How do you organise your army?

[Leeham991]

I'm a very Roman player so I mainly want to hear about Romans, but would be interesting to hear how you non-Roman players organise too :3

I will say how I organise mine later on once I've seen some responses ;3

I have legions, not really any method to how many I have, just where they go to fight.
General
1st cohort
9 cohorts
2 Roman skirmishers
2 Cavalry
3 reservist cohorts, or hoplites or celts, really depending on where the legion is fighting, or;
Spearmen, or;
Archers
(or a mix of the 3)

2 slots are for special task troops:
Defense legions, which I generally put near fortified chokepoints which I create to protect myself from aggressive factions, will have 2 units of scorpions, or one scorpion and one heavy ballistae
Assault legions, which I generally use to go into enemy territory and clear areas out to cover a siege, will have scorpions and repeating ballistae
Raiding legions, which I generally use just to punish factions I don't like, or to pull their forces away from somewhere I plan to attack, will have missile cavalry, and,
Peacekeeper legions, which will generally contain some local skirmishers or archers for defending a troubled settlement from possible attack while the legion sits in there to keep it under control

I have 3 other sorts of armies too.
Support legions:
Made up of romanised troops and generally carrying a couple of cohorts to be folded in to damaged cohorts of the legion it is following, as well as spare artillery and other troops suitable for converting the legion to Defense, Raiding or Assault legions, but also carrying heavy infantry for its own defense.

Allied peacekeeping groups:
Small armies made up of local tribes used for fighting other local tribes. I have two in Italy, one of Luciani and one of Samnite, backed up with Brutii spearmen and cretan archers, and both lead by a Roman general. For roleplay value I send each against spawning rebels made up of the opposite group. So if a bunch of Luciani show up I will send in the Samnites. I find some glee in watching tribes fighting against each other in Rome funded warfare with no Roman citizens having to die for it >.>
I think I get a feel what is was like for a real Roman commander sitting with a glass of wine watching two groups of barbarians killing each other so that good Romans don't have to dirty their hands with it xD

Client state free armies:
These are big forces made up with pure troops set to defend and expand around a client city. I have at the moment 2 of these, have had 6 in my current campaign; they are generally used to keep the people under control in their own area, but occasionally one raised to greatness. For example the Athenian army. When I took over Athens and installed Roman government I granted them client status and got to world building up the Athenian army. Athens was very calm, so I sent the athenian army for retraining in Rome, sent them back to Greece as one of the most elite forces in the world. If they had rebelled I wouldn't have been able to deal with them, and I didn't put a general or family member with the army for roleplay reasons, so it was a real possibility. I used the army to battle and eventually take control of the whole of Greece, kicking out the Spartans in a single glorious battle. They were eventually disbanded when Athens got Roman citizenship.
The Massalian army too was a good one, holding off about 20 attempted invasions from Gaul in the 60 years it was active :3

[The Bold Burgundian]

My usual stack consists of half chariots and the other half war elephants, make the chariots go in first and after they have put the enemy army in disarray follow up with the elephants, rinse and repeat.

[Aismov]

I have two general types of armies - "consular" armies (full stacks) and "pro-consular armies" (half-stacks).

Consular Army: 1 general (always FM), 3 velites, 10 hastati/principes, 3 triarii, 2 equites + last spot for a cool merc unit if I want

Pro-Consular Army: 1 general (always FM), 2 velites, 4 hastati/principes, 1 triarii, 1 equites + 2 units max of mercs

I have some strict house rules to make the game for fun. I can't have more legions than I have provinces. I conquer new territory with full consular stacks and use my proconsular stacks to defend conquered provinces and to deal with free peoples armies that pop up. No matter how bad the province is, I always defend with a half-stack. No ifs, ands, or buts. I allow myself to augment with a few mercs for fun (2 units max), but if things get dicey I force myself to bring in a consular army from wherever is closest.

So for example in my current campaign I have provincial control of Corsica/Sardinia, Sicilia, Cisalpine Gaul, Transalpine Gaul, and Hispania Cinterior (5 legions). Currently there is a full campaign going on in Spain (3 legions), raiding parties to Carthage (1 legion), and the perennial thorn in my side, Dyrrachium, which has switched hands about 15 times and forces me to devote an entire legion to silly Macedon until I have the resources to teach them a real lesson. I've managed diplomacy well so I don't have any active fights with the Avernii or Cimbri so Cisalpine Gaul is safe (just in case I fortify the cities that border than Alps and place units in the mountain passes to dissuade any ideas of invasion).

