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Thread: I am having the time of my life with DeI

  1. #1

    Default I am having the time of my life with DeI

    For someone that owns and have played every Total War game with the thousands of hours I have enjoyed this game series, none comes close to the hours I spent in Rome 2 DeI.
    2021 feels like such a remarkable year for Rome 2, with the latest DeI patch and several wonderful submods enhancing the gameplay.
    Dei, together with the 32 other mods in my list makes this game into one of the best gameplay experiences I have ever had.
    Let's take a gander at a Rome 2 playthrough in 2021.

    Major mods include
    AAA generals
    Ardua Roma
    Alternative experience mod
    4tpy +4tpy cost/research
    Cultural tensions
    Historical objectives for Rome
    12tpy recruitment

    Humble beginnings



    With the 'A more challenging Rome' submod we start out already in a desperate situation as Rome always found themselves in during the early days of the republic.
    Instead of starting with major part of Latium and Italia we start with basically only Rome and some of the small settlements.
    At war with Phyrrus, a stronger etruscan faction as well as with the lucanians we muster for war.
    All our money is put into the army and mercenaries just to survive and have a chance of securing the Peninsula. Rather sooner than later before Phyrrus starts taking our settlements and liberating them, creating even new enemies for Rome in the process. After some very close battles we manage to secure the peninsula and kick out Phyrrus.

    While happiness can quite quickly be restored the repbulic is devastated. The Plebes population is low after all the warring and all expenditures in the Army means little infrastructure has been built.
    Also potential disaster as Veneti declares war, but with an army close by and a good defensive battle the army could walk in and liberate the veneti, as the republic would rather have a friend of Rome than to manage a negative income and rebellious province.

    A time of peace goes by. Spies are sent throughout the world to establish diplomacy and hopefully trade. Alternative experience mod makes this a much more pleasant experience. As even on VH the world does not hate you just because you exist.
    The +diplomacy in this imperium stage makes the world feel rational. Who wouldn't want to trade with a simple republic that can offer wine, olives, salt, fish and more?
    In contrary to a usual campaign there is a feeling of recovery. The mods make recruitment take a long time and expensive as well. Doubly so for buildings and research. With cultural tension mod as swell there is little incentive to hapazardly expand.
    Also the historical objective mod comes into play. Following it gives your campaign purpose. While there could be more effective paths it gives you a RP delightful challenge. Early on you are tasked to perform the illyrian wars, taking two settlements that won't be profitable for a looong time. Securing them and the sea from pirating does probably not equal the more positive trade-off it was in real life. But I can feel that tie to history. I can imagine the illyrians and the pirating causing Rome to go to war with them.

    The first steps




    After the age of peace comes the age of war as the punic wars kick-off. Chartage having waged a savage war with the Syracuse the latest siege of the city left them both devastated and the whole province was devoured by Rome pouncing on this chance. With big stacks of chartage navy roaming the seas it would take some time before Rome got their navy online and could strike out to secure the islands.
    Meanwhile to reach spain it was decided to add the Massalian province for Rome. Having little friends but many enemies the Massalian conquest bothered the Gaulic tribes very little.. for now.

    Where we are now



    And here we are currently! At turn 100ish with Marian reforms in full swing. Hispania was a brutal battleground and as legionaries could not be replaced the two legions LEGIO II FRETENSIS (earning its nickname after taking Syarcuse) and LEGIO III ITALIA had to fill their ranks slowly with mercenaries. The side-effect of this was that the legionaries that did remain was incredible veterans, sporting 3 silver chevrons. The legion becoming ever more battle-hardened and experienced.
    Hispania served as a great challenge with all it's skirmishing and javelin carrying infantry the hispanic tribes managed to inflict frustrating casualties on the conquering Romans.
    And with the cultural tension mod every province was urging to rebell as they would not as in vanilla simply forget the terrors the Romans brought with them while subduing them.
    To stabilize the region Rome sent their best Senators to act as provincial governors. Several high level generals who learned to manage the peninsula now acted as governors of Hispania.



    Power couple: Governor Asenius and Coeidius, both sent to pacify the region. Instead of a harsh treatment it got in the beginning the much softer approach has been much more successful.
    Asenius with the Master of statecraft talent greatly reduces the public disorder from different culture while Coeidius, a master of culture, establishes Roman institutions and slowly but surely converts the populace to see the fruits of Roman way of life.



