IGdood
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With money flowing in, it doesn't take long before I manage to amass a mighty army that will crush the Order of Pale Knights.
I hired a few Otjuks....since the patch buffed their stats a little bit.
BESIEGED.
Pah, the Christians will side with their own. Mithras triumphs over all!
This Alchemy School can upgrade my gunpowder units. Thing is...the Romuli only have 2 gunpowder units...
I withdrew from that earlier siege due to a ton of Pale Knight soldiers showing up. So I kinda screwed around with them until I isolated one of their armies. ATTACK!
They don't have archers, just a ton of crossbowmen.
RACKET LAUNCHA
That's just a warm-up.
That's still a warm-up.
MACROSS MISSILE MASSACRE
URA URA URA
A few templar were trying to get at my cannon. Hdar Cavalry intercepts.
Turns out that the Legio Caesaris didn't get a new look in the patch. This unit just looks more awesome because they had an armor upgrade. You can tell by the bronze-colored shield in the unit card.
Ye may be from a future age, but the Romuli stomps all!
Most of their army is made of crossbowmen. Cavalry like eating those for lunch.
And the Matzo Ronin gallop past some Pale Knights in pursuit of the enemy.
One last cavalry charge.
It doesn't take long to before even these fanatics start routing.
What a kill ratio. Some crusaders, indeed.
No.
And suddenly the Povos de Hispania besiege one of my settlements. Well, I'll deal with you shortly after I kill off the Pale Knights.
And their fellow allies the Men of Wotan have joined them. I welcome all enemies!
They've underestimated me.
Abraxas is mine now, previously with the crusaders.
Ohohoho, they've got assassins.
Paulinus, a native of Demos, brings along his ragtag army of dogs and Ly Kan and uruk with him.
No way!
Hispania won't be lasting much longer at this rate.
Eh? That's a lot of Tahar.......archers. Easy.
After a few turns of siege, I think I'll just assault the last Pale Knight stronghold.
Bah, they cower in their town square.
Walls don't last long against the monster bombard.
INFANTRY. ASSAULT THE WALLS. By the way, the guys on the left are the Legio Caesaris with the armor upgrade.
Hammers of Christ? Don't make me laugh. They make their way to the hole in the wall.
And man the tower.
Uruks walk faster than regular humiez, and soz dey GETZ TA CHOP DEM PALE GITZ
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Small update. o_o
The Merchants' Quarter is an upgrade to the Great Market building. It increases tradeable goods, which is just a fancy term of "more trade income."
However, some provinces have more resources than others, so it pays to keep an eye out for them so you know which provinces can yield greater returns from your investments.
Also, Paulinus is a bastard child from one of my older generals' relationships with an adultress.
the Coaching House is an improvement upon the Tavern.
There's a barka army that's too close to Ponda Baba for comfort. Time to take it down. Reinforcement armies led by a general can be told to be commanded by the AI. This effectively allows you to greatly outnumber the enemy. Instead of waiting for these reinforcements to stream in one-by-one, the game will treat it as a separate entity rather than as an extension of your first attacking force.
To clarify, say in FE you got a 15 unit limit....maybe with 5 more able to join you as your first ones die. Instead, you get to choose those 5 guys in your reserves to get into the battle with you as the green NPC faction.
The AI army can be controlled via the small tab in the upper right corner. There are 3 stances I can choose for it: Aggressive, defensive, and shootout. Aggressive just makes the whole army charge into combat, defensive just makes it slower, and shootout just makes it keep a distance and use ranged units. However, the AI is incredibly stupid and will just make the units run around. Luckily, I'm here. Lower quality infantry in the front, Praetoriani in the back.
I'm outclassed in the ranged field, what with catapults attacking me. I've only got 1 unit of Hdar Archers. Time to advance forward.
Blue = allied units.
HOLY WHAT SHITS CATAPULT KILLED MAH GENERAL
ALL UNITS FORWARD I WANT THEIR GENERAL'S HEAD ON A FUCKING PLATTER
It doesn't help that the AI ally army charges cavalry forward before my infantry get there.
