Hi all Roma Surrectum II Multiplayer players. To get a balanced MP mode for their mod, the Roma Surrectum team offered me (Galvanized Iron) and Roam to work on and test this part of the mod. Due to the (usually) higher intelligence of a human player and for inter-faction variety, several changes have been made from how units behave in the campaign part. Therefore I’ve put together this little guide, which also includes a few game play hints.
Setup:
The Multiplayer mode is balanced to be played at 10 000 denarii, at normal unit sizes and with no rules (
yes actually no rules)(
this is confusing). Playing at lower denarii works, but playing at higher denarii will unbalance the game as it will allow for elite unit and cavalry spam. Increasing the unit sizes will result in longer battles and cavalry will be slightly less effective.
General Changes:
- Morale levels have been tweaked down by a large margin, this will not be noticed much when infantry meet head to head, but being flanked is now much more dangerous to morale and may cause chain routs.
- Prices are changed a bit as to favour lighter units and regular units over elite units in terms of bang for the buck.
- A few factions have deliberately been chosen to be weaker, to provide a handicap for more experienced players.
- Exotic units such as elephants and chariots will be usable, but they come at a high cost and must be used with caution and with careful timing. Having more than 1 set of these units in your army would be a bad idea as these units require a lot of support.
- Combined arms are intended to always triumph over single-unit spams.
Cavalry:
- Cavalry are put in much larger, but also more expensive unit. This is simply made to prevent unnatural stacking of for example 8 cavalry units occupying the same spot.
- Charge values are lower, this is because 1) the main factor of cavalry charge is the mass value of the mount, which is a hidden attribute and 2) with overall lower morale values cavalry are capable enough of breaking infantry without inflated charge values.
- Wedge formation is removed from most cavalry due to the devastating effect that formation has in the hands of a skilled player. The only cavalry to keep this extremely powerful formation is the Companion cavalry, but they are also priced thereafter.
- "Intimidate Nearby Infantry" was removed from cavalry units who had this due to the lower morale stats.
- Elephants and chariots will have more armor and fewer hit points than in Campaign mode, requiring more specialized units such as spearmen and skirmishers to deal with them. Archers will ineffective against them, but fire arrows may still amok elephants.
Infantry:
- A few non-hoplite spearmen have had their secondary sword attack removed due to them often switching to swords whilst still under cavalry charge.
- Phalanx units have been taken to their edge by being much more deadly in the front, but with much weaker defence.
- The power of hand thrown javelins is overall increased.
Skirmishers:
- Having these will be essential to most armies as an army without a meat shield of skirmishers in front risks being decimated by projectiles or being trampled by elephants.
- Skirmishers are essential in combating phalanx units and elephants, they are also very cost effective.
Archers:
- Archers are low cost and most of them got a good range, but their ammunition is lower than in campaign mode. This is done to shorten the missile phase of a battle and to make hit-and-run tactics less viable for archers.
- Archers will be very useful against light infantry, skirmishers, light cavalry, other archers and particularly against barbarians. They should however not be expected to cause much casualties among heavy infantry, that is the skirmishers job.
- Slingers have longer range and an armour piercing attack, but their ranged attack is lower than that of the archers, making them ineffective against units with large shields.
Factions:
- Romans: Fields the most cost effective and versatile infantry, with focus on heavy armour, good morale and excellent stamina. Good skirmishers, decent archers and weak cavalry. Should the battle turn into an infantry grind down, Roman victory is assured.
- Rebels(Black): An exact clone of the Roman faction
- Belgae: Good infantry, good cavalry, good slingers, good skirmishers and weak archers. Belgae is a very well rounded faction that does not excel in any particular field. When facing the Belgae, remember that low/medium-tier Belgae units are extremely vurnable (vulnerable) to missiles and that Celtic chariot can eat their way through most cavalry.
- Scythia: Excellent archery, excellent cavalry and decent infantry. The Scythian faction is unmatched in cavalry and archers, when facing Scythians an army of heavily armoured spearmen is the best way to nullify their advantage, even then one needs to look out for Scythian Hoplites and Royal Guard.
