Most Difficult War I EVER Fought!
Playing Rome on m/m and its the year 601 AUC when I've finally managed to destroy the Gallaeci. I've heard Iberia probably isn't the best place to start your first conquest but after taking Genoa and defeating Hannibal's army, the rag-tad General scumbered all the way back to Spain with what was left of his army and not wanting him to escape I sent over legion after legion to finish him off. Having eventually slaughtered the man and with all the soldiers I now had in Spain and while holding Emporiea , Sagunton and Carthago Nova I thought it was time for conquest andI went on to to start the hardest war I ever fought in any TW game against the Gallaeci.
For every full stack I defeated at least 3 would take it's place. I remember after one of my offensive legions was annihilated trying to make headway into central Spain the Gallaeci make a counter attack with 3 full stacks besieging both Carthago Nova and Sagunton while another 7000 soldiers besieged Emporiae. I was down to roughly 3 pretty battered legions but luckily I had two young promising generals on 4 star command, Publius Cornelius Scipio who's father was killed fighting Hannibal and Publius C. Merula. After the Gallaeci eventually brought their towers to my walls they threw wave after wave of Roman-Hating barbarians up those towers and ladders only to be cut down while my archers and skirmishers rained hell down on those yet to ascend. It was a massacre. At both C. Nova and Sagunton combined maybe 24,000 Iberians were killed while I only lost a fraction of this, my own casualties numbered 2200 approx. At Emporiae it was the same dooming fate for the homeside. With what forces I had left however I only had enough to garrison what I had fought so hard to keep. Luckily I had sent word for reinforcements and soon enough two full fresh legions touched spanish soil. I went on to conquer Baikor and Varela and the young Scipio earned a name for himself as a 'Legendary Commander'. He also was named Senatus Princeps and Faction Leader taking the right of succession away from the Fabian family. But despite all the glory the conquering hero Scipio was not conquering quick enough and at 59 years of age my glorious general the Defender of The Republic died to none other than some unseen sickness that no herbalist or medical man could fight off. I had hoped he would have had at least another 10 years left in him.
With no other charismatic leader to inspire the eastern half of Iberia which was slowly beginning to identify itself more and more with Rome, the westeren Gallaici began to press hard yet again. Rome's treasury was emptied. Years of funding Scipio's conquest had dwindled those reserves while trying to build a navy to cut off Carthage's shipping lanes and also raise legions to garrison against the increasingly aggressive Averni tribes who despite a turbulent past with the Belgae now seemed to be co-operating with the growing threat of those Northern hordes who also thought it in their interest to invade Rome.
It was at this point in the campaign that I seriously did not know what to do. Should I spend what was left of my strained treasury to pump out armies of foreign auxilaries recruited from the newly Roman cities around Spain to finish off the Gallaeci once and for all? And then set up strongholds at Emporiae and Gadir to blockade any invasive excursions into Iberia while leaving the Northern borders of Italy vulnerable? Or.. Should I neglect over 55 years of war in Spain and turn my attentions back to Italy and sponsor a huge campaign into Gaul to rid our lands of the threat of the pillaging masses of the Gauls and the Belgae.
The growing influence of Scipio's young son convinced me that there was still a man to take the reins in Spain so I decided to go with my instincts and finish the Gallaeci. Having imported siege ballista from Rome itself for the blitzkrieg campaign young Scipio led an army of 10,000 across plains of Northern Spain and massacred the last resistance to Roman rule in all of the peninsula. Having devestated his own army in the process he is now the Governor of all Spain and is in the process of pacifying those under Clent State Rule that they should accept the Roman way of life. Lusitanian and Caetrati mercenaries are being recruited to maintain order in the extreme west of Spain while garrisons are being built and heavily defended at Emporiea to deter the Averni while more forces are being raised in the South to block off the pass at Gadir from the Carthaginians.
Despite these victories Rome is practically bust. The war has left the state with so many expenses it was hardly worth it. Over 8 full legions are stationed on my borders and are constantly under attack from the Averni, Belgae and Carthaginians. Italy has become almost stagnant from the lack of money invested in it's cities as everything is spent on the army and Romanising Iberia. I tried to attack the heart of Gaul and burnt it's foundries and barracks and murdered all it's citizens but they quickly took back their cities once I left and for some reason seem stronger than they ever were. As it stands I hold all of Spain and in Southern Gaul I hold Massilia and the city between that and Spain. I hold Taurasia and Medialonum and trade with the Boii in Patavium who seem to be loyal to our trade agreement and have never attacked despite sharing a border since the start of the campaign.
I must admit that nearly 60 years of fighting in Spain took a lot of effort and was by far the hardest war I've ever had to fight in any game. It is a real war of attrition and murder and extermination of cities is almost a must to gain a foothold. I have a spies in every corner of my empire as assassination is becoming rife amongst my generals and I really can't afford to lose them with the position I find myself in. Diplomacy is just no longer a weapon and neither Carthage nor the barbarians from the North seem willing to accept a ceasefire. Just want to let the RS2 team know that it's one of the greatest campaigns ever but would also like to know does anybody else have a faction they find really hard to defeat and also do you find the Gallaeci this difficult to conquer and afterwards how do you find the money to build upon what you destroyed?
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Originally Posted by ur-Lord Tedric
that whas a fun campaign to see them taking eachother out and carthage did not attacked me in that timeperiod 