I take rather high casualties from the initial enemy charge....legionnaires can't charge for shit.
I can totally make up dialogue for these Triarii right now.
Triarii 1:"Where's the enemy?"
Legionnarii: "Behind you!"
Triarii 2: Behind who!
You!
I can't hear shit with this weird ass helmet!
AAARGH
Oh, uh, THERE!
Looks like I'll have to do it myself.!
Luckily I've got 2 Caesar's Bodyguards and some other dudes doing work
Took out those catapults....
An officer of the legionnaires took out their general. Good job, maybe you'll get promoted to general one of these days,....
SPARE NONE. KILL THEM ALL.
It's always a tear-worthy moment when you lose a general to an unlucky shot from a siege weapon.
Off to the next settlement!
The Barkha's settlements have almost no garrison in them. Their armies had gathered outside Bae Eden. Unwise move.
As a faction is defeated by losing all provinces, it's family members will then become rebels and their armies will remain. They won't have a goal to achieve anymore, but they will still attack you if they feel confident enough.
Who's next? Holy Order of Pale Knights?
The Pleasure Palace is the ultimate upgrade in the happiness-boosting buildings, heheh.
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I was wondering, am I starting to sound like a FE villain? if so, which one?
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I can always enjoy a short romp.
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Oh hey guys, I've been playing non-stop for...I forgot how long. Well there was some summer classes too but anyways.....
Fuck the senate. Those old men know nothing but to get weak families to do their dirty work and get all pissy and throw multiple bitchfits befitting a 0-charm princess when you even start to show talent and power.
I worked hard enough that I managed to match the territories I left off with......40-something turns earlier. So, , some changes.....the League of Privateers is dead, but the Uruk Dominion is alive. Jakuta belongs to the Lao Che, who are still our allies. The Valiente are also our allies. What else.....yeah, not much different. Oh, right, the Tahar migrated to the western island where the Paynal are. They haven't asked for ceasefires from me either, so I assume they're kinda strong.
So, what am I doing now? I'm bringing up an army to Jerusalem Bae Eden, which got Jihad'd by the Barka Sultanate. It then switched hands to the Valiente by a Crusade, then got Jihad'd again. Well, I've seen enough of these inferior peoples fight over each other. I'll be taking this settlement myself.
I've already got spies in here. The gates are open. Let's go. Kill them all.
You tell 'em!
Matzo Ronin, specially imported from eclipse's mercenary company. Heheheheheh.....
The Elephant Rocketeers provide covering fire for my troops who are walking to the gate. The enemy run off, not wanting to explode into tiny chunks.
Aside from Elephant Rocketeers, I also have standard issue Rocket Launchers. Less portable, but bigger payload. Plus, the "Asian" voiceacting they have is hilarious. "RAWKET LAUNCHAS!"
What's also extremely funny is that the elephants trumpet very loudly before their handler fires his rockets. Same goes for Elephant Artillery.
The Legio Caesaris got a makeover after the patch. They have mohawks on their helmets now, but the Praetoriani still look cooler in my opinion, with their black armor.
I've actually ridden on an elephant before. It's a very bumpy ride.
Just as our spies had told us, the gates have opened!
The Barka retreat to their town square.
The Uruk Hai will go in as an advance suicide force. They'll hopefully keep people busy.
You're probably wondering how the hell am I taking so many casualties. Well, the Barka practically parked catapults in the middle of the square. My forces are moving in a narrow line formation down the street. Rocks go through targets. You can do the math. Fuck. Oh, and those cavalry guys on the left are Mancu Warlords. They're currently kicking some ass.
CURSE YOU CATAPULTS
Throw. Pila. Now.
Screw those Barka bodyguard 2 HP cavalry with better stats than my own cavalry. Shoot them!
Fuckers have anti-armor maces. They practically chewed through my Equites Praetoriani! No sexy capes could save my elite soldiers.
