Slash and Burn against the Persians

[bbcrackmonkey]

I'm playing with Atilla's Mod, ERE, and lemme tell you, I'm in debt up to my freakin ears. I was listening to my history professor the other day lecture on about the German Bevegumskrieg (war of movement, their operational term for Blitzkrieg) and he was talking about how Blitzkrieg's advantage was that you punched through or went around the enemy line and took the objective instead of throwing your armies at his.

My previous game with the ERE had been disastrous. I had tried paganism instead of christianity, not realizing the error of my ways, and I had revolts left and right whilst the Persians marched in from the East. This time I went Christian and quickly built lots of crappy peasant units for garrisons before my economy tanked.

I took all the good troops I could muster and I avoided fighting the Persian armies as much as possible. My objective was not to destroy their armies, but to destroy their cities. I would take the city, exterminate the populace, demolish all military buildings and temples, then leave one small expendable unit for garrison and let it revolt to the Eastern Rebels. That's the great thing about letting cities you don't care about revolt as the Romans. They don't go back to the Persians, they go to the Eastern Rebels instead, who appear with nothing but a stack of peasants and then slowly Christianize the province. Persia is down to two cities left with at least 3 large field armies I'm dancing around with, trying to get in a jab at their last cities.

The Western Front is not quiet though. The Hunnic horde took the first opportunity it could to attempt to cross the Danube and attack the Balkans. I made sure to prepare for this and had a large army of good troops waiting for them at the bridge. That turn I killed at least 5000 Huns, with the bulk of the Huns awaiting attacking the bridge on my next turn. It's fun to watch their military power graph line drop like a dot-com stock.

Luckily for me, it looks like the Vandals are heading further West to claim their lands. Good riddance to bad rubbish. I can't take on two hordes at once.

[Habelo]

Nice strategy....

Got nothing more to add

[Pandora]

Good strategy, is it possible to use it with the WRE as well? Iam having real difficulties ith the franks and i need a good strategy in order to prevail against them in an upcoming campaign.

[bbcrackmonkey]

Playing as the WRE is harder than the ERE. With the WRE you've got a ton of tough barbarian factions to the North that can horde. My suggestion is to take and hold their lands and leave them each one crappy province so they don't Horde. If you want to, you could let the provinces rebel and become Western Rebels instead, strategically denying the provinces to the more dangerous barbarian groups. Leave a few units in the one province you leave the Germanic tribe with to smack down their attempts to live, cause devastation, etc. then just wait them out, they will possibly attack you with their last family member or he will die of natural causes.

My plan with the Persians was only to fight them in open battle when I had a very advantageous position, like a mountain, bridge, or near the sea, or when my army outnumbered them substantially I would always attack and destroy their smaller armies before they could conglomerate into a larger one. Those little stacks you think aren't worth it tend to add up, destroying every one you see means that if you've destroyed 5 small stacks you've taken down an entire enemy field army while barely losing any men.

I've got 3 little Heroic Victory battle markers on the map, one near Hatra because I took all my troops and parked them in an impenetrable defensive position around a large rock on the side of the map, and the other two at the same little lake near the city of Van where I maneuvered my army and trapped them with their backs against the lake.

If you're a Roman Empire, you can't afford to throw away your troops, they're simply too few and too expensive, you should only fight battles that you know you can win and win big.

[Pandora]

ok so technically it is possible but you would not recommend me to use it?. One last question should i advance into germany and risk getting ambushed or stay in france and construct forts along the frontier and wait for them to come to me.
my previous experience of the franks is that they want to take northern france as soon as possible, should i let them do this? What would be strategically correct in this situation?.
Meanwhile the berbers have been sneaking up on me as well in north africa and they are currently besieging Carthage. Should i send a rescue force from Italy or stay and defend my european holdings?

