Fatsheep's First After Action Report (AAR)

[fatsheep]

Today it just dawned on me that in nearly two years with Rome: Total War I have never actually finished an Imperial campaign! I have done a few short campaigns but never actually had the pleasure of toppling the senate and the rest of the Roman houses. My goal for this game is to accomplish just this, and I am writing my first ever AARP to go with it.

I am playing as the Julii. Writing an AARP was a decision I made two turns or so into the game so the very first part is left out. However that's not exactly missing alot. In past games I've tried to muster large forces of troops early in the game. This often ended up crashing my economy. So in this game I am going to put economy first. In order to accomplis this I concentrate on economic buildings, especially ports, at the start of the game.

However, as the Julii you get a decent starting force so I am using this force to blitzkrieg the unsuspecting Gauls. The first military action I take is to gather this force under my faction leader, Flavius Julius, and march straight over the river to Pavatium and lay siege to the city. The Gauls choose to fight me in the open rathern then wait for the assault to bear down on their walls. They have brought up a nearby army to assist Pavatium's small garrison.

The Battle of Pavatium

My army squares up with the first wave of attackers. My triarii charge straight as his general as my hastai rush his spearmen and calvary contingents. The general is killed, the skirmishers flee, and the spearmen and calvary are outflanked and route as well. My general chases down the skirmishers but there is no time to finish them. The second wave of attackers is attacking at the rear!


Gallic calvary clash with my Hastai. However, they are no match for trained roman infantry in prolonged combat and are dispatched with ease.


The Gauls came to the battle unprepared to deal with the Roman war machine. The battle of Pavatium has been won! Nonetheless, the city itself is still in the hands of the Gauls. That is unacceptable, an assault is in due order.

The Siege of Pavatium

The rams are at the gates! I send two contigents of ram-bearing hastai to adjacent sections of walls.


I am met at the gates with gallic skirmishers. This is an insult to Roman arms! The hastai tear like a hot knife through butter into the mass of javelin-bearing gauls, sending them retreating madly into the town square!


My army reaches the acropolis of the city which is defended by the general himself! Very brave, very bold, but very foolish was this mistake, the general falls in the skirmish and the remaining infantry are surrounded and destroyed with surgical precision.


The city of Pavatium is taken! The armies of Julii have taken minor losses and will find refuge to lick their wounds inside the city walls for a while.

Elsewhere in the World...


The Greek City States and the Roman house of Scipii engage in an epic war. The Scipii have laid siege to Syracuse, I fear for the Greeks!

The State of the Economy

At the start of the game my main goal was to build economy in the early game. To build a war machine you must have a foundation! 6000 denarii income isn't much but it's a start! These are the first signs of a strong economy for the house of Julii. Economic, order, happiness, and health related buildings are my concentration in all my cities at this point, especially ports. I plan to make a sizeable portion of my income from sea trade. Back to my military conquest...

The Battle of Mediolanium

My army has rested long enough! Under the leadership of my faction leader, Flavius Julius, I lay siege to Mediolanium. The Gauls again choose not to wait for my assault on their precious city and sally forth! Their garrison is accompanied by another Gallic force under command of Belenus. The Gauls divide into two groups:


The Gauls first wave of attack is greeted with a strong wall of Roman infantry! The triarii move to the rear to engage the enemy general and a contigent of Hastai break of to attack the rear of the gallic spearmen while the main force engages them in a frontal assault.


The general's cavalry is butchered by the triarii and the spearmen are surrounded by the hastai. As a result, panick ensues and his army flees in panic.


The Gauls have a bad sense of humor, this is what they send to destroy the mighty Roman house of Julii? This??? Bah!


The pilums fill the air, blacken the sky, and blot out the sun! We have taught them the taste of the sword and we will teach it to them again! The remnants of the gallic army fall quickly and easily to the superior Roman force in a short melee.


The Romans suffer a mere 21 casualties! The way to the siege of Mediolanium has been paved in gold!

The Siege of Mediolanium

The battering ram nears the gates.


The gates buckle.


The Julii waste no time in dispatching one of the two gallic generals.


The enemy has gathered all of what remains of his army in the town square in a desperate last stand.


