered most of their better provinces, greatly prolonging a war which I would otherwise have won quickly).
At long last, you'll come upon Constantinople. If you've made it this far, chances are the ERE is in complete disarray and doesn't have much resistance left to offer. Final victory should be pedestrian.
Congratulations, Imperator. Rome is once more the undisputed power of the mediterranean world. Roma Victor!
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Originally Posted by Arkanin
