Which version

[TW-fanboy]

Well, I'm new to RTR and I'm unsure which version I should choose. As I understood:

-RTR 6.0 is the original version for RTW 1.2
-Platin edition is the port of the gold version to the newest TW version (with some minor adjustments); it has MANY submods (e.g. Imperator)
-RTR Extended is an advanced version of Platinum
-RTR VII is the version you are working on and there only are provincial campaigns out, yet

Now Idon't know which one I should choose. I liked the government system in EB and the Romanisation system in BRG IV and RS II; RTR is knowns to have a great Romanisation system aswell.
I would prefer an historical accurate mod, I want to play Rome and to become the Empire one day (early principate, no lorica segmentata), and I want complex gamplay mechanics.
Which RTR version /submod would fit my taste best?

[MasterOfThessus]

I'll refer to a great post from CA

Copy and pasted one of my posts from a recent thread

"Hi there, welcome to the boards!

You have several options open to you playing with RTW and BI patched to the latest versions:

RTR: PE v1.9 - This is a good base to build experience playing across a "traditional" grand campaign format. By that I mean there's a map that stretches from Scotland to India, with all the major powers you'd expect included. It's a good romp to play through, though it's considered a completed mod and as far as I am aware no-one is developing it any further.

ExRM 3.5.3c - This is a further development of the gameplay in RTR: PE. The team has done some astounding work improving the gameplay experience and challenge. There is a severely tweaked economic system, the full complement of factions and highly tweaked unit stats, amongst other features. There is also a new version in the works, ExRM 4.0, which further develops the concepts in 3.5, introduces several superfactions to represent some of the minor powers and improve gameplay more than merely having vast swathes of rebel territories.

RTR VII TIC - This mod is focused on Hamilcar Barca's (alas not the beloved historian of the RTR team ) conquest of the Iberian peninsula in the aftermath of the First Punic War. As Carthage you play through a higly scripted, mission based campaign. The Iberian faction is much closer to the traditional mode of TW gameplay. The game itself lasts in the region of 80 turns. This was the first project of the current RTR team.

RTR VII FOE - This mod is is based around the Western Mediterranean from 280 BC onwards. From what I recall there are 6 playable factions (could be wrong here), and the mod places a strong emphasis on Rome's struggle against Pyrrhus, and the later wars against Carthage. There are of course several other scenarios featured in the mod, and there is no strong focus on any particular faction. The game features mini regions (representing the minor towns and cities), and major regions. Mini regions cannot be developed any further than how they are set up at the campaign start, not can they be used to recruit troops. Major regions can be developed and can recruit troops. The economy and battle stats have also been very heavily tweaked in this entry in the RTR series.

Some upcoming mods to look forward to in the RTR family:

ExRM 4.0

Fortuna Orbis

Another entry in the RTR family is AqD's mod. I haven't mentioned it here in detail though as I believe it requires the Alexander expansion.

Hope this helps"

Of course, there are several other lists too above mine

I'd say Fate of Empire is the best for you if you can live with the limited map.

ExRM if you want a traditional GC without the latest innovations from RTR VII

[TW-fanboy]

I'll refer to a great post from CA



I'd say Fate of Empire is the best for you if you can live with the limited map.

ExRM if you want a traditional GC without the latest innovations from RTR VII

Bur as far as I remember, fate of Empires doesn't cover the Empire, right? Does ExRM feature the early Principate (Emperor title for faction leader)? I downloaded the unit documentation and the Roman army of Caesar's and Octavian Augustus' time is featured (regular auxilia, the equipment of the legionaries), but is the transition from republic to empire featured in any way (as in EB or RS II)?

PS: I downloaded the mod, and the late legionaries didn't apear in custom battles, so I looked them up in the edu and saw that they were removed.
So the mod has died for me. Is there any RTR featuring later Roman units (early Principate/late Republic)?

[Caesar Augustus]

ExRM doesn't make any attempt to cover the early Principate, nor does it include late Roman units other than the Marian legions (from what I remember ). This is down to that curse of RTW modding - the 66 BC CTD. There are some solutions that have been scattered around (namely converting the dates and scripts to use the Ab Urba Condita dating system), but I'm not sure how effective they are. Roma Surrectum 1 & 2 both use it however. Personally I've never played far enough into a campaign to run into that particular bug.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Platinum may have them included, but I couldn't say that with any degree of certainty.

