Playing as Rome is kinda crap

[dr_kalinium]

I am trying to play a normal difficulty campaign and can sustain so few troops that i cant even beat numdia (or whatever carthages north african vassel is called) in a war they can for whatever dumb reason support nearly as many men as me and i cannot take a city and have enough surviving to beat there next army because their cities have a truely ridiculos number of men. On top of this its nearly impossible to keep any city happy because of the cultural unhappiness which is inescapble because of the province system meaning i am sharing part of north africa with cathage.

[FlashHeart07]

Then you took the wrong approach to the campaign and need to re think your strategy. Perhaps you should instead focus on factions bordering italy instead. Sorry to say but this problem of yours is only caused by lack of focus or you needing to try and rethink your strategy try looking for guides or ask other players for tips instead of just posting that playing Rome is crap

[TheOrangeProject]

Which basically means you should alter your tactic and strategy. If you can't sustain troops, you should check the way your provinces are build and build up governors. Those will earn their money after around 15 turns or so. Which means, they are moving extra income which cultural influence side effects. Makes them basically the best and most usefull - imo - agents in the game.

You could also research other techs, since some giving cultural influence.

Divide et Impera is not Vanilla.

[spiderknight]

In my rome game it took me 50 turns at least before i hade taken over 3 territories. I find myself setting up client states cause i know i cant hold the towns on my own. The ability to only have 1-2 legions means that battles matter and i find myself playing more of them instead of auto resolving. I also find that im having alot of fun now because stuff actually matters. like when losing a legion can destroy your empire.

[Matmannen]

I am playing as Rome and it rocks. I am playing at VH/M, sure troops are increadible expansive, but at the same time they are beasts. My conquest I did like this:

Fight single small factions in Cisalpina. (If possible wage war agianst syrcuse, though I never had the chance. But I reoved my treaties with syracuse while they were at war with carthage which allowed my to trade with carthage seccuring my southern boarders)
After conquering cisalpina move to whatever small factions are available, but try and get some client states on your northern border to secure it. I moved east taking single regions in Illyria and Pannonia.

I recently conquered most of Illyria and all of Pannonia, and now that my eastern boarders are safe with good diplomatic relations and public stability I am moving west, and just started a war with Masilia, they own a large chunk of gaul so a big war is almost unavoidable. My goal though is just to create a corridor to Iberia, not to conquer gaul. So I will take the relevatn regions and weaken masilias position in gaul, though not destroy them.

It is worth mentioning that I am plaing as Cornelia making public order harder, but diplomacy with greek factons is a walk in the park...

[Daergar]

Rome, Julia, hard cai, 50 turns in.

So far, by going slow and steady, I've conquered up to the alps and down to Syracuse, plus Massilia (didn't plan to, but they got entangled with me). Recently started my campaign in Iberia, which turned out to include factions that had pushed into Gaul. The Volcae are my trusted client state, anchoring my current border northward.

Fielding five legions of mainly hastati with some principes, plus some spearmen, cav and cute puppies. Income of 10k with a treasury of 140k at the moment, with some torn down buildings and restructuring being done. Up to tier III city centres (big turning point for your income, if you have planned for the food and public order requirements).

It's all about planning and micro-managing your generals and governors. Having 15% tax increase from multiple sources sitting in your heartland, managing your trade, slaves and culture ratings helps. Keeping a steady eye on your empire and senate influence is crucial, as is hovering between 40-50% for the sweetspot. Client states are not the worst idea ever to keep unattractive regions under your control without increasing your empire's physical size.

It takes much more effort than previous DeI versions, and it's very rewarding. You feel like a powerhouse, and at the same time you see the negatives racking up as your empire grows. Love it.

[BooBooLovesAll]

Flanking is your friend. While your legionaries take on the enemy face first... flank or even rear attack with cavlary.

[jazebiker]

I am trying to play a normal difficulty campaign and can sustain so few troops that i cant even beat numdia (or whatever carthages north african vassel is called) in a war they can for whatever dumb reason support nearly as many men as me and i cannot take a city and have enough surviving to beat there next army because their cities have a truely ridiculos number of men. On top of this its nearly impossible to keep any city happy because of the cultural unhappiness which is inescapble because of the province system meaning i am sharing part of north africa with cathage.

You have to take it slow in 1.x and really think about which buildings you build, and build up before you try and expand too far. I've got about 35 settlements, have 6 stacks on the map and two half-full navies, and I'm still raking in about 6000 denarii per turn which is plenty to keep building and expanding at a slow pace. I've just about wiped out carthage. Rome takes more strategy than it used to, but it's still one of the easiest factions economy-wise. I didn't go after carthage straight-off. I made sure to take cisalpina, pannonia, and noricum and build up a wall of allies and client states around my northern/eastern frontiers before I went after them.

[wrcromartie]

Also playing as Rome, I did restart my first campaign after my typical R2 blitzkrieg attack style got me in some hot water...in DeI 1.0 as other posters have said you really need to plan out wars in advance.

Not only should you have a pretty good income before you voluntarily start a war, you should also have a nice war chest - 10,000+ in the treasury is a must. One of the great things about Rome is the ability to quickly raise a ton of troops, but they will definitely cost you so you need to have your plan in mind before raising those legions. This is actually much closer to what the world was like back then...kudos to the design team.

[Butan]

As others said, the beginnings are way tougher, so you need to really make some urgent calls and not go right and left.

What you could do in 10 turns in 0.96, you need to wait 30 in 1.0.
In the end you can manage to have the same overall success, but its way slower and more fragile.

[Matmannen]

At the moment I feel like I will enjoy these slowerpaced campaigns...

[Dresden]

We always wanted a slower, challenging campaign that forced the player to make strategic decisions. We also didn't want to rely on AI stack spam and large AI bonuses to create difficulty. I think we have achieved those goals to some extent.

