--A
Rome: Total War
Moderators: Cagliostro, lucimay, Creator, Sorus
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I'm Murrin
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I'm Murrin
- Are you?
- Posts: 15840
- Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2003 1:09 pm
- Location: North East, UK
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You can ( with patch 1.2 ) continue after 50 provences and rule the entire world!
Mwhahahahaahahah! (evil Genious laugh)
Mwhahahahaahahah! (evil Genious laugh)
But if you're all about the destination, then take a fucking flight.
We're going nowhere slowly, but we're seeing all the sights.
And we're definitely going to hell, but we'll have all the best stories to tell.
Full of the heavens and time.
We're going nowhere slowly, but we're seeing all the sights.
And we're definitely going to hell, but we'll have all the best stories to tell.
Full of the heavens and time.
-
I'm Murrin
- Are you?
- Posts: 15840
- Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2003 1:09 pm
- Location: North East, UK
- Contact:
-
I'm Murrin
- Are you?
- Posts: 15840
- Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2003 1:09 pm
- Location: North East, UK
- Contact:
-
I'm Murrin
- Are you?
- Posts: 15840
- Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2003 1:09 pm
- Location: North East, UK
- Contact:
[Note on the prologue thing above: I now know, you just edit preferences.txt, the "first_time_play" variable.]
Decided to keep a log of how things go on the new campaign until my inevitable defeat.
It's been a bad twenty years for the Scipii. It started with my attempt at getting Dalmatia from my allies, the Brutii. I bribed Salona onto my side, and the Senate immediately told me to give it back. I complied after removing the military units I had gained. Next turn, the town rebelled and I was asked by the Senate to get it back - which I did so gladly.
The following years were marked by a series of attacks by Gaul and the previously friendly Dacians in Illyria, Cisalpine Gaul, and Noricum. I eventually lost Segestica, capital of Illyria, to the Dacians.
Meanwhile, in the far south I sought out the rebel city of Nepte in Sahara and bribed it to my side. It rebelled after I'd had time to produce one unit of Town Watch - the Senate immediately issued the usual reclamation order. Unfortunately, the settlement hadn't gone rebel - it had reverted to Numidia, Roman allies. At the same time as my reclamation order, I was ordered to remove my army from the land. Unable to reclaim the city by any means, nothing was left but to follow the command for withdrawal.
The next order I was given was to secure map information from Egypt - this proved impossible, and in fact, in the time it took my diplomat to reach the Egyptians, they marched an army into Tripolitania and besieged my city of Lepcis Magna. They lifted the siege soon after, attacked my single unit as it left Sahara, then ran back and attacked the city again, this time capturing within a single turn.
Back in the north, Mediolanium in Cisalpine Gaul was costing more and more money to maintain - in fact it seemed to be the sole reason why my treasury had been empty for the past few turns, with a loss of 2000 Denarii for each turn I possessed the city. I removed my large army, dividing it into two reasonably sized forces - one marching toward Transalpine Gaul, the other to Segestica - and gifted the city to the Julii (who refused to pay anything for it). The next turn it rebelled, returning in this case to my possession. The Senate, of course, treated it as stolen and demanded I return it to the Julii. After removing the rather large army of peasants and Town Watch that had materialised and joining them to my other two forces - increasing their strength considerably - I gifted the city back, still unwilling to carry the financial cost of the province.
Now I decided to try and get some advantage back with my two new and powerful armies. The army marching to the east was pulled into a battle between the Julii and a small Gallic force - which just happened to be reinforced by a three-hundred strong Gallic army. The force was destroyed outside Patavium. My western army, winning a series of minor battles in the alpine passes, swept into Transalpine Gaul and conquered Massilia, where it remains as I prepare for further incursions into Gallic territory.
As this was going on, the Dacians continued to repeatedly attack Salona, and riots began in Sicily and Byzacium. With little money available and no ships left, I was unable to send new units and governers, and the city of Thapsus in Byzacium was lost to rebels. The remaining army in Byzacium was not strong enough to face the rebels, but still it constitued a formidable force, and so I marched northward to capture the less defended city of Carthage.