- Boii: Good infantry, decent cavalry, decent slingers, good skirmishers and good archers. The Boii are probably the weakest of the Celtic factions, but when facing other barbarians they are at an advantage due to their superior archery and Bastarnae back-up. vurnable (vulnerable) to missiles.
- Macedon: Excellent cavalry, good infantry, decent archers and excellent skirmishers. Macedon has access to much cheaper phalanx and hypaspist troops than the other Diadochi Kingdoms, their weakness is their lack of heavy swordsmen which means they will have to rely completely on their cavalry to win battles against enemies with such units.
- Ptolemaic Empire: Good infantry, excellent cavalry, good archers, good skirmishers. Main strength of the Ptolemaic is that they are able to combine the versatility of their Roman clone legionaries with excellent cavalry. It’s a very well rounded faction that can tackle most situations, but does not excel in any particular field.
- Seleucid Empire: Good infantry, excellent cavalry, decent archers and good skirmishers. The most versatile faction of them all, can adapt to any type of enemy, but unlike the other Diadochi Factions, they do not have any discounts on any particular type of unit.
- Carthage: Good in every field. Like the previous 2 factions, Carthage will need to use a combined arms force to outmatch more specialized factions. Carthage do however have access to an excellent shock force in their Iberian Cavalry.
- Parthia: Excellent cavalry, excellent archery and weak infantry. Similar to Scythia, but their infantry is weaker and cheaper, making them more suitable to keep an enemy busy whilst their cavalry delivers the fatal blow.
- Pontus: Very good cavalry, very good archers, good infantry, lacks skirmishers. Pontus is a weaker faction, whilst it got a few good units such as Cappadocian Cavalry, the roster lacks effective swordsmen and skirmishers to protect the army.
- Arverni: Good infantry, good cavalry, good slingers, good skirmishers and weak archers. Similar to the Belgae, but instead of chariots the cavalry of the Arvernia are more powerful than among the other Celts. vurnable (vulnerable) to missiles.
- Cimbri: Excellent infantry, good cavalry, good skirmishers, good slingers and weak archers. Cimbri fields the most destructive infantry in the game with focus on fierce attacks, causing fear and ambushes. When facing the Cimbri it’s essential to ensure good morale in your army, if not, your army will flee at the sight of the Cimbri. Their weakness is a complete lack of armour and their low defence should they fail to break the enemy quickly.
- The Greek Cities: Good infantry, decent archers, weak cavalry, decent skirmishers. A weak faction that will be vurnable (vulnerable) to all enemies that are simply not content to walk straight into their phalanx.
- Dacia: Very good infantry, fairly good cavalry, good archers, excellent skirmishers, decent slingers. Got a much better missile output than other “barbarians” and their shock infantry is very powerful. When facing them its essential to conserve archer ammo so you can shoot down their unarmored Falxmen, before they kill you.
- Sparta: Excellent infantry, decent cavalry, decent archers, decent skirmishers. The only faction to combine the steadfastness of the Romans, with the dread of the Germans. When facing the Spartans remember to keep good morale and that their weakness lies in their support units, do not underestimate the fear impact a Spartan hoplite has on your army.
- Pergamon: Good infantry, excellent cavalry, good skirmishers, weak archers. A weaker faction, but Pergamon got good mêlée potentional (potential) thanks to their unique combination of superb barbarian infantry and cataphracts. However their lack of of phalanx units and terrible archers is a major Achilles heel.
- Sarmatia: Excellent cavalry, excellent archers, weak infantry. Sarmatia is weakest of all factions, whilst they do field the best of all cataphracts, their infantry and skirmisher force is neglectable (negligible).
- Gallaeci: Good infantry, very good cavalry, decent archery, excellent slingers and excellent skirmishers. The strength of the Gallaeci lies in their supporting arms, they are in that respect the opposite of the Spartans. When facing the Gallaeci, it’s essential to protect yourself from their javeliners in any way possible, preferably from a distance as the Gallaeci are lacking in armour.
Roma Surrectum Multiplayer Guide
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Originally Posted by |Sith|Galvanized Iron