Yeah I can't really see what's going on in this pic either, aside from the fact that the Barka are putting up a good fight.
A few last spearmen try to hold off my legionnaires....futilely.
I get bored waiting for the bodyguards to die, so I bring in the elephants. I had them fire off a volley or two into the melee, but that ended up killing a bit of my guys, so I just had them go in and gore things.
Something's not right with the numbers here....
Bae Eden is mine!
It would appear there is a Knights of St. John minor chapter house here, but since I'm not a Christian faction I can't use it to hire the Knights of St. John units. I can only let them tend to the populace as according to their mission statement.
But it would appear that conquering Bae Eden has other advantages. I gain 2 powerful artifacts that turn this man from nothing to somewhat awesome.
The Holy Lance would be the very one that pierced Jesus' side after he got nailed to the cross.
The Holy Shroud.....well seems great against sieges, and it gets more of your men standing up in the Casualties Healed department.
This video depicts some of the massacre at Bae Eden. What I really wanted to record was the hilarious voiceacting of the Elephant Rocketeers.....and people screaming from getting tossed about by elephants. Playing Total War makes you a sadist. Or at least, it's made me into one.
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I know there's a reskin of Thracian Mercenaries who have 2 HP each, but cost like 1600 to hire.
I'm hoping to war soon...I need to kill half my troops and conquer more cities to salvage my income.
Uuuhhh....uuuh....Bastarnae! Yeah. I hire those too.
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On the subject of Rome TW Mercenaries, which ones are worth getting? I tend to get Cretan Archers at every opportunity, as well as Thracians. ...Then again, I'm also rather bad with money, having been in fiscal freefall since the Marian reforms.
Mm, I get Mercenary Hoplites whenever possible to give my Roman units something to kill cavalry with since Triarii usually arrive too late and the Marian Reforms are here. Auxilia suck against infantry, and Merc Hoplites don't since they have long spears.
I also grab Scythian Mercenary cavalry archers if I can, as well as Mercenary War Elephants. Former for great ranged support and pissing off the enemy and the latter for scaring the enemy and giving myself a moving group of arrow-shooting tanks. I rarely commit elephants to a melee unless I'm positively certain they won't run amok.(same for Medieval 2 Total War) If I'm just running low on units and I need some fodder I hire those Barbarian Mercenary Warbands and Desert Infantry Mercenaries.
The rest....I'm not really sure.
And yes, Marian Reforms really put a dent in your finances. Going into a Roman Civil War.....even moreso.
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11 melee attack, 6 charge, and 16 defense is already absurd, but 63 missile attack? I'd pay 550 a turn for that. Do they also shoot rockets while the elephants are beating people up in melee like archers on top of elephants do?
Probably not. I haven't seen it work with the Elephant Artillery, so probably not with the Elephant Rocketeers either.....
Wel, I think the Tahar have had enough. It's time to go to new lands....and to search for new mercenaries. I want to invade the Pale Knights.
I just realized the Tushkan are a play on the Tuskan Raiders from Star Wars.
Zuabii falls to us. Heheh.. Exterminated.
A Master Explorers' Guild is offered to me. I accept and look forward to the new retainers and ancillaries that will appear in my generals' retinues.
Boarding shiiiips!
A swordsmiths' guild offers to establish itself here. It'll upgrade our melee weapons!
You guys remember that little island between our lands and the Lao Che's? Turns out it's still owned by the rebels, and the garrison is NOT pretty.
My spy creeps through the Paynal lands....and...that will be a bitch to deal with.
Our new diplomat seems to remind me of Merlinus....
The Heavy Armourer will upgrade our legionnaires somewhat! Armor is actually a pretty finicky thing. The benefits are +1 defense only per upgrade level, but then you get various drawbacks. You'll actually be more vulnerable to armor-piercing troops and you get a fatigue penalty multiplier in the heat.
Well, after reinforcing my tiny force at Ganghwa Island it's time to besiege it....I'm not going to assault it. That will be suicide.
