My re-supply system kinda sputtered when I'd broken the backbone of the Egyptians, so I was mostly left with elite armies like that in the end. They usually went on to fight in Greece and E-Europe, after walking round the meditteranean. Sometimes tough when the commander died tho.

Very cool @ still having Scipii leaders, it's not as common as you might think.

Didn't uninstall because of bugs no...if it were up to me I prolly never uninstalled it, it's an awesome game. But I lacked HD space...the 1337 n00b. By now I have a new HD but I'm waiting until after the exams to install that one, I'm not about to mess up my pc in the weeks I'm writing papers. Hehe.

I hear ya. Ive got uni stuff to type up aswell, so my RTW playtime has reduced somewhat. Anyway, i got bored of my domination with the Scipii campaign so i went and started a new one as the Britons. This one is even easier (im going to have to increase the difficulty in the next one) ive fought and defeated the gauls in all of France and now im thinking about taking on the Germanians, although for some reason, the Julii seem to be allied with them. I dont think this should prove a probem because i too am allied with all of the Romans and ive been kindingly sending them all gifts of 100/200 and 1000 denarii each. So if i attack the Germans i suppose the Julii will see that i am a much more worthy ally (again, if the AI pics this up).

BTW, if youre interested theres a good RTW forum @ http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/index.php

ok, I'm playing now too. Conquering the world is a very Satis endeavour, after all. So, I'm playing the Brutii. This is my first experience with a game quite like this, but I'm digging it. I've been playing pretty conservatively, taking a few cities, building them up and having large military forces in defense. My biggest problem is a lack of leaders...I think I let too many of my generals get slaughtered early on in the game.

Anyway, now that I've figured out the game mechanics some, I may just restart the game and try to keep people alive more. Oh, and I love walls with archers. Which brings up some weaknesses in enemy AI. I've slaughtered literally hundreds and hundreds of men without taking a single casualty, using archers and large stone walls. But it sure is fun.

yeah, and the sight of marching troops being swarmed with arrows is awesome. The sight of ppl falling down and how they march in and reform ranks is too. Lot of detail in that. But yes, the AI has difficulties with certain situations. On the other hand, storming a walled city is supposed to be hell for any attacker. In the game where i was completely dominating (cfr. earlier pic) I had wiped out the Julli and owned most of the map, but freaking Brutii held on to one city. It was nigh impossible to take. Epic Walls, full of troops and an experienced commander (on top of that faction leader too, as he was in their only city left). That asshole destroyed waves an waves of my elite troops. And of course, every time he fended off my armies (more like 'slaughtered') he and his troops got even more experienced. I was already thinking of a)sitting out until the 1337 dude died (he was already in his 50's I think) and a younger, less dangerous guy took over or b)infect one of my own spies with the Plague and send him to the city But thankfully my last push did the job. I assembled my most experienced armies from every corner of my empire, in addition of the finest mercenaries I could find. (elephants etc.) I attacked from 3 sides, wasted 2 batering rams and 2 cohorts of elephants on banging open one gate (sux0r boiling oil), and finally managed to defeat him. You should have seen me sitting at my desk yelling when I FINALLY got the message that "the enemy general is dead". He still took down most of my army, but hey.

Erh, that nice little piece of my personal RTW history is just to show that a great general+good troops+epic walls is a problem. But an army with no general is easy. I refer to the headless bunch of 500 hoplites I mentioned before. Talking makes me want to re-install it again. Maybe I will. And play an exotic faction. W00t.

Satis choosing the militarist faction, haha. I guess that's no big surprise. Thanks for the forum link Derf, nice if I need to look something up. Oh and the diplomacy works but usually isn't too eager to give to 'just' away stuff, which is nice cos neither do human players. Sometimes I do wonder if they're stupid or just brave. Thing is: When i had eradicated all but a few factions (usually protectorates) and had a vast empire, my plan was too

a) centralize my capital as much as possible, IE middle of the map (duh)
b) force all the remaining factions to move to the outskirts of my empire, thus limiting the most important problem: distance to capital (and the subsequent problems resulting in squalor), and keeping any other factions far away from my empire's heart and in check in some corner. I wouldn't care what they did out there in the mountains and desert etc, as long as they obeyed me.
c) now, the idea was to conquer outer provinces and "gift" them to my protectorates. I would then, after they accepted them, proceed to conquer their original cities, forcing them to start over where I wanted them.

The problem was: nobody wanted any freaking territory. I mean, I proposed a fortune, 5 provinces, trading rights, the whole shabang, PLUS I threatened to crush them under my heel if they did not accept, and what do they do: they refuse and prefer to die by my hand, rather than relocating. A very strange thinking pattern, I might say. So, I destroyed them instead and had troubles keeping the outer provinces under control. the end.

