Rome: Total War is Out

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by lightblue
Medieval on the hardest lvl was virtually impossible.

I guess I'm just very good at it then.

I won on expert with every faction while handcuffing myself by not attacking any faction first (although I had to take one province early from the French in my last game as the Aragonese).

[Adagio]

/me ignores all posts in this thread so far

I just got the game, but so far it haven't impressed me... or now I've encountered tons of bugs, while having played this game for only a few hours:

The first bug happened when playing the second battle (The first city battle); I destroyed the gates, grouped my army into several groups (archers (I), spearmen (II), the rest (III)). Then I tried to move III to be somewhere behind the walls, II was set to move behind the gates (and attack the enemy spearmen) and I was set to go through the gates to attack the enemy spearmen...
But what happened? (III) attacked the spearmen, (II) went on a tour through the city, splitting up away from each other and (I) just kept staying behind the gate
After giving them the correct orders for 5+ minutes I finally managed to get (III) away from the enemy, but (II) was already gone somewhere where I couldn't find them (well, I could see them, but I couldn't move them) and (I) finally attacked

The second bug was when I had killed 90+% of the enemy, where I had lost about 20%, I had taken the center of the city... Basicly it was impossible to loose the battle... ok, it did say I made a 'close' victory (close? I had killed all their army with few casualities!!!) ... but then I went to the main map... the city was still not mine, and it said I had lost the battle

The third bug was when I tried to save the game... I was in the main map, pressing ESC to get to the menu, but what happened here? The only options I don't have is the save and load function

[The diplomat]

Did anyone notice the different senate messages you get when they ask you to fulfill a mission? I got one message that said that the Senate would reveal a secret about my faction unless I fulfilled their mission. I can't believe they tried to blackmail me!

Of course I am more popular with the people than with the Senate. I guess the Senators are jealous.

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by Adagio
* Adagio ignores all posts in this thread so far

I just got the game, but so far it haven't impressed me... or now I've encountered tons of bugs, while having played this game for only a few hours:

The first bug happened when playing the second battle (The first city battle); I destroyed the gates, grouped my army into several groups (archers (I), spearmen (II), the rest (III)). Then I tried to move III to be somewhere behind the walls, II was set to move behind the gates (and attack the enemy spearmen) and I was set to go through the gates to attack the enemy spearmen...
But what happened? (III) attacked the spearmen, (II) went on a tour through the city, splitting up away from each other and (I) just kept staying behind the gate
After giving them the correct orders for 5+ minutes I finally managed to get (III) away from the enemy, but (II) was already gone somewhere where I couldn't find them (well, I could see them, but I couldn't move them) and (I) finally attacked

The "group bug" is well established by now. Dont group your units (which is really ****ty since the grouping itself is much better than earlier versions).

The second bug was when I had killed 90+% of the enemy, where I had lost about 20%, I had taken the center of the city... Basicly it was impossible to loose the battle... ok, it did say I made a 'close' victory (close? I had killed all their army with few casualities!!!) ... but then I went to the main map... the city was still not mine, and it said I had lost the battle

In order to capture a city you have to take and hold the center for 3 min. If you dont do that because time runs out (with you in control) or the enemy counter-attacks the center and nullifies your possession then you lose.

The third bug was when I tried to save the game... I was in the main map, pressing ESC to get to the menu, but what happened here? The only options I don't have is the save and load function

I dont know. What options did you have since you didnt have save and load?

[Adagio]

I didn't make any options... I just started the totural... or can't you save when playing it?

[SpencerH]

IIRC you cant save the prologue. Once you've learned the basics, or if you know them from previous TW's, jump into a limited campaign on easy. If you win that it unlocks the other factions.

[Flip McWho]

You can't save in the tutorial. Rather an annoying function but hey.

The second bug sounds like you ran out of time and hence lost.

[General Ludd]

ugh... auto-resolve sucks.


I went into a battle where I had certain victory. Superior troops, superior numbers, superior leadership, ect... and I lost.


I was expecting to take more losses than I needed to by using auto-resolve. But losing all together? ugh.

[Main_Brain]

Uhmm I have a small Problem.

Im playing the Germans ( fear the Woods you Roman wannabe-Invaders) which is pretty tough in itself but I have a strategic Problem.

I have no Idea which Special 'temple' Unit I need/want.
After i finally found the Ingame Tech Tree I saw that the lvl3 Odin Temple would Provide 'Berzerkers' which sounds cool but unfortunatly there is no clue provided to see their Stats before building them
Gothic Cav is the Alternative Unit of the Wotan Temple which would come with +3Exp, quite nice in itself 'cause you all know the Flaws of barbaric Cav
the Third Unit,Screaming Women really suck (No Pun intended)

I also haven gotten arround to build Elite-Axemen which sound like a cheap Alternative to 'zerks.

