Bribery

**Surlethe** · July 17, 2006, 11:00 PM

So, as I posted in the screenshots thread, I've been playing the Brutii. I've completely subsumed the Aegean, so, for about a century, I've been building up my treasury; at my peak, I had a good 2 million denarii. I'm now invading West Africa overland, and I'm up against probably six or seven full-stack Scipii armies. Just how quickly should I leap to bribe some of them to me, given that I have the money? How much do you rely on bribery in your games?

**Valinther** · July 18, 2006, 08:10 AM

I am pretty new to going too far into campaigns, and I really only use bribery if it's a huge threat. I personally think it's a cheap (Meaning the bad "cheap") way to either get troops/make them disband so you don't have to fight them. But I know some people disagree with that, since it costs quite a bit of money..

**Trajan** · July 18, 2006, 06:13 PM

Moved to Rome Total War: General discussion.

When I was new to RTW, I used to bribe small armies because I just felt it was a nuisance to fight them. Overall, I never bribe, no matter how bad the situation is. I prefer to fight it out on the battlefield and if I lose, I lose.

**spirit_of_rob** · July 18, 2006, 07:31 PM

i never bribe these days to be honest for brigands i usualy have an army wandering around the empire to engage and destroy them enemies meet them in battle if i dont think i can win an attack i sit next to them and wait for them to attack me im much better defedning lol

**.Socrates** · July 18, 2006, 08:18 PM

I've tried bribing before, but it knockes the hell out of my economy so I stopped doing it. I'm better at fighting my way out of the situation rather than paying lots o' cash.

**Aule the Smith** · July 18, 2006, 08:17 PM

In my first few campaigns I bribed almost exclusively, I concentrated on making huge amounts of money then sent armies of diplomats to subdue nations. It worked pretty well, I always had enough family members and could always hire mercanaries for emergency defense. It did get boring though so now I use bribery more selectively (also, actually building armies for once leaves me with less cash to spare). One thing I did notice is that it is very difficult to bribe the other Roman factions during civil war.

**Zuwxiv** · July 18, 2006, 08:39 PM

Bribery and mercenaries follow the same principle: Inflated prices for instant paybacks.

I was once backstabbed by an ally, and I thought the entire western half of my empire was gone (Seleucids early on, Pontus backstabbed me) but luckily I had saved up some money. In one city, my only family member anywhere near was able to recruit an entire army of mercenaries - Hoplites, slingers, etc. It was an amazing battle against the enemy, I was outnumbered and on VHVH but managed to save my empire and two wonders.

As for bribery, it tends to be too expensive. I tried to bribe Sparta after the Greeks somehow fell into rebels - I really don't know what happened to them, they had a decent army and plenty of family members. But I took central Greece and tried to bribe it - not until I had 70 thousand Denarii could I bribe them. It would have been much easier to spend the money on troops to conquer it.

For smaller rebels, it's fine. Sometimes it's easier to just jump out of a city, smash them, run back in and retrain - you can get some valuable experience then. But especially as my nation progresses, it can be nice to have the option. In general, though, I only bribe as a tactical necessity - when I don't have other options, when time is more important than anything else. In situations where I wasn't expecting a war, or where I am sure to be outnumbered or outfought, I will try to bribe. But most of my diplomats are busy maintaining alliances, trade agreements, etc. I rely on my military and economic prowess to save me, and use bribery only where necessary and expedient.

Because of that, I rarely have a diplomat where I would employ bribery, and have learned to do without.

**Severous** · July 18, 2006, 11:47 PM

I dont often have enough money for bribes.

I believe the patch/version you are on affects the cost of bribes. Unpatched V1.0 apparently meant very cheap bribes...you could bribe enemies to your side for less than it cost to recruit them. In patch V1.5 its not cheap.

**Yossarian** · July 19, 2006, 01:39 AM

It's more fun to battle it out most of the time, so I only bribe in dire emergencies and when I don't feel like dealing with one of those small armies of rebels that randomly pop up for no reason.

**Kaidonni** · July 19, 2006, 03:59 AM

I am fine with bribing a few Diplomats, but nothing else really. In TE 5.1 I've used bribery on uber rebel armies that control provinces...but for the sides that I've done it with, it is like a single Get Out Of Jail Free card...and takes too much money. And is hardly worth it. I'd rather spend money on mercenaries (gotta love Cretan Archers and Rhodian Slingers).