Nice story. Good to see you on the band wagon Sat. I have a feeling youll like this one as it does get rather brutal at times.

As i told you earlier, after dominating in the Scipii campaign i moved onto a new Briton campaign. Well, i had a few issues with that one because firstly, i discovered that the barbarian factions have a very cruddy technology tree. When i started it, i wanted to change this notion and "civilise" the Britorns as the only barbaric faction to become civilised. This is not possible in the game, so with my main motivation gone, i had decided to start a new campaign.

I started this time as the Greeks. I liked the idea of being the Greeks because they are pretty clever guys and secondly, i would have eventually been good friends with Rome and civilise the East. Again, the game did not let me. Within about 5 turns from starting, i was at war with all of the Romans, Macedonians and Carthaginians. No one wanted to ally with me from the start, i think Greece is one of those factions that noone likes.

So being bummed out yet again, i started a new camapign, again. This time back as the Romans as the Julii. Im still playing this one, but my main startegy seems to be allowed by the game this time. That is, to civilise the barbarian lands up north. This time however, im playing on Hard.

Back @ Ox. Thats a pretty hard-core last stand. Could you not besiege the city though? Or did they sally-forth everytime? Oh and on the exotic factions: The Egyptians seem to be pretty 1337. Not very good infantry, but Exellent archers, chariots and income!

@ Satis. UL on the generals thing. Youre right, at some point there seems to be a lack of them. Too bad you can recruit them eh?. How are you picking up all the tactics and stuff? And yes, walls are 1337. I always feel snug and conforted when defending from behinf them.

I'm coming along much better, now. Yesterday I finally had built a military worth having, and began conquering more rapidly. I started with two cities and quickly conquered two more, then kind of sat back for awhile defending and building troops/technology. Now I've conquered four more cities in a few years (including Athens and Corinth). Sparta is the last city on that particular peninsula I need to take, then I'll expand north into the barbarian lands, I think. I've gutted the Macedonians and nearly eliminated the greeks. I've also expanded my family tree significantly...I have one very fruitful family member, and have apparently found alot of promising captains/garrison commanders to adopt. So no more problems there.

I actually don't have generals lead my armies any more. I find it better to leave them in the cities as governors and just send out armies with captains. Anyway, since everyone's had their riveting tails of marshall success, I thought I'd share mine.

Basically, I allowed one of my towns to revolt because I was tired of the population being a bunch of bastards. I had made the mistake of just occupying the town rather than exterminating the populace, making it impossible to keep anyone happy without dropping taxes to the point where I was losing several thousand denarii. So, the town revolted, but the army is spawned was impressive...1500 men or so. That was alot more than I had anticipated, so I began moving up several armies of my own to assault simultaneously and smash the upstarts. Before I'd had a chance to move them all in position, though (2 armies almost there, 1 in place) I was attacked.

Enemy force, 1500 men, mainly pikes with a fair selection of cavalry, some archers, a unit of ballistas and a unit of those catapult things (I forget the name). My military unit was not well balanced, unfortuanetly....I was only moving them there as a component of a larger army. 1000 men, 4 cohorts of heavy cavalry, about 6 light infantry, 2 heavy infantry, some archers, and some catapults. I was expecting his pikes to sweep through my light infantry, as I didn't have anywhere near enough heavy infantry to do any good. I was determined to make it a painful battle for him, though, so I arranged my men...light infantry in a double line in front, heavy infantry directly behind, then the bowmen and finally my artillery. My cavalry I had to the left of my main force, to hopefully provided some flank security and to hopefully hit some pikes fom the side and cause them some pain before they annihilated me.

So, the battle starts and our artillery opens up. The pikes lumber forwards on his side, and I grit my teeth. Then I notice a tactical blunder. He's sent to units of cavalry to the side of his army (same direction as my cavalry)....one light and one heavy. I immediately charge my four heavy cavalry units in his direction. Unfortuanetly, it takes awhile to get there, but I completely break his two units and, more importantly, kill his general.

At this point, his pikes have engaged my light infantry. He's got such a wide front that two of his units are swinging around my infantry...I'm looking at being surrounded. My archers are under direct attack, and my lines are buckling. I charge my heavy cavalry into his rear areas, butchering his ballistas and destroying his onagers (I remember their name now!) while his pikes inflict much pain on my military. My archers break and run as some of his light cavalry swing around my army and hit them from the side.

