Caesar's Gallic War

[Jerec]

Caesar's Gallic War. I'm making a scen on it, and boy do I love this tidbit of Julius Caesar's career.

I'm skipping a description of my scen unless someone asks for it, just to save space.

Got a brain twister for you guys- Can a unit change into another using a unitkilled event?

History question- I know the number of Caesar's Roman legions, which made the core of his army, but I have no idea what type and number of troops formed his light infantry. I do know his cavalry were made up of Gallic levies, and at later times hired German cavalry, which became very effective; but he also had different mercs in the cavalry branch as well, and I have no idea the number of these cavalry mercs beside the Gauls and Germans.

Anybody know a good online source for the Gallic War?

[AGRICOLA]

Re: Caesar's Gallic War

Originally posted by Jerec
Got a brain twister for you guys- Can a unit change into another using a unitkilled event?

Sure, take a look at Captain Nemo's Red Front. He powers the German advance during the summer of 1941 by spawning 1-5 German units when a specific unit type, either German or Soviet, is killed.

The only thing that might be a problem for you is that you have to specify where the replacement unit(s) is/are spawned.

Here is a sample event.
@IF
UNITKILLED
unit=Red Army
attacker=Germans
defender=Soviets
@THEN
CREATEUNIT
unit=Wehrmacht SG
owner=Germans
veteran=yes
homecity=None
locations
47,53
42,48
38,50
43,53
34,50
33,61
30,68
endlocations
@ENDIF

[Jerec]

Just wondering...would a tech tree of any size be a good idea in this type of scen (as in conquest)?

I suppose background info would be appropriate. Since the Gallic War spanned from 58 BC to 51 BC, that would make the scen itself 96-48 turns long. Good length for a conquest of Gaul I figure. I've finished placing the cities for all the civs, including the four Gaulish civs. In addition to the cities, I've also placed a number of "minor tribe" units where the cities would have been too dense. To make the land look more populated I also stuck in Gaulish "village" units, 5 or so per Gaulish civ territory, mainly around rivers. Units have been compiled as well. One of the questions I asked above was "can a unit be changed by a unitkilled event." Thanks for answering Agricola! Your answer got me to check around other scens for ideas, including Red Front of course. I settled on the "sword in the stone" trick from Hammer of the North. There will be 2 different types of legions: green and normal. The green legion will have very different stats from the ordinary, veteran legion unit. The greenie will be a "one time" only use; once it destroys a "minor tribe" unit a normal legion unit will be produced. Until then it's vulnerable, just like real green legions until they were blooded in battle.

I want the attached pic for a title but I can't seem to get it to appear...McMonkey, didn't you have this problem too?

[McMonkey]

Yeah, just take someone else's title, open it with paint, paste your pic over it and save. It should work then as the palette will be compatible. Thats how I do it anyway!

Interesting idea with he green Legion. Looking forward to playing this.

[Jerec]

Am I correct in thinking that peltasts could be classified as Cretan light infantry?

[Harry Tuttle]

Yes.

[Jerec]

Anybody got a German cavalry unit? I would have used Tanelorn's mounted German in the sci-fi thread but I'm afraid it's not in the correct format.

[Jerec]

Forget the unit request above. I'm using Tanelorn's unit now, in the proper format.

[Gelion]

When can we expect some pics?

[Jerec]

Now. I didn't think about posting pics before, at least until I got an alpha/beta out.

A quick pic of a Roman expedition against the Parisii tribe, with a horde of Gaulish levies and a few wealthier, more seasoned troops thrown in. The Romans have two ordinary legions out front, with the elite German merc cavalry. A green legion is off to the side, and a merc Hispanic cavalry very far out pillaging. The legion running up to join in the battle is one of the original four legions Caesar came into Gaul with: the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th.

[Jerec]

And now, a pic of the battle between the German King Ariovistus and Caesar's elite legions!

A dialogue of the battle...daily cavalry battles between the two camps were going on, but though Caesar offered a chance of a general engagement, Ariovistus remained inside his camp. From prisoners Caesar discovered Ariovistus's prophetess had told the king he would lose the battle if he fought before the new moon. Caesar saw no reason to put the struggle off, and he imagined that if forced to engage against their will, the Germans would fight with less heart. Accordingly, he formed his triple line and advanced. If the Germans would not come out to face him, he would seek them in their camp. When the Germans percieved Caesar's intention, they poured out of their encampment and began to form their battle line. Indeed, the whole camp broke up; for the women and children with their wagons and carts drove out to watch and to cheer on their men. Thus encouraged, the Germans locked their shields to form a phalanx and charged the Roman line. Unlike the Helvetians, the Germans had here the advantage of the ground, which sloped gently downhill and was treeless. For this reason they came on at tremendous speed and crashed into the Romans before the latter could throw their javelins at all. But the legions by this time were made to prove to Caesar that he could trust them. Many men of the front rank leaped forward bodily onto the wall of shields, and landing on it stabbed down with their short swords over the top. The rest swayed backwards, but the elasticity of the Roman line was great because each soldier had room. The onrushing phalanx slowed and swayed almost to a halt as the second line of the Romans became engaged with it; and all along the battle the roar of thousands of men in conflict rose. Caesar was fighting with the right wing and had put his officers up and down the line, for now was the moment for them all to deserve the devotion of his legions. Thus at the crisis of the battle there was no man but Publius Crassus with the cavalry on the wing to observe that in one place the Roman line was in great danger of being rolled over, while in another it was driving the enemy back. Crassus, however, was equal to all, and galloping up the length of the third line, he directed the reserve of each legion to the place where it was needed most and saved the battle. The enemy turned tail and fled, while Publius Crassus at the head of his cavalry pursued. It was five miles to the bank of the Rhine, and every hillock and hollow on the way was strewn with dead. A few barbarians plunged in and made for the further shore; but the Rhine has a very strong current and is also deep and wide. Few were able after fighting and running so far to struggle across. King Ariovistus came on a boat moored to the bank, but both of his wives and one of his daughters were killed in the pursuit. Another daughter was captured the Romans and sold as a slave.

[Jerec]

I need an ANSWER on this matter. What about a tech tree? I have a civ specific tech for each, and a tech for improvements, which is enough to play the game. But should there be a researchable tech tree for the Romans in a conquest scenario?

[Harry Tuttle]

If the scenario is open ended you might pitch tech advances in a decision tree format. For example, by researching a tech called "Request reinforcements" some new units can be introduced upon the discovery.

Another example: The player researches "Request supplies from Rome", but when the tech is finally researched a message is generated: "Supply train was ambushed!". The tech would be a ruse and would essentially penalize the player with time wasted.

[Jerec]

Originally posted by Harry Tuttle
If the scenario is open ended you might pitch tech advances in a decision tree format. For example, by researching a tech called "Request reinforcements" some new units can be introduced upon the discovery.

Another example: The player researches "Request supplies from Rome", but when the tech is finally researched a message is generated: "Supply train was ambushed!". The tech would be a ruse and would essentially penalize the player with time wasted.

That answers my tech tree problem perfectly. Thanks HT!

McMonkey

Have enough time on your hands to make a batch file? And I'm afraid I'll need an explanation on how to use it along with the program itself.

[Gelion]

My answer to you would be: have a tech tree. It makes the game a lot more interesting, gives it another dimention, more depth. I say, if you have time: do it.

Things that you could also add:
- reinforcements as Harry mentioned
- techs that open up text messages that could guide the player to certain locations or give other clues
- operations: reinforcements appear for example aorund Genova if Ceaser researches "operation Genova" and plans to move his army there
- city walls, barracks, supermarkets can all be researched by Ceaser and built in his camps