julii campaign! help the noobie with questions!

[Persian Horseman]

hi there, its my first time playing the DM mod.
just started a campaign with the julii on H/M.
few questions came to mind along the way:

1. arent there any bridge battles? i used to wait near the bridges or secure my borders like tat. no use anymore?

2. did gaul swordmen improve a lot? cuz they tore up 2 units of histatis.

3. principes cost about 100 more to build and maintain compared to histati, but all their stats seems to be exactly the same except for 2 more defence points. are they really worth it for only 2 more defence points?

thanx
ill post more questions as ill go thru the campaign.

[Narakir]

1. One of the armies must be on the bridge for that

2. How this happens ? did the gauls did thier warcry before charging ? beware barbarians unitial charge they allways hit hard at this moment, just throw a lot of pillias on them :wink: .

3. Princeps have better morale and attack too if I'm not wrong, but hasatati sould be your first line (after velites), the princeps the second, then the triariis. In this system your hasatis who're cheaper get the first blow and tire the ennemy then you can send the princeps to finish them, and if the situation get a more complicated send your triariis.

Against the gaul and other barbs I suggest you to charge before they charge you, cover them with a rain of projectiles and beware the naked fanatics, they can realy hit your morale if the situation go bad.

[Persian Horseman]

1. i tried fighting at the river just under medolonium(spelling) but when the AI attacked me it said tat i ambushed them. ill try again sumwhere else.

2. i had 4 units of histati, enemy had 2 units, 1 warband, 1 swordmen. so i send 2 units for each. the ones fighting the warband were holding out, but the ones against the swordmen, even though were attacking from 2 directions, the swordmen just chop thru them and my captain died within a few sec of engagement. maybe thats y i lost the battle. the 2 fighting the swordmen soon routed then the swordmen took care of the other 2.

[Narakir]

The Hasati
stat_pri 11, 2, pilum, 35, 2, thrown, blade, piercing, spear, 0 ,1
stat_pri_attr prec, thrown ap
stat_sec 5, 2, no, 0, 0, melee, blade, piercing, sword, 0 ,0.78
stat_sec_attr area, light_spear, spear_bonus_10, ap <- Spear bonus for a Gladius ?
stat_pri_armour 8, 8, 7, leather
stat_sec_armour 0, 1, flesh
stat_heat 3
stat_ground 0, 0, 0, 0
stat_mental 13, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 40
stat_fire_delay 0
stat_food 60, 300
stat_cost 1, 440, 190, 50, 70, 440

The gaul swordsmen
stat_pri 12, 5, no, 0, 0, melee, simple, blunt, sword, 0 ,0.73
stat_pri_attr no
stat_sec 0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, no, no, none, 0 ,1
stat_sec_attr no
stat_pri_armour 3, 13, 6, flesh
stat_sec_armour 0, 0, flesh
stat_heat 3
stat_ground 3, -2, 4, 2
stat_mental 16, impetuous, untrained
stat_charge_dist 150
stat_fire_delay 0
stat_food 60, 300
stat_cost 1, 460, 110, 50, 70, 460

Just looking at that and... W00T Hastatis have less moral, less defense value, less attack even thier shield is only 1 point better than the gauls who have smaller ones, for just 30 denaris less... Now I understand why I lose so many romans in hand to hand against the dacians. Even the spear warband have better attack than the romans 9 vs 5.

[DARTH VADER]

@Persian Horseman:
1)Sometimes there are new vegetation settings in map which overlap the bridge effect and give ambushes battles. It is from my new modified vanilla map

2)Gaul swordsmen are very powerful but can easily rout with combinations of pila charges. Do not stand against them.

3)Principes are of higher general quality. More armour, discipline, morale are enough to give a benefit.

@Narakir:
Read here:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=53438

[Persian Horseman]

thank u for ur replu darth!

now wondering,
what r the benefits of a night battle?
is the enemy sleeping or sth? lol, i didnt play BI so i dont know.

[JaggerMech]

Try attack Rome at NIGHT, the huge SPQR army standing next to it will idle (can't join reinforcement).

[wipeout140]

Try attack Rome at NIGHT, the huge SPQR army standing next to it will idle (can't join reinforcement).

because the general does not have the night fighting trait to join the battle

[Persian Horseman]

huh? really? no reinforcements? serious? anything else?
so they just stand there and not move? wat if u shoot arrows at them, lol

[Persian Horseman]

ok, i get that now.
but wat if there r not reinforcements.
whats the benefit of doing a night battle? the +1 command star? anything else?
also, can the archers still shoot as far or their line of sight is shorter?
any other effects?

[wipeout140]

you have higher moral then the enemy

[Persian Horseman]

i have to say that i am very much impressed with this mod.
thank u darth.
playing as the romans even on H/M is so much more challenging. in normal RTW my romans used to just mow down barbarian (except in VH), but now they play a lot better. of course there have been battles that i won clear victories, but there a few battles against both the dacians and the gauls that i didnt know who would win. it was 50/50 and in the end when i won, i had lost over 50% of my army. very good and challenging.

so far, i conquered all the way to massila then the gauls gave me lungdum in exchange for peace(never happened to me b4), so i gave them some breathing space since the spanish had kicked them out of iberia and the germans and brittons were after the gauls. i dont want them to crumble too fast.

the spanish r strong. they have even defeated the carthaginians and kicked them off iberia. its the first time i see iberia united under them so fast. the dacians back stabbed me so i had to go after them. got segestica and lovoice(spelling?!?! the one above the alps) and one more town. the thing with them is that all their towns have been reduced to 400 men only)

so my eastern border is cool. i got 2 near full stacks decimating the dacians (but my budget is stretched to its limit). my western border was alright. the gauls were just happy that i wasnt attacking them. but i left a general with half a stack in lungdum just in case. but then out of no where, the full stack of germans tat was sieging alesia decides that it wants to siege me instead. my other armies r far away in dacian lands. i plan on going down fighting. dont see any other way.

the britons finally got a cities on the mainland. i saw 2 full stacks of their fight it out with another 2 full gaulish stacks. the scipii r just sitting there. no expansion at all. the brutii only hav 1 more city.


by the way, wat do u guys think of this idea?

remember STW? i used to love playing it. one of the things i liked abt it was the RPG feeling to it since u didnt have tat many family members and u had to take good care of them and groom them, etc.
but in RTW i often feel like i have way too many of these guys tat i can even spam them in the battlefield and let them regenerate. i dont know how many i have, where they r, who they r and i dont really care cuz i got too many.

as a response i have started doing this in my campaign:

from now on i only care about sons. daughters r not allowed to marry, keeping the blood pure. everyone would have the same surname and u will only have a few main characters to follow. more of the RPG feel just like STW. now i know where every single one of the generals r and im a lot more careful with them in battle. plus, makes the game harder as there r no command bonus(for every single army) and cities make less money and revolt faster. its hard sometimes. 40 cities , 10 family members if u r lucky. lol

what do u guys think?
hope my feedback on my campaign is of some use to lord darth.