The second enemy general is thrown from his horse and promptly beheaded. His army perishes shortly after his death.


60 men are the price the house of Julii pays for the city of Mediolanium. A great price but nevertheless one that had to be paid. Their deaths will not be in vain!


My empire has expanded into the most northern parts Italy. Soon all of europe will fall into the hands of the mighty Julii! We will teach the world to know fear!!!

The Storming of Segesta

Journal of Flavius Julius, 267 BC

I have seen fit, for the improvement of our economy and expansion of our empire to take the town of segesta into our custody. All those who do not resist will not be harmed. However, those who attempt to disrupt our occupation will be met with deadly force. Unfortunately, independence is not something that townspeople give up lightly and they have barricaded themselves in the city and prepared for an assault. Their force consists of untrained villagers, most look as if they have never held a weapon before. There are roughly 200 of them in all. These are peaceful people and will be broken easily. I will go out with 280 of my best men to capture Segesta in the morning. May the gods bring us a victory to be remembered, to show that we are Julii who are to lead Rome to glory.

----------------


The villagers engage in a hopeless melee with superior Roman hastai. In the background, calvary led by Flavius Julius himself sweep in to surround the spearmen.


241 men have died in vain for the independance of their puny village. Are they so nieve as to think that can oppose our people and not pay the price in blood?

The Senate

The senate has awarded us 5000 denarii for the capture of Segesta. It is not my goal to please the senate, it is to gain the backing of the people. Only with the support of the people can I lead Rome. It is ironic to consider that this money that the senate has awarded me will be used to forge the blades that will slay them. I will ignore all senate demands in the future that are not in the best interest of my people. What do fat polticians who have never even held a blade in their hands know about war?

War With Carthage

It has come to my attention that on an island to the west of our beloved Italy, there is a city that would serve Rome greatly. The city of which I am speaking is Caralis and is under the rule of the Carthaginians. The Carthaginians are great foes and by attacking them we are in great danger. Nonetheless, we must take the city and we must make war on Carthage for the betterment of Rome. I have sent out an army to lay siege to the city:

The Siege of Caralis

Our men reach the walls with no opposition. The battering ram is at the gates and they are almost through!


The hastai are attacked by the lightly armored Numidian horsemen. They are easy prey to our troops who or superior training and armament.


My only assumption can be that the carthaginians expected to attack on Caralis. This was a faulty conclusion and they have paid the price. Only mere townsfolk are left to defend and are cut down like wheat in the harvest.


The city of Caralis has been taken!

The Siege of Carthage

Journal of Flavius Julius, 263 BC:

I have tested the Roman war machine, it has delivered to my highest expectations. We tested it at Pavatium, at Mediolanium, at Segesta, and at Caralis. We have never lost a battle. May our fortune stay constant, we are marching on the city of Carthage itself. My advisors think this decision was hastily and foolishly made. We will find out at the gates of Carthage:


Our army has landed in Africa. I have never set foot on this place before and I hope I never have to again. My place is at home in Italy, advancing our empire into the north. Nonetheless, fate has brought me here and fate will deliver me from this place. We will take Carthage!


It's strange that the Carthaginians would leave their capital so undefended!


However, what lies is a terror of unequaled proportions...


A scuffle breaks out in the streets!

Almost lost the battle with this mistake... Reminder to self: charging elephants with densely packed troops is never a good idea.

Fortunately, through the rallying of the general, the elephants are taken down and Carthage falls! This was a particular bloody battle...

In Sicily...


Etna blows its top!

Trouble With Germania

The germans are only interested in war! They choose to deliberated harrass us. They will pay the price! What will follow is a long struggle of expansion into Germany.

We are the julii, we do not wait for Barbarians to come down and take our lands! We meet the Germans in the mountains!



As what follows is a very tedious conflict I'll only summarize via some pictures and captions:


The germans have numbers, we have tactics. Nuff' said.


This is a common sight during our war: A huge germanic forest. Their warriors are stealthy, too bad the AI sucks too much to use ambush tactics.


Here's some screeching women getting slaughtered by my cavalry. Pity really, I think they would have enjoyed our company if they really got to know us... lol


My hastai let fly their pilums onto the advancing german warriors!