[bbcrackmonkey]

I don't know the particulars of your game or if you are using a mod, but here is my advice to you. Use one field army and attack the Franks and destroy every town they own except one. Use another field army and ravage the Berber lands. Berber troops are absolute crap, but you probably cannot hold their cities, so I would suggest you Blitzkrieg attack the Berbers and destroy their cities whilst trying to avoid any large confrontation with their troops. Once you've taken a Berber city, destroy all military and religious buildings then leave behind one expendable unit as a garrison and let the province revolt into Rebel Roman hands and move your army to the next Berber city and repeat.

If you cannot hold onto Frankish cities then do the same slash and burn tactics with them, but remember to leave them at least one city. Make sure the city is not a very big one. Use forts to slow them down but always remember that a good defense is a good offense. If they march an army into your lands then march an army into theirs and sack their city. To the barbarians, because their soldiers are so cheap and plentiful, land is more important than soldiers.

Keep in mind that slash and burn assaults typically will permanently damage a faction and put them out of action. If you have no intention whatsoever of ever, in the future, taking that land then feel free to destroy every building in the settlement that can be destroyed as well. Remember that you must hold Carthage, Rome, and some other province to win the game. Your job is not to conquer but to survive and hold key provinces.

If you must battle a large host of Franks, try to pick where the battle will be and remember that maneuver is just as important as firepower.

[Pandora]

Ok this sounds like a very good strategy. I dont plan on holding anything in North Africa besides Carthage since those provinces dont contribute a lot to my economy. In germany however i wish to create a safe zone where i can protect myself from attacks by the vandals and the huns.

[Mirconus the Great]

With the WRE I usually destroy barbarian or nomad factions which can create a horde by leaving them with one single settlement and, after that, I assasinate or kill their remaining family members. If that's not enough, I assault their final city, kill their family members in battle and then withdraw. The city will turn to rebel, but instead of having a horde on my head, I have a strong faction destroyed. :sweatingb

Now, let me tell you which are the best tactics with the WRE.
First I leave all the cities which are useless (and the ones to which I can do nothing to stop their revolt) in the hands of the WRE rebels. Note: never leave troops in a city that you know it will revolt! They might betray!
Then I defeat the Allemanni, the easiest faction at my borders (it doesn't turn into horde).
Then I retake the rebel cities I once had (the ones possible).
Usually, after that, the Berbers attack me at Carthage with a huge army. As Carthage never revolts from the second turn, I succed to sally forth against them...
Note: Each time a settlement is gonna revolt, abandon it, wait for the rebels to get in, and then exermine it. (if you don't do that, your budget will be destroyed most times)
After this, you'll esily destroy the Celts, as they are a weak people (in BI, cause i don't say anything about their followers today...).
Now's the hard part: you've gotta destroy the Fanks. Send an assasin and do everything you can to kill most of their family members. Usually, now the Saxons will also send an offensive in Belgica. You'd better get some forces here, rather than sending them in Tribus Franki.In Franki send the Lily-Livered with some other troops and members to extermine the members left. Do not capture the city!! After you kill the members, lose the battle!
Next, some peaceful times will follow... Just before destroying the Saxons and regaining your power in the North.
It's time to retake Noricum. Much better if you haven't lost it till now, cause you'll need it against the Sarmatians, Lombardi and Vandals. Most usual, these 3 hordes attack you simultanously. If you have an army, victory is possible, because, after, besieging you a few times, the Sarmatians will go North in the rebelious Tribus Lombardi and settle there(most usual, but with few exceptions) and the Lombardi will go South, over Moesia and Illyricum. When they reach Italy, they'll be doomed. The Vandals will only have 1 or 2 horde armies and they'll be the most agressive. Their capital is usually Salona and after fighting you, they'll be destroyed by the Roxolani.
Around 395, the Huns will attack Noricum (you should better keep it because it's an important economic city). You should face them because they are weakened by the ERE and Goths, now settled in Iazyges.
Perhaps the biggest threat in Noricum are Slavs, which aren't to face. Usually they turn the Burgundii into a dangerous horde. However, by this time, you should have already dfeated the Berbers and the WRE rebels, such as launched an assault on the ERE in Cyrennaica and Egypt. Resisting a little in front of the Slavs to capture a few provinces in the East should ensure your victory...