The difficulty levels also matter now.

[jazebiker]

We always wanted a slower, challenging campaign that forced the player to make strategic decisions. We also didn't want to rely on AI stack spam and large AI bonuses to create difficulty. I think we have achieved those goals to some extent.

The difficulty levels also matter now.

Kudos, man! Mission accomplished on that level. Total War is an actual strategy game now thanks to DEI.

[Fedual]

We always wanted a slower, challenging campaign that forced the player to make strategic decisions. We also didn't want to rely on AI stack spam and large AI bonuses to create difficulty. I think we have achieved those goals to some extent.

The difficulty levels also matter now.

As much as i enjoy a great challenge i find that the upkeep of armies on Legendary difficulty is very very very challenging. I have however through many many hours of playing managed to take over half the world now and upgraded almost all of my buildings fully, but my upkeep only lets me field 4 or when the weathergods are with me 5 armies, if i recruit any more i will loose money. In the 0.96 version i could field much more armies when my empire grew. I basically control the west side of the map and are now facing Marc Anthony & after that a huge Parthian empire. Perhaps it could be warranted to make a little less penalising legendary difficulty when it comes to income? I like it challenging, and truest me it is insane how challenging this legendary difficulty has been, but when it is bordering on impossible i just felt that maybe some aspects (income/upkeep) could be taken a look at .

Playing DeI not on steam as Octavian in IA on Legendary Difficulty

[Ritterlichvon86]

As much as i enjoy a great challenge i find that the upkeep of armies on Legendary difficulty is very very very challenging. I have however through many many hours of playing managed to take over half the world now and upgraded almost all of my buildings fully, but my upkeep only lets me field 4 or when the weathergods are with me 5 armies, if i recruit any more i will loose money. In the 0.96 version i could field much more armies when my empire grew. I basically control the west side of the map and are now facing Marc Anthony & after that a huge Parthian empire. Perhaps it could be warranted to make a little less penalising legendary difficulty when it comes to income? I like it challenging, and truest me it is insane how challenging this legendary difficulty has been, but when it is bordering on impossible i just felt that maybe some aspects (income/upkeep) could be taken a look at .

Playing DeI not on steam as Octavian in IA on Legendary Difficulty

Remember that the jump from 0.96 to the DeI release 1.0 is not savegame compatible.

And remember that you're playing on Legendary difficulty. Noone said it should be possible or easy. Borderline impossible sounds about right. If you master it, you are truely legendary!

[HunterKYA]

Been trying to play as Rome since updating, and found that their economy is incredibly sluggish. Can barely recruit 3-4 units before it starts becoming detrimental to the economy, then I see all the factions around me (Insubres, Veneti, Syracuse etc.) building up their armies without being weighed down by holding just one region.

I do my best to focus on research that'll generate increased revenue, in addition to constructing buildings (temples, farms, shipwrights/ports etc.), but they don't appear to have a great effect. Also try keeping taxes normal, sometimes high, yet again, it doesn't feel like it does much. And other than Syracuse, it feels close to impossible to set up trade with anyone.

[Daergar]

Been trying to play as Rome since updating, and found that their economy is incredibly sluggish. Can barely recruit 3-4 units before it starts becoming detrimental to the economy, then I see all the factions around me (Insubres, Veneti, Syracuse etc.) building up their armies without being weighed down by holding just one region.

I do my best to focus on research that'll generate increased revenue, in addition to constructing buildings (temples, farms, shipwrights/ports etc.), but they don't appear to have a great effect. Also try keeping taxes normal, sometimes high, yet again, it doesn't feel like it does much. And other than Syracuse, it feels close to impossible to set up trade with anyone.

No offense meant, and happy new year!

You are doing it wrong then. I can recommend not taking the house which has diplomatic penalties with everyone, that's simply making it really tough on yourself before you have a chance to learn the game. Disband every regular unit you own, recruit another admiral as soon as you can and send the two ships west and east, make trade agreements.

Settle down your heartland, research governors as your first step, get those two out. Get them up to 15% tax rate increase. Try to level two generals by having them inside cities, get their civil bonuses up as well.

My first military step has always been to recruit a small stack of cheap units and take that delicious glassware to the north in order to boost your trade, then you can hunker down for a while. Manage your empire and your senate influence.

The rest is up to you. Syracuse held on to Sicily, so three or four years in advance break your treaties with them before taking it over. In my current campaign I am best buddies with Carthage, so no problem there. Eventually the plan is to draw them into a war by spanking one of their client states (always keep your diplomatic ranking at steadfast/trustworthy, otherwise you are gonna have a hard time).

[Aethyr]

Man this is great. Glad to see im not the only guy 100+ turns in without a whole lot of territory to show for it, but i've been taking it tooth and nail, will update this to show

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Turn 145

[spartanbits]

Man this is great. Glad to see im not the only guy 100+ turns in without a whole lot of territory to show for it, but i've been taking it tooth and nail, will update this to show

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Turn 145

Lol Massilia took Carthage and there is a Spanish tribe in Egypt XD

[kugelblitz777]

Victory on legendary on turn 172, still to easy, fix plx

aspPeople already said many units are just to expensive, why use hastati if you can buy 2 other Units for that price.
Establish Client States / Liberate Factions in a direction you dont want to go, i prefer going Greece first because there are many Citys in close space
You can ignore Cavalry to the most part, Cav Units are completely useless, use War Dogs instead, they easily wipe out any skirmisher unit without any loses (let them Charge enemy skirmishers when they are still in front of enemy army) and also kill all Cavalry the same way.
Most of my armys consisted of like General + 19 legionari or General + 4 Dogs + 15 Legionari, with that you can clear up Enemy Stacks with less then a 100 unit loss most of the time

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

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