In the end it all depends on what is fun for you. Some players like to create fun armies and go on a map-wide rampage. Some like to take it slow try to recreate historical Roman expansion. To each his own, as long as you are having fun that is all that matters.

[Atticus-R]

My usual stack consists of half chariots and the other half war elephants, make the chariots go in first and after they have put the enemy army in disarray follow up with the elephants, rinse and repeat.

Hahahahaha gold! Crude but effective.

[ur-Lord Tedric]

Third post:

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...quot%3Bbe+like

[CatoTheYounger]

Im, with Asimov but i have a twist on it.

My consular Armies have 1 General, 5 Roman cohorts,5 allied cohorts, 2 Roman Triarii, 1 allied Triarii, 3 velites, 2 equites. Empty slot for second General or merc unit.

Or i make two consular armies one of all Roman and the second of all allied.

I might adopt the proconcol idea to defend border provinces. I always put Consols and Proconsols in the field and rotate based on promotions. However if i give a general Imperium far from home such as Spain he can stay as long as he is successfull. And of course i keep him loyal by returning him to cities to complete and restart his imperium. With the Romans i respect the cursus Honorum and go by it as much as i can. Thank god Varo doesn't usualy make Consol becaue i have always found him distastefull. Marcellus is not my style either but he is was a good leader so i try to make him active. Quintus Fabius has always been my hero and Scipio Africanus is my other favorite.

[High Fist]

Mine would be much the same as Tedrics, though recently I've just been using whatever I can get my hands on.

[Leeham991]

You guys seem to have it more intricately organised than me xD

I have legions, not really any method to how many I have, just where they go to fight.
General
1st cohort
9 cohorts
2 Roman skirmishers
2 Cavalry
3 reservist cohorts, or hoplites or celts, really depending on where the legion is fighting, or;
Spearmen, or;
Archers
(or a mix of the 3)

2 slots are for special task troops:
Defense legions, which I generally put near fortified chokepoints which I create to protect myself from aggressive factions, will have 2 units of scorpions, or one scorpion and one heavy ballistae
Assault legions, which I generally use to go into enemy territory and clear areas out to cover a siege, will have scorpions and repeating ballistae
Raiding legions, which I generally use just to punish factions I don't like, or to pull their forces away from somewhere I plan to attack, will have missile cavalry, and,
Peacekeeper legions, which will generally contain some local skirmishers or archers for defending a troubled settlement from possible attack while the legion sits in there to keep it under control

I have 3 other sorts of armies too.
Support legions:
Made up of romanised troops and generally carrying a couple of cohorts to be folded in to damaged cohorts of the legion it is following, as well as spare artillery and other troops suitable for converting the legion to Defense, Raiding or Assault legions, but also carrying heavy infantry for its own defense.

Allied peacekeeping groups:
Small armies made up of local tribes used for fighting other local tribes. I have two in Italy, one of Luciani and one of Samnite, backed up with Brutii spearmen and cretan archers, and both lead by a Roman general. For roleplay value I send each against spawning rebels made up of the opposite group. So if a bunch of Luciani show up I will send in the Samnites. I find some glee in watching tribes fighting against each other in Rome funded warfare with no Roman citizens having to die for it >.>
I think I get a feel what is was like for a real Roman commander sitting with a glass of wine watching two groups of barbarians killing each other so that good Romans don't have to dirty their hands with it xD

Client state free armies:
These are big forces made up with pure troops set to defend and expand around a client city. I have at the moment 2 of these, have had 6 in my current campaign; they are generally used to keep the people under control in their own area, but occasionally one raised to greatness. For example the Athenian army. When I took over Athens and installed Roman government I granted them client status and got to world building up the Athenian army. Athens was very calm, so I sent the athenian army for retraining in Rome, sent them back to Greece as one of the most elite forces in the world. If they had rebelled I wouldn't have been able to deal with them, and I didn't put a general or family member with the army for roleplay reasons, so it was a real possibility. I used the army to battle and eventually take control of the whole of Greece, kicking out the Spartans in a single glorious battle. They were eventually disbanded when Athens got Roman citizenship.
The Massalian army too was a good one, holding off about 20 attempted invasions from Gaul in the 60 years it was active :3


EDIT: Oh and as for police forces I generally use a single unit of Roman skirmishers, though troubled cities will have a compliment of their own local troops, and particularly troubled cities will have some heavy infantry and cavalry pulled in from the surrounding area. The most troubled though sometimes need a whole legion to sit in there for a while.