As it stands, I now hold Capua near Rome, all three provinces in Sicily, Transalpine Gaul, Noricum, and Africa; two provinces less than I held yesterday. I've secured trade rights with Britannia, and an alliance with Germania, which I hope will prove beneficial when fighting the Dacians. I also have some fifteen family members without cities to govern or armies to command, and my accounts have reached a deficit of 3600 Denarii, most from army maintenance costs.
[edit: somehow, I didn't expect this post to end up so long.]
Decided to keep a log of how things go on the new campaign until my inevitable defeat.
It's been a bad twenty years for the Scipii. It started with my attempt at getting Dalmatia from my allies, the Brutii. I bribed Salona onto my side, and the Senate immediately told me to give it back. I complied after removing the military units I had gained. Next turn, the town rebelled and I was asked by the Senate to get it back - which I did so gladly.
The following years were marked by a series of attacks by Gaul and the previously friendly Dacians in Illyria, Cisalpine Gaul, and Noricum. I eventually lost Segestica, capital of Illyria, to the Dacians.
Meanwhile, in the far south I sought out the rebel city of Nepte in Sahara and bribed it to my side. It rebelled after I'd had time to produce one unit of Town Watch - the Senate immediately issued the usual reclamation order. Unfortunately, the settlement hadn't gone rebel - it had reverted to Numidia, Roman allies. At the same time as my reclamation order, I was ordered to remove my army from the land. Unable to reclaim the city by any means, nothing was left but to follow the command for withdrawal.
The next order I was given was to secure map information from Egypt - this proved impossible, and in fact, in the time it took my diplomat to reach the Egyptians, they marched an army into Tripolitania and besieged my city of Lepcis Magna. They lifted the siege soon after, attacked my single unit as it left Sahara, then ran back and attacked the city again, this time capturing within a single turn.
Back in the north, Mediolanium in Cisalpine Gaul was costing more and more money to maintain - in fact it seemed to be the sole reason why my treasury had been empty for the past few turns, with a loss of 2000 Denarii for each turn I possessed the city. I removed my large army, dividing it into two reasonably sized forces - one marching toward Transalpine Gaul, the other to Segestica - and gifted the city to the Julii (who refused to pay anything for it). The next turn it rebelled, returning in this case to my possession. The Senate, of course, treated it as stolen and demanded I return it to the Julii. After removing the rather large army of peasants and Town Watch that had materialised and joining them to my other two forces - increasing their strength considerably - I gifted the city back, still unwilling to carry the financial cost of the province.
Now I decided to try and get some advantage back with my two new and powerful armies. The army marching to the east was pulled into a battle between the Julii and a small Gallic force - which just happened to be reinforced by a three-hundred strong Gallic army. The force was destroyed outside Patavium. My western army, winning a series of minor battles in the alpine passes, swept into Transalpine Gaul and conquered Massilia, where it remains as I prepare for further incursions into Gallic territory.
As this was going on, the Dacians continued to repeatedly attack Salona, and riots began in Sicily and Byzacium. With little money available and no ships left, I was unable to send new units and governers, and the city of Thapsus in Byzacium was lost to rebels. The remaining army in Byzacium was not strong enough to face the rebels, but still it constitued a formidable force, and so I marched northward to capture the less defended city of Carthage.
As it stands, I now hold Capua near Rome, all three provinces in Sicily, Transalpine Gaul, Noricum, and Africa; two provinces less than I held yesterday. I've secured trade rights with Britannia, and an alliance with Germania, which I hope will prove beneficial when fighting the Dacians. I also have some fifteen family members without cities to govern or armies to command, and my accounts have reached a deficit of 3600 Denarii, most from army maintenance costs.
[edit: somehow, I didn't expect this post to end up so long.]
Larger cities pay a larger share of army wages. By getting rid of the city you've simply transferred the costs elsewhere and lost out on the money it was bringing in.Back in the north, Mediolanium in Cisalpine Gaul was costing more and more money to maintain... ...I gifted the city back, still unwilling to carry the financial cost of the province.
