Routing troops and a general hello

[BobbyC]

Having had an on/off relationship with RTW and subsequently RS2 I only found and began my attempts with SPQR a couple of weeks ago.

This mod has opened my eyes to a number of things including my obvious half-hearted attempts with RTW during the ‘on’ times when I thought I was achieving the best results. The main recognition I have made is the need for organisation and discipline within the legions I create here.

I’m sure that devotees will be less than impressed by the admission that as I neared any sort of battle resolution in RTW, (as often as not my units would be in various parts of the field), I would hit the keys for select all and chase the enemy around the battlefield en masse. I’m also coming to terms in SPQR with the fact that I will need to accommodate a number of setbacks before advancing with the empire building.

For the first time I’m in the position that I’ve made it through the early stages of SPQR (a whole ten years) and can create true legions. My new north and south legions both enjoyed an early success but have been almost totally destroyed in their next battles.

My questions at this point are, when holding the line, should the rotation of Hastatii, Principes and Triarii be a continuous process, is there a rule of thumb about when to move units (they’re not always that easy to disengage) and should this be done as an overall stationary structure or preferably with your army moving forward?

I’m obviously doing something wrong at the moment as both my created legions more or less routed leaving only a couple of hardy souls. In both instances my newly created generals were also carried from the field.

This aside I’m thoroughly enjoying the experience and with the time limit off have had a couple of battles that took a length of time I’ve never experienced with RTW and which I didn’t really notice during the battles themselves as I was immersed in the manoeuvring.

Cheers in advance.

[Cal97g]

Having had an on/off relationship with RTW and subsequently RS2 I only found and began my attempts with SPQR a couple of weeks ago.

This mod has opened my eyes to a number of things including my obvious half-hearted attempts with RTW during the ‘on’ times when I thought I was achieving the best results. The main recognition I have made is the need for organisation and discipline within the legions I create here.

I’m sure that devotees will be less than impressed by the admission that as I neared any sort of battle resolution in RTW, (as often as not my units would be in various parts of the field), I would hit the keys for select all and chase the enemy around the battlefield en masse. I’m also coming to terms in SPQR with the fact that I will need to accommodate a number of setbacks before advancing with the empire building.

For the first time I’m in the position that I’ve made it through the early stages of SPQR (a whole ten years) and can create true legions. My new north and south legions both enjoyed an early success but have been almost totally destroyed in their next battles.

My questions at this point are, when holding the line, should the rotation of Hastatii, Principes and Triarii be a continuous process, is there a rule of thumb about when to move units (they’re not always that easy to disengage) and should this be done as an overall stationary structure or preferably with your army moving forward?

I’m obviously doing something wrong at the moment as both my created legions more or less routed leaving only a couple of hardy souls. In both instances my newly created generals were also carried from the field.

This aside I’m thoroughly enjoying the experience and with the time limit off have had a couple of battles that took a length of time I’ve never experienced with RTW and which I didn’t really notice during the battles themselves as I was immersed in the manoeuvring.

Cheers in advance.

Hey Bobby, Are you asking about rotation of which units are in the front line of your army in battles?

If so I recommend you do not rotate the units in this way, for historical accuracy and the fact that you have to wait a while to be able to replace losses from your Heavy infantry. (Triarii and Principes)

I recommend you train a few hastatii and fort them up behind your legions, at the end of every battle merge the forted hastatii into the units that have lost troops.

Also, it's far harder to defeat the enemy with in-experienced legions. I rotated my legions recently, taking my 10 star general and his silver chevron army as well as vibius's legion from the north, and replaced them with fresh legions. I was taking my experienced troops out to invade Sicily.


A good few rules of thumb for fighting in SPQR total war:
Observe the battle field, take every advantage from it you can.
Consider everything, always have a backup plan and always keep reserves.
Make sure, when fighting that your Hastatii and Principes are in shield wall mode, this will make it harder for the enemy to push them back and reduce your losses.


Oh, and don't waste your cavalry, for me they only have two uses:
To pin down enemy cavalry for long enough for your triarii to arrive (If they are threatening your flank)
To rout and pursue the enemy. (Which is a very delicate thing, it should be timed right or you could risk losing your cavalry.. as well as any element of surprise you may have had.)

Also, remember It's recommended (I think) that you play on M/M.

Good luck!

[BobbyC]

Many thanks for your response Cal97g and the helpful tips.

Since posting, more of the mod's nuances are becoming clear to me that weren't immediately obvious or available in RTW. I'm also enjoying immensley the need to give up on the blitzkreig tactics I normally applied to the source game in an effort to preserve what I have in SPQR.

BobbyC

[Cal97g]

Many thanks for your response Cal97g and the helpful tips.

Since posting, more of the mod's nuances are becoming clear to me that weren't immediately obvious or available in RTW. I'm also enjoying immensley the need to give up on the blitzkreig tactics I normally applied to the source game in an effort to preserve what I have in SPQR.

BobbyC

No problem,

The first place you should invade is probably Sicily, which Is what I will be doing next.