Few Questions about RS2

[chinkecheese]

I've gotten to the point where I am able to consistently live past Hannibal's attacks, while also repelling the rebel forces. My strategy is to rush the marian reform, is this good or bad to do?

Also, I've gotten late praetorian cohorts, while only occupying italy.. I can't seem to build any spearmen. I can build like, 5 different other units, but they all seem bad in comparison. Can anyone explain to me, the role of these other units?

[Danius]

Wait what?
You're not really supposed to trigger the marian reforms before atleast having 40 settlements.
When you trigger the reforms you lose the ability to train old units like Triarii or Hastati.

[ExtremeBG]

He can trigger the reforms with as much settlements as he wishes .I played with Rome one campaign and stayed in Italy with the islands and waited for the reforms to trigger.Then its much more fun for me to conquer with the numbered legions and also the enemies aren't as weak as in early campaign.Its up to you to decide the way you want to play your campaign ,games are about having fun and if some people are telling you the way its "supposed to be played" ,then its just not worth it....

[ur-Lord Tedric]

He can trigger the reforms with as much settlements as he wishes ...........

Whilst true - and all the 'progression' states are controllable by the player - it is not wise to rush to to the Reforms before you are ready - and especially not just to continue to upgrade Roma and nowhere else (I'm also suggesting that Praetorian's should be made some 3x more expensive than they currently are too. - because they were...). If, however, you are playing 0turn, then you certainly can exist with just Roma to recruit from - but that's why 0turn is just easier and takes less thought...

Having tested and tried it now a couple of times carefully, it is possible to grow Akragas organically and achieve Ph1 of the Reforms in 580AUC; by which time several other settlements in Italy and the Islands can have built the 3rd Oppidum level of barracks and allow recruitment of the post-Reform legions.

Rome conquered just about all their Empire with those legions and their descendants - and the commonly held view is that they did this without 'Spearmen'.

In my Late Republic armies I don't use any, just Legionaries and Salues Swordsmen - and have no problem at all. Early Republic and Imperial I do use 2 x Triarii or 2 x Late Auxila Spearmen, but mostly for flavour.

[Du Silence]

I've gotten to the point where I am able to consistently live past Hannibal's attacks, while also repelling the rebel forces. My strategy is to rush the marian reform, is this good or bad to do?

Also, I've gotten late praetorian cohorts, while only occupying italy.. I can't seem to build any spearmen. I can build like, 5 different other units, but they all seem bad in comparison. Can anyone explain to me, the role of these other units?

As Rome, you'll be facing a natural lack of Spearmen.
I believe they do have a few cohorts available with spears, somewhere around the world, but those are only available through the Curia Hostilia buillding.

Anyway, as for other units, they serve their own purpose really.
Horsemen, goes without saying.
So does Archers and skirmishers.
The numbered legions are probably those which are noteworthy, as they have AOR and will only become available in certain settlements. These are of course of different stats, in general there are 4 different types of legions (not counting the unnumbered ones), where your praetorians are of course the strongest, but also the most expensive.
The 2nd strongest are the Scalemail armored legions, which have slightly higher stats, but are slightly more expensive.
The 3rd strongest are your original numbered legions, the ones first raised in history. They are slightly less effective than the later scalemail legions, but still pack a punch.
And finally, the 4th strongest, I think they are Auxillia, they are also the ones which have a few spearmen I believe.

However, to get spearmen, it's not a bad idea to hire local mercenaries, they'll fill quite the few gaps in your army.

Turtling has its pros and cons... your economy will be stable enough to expand rapidly, you'll be able to take settlements with far better infrastructure and trade buildings already in place, but you'll also have to face larger stacks of enemies, along with the pressure to keep the people in a newly taken settlement in check, just because there are more of them, and that the cultural influence of the former owners will be stronger.

[Drowsy]

Imo u can do it any way u like, but if u trigger it at a somewhat historical time (625-650) with a good amount of settlements you get to enjoy a lot more content, also the late republican army roster kicks ass.

Lastly, trying to push out legions when your making less then a 100k a turn is just torture

[chinkecheese]

I had no idea guys, so glad I asked these questions. Thanks alot everyone! I guess I'll make a new campaign as I have over 9 full stacks of dacia coming from me. I just played a battle with 3 full stacks of dacia in a bridge battle. I won heroically, but the game crashed. haha.

