Playing Rome in RSII – A Basic Survival Guide

[Aristotle's Folly]

Playing Rome in RSII – A Basic Survival Guide

Playing Hard/Hard
RTW-BI.exe
0-Turn Recruitment
Large Unit Size
No Submods Installed

My Play Settings.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Introduction.

I started to write this out in another thread, using Modestus' saved game, but I discovered I was spending too much time saying, “You might have done this” or “You might have done that.” I thought it might be easier to just start from Turn One and so I started writing this.

I openly warn you – this guide is heavy with pictures ... and words. Shoot me, I'm gabby.

Initially, it started as a kind of economic guide – and we'll certainly discuss economics in detail – but in writing this, it's become more of a turn by turn survival guide. I've kept to the basic game, although I prefer Tone's 15%/15% reduction mod. If you think the battles take too long, or you're fighting too many enemies, you might want to install that submod. I recommend it completely. Just make sure you back-up your files before you install it, in case you don't like the results.

The Legal Warning.

This guide is in no way associated with Rome Total War, the RSII team, the city of Rome, the nation of Italy, NATO, the European Economic Community, the United States Armed Forces, or any other real life government, military or political organization. That's 'cause it's a game. See?

It will, however, take advantage of principals of Euclidean logic … and common sense.

What qualifies me to write this? Nothing, except that some things that seem obvious to me don't always seem obvious to others. Oh, and since some time last year, I've played the Roman Campaign about 50 times. That's about it.

Historical accuracy is not something I'm terribly concerned with – that's 'cause it's a game, see? That said, we're playing to win - but not overwhelm the AI. Once you know how to win, then you can make up whatever game rules you want. Two exceptions are army recruitment (does us no good to learn to fight with a stack of First Cohorts since we need to learn to use all the units) and my own bizarre, deeply unique (I'm sure) roleplaying style. Sorry, you gotta live with it.

To make organization easy, this is a table of links directly to the text posts, so people can comment but the posts themselves don't get lost in the comments. Make sense? Good.

Table of Contents

The First Ten Years, Part I

The First Ten Years, Part II

Other Topics - Arranged Alphabetically

Taking Cities: Tearing Down Buildings, Controlling Unrest, and the Cultural Penalty

Using Forts in RSII

End Table of Contents

Enough yabbering. Let's get to work doing what we really want to do – playing RSII.

Stickied this thread as it is referenced so often

[Aristotle's Folly]

The First Ten Years, Part I

Summer, 536 A.U.C. To Winter, 536 A.U.C.

Developmentally, the first ten years of a Roman game are critical. You can thank Tone for that. They're critical because you can waste a lot of resources and money and weaken your Republic fighting Hannibal and the Roman Rebels and the Macedonians and … yeah. You know. We've all done it.

So before we even get started, let's define some goals. What do we really want to do in ten years (20 turns)?

First, we want to drive Hannibal out of Italy. That's a no-brainer.

Second, we want to put down the Roman Rebellion. Another no-brainer.

Third, we want to begin to establish our economies and prevent our governors from getting negative traits (as much as possible).

Fourth, we want to recruit four full Roman Legions as the base defense of the Republic.

Fifth, we want to be making money by the end of ten years. Because money is what keeps us alive in RSII (and you thought it was all those armies …)

Sound like a good set of goals? Great. Let's get started.

Turn 1:

Pick your settings, load the game and we're off. The first think you probably notice is Hannibal's waiting for you just east of Arritium. Don't worry about him right now. We have other things to do.

The very first thing I do is move my navy – towards Emporiae, like this …

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

… until it ends up here.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

This is one of those things that occurred to me the very, very first time I played RSII. (This is why I say things seem obvious to me that don't seem obvious to others.) One look at Emporiae and I thought “money pit.” I mean, I can try to hold it, but I don't have a big enough navy or enough units to ship back and forth, and when I finally do lose the city, I'll lose that entire stack and one of my best generals. Maybe it's my background in philosophy and logic – or maybe it's just plain common sense – but I knew from the first time I played RSII that I'd never hold Emporiae.