[Pandora]

Thank you very much you have really helped me out a lot, i will be looking forward to unleashing this tactic on my barbaric neighbours, Roma Invicta !

[Mirconus the Great]

Roma Invicta, my friend! Roma Invicta!

[Habelo]

I don't know the particulars of your game or if you are using a mod, but here is my advice to you. Use one field army and attack the Franks and destroy every town they own except one. Use another field army and ravage the Berber lands. Berber troops are absolute crap, but you probably cannot hold their cities, so I would suggest you Blitzkrieg attack the Berbers and destroy their cities whilst trying to avoid any large confrontation with their troops. Once you've taken a Berber city, destroy all military and religious buildings then leave behind one expendable unit as a garrison and let the province revolt into Rebel Roman hands and move your army to the next Berber city and repeat.

If you cannot hold onto Frankish cities then do the same slash and burn tactics with them, but remember to leave them at least one city. Make sure the city is not a very big one. Use forts to slow them down but always remember that a good defense is a good offense. If they march an army into your lands then march an army into theirs and sack their city. To the barbarians, because their soldiers are so cheap and plentiful, land is more important than soldiers.

Keep in mind that slash and burn assaults typically will permanently damage a faction and put them out of action. If you have no intention whatsoever of ever, in the future, taking that land then feel free to destroy every building in the settlement that can be destroyed as well. Remember that you must hold Carthage, Rome, and some other province to win the game. Your job is not to conquer but to survive and hold key provinces.

If you must battle a large host of Franks, try to pick where the battle will be and remember that maneuver is just as important as firepower.

Damn never attacking, that must blow! Booooring!

[Siddyus]

Berserk mode is a good tactic also. I dont know if I was lucky at that time... I just went on berserk and managed to clean the whole European frontier(except Spain) and even managed to steal some of ERE's lands(like Athens, Constantinople, and some that can be found on present Turkey). I lost the African and Spanish frontier though. Anyway, just keep on defending and those horde units wont last very long then unleash your berserk mode and all those barb's will instantly be defeated. However, be prepared to lose as much settlement as you can in the start...

Note: It was on Hard difficulty and unmodded.

[Mirconus the Great]

With the WRE I usually destroy barbarian or nomad factions which can create a horde by leaving them with one single settlement and, after that, I assasinate or kill their remaining family members. If that's not enough, I assault their final city, kill their family members in battle and then withdraw. The city will turn to rebel, but instead of having a horde on my head, I have a strong faction destroyed.

Now, let me tell you which are the best tactics with the WRE.
First I leave all the cities which are useless (and the ones to which I can do nothing to stop their revolt) in the hands of the WRE rebels. Note: never leave troops in a city that you know it will revolt! They might betray!
Then I defeat the Allemanni, the easiest faction at my borders (it doesn't turn into horde).
Then I retake the rebel cities I once had (the ones possible).
Usually, after that, the Berbers attack me at Carthage with a huge army. As Carthage never revolts from the second turn, I succed to sally forth against them...
Note: Each time a settlement is gonna revolt, abandon it, wait for the rebels to get in, and then exermine it. (if you don't do that, your budget will be destroyed most times)
After this, you'll esily destroy the Celts, as they are a weak people (in BI, cause i don't say anything about their followers today...).
Now's the hard part: you've gotta destroy the Fanks. Send an assasin and do everything you can to kill most of their family members. Usually, now the Saxons will also send an offensive in Belgica. You'd better get some forces here, rather than sending them in Tribus Franki.In Franki send the Lily-Livered with some other troops and members to extermine the members left. Do not capture the city!! After you kill the members, lose the battle!
Next, some peaceful times will follow... Just before destroying the Saxons and regaining your power in the North.
It's time to retake Noricum. Much better if you haven't lost it till now, cause you'll need it against the Sarmatians, Lombardi and Vandals. Most usual, these 3 hordes attack you simultanously. If you have an army, victory is possible, because, after, besieging you a few times, the Sarmatians will go North in the rebelious Tribus Lombardi and settle there(most usual, but with few exceptions) and the Lombardi will go South, over Moesia and Illyricum. When they reach Italy, they'll be doomed. The Vandals will only have 1 or 2 horde armies and they'll be the most agressive. Their capital is usually Salona and after fighting you, they'll be destroyed by the Roxolani.
Around 395, the Huns will attack Noricum (you should better keep it because it's an important economic city). You should face them because they are weakened by the ERE and Goths, now settled in Iazyges.
Perhaps the biggest threat in Noricum are Slavs, which aren't to face. Usually they turn the Burgundii into a dangerous horde. However, by this time, you should have already dfeated the Berbers and the WRE rebels, such as launched an assault on the ERE in Cyrennaica and Egypt. Resisting a little in front of the Slavs to capture a few provinces in the East should ensure your victory...

