How to...Not stay in Debt?

[SturmChurro]

I have recently installed the mod and every faction I have played as (Very hard and Hard Campaign) I will be LOADS in debt by the second turn! I cannot recruit or build anything other than what you start with! How can I get out of this debt?!

[athanaric]

http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showth...or-New-Players

The "economy" section should provide you with answers.

[Ferdiad]

I have recently installed the mod and every faction I have played as (Very hard and Hard Campaign) I will be LOADS in debt by the second turn! I cannot recruit or build anything other than what you start with! How can I get out of this debt?!

Blitz or disband armys.

[Orontid]

It depends on what faction you control.

For Arche-Seleukeia, build loads of temples with law boni (Marduk) to lower corruption, build mines, roads, etc. and don't build armies until those buildings are complete.

For Kart-Hadast, you can either use up the elephants in a blitz against the Romani, or disband them and invest in economic buildings. Disband any ships you don't need.

For the Casse, you can either take all settlements in Britain, or wait awhile since you can trade with the Eleutheroi.

For the rest, attack straight away, especially for the Saka-Rauka and Sweboz. You should have enough troops, and use your bodyguards freely. Blitzing also kills off any nearby enemies.

One last thing- do not be afraid of debt in the beginning, you can get rid of it eventually.

[Ferdiad]

Blitz or disband armys.

[SturmChurro]

Thank you for quoting yourself. I had already taken that to note. I will quote myself now!

Probably because of the amount of units? Any tips for them? I am thinking about taking a few settlements then disbanding most of my army.

Your quote of yourself is really helping me out now! Thank you for the information you had already posted!


I was wanting tips specific to playing as Sweboz other than getting rid of my army (as in after I have taken a couple settlements and already disbanded).

[athanaric]

I was wanting tips specific to playing as Sweboz other than getting rid of my army (as in after I have taken a couple settlements and already disbanded).

Well you can always try the links in my signature, especially the first one.

I don't recall what's in Silengolandam, though.

The Eleutheroi garrison is the usual mix of light and medium infantry plus a Reidonez general (easy to kill). The town itself has two sites for silver mines (must be built though).

[SturmChurro]

Agh I am playing at this moment a Casse campaign. They seem to be a nice faction to play as yet I am still in debt! -1000 a turn! I have very few troops and my tax rate is very high.

It depends on what faction you control.

For Arche-Seleuke
For the Casse, you can either take all settlements in Britain, or wait awhile since you can trade with the Eleutheroi.

One last thing- do not be afraid of debt in the beginning, you can get rid of it eventually.

I was going to do that, but I only start out with a few generals and like 3 infantry units!

I'm not worried about the debt, but so far all of my games have literally been sitting here doing nothing and hoping taht my starter troops don't all die!

[athanaric]

Agh I am playing at this moment a Casse campaign. They seem to be a nice faction to play as yet I am still in debt! -1000 a turn! I have very few troops and my tax rate is very high.

A Casse campaign should be started by queuing up tier 2 farms and some other economy buildings in the build menu. Also, use your ship unit to get the diplomat across the channel, then return the ship into the port of Camulosadar and disband it immediately. This will save you 800 mnai of upkeep per turn and you won't need ships until much later anyway.
As soon as you've built roads, the nearby rebels will attack you (one or two stacks à 5 or 6 units). On VH or H difficulty they will even siege your town. You can beat them with your starting forces and generals, or train some additional unit beforehand. At least the Caledonian army will directly attack you. The other will be lurking near Stonehenge. After you've beaten them, take the first Eleutheroi town. After that, you've won the campaign (because it becomes much easier).
Casse are a bit extreme because they've got this very difficult start and then their campaign becomes very easy. With some other factions (like Saba), it's the other way round.

[SturmChurro]

A Casse campaign should be started by queuing up tier 2 farms and some other economy buildings in the build menu. Also, use your ship unit to get the diplomat across the channel, then return the ship into the port of Camulosadar and disband it immediately. This will save you 800 mnai of upkeep per turn and you won't need ships until much later anyway.
As soon as you've built roads, the nearby rebels will attack you (one or two stacks à 5 or 6 units). On VH or H difficulty they will even siege your town. You can beat them with your starting forces and generals, or train some additional unit beforehand. At least the Caledonian army will directly attack you. The other will be lurking near Stonehenge. After you've beaten them, take the first Eleutheroi town. After that, you've won the campaign (because it becomes much easier).
Casse are a bit extreme because they've got this very difficult start and then their campaign becomes very easy. With some other factions (like Saba), it's the other way round.

Yeah, I just realized how much that ship was costing me! I started over a new campaign and was doing fairly well until I forgot to activate the background script and I knew that would my campaign up. I play on both hard and very hard and..Yes. They sent about 5 units of Skirmishers and besieged me. Chariots are pretty hilarious in an open battle. I had quite the trouble when besieging though.. Plus my units never seem to go where I want them too!


I am thinking about starting another one as the Sweboz.