The German general is thrown from his horse.


Our armies prepare to engage in the forest!


A fierce melee ensues between the hastai and germanic axemen. The axemen are scarce in this conflict but they inflict heavy losses on our troops.


There are horrendous losses whenever a phalanx is confronted head on.


Roman archers fire opon the approaching german horde.


Our battering ram closes in on the enemy gates in the dead of winter.


Much of Germania is now ours!


The empire is even more beatiful in the winter.


A large expedition arrives at the island of crete!


We are met by the resistance of the renown cretan archers.




The Germans sally forth to meet my men!


Ummmm.....


Run for your lives!!!!


My public opinion with the people is looking good but not so much with the senate... I haven't been doing anything they have said anyhow.


The Britons assault my settlement!


The horde approaches!


Strength and honor be with you! The enemy are upon us!


The Britons tear into my unexperienced miltia.


Panzies!!! :wink:





Can't stand dem germans.


Come catch me!


Simple Mathematics: Horse + spear= dead horse.


The general is dead and good ridance!


His army didn't survive long without him.


This town rebelled against me. That ticks me off...


The Roman army advances...


Oops... Bad idea going at those chosen axemen head on...


But they are surrounded now.


Regardless, there were lots of losses on both sides.


The general is caught in the city streets!


And killed!


A last struggle in the town square.




Oops, I completed a senate mission?


'Bout time.


Carthage starts paying itself off...


Egypt I am upon you!


The pilum fly! Spear clashes with sword and the wheels of chariots whisk about the sand!


However, they are outnumbered...


And we have lots of nasty pointy things...


The pharoahs guard are putting up a good fight!


Vulture dinner for 200!





That's it for now...

To be continued...



Comments?

[.Socrates]

This is GREAT! I love the plenty of pictures provided, along with your startegy throughout thw whole game. Very nice work indeed.

[Final Frontier]

First off, great job, you are spurring my interest in RTW again, which is a good thing. Next, I have a few questions:

1. In what direction do you plan on going? (I see Gaul as the main target, will you be taking additional lands from other factions or be going one for faction at a time?)
2. How do you plan to arrange your army? That is, do you like to have armies with identical setups or do you prefer varying armies?

Whenever I play[ed] as the Julii, I would always take Caralis and occasionally Lilybaeum for support in my economy, though this would slightly slow down my progress north to the Gauls. Also, I always like[d] to arrange armies of 4 hastati, 4 principes, 2 triarii, 2 velites, 2 archers, 4 aequites, and hopefully a general, though I would replace the triarii with other units, seeing as they were not easy to acquire early in the game. And concerning economy: I would always go ports -> military -> roads -> religions. Sure, it meant that I wouldn't exactly have a powerhouse army at the start, (I would hardly call a bunch of hastati a powerhouse, though they can do well themselves ) but I always liked to have a strong backbone to work of off.

[fatsheep]

Thanks for the good comments guys.

First off, great job, you are spurring my interest in RTW again, which is a good thing. Next, I have a few questions:

1. In what direction do you plan on going? (I see Gaul as the main target, will you be taking additional lands from other factions or be going one for faction at a time?)
2. How do you plan to arrange your army? That is, do you like to have armies with identical setups or do you prefer varying armies?

1. Yep, Gaul mostly but I will make a naval expedition to Caralis and Lilybaeum when finances allow.
2. Well I like a simple setup for the romans most of the time: infantry line up in the front, missile troops infront of them (they will withdraw behind the infantry when the enemy draws close). Cavalry and generals wait in reserve for the right time to flank the enemy lines (after they engage the main infantry line).

Whenever I play[ed] as the Julii, I would always take Caralis and occasionally Lilybaeum for support in my economy, though this would slightly slow down my progress north to the Gauls. Also, I always like[d] to arrange armies of 4 hastati, 4 principes, 2 triarii, 2 velites, 2 archers, 4 aequites, and hopefully a general, though I would replace the triarii with other units, seeing as they were not easy to acquire early in the game. And concerning economy: I would always go ports -> military -> roads -> religions. Sure, it meant that I wouldn't exactly have a powerhouse army at the start, (I would hardly call a bunch of hastati a powerhouse, though they can do well themselves ) but I always liked to have a strong backbone to work of off.