Sooo can anyone give me a Pointer on Berzerkers/Goth Cav?
Especially one who fought them as Roman?
That'd be appreciated. :=)


P.s.: The Quicksave is the quickest Save i ever saw.

[The diplomat]

Help! I think I overstretched my territory. I have conquered all of Gaul, modern day Britain, Spain, Sparta and Athens and the Turquish western coast (Pergamum). I am starting to get bad revolts in those outlying cities.

But here is the breaker: the Senate asks for my faction leader to commit suicide. What's wrong with them? Of course I can't kill off my own faction leader. So, they outlawed my faction. Now I have Britons giving me resistance in the north, Greeks and Egyptians pounding Sardis, and the Senate, Brutii and Scipii at war with me. I did manage to sign a cease-fire with the Scipii. But I don't know what I am going to do.

I am probably going to have to cut my losses in my far out territories, maybe pull back a lot of troops and bring them back to the Italian Peninsula to fight my fellow Romans. argh!

[Kassiopeia]

Yup, looks like you overdid it and the Senate caught you off guard. In my game I've stopped expanding after whomping the Spaniards and giving the Egyptians a run for their money in the ME; public opinion in Rome is now high and I'm building up a crapload of Urban Cohorts and Legionary Cavalry to take on the fellow Romans. I won't probably manage to crush the Scipii but their holdings are of no consequence - the Brutii OTOH will be a tough nut to crack as they have huge armies wandering around in their Greek holdings. I intend to stave them off to defensive battles with my Greek holdings while I move in from the Italian peninsula proper and just wipe out their cities.

I'm already bringing back from the front my Faction Heir, Gaius Julius, who has 7 in Command (+2 when attacking), 4 in Management and 7 in Influence. I am also reeling in my Vanquisher of the Spaniards, Quintius the Mighty, who has a whopping 8 in Command, +2 when attacking.

[Cookie Monster]

Originally posted by General Ludd
ugh... auto-resolve sucks.


I went into a battle where I had certain victory. Superior troops, superior numbers, superior leadership, ect... and I lost.


I was expecting to take more losses than I needed to by using auto-resolve. But losing all together? ugh.

Most of my battles are fought using the auto resolve and I can honestly say that it's not bad. It's definately not horrible like the random number generator in Civ3!

I've had battles where I should have lost but won and vice versa. Play some more auto battles and you'll see that it's quite fair.

[Arnelos]

Main_Brain,

Screaming Women most certainly do not suck. They work a lot like Briton and Gaullic druids, though the balance is different. Their impact on morale seems to be greater than druids, but their fighting ability is significantly less than druids.

The problem with a unit like the screaming women is that you don't really SEE their impact very closely unless you notice the impact they're having on morale (which is less directly tangible).

I noticed it when playing the Germans in a custom battle and while my German axemen were charging, the screaming women started letting out their screams from behind the charge and the Romans broke and ran relatively early in the melee (since the screaming women were depressing their morale enough that they failed checks they'd otherwise pass when taking casualties against the axemen).

The key to using a unit like druids or screaming women is that you have to remember they're strictly a support unit and that their utility is limited. If you use them in the right places, they can be devastatingly effective for increasing the value of other units and winning battles. If you put them in the wrong places, they're either useless, or worse, just get mowed down.

[Main_Brain]

Ahh well,
I think the barbaric Vulnerability to Bowmen makes it hard to protect Support Units. Until now I find that i better spend the scarce manpower on an Additional Axemen. Their 'BattleCry' seems to me to be a nice (if only weaker) Substitution. I still could not find out wheter the Battle Cries of several Axemen Units 'stack' though

Also an interesting question would be wheter they ( the Screaming Women) suffer casualities in auto-resolved battles


I fully agree on the Support Unit Role, but I'm yet unsure wheter the Demoralising Effect of the Women is worth the Hassle of Protecting them. They obviously need to be pretty close to the Battleline. And as German is mostly Inf, it puts the Support in Danger of Arrows and Breaktroughs. Nevermind that the Ai likely targets them for Flanking Maneuvers. As the Germans focus on heavy Infantry ( or in other Words lack a reliable fast Unit) they are kinda vulnerable to flanking if not watched closely.
Especially Briton Chariots are Ladykillers.


Ah well my only Big Battles were against other 'Barbaric Nations'
whose Morale is as dependable as mine
I'll have to check them against some civilized Armies and see wheter they have an greater Impact there.
Also the Growth Bonus of the Temple is surely tempting for a low-Pop Folk like me ;=)

That Roman Example was really intriguing thanks :=)

[Flip McWho]

public opinion in Rome is now high

Has anyone figured out how to influence the opinion of the public and the senate in any major way? The only way I've been able to use is just doing their missions, the people otoh I'm totally stumped in how to make them like me better.

Also I presume that once your faction gets 50 provinces thats when the senate calls for your leaders death?