[MasterOfThessus]

You probably won't find any legions except for the marian ones in any RTR-mod

[TW-fanboy]

You probably won't find any legions except for the marian ones in any RTR-mod

Then EB remains the historical/realistic mod of my choice.

[Pat89]

You probably won't find any legions except for the marian ones in any RTR-mod

FoE has them available for custom battles after unlocking them in EDU. But they haven't been balanced at all (which is exactly why they are locked in the first place)

[Caesar Augustus]

Well that's your choice and I respect that

May I humbly suggest that you try some of the RTR products anyway, just to get an experience of the gameplay?

EDIT: By the way, +rep to Mottie for using my post

[Maurits]

I'd especially suggest that you try an FOE campaign, to see how it feels. It can't really be described what we did to it, but when you experience it yourself you might start thinking different about it

[Carados]

The Empire is boring anyway

[TW-fanboy]

The Empire is boring anyway

The most interesting time frames (for me) are the late Republican/early imperial era (Gaius Marius to Augustus / 1st century bc.) and the decline and fall of the empire (4th and 5th century)
The fall of the Republic mods 58 bc and 77bc (which I really enjoyed) are based on RTR and they are set in the late Republican era.
You advice me to play Fate of Empires- ok, I am downloading it. But in general I prefer "Grand campaign games", so which RTR mod with a grand campaign has the most advanced gameplay /the nearest gameplay to the VII versions? And of course, I need Marian legions.
And what I mean when talking about early Imperial soldiers: one the one hand, regular auxilia troops, and on the other hand the legionaries at the time of caesar and the rise of Augustus/Octavian. According to the historians I read books from (is that sentence right?!) the legionaries ata round 27 didn't differ much from legionaries in Caesar's time (50s and 40s) (but I'm sure you know that anyway....). I am not talking about that ugly segmented armour.
EDIT:
However, to show you what I mean:

And, what I consider the coolest looking legionary style (picture from HBO Rome):

[Pat89]

So you advice me to play Fate of Empires- ok, I will try it. But in general I prefer "Grand campaign games", so which RTR mod with a grand campaign has the most advanced gameplay /the nearest gameplay to the VII versions? And of course, I need Marian legions.

That doesn't exist - yet

[TW-fanboy]

That doesn't exist - yet

So there are no sub mods featuring a grand campaign and these guys:

[demagogos nicator]

I am not 100% sure but I think these guys are present in Extended Realism, they are called there Late Republican Legionaries or something like this

[Jaujon]

I recommend you the good old RTR Platinum 1.9 with Metropolis + Naval Mod. So far the best gameplay experience I had on any Total War game.
Extended Realism is a different stand-alone project, that might deserve your attention as well, even if I didn't really played it that much.
The picture you're showing above is about roman legionnaires, which are present in RTR Platinum, and available from Marian reforms.

[Caligula Caesar]

You aren't exactly going to get a good Empire-era representation from any mod that starts around 280 BC, be it RTR, ExRM, or EB. To my knowledge, RSII pulls it off fairly well, though I haven't actually got that far (RL got in the way )

[demagogos nicator]

Edit: I am afraid that I was wrong in my prevoius post. I just remembered that unit I mentioned above is only in Res Gestae mod not in Extended realism (they both use the Prometheus skins for Romans - this the reason why I confused ity). To good early Empire-era representation you should probably wait until EB submod Novus Ordo Mundi

[TW-fanboy]

Edit: I am afraid that I was wrong in my prevoius post. I just remembered that unit I mentioned above is only in Res Gestae mod not in Extended realism (they both use the Prometheus skins for Romans - this the reason why I confused ity). To good early Empire-era representation you should probably wait until EB submod Novus Ordo Mundi

Yes I am aware of that mod and am lookinging forward to play it, once it is released.
So it seems there is no RTR (sub)mod featuring the periods I am interested in (late Republic/Rise of the Empire and late empire) except for the RTR-based fall of the republic mod series. But after all, who cares? The point is that everyone has fun. Enjoy RTR, I go playing Invasio barbarorum, now....