And maybe you did, too?

Give it up. It's cheaper to retrain units in Rome than to watch them die in Iberia. Saves money on so many levels. So we're picking them up and bringing them home. Kinda realistic, too, since wouldn't you want your best general to fight Hannibal?

The next thing I'm going to do is set all my taxes in all my provinces to Very High. I just toggle through the cities one by one, making the change. We'll worry about fine tuning in a moment.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

That done, I start moving units. One of my guiding principles during this time of crisis is don't recruit if you can retrain. So I take the two units from Akragas …

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

… and move them to Messana. (Be careful you don't cross Greek territory and start some trouble you're not ready for.) Then I take a look at the stack near Lilybaeum.

Greek slingers. I've said in another thread that I think they're overpowered. Murderous would be a better word. Since the AI doesn't use them right, and since if I use them I slaughter the AI, I disband all Greek Slinger units. Besides, we want Roman units anyway, right? So bye-bye, Greek Slingers.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I move the two Allied Cohorts into Lilybaeum as city units (garrison units?).

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The rest of the stack goes to Messana, including Publius Cornelius Scipio (not to be confused with Publius Cornelius Scipio). When I'm done, Messana looks like this.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I continue to move units. The single Republican cohort in Arretium goes south to Rome. I'm going to lose Arretium anyway and leaving that unit there won't change that outcome. Two of the units (usually the equites and a cohort) from Ariminum go south to Cannae, which has no units. Two of the units from Capua (usually the cavalry units) go to Cannae as well. When I'm done, Cannae looks like this:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Finally, I go over to Caralis and disband all the units except to the two Allied cohorts. This is to cut military spending. All I need are two cohorts to keep the peace; anything more – right now – is just wasted money.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The last unit move I make is a historic one. For some reason, I'm fascinated with the idea that Gaius Varro lost the Battle of Cannae in 216 B.C. Yeah, really … fascinated. Feeling sorry for him, I always give him a chance to redeem himself by bring him to Rome to command one one of my armies. So I move him up the coastline towards Capua.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

As an FYI, my other generals will be:

Quintus Fabius Maximus, general of Legion 1
Publius Cornelius Scipio, general of Legion 2
Gaius Varro, general of Legion 3
Publius Cornelius Scipio (the young one), general of Legion 4

Before I'm done with units, I got to Roma and drop everything there in the recruiting queue. If you're playing an unmodified RSII and you moved the cohort from Arretium south, you should have 78 gold left.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Done with units, I go through and adjust the taxes until the little face beneath every city is yellow. This is a rule of mine. Keep the people moderately happy. Prevents all kinds of ugliness, including some very ugly traits.

Finally, I move my diplomat to north of Genoa to keep an eye on that city. Also puts him directly in the path of some diplomats from other factions.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

My spy comes up from Cannae to take a first look at Hannibal.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

And what a look that is …

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… right, then. Double chevrons, etc. Compare numbers to your units if your heart can stand it (and if you don't do this regularly, learn to start – RSII, like most video games, is all about math).

The point is I've got as much chance of winning this battle as I do of swimming the Pacific. In fact, I've never won this battle. Others have. (If memory serves, Brusilov was one of the very first to win the fight with Hannibal, back in playtesting.) I know others on this forum have. Me? I won't recruit units to fight it and then risk losing both the new units and my money, so I make do with the units I have in that stack – and I lose. So if you always lose this battle, don't feel bad.

What I'm going to do is fight this battle on the battle map, and do the most damage that I can to Hannibal's army. Now, if you want to be historic – and I usually do choose to be a little historic, just try to move that Roman army in any direction. Hannibal will ambush you and you'll either (1) get ambushed or (2) avoid it. This time I avoided it.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I'm going to skip the battlefield tutorial for now, since I won't win this battle anyway. I take my loss …

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

… and the death of Gaius Flaminius Nepos, …

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

… and what's left of my army retreats to Arretium. Note (at the bottom of the image) I merge my units after the battle (I always try to do this.)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

On this sad note, I end my turn.

