Army composition

[SirKull]

I dont speak english very well. Please be patient

If I want to create the Legion I Germanica (for example) wich is the composition of the unit stack in order to give 1 point to morale if the general get the Legion trait (commander of the Legion I Germanica).
I just have to create a first cohort germanica and the rest of the unit be whatever i want OR I have to meet some criteria?

If this has been answered already please tell me the link for information. Thanks you

[Ovidius Empiricus]

There are no requirements for army composition. Your governor and other generals in Roma will get +1 morale ancillaries (not traits) for each legion. You don't need to have the legions, just enough generals with empty ancillary slots (8 each) to get the ancillary you want.

There are over twenty of them, so you may not want to deal with so many at the beginning; and in that case, just make sure those stationed in Roma don't have space to get the rest of them. (They will eventually run out of space no matter what you do, so this doesn't really matter.) I think Germanica is normally one of the first few ancillaries to be granted (not sure how they are ordered, but in my experience it's fairly consistent at least), so this should work out for you with no real problems. Ancillaries can of course be traded between generals, so the one receiving it in Rome need not be the one who is ultimately the commander you actually use. It's good to have an academy or better in Rome anyway, which will help to train young generals for a couple of years, so I let a few stay there to collect ancillaries like this, while they have nothing else to do. Don't use any of their movement points or they will be ineligible in that turn for all sorts of ancillaries, traits, elections, and so forth.

That said, I normally do start by recruiting the "first cohort" unit, then nine regular cohorts, no more and no less. Eventually, for a few of my best or most important legions (depending on where I send them), another stack of sword and spear auxilia will accompany them. I try to keep the named cohorts together as much as possible, so if necessary their partner stack can provide support or defend the front while they are sent back to be retrained. And if the enemy has lots of stacks in the area (not as much of an issue in 1-turn), two stacks is of course better than one. The auxilia are quite a bit cheaper than the named legions, while still very decent troops, so this is certainly feasible most of the time. Plus, at some point, my recruitment centers have run out of named cohorts to recruit from that area, so at least by then they go to work making auxilia, because I never really stop making more units as long as the money keeps coming. Generally the auxilia will have siege equipment and the remainder of the composition more appropriate for those (perhaps only one cavalry unit, more sword auxilia but plenty of spear auxilia too). Meanwhile, the named legion can be more focused on battles in the open field without being slowed down by the ballistae. So in addition to the 10 swordsmen cohorts, I have a unit each of horse archers, javelin cavalry and heavy cavalry, some archers and slingers and antesignani, even some room for a couple of spear infantry... very deadly against any type of enemy stack if they're all put to use.

[SirKull]

Thank for your time Ovidius.
So if I put a general with the ancillaries of "comander of the X gemina" in a diferent legion (for example in a stack with the I germanica first cohort)...equally gives me the moral +1 ?

[Ovidius Empiricus]

Yes, it will work with any army at all, even if it is only the general himself. The text description for legion X/Y/Z is just to add some extra role-playing flavor. Incidentally, it's also kind of helpful to keep track of who is who when I'm looking at the generals' profiles, because those are totally unique unlike most of the other information (remembering all of their names is harder for me).

I've never thought about it, but a general could have up to eight of those legion ancillaries (including a praetorian one, which also has +1 command I think). Having eight of those puppies would presumably give the army +8 morale... whatever that would mean. Honestly, after all these years of playing most of the Total War games, I still don't know what to expect from +1 or -1 or 0 morale. Maybe it's comparatively not a very big deal in Roma Surrectum (or maybe it is), given how the units were balanced and battles were meant to be longer than vanilla RTW. I really couldn't say.

Anyway, I don't know whether or not the game would recognize a really large morale bonus (there is always a maximum for parameters like this), but I'm certain you could at least stack a couple of them for a greater effect, if you have some to spare. Maybe try that on a brand new general who hasn't fought many times yet and could use the extra boost.

However, I suppose it's better to give them a mix of things like a morale bonus, a physician, extra command stars, movement speed increases, and usually I have assorted other things that my governors don't need. But I think it's basically supposed to be a fairly minor thing to spice things up a bit, so a lot of this is just about how you like to play.

[SirKull]

Thank you again Ovidius. Understood. Nice to talk with you.