My Carthage Guide
MY CARTHAGE GUIDE
Ave Darth Vader and all DarthMod 7.5 creators members players and fans!
Friends, countrymen, I, Grand Duke Vytautas, fan of DM am proud to present (tadatada) - My Carthage Guide (played on hard/hard) for this awesome and the best imo mod – DarthMod 7.5 for RTW
.
May it be a BIG THANKS from me to creators of DarthMod.
Hope I’ll give you a basic grasp of how to master this great african maritime power, lucrative Mediterranean trade powerhouse and one of the greatest proudest civilizations of Antiquity – the mighty faction of Carthage!!!
Prepare to change history, turn the tide of the Punic Wars to your advantage, destroy the rise of the roman empire and give a new face and culture to the western civilization! This and more I hope you’re ready to achieve, you noblest and bravest of soldierz, NOW SOUND THE ADVAAANCCCCCE! (funny Carthaginian accent lol)
CAMPAIGN – the strategic part
I. Economy
Some cool quotes from in game:
“War is not so much a matter of weapons as of money”
“We should provide in peace what we need in war”
“The sinews of war are infinite money”
It means that you cannot win a war without a strong economy, so concentrate on it first. Well, in the beginning Carthage has already quite a good and growing treasury and money support, so this doesn’t mean that you should build only economic buildings - specialize your cities, build military structures that cover a region, don’t try to build everything in 1 settlement (I’m talking almost about civ4 lol). Control of taxes is also very important: I always set them to the max as much as I can, with exception to towns that haven’t reached 2000 pop.
1. Your initial lands
I’ll start with Iberia:
Corduba – this is arguably the most important settlement in Iberia imo, it’s the key city for defending as well as launching attacks and expanding into Spain. It has a huge growth rate, so is very good for military recruitment, but quite underdeveloped in the beginning, you’ll have to rely on mercs, esp transport them from north african city Tingi. Corduba is very important, you must defend it against Spanish at all costs! To do this build watchtowers wisely to track the movement of Iberian armies and place forts in strategic locations (mountain passes, bridges) to slow down the enemy until reinforcements arrive.
I suggest build Baal temple here, cause it gives nice public order bonus and later it will provide you with Sacred Band – a very powerful unit. This settlement has yet to reach 6000 pop so develop build main economic structures: ports, roads, farms (but don’t go over that magic 8%), mines. Then you can add secondary economic buildings that are traders, etc. When you reach 3rd city level build 3rd level barracks immediately and concentrate on military. Cavalry support should arrive from Tingi. Corduba is also ideal place for academy buildings to cover Spain and western north Africa governors
Carthago Nova – 2nd important settlement in Iberia, but usually Spanish go for Corduba more. Develop this city likewise Corduba, but build milquart temples here, it adds to trade more. Early it will get good ranged support from Balearic Islands – balearic slingers, very cool units. Use transpot navy alot to maintain military support for your cities in Iberia. Carthago Nova can be defended well using bridge passes, so build forts (which also lower rebel brigand spawn chance) and 3rd level archery range as soon as you can to get descent ranged support and block those brizges. You can win quite impressive victories, even when hugely outnumbered.
Balearic Islands: Palma – famed for Balearic slingers, this settlement should be specialized in economy and navy, but build stone walls and have a good transport and support connection in case someone (usually Julii or Spanish) will want to invade your beautiful and lucrative island.
Build Tanit temple here, cause it provides growth bonus.
Next – across North Africa (from west to east), the home of true Carthaginians lol:
Tingi – this particular settlement is in relative safety and should be specialized in economy and merc/cavalry/elephant support for Iberian cities imo. Worship Milquart here to get that nice trade bonus.
Cirta – also economic powerhouse, hire many mercenaries/aim for cavalry buildings here and provide naval power for the western Mediterranean. Praise Milquart for trade. Place watchtowers and forts, so you can comfortably control these lands.
CARTHAGE – the city of cities, your capital and the best city in your empire, crazy economic powerhouse and already advanced to 3rd level. Build Baal temples to get Sacred Band. Develop it for economy, military and navy. Specialize in infantry and if you can in elephants, cause you’ll get support from other regions. Defend it well of sneak roman naval invasions! This city should provide elite units and navy for your war machine. Also aim to build academy buildings.
Thapsus – closest settlement to Numidian lands, you can plan their conquest from here, good connection and support to Carthage. Build towers to see what Numidians are up to. Develop mostly for economy and build ships here, but also specialize in archery or cavalry. Mercenaries are also plentiful in this region, so hire them many especially in the beginning and when Numidians threaten you.
