Newly started Carthage campaign thoughts

[Lieutenant Sharpe]

Thoughts after recently starting the Carthaginian campaign on very hard/normal:


It is quite difficult and DeI is one of the only times I have been severely punished by AI in a total war game, good job haha. However I do have some thoughts for discussion.


Carthage starts the game in quite a poor position. It is spread out and risks war with Egypt, rome, Syracuse, numerous Iberian factions, and possibly threats from Africa if not careful. This would not be too intimidating if Carthage started with some infrastructure. All they start out with are tier 1 ports and only enough money early game to build some temples and barracks even after extorting our African buddies. Not to mention within Iberia, Carthage can recruit no Carthaginian troops but instead relies solely on Iberian troops which at that stage have extremely bad morale. Single city Iberian nations are able to raise full stacks quite quickly and if they expand begin to raise multiple stack which pretty much steam roll everything. Carthage doesn't have the money early game to pay for both an army and an economy let alone hire any considerable mercenary force so perhaps the start could be changed.


Carthaginian generals as elephant units... I like having Carthage start with some elephants however having the starting generals in elephant units is dangerous if not suicidal. I would prefer that Carthage be given a few starting elephants but not generals with elephants.


Additionally, elephants should be given a bit more of a fear factor perhaps less reliability to balance them. Iberian tribesmen seeing a horde of elephants charging them for the first time would probably not stand firm for very long. (During one of my battles I hit some Iberian units the rear with elephants and waited a few minutes before they routed.)


I have found Numidian cavalry to be rather worthless. Historically were they able to fire backwards while riding? Without this ability they are completely wrecked by other cavalry units.


Perhaps less specific, but some things I have noticed. Siege battles are crazy (thanks CA). I don't know how much can be fixed but enemy siege AI is awful, which is good because walls on settlements offer very very little defense. In fact I almost never place troops on the walls because the enemy ladders will overrun the walls very quickly. (Perhaps garrison troops can be given stones or oil or something to throw down upon the enemy.) Also, as soon as the attacker reaches the ring on the ground around the gatehouse the arrow towers turn off which is rather annoying.


Another idea, my armies have been stumbling around through Iberia and often run into enemy armies that aren't even in ambush, but because I have moved to close its game over for my armies. With the ability to recruit only one spy scouting is very difficult. Perhaps there could be a scout agent of sorts recruited among the local population.


Otherwise this campaign is amazing and is proving to be a great challenge. Ideas, discussion, and tips on the campaign are welcome! Great job DeI team.

[EpicFrench]

Hey !

I did start one too, but on Hard this time, so it would be a bit different.

What I start to do is to make Hannibal go to Lilybaeum and then stack the army garrisoned here, Syracuse declare war on you really quickly so you would be able to crush them rather fastly, Rome will surely declare war on you too, the first skill you should have is Night battle.

After that, just try to develop your cities, Iberian never declared war on me, Ptolemaic Kindgom neither, but you can pay for NAP if you would like to secure your borders !

Btw sometimes campaign may differ so if you have no luck on that, I don't think there's something you can do apart being a strategos :p

Gl in your campaign may you crush Romans

[Phil2]

Another strategy could be at campaign start, to group all Carthaginians forces around Carthage and leave the rest to ennemies (or southern Spain).
Too poor forces at start to defend this broken territory.
Then, once danger is away and some more strenght in your bag, you can re-conquer what you lost.

[luck_ponte]

I actually threw in a little Carthaginian guide a while ago in the library secton (although I usually play in lower difficulty). However a couple of advice from what I experience: Carthage can get a smooth start with the Hannonids. Their diplomatic bonus means North Africa will be under control, the Egyptians won't be a thorne on your side (they may actually ally with you) and Roma/Syracuse will take longer to declare war on you. Plus, usually the Iberian tribes are too busy killing each other and I'm capable of taking them one by one and Syracuse and Rome get into other wars quite soon (Rome against the Gaul tribes in the North and both Rome and Syracuse against Epirus), so they don't attack right away. However, if you're going with the Barcids, you are asking for Total War (literally) =p Their campaign start is a real challenge, since everyone hates you right off the bat.

[Lieutenant Sharpe]

Thanks for the replies guys! I actually pulled out of lilybaem as Syracuse had about one and a half stacks. Plus I moved hannibal to Iberia for historical purposes haha. Unfortunately my transports move so slow he may not be able to save Iberia.

Im not sure well turtling in Africa would work. You would lose 4 settlements at least and create a super powerful Iberian nation too.

That is probably my problem I chose the Barcids. The Barcids and Junia add a whole new level of difficulty in any campaign.

[Augustusng]

I have found Numidian cavalry to be rather worthless. Historically were they able to fire backwards while riding? Without this ability they are completely wrecked by other cavalry units.

In vanilla, Numidian cavalry do have the Parthian Shot ability. I'm not sure why they don't in DeI.

[Lieutenant Sharpe]

My campaign continues and I am beginning to realize that very hard may be impossible. But first some weird glitches. During one of my siege battles my gates took almost no damage to torches which essentially stopped the Romans from entering. In addition to awful pathfinding where my units decided they would exit my city and climb the enemy siege ladders to get upon my walls, the 40 minute battle was a nightmare.

Now regarding the actual campaign. My income is finally strong, however I have lost all control over Sardinia, Corsica, and Sicily. My four African allies are doing almost nothing to aid me. They each have 2-3 stacks yet for the most part none are in a position to help me (I've even been using war targets, but to no avail). Why is this and can this be changed??? With the lack of allied support I am badly outnumbered, I have mustered 2 stacks in Iberia who will come down upon the Romans and about a stack and a half in Carthage plus a stack of allies. Unfortunately, the Carthaginian region has no access to slingers or archers so my ranged forces are very low. Is this supposed to happen? For those of you who say Rome is underpowered...the Romans on the other hand are fielding at least 5 and a half stacks. I do not know if they have more, but they have insane numbers, plus the Syracuseans have another two and are actually using them to help the Romans. Another thing I noticed, the Romans are still using Camillian troops about 40 turns in.

The campaign has a few problems, but otherwise is loads of fun. Only the future will tell if Carthage survives.

Also a few general things I've noticed in the campaign: Suebia always gets strong and reaches Romes Northern border very fast, far before they should historically, even reasonably. Secondly, in the great war between the Selecids and the Ptolemy's, the Ptolemy's always come out on top. The Selecids clients always break forcing them to fight double digit amount of factions + the strong Ptolemy's. Also, within Greece the Spartans usually dominate Epirus and eventually the Macedonians. Should the Spartans really be granted that much power?

[Noone likes Thebes:(]

May I suggest this submod? http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...re-mod-manager

I literally can't play without it because I LOVE what it does. Especially the recruitment system changes. It makes minor factions act more like minor factions and major like major players. It also simultaneously makes playing as a minor faction easier and harder because while it seriously slows down your recruitment, it slows down other minors' recruitment as well, and as they have TONS of money you don't have to worry about facing millions of stacks every second. It really makes battles feel more meaningful because only large empires can field another army if they lose one at short notice.