The Tahar accept my request to a ceasefire.
Well remember that Barkha Sultanate army back at Troy? They've decided to attack the new governor who was on his way to there. Looks like I'll be going after the Barkha, not the Pale Knights...
New mercenaries have appeared as we land close to the Barkha Sultanate lands.
Hdar Archers - Pretty much identical to the Tushkan, save with MUCH better morale and slightly less defence.
Hdar Swordsmen - Badass-looking motherfuckers with chainmail facemasks who can stand up to our legionnaires.
Hdar Cavalry - They can beat out our Romuli cavalry in charge bonus....and they'll kick major ass in the desert.
Seems like building the final tier of Romuli ranged buildings unlocks the Legionarii Arcebusarii, but I've already got the better Praetoriani version....
BESIEGED.
FROM TAHAR TO BARKHA I RAVAGE THE LAND
NOW ROMULI DNA GOES FROM NEW YORK TO JAPAN I MAKE NO SENSE
This is a strange, strange mission. Wtf?
Paj Nara has fallen. Occupied.
The Barkha at Ponda Baba are pissed off enough to sally out. Looks to be a huge battle.
I got my shield wall. Barkha don't have elephants. I'll win this.
U ready to prove yourself to the Romuli, Hdar?
Annnd all the suspense I've been building up amounted to nothing. The Barkha stand on their high ground, and I stand on mine. They don't proceed to attack, so I win by the timer.
Consequently, I massacre the shit out of Ponda Baba to prevent dissent.
Tullius Caesar has died, oh noez.
The Barkha really don't know what they've asked for, do they?
Funny, on the southern side of the island there is another new breed of mercenary. Although, the shitty kind.
Otjuk Tribesmen - While it's surprising they have a bonus against armor, their stats really don't make up for it. They're only good for garrison duty.
Otjuk Archers - I'll take Hdar Archers any day.
Otjuk Warriors - Garrison duty and sword fodder.
Otjuk Karshi - You suck even more than Daryan the Silver Wolf.
Anyways, then after I posted all these screenshots I find out that I fucked up my installation of Thera due to an incorrect patching. So I fixed it and the game save is not compatibile with the new version. Now I have to restart my Romuli Empire. Don't worry, I'll be back in a few days and try to get more-or-less to the same state I am in now. Sorry guys,
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See, pila aren't effective against elephants in Rome, just javelins, like from skirmishers. Except skirmishers really suck against everything else, so I never have them in my army.
Massed chariots can kick any cavalry unit's ass. Failing that, get Heavy Peltasts/Illyrian Mercenaries. Incendiary Pigs work well too. But I myself prefer to use ballistae and onagers if possible.
Anyways, update time.
The Valhallan nation offers trade rights to me. Funny how I see princesses doing the negotiating nowadays instead of actual diplomats.
I have a shortage of governors in the newly conquered Tahar provinces, so maybe I'll train some new Generals. They're not as great as the royal family members in fighting, but they'll do.
Nubii falls to us after a failed sally attempt.
Numari Javelins - Forgot if I advertised this unit before, but the only use I can think of for them is garrison duty and killing elephants, but even then they'll suck at it.
Valerius Tiberius leads a small army to besiege Izbila. Yes, the Cataphractii are with him.
Then, next turn the Tahar are royally pissed and sally with a large force.
The small force initiated the attack, and the actual large force led by Yahya is behind me, so I deployed facing the other way.
The small, 100-man band approaches first. I let Valerius deal with them.
Yeah, Valerius and his bodyguard unit alone took care of those 100 Tahars.
Now with that rabble swept aside, let's continue advancing to meet the real enemy force.
I immediately come under fire from enemy catapults, ballista, jezails, javelins, and an arrow storm.
I won't last long under this kind of shitstorm. Not even with all that armor and shields. The Tahar aren't budging either, but their javelin cavalry are running around tossing shit at me. Well, Valerius won't have this kind of bullshit happen under his watch. No, he has the cataphractii charge forth.
