Praise and Newbie Questions

[Adam the VIth]

Really enjoying EB.

Several questions:

1) Massilian Hoplites (name is wrong, the mercs with red cloaks and green shields, cross between Greek and Celt. anyway, they have spears and swords....how can I switch between the two weapons? I've searched, but everything I come up with is about modding rather than simply using. Thanks for the help.

2) When does the game get hard as Rome? I'm in 240 BC now and own Italy, Sicily, and rapidly expanding in Gaul and Illyria. Plus, I'm getting Polybian units now.....I'm on VH/VH.

Again, sorry for basic questions, truly enjoying the game and extremely grateful for the TONS of work that was put into it.

[Unintended BM]

Hold alt and attack to have them switch weapons.

For Rome, games usually get hard once you overextend yourself and have a huge empire that you need to defend. I've never fought horse archers with Rome, that'd probably be hard, I don't know.

[mastershake16]

I have a question as well....

What "style" of fighting did Carthage historically use?

Like I mean the Greeks/Macedonians had the phalanx and all that, and the hammer and anvil.
Rome has the masses of Legions eventually, or before that the Republican armies with the different lines.. Hastati, Principes....etc etc

So how should Carthage be used?

[Titus Labienus]

I'm new to EB, so they may have different units, but in vanilla the workhorse was the poeni infantry, who fought in phalanx formation. That and longshield cavalry.

Lab

[Mediolanicus]

I have a question as well....

What "style" of fighting did Carthage historically use?

Like I mean the Greeks/Macedonians had the phalanx and all that, and the hammer and anvil.
Rome has the masses of Legions eventually, or before that the Republican armies with the different lines.. Hastati, Principes....etc etc

So how should Carthage be used?

Carthage depended on mercenaries to do the fighting. Tactics would be adapted to the units the army had under its disposal.

In Africa you'll have the Liby-Phoenicians as your mainstain infantry, fighting as hoplite infantry. Add a core of real Carthaginians in an important army. They hold your line, while skirmishers attack their flacks.
After that Cavalry charges the tired and decimated enemy.

In Iberia, Gaul and Italy, you'll have less line-infantry. So you have more movement and more light infantry. Showering the enemy with javelins, flanking them, attack with some giant Gauls were the line is the thinnest and trying to get behind the enemy line...

[Adam the VIth]

Hold alt and attack to have them switch weapons.

For Rome, games usually get hard once you overextend yourself and have a huge empire that you need to defend. I've never fought horse archers with Rome, that'd probably be hard, I don't know.

Okay, I know about alt....didn't realize it switched weapons though. Thanks.

EB specific: I've tried 'alt' and I cannot get the Principes to switch to their swords.....can we get them to use their swords in EB, or is that sword on their hip just for looks?

Thanks again.

[Mediolanicus]

Okay, I know about alt....didn't realize it switched weapons though. Thanks.

EB specific: I've tried 'alt' and I cannot get the Principes to switch to their swords.....can we get them to use their swords in EB, or is that sword on their hip just for looks?

Thanks again.

You can only have 2 different weapons in RTW.

Polybian Principes come with swords though.

[torongill]

Carthage historically used an overwhelming force of mercenaries, mostly Iberian and Numidian mercs during the First Punic War and Iberian, Gallic and Numidian during the Second Punic War, who fought in their own distinctive way. Carthage lacked the phalanx of the Hellenic States, although the home-grown units of Punic infantry might have fought in a hoplite phalanx formation or even might have fought in macedonian phalanx, but I highly doubt it. The fact is, that even though the Second Punic war was the most perilous moment in the history of the Roman republic after the sack of Rome, the description of the Lybo-Phoenician units of the Carthaginian roster is sketchy at best and AFAIK does not equal the description of the Macedonian Phalanx(known to the romans since Pyrrus and seen during the Macedonian wars). Add to that the general ruggedness of the available terrain(Generally suitable for warfare but not phalanx warfare) and the argument that Carthage had hellenic-like phalanx gets even weaker.
So if we don't have units with the stopping force of the macedonian phalanx and we lack the heavy cavalry of the hellenistic states, then Alexander-like tactics are quite impossible and we have to rely more on infantry in the active role. Generally Hanibal enjoyed superiority in cavalry and he used them to drive the Roman horse off the field and then attack the already engaged Roman infantry in flank and rear. He did it at Trebia and Cannae and possibly a number of other engagements during his 16-year long tour of the Italian Peninsula, of which we don't have the description.
But when all's said and done, this is a game and since there are no limitations to the composition of your armies(except for costs), you can make the carthaginian armies be like Alexander's if you want. Still your infantry would be stronger than the usual hellenic phalanx infantry, but it would also cost much more. You cavalry, though will generally be no match for the Eastern hetairoi/cataphractoi heavy cavalry.

[torongill]

Yeah, the Camillian Principes have a spear as a main weapon. The Polybian principes adopt the gladius.

[Adam the VIth]

Thank you very much gents!