Now, that i've told you my tactics with the WRE, let me tell you those with the ERE\(I don't know if they're the best, but, however, they helpped me to win a campaign...
As you should know if you've finished a campaign with one of the RE, even if the text tells you to hold the settlements indicated, you must just capture them.

At the beginning, with th ERE, comparing with the WRE, everything is beautiful: no cities in which revolt is iminent, no mighty hordes at your borders and fortunately no extra minus income... However, after a couple of turns all of this changes. The great huns arrive at the north, in Dacia, ready to plunder Moesia, the Sarmatian hordes invade Thrace and many more of this (if we forget the Vandals...).
To avoid getting destroyed by the Sassanids at Antioch, you should better recruit as many soldiers as you can. This will ensure the safety of settlement, such as a good assaulting army for the future. Most probably, soon after Antioch, the Sassanids will launch an attack at Caesarea (in Cappadocia) with another army. After that, with the Persians weakened, you should attack them in Assyria.
By this time, you should have already captured Clonia Dacia, such as Sarmatia (the latter, after the Huns plunder it).Now, try to have as good relations as possible with these hordes to make them not to capture Dacia. Thay WILL besiege you, but don't worry... or do... it depends of their will... but they'll most surely leave Dacia, while the Vandals will inevitably sack Moesia.
Remember: each time one of your city is gonna revolt, abandon it and let it for the ERE rebels.
Still the beginning of the campaign, you should attack Noricum and/or Pannonia as long as thay are in the hands of the ERE rebels. :wink:
Now you should search for your fortune in the barbarian lands. It should be about 385-390 AD (you have captured all Sassanid cities). Revolts will now stalk the east, bringing you reaches from settlement extermination. :sign_war: You must now, after capturing at least one of the rich barbarian settlements, to make your resistance in here more powerful. U should also capture Mauretania from the Berbers. You should declare war on the WRE by attacking Carthage. Howeever, if you have some barbarian settlements at the border with the WRE, they will most probably attack you. The Huns will also provide you sadness in Noricum.
Even if you think the WRE is weak, you will find out thatit's full of mighty armies. To avoid being struck by them you should turn the Burgundii, Lombardi or Franks into hordes. So, they will crush Roman Gaul and Germania and they'll be like some pathfinders for you... . You could also enter in Spain...
By keeping this rythim, you will surely win the campaign .

[Pandora]

Simple, logical and most importantly easy to make real, at least in theory. You have to make it happen as well not just talk about it. However i believe that this is a strategy that works really well if you do everything in the order that you just described.

[Mirconus the Great]

I don't just talk about it. This really happened to me on my campaign and, after i played a little more with the ERE, i realised that the computer has mainly the same tactics. It's so easy to predict what it will do because of the names in descr_strat (beaurocreat mao, fortified stalin a.o.)

[Overcloud]

Used the same tactic in RTW SPQR mod. Works great especially against germans since they've got elite armies and poor defenses. Using faction that have elephants helps too because they move as far as cavalary units and you dont have to wait a turn to build rams