And manages to catch the raiders, who are quickly sent to hell.
This pisses the Tahar off enough that all their infantry come charging forth at me. I put the legionnaires on shield wall mode.
I'm losing tons of men from that enemy elephant general bodyguard somewhere in the distance.
And being outnumbered by superior enemy troops (somewhat superior anyways, fucking immortals and Tahar Infantry are dangerous)
So, the cataphractarii go forth to cut up some archers and hopefully they'll survive the hailstorm until they hit catapults
Meanwhile, I have my Mancu Warriors and mondii Axemen attempt to flank the Tahars.
Seems like the enemy knows what I want to do. They keep shooting at my cavalry.
Cataphracts manage to hit catapults, and they send the crew routing.
I've got to take down that Calpih, and fast...
But it would be suicide to go after him right now, so all I can do is charge Valerius repeatedly into the enemy rear. It worked wonders.
They're running! Now, all units, go after the Caliph!
Valerius sir, what the fuck are you doing, get out of there!
Oookay, so I'm taking quite some losses fighting the Calpih's bodyguards, and i realized the Tahar routers had regrouped and are coming back with a vengeance.
Well, he dies, and I have no idea who landed the killing blow.
With renewed vigor, we continue slugging it out with the remaining enemy infantry.
And we win. Major losses all around, though.
Valerius has a propensity for dread already, so why not reinforce it by executing all the enemy soldiers we just captured? I am informed of a bloody execution by the sound of sharp objects falling and blood dripping.
I don't think Valerius will survive this one...
Nevermind, he did. The timer ran out and the AI didn't do anything.
This is one of the new generals i had recruited. Boy, are those some shitty stats.
The Alchemist's Lab will allow me to improve my gunpowder units....somehow.
My spies move around the middle island. I find a very nice Star Wars reference. And it would appear that north of the Tahar is territory of the Faustian Reich and the Valiente.
It doesn't look like they like each other very much.
The Aqueduct will improve public health and population growth.
huh, I was looking forward to fighting these guys.
I land on a little island that is still occupied by rebels. I find a new mercenary unit that's totally eclipsekitty's Pineapple Huggers. Now they're called Matzo Ronin. You want 'em, eclipse? XD
You know, I thought Elephant Artillery was ridiculous, but this takes it up to eleven. Rocket launchers on fucking elephants. HIRED.
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Don't you just love elephants
Very much. -pulls out pila-
Methinks I need more javelin cavalry in my ranks. Legionnaires take way too long getting ready to throw. Good thing there's an endless supply of Tushkan Raiders ready to die for a warm bed and soup. Flaming arrows only make Dumbo panic. Javelins actually kill them very, very well.
Of course I can just get a shitload of Elephant Artillery and let hell break loose.
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Right, here's the update I was talking about, heheh.
Seems that Slavos' army at Dakar is attracting quite a lot of Tahar attention. I quickly hire a lot of Tushkan mercenaries since I know the Tahar have a shitload of elephant troops.
While I was spying around the island to the West I found that above the lands of the Barka Sultanate are the lands of the Holy Order of the Pale Knights. Then I looked around and realized their units are based off of the Medieval Knights Hospitallers......aka Knights of St. John, the very ones my faction was descended from in my Empire Total War LP.
Suck it, Tahar.
Anansi falls to us, but not before a fair number of legionnaires got their asses gored by elephants.
Conquering Anansi seems to send me further into the lands of the Numari people. New units unlocked in that region:
Numari Bows are really cheap archers with a fair-enough missile attack.
Numari Spears have no special abilities, and are rather shitty units. Their spears are too short to qualify them as actual spearmen, so they have no anti-cavalry bonuses.
The Army Barracks is the best military building a Romuli city can have. 3 in each unit pool means you can make some units very quickly, and they'll replenish pretty quickly too, I think.
The Mayor's Palace will give a pretty large bonus to public order. This is something you need when cities begin to get very, very crowded late-game and people start getting pissed from squalor.