Everytime I have tried them I have gotten in HUGE debt very quickly. Probably because of the amount of units? Any tips for them? I am thinking about taking a few settlements then disbanding most of my army.

[Entropy Judge]

I am thinking about starting another one as the Sweboz.
Everytime I have tried them I have gotten in HUGE debt very quickly. Probably because of the amount of units? Any tips for them? I am thinking about taking a few settlements then disbanding most of my army.

Blitz hard. Take Rugolandum, Denmark/Kimbrolandam, and Scandinavia/Skandza (the three regions north of the capital), and possibly the one to the south (not the Eleutheroi capital, but Silengolandam), all with your starting units and *maybe* some Mercs hired in Turn 1. IIRC, none of them have any Walls, all (except Silengolandam) can build Ports, and I'm pretty certain that Skandza starts with Mines (though it could just be that if you take too long, the AI builds them). You should be able to take the northern regions with your starting units alone (Bodyguards FTW), I don't recall what's in Silengolandam, though. In any case, once you have what you're content with, disband any non-necessary units (Reidonez ...) and work on infrastructure. Try to take Lugouw quickly, if you can - not only will it spawn a Defender if you take too long, but you can eventually recruit the pretty-good Lugian Swordsmen there, and they're well worth having.

General advice (aside from reading the link in athanaric's sig ...):
Check out the Regional variants of Spearmen you get - they do perform differently, and you might want to use some of them instead of the normal Dugundiz.
Skudjonez are pretty awesome units early on.
It is entirely possible to recruit units with +4 or +5 XP.
The Celts will be stronger than you over time (as their elites are better), but the Sweboz have better low- and mid-tier units.
Invade Britain.

[SturmChurro]

Blitz hard. Take Rugolandum, Denmark/Kimbrolandam, and Scandinavia/Skandza (the three regions north of the capital), and possibly the one to the south (not the Eleutheroi capital, but Silengolandam), all with your starting units and *maybe* some Mercs hired in Turn 1. IIRC, none of them have any Walls, all (except Silengolandam) can build Ports, and I'm pretty certain that Skandza starts with Mines (though it could just be that if you take too long, the AI builds them). You should be able to take the northern regions with your starting units alone (Bodyguards FTW), I don't recall what's in Silengolandam, though. In any case, once you have what you're content with, disband any non-necessary units (Reidonez ...) and work on infrastructure. Try to take Lugouw quickly, if you can - not only will it spawn a Defender if you take too long, but you can eventually recruit the pretty-good Lugian Swordsmen there, and they're well worth having.

General advice (aside from reading the link in athanaric's sig ...):
Check out the Regional variants of Spearmen you get - they do perform differently, and you might want to use some of them instead of the normal Dugundiz.
Skudjonez are pretty awesome units early on.
It is entirely possible to recruit units with +4 or +5 XP.
The Celts will be stronger than you over time (as their elites are better), but the Sweboz have better low- and mid-tier units.
Invade Britain.

Nice post!

Well you can always try the links in my signature, especially the first one.

I never even looked at your signature! I usually look past signatures unless they have a big picture on it..

I will check out your guide soon enough.

[Spike]

don't forget to set taxes to "very high" in early phase of the campaign, regardless what's your faction, because before you got reasonably big and trade revenues start to pour, your best source of money are taxes

[Ferdiad]

Blitz 5 settlements with your army or disband everything. Thats pretty much it.

[revo]

Generally all factions will have a naval unit when they start the game that is destroying their economy. Check your list scroll find it and disband it. and mines mines and more mines. They provide soooo much money.

[athanaric]

Generally all factions will have a naval unit when they start the game that is destroying their economy. Check your list scroll find it and disband it. and mines mines and more mines. They provide soooo much money.

Not all of them - only half of them. Saka, Sauromatae, Pahlava, Baktria, Hayasdan, Pontos, Swêboz, Arverni, Lusotannan, and Getai start without ships (most of them are landlocked at the start anyway). The Roman starting fleet can be used to race to Britannia and let the diplomat cross over from Calais. At that point, it'll probably get destroyed by humongous pirate armadas anyway. The Hellenic factions can use up their starting fleets by attacking their rival factions' fleets with them.

[Ferdiad]

The Romans can support their fleet anwyay so I never disband them.

[Spike]

It's always better to disband that starting fleet on Roman campaign, their upkeep is that of 4 Hastati/Principes, and pumping more troops is more crucial to gain more territory, which in turns, gain ya more money

[Ferdiad]

Theyre useful for a suicide run against the Carthaginians.

[athanaric]

Theyre useful for a suicide run against the Carthaginians.

But you start out allied with Carthage, and that peace is valuable (until you reach Messana), since it ensures you a positive income from the beginning. Meaning Rome has the easiest start of all factions - of the ones I've played, the only other to be in the black from the beginning are Ptolemaioi, and they need to do some consolidating before they can relax (can you believe that I've lost one of my starting territories to a Seleukid diplomat ).