    But what looms ahead? As imperium grows the Alternative Experience Mod makes sure everything is still a challenge. Costs soar, diplomacy becomes exponentially harder, food, happiness, all of it has to be constantly managed and even after huge sums fill Rome's coffers it still takes several turns just to start building in each slot. Worries start to creep in, in Gaul a large network of allies have been formed. If only one turns to Rome the others might follow.
    Half of our income is in trade! As the republic sheds its humble beginnings and becomes an empire the happy faces of our neighbors will disappear and with it the trade and commerce that sustains so much of Rome.
    And as Rome's best general, Fabricius Luscinius the conquerer of Massalia and Hispania, who has received triumphs and accolades his whole life, looks over towards africa, about to start the third punic war to end Chartage for good.
    He is now old and a long life of war and toil is marked on his face and his now gray hair. He wonders how long Rome will survive after him? Will the republic continue on? Will a dictator reign instead? What about the barbarians if they choose to come down the Alps? What about the Greeks if they choose to unite and threaten Rome's dominance of the adriatic? What about further... in the east, who knows what power will reside there and face a Rome who has spent so much time fighting wars in lands that might not accept their rule for decades, perhaps even for a century.

    Only one thing is certain: Rome will conquer!


    Tl:dr
    This mod is fantastic! It is such a wonderful gameplay experience. The mechanics flows together, the feel of the mechanics being organic instead of static is thrilling. Instead of recruiting a unit you are recruiting your population, you get that feeling of impact on the map. The toil and long time it takes to do things with the submods enabled is for me a great feeling. I love playing like this, having to work hard for even the small things. I also love the alternative experience mod, for me I have something to look forward to now. The later imperium levels are already being felt as all the costs and penalties means I am still struggling. The want for money requires those expensive money making facilities but they in turn require happiness buildings that also costs dearly. Keeping it all together are the generals, the governors, keeping banditry low, the taxes flowing, and the population placated. How I worry if a civil war would happen, now it wouldn't be a tedious chore but an actual terror as suddenly large parts of my competent leaders disappear. Relying on the talents is also such a rewarding experience as the generals I duly put aside to train to be governors now payed off. I have played all Total War games and they can all be conquered even on the hardest difficulty with spamming units and just aggression. It's not impossible in DeI to steamroll as well but the game rewards you for taking it slow, unlike Rome 2 did in my opinion. You get a sense of that ''conquer -> quash rebellions -> integrate -> make province profitable -> raise legions'' that was a big part of the cycle of Roman expansion. Just like real life you can ravage Gaul, sack it for huge lumps of money, but for the province itself to be profitable it will take a huge amount of time and investment. That cycle of struggle is then kept challenging with the Alternative experience mod the costs of it all keeps step with your income. Also the very long recruitment times means you cannot just raise an army all of a sudden to deal with a threat. You screw up and a province gets razed then that's hooorrribble. Rebuilding it all requires an insane amount of time. You feel that !


    10/10! This is not a mod, it's a new game!
    And I am loving every moment!





    (After the praise:
    I have nothing but praise for this mod! After so many playthrough with it I wanted to add onto this mini-review what I feel is that tidbits I dream of seeing one day.
    - Invasions/rebellions: One of the things I love in this mod is the pirates, they make you require a navy and as historically the pirates where a true threat and nuisance to trade and undefended settlements.
    I dream of seeing a submod that ups the frequency of these pirates, but a bigger dream is the same mechanic but on land.

    With a large empire I would love to the see the uprisings that characterized Rome. A hispanic revolt, a Gaulic revolt, a spartacus-esque uprising etc etc. Basically spawning an dangerous Army that will sack any settlement it can get their hand on
    Requiring you to quickly recruit or divert legions. If the scripted events had accompanying texts it would give so much character. Just it talking about how ''a local gaulic chieftain has banded the tribes together to form a true rebellion, we must muster a response immediately unless it spirals out of control!''

    Also, better left for a submod as it is mostly due to 4tpy, but I would love some avenues for -construction time. Either through talents, dignitaries or technology (as addition to the two -1ct techs))
    Last edited by userstupidname; May 07, 2021 at 11:49 AM.

  2. #2

    Default Re: I am having the time of my life with DeI

    What a great post, I love reading AAR's from the community. And I have to second the main premise of this thread, the mod is amazing.

    Amazing. It's like a living documentary. Oh how I love having Caesar's the Commentaries, say on the Gaulic Wars, as I'm tearing through that region. Here is a link to the audio books of Caesars commentaries, Book 1 on the Gaulic wars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZncaMia5B5s

    DeI at 12 turns per year, with the corresponding mods to slow the pace down to a 12tpy, and the Orbis Terrarium gfx mods, and reShade, and this is an absolute masterpiece. This is as good, if not better, than Rome Total Realism, Roma Surectum, Europa Barbarum, all the best mods this mod, Divide et Impera, is at the top of the list for me now.

  3. #3
    KAM 2150's Avatar Artifex
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    Default Re: I am having the time of my life with DeI

    Thanks for posting
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