Caesar Tullius moves further north. Jakuta is secure now.
Well, time for a big battle. One thing I don't like about the older games is that I can't see the army composition of the enemy before the battle.
That's quite a lot of enemies. Good thing I don't need to face all of them at once.
i turn off fire at will for my legionnaires. Skirmishers die easily, but they eat up your ammo. I'll save the pila for the elephants.
I also try not to march my troops around too much. Most of us are wearing heavy armor, and in this heat, they'll be cooked FAST.
Things are starting to get a little hot here, there's flaming pots from those catapults, and they're guarded by elephants. Nothing to do except to handle all those Tahar infantry running at me.
My own elephants are undermanned. There's no archers on the...compartments, only riders.
I wonder if katanas work well on elephants.
Well that question was something I don't want to answer the hard way, but for sure gunpowder should do something to elephants. I've got flaming arrows trained on those fuckers and I am gonna make them run amok.
Things don't quite go as planned, with enemy elephants annihilating my lines.
Well somehow this group decided to rout. But they're still so many more elephants.....
My own 'phants run amok. Too bad it's away from the enemy, and closer to my own troops.
I highlight the battlefield just to see how well/poorly I'm doing. That's not good. Blue is the color of my reinforcements sitting elsewhere.
Go go ronin, push back those Tahars!
SPARTAANS. TONIGHT, WE DINE IN HELL!
As Slavos' army is slaughtered/routing/withdrawing, my second force of Tushkans and legionnaires begin to flow in.
Meanwhile Slavos tries to kill as many Tahars as he can by repeatedly charging, almost bouncing between multiple enemy units, pinball style.
It works.
Looks like a lot of enemies right? Good thing half of them are routing, and the other half are archers.
And some of the Caliph's Bodyguard maul my horse archers.
Hm, maybe the Tahar need to learn how to organize. They've shot their own siege weapons.
Well I have Tushkan Raiders riding forth like Big Damn Heroes over the sands to see if they can help Slavos out a bit.
Actually withdrawing sounds pretty good here. The Tahar have regrouped.
See that asshole standing on that one bloody elephant? That's one of the Tahar Caliphate's royal family members.
Well, he goes amok, which causes way more trouble for my swordsmen. Good thing I've got lots of legionnaires itching to throw pila.
Meanwhile, my hounds munch on some Sahar Boys.
All units, HURL!
Douche.
The remaining Tahar, shocked by the loss of their generals and captains, exhausted by the desert heat, flee at the sight of my reinforcements. Slavos and co. did most of the work actually.
Looking out for the last bits of Tahar.
Hm, I thought it'd be worse since they had elephants.
Negative experience means that unit is completely wiped out.
Dakar is ours. I decide to sack it.
At this rate, we'll be fighting with the Ducado somethingsomething Valiente!
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Apologies, I was at Vegas for the past few days. Will update soon.
I've always thought that units got fatigued too easily walking around in hot weather. Well, it's realistic, I'll tell you. I felt ready to die walking around in 110 F heat during Vegas, even if it was for 2 minutes at most....I was wearing a T-shirt and shorts! Now imagine marching around that in full combat dress uniform/plate armor. Fuck.
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Previously on the LP, the Jihad army has reached their target settlement, and are assaulting it. let's see how much they got pwned.
I deployed my troops back to the inner ring of walls. I expect them to try and knock the gate down or something. If they try and climb the walls, I have Praetoriani waiting there.
They quickly ram through the first gates, but forget that I've got yet another set with the inner walls and they abandon their ram.
Yeah, they abandoned all their other siege equipment and made a mad rush.
Archers, fire arrows!
Well, seems like a group was smart enough to bring up ladders. Oh yeah, most of their army seems to be made of Tushkan Jezails and Immortals and led by an elephant bodyguard.
The Immortals climb up, and fight to a standstill against the Praetoriani.
