Civ of the Week: Romans

[ixnay]

Leader: Julius Caesar
Capital: Rome (duh)
UU: Legionary - upgraded swordsman (reg. 3.2.1) with extra defense, requires iron

[player1]

Also,
Romans are Militaristic & Commercial (not Industrious)

[Tventano]

With legionaries as offensive units with a strong defense the Romans have to be played offensively. Contrary to the Greek which with the Hoplite have the same defense but no offense at all.

[Mars]

The romans sound pretty cool. The legionaries could be used very effectively at the beginning.

[Tarquinius]

With legionaries as offensive units with a strong defense the Romans have to be played offensively

I agree with you. If you can get several legionarries on the battelfield you are a fearsome opponnent because it will be quite difficult to destroy the Legionarries (they have defense 3, strongest offensive ancient unit has attack 3)

[Roland Ehnström]

Nice! The Romans are my fav civ to use.

I like the updated Civilization Abilities too, though perhaps the Chinese should really be scientific rather than militaristic... Or maybe they could be militaristic AND scientific, and the Germans could be militaristic and industrious instead of the Chinese? Good idea, Firaxis?

Peace!
-- Roland

[monkspider]

Romans look fun. Keep up the good work Firaxis.

[monkspider]

"Caesar's retirement from public life (and life in general) was announced with a knife to the back."
LOL!!!

[Comrade Tribune]

With that defense, the Legions will probably be viable until Gunpowder.
Will Italian Legions dominate not only late Antiquity, but the entire Medieval era?

[Felch]

As far as infantry go, the legions at their height would have been far better than anything in the middle ages until the development of the longbow.

So, assuming Rome doesn't collapse, the legion should be viable.

[d_dudy]

Originally posted by Comrade Tribune
With that defense, the Legions will probably be viable until Gunpowder.
Will Italian Legions dominate not only late Antiquity, but the entire Medieval era?

well, what's a knight again?

and a night will have a movement rate that allows them to attack and retreat.

[Rakki]

The Romans looks like a favoured civilization... they are blessed with a unit that can both attack and defend... AND commercial probably means they earn more money which will help to support the legions... scary.

[Roland Ehnström]

"With that defense, the Legions will probably be viable until Gunpowder."

Well, Pikemen will probably be as good or better than Legions (Pikemen are 3.3.1, 3.4.1 or 4.3.1... Anyone know for sure?), and then there are also Knights with 4.3.2 (not to mention the Chinese Rider - 4.4.3 (!) ). And during the golden-age of the Roman Empire, all the other civs will have Swordsmen with 3.2.1, which isn't too far off the Legion. So I think the Legion is nicely balanced.

Remember also that the Greek Hoplite also has a defence rating of 3, and it comes way earlier than the Legion, and the Persian Immortal is 4.2.1 and comes at the same time as the Legion.

Looking at this, an interesting note is that during the early ancient times there seems to be a good balance between attack and defence, while in the late ancient times, units are surely biased towards attack:

Early Ancient:
Archer: 2.1.1
(Babylonian Bowman: 2.1.2)
Spearman: 1.2.1
(Greek Hoplite: 1.3.1)

Late Ancient:
Swordsman: 3.2.1
(Persian Immortal: 4.2.1)
(Roman Legion: 3.3.1)

So to me it seems that the late ancient times will be bloodier than the early ancient times. Looking at this, it also seems that the Persian Immortal will be VERY strong during the late ancient times, with only Romans and Greeks able to defend themselves ok against the Immortal, until Pikemen are discovered some 1000 years later.

Peace!
-- Roland

[player1]

I thnk that Pikemen will be 2/3/1 to complement Swordsmem 3/2/1

[player1]

Anything higher would make swordsmen practicly obsolete,
and I don't think that Feudalism makes Swordsem obsolete.
Who knows, maybe Pikemen is 1/3/1.
I hope not!