Turn 2:

Of course, Hannibal immediately sieges Arretium, trapping what's left of Nepos's army there. Another Carthaginian army threatens Ariminum.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

But it's not all bad news. Here's where I land financially:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Not too bad. 62K in one turn, with minimal military costs, is a lot of building. My goal, at the end of the first turn, is to have 60k in gold. Now I can go shopping. But before I do anything else, it's back to my boats.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

See the Carthaginian navy? I need to keep my navy moving and DO NOT fight them. If I fight them, I lose. I don't move my navy, they attack me and I lose. Every time. Since I can't afford to lose those armies, I keep moving these boats every turn.

Move to Emporiae, pick up everyone including Publius Cornelius Scipio (not to be confused with Publius Cornelius Scipio). I end up about here.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Back to Rome, where I continue to recruit my first legion. I fill the recruitment queue and move on.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Before we start building, this is the rule: Buildings in queues are like money in the bank. Once you've bought your armies, etc., dump the rest of it – all of it if possible – into your building queues. I try to get my treasury balance as small as possible by keeping my building queues full. Less than a 100 gold is a very good turn.

In deciding what to build, I'm very aware that I'll need money later on. So Aleria, Caralis, Lilybaeum, and Messana all get Markets, for the trade benefits.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Akragas gets Government Determination, Roman Oppidum, Organization, and Land Clearance.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Dyrrhachium gets Tribal Justice, a Shrine of Jupiter Optimus Maximus and I'm down to 352 gold. I can live with that.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Wait a minute, Dani, you say. You didn't build a thing in Italy!

I know. I hate to lose money in this game. I don't know where or when the Rebellion's going to strike (okay, I have some idea, but not for sure), so the only time I'm going to build in Italy – until the Rebellion is quashed – is when I'm absolutely certain that I can build and NOT lose my building in a revolt. Since, I can't be sure of that now, I won't build in Italy.

Back to the map. As I said, Hannibal sieges Arretium at the end of Turn 1 and another stack of Carthaginians threatens Ariminum. I send my spy over to take a look …

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

… and discover this stack is nowhere near as tough as the first stack. Remember, always check your math. Compare the stats of your enemies units to yours, especially if your auto-resolving.

And we're going to be auto-resolving for the first ten years. The reason is (1) it speeds things up and (2) I've fought my way through these ten years so many times I'm frankly sick of them.

But if you're not sick of these first ten turns, please fight away. These first ten years of the Roman campaign in RSII is some of the most fun I've had playing a video game, especially once you've got your bearings and you actually put some risk into the battle map (for example, I rarely use reinforcements on the battle map, 'cause the AI drives me screamin' crazy).

Whether we auto-resolve or not, within ten years we'll have destroyed Hannibal, driven Carthage from Italy, and put down the rebellion.

Since I've spent all my money and done everything I can do, I end this turn.

The First Ten Years continues in Part II.

[Grouchio]

Oh god epic survival! Can you make one of the Seleucids or Sparta?

[Drowsy]

+REP!

Looking forward to part 2!

[Striker]

Nice start, looking forward to it
And that army guy tought you couldn't make it....

Also + rep

[Septimus Severus]

Hello everybody, it is my first time on the forum. I been coming here for months as guest, but now joined in. This RS mod is so awesome. I have fe wquesiton for Aristotle who made this survival guide.

1. What is the difference between 0 turn and 1 turn recruitment?
2. Is VH/H setting the recommended one by the developers?
3. Is Large size unit optional or not?

Thanks guys

[Aristotle's Folly]

Hello everybody, it is my first time on the forum. I been coming here for months as guest, but now joined in. This RS mod is so awesome. I have fe wquesiton for Aristotle who made this survival guide.

1. What is the difference between 0 turn and 1 turn recruitment?
2. Is VH/H setting the recommended one by the developers?
3. Is Large size unit optional or not?