[spoiler]If you change the font to white within spoiler tags does it break them?[/spoiler]
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I'm Murrin
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Interesting. So the -2000 on the little city ticker wasn't just from having a province that doesn't generate much income (it's landlocked and never been that good for money)? I realised military costs were the biggest drain on my economy (at the time I looked, -9000 a turn) - but I couldn't see any way to continue holding the cities with a smaller army, or to get more cities (and thus more income) without making an even bigger army. Anyway, I'm screwed right now - can't buy anything, and my money just keeps going down. I'm going to try to capture another settlement with a small army split from Massilia, but I'm not sure about my chances.
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I'm Murrin
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Another twenty years gone; things are starting to improve.
Rebel Thapsus was captured by the Egyptians and revolted the next turn, returning to my control. Civil unrest and a few Egyptian sieges saw it soon return to Rebel control.
The mostly mercenary force sent to Lugdinensis was successful, capturing the city of Lugdunum with little difficulty; the next ten years were spent holding off a series of minor sieges by the Gauls. The loss of Iuvavum to Dacia around the time of Lugdunum's capture was disappointing, but with its distance from the capital and poor technology it was difficult to maintain the area's defence.
The slaughter of citizens at Lugdunum gave my economy what it needed, and I was able to easily bribe a large and more advanced Julii army onto my side. Utilising family members who had been sitting useless in a nearby fort, I was finally able to steal Venetia away from the Gauls. The money from this capture and the forces remaining from the attack allowed me to begin a further incursion into Illyria, eventually leading to the recapture of Segestica from the Dacians.
The gold gained from these two victories bought more military for me in the west, and I was then able to march into Narbonensis and take Narbo Martius from its Gallic rulers.
It wasn't all good - during this period there were continuous riots on Syracuse and Lilybaeum on Sicily, culminating in the actual revolt of Syracuse, which remained independant for several years before it was recaptured.
Thapsus was recaptured after a time spent preventing the Egyptians from claiming it, and both this city and Carthage were also the location of repeated rioting, held in check by the large garrisons and new Triarii and Principe units that had become available.
An assault on Aquitania in Gaul fell apart in a series of skirmishes across the large province, and an attempt to claim the lands of the recently destroyed Numidia was made difficult by the size of the land and the presence of large numbers of Spanish and Egyptian forces.
Toward the end of today's campaign I had armies beginning to gather in Dalmatia--to retake Salona from the Dacians--and on the edge of Numidia--under Carthaginian control--preparing for the next wave of attacks.
End tally: 11 provinces; two armies in the field. 10000 Denarii in the bank. I expect the Julii are not very pleased with me: I've probably spent 20k bribing their armies (several full strength, one with a family member) this time.
Rebel Thapsus was captured by the Egyptians and revolted the next turn, returning to my control. Civil unrest and a few Egyptian sieges saw it soon return to Rebel control.
The mostly mercenary force sent to Lugdinensis was successful, capturing the city of Lugdunum with little difficulty; the next ten years were spent holding off a series of minor sieges by the Gauls. The loss of Iuvavum to Dacia around the time of Lugdunum's capture was disappointing, but with its distance from the capital and poor technology it was difficult to maintain the area's defence.
The slaughter of citizens at Lugdunum gave my economy what it needed, and I was able to easily bribe a large and more advanced Julii army onto my side. Utilising family members who had been sitting useless in a nearby fort, I was finally able to steal Venetia away from the Gauls. The money from this capture and the forces remaining from the attack allowed me to begin a further incursion into Illyria, eventually leading to the recapture of Segestica from the Dacians.
The gold gained from these two victories bought more military for me in the west, and I was then able to march into Narbonensis and take Narbo Martius from its Gallic rulers.
It wasn't all good - during this period there were continuous riots on Syracuse and Lilybaeum on Sicily, culminating in the actual revolt of Syracuse, which remained independant for several years before it was recaptured.
Thapsus was recaptured after a time spent preventing the Egyptians from claiming it, and both this city and Carthage were also the location of repeated rioting, held in check by the large garrisons and new Triarii and Principe units that had become available.
