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Thread: The story of a returning player

  1. #1

    Icon11 The story of a returning player

    So, I'm returning Rome Total War after many, many years.

    Installation
    I could buy a new copy of the game on STEAM, but since I own the CDs (It even still had the poster of the campeign map in the box!) I tought I would give them a try first. I was a bit worried that one of the three CDs wouldn't work any more, since it was a bit scratched, but it worked just fine.
    Installation did take some time though, for a game of only a couple of GBs, that could probably be downloaded and installed from STEAM in under the half hour it now took. But count that part of the nostalgia .

    Updated to v1.5 without issues and ready to go!

    Laughed at pixelated intro movie .

    Changed the video settings to Max and played the tutorial.

    First campaign (Brutii)
    I decided I would first try one of the Roman factions (actually only the Roman factions were unlocked at the start anyway).
    So I picked the mighty Brutti. I don't remember the difficulty setting, but it was a walk in the park.

    At first I was a good boy and followed the Senates missions. But when the Senate wanted me to block some port on the other side of the map I told them to shove it up their ***.
    I captured some more towns in Greece and the Senate were now adoring me (weird people those senators, you ignore their advice and they love you more....).

    By the time I had conquered Greece, my fellow Romans had only just conquered Sicily (Scipii) and the cities south of the Alps (Julii). My treasury was overflowing with cash so I could build anything I wanted, buy huge armies or just bribe entire enemy armies. Macedon, Greece and Trace pleaded for mercy, but wouldn't get any and were utterly defeated.

    Thus it came to pass that the Brutii now controlled a large empire. The battles were ever so more in my favour, most of the times I fielded twice as many men. Auto-resolve was quite usefull in those cases. I didn't wait for the civil war (I still remembered that it would take place at some point). Since I clearly remembered more than I originally thought I decided I would try a different faction on a higher difficulty.

    Second campaign (Greek Cities, Hard campaign - Normal Battle difficulty)
    For my second campaign since my return to the game, I picked the Greek Cities. I was feed-up with the lady-advisor, so she had to die for my new campaign. I was feeling confident after my victories with the Brutii, so I upped the difficulty to Hard campaign with Normal battle difficulty, since I was less confident in my battle experiences).

    Now I had some serious fun with the Greeks! .

    I rushed to capture Athens from the rebels and sent a small force to capture Crete. My diplomats talked for hours with Macedon to try to get an alliance, but they wouldn't have any of it. War was inevitable and they probably knew it.

    of the defence of Syracuse
    Time after time, the Scipii attacked Syracuse, but time after time the Phalanx held in the small streets of Syracuse. The streets turned red from blood and great songs would be written of the courage and valor of the defenders. Eventually Syracuse did fell to the Scipii and I promised to take revenge on scipii everntualy. However losing Syracuse was a great loss to the economy. Around the same time the Brutii captured Thermon. My 'ally' Macedon was still sitting idle, not aware of the Roman threat. This could not be tollerated and unfortunatly they had to go, to make sure the Greeks would have a fighting chance against the Romans. In the following years, I annexed the Macedon territories and pushed the Romans from Greece.

    of Sparta and their mighty hoplites
    Sparta had now grown to city size and was capable of producing Armored Hoplites with extra chevrons experience. The newly recruited hoplites would pass through Corinth for extra sharpening of their weapons and refitting of extra Armor (+1 attack, +1 armor). These warriors provided the backbone of my armies, combined with some Creetian archers and Greek Cavalry (damn, their cavalry is terrible.....) Seriously appart from flaking and killing routed enemies their cavalry is not very usefull. But this was just a minor nuisance, as the Phalanx WOULD_NOT_BREAK. The Brutii had no answer to the Phalanx and tought it was a good idea to sent in their cavalry in a frontal charge against my hoplites . Needless to say, that
    didn't work out so well for them. I almost fell pity for them, but then I remembered the sacrifices in the streets of Syracuse.

    Return to Syracuse

    My spies told me the Scipii had moved on to take Carthage and left Syracuse relatively undefended. The time had come......
    Before the Scipii knew what hit them, Syracuse was back in Greek hands.
    REVENGE!


    Carthage campaign (Very Hard campaign - Normal Battle difficulty)

    Not all stories are ones of success. Maybe a bit overconfident after my Brutii and Greek successes, my campaign as Carthage was incredibly intense, yet short-lived.

    In the first couple of turns everything went as planned. I secured an alliance with Spain, build up my forces/ cities and everything went according to plan. But fortunes can change rapidly.....

    In a few turns time, the Julii sent a force to Sardinia, Scipii skipped Syracuse and went for Lilibaeum instead and the Brutii landed a considerable force in Thapsus (WHAT, Brutii in Thapsus??!!!)

    Things got even worse, as Spain betrayed me and caught me off guard and threw me out of Spain.
    Now I was left with Carthage and Palma. Palma was useless as I had no recruitment buildings there. Carthage held for a while, but the Iberian infantry/peltasts proved no match for the Hastati. With only Palma left and most of my family members dead, I forfeited that campaign.

    What did I learn?
    - Roman heavy infantry rocks and their cavalry is also more than capable.
    - Once you get (modern day) Greece, you're rich
    - Phalanx + flanking with Cavalry = DESTRUCTION (Alexander knew what he was doing!)
    - Most of Chartage's early infantry is cheap in recruit/upkeep, but rubbish. They rout at the first sign of battle. I would gladly pay a bit more to get some half-decent infantry or Phalanx.
    - No archers as Chartage?!
    - Their Round shield cavalry is actually quite good considering their low cost/upkeep (330/110)

    What I still don't quite get:
    - Getting good generals (5+ stars) is quite easy, just win a lot of battles. Getting good administrators (administrator skills/influence) to control my cities is a completly different story. Any advice to 'level' up those?

