Crazy Carthaginian Beach Party

[Deathkorpsman]

Seems like the Carthaginians are fed up with this whole total war thing and just want to hang out on the beach in Palma. I noticed 2 stacks of troops on this little Balearic island, but didn't think much of it at the time. Now I've come back probably 50 turns later and see several (I count six) full or nearly full stacks of Carthaginian troops just standing around. These stacks all have about the same composition: mostly Liby-Phoenician Hoplites and Scorpions, with some Ballistas, Slingers, and Tribesmen sprinkled throughout.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

This is a good thing for me, since I'd probably be fighting them if they weren't just hanging out there, but I think it might be taking some of the challenge out of the game. Or at least the realism (yeah I said it! ). It is also probably taking pressure off of the Celtiberi, who are currently at war with both Carthage and my faction. So I guess it is adding and taking away from the challenge at the same time.

There any way to tweak this so Carthage isn't hampering itself? Also, I have seen several armies of all Nuragic Goatskin Archers that Carthage just seems to love. I thought the whole "armies of all the same thing" problem had been mostly stamped out?

[Caligula Caesar]

I haven't seen that one before Maybe you destroyed their fleet and they just kept recruiting troops on Palma?

[Deathkorpsman]

I haven't seen that one before Maybe you destroyed their fleet and they just kept recruiting troops on Palma?

That doesn't seem likely. I haven't been at war with Carthage for many turns. Even when I was, my fleets weren't really pressing them. Carthage would attack me every once in a while because I had fleets parked in the choke point between Sicily and North Africa which would confuse the AI and make them break treaties. There's a Carthaginian ship in the screenshot actually and we are currently allies. The only other faction is a barb faction, so I can't really envision Carthage being out of ships.

[Hannibal Baca]

Palma is like alcatraz chandge region name .

[Mausolos of Caria]

Well, THIS will be a challenge to conquer the Balearics As for the Nuragic Goatskin Archers, did you meet them on Corsica or Sardinia or at least in that region? Then it might be no surprise, as it's the only unit Carthage can recruit on the Islands of the Tyrrhenis Sea for a long while.

[Deathkorpsman]

Well, THIS will be a challenge to conquer the Balearics As for the Nuragic Goatskin Archers, did you meet them on Corsica or Sardinia or at least in that region? Then it might be no surprise, as it's the only unit Carthage can recruit on the Islands of the Tyrrhenis Sea for a long while.

Yeah that island is probably going to be one of the last to go. lol The Nuragic Goatskin armies I was seeing in Sicily, which is the only place I really had any substantive battles with Carthage. Those were the only units they'd send over as a full army in one fleet. Everything else came over in small groups and then form up on Sicily. So most of their armies would be pretty balanced and then along would come those stupid archer hordes. Really easy to beat, but auto-resolving generates wayyy too many casualties against such a weak unit that I'm forced to play out the battle against them. Those generally amount to chasing after the archers the whole fight which gets old quickly.

[Caligula Caesar]

I guess the AI just does strange things sometimes. Including having an obsession with small islands I've noticed the AI loves to invade islands with a single province on them, but is far less likely to attack one like Sicily or Sardinia, where there is more than one province. I guess this is just the reverse of that behaviour, where the AI is defending the island

[Deathkorpsman]

I agree about the computer and islands. It seems to have a preference for them.

Carthage also wants, desperately, to land troops on Sicily in my game. Despite the fact that we are allies and there are no settlements other than mine that Carthage could get to in that direction. When I first took the island I was letting them through because I didn't want to attack their ships. Their armies would spend a while wandering around and then get frustrated enough to break all our treaties and attack. Since then I've blocked off the choke point with ships and they don't try to force their way past so all has been well.

[AngryTitusPullo]

In the descr_sms_faction is the naval invasion option turn on for Carthage ? Not sure if save game compatible but if not maybe try to change to yes if by default no.

Or maybe Carthage don't have any enemy at that time ?

[Deathkorpsman]

If I am looking at the right file, it appears to be set to yes. Carthage definitely has an enemy right next door to this settlement, the Celtiberi. There are Carthaginian ships regularly in the area, so they have plenty of transport to get things ashore. I'm not sure what else would cause this.

[Maurits]

I've noticed this before. The Romans sometimes spam stacks on the island in front of the Illyrian coast (is it called Pharos?). Isn't there something which can be done about that?

[Mausolos of Caria]

I've noticed this before. The Romans sometimes spam stacks on the island in front of the Illyrian coast (is it called Pharos?). Isn't there something which can be done about that?

In my games as Epiros and Aitolia the Achaians did similar beach parties on Kerkyra Just another example.

[Deathkorpsman]

I've noticed this before. The Romans sometimes spam stacks on the island in front of the Illyrian coast (is it called Pharos?). Isn't there something which can be done about that?

Are you sure it was Pharos? In the version I'm playing that settlement is attached to the mainland with a land bridge. Are you saying that they would build up stacks on the island and then not cross the land bridge? That would be really weird.

[Caligula Caesar]

They used to do that, yes. Although, it might habe been before we added the land bridge. We'll see how it goes from now, though - now Pharos is a miniregion and the rest of Dalmatia separate.

[Deathkorpsman]

Speaking of Dalmatia, is it possible to add roads to that region? I know that historically there were roads through there, once the Romans got their hands on it if not before. It is really weird to have a whole huge stretch of land that is basically mountainous wilderness no matter how civilized the actual settlements get. Is that an option as part of making Pharos a mini-region? Please say yes, because that would be super.

[Caligula Caesar]

Yeah, that really bugged me. It was because, for some strange reason, Pharos was chosen as the capital of Dalmatia. Pharos, being an island, could not have a road connection to other settlements. I say it was strange because Pharos was a Greek city and didn't share much in common with the Dalmatians. Now, the capital of Dalmatia is Dalminion, which is on the mainland, and the roads work again

[kepper]

Hope the fans like new layout of the regions

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Deathkorpsman]

Oh you guys are the best. That area really needed some more settlements and since it fixes the road problem too I am really excited. Are there going to be any mini-regions north of the Alps? It isn't really game changing, but it seems odd that all the settlements up that way are major ones. Also the naval choke points are a bit too narrow. Is there some way to make them wider? Having the choke points is a great idea, as there were historically major naval routes through the region, but the movement mechanics of ships make it very cumbersome when they are only two fleets wide.

[kepper]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Caligula Caesar]

There have been a lot of changes to the regions map. For instance, there are several extra regions north of the Alps, giving space for the Suebii and the Norici. In general, the distribution of settlements is a lot more equal now. Oh yeah, and we've added a few settlements in to Asia Minor, along with Seleucid and Ptolemaic minifactions holding their parts, so Pergamon will probably have one of the most difficult starting positions around.