Another way to deal with Elephants is to keep shooting flaming arrows at them. It's not gonna kill them, but if you shoot enough then they'll freak out, panic, and run amok, killing themselves and their forces. In a cramped siege situation like this, it's a godsend.
As the Praetoriani get worn down I send up Mancu Warriors.
I get impatient at the slow combat on the walls, so I send my Legionarii out and have them mop up whoever's left outside.
They bring up a ram, but really? My forces are already outside and killing off the Jezails.
My Numari Warriors rush in. They get butchered, but they succeeded in holding up the enemy while my legionnaires continued to slowly wipe the floor with Tahar blood.
With their general killed from running around amok, they flee.
I order all units to get out and start killing people.
Jihad? What Jihad? Holy War? More like a Holy Sacrifice to your Allah, fools! We worship the true sun god Mithras!
The Tahar offer a ceasefire. I decline. We will continue conquering up.
Should I expand east on the middle island (and fight the Hispanics), or should I expand north (and fight the Valiente)?
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I CAN HAVE ALL OF THEM?! I found my cult! This is bad for you, Grandmaster! I can claim your entire army and then you won't actually control them and I can take over the world by letting you do it for me! This is brilliant! Exclamation marks! EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!!!!!
It sounds like so much work...
Actually, nevermind you fanatic. :D
It is.
So previously, this huge Jihad army was attacking the smaller army of mine which was besieging Anansi. Let's see what happens.
I was only able to do a double line, melee units in front and ranged units in back. Also, I need to make a correction on the Tushkan Raiders unit. They're actually javelin cavalry, noot horse archers.
This looks kinda scary actually.
Their javelin-throwing skirmishers were repelled pretty easily by pila and arrows.
Oh, so those dudes are Immortals? So...I'm guessing the Tahar are actually based on Persians then. Well...spearmen, do your best!
Let's just say the spearmen were at a disadvantage.
Infantry line, charge those boys armed with sticks!
I've got shield wall mode on, and hopefully my legionnaires will be able to hold out mmost attacks.
Luckily, the Immortals are being held off while the boys are being cut down. After they rout, I should be able to flank attack the immortals.
okay, where the hell did you guys come from? Hashashim, if I remember correctly, were pretty dangerous units who could hide anywhere.
Well, suddenly all of them started routing. Then I realized, this was just an advance force. The real Jihad army is coming. Shit.
Well, at least I think I still have some javelins to kill elephants with.
Here we go...
The morale-breaking impact of charging Immortals and Jezail bullets immediately breaks my men. Then I realized, the Tushkan line of units didn't have the "Good morale" trait, didn't they? Well, I'm screwed.
Meanwhile, the legionnaires are giving 0 shits.
And a few javelins took down quite an amount of elephants.
Then I just discovered a function that highlights my units and the enemy units. This'll help me differentiate between the two.
The battle is pretty much lost. I order my remaining units to withdraw, just so I don't lose everybody.
Well I didn't give the order yet when I took this pic....
It's time to GTFO!
As my men flee, quite a few of them are shot to death by bullets.
Meh, I kinda expected this. I relied on auxiliary local troops to make up my numbers. And well....I need professionals. Especially against special Jihad-only units.
On the other hand, the Andelusi fortress falls to me.
Well, the Tahar were honorable enough to release themen they took as prisoners. I think maybe this is because I've been releasing prisoners too...or maybe I don't sack/exterminate their settlements...
The Jihad army makes its way to its target. Let's see how they match up to Romuli steel.
Meanwhile, I've already raised up a more professional army to go after Anansi.
A turn later, the Jihad army doubles in size (you can tell by the filled color in the banner), and they've built some siege equipment. However, they did not assault.
I find another new unit up for recruitment, the Tushkan Jezail. Basically desert soldiers with a arquebus, i think.
My other army moves up to continue a path of conquering.
I sent another desert force to Anansi to reinforce the other one, but they're being attacked. Time for battle!
Does his face look manly? I say yes.