Finally, a few last questions. I keep Rome, alone, as my main barracks. Is there a better way to do this? I feel like it's a bit superfluous to have more than 1 barracks if it only takes 1 turn to recruit.
Do you guys play on Huge/Large/ etc?
Would you recommend to have Client states? Or just Roman states?

[ur-Lord Tedric]

............ a bit superfluous to have more than 1 barracks if it only takes 1 turn to recruit.
Do you guys play on Huge/Large/ etc?
Would you recommend to have Client states? Or just Roman states?

Yes, as noted, you can survive with just Roma (but indeed watch the population, which can be a problem), but only on 0turn - which I like so much less for many reasons. In my latest test I had all of: Aleria; Arretium; Ariminium; Tarentum; Messana; & Lilybaeum; as well as Genoa; Surakousai; and Massalia - developed to produce troops.

Large unit size for me - they look just right - and battles last the right length of time (I always leave the timer enabled to also give greater challenge).

Client states can be useful, especially early on and/or if unrest is a problem and especially if you happen to have them at an even greater distance (like overseas). Early on the Allied 'Legions' are almost as good and a lot cheaper.

[Du Silence]

I prefer to keep Rome as my central powersource, til I "leave" itally.
Once you get to e.g. Massalia, it's a pretty good idea to use this well-developed greek city as a new army-builder/replenisher, 'cause at that point, it'll take your armies atleast 2 turns to get back to Rome, where they'll spend another 2-3 turns getting replenished... You'll quite quickly have a few stacks standing in line, waiting to get their numbers back up.
Adding another one to Syracuse is also a fine idea, it'll make sure you can launch a powerfull invasion from the sea-side on Carthage, without having to waste too much time on the sea.

I'd personally put them in priority as stated above, since you'll be having a fairly calm fight against Carthage once you've lost Emporia. (Might wanna trade it to Galleci for an Alliance, since they'll eb your first shield against Carthage)
Now, once you've taken Massalia, you'll want to turtle and build up, due to the oncoming Cimbri invasion. You'll need to be able to put quite the bit of manpower to repelling them, if they do attack you (they don't always do, but if they do, they'll be ramming you pretty hard). Once you're done with that I'd suggest getting yourself a ceasefire with the Cimbri, and an Alliance with the Belgae, then start attacking the Avernii (they're quite easy), while (if your economy can handle it) assulting carthagian lands in N. Africa.

Once you have those 3 powerhouses, you can use Massalia for your wars in Iberia, or France, where as Syracuse can be the stronghold in charge of the destruction of Carthage... Rome can support either, or have legions run back and forth between your northern or eastern front. (Patavium or some such)

In short, I find it imperative to have a city within 1 turn that can replenish my armies.
You'll also want to add Large Foundry and Awesome/Pantheon of Vulcan to your Army supporting cities.

I always stick with pure Romans, not those client state sidekicks Of course, the starter legions will need some replenishing, but I mostly use them for Garrison and Free People hunting.
Also, in the long run, the economical side of the game clearly suggests that Citizenship trumphs clients.

Army size, I always play huge, I find it more enjoyable. However, be mindful if you have some hard fighting going on, while only still having Rome as recruitment center... it can run dry of pops <.<

[chinkecheese]

Thanks guys for the help so far!

Okay, I seem to always hit some sort of wall in my campaign.
As the campaign goes on my original settlements start to generate unrest due to population, and squalor. I've built all all wells available (say, the town is at 14000), etc. What else can I do to help my towns when squalor and over population is an issue?

Any reason why i can't produce troops in Tarentum? I thought I've built everything, I even have the provincial barracks.

[ur-Lord Tedric]

.......... What else can I do to help my towns when squalor and over population is an issue?

Certainly in Italy then keeping your citizens happy is now never a problem - temples, law structures, sanitation, farms - all help. Simply look at the effects on the buildings and build some. You are upgrading the Governor buildings?

Any reason why i can't produce troops in Tarentum? I thought I've built everything, I even have the provincial barracks.

Nope, no reason - you just must not have built the right buildings. Either a Client State with 2 levels of barracks - or go the whole way and get Citizenship and the 3rd Level Oppidum etc. All details for barracks are in the Official Release Thread - under the stickies above.