Sardinia: Caralis – this town is vulnerable against roman naval invasion, so you need good navy controlling seas here. Develop Caralis for economy and navy and have good transport connection, so you can bring reinforcements from Carthage if this town is in trouble. Worship Tanit here and aim for stone walls later for better defence.
Sicily: Lilybaeum – your frontline settlement, and your fortpost for conquest in Sicily. Aim both for basic economy and 3rd level barracks. Reinforcements come from Carthage here. There’s also good greek mercenaries in this region. Navy is vital around Sicily, so build a powerful fleet.
2. The great importance of navy
Carthage being a maritime power must control the seas in order to:
1) protect your vital lucrative trade and port blockades
2) protect your islands (Sicily, Sardinia, Balearics) from roman naval invasions
3) destroy enemy naval power
4) disrupt enemy trade and blockade their ports
5) transport troops to spearhead your naval invasions
I suggest you use 1 bireme to cover troop/agent transport in a certain region (e.g. in Carthage port you can quickly in 1 turn transfer troops/agents to Sardinia and Sicily).
While naval fleet should consist of at least 4 stacked ships, this way you can win decisive naval battles, control the seas and effectively blockade ports. Build best available ships of course.
II. Diplomacy and expansion
Having many possible enemies at your gates that envy your riches in the beginning of campaign it will be essential for Carthage to use not only powerful armies and mercenaries as well as strong navy but also cunning diplomacy if you want to survive and build an empire for western civilization!
1. Initial neighbors
“We did not seek war, we are the lovers of peace and prosperity”– well yeah right, everyone says that before they go to kick some roman armoured ass
lol.
So in the beginning of campaign your mighty nation has roughly 4 different fronts/possible enemies:
Romans (4 roman families: SPQR, Scipii, Julii and Brutii) - who are and will be your #1 and of course the most hated biggest threat, fielding powerful legions throughout the course of campaign so prepare for tough defence, powerful offensive or sneak raiding of those “puny”romans. Especially Scipii and also Julii will be unrestful to annihilate you, so guard your islands (Sicily, Sardinia, Balearics) well. “Roman eagle is a roman chicken :laughing: , the enemy cooowards run, driiive ‘em from the battlefield” muhahaha
Spanish :inqusitio (Spaniards, Iberians, Celtiberians you name it) – although you are now mutual allies against Rome the Spanish could be (you betray them) and I’m sure will be (they’ll betray you anywaycuz they aim to unify Iberia) your enemy in Iberian Peninsula. Couple of diplomatic strategies here: 1) you may be able to prevent war if you can make spanish fight gauls or romans, which will be advantageous to your long-term economy; I haven’t achieved that 2) you can defend against romans while conquering Iberia, although 2 front war is always risky; that’s what happened to me lol 3) or you maybe able to subdue Spanish via protectorate, but it can be really hard to achieve it (you must at least beat the crap out of their forces and siege their capital) and esp maintain it, conquest of Iberia is way better than protectorate imo.
Briefly, the Spanish are “civilized” barbarian or semi-barb faction capable of fielding light-medium civilized infantry + aggressive barbarian inf + light/medium cavalry, so they can be a problem in the early stage of campaign, but later when your military machine will become extremely powerful and Spaniards should be easy meat for your armoured eles!
Numidians – they are of the same culture (Carthaginian) as you are and your allies at the beginning, btw they are at war with Egyptians. Eventually they may betray you also and you can end up fighting on all 4 fronts, so watch out for that! Numidians are quite hard to conquer because their settlements are long distance in the deserts of africa from yours and it takes much time to get your army there, better choose naval transport. I also find Numidians can field even more descent desert armies in DM. They can be quite a threat, so use your dark force well lol. I suggest dealing with your #1 enemy romans and #2 Spanish first. You can avoid war with Numidia if you can make them fight someone else – Egypt is perfect for this maybe Greeks.
Greek Cities – the only border you have with them is in Sicily, Syracuse (the legendary siege city.
2. Carthages’ diplomats, spies and assasins
Diplomats – you need at least 1 in Iberia, 1 in Carthage, 1 in Sicily and 1 roaming diplomat in ship in the beginning to acquire as many trade rights as you can, sell/buy maps make wise diplomatic agreements (alliances, ceasefire, etc.) and in this way boost your treasury esp in the beginning of campaign they are very useful indeed.