Thanks guys

Welcome to the forums. Yes, this mod is awesome, truly. These are my answers:

1. By far the biggest difference is the time it takes your game to develop. Since it takes both you, and the AI, one turn to recruit most of your units, you cannot recruit a legion in two turns - or one if you have two developed cities. Using 1 turn recruitment, it would take many years to develop a single legion! The game develops slowly and the turns go by quickly.

0 turn recruitment allows both you and the AI to recruit many units in just one turn - up to 9 units in any one queue. The result is a very fast, very aggressive game, with lots of battles. Lots. Lots.

Tone has made a couple of submods that adjust this in various ways. As I said, my preferred version increases unit costs by 15% (making it more expensive for you and the AI to recruit units) and increasing weapon lethality by 15% (making for shorter, faster battles).

2. H/H is recommended by the RSII team for experienced players. M/M is recommended for players who are new to the game. However, I find Medium on the campaign map forces the player to attack, as the AI won't attack as much on that setting. VH has a strange feature that produces more money for the player as well as the AI, and is, I believe, considered to be in between M and H. I've not played VH before so I don't really know.

3. Large unit size is optional. Many people play with huge unit sizes. I suppose huge unit sizes are more realistic, but they do make the battles longer (simple math, you have more people to kill). When you start getting three or four battles a turn, those huge unit sizes become frustrating (at least for me). And large size is what I'm used to.

I hope that helps.

~ Dani ~

[Septimus Severus]

Welcome to the forums. Yes, this mod is awesome, truly. These are my answers:

1. By far the biggest difference is the time it takes your game to develop. Since it takes both you, and the AI, one turn to recruit most of your units, you cannot recruit a legion in two turns - or one if you have two developed cities. Using 1 turn recruitment, it would take many years to develop a single legion! The game develops slowly and the turns go by quickly.

0 turn recruitment allows both you and the AI to recruit many units in just one turn - up to 9 units in any one queue. The result is a very fast, very aggressive game, with lots of battles. Lots. Lots.

Tone has made a couple of submods that adjust this in various ways. As I said, my preferred version increases unit costs by 15% (making it more expensive for you and the AI to recruit units) and increasing weapon lethality by 15% (making for shorter, faster battles).

2. H/H is recommended by the RSII team for experienced players. M/M is recommended for players who are new to the game. However, I find Medium on the campaign map forces the player to attack, as the AI won't attack as much on that setting. VH has a strange feature that produces more money for the player as well as the AI, and is, I believe, considered to be in between M and H. I've not played VH before so I don't really know.

3. Large unit size is optional. Many people play with huge unit sizes. I suppose huge unit sizes are more realistic, but they do make the battles longer (simple math, you have more people to kill). When you start getting three or four battles a turn, those huge unit sizes become frustrating (at least for me). And large size is what I'm used to.

I hope that helps.

~ Dani ~

Thank you very much Aristotle, it does help . Plus your guide is awesome. Good job

So from what you said 0 turn recruitment is the best by far?
And for the second answer i should play either H/H or VH/h maybe
Huge unit size, does it come with default settings or it has to be changed later?

Thanks buddy

[Aristotle's Folly]

Thank you very much Aristotle, it does help . Plus your guide is awesome. Good job

So from what you said 0 turn recruitment is the best by far?
And for the second answer i should play either H/H or VH/h maybe
Huge unit size, does it come with default settings or it has to be changed later?

Thanks buddy

I like 0 turn recruitment, but those that play 1 turn recruitment are every bit as passionate about their choice. One doesn't necessarily make the game easier or harder - it's just different choice of strategies.

I'm playing hard/hard in my campaign. Don't know about VH. Maybe I should give it a try sometime.

No, Large unit size is default. To change to Huge, go to Options->Graphics->Unit Size. IIR, you have to make the change BEFORE starting your campaign.

@ Everyone else: Sorry, but one of my coworkers is sick tonight so I'm pulling a full day here at the library. It will be midnight before I get off, then a train ride to my apartment, and so on.

If I get some free time before I get off, I'll try to post the second installment. If not, it will be tomorrow. Sorry.