As far as I'm concerned, Roman infantry is Roman infantry. I don't care if they are hastai, principes, etc... they all go in a main battle line. One exception is the triarii and other spearmen which I of course use to combat cavalry on the flanks. Concerning economy, I am going for the ports first and formost as I said, then the traders, and then the roads.

One important detail that I'll get to next is that I plan to completely ignore the senate in an attempt to gain popularity with the people. Foolish perhaps but I doubt the Senate will have the stomach for a fight, atleast not this early in the game. :wink:

[elbasto]

Great to see an After Action Report!

Haven't seen much of those around, are there any other good ones to read?

Great progress so far, a turtle strategy has always been successfull when playing Romans.

Good luck!

[NobleNick]

Great to see an After Action Report!

And now I know what AAR (AARP?) means.

Nice report, fatsheep! Very enjoyable. Your strategy rationale is an interesting read, as I am currently playing the Gauls and going after the Julii.

You are getting a lot of mileage out of that modest force built around 4 Hastati units. I admire your gusto. (My knees get weak if I try to invade with less than half a stack after about the tenth turn.)

[Vangelis]

I'm doing the exactly same thing as you, but I'm playing SPQR-mod.
Imo you should do the same thing, better combat system, much more action, bigger fun in general..
Vanilla...is so easy :original:

[fatsheep]

That's probably a good idea although it would mean I have to start over. Do you think I should go with SPRQ or RTR?

[Severous]

Nice post and promise of more. I have my Julii campaign saved at many points and will be comparing your progress against mine. At the point reached we had the same number of regions...although mine were different.

Two archer units ? I had one. Look after them it maybe a time before you get the ability to make more.

Keep em coming.

[[HOJ]Honorius]

Good job, but are the green arrows really necessary?

[fatsheep]

*update* Starts with:

The Storming of Segesta

Tell me what you think.

[elbasto]

Nice updates.

But if you just edit the post people won't realise that you have made an update, I'd recommend different posts.

Nice idea to invade Carthage, I didn't know it was so undefended at the early game!

[Sitarus Originalus PM-30+]

nice screens =) also what i specially like is that you had low number of casulty ... that means you lost low number of men and that is what i respect on generals =) well done =)

[guyyug]

well invadig carthage is a good idea but invadig something that the other roman factio are surpposed to do ends up beig confused, happeed to me once, brutii attacked carthage and scipii were in the asia minor

[shadowarmy75]

But if you just edit the post people won't realise that you have made an update, I'd recommend different posts.

But the if this thread gets big, which it will, people will have to look through the thread to read the whole story.

[Final Frontier]

But the if this thread gets big, which it will, people will have to look through the thread to read the whole story.

I suggest that he posts a new message for progress, (so as long as it's quite a bit ) and that he updates the first post. That way, the people who have been keeping up with his progress can view the new replies/updates, while those who have not yet will be able to see a cumulative collection of everything mr. fatsheep has done so far, which, may I add, is excellent.

@fatsheep: Concerning your sudden appearance in Africa- If you take Carthage, you'll have to take up business in Africa, mainly because you'll be blocking the progress of the Scipii and will have Numidia/the remnants of Carthage crawling up your back. I see that you've already gotten the entire valley before the Alps, good job, you can easily defend the trails, though I suggest moving towards your destination of Gaul. Try not to get caught in a multi-front war, though if you have the manpower to do so, by jove, do it, just as long as you don't have to spread your soldiers out too thin.

[General Sun]

Hey fatsheep, very exciting story you have. How do you take pictures in the middle of a battle? Do you alt-tab out with a save screen? Or is there a button for take screenshot?

[.Socrates]

All you need to do is press the "Print Screen Sys Rq" Button, or whatever button is to the right of backspace. Then you just need to upload it to imageshack or some other image-hoster.

[fatsheep]

Hey fatsheep, very exciting story you have. How do you take pictures in the middle of a battle? Do you alt-tab out with a save screen? Or is there a button for take screenshot?

I use fraps.


Thanks for the comments guys, I've actually played quite far into the campaign, I've got some writing to do!

[elbasto]

Looking foward to it!