Spies – I use them for a couple of reasons: 1) scouting ahead of my army in order to find the composition of enemy armies 2) infiltrating rival settlements/causing unrest and maybe even rebellion 3) counterspying in your own territory, keeping rival spies out of your major settlements. I suggest having as many spies as your treasury can afford, information is never a bad thing.
Assassins – those guys rock! :fighting: Their unkeep is high though so only use them to cover a specific region, e.g. place 1 in north Africa, 1 in Sicily, 1 in Spain etc.
When these 3 agents are close by they can cooperate this way: send a spy to find out information, then send assassin to kill the most important target and at last send diplomat to bribe.
3. Conquest/expansion strategies
“Take up your spears; drink the last of your wine for fate awaits us!”
So you have 4 possible fronts: romans, spain, numidia and greeks. Which way to expand you say?
Well romans are of course your #1 enemy (you’re fighting punic wars right?) so I’ve thought roughly 3 strategies against them:
1)go on the blitz offensive: take your army on Sicily, hire as many mercs as you can transport reinforcements from Carthage and conquer Scipii settlement Messana in Sicily, this way Scipii are only down to 1 province and are in serious trouble. That’s exactly what I did. You can then go blitz Brutii cities (cuz if you go for Scipii, SPQR will arrive and you’ll be surrounded), but I think it’s too much to hold, you’ll be overstretched quickly, I prefer slow but sure expansion. “Quick decisions are unsafe decisions”
2)defend against them until 2nd front is done: this means having defensive armies in Sicily, Sardinia and a powerful navy blocking roman ports while you concentrate your military machine on the 2nd front in Spain or Numidia. After the 2nd front is finished, conquer first the Brutii then Scipii all the way through Italy or first launch Hannibalish surprise attack on Julii lol. This is a quicker strategy imo if you want to finish 2nd front than raiding.
3)raid and tire the romans: very good strategy if you want to build up a very lucrative economy. Concentrate on building main economic buildings (ports, roads, mines, farms), depend on naval supremacy and mercenary armies (quite historical cuz Carthage used many mercs), destroy roman navy, block their ports, hire as many mercs as you can and transport them to raid roman settlements. If you capture a town, exterminate it, destroy every building you can, leave some crapy depleted unit (so that romans cant recapture that town in 1 turn and raid on! This is the strategy I used in my campaign with excitement while I was busy conquering Spain. It’s just so funny watching romans so ****** and weak. I feel like Hannibal lol.
After you’ve won the Punic Wars, congrats you’re the most powerful faction in the west! Your war machine is free to go to finish Spanish (if you haven’t done that already) and also Numidians. By that time I’m sure Greeks or Egypt will become your main rival. But you’ll be very close then to winning your campaign (30 provinces). “So fight with honour this way you are remembered with honour!” “Great empires are not maintained by timidity”.
THE BATTLEFIELD – the tactical part :devil:
“A battle’s never an easy thing to face; it is a testing ground for men, for noble men! And even the lowest of us are ready for this test! Look to the enemy, shout your battle cries cuz fate awaits us!!!” *soldierz cheer and shout*
All that I’ve written would be useless, if you couldn’t win battles, balance and use your great Carthaginian army. You have to put theory into practice, so here goes:
Carthaginian troop lineup – very balanced toops types + powerful mercenaries + even more powerful elephants lol. Carthage has the widest troop choice than all RTW DM factions imo.
Infantry – should consist at least half of balanced army
Missile infantry – your supporting troops for heavy infantry (1/2 of your inf force)
Skirmishers – good early ranged unit, similar to velites and peltasts, but of Carthaginian blend, effective against armor, but vulnerable in melee, use it cautiously, you may want to turn skirmish off and command them yourself cuz sometimes they get into trouble. Include 2-4 units in 20 unit army of these guys.
Peltasts – greek mercenaries, way better than skirmishers.
Libyan skirmishers – cool cheap mercs imo better than plain skirmishers, cuz they have more men in unit and also bonus fighting in deserts. 2-4 units as a substitute for skirmishers.
Slingers – arguably better than skirmishers because of longer range and more ammo but they don’t have that cool armour piercing ability. 2-4 units if you use them instead of skirmishers
Balearic slingers – better than ordinary slingers, a very cool merc unit.
Archers – an arguably better substitute for slingers, although the stats doesn’t differ a lot. 2-4 units
Moorish archers – a merc unit which I like to hire very much, very great archery skills in deserts, so use them in North Africa mostly. (2-4 units)
Armoured archers – your factions’ elite foot missile troops, very cool looking, sharp and accurate (2-4 units)
Light/heavy infantry – the anvil of your army (1/2 of your inf force)
Iberian infantry – early very light and unarmored but fast moving unit; quite crappy to be honest. Maybe good as a cannon fodder or for flanking duties. Use them if you really have no better troops.
Medium spearmen – early spear defensive unit, capable of holding the line for a bit, place them in center. Good vs cavalry, short phalanx ability, quite good early unit. Also good for city garrison. (roughly 4 units in army)
Scutarii – equivalent, similar to roman hastati. Place them on flanks, while your medium spearmen hold the line, then flank, release missiles and charge, this way you do the most damage imo. Quite cheap for city garrison. (2-4 units)
Spanish mercenaries – a bit weaker than scutarii, but performs the same function. Cool looking unit btw. (2-4 units)
Garamante warriors – now these merc guys totally rock in deserts, they are fast, don’t tire easily and have many missiles. They are like skirmishers. Very great addition to your desert army (4 units)
Carthaginian Lancers – haven’t used these guys a lot, cuz they cost a lot and have quite weak stats.
Libyan spearmen – a better substitute for medium spearmen, more powerful spear unit, kinda like triarii-looking (4 units). Early campaign infantry backbone with scutarii.
Phalanx merc – available in Sicily
Poeni infantry – better substitute for Libyan spearmen, medium campaign backbone of infantry center.
Carthaginian Pikemen – similar to Macedonian phalangists, quite cool, although costs a lot. Center holding duty.
Armoured Scutarii – an improvement over plain scutarii, great medium campaign flanking troops while your poeni inf hold the center.
Early Carthaginian Legion – effective copies of roman warfare, superb at flanking enemy inf while sacred band hold the line.
Secret police enforcers– cool name, right, these “cops” are a good substitute for early Carthaginian legion.
Sacred Legion – best legionairy Carthaginian inf imo. Very nice looking, love seeing them killin romans muhahaha.
Sacred Band – a true Carthaginian military elite, skins are fabulous!
Cavalry/Elephants – the hammer of your military machine (should consist ½ army)
Light Cavalry – early campaign
Round Shield Cavalry – your early choice, fast moving, best at pursuing skirmishers and fleeing enemies, but very weak in melee, they’ll die like flies.
Long Shield Cavalry – better than round ones, uses spear for charging, falcate sword for melee. Your standard good cavalry.
Numidian mercenary cavalry – you gotta love this unit, it’s such a unique light cavalry!
Heavy cavalry – late campaign choice
Carthaginian armoured cavalry – well yes they are armoured and good in melee.
Sacred Band cavalry – very effective flanking shock cavalry, superb in melee also
Carthaginian heavy cavalry – my most favourite unit of Carthaginian cav, they are like elite civilized Numidian cav lol.
Elephants – ultimate fear, shock ancient tanks haha! (up to 4 units)
Elephants – these are little sized elephants
War Elephants/Merc War Eles – your standard tank
Armoured Elephants – ancient Tiger tank haha lol.
Arty
Onagers and heavy onagers. Great for sieging and defending. 1-2 units in an army
Early campaign Carthaginian balanced army
1 good general
2-4 Skirmishers/Peltasts/Libyan merc/Slingers/Balearic slingers (according to your taste)
4 Medium spearmen/Libyan spearmen holding center
2-4 Scutarii/Spanish Merc/Garamante for flanking operations
6 Round/Long Shield or Numidian cavalry for flanking and harassment
2 Elephants for shocking flanking and bulldozering
Medium campaign army
1 general
1 onager (if needed)
2-4 Balearic Slingers/Archers/Moorish archers
4 Poeni infantry
2-4 Armoured Scutarii
6 Round/Long Shield or Numidian cavalry
2 War Elephants
Late campaign elite-uber army
1 general superb general
1 heavy onager (if needed)
2-4 armoured archers
4 Sacred Band
2-4 Early Carthaginian Legion/Secret police enforcers/Sacred Legion (use the best available)
6 Carthaginian armoured cavalry/Carthaginian heavy cavalry/Sacred Band cavalry (according to your taste)
2 Armored Elephants
So that’s it! If you have any ideas or feedback for DM Carthage guide, plz post them!
Txs again Darth & CO for this awesome mod – DARTHMOD 7.5 Cheers!
Reply With Quote