~ Dani ~


~ Dani ~

[Marcus_Vipsanius]

This is a nice guide (+rep), I'm curious what your next step will be and compare it to my game.
I also abandoned Emporiae (and Dyrrhachium), but my ship sailing to Italy was sunk by the Carthaginian navy.

[Rex Basiliscus]

If you really wanna get rid of Hannibal in Italy, without him doing any damage, just take Genoa and eventually he'll retreat to Spain

[Wilhelm von Nassau]

It's certainly possible to defeat Hannibal. Having the foresight Nepos didn't have I didn't move his (fully reinforced) army and waited for Hannibal to attack me, which he didn't. He laid siege to Ariminum instead. The next turn I caught him there and attacked him. Was quite a though battle going very tight. I killed off Hannibal with my Campanian cavalry somewehere half through. I expect I would've won the battle, because my enemies' casualty rate was slightly higher all the time and I killed Hannibal, but it would've been a Phyrric victory. My luck was that for a change my reinforcements from Ariminum (two cohorts) did actually arrive during the battle and gave the final blow.

Good guide btw very helpful.

[NerZhulen]

Folly, you think people have problems finishing roman campaign?
Or this is normal after action report...??

[Modestus]

Folly, you think people have problems finishing roman campaign?
Or this is normal after action report...??

Well Aristotle started to help me after I buggerd up my economy and the Roman Rebels ran riot in Africa and Spain, this thread saves me some embarrassment.

At present in my game the RR have about 24 full stacks of good units with a constant flow of armies attacking the bridge crossing at Massalia.

In one way it makes the game interesting but unfortunately it is also very unrealistic that they could sustain the losses I am inflicting without going bankrupt. I have destroyed millions of their troops but they keep on coming to get those eagles.

Those bloody Romans....rebels

[SgtPepper]

I think this thread is really usefull for people like me who don't have an experience with RS I and who are just starting to play RS 2 and get a bit overwhelmed with all the options, buildings, units and extra challenges. So I'll keep my eye on this thread.

Well done AF!

[NerZhulen]

Well Aristotle started to help me after I buggerd up my economy and the Roman Rebels ran riot in Africa and Spain, this thread saves me some embarrassment.

At present in my game the RR have about 24 full stacks of good units with a constant flow of armies attacking the bridge crossing at Massalia.

In one way it makes the game interesting but unfortunately it is also very unrealistic that they could sustain the losses I am inflicting without going bankrupt. I have destroyed millions of their troops but they keep on coming to get those eagles.

Those bloody Romans....rebels

you are talking about the 2nd rebelion, I would understand a guide for that
but for starting the game?...

[Drowsy]

you are talking about the 2nd rebelion, I would understand a guide for that
but for starting the game?...

A good start is the best start.

[Modestus]

you are talking about the 2nd rebelion, I would understand a guide for that
but for starting the game?...

No I raided Carthago it rebelled and I guess they marched all the way to Massalia through North Africa , Spain and Gaul conquering everyone on the way.

Thankfully they did not go the other way or there would be no one left.

[NerZhulen]

No I raided Carthago it rebelled and I guess they marched all the way to Massalia through North Africa , Spain and Gaul conquering everyone on the way.

Thankfully they did not go the other way or there would be no one left.

this is crazy...

[Caius Antonius]

you are talking about the 2nd rebelion, I would understand a guide for that
but for starting the game?...

This isn't an AAR, it's exactly what the title says it is: a guide. If you don't need it, don't diss it. Maybe some people aren't as mighty as you are at beating this game/mod. So please.. keep these kinds of comments to yourself. Same goes to RoberttheBlack, go make your own, or cram it. All you've been doing on these forums so far was to act superior and discourage people.

I personally enjoyed reading this guide, despite not having a whole lot of trouble with my campaign. But I've been playing this game for years, and I know RSII pretty well.

And don't you even think of stopping this tutorial, Dani. Once this is completed, I hope it gets linked to a pinned thread, just like I proposed with the Auxilia Legion system thread. Keep it up.