What's the best difficulty level?

[yiplong]

With AI bonus off, What's the best difficulty level? I want the AI to pose a challenge, but not to the point where they throw countless full stacks at me. That can be very annoying.

[piranha45]

I'm doing and have always done normal/normal, ai bonuses off. The only thing I would ever contemplate changing is battle difficulty, but I'd never go past normal campaign difficulty for fear of excess ai fullstacks. I need the gratification of seeing my empire make noticeable progress every turn or two.

[yiplong]

I have played 4 turns as the GCS on Medium/Medium. Things seem to have turned out pretty well for me:

Turn 1: gathered all my forces and laid siege to Corinth. A full Macedonian stack came in reinforcement and attacked me. I annihilated both armies and took Corinth.

Turn 2: A full Macedonian stack landed near Corinth. I attacked with what remained of my forces and destroyed it.

Turn 3: Laid siege to the city just above Athens.

Turn 4: Took that city and also took Larasa (used spy to open door)

It looks like the Macedonians are beaten back to their homeland and won't be a threat anymore. I used to play M/M with bonus on, and it certainly took me a lot longer than 4 turns to achieve this

[Durnaug]

I have played 4 turns as the GCS on Medium/Medium. Things seem to have turned out pretty well for me:

Turn 1: gathered all my forces and laid siege to Corinth. A full Macedonian stack came in reinforcement and attacked me. I annihilated both armies and took Corinth.

Turn 2: A full Macedonian stack landed near Corinth. I attacked with what remained of my forces and destroyed it.

Turn 3: Laid siege to the city just above Athens.

Turn 4: Took that city and also took Larasa (used spy to open door)

It looks like the Macedonians are beaten back to their homeland and won't be a threat anymore. I used to play M/M with bonus on, and it certainly took me a lot longer than 4 turns to achieve this

Yes, fighting a full stack every turn is not fun. I also play GCS as medium on the campaign level. However, even on medium, with AI bonuses off, opposing empires will still attack you with 4 or 5 stacks. Rome is especially "nightmarific". Until I captured Rome, I was being attacked by groups of stacks every few turns.

Here's a question, why does Rome always ally with Spain in my games?

[piranha45]

I'm noticing Rome's might too, in my Germania campaign. Roman Legionnaires are beastly, they come out with 2+ chevrons. The AI Macedonia was the undisputed dominant faction of the west and was pushing into Italy, then the Marian reforms hit and Macedonia started shrinking to the unstoppable Legionnaire onslaught very quick. I had to take Spy-Up + Blitzkrieg Rome or that whole map would have been red.

[AchillesXX]

I have been playing RTW for a long time and I consider myself pretty good. Not the best for sure, but better than average. Anyway, I am currently playing a Pontus campaign on H/H with AI bonuses on. Let me tell you, it is insane. The Egyptians NEVER STOP SENDING STACKS. Even when I crush them 1 to 1 it is still a challenge because they have three more armies waiting before I can retrain. It I currently control all of modern Turkey. Spain is the western super power, and Parthia is on the rise in the east. It has been cool to see Greece and Macedonia fight it out for years. Usually Macedon destroys them quickly, but it looks like the Greeks are getting the upper hand. I would post a pic, but it is too much work! More to the point, the best difficulty is whatever you find fun. Some people will claim that they played an Armenia campaign on VH/VH with AI bonuses or something ludicrous like that, and tell you it is the only way to go. Don't listen to them, do what you like.

[Pinkie Pie]

i usually play vh/m and auto resolve most battles

[DimeBagHo]

I test the game on H/H, AI bonuses on, 2HP, and large units. So that's what most of the campaigns are balanced for. Some campaigns, like Armenia and Pontus, will be very difficult at that level though.

If you set the campaign difficulty to M then the AI factions will take a lot longer to become implacably hostile, which gives you a bit more time to build, and allows for a bit more diplomacy. Setting the battles to M is probably a good idea if you are still learning tactics.

Personally I don't like VH. For battles the AI gets such large bonuses that you wind up having to use very unrealistic and exploitative tactics to win. For the campaign the AI is insanely hostile and diplomacy doesn't work at all. If you want more of a challenge, make some house rules: e.g. no bridge battles; always sally when besieged; limit naval invasions; limit cavalry or ranged units (depending on your faction); don't assault cities on the first turn of a siege; etc. Try to pick rules that cover over the most glaring weaknesses of the AI, and which encourage strategy and tactics that are more historically plausible.

A few rules like this, and a bit of role playing will make the game more fun at any difficulty level. Of course AchillesXX is right, the correct difficulty level is the one you find most fun to play. Some people play to relax, some people want an intense challenge. Choose your difficulty level accordingly.

[Tim Minchin fan]

@DimeBagHo, first I would like to congratulate and thank yourself and the team for an excellent mod, butI would also like to ask, What sort of bonuses do the monuments give the ai? and why has rome a double xp bonus also the other AI. Finally, why is it that in my bonus on m/m GCS campaign I start off at war with a very hostile Macedon, but as Macedon I'm aliied to Greece with all settings the same. Again many thanks and may the new year bring good things to all of you!

Also, I reckon that setting depends on faction. Bactria or , Pontus or GCS can be a lot more difficult than Rome, Macedon and TSE. AI is unpredictable though, so 2 campaigns can turn out very differently even with same faction and settings. Of course everyone is different and there is no definitive 'best' setting, just what you like! Good luck with your campaign Yiplong!

[DimeBagHo]

@DimeBagHo, first I would like to congratulate and thank yourself and the team for an excellent mod, butI would also like to ask, What sort of bonuses do the monuments give the ai? and why has rome a double xp bonus also the other AI.

Most of the bonuses are economic. The Rome AI gets some extra bonuses to ensure that Rome does well, and makes a suitably tough opponent.

Finally, why is it that in my bonus on m/m GCS campaign I start off at war with a very hostile Macedon, but as Macedon I'm aliied to Greece with all settings the same. Again many thanks and may the new year bring good things to all of you!

The two campaigns represent two different moments in history. The start of the Macedon campaign represents the Gallic invasion of 279 BC. The start of the GCS campaign represents the start of the Cremonidean War of 268 BC.

[Tim Minchin fan]

Thank you DimeBagHo, and good luck for the new year!

[nhinhonhinho]

H/H with 1hp, AI bonus is a good choice for normal. H battle and VH campaign plus AI bonus is tougher and suitable for guys who want more challenge and fun