Plumbata

[akkakk]

Will Plumbata be included as a second throwing weapon for legionaries?

After all, the Legionaries could only throw their Pila 20 foot, possibly 25, 30 foot at a push.


Whereas the plumbata could be thrown accurately and with devastating effect up to 80 feet away.


maybe have Pila modeled like Rome 1, as a standard weapon to use before a charge, and have Plumbata as a 'special ability'?

[daelin4]

Plumbata is not known to be used by the Romans until the later imperial period.

However a quick glance at wikipedia suggests the Greeks used it as far as 500BC, so I suppose the Greeks could have a unit for them instead to flush out their unit roster.

[akkakk]

Plumbata is not known to be used by the Romans until the later imperial period.

However a quick glance at wikipedia suggests the Greeks used it as far as 500BC, so I suppose the Greeks could have a unit for them instead to flush out their unit roster.

well we do have a tech tree, and CA have said that various equipment pieces could be used at times they weren't actually used.

hopefully we'll be able to use Plumbata in the Imperial legions and, maybe, republicans as well.

[Xerrop]

Wasn't the Plumbata a weapon of the Migration Period in Late Antiquity?
Would better fit to a Fall of Rome-expansion.

[akkakk]

Wasn't the Plumbata a weapon of the Migration Period in Late Antiquity?
Would better fit to a Fall of Rome-expansion.

used since at least 500BC, so it could very well have been used by the Romans.
a tech tree option, if anything.

There were also reports of the Plumbata being used by the Imperial legions since the mid 2nd century AD up till and past the Constantine reforms.

[Jungle Rhino]

Are CA really going to go into a lot of detail regarding the different flavours of pointy sticks that soldiers threw at each other? I'm not saying it wouldn't be awesome I just wouldn't get your hopes up

[akkakk]

Are CA really going to go into a lot of detail regarding the different flavours of pointy sticks that soldiers threw at each other? I'm not saying it wouldn't be awesome I just wouldn't get your hopes up

well in that 'weapons of the legion' thing they displayed with stated the weapons used by the Legionaries had them on, so they might be including them.

it was also the main reason i made this thread.....

to see if any more info on the equipment they are including has been released.

[Lord Baal]

Maybe the tech tree will require you to develop pilum before the plumbata as a roman, and for the greeks the plumbata would be available earlier and will be called in a different way.

[akkakk]

Maybe the tech tree will require you to develop pilum before the plumbata as a roman, and for the Greeks the plumbata would be available earlier and will be called in a different way.

but would the pilum have already been in extensive use by the beginning of the game (assuming the game is going to begin sometime during the Punic Wars)? and even before, by 270 the Pilum was being used.....


maybe a possible prerequisite tech could be some sort of training of ballistics/mathematics tech?

[Lord Baal]

That too.. but remember how in Total War games we had to spend years of intense academic research, with great minds like Isaac Newton buried in universities turn after turn, playing to be God, pushing the barriers of reality, physics and science to come up with ground breaking, technological marvels as "hey, what if the dudes in the first row kneel so the guys in the second row can shoot?"...?

[Sir. Cunningham]

That too.. but remember how in Total War games we had to spend years of intense academic research, with great minds like Isaac Newton buried in universities turn after turn, playing to be God, pushing the barriers of reality, physics and science to come up with ground breaking, technological marvels as "hey, what if the dudes in the first row kneel so the guys in the second row can shoot?"...?

Hahaha

[akkakk]

That too.. but remember how in Total War games we had to spend years of intense academic research, with great minds like Isaac Newton buried in universities turn after turn, playing to be God, pushing the barriers of reality, physics and science to come up with ground breaking, technological marvels as "hey, what if the dudes in the first row kneel so the guys in the second row can shoot?"...?

which is why i dont like the tech tree.......

i much prefer a return to the old city/building level based 'tech' progression with a tech tree to implement ahistorical equipment/troops or introduce historical equipment/troop types early.

[Lord Baal]

From my comment you could see I don't like them either. I would like something even more organic than the building system (which honestly was fine as it was). I would like to see a natural enhancement of your tech given the things you do. For example, do enough sieges, victorious or not, and you'll get at some point a new siege machinery. Recruit enough archers and at some point you will get some bonuses for them, build enough blacksmiths and train lots of heavy troops, you'll end up with armor and weapons improvements and so on.... of course, if you build academic buildings then you will speed up the process. And some techs would depend on some events too. Like for example, let's say the romans get the gladious only after fighting a faction that have them, like the Iberians for example (NO, I don't care for a fight if it was Gaul, Germanic, Iberian, Martian, no I don't care for that here), and so on...

[Davidicus II]

From my comment you could see I don't like them either. I would like something even more organic than the building system (which honestly was fine as it was). I would like to see a natural enhancement of your tech given the things you do. For example, do enough sieges, victorious or not, and you'll get at some point a new siege machinery. Recruit enough archers and at some point you will get some bonuses for them, build enough blacksmiths and train lots of heavy troops, you'll end up with armor and weapons improvements and so on.... of course, if you build academic buildings then you will speed up the process. And some techs would depend on some events too. Like for example, let's say the romans get the gladious only after fighting a faction that have them, like the Iberians for example (NO, I don't care for a fight if it was Gaul, Germanic, Iberian, Martian, no I don't care for that here), and so on...

With that system, technology would progress based on players' playstyles and a bit of random events (which I like). However, wouldn't a tech tree accomplish the same thing (player choice in advancement)? You'd have to set thresholds for "enough sieges" and "enough blacksmiths", just as technologies in a tree take a certain amount of time to research (sped up by academic buildings). I guess your system saves players some extra clicks and may recycle a UI screen, but it would also be binding to their playstyle. If all they can really build in the beginning is infantry, but they wanted to focus on cavalry, how could they advance without being able to train lots of cavalry? With a tech tree devoted to cavalry research, their infantry might be a bit underpowered, but they'd set up strong horsemen in the future.

[IGdood]

And just to appeal to the masses, make the tech unlocking method optional, whether by doing X Y amount of times, research tree, building tree, etc.

[Asgaroth]

Maybe the tech tree will require you to develop pilum before the plumbata as a roman, and for the greeks the plumbata would be available earlier and will be called in a different way.

Best solution.

[mcantu]

didnt RTW-BI have plumbata?

[akkakk]

didnt RTW-BI have plumbata?

yea, and they were very effective.

Overpowered if anything. a single unit of Plumbata using comitatenses could easily decimate a charge enemy unit before contact.

they also seemed to carry a small armies worth of Plumbata.