Great News: Empire Divided DLC for Rome II is about the III Century Crysis!!!!!

[Gäiten]

I have thought o these guys could be some kind of Foederati or Laeti. This would explain (somewhat) their horrible un-Roman equipment.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[First Citizen Gallienus]

I don't really expect indigenous names especially considering the expansion is a mainstream release (Even for Rome 1 mods people have complained about excessive adherence to certain naming nomenclatures). Should be a nice DLC however I'm probably not going to end up buying it until later if I even do so as I'll just wait for the patches to polish things up a little.

Oh my God, Broski is back from the dead. Why the hell did you delete me from Steam?

[Julianus Flavius]

Perhaps calling them "Kontarii", or "Kontophoroi" or even "Phalangiarii" is asking too much to the customers of CA's games, but IMO those "long-spearmen" existed! They are present even in SAJ and recruitable as elite unit at Antioch, if I still remember well.

In any case I've nothing against long spears (pikes) in Late Roman armies, if you want to counter the Sassanids there is not much you can choose to do, you can just increase the lenght of your spears! Then, if you want to call these guys "spearmen", or if you prefer to call them "pikemen" it's just to you, but from a historical perspective nothing changes: the Romans during the Late Antiquity used long spears to counter the Persian cataphracts even because there was nothing else they could do.

If they're like the SAI Lanciarii Seniores, that's fine, but my bet is they'll be phalanx pikemen like the ones in Rome 2. CA seems to love those kinds of units, they couldn't even resist putting them in Attila haha

[Diocle]

If they're like the SAI Lanciarii Seniores, that's fine, but my bet is they'll be phalanx pikemen like the ones in Rome 2. CA seems to love those kinds of units, they couldn't even resist putting them in Attila haha

Yeah, it's possible they were the Lanciarii Seniores, or perhaps one of those units called Legio Armati Invicti Iuliani, or something like that,
this is an old screens I've taken in an old Procopius' campaign I never finished, they are the guys I was talking about:



Now, I don't know if they can be considered pikemen, or "Kontophoroi", nor I know if the wonderful work of julianus heraclius can be quoted as an example of historical accuracy,
as I don't know the actual lenght needed to a spear to be called "Kontos" or "Pike", but my point was that if CA adds Pikes, Kontoi or Long Spears to the Roman armies it's because:
1- It's historically accurate: actually the Romans used long spears, pikes or kontoi to counter the Persian Extra-Heavy Cavalry.
2- Creative Assembly wants to give a chance to survive on the Oriental bettlefields to the players who choose the Romans as faction.

I must admit that both these reasons make me an happy customer, 'cause, more than anything else, I'm a damn imperialist, non-democratic and politically incorrect Roman player who just asks to kill as much Sassies as possible!

[Johnadiw26]

Yeah, it's possible they were the Lanciarii Seniores, or perhaps one of those units called Legio Armati Invicti Iuliani, or something like that,
this is an old screens I've taken in an old Procopius' campaign I never finished, they are the guys I was talking about:



Now, I don't know if they can be considered pikemen, or "Kontophoroi", nor I know if the wonderful work of julianus heraclius can be quoted as an example of historical accuracy,
as I don't know the actual lenght needed to a spear to be called "Kontos" or "Pike", but my point was that if CA adds Pikes, Kontoi or Long Spears to the Roman armies it's because:
1- It's historically accurate: actually the Romans used long spears, pikes or kontoi to counter the Persian Extra-Heavy Cavalry.
2- Creative Assembly wants to give a chance to survive on the Oriental bettlefields to the players who choose the Romans as faction.

I must admit that both these reasons make me an happy customer, 'cause, more than anything else, I'm a damn imperialist, non-democratic and politically incorrect Roman player who just asks to kill as much Sassies as possible!

Hah suddenly i remember my disaster campaign as Eastern Rome Empire in IB : SAI mod, damn pesky sassies for decimated my limitanei ordo

[Julianus Flavius]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIcq92QFjDc

Ok, next up for the "what why what are you people doing" units: Gallic Rome has chariots as a bodyguard option *slams head on desk*

[Diocle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIcq92QFjDc

Ok, next up for the "what why what are you people doing" units: Gallic Rome has chariots as a bodyguard option *slams head on desk*

Cool!

[Julianus Flavius]

Oh it's definitely cool, but hopelessly anachronistic. I mean did the Romans ever use chariots in land battles? I vaguely remember something about oxen drawn chariots used against Phyrrus's elephants but definitely nothing past the marian reforms.
From all the videos I've seen of this DLC, the Roman "standard" armour is the one on the levies in the screenshot a few posts back. It all looks somewhat like bamboo samurai armour haha

[Diocle]

.. From all the videos I've seen of this DLC, the Roman "standard" armour is the one on the levies in the screenshot a few posts back. It all looks somewhat like bamboo samurai armour haha

In my opinion it's just leather lamellar armour, like the following reenactors' exemplars:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I don't know of any Roman reference about leather lamellar armours but, as many of you know guys, I'm in favour of the hypothesis of an extensive use of any kind of organic materials in the Roman armies (padded leather, padded linen, felt, padded felt and so on ..), so, also those units in leather lamellar armours are for me an interesting detail, at least it might prove that Jack Lusted and his men are slowly moving on the rightous side of the barricade, where I like to stay "optime"! At least, this is my personal hope!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

etc. etc. etc. ..

Now, obviously I don't want to convince anybody here, but, .. but, .. but, since I don't believe in the fairy tale about something like 500'000 ironclad Romans marching over world (great part of them marching and fighting in Medietrranean climates at a temperature of 30/35°C during the Summer season), I welcome with great intellectual pleasure any sign alluding to organic armours in TW games, by Jack Lusted & C.!