With his rear units gone, my heavy cavaly next charges into the rear of his army. That's when the route starts. One of his pike units breaks and starts to run, then more, until all his units are in flight. Apparently some of his cavalry encountered my heavy infantry, as they've taken a beating and run too. Pretty soon the map is fillwed with fleeing units. The rest of the battle was my army charging about massacring as many of the enemy as possible before they left the map.

End result.
Casualties suffered by Satis: around 250
Casualities suffered by the Macedonians: around 1000.

That pretty much broke their military abilities, and I retook the city the next turn, exterminating the rebellious populace and putting and end to their unhappiness. My greatest military victory, thanks to the power of a few cohorts of heavy cavalry. *sniff*

damn im gonne get this game too.

lol Peltz, you should. And great story Satis ....sounds like you're already completely gone up into this (awesome) game. The pikes you mentioned were actual pikemen right, not hoplites? Not that it matters much. You've probably seen tons of them already around where you are, heh. As for not using generals: don't forget that they determine to a large extent how (un)likely your troops will start panicking. Where you are now that's not much of a problem, but when you're fighting hordes (stress) of barbarians or when facing elephants your troops will be very keen to jump on the wusswagon. And one more thing, you a cavalry man? (judging by your final statement) I'm an infantry man myself since one peculiar fight which was, in fact, the fight for Rome. I had my main army crushed by the Senate's forces, but when the battle didn't "end" I looked around the battlefield and saw that my measly reinforcements had arrived late, 3 cohorts of Preatorians. (elite infantry) In an all-or-nothing move I marched to face the enemy army. It was battered and tired, but still high on morale and bigger& diverse than my 3 cohorts as you can imagine. So, I marched towards them in testudo (gotta love it) and started the battle. Suffice to say that they-something I wouldn't have dreamt happening-chased away the senate's forces and killed their general. It was a glorious moment, and those 3 (well, 1.5 afterwards ) cohorts have ever since retired in my capital. Think of it as imaginary bodyguards.

@Derf...I had tried staking them out a few times, but to no avail. I didn't bother besieging with the last 'push', frustrated as i was that I couldn't break their will. hehe. And idd, the Egyptians are strong, but I was thinking more of the seleceud empire or something. Those fully-armored cataphracts are so awe-inspiring.

Do you guys get ambushed from time to time? That's one of the few moments where the AI shows what it can on medium. I remember vividly (don't worry, not a long rant coming up ) being massacred by gauls when i was moving an unbalanced support army towards the front. The ambush caught the army in both flanks and mashed it. I really felt like saying "bravo!", but talking to a computer is not something I will confess. Tonight.

Dammit, where did I put my RTW cd's?! I just finished this freaking paper (well, ranted 2000 words anyway, i'll sort them out tomorrow) and i wanna own, but i can't find them. Don't make me install BFME instead, oh dreaded neglection of the compactus discus!

Nice story Satis. @ Ox, You can make a testudo move? I tried, but it did...nothing, ill have to give it another go.

Last night i loaded my old (unfinished) Scipii campaign. Im a bit of a save-game whore. Anyway, im slowly finisheing off the Egyptians with 3 armies (+ 3 support groups) and 2 against the Greeks (2 in support). Going well, lots of family members now. Cant wait for the Brutii/Julii to attack me.

Just a minor update, I'm tearing up crap pretty good now. I own the whole peninsula that Athens and Sparta reside on, plus up north into greater europe a fair chunk, and then one city almost all the way back to where Italy starts on the mainland. I've currently got 4 armies (including 2 generals I'm training) sweeping east and south...I just took Byzantium and am taking a breather before hoping the channel and taking the next city. On the west side, I have my best general (7 stars) wreaking havoc on the barbarians.

Battles are becoming alot less nail-biting and alot more fun. For the barbarian battles, I have about 6 units of heavy infantry, about the same in heavy cavalry, and then various assorted other units. I'll pound the enemy with onagers for awhile, then open up with arrows when they get close enough. Engage with my heavy infantry while I swing my cavalry in from the side and annihilate their king/captain. Once he's dead, charge my cavalry into the rear of their heavy infantry, and pretty soon I have their whole army routed. I've taken out armies considerably larger than my own with this tactic.

BTW, I have I think two Brutus's left, one being the son of the other who just barely turned 16. I was blooding him on me eastern campaign and just had him sitting on some troops while I was hoping to just annihilate the stupid Thracians. I miscalculated, apparently, because the enemy army ended up outnumbering me significantly...also, I had one army of mine come as reinforcements, and the thracians had an army of theirs.

Anyway, to keep it short, their initial army damn near annihilated my initial army. A cavalry charge on their side basically wiped out my own cavalry...after much fighting and charging about of heavy infantry, I managed to save the only Brutus that isn't 50.... 1 man left. My army was damn near annihilated until my reinforcements showed up....I ended up getting like 6 units of heavy cavalry and used that to smash the Thracians. Still, it was very close...I almost saw the end of the Brutus line.