The spearmen and Tushkan Raiders will go after the elephants. The Tushkan Scouts will go after the infantry.
So how do you fight against cavalry charges? Well, you make sure your infantry are not moving and are in the "Ready" stance. This way they will try to brace themselves against charging enemies, and receive less casualties as a result.
The Tushkan Warriors quickly take down the elephants, who happen to be carrying one of the Tahar's named characters.
Cavalry, while powerful in Thera, are best used in the cavalry cycle. You charge, withdraw, get to some distance away, then you charge again. With the Tushkan scouts, it's great, their stamina + bonus in deserts = dead Immortals. Now if I wee using European Knights....well.....I'll probably only need to charge once.
Charge again and again!
I'll do this battle next.
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Oh, but then there are others, too. Like the arquebusier legionary guys.
And then upload them to a photo site?
Take those too, hahahaha,
Photobucket.
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Congratulations! You've had a Holy War declared on you!
I don't know whether to take the elephants or the cataphractarii...
What do you do to take/post screenshots?
Yes. ALAH ACKBAR.
Take both.
I use FRAPs.
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Well, looks like a Jihad has been called. Jihads can be called by Muslim factions on provinces that were conquered. The enemy will make this army where all participating units that join will have free upkeep and increased movement on the campaign map. Shouldn't be too hard to beat up.
This is the Cataphractarii. Stats wise, they're almost identical to the Equites Lanciarii except +1 armor and they have 7 more charge bonus, which suddenly makes them insane if they get to charge.
my spy makes it to the eastern island. It seems to be owned mostly by the Barka Sultanate.
Seems like the Privateers have decided to become a protectorate/vassal of another nation. Basically in exchange for half of their income they become allied with their master and will be protected.
As my assassins kill off random people, Tullius gets a new member in his retinue. Namely, a master of assassins.
And my random force is attacked by a rather large Tahar army.
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I'm trying to like Rome TW. I really, sincerely am. But with the AI being how it is (namely doing everything except what I want it to...YES, THAT IS A GATE. WALK THROUGH IT YOU CU- NO! NOT INTO THE PHALANX, YOU IDIOTS...this isn't even getting into Hastati lobbing javelins all the time except for when they might actually be preferable) and with me bleeding money out of my face...well, I managed to do alright on a Julii run for a while but now I seem destined for bankruptcy.
I feel like I'm shaming you.
...Also, 3 wealth. NICE. You're really skirting the edge, far more than I'd dare. Then again, you're proving very successful.
Pathfinding sucks in towns, I agree. Just turn off fire at will and press Alt-Right Click to use secondary weapon....you should do it with cavalry units who wield lances because then they'll switch over to swords and get a better attack speed.....some cavalry don't have the secondary weapon though...
You're not shaming me, plus it's construction that puts things into 3 wealth....all the income goes into army wages and upkeep before being put to construction, so I'm far from going bankrupt....I think. It's just construction costs.
Really? You're having money problems? I have an absurd amount of money, but then I AM on Easy and a turtled for a while... also, controlling units can be a problem. Now, I only have problems with cavalry, but it's really problematic. Go intercept the enemy cavalry charge NO NOT THE FRONT END OF THE PHALANX IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION. Seriously, I hate enemy phalanxes. They seem to be magnetic. Mine, however, just seem to slow my units down.
HOLY- THOSE ELEPHANTS.
Deploy phalanx mode only when you're about to engage. Otherwise hold the spears up and they can run with your formation. Yeah, it's more micromanaging but that's what the pause button is for. =)
A pitiful army of Privateers attacks me in a feeble attempt to save themselves.
We start off with the elephant artillery firing their cannons, but due to elevation issues their shots were blocked by a hill in front of the privateers. Time to reposition.
Meanwhile, the Elephant Jezails snipe away at enemies, but they ended up hitting the Praetoriani Equites due to elevation issues. bummer.
Move a little to the left, and perhaps we'll get better results.
Yes, ranged units on elephants will keep shooting their weapons whether the elephants are moