What should be the next move?

[armchair caesar]

I am not sure if this is the right place for this, but I am playing a campaign in SPQR 5.0, so here it goes...

I am currently playing as the Julli faction on H/M. The year is 258 B.C., and I have just secured the Po Valley after fighting the 'Battle for Aquillia' against the Guals. Border forts have been established at all the mountain passes, giving me 2-3 turns to respond to any emmediate threats by Gallic forces from the north and west. I have a full strength legion heading for Solona in the hopes of establishing a foothold in the Balkins (there is a lot of money to made there for future campaigns). I have a half-strength legion stationed in the Po Valley to act as a 'first repsonder' in an emergency. I have also secured the islands west of Italy (forgot their names). I am currently neutral with Dacia. They have huge armies, and with constant threat of the huge Gallic armies, I wish to keep it that way for a while until the Germans grind them down a bit.

I have one full-strength legion with no mission. I am not sure what my next move should be. I have several options for a new campaign, I could 1.) head west and invade the Gallic mainland, 2.) Transport the legion to Sicily and grab a city or two before the Bruttii take the whole island, 3.) Transport the legion to the island south of Gaul (forgot it's name too), however this will require 2-3 turns to get there with the risk of the powerefull Carthiginian navy crushing my transport, 4.) Move the transport fleet to the Adriatic, load the legion and sail to the coast of either Sparta or Athens and attempt to capture the city(s). It would be an awsome prize and would probably generate good income, but it is highly risky, just getting the legion there with a powerfull Greek fleet is a long shot.

Well those are the options I am considering. I have a positive income of about 2,500 denarii per turn, so I am reluctant to raise another legion at the moment, so I want to make the above mentioned legion count, to put in other words, "the best bang for the buck".

Any opinions, thoughts, suggestions?

[lt1956]

I suggest going to gallic lands. Avoid risky adventures in the early game, because you have to ask yourself, can you afford to lose a legion? Are you playing with FOW on>? if so be careful there could be MANY armies in greece. Either way without resupply You will lose your legion you send over there in time.

But nothing ventured nothing gained. lol Greater the risk, greater the reward. Massilia is the town I think you speak of? if you take it remember that gaul will hammer you constantly. On greece, I would be careful as you may not be able to hold the city to gain the income you need compared to losing a legion? Also if brutii are not progressing in greece I would avoid that area. AS FOR SICILIA I would leave that for Scipii, the AI if you take those areas will not expand, a flaw of the game design.

You may try to take Crete? that would give you some greek income without the risk, and then some other islands near italy and also Palma in 6.0 the AI may try to take it back but in 5.0 ith 1.2 patch they wont. How many provinces do you own? and how large is your fleet? if you plan a fleet invasion build a large fleet.

[Decimus Equitius]

If I were you I would take the three towns on that Island Caralis, east of Arretium. There may be a lot of rebels on it. But it is worth the income and has a good defensive position being on an island. Another good thing is that it is relatively close to Massilia and only a turns sail away from Lilybaeum. So you can go either way after that.

[armchair caesar]

I always play with FOW on.

To be more specific, all the provinces in the Po Valley are taken and the mountain passes are secured. Corsica and Beronia/Sardinia are taken. The town I speak of is Salona owned by the greeks, if I can take it, I with have control of the Dalmatian coast and a foot hold in the Balkins.

I think your right about any forays into Greece, it is very risky, perhaps to the point of absurdidy. The Greeks have huge armies and my main supply line would be via the Adriatic Sea which is swarming with Greek/Rebel navies.

So Gaul it is. However unless circumstances change, Massilia has a full stack garrison and they have a full stack harrassing the Gauls. I think I will bypass Transalpine Gaul, leaving the Gauls to deal with Massilia for a while, and head head north through the Alps and invade Lugdinenis.

However, I am thinking about postponing the invasion for four or five turns to save enough denarrii to upgrade buildings in my cities. In the long run this is very important (for obvious reasons) and I would rather have to upgrade twelve provinces than say twenty!

[NorthHammer]

You could also go into sicily and help your allies, but do not siege any cities. Hopefully the scippi will follow you in your endeavors and confront the cartaganians

[italiano]

I think you are focusing too much on your own expansion. Help your allies out.

[slackker]

actually a screenshot of ur mini world map will help a lot because i'm playing vanilla 1.5 so the map wld be different. and i'm not sure with all the names of the diff geographical regions

but if u havent taken the coastal cities west of ur starting position, take them, they provide good income and u prevent the gauls from taking them too, i.e. reducing their potential income as well.
and are spies still in spqr 5.0? if yes, build one for each legion u have. and a extra few more 2 scout ahead, always know ur enemy b4 going in, esp if u have FOW on, and i mean send them into the gaul heartland, observe their movements and try to anticipate where they are striking next.

meanwhile build up on ur farmland and ports, they provide the best means of income. if possible, take the island directly south of ur starting position, can't rem the name now.

if u want to take it slow, plan ahead, if u want to strike hard and fast, concentrate ur forces and be swift.

and this is OT: LT when is 6.0 coming out? i'm lazy to reinstall RTW to play 5.0