Hello everyone!
Here is some feedback from my R2 Carthage VH/VH campaign. I'm 160-170 turns in, having fun.
House rules:
1. Recruitment. I can only recruit troops in cities that have fully developed recruitment. Good example of such city is developed Carthage - Council administration, large settler colony and first level of foreign colony. Also, the absolute bulk of recruitment should be done by FMs with Rab Mahnet and Mishtar traits, followed by FMs with Rab Sheni and Mishtar traits. Characters with the Ish 'al' Arast (governor) trait should only recruit in emergencies. Client rulers can recruit troops freely if the recruitment is fully developed. They can also recruit mercenaries in emergency situations. Seems strange at first, but it makes me focus on developing certain cities for military purposes and also on recruiting mercenaries early in the game/if I want extra-ordinary troops.
2. Navy. A full unit of ships (100 on huge unit settings) can transport 4 units of land troops. That means that I have to have 5 units (or close enough) of ships to transport a complete army in one trip, or make more trips. This house rule makes me invest into recruting and maintaining a sizeable navy, and as a side effect, it makes me recruit mercernaries if I am not able to ship a complete army to its intended destination. Additionaly, I can only land troops in ports or near cities/minor settlements.
3. Land army movement/fighting. Captain-led troops can move on their own, but it should be down to a minimum. Only FMs with Rab Mahnet/Rab Sheni traits can lead troops into attack.
4. Ending battles. After I rout the whole enemy army and the "End battle" option appears, I must accept it. This rule helps save the AI and it saves me time.
5. Towers. I don't build them. Spies will have to do.
6. No assassins. Not exactly a rule set in stone, but I haven't bothered to recruit one so far and I don't think I will recruit any.
7. I must fully trigger the troop spawning garrison script when sieging capital cities that are still held by the original faction. It's a shame to let it go to waste.
Examples:
If Rome is held by the Romani with 10 or fewer units, and the garrison script fires up and spawns 10 new units, I can siege the city.
If Rome is held by a faction other than the Romani, I can siege the city.
If Rome is held by the Romani with 10 or fewer units, but the garrison script does not fire up because of cooldown, I cannot siege the city.
If Rome is held by the Romani with 11 or more units, I cannot siege the city.
8. No banners, no green arrows, no information about morale and fatigue. All of that is disabled.
9. No retraining, I can only merge depleted units. The one "exception" to this rule is additional training. For example, I recruit a unit of Libyan hoplites in Carthage, and it has 2 experience. If the unit is at full numbers, I may retrain it Utica, where it will gain an additional point of experience due to the War temple there.
To be expanded...
Commentary:
1. The increased lethality. It has considerably sped up battles and it has made cavalry charges (and charges in general) much, much more effective. Apart from the fact that I now have less time to spend watching the fight unfold like I used to do, I appreciate the change. As much as I like slow slugging matches, I just don't have time for them anymore.
2. Rebel spawns. Huge improvement! Not only do they make more sense composition-wise, they're also tougher to fight. Well done.
3. AI. While not berserk by any means, AI seems to be decently aggressive in the early game.
Sicily:
After I took Messina, a (scripted?) Roman/Mamertine army tried to retake it. While unexpected, it was a fun fight. After I took Syracuse as well, Rome and Epirus gave up on Sicily entirely.
Corsica and Sardinia:
Early in the campaign, Rome landed troops in Corsica, but tended to back off and sue for peace once I scored a number of naval victories. I only fought them twice on land in Corsica. Apart from a rebel spawn or two, Sardinia has been peaceful, productive and prosperous.
Africa:
After the script triggered war with Numidia, the Numidians besieged Utica with a full stack army. Needless to say, a very brutal response shattered all their hopes and dreams. I expanded greatly at their expense, mostly because I want a safer rear area so I can fight Rome and trigger the reforms. I took Phasania from the rebels and I will soon take the other interior African province (I forget the name). The land border with the Ptolemies has been peaceful and I haven't bothered taking Kyrene.
Iberia:
I had some adventures fighting Eleutheroi stacks in Iberia. I took Mastia. No contact with the Celtiberians and Lusitanians thus far. We will see what the future holds.
4. Ballista towers. OP. Definitely, OP. I had to learn that the hard way during the assault on Syracuse (Romans took it from the Eleutheroi, but the city rebelled in favor of Epirus, and I besieged it afterwards). Even though I had a 3 to 1 advantage in numbers, the ballista towers absolutely made me regret the attack.
This be the result of some three ballista hits, judge for yourselves:
5. Reforms: Barcid/anti-Barcid FMs are no longer rare species, which is very much welcomed. I'm yet to trigger the reforms, mostly because I haven't fought enough large battles with Rome. That will change in the coming days...
6. Wife/Family traits. I like them. They're there, but not over the top. They're just right.
To be expanded... eventually.