An assault on Aquitania in Gaul fell apart in a series of skirmishes across the large province, and an attempt to claim the lands of the recently destroyed Numidia was made difficult by the size of the land and the presence of large numbers of Spanish and Egyptian forces.
Toward the end of today's campaign I had armies beginning to gather in Dalmatia--to retake Salona from the Dacians--and on the edge of Numidia--under Carthaginian control--preparing for the next wave of attacks.
End tally: 11 provinces; two armies in the field. 10000 Denarii in the bank. I expect the Julii are not very pleased with me: I've probably spent 20k bribing their armies (several full strength, one with a family member) this time.
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I'm Murrin
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If your playing as a Roman faction on this game, and you're as bad at building up funds and units as I am, it seems there's only one way to play that will see you ahead: Bloody, brutal, and backstabbing. Keep plenty of diplomats, especially around areas where both you and the other Roman factions have interests. Build up an army - or buy one - and take a settlement, one that'll go down easy enough, and settle without rioting. Exterminate the populace. This should give you a fair bit of money - if it's not going to give much, don't bother exterminating. With the money you get - I usually find it's around 15-20,000 Denarii - you should be prime for a bit of bribery. If you look around their front lines, the other romans always have a couple of large armies, usually made up of reasonably advanced troops. 4000 Denarii will get you a 10-20 unit army. This is usually enough to take another settlement. Exterminate the populace, settle in, buy another army. Rinse and repeat.
I managed over twenty more years to claim the title of largest faction, and personally eliminated Macedon and Gaul. Throughout this period, my fellow romans were unable to capture a single new province. It started with Macedon, who had their last province (they'd been marginalised by Thrace) in Corinth. I took a few Brutii units, stuck together a large army, and captured the city. Then I worked my way north, capturing city by city the old territories of Thrace, each new capture providing funds I used to buy Brutii troops that were already moving towards the next target. It stopped once I'd cut the Brutes off from Thrace - they stopped sending armies.
I continued as I had been with the Julii, picking up odd individual units as they crossed my territories and joining them into larger forces, with which I conquered most of Gaul.
At the same time, I managed to take two large armies in Spain from the Julii, leading to the capture of one of the territories there. When a minor victory against a Carthaginian army turned one of my captains into a family member, I took the battle down to them, and captured a Carthaginian province - something I'd been struggling to do for some time.
During today's gaming, the following factions were destroyed, by whom is for most unknown (I suspect the Greek, since they appear to have assimilated all of Anatolia, and Briton, who have most of the north): Macedon, Pontus, Parthia, Armenia, Germania, Gaul.
I captured 12 new provinces; I have large garrisons in all of them, though civil unrest is prevalent. The seas, swarming with Egyptian, Carthaginian and Thracian ships, are unsafe even for the shortest journeys. I've been waging constant war in Numidia, but have had no luck against the Carthaginians there - it is home to a brilliant commander who appears to be incorruptible.
I managed over twenty more years to claim the title of largest faction, and personally eliminated Macedon and Gaul. Throughout this period, my fellow romans were unable to capture a single new province. It started with Macedon, who had their last province (they'd been marginalised by Thrace) in Corinth. I took a few Brutii units, stuck together a large army, and captured the city. Then I worked my way north, capturing city by city the old territories of Thrace, each new capture providing funds I used to buy Brutii troops that were already moving towards the next target. It stopped once I'd cut the Brutes off from Thrace - they stopped sending armies.
I continued as I had been with the Julii, picking up odd individual units as they crossed my territories and joining them into larger forces, with which I conquered most of Gaul.
At the same time, I managed to take two large armies in Spain from the Julii, leading to the capture of one of the territories there. When a minor victory against a Carthaginian army turned one of my captains into a family member, I took the battle down to them, and captured a Carthaginian province - something I'd been struggling to do for some time.
During today's gaming, the following factions were destroyed, by whom is for most unknown (I suspect the Greek, since they appear to have assimilated all of Anatolia, and Briton, who have most of the north): Macedon, Pontus, Parthia, Armenia, Germania, Gaul.
