Gaul Tips

[The Unknown General]

Eventually I'll have to play them, but currently I have one sound strategy as them. I would first take Briton's only city on the main land and build up my defenses so Germania doesn't catch me off guard. Second would to build up my defense in Spain and if able to, conquer all of Spain. My third and final would be to blitz Italy and try to take out the Romans as early as I can which would allow to me to conquer Spain (if not already conquered) and the rest of Europe at my leisure.

[Maiar93]

Simultaneously rush britons and romans instead, while building troops in border towns. Numantia isn't that important, as you can conquer Spain any time.

[The Unknown General]

Why rush the Britons when I severed there only link to the main land? I'm guessing for money due to the fact England is a island meaning ports and sea trade, but I feel my resources would be better spent going straight for Italy since it has better land and better trade lanes.

[Maiar93]

Yeah, in my opinion you should rush the Julii from the start of the game and simultaneously rush the britons to landlock them. You could even hire a boat and go for Londinium, which'd end the game for Britons. At the same time, build an army to guard the border against germans. Don't worry, you get your elite troops soon and the newly-captured towns assure you have no shortage of money. Then redirect your army conquering Britons against Spain, and it will lay foundations for your economical powerhouses. You could even invade Numidia and then Carthage, then go for Egypt and the East while rushing Italy and Greece.

[Genius of the Restoration]

I'd rush the Julii. Pushing down further is easy once you've got their two settlements and can recruit Chosen Swords (make sure you keep a general in one of your own settlements when you capture them so you can make the most of the enslaving). Taking on Germania could be a pain, but take a couple of their settlements early to reduce their ability to produce armies and you should be right. Spain is a pushover, so you can take them whenever you want, but early is definitely possible. Just remember the recruit the mercenaries on the first turn because otherwise they will get them and you can use the Spanish Mercs (maybe Balearics too, can't remember), to good effect. The Brits are fun to attack and Londinium provides excellent trade, so go for that one, the other settlements aren't great. Definitely drive them off the continent though.

[Stingray970]

So to win as Gaul, you really have to destroy everyone while they're weak?

[Genius of the Restoration]

So to win as Gaul, you really have to destroy everyone while they're weak?

I think choosing the time when you have an advantage, or the smallest disadvantage, is the general theme of the game

[The Unknown General]

As the Gauls you are the closet non civilized faction to the Romans. Meaning you can't turtle because either they attack you or they build up to point that even at your highest tech tree they can stomp you. I was thinking of after kicking Briton off the mainland I should take the two rebel cities in France to untie my settlements besides the one in Spain. Then build up my forces in the capital (Alesia?) to take the rest of the Briton's lands and defend my eastern front while building my forces in Italy to take out the Julii Romans. Then use them to help go through Italy and Sicily while capturing Spain. After that I'm thinking of taking the western half of the Black Sea and every settlement on that side, but the rest is unknown because I won't be able to beat the Egyptians.

[TheFoolOnTheHill]

yes

[Genius of the Restoration]

You'll probably find it easier going if you launch the attack on the British settlement and the Julii from the first turn. By starting early, you should be able to wipe the Julii out in around 6 turns if you really want to. The rebel settlements can be taken by armies moving around to other fronts of the war with no trouble, I don't think there's a need to halt the attack on the real enemy to wait to unite them.

It's also worth pointing out that you can reach your highest tech point very early on (under ten turns) which will let you produce units that the Romans cannot hope to match that early in the game. Chosen Swords will trample all over Hastati and Principes and, if you get your temples right, your Foresters will have 17 missile attack which will ruin the day of any early unit.

Good luck with the campaign