He now has a new trait: Bloody.

Haha, you should listen to one of his opening speeches then once in a while. Very, erh, graphic. But good job saving the only that Brutus, i hope for you he doesn't turn out to be gay and/or infertile. I envy you bastards, my family in my first (and thus most memorable) campaign was completely fucked up. No scipii left and all sorts of bought-in generals from different cultures spawning offspring. Egyptians, Greeks, Thracians, Britons, Numidians...it was a complete mix-up. Alhtough one of the Greek guys went to on to become one of my most infamous commanders, so that's nice. Oh, and the Thracians are tenacious bastards.

@Derf: yes, I could form testudo and move, heh. That should be the case for you too. Oh, and you're completely protected against arrows in a testudo, not just a lot.


bah, I can't find my cd's. That sucks. I might have to make a detour getting them again. I want to do the historical battles spefically, didn't do all of them before.

Stop bitchin about your CD's, i stole them!

Nah, but anyway, it sounds like Satis is a cavilry whore. Or maybe you like horses for some other mysterious, Texan meaning.

Its funny you mention gay generals because i bribed an Egyptian and Greek family member and they BOTH TURN UP AS MARRIED ON THE FAMILY TREE. LOL. guess i should count on any sons from them eh?

Apart from that, my Scipii line is still intact. Akthough i never pay attention to this stuff, does it prove an advantage?

I hate chariots.

I love Heavy Onagers.

I haven't noticed much of a difference between heavy and regular onagers.

On a rather sad note, I've been pushing my last remaining Brutus along through the Thracian lands, grabbing city after city and turning him into a badass and still young general. I think he's at 7 stars now. However, I took one large city of Thrace's without evena fight (clicked to put it under siege and just walked in and took it)....found out why the next tunr... it's plague infected. Now the only remaining Brutus has the plague, and it won't go away. The town is plagueless, but not my poor Galerius the Mighty (yes, he's a mighty now).

And he's had offspring...one daughter. I'm going to make him into the greatest general of all time, I've decided...charging about asia minor, taking over cities and spreading the plague. I also own a very large chunk of eastern Europe now...I'm going to keep expanding for as long as I can. I'm also thinking of developing my navy some and just taking out all the major mediteranean ports. I own all the big one on the north eastern portion of the sea, but nothing on the southern or western end. I believe it may be time for me to do some amphibious assaults.

My poor plague-infected Brutus.

Hahaha, three cheers for Satis and his unclean God-like general! You are aware that every settlement that your Army of the Unclean takes will be affected by the plague too, eh? Not that it matters much as long as you keep away from your best troops and cities, the rest is expendable but experience is hard to 'buy', as you know. What age is he now? And are you already mixing up with the other Roman factions?

I've picked up some cd's from a mate, so I'll be up and running in no time again. I'm pretty sure I'll choose the Selecued Empire this time, and maybe I can get you guys some pics from my backed up savegames. Take that Derf, ya RTW thief. Oh and Satis, heavy onagers do quite a bit more damage than regular ones, trust me. The mayhem you can do with 6-7 heavy onagers on a hill using fire ammo is unbelievable. And you often knock out their general beforehand, if you're lucky. @ Derf: archer chariots are ok, they stop from time to time, but regular ones are HELL. Too fast for infantry and horses get scared by them. =( Archers are your best friend.

Anyway, I demand pics of the Army Of The Unclean!

sorry, I'd snap some but screenshots don't seem to work for me. They all turn out completely black for some reason. Plus, I'm afraid the last Brutus has finally fallen (to the plague). So now I just have craploads of adoptees and stuff running around the countryside.

The Roman Senate decided to get stupid and asked me to kill my faction leader...I said no, of course, which ended in them and all the rest of the Roman factions to declare war on me. It's around 170BC, btw. So, I left small garrisons around the world and brough all my armies home...had 3-4 armies rampaging up from my fortres cities in Italy, and the rest tearing in from Germania or thereabouts. I completely annihilated Rome and took every city in Italy. At this point, I've dominated most of Europe...I'm not sure if I want to bother with England or not, but I'm in the process of conquering Spain. Once Spain is done with, I'll own the vast majority of Europe. I'm not too sure where I want to go from there. I'm primarily developing a massive military now.... most of my cities are mass-manufacturing troops. That way I can gather an army together real quickly. I'm afraid the battles are getting pretty costly in men recently.

btw....urban cohorts and praeotrian infantry seriously rock. I've shattered man an army with a charge from these bad boys.