AI Expanding too fast?

[Revan The Great]

Since I last played the beta (a few months and a couple-hundred revisions ago) I've started to notice that either factions have been given big buffs, or the rebels just aren't as beefy as before. Maybe part of this is because you presumably had to remove one of the two 'Free People' factions to make room for the 'Roman Rebels'?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Here is a picture of my current Roman campaign. I'm not very far along yet, but already the entirety of Spain, France, and the Balkans have been gobbled up and left with no Free People cities to speak of. Already there are quite a few 'blobs' in existence.

Does anyone else agree that maybe AI expansion is a little bit too quick? Particularly in Western Europe. I'm also kind of disappointed in the Belgae's non-existent expansion in Britain but that's only an tertiary concern.

[apple]

I think it has to do with that the free barb is now the Roman rebel faction. However I don't see any problems with it as it makes the game much harder for the player-


About the Belgae, they are going to expand in Britain if they are kicked out of Europe's main land.

[dvk901]

There is no question that converting the Free Barb faction to the Roman Rebels had some effect on the overall campaign 'look'. Because they could make peace with their neighbors, and of course behave and act like a real faction, they tended to hold onto chunks of map for a lot longer time. With their regions converted to Free People slave faction regions, they just naturally become the AI's main targets for everyone, and it has a more pronounced effect in the north.

As for the Belgae, yeah, they don't bother with Briton if they are doing well and surviving on the mainland, but will start focusing on Briton if they get kicked off the mainland. It's actually better this way, balance-wise, because if we set this up so they could expand easily in Briton, they would do so and get booted from the mainland every time.

[Revan The Great]

Right.

But is it worth it to give the various free peoples a buff here and there with an extra stack or two running around per Gallic province? Part of the fun of any 'Gallic Campaign', in my opinion, is the feeling that you wade into a political mess (as it was historically) rather than launch an assault on a large, unified Barbarian Empire.

[dvk901]

In RS1.6 there were a number of 'surprises' like that.....armies hiding in the woods, passes, river crossings. That what you mean?

I did boost their armies a bit in the regions that were previously controlled by the Free Barbs.

[Revan The Great]

Yes, those surprises are always good. But what I really mean is an across the board significant increase in the Rebel's power to slow down AI expansion so that the whole world isn't gobbled up into ten or so massive empires.

Also, when RS2 is finally released can we assume that the Roman Rebels won't be spawned in non-Roman player campaigns on the supposition that AI Romans couldn't handle those rebellions very well? If that's the case than I'd strongly recommend introducing the extra 'Free People's' faction again to all of the other faction campaigns (assuming you haven't already). The extra Free People's faction worked amazingly well, in my opinion, at keeping the game sort of 'fresh' in terms slowing down AI expansion. And, if nothing else, you could invade a blob-country and hand over half of their territory to the rebels and those cities would be pretty well provisioned.

If not, perhaps there are other ways to make AI rebels more competitive? Maybe entice them to build more soldiers or make more stacks, if not just outright spawn them altogether?

[dvk901]

Yes, those surprises are always good. But what I really mean is an across the board significant increase in the Rebel's power to slow down AI expansion so that the whole world isn't gobbled up into ten or so massive empires.

Also, when RS2 is finally released can we assume that the Roman Rebels won't be spawned in non-Roman player campaigns on the supposition that AI Romans couldn't handle those rebellions very well? If that's the case than I'd strongly recommend introducing the extra 'Free People's' faction again to all of the other faction campaigns (assuming you haven't already). The extra Free People's faction worked amazingly well, in my opinion, at keeping the game sort of 'fresh' in terms slowing down AI expansion. And, if nothing else, you could invade a blob-country and hand over half of their territory to the rebels and those cities would be pretty well provisioned.

If not, perhaps there are other ways to make AI rebels more competitive? Maybe entice them to build more soldiers or make more stacks, if not just outright spawn them altogether?

As Apple said, the Free Barbs remain in all the other campaigns as they were. As for rebel power...hmmm, I have to check something, now that you mention it. Wait a few....

[apple]

The Roman rebels are only for the Roman campaign.

[tryadelion]

i found an strange thing on the IA yeterday, and i forgot to report it.

but seems that , in north africa, between ptolemaic empire and carthago, there was a full stack called claimant.. never seen it before and after.

[dvk901]

i found an strange thing on the IA yeterday, and i forgot to report it.

but seems that , in north africa, between ptolemaic empire and carthago, there was a full stack called claimant.. never seen it before and after.

If and when you find things like that, THAT is the sort of thing that needs to be reported with screenshots and info.

[Alavaria]

Wait, at higher campaign difficulties, do/don't AI factions get command bonuses whenever they fight rebels? The real rebels I mean, not the rebels-that-are-a-proper-faction.

...

[dvk901]

I'm not sure?