[Gäiten]

Well I am convinced that the Romans did have armour made of leather or padded clothing.
We know that there was great a diversity among their equipment and leather has been a reliable and reasonably priced material.

@ Diocle:
Wonderful pic of a Langobardi reenactor

[Julianus Flavius]

I don't know, I guess it looks to plain and un-detailed for my liking. Might be better with more detailing on the shields and fabric, perhaps.
But yeah my definite main gripe is chariots and widespread use of phalanx pikemen. On all the lets plays I've yet seen the AI loves filling entire armies of goths with pikemen, and same for the Roman factions. I'm positive at this point that someone at CA absolutely adores pikemen haha
Also chariots. Why? I mean at least there's some arguments for some kind of pikes at this time period (although the full on macedonian phalanx is still silly) but chariots in battles at this time was basically unheard of, from what I've read. The only people to still do it at all was some pict tribes and maybe some indians. The idea of the Gallic Empire using them just irritates me.
But to be honest I'm still keen to give this DLC a shot. I know many of my complaints will be addressed by mods so it's no big deal, and the new power and politics system looks decent.

[Diocle]

I don't know, I guess it looks to plain and un-detailed for my liking. Might be better with more detailing on the shields and fabric, perhaps.
But yeah my definite main gripe is chariots and widespread use of phalanx pikemen. On all the lets plays I've yet seen the AI loves filling entire armies of goths with pikemen, and same for the Roman factions. I'm positive at this point that someone at CA absolutely adores pikemen haha
Also chariots. Why? I mean at least there's some arguments for some kind of pikes at this time period (although the full on macedonian phalanx is still silly) but chariots in battles at this time was basically unheard of, from what I've read. The only people to still do it at all was some pict tribes and maybe some indians. The idea of the Gallic Empire using them just irritates me.
But to be honest I'm still keen to give this DLC a shot. I know many of my complaints will be addressed by mods so it's no big deal, and the new power and politics system looks decent.

For example I hate the Ostrogoths' pikemen in The Last Roman DLC for Attila, it's a shame having them in game, but the Romans without long-spears, or kontoi, or pikes cannot face the Persians, now I don't say that having 30YW pikemen in an ancient game it's my ideal, but few Roman units with long, or very long spears are fully historically accurate and extremely useful, in my opinion.

The chariots are another tale, of course they are out of place, and, as you said, also I'm sure the Modders will remove them; it's always the same with historical titles by CA, their historical games are midway between fantasy and history, usually the Modders have corrected what was wrong and we have spent years and years playing wonderful historical games re-modeled by a band of heroes, what can one do... it's life!

[Julianus Flavius]

For example I hate the Ostrogoths' pikemen in The Last Roman DLC for Attila, it's a shame having them in game, but the Romans without long-spears, or kontoi, or pikes cannot face the Persians, now I don't say that having 30YW pikemen in an ancient game it's my ideal, but few Roman units with long, or very long spears are fully historically accurate and extremely useful, in my opinion.

The chariots are another tale, of course they are out of place, and, as you said, also I'm sure the Modders will remove them; it's always the same with historical titles by CA, their historical games are midway between fantasy and history, usually the Modders have corrected what was wrong and we have spent years and years playing wonderful historical games re-modeled by a band of heroes, what can one do... it's life!

I'd definitely be open to having units with longer spears, and perhaps a special formation to use them in, but what we're looking at here is straight up Macedonian Phalanx units. Although it is definitely possible to defeat Sassanids without long spears. You need to keep distracting and harassing the heavy cav with ranged cav has worked for me in every iteration of TW where the Romans and Sassanids face off.

[Diocle]

No faces for characters. I didn't even tested the battles, I shut out the game .. I'm too old for enduring this mess by CA.

[First Citizen Gallienus]

I'm having the same problem Diocle, you may want to take a look at this discussion on steam to fix the issue. http://steamcommunity.com/app/214950...2713692577424/

[Gäiten]

@Diocle:
You do not understand, this is true in-game immersion: a damnatio memoriae

[First Citizen Gallienus]

Well I can confirm. Apparently you have to delete your mods and verify the integrity of the game cache to make it work. I'm assuming that once you do that you can download mods again, at least the ones that can work alongside the new Empire Divided DLC and Rome II.

[Diocle]

@Diocle:
You do not understand, this is true in-game immersion: a damnatio memoriae

Gaiten, let me say you're not just a friend, you're a poet!

@FCG: Thanks, I'm doing what they say, but I hate what I'm doing!

Now that I had begun to feel some human interest in CA, they have brought me back into the winter of my discontent, the point is that now I don't know if I should be thankful for this unrequested swim in the sea of realism, or if I should curse them for having killed my last childish dream about a great company and its history.

Nevermind guys, forgive me, this is just the typical case of Italian and baroque intellectual onanism.

[Hohenstaufen234]

Im currently playing the DLC and having much fun. It´s very difficult as im playing as the Gallic Empire, as you get attacked constantly from all sides basically. So if you want "Total War" then the DLC might be for you. And i agree about the chariots. Not that i wasn´t that surprised as CA has a tendency to implent fantasy units in their games.

And for you guys having problems with faces not showing up and "ghost" armies. Try and verify the game files in Steam, because i had the Political & Powers beta patch installed when the DLC came out and it seems that it is there where the problem is. After i verified the game files everything turned to normal. So no im Seeing faces in the political screen and no more ghost armies sweeping across the map.
So try and start with that and see if that helps.

Regards.

[Avarice1987]

You must disable all beta patch Programm in the game properities on steam. After this, Cache verify and all Mods deactivate before. I have done this steps and no problem!