    I haven't decided on my next faction for a campaign yet; Any suggestions? retry Chartage? try the Seulicids? Is Macedon playable?

  2. #2

    Default Re: The story of a returning player

    Quote Originally Posted by Gaius_Victorius View Post
    of the defence of Syracuse
    Time after time, the Scipii attacked Syracuse, but time after time the Phalanx held in the small streets of Syracuse. The streets turned red from blood and great songs would be written of the courage and valor of the defenders. Eventually Syracuse did fell to the Scipii and I promised to take revenge on scipii everntualy.
    Welcome back. RTW is my favorite game of all time and I have come back to it time and again over the years.

    There's no need to defend Syracuse since you can attack the Scipii north of you and take Messana on the first turn. It's not easy but it's worth the time it takes to learn to win this battle.

    Your Carthage campaign sounds as if you're playing passively. The game rewards an aggressive strategy.

    You can unlock all the factions. There are instructions available on Youtube. Search for: Rome Total War unlock all factions.
    Last edited by Gaius Julius Caesar II; November 26, 2017 at 08:56 PM.

  3. #3
    Frunk's Avatar Form Follows Function
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    Default Re: The story of a returning player

    Great first post! +rep I look forward to hearing more of your campaigns.

  4. #4

    Default Re: The story of a returning player

    Quote Originally Posted by Gaius Julius Caesar II View Post
    There's no need to defend Syracuse since you can attack the Scipii north of you and take Messana on the first turn. It's not easy but it's worth the time it takes to learn to win this battle.

    Your Carthage campaign sounds as if you're playing passively. The game rewards an aggressive strategy.
    Thanks for the advice, I may try that the next time I play Greek Cities or Carthage

    Just to illustrate, after 5-6 turns this is what Carthage looks like (267BC summer), so not a lot of time to prepare


    Large version: https://i.imgur.com/lARGBzd.jpg


    You can unlock all the factions. There are instructions available on Youtube. Search for: Rome Total War unlock all factions.
    Cool, I've unlocked all factions now (except the rebels and SPQR, which I don't consider true factions).

    As Macedon is now unlocked, I think I probably play them next .

  5. #5

    Default Re: The story of a returning player

    Yeah the vanilla Carthage campaign is harder than people realize. I played it once a long time ago and also got attacked by all three Roman factions. In the vanilla the AI is very aggressive with naval invasions, on most mods meanwhile they happen once a blue moon.... don't know why.

    The key to surviving with Carthage is to recruit units fast right from the beginning, and to recruit mostly cavalry (though you still need some infantry for engaging the enemy line). Elephants are nice as well, they help you get fast routs although they don't get a lot of kills. Also upgrade your barracks as fast as possible to get the Punic Infantry. They're a phalanx, so once you get them things go much more smoothly.

  6. #6
    Genius of the Restoration's Avatar You beaut and magical
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    Default Re: The story of a returning player

    Uh, I just wrote a nice reply to this and somehow it ended up as a garbage quote with all the bits I wrote missing... Damn... Long story short, as Carthage recruit heaps of Round Shields and enslave and build to Sacred Band ASAP. Ignore administrators, generals are better. Macedon is fun. Sorry, I wrote a whole bunch before and now I don't have time to write it again. But good luck and it makes me want to play RTW again
    Last edited by Genius of the Restoration; November 29, 2017 at 01:47 AM.

  7. #7

    Default Re: The story of a returning player

    Nice post. I also got back to playing this game recently after a while and the UI took a while to get used to after playing some of the newer games.

    BTW you should be able to get a free Steam copy of Rome Total War + Barbarian Invasion if you enter the old CD key from the box into steam, so you don't have to buy it again to get a steam version (should also work for Medieval 2).

  8. #8
    Saul Tyre's Avatar Senator
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    Default Re: The story of a returning player

    Quote Originally Posted by Gaius_Victorius View Post
    So, I'm returning Rome Total War after many, many years.

    I haven't decided on my next faction for a campaign yet; Any suggestions? retry Chartage? try the Seulicids? Is Macedon playable?
    Numidia on vh/vh is a very good challenge .....must be aggressive, poor countries need to go to war so don't disband units to save money
    Last edited by Saul Tyre; December 01, 2017 at 11:34 PM. Reason: typo
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  9. #9

    Default Re: The story of a returning player

    Quote Originally Posted by sapphire View Post
    BTW you should be able to get a free Steam copy of Rome Total War + Barbarian Invasion if you enter the old CD key from the box into steam, so you don't have to buy it again to get a steam version (should also work for Medieval 2).
    I own the (old) retail version (without expansions) and entering the CD code into STEAM activated RTW on my account, massive thanks!

    Quote Originally Posted by Saul Tyre View Post
    Numidia on vh/vh is a very good challenge ...
    I don't feel comfortable enough to play on VH battle difficulty, especially with filthy barbarian factions .

    But my latest campaign with Macedon (VH/M) is going strong. The Romans keep sending full stacks against me, but they are no match for the combined force of the sarissa's of my phalanx and the powerfull bows of the Cretian archers and strong charge of my lancers .


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