[Aismov]

Allied peacekeeping groups:
Small armies made up of local tribes used for fighting other local tribes. I have two in Italy, one of Luciani and one of Samnite, backed up with Brutii spearmen and cretan archers, and both lead by a Roman general. For roleplay value I send each against spawning rebels made up of the opposite group. So if a bunch of Luciani show up I will send in the Samnites. I find some glee in watching tribes fighting against each other in Rome funded warfare with no Roman citizens having to die for it >.>
I think I get a feel what is was like for a real Roman commander sitting with a glass of wine watching two groups of barbarians killing each other so that good Romans don't have to dirty their hands with it xD

Client state free armies:
These are big forces made up with pure troops set to defend and expand around a client city. I have at the moment 2 of these, have had 6 in my current campaign; they are generally used to keep the people under control in their own area, but occasionally one raised to greatness. For example the Athenian army. When I took over Athens and installed Roman government I granted them client status and got to world building up the Athenian army. Athens was very calm, so I sent the athenian army for retraining in Rome, sent them back to Greece as one of the most elite forces in the world. If they had rebelled I wouldn't have been able to deal with them, and I didn't put a general or family member with the army for roleplay reasons, so it was a real possibility. I used the army to battle and eventually take control of the whole of Greece, kicking out the Spartans in a single glorious battle. They were eventually disbanded when Athens got Roman citizenship.
The Massalian army too was a good one, holding off about 20 attempted invasions from Gaul in the 60 years it was active :3

Both of these sound like a ton of fun. I think I'm going to have to incorporate it into my current campaign. I've always wanted to tool around with those massilian and celtohelenic hoplites.

How many units are these stacks BTW?

[Leeham991]

@Aismov

For the peacekeeper groups generally 6-8 units, depending on how strong the rebels in the area are. The client state armies though are full fighting forces filling up all slots, some are even bigger than one stack. The Athenian Army actually was 30 units, which gave it a little added flexibility. In the final battle in Greece where Sparta's army was destroyed in the field the flexibility allowed a unit of Roman stone throwing ballistae to go with the chosen force without leaving any units out vulnerable on their own.

[TTRouble]

Can't say anything about a roman legion based army but my Seleucid's would be 4 types for campaigning and one for defending cities:

1. Highly mobile - for fighting against the Parthians and any other similar faction.

8 x Horse archers - Usually Parthian/Persian horse archers
4 x Heavy Cavalary - 1 Companion cavalry unit and 1 cataphract. Later in game all heavy cavalary are cat's and Companions.
2 x Aspidophoroi
3-4 Foot archers - Syrian/Cretan or archers that are spear capable unit
2 Heavy Infantry


2. Standard army

3 x Heavy cav (1 x Cat, 1 X companion or 1 X Galatian Nobles) + Gen.
2 x Aspidophoroi
3 x Syrian/Cretan Foot Archers
2 x Slingers
1 x Hypaspistai
1 x Thorakitai Argyraspides
2 x Galatian Heavy Swordsmen/Thracian Flaxmen
5 x Thorakitai

3. Royal Army a variation of the same as the standard - specially for Faction leader and heir.

3 x Heavy cav (1 x Cat, 1 X companion or 1 X Galatian Nobles) + Gen.
2 x Aspidophoroi
3 x Syrian/Cretan Foot Archers
2 x Slingers
2 x Hypaspistai
3 x Thorakitai Argyraspides
2 x Galatian Heavy Swordsmen/Thracian Flaxmen.
2 x Thorakitai

A variation of the above replaces the slingers for Persian armoured horse archers.

4. Royal Highly Mobile:

8 x Horse archers - Usually Persian/Armoured horse archers
4 x Heavy Cavalary - 1 Companion cavalry unit and 3 cataphract.
2 x Aspidophoroi
3-4 Foot archers - Syrian/Cretan or archers that are spear capable unit
1 x Hypaspistai
1 x Thorakitai Argyraspides

Lastly - the last type is one that defends your settlements - ususally lots of peltasts, slingers, archers, some heavy infantry, 2 x Aspidophoroi/Tarantine cavalry.