I captured 12 new provinces; I have large garrisons in all of them, though civil unrest is prevalent. The seas, swarming with Egyptian, Carthaginian and Thracian ships, are unsafe even for the shortest journeys. I've been waging constant war in Numidia, but have had no luck against the Carthaginians there - it is home to a brilliant commander who appears to be incorruptible.
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Okay, i've changed my mind and decided not to clog up this thread with enormous posts. Try and keep them shorter from now on. Played a fair bit today: Captured most of western Anatolia from the Greeks, then the Senate outlawed me--on the same turn I got the message saying I was popular enough to attack them. The outlawing led to four cities captured in the next two turns (luckily it had happened when I had money). Spent the next while driving out the romans - the Brutii went without much of a fight (they now have one province, Crete), the Julii took a couple of my settlements before I slowly pushed them back and out (they have one left, on Sardinia). Began to push against the Thracians, building armies now to take the Julii and Carthaginians out of the game.
Good good news: Attacks filled my coffers, number of provinces now support my wealth; result: 100000 in the bank, and refilled quickly each time I spend it all. Avoiding contact with Britain, staying away from Egypt (for the most part), Dacia is easier but I don't like the prospect of facing them (lot of units, big empty provinces, hard to reinforce), so I'm going for a loop around the Black Sea, which should put me around the 50 territory mark.
Good good news: Attacks filled my coffers, number of provinces now support my wealth; result: 100000 in the bank, and refilled quickly each time I spend it all. Avoiding contact with Britain, staying away from Egypt (for the most part), Dacia is easier but I don't like the prospect of facing them (lot of units, big empty provinces, hard to reinforce), so I'm going for a loop around the Black Sea, which should put me around the 50 territory mark.
Heh, i quite liked hearing how you were getting on in the campaign.
Anyway, playing my new campaign slowly, although a diplomatic error left me giving the germans 7000 by mistake.
After brinbing a couple of armies im skint, time to go and pillage i think.
Anyway, playing my new campaign slowly, although a diplomatic error left me giving the germans 7000 by mistake.
After brinbing a couple of armies im skint, time to go and pillage i think.
But if you're all about the destination, then take a fucking flight.
We're going nowhere slowly, but we're seeing all the sights.
And we're definitely going to hell, but we'll have all the best stories to tell.
Full of the heavens and time.
We're going nowhere slowly, but we're seeing all the sights.
And we're definitely going to hell, but we'll have all the best stories to tell.
Full of the heavens and time.
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I'm Murrin
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- Location: North East, UK
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Hit the "gift" button, eh? Hehe.
People were reading my ramblings? Maybe I should make my next couple nice long ones, heh. I actually expect to hit the victory conditions in three more sessions at most, considering how fast it's been going recently. The only problems I can forsee: Further revolts in Spain; Carthage being tougher than they look (I've had them outnumbered several times in the past and still taken a beating - this time, with an army of Urban Cohorts, I should manage it); Scythia (no idea where their territory is, they could be right in front of me when I finish taking out Thrace).
People were reading my ramblings? Maybe I should make my next couple nice long ones, heh. I actually expect to hit the victory conditions in three more sessions at most, considering how fast it's been going recently. The only problems I can forsee: Further revolts in Spain; Carthage being tougher than they look (I've had them outnumbered several times in the past and still taken a beating - this time, with an army of Urban Cohorts, I should manage it); Scythia (no idea where their territory is, they could be right in front of me when I finish taking out Thrace).
I cant wait for the ''revolution'' type thing to come so i get decent units like cohorts instead of these rubbish hastiti.
But if you're all about the destination, then take a fucking flight.
We're going nowhere slowly, but we're seeing all the sights.
And we're definitely going to hell, but we'll have all the best stories to tell.
Full of the heavens and time.
We're going nowhere slowly, but we're seeing all the sights.
And we're definitely going to hell, but we'll have all the best stories to tell.
Full of the heavens and time.
I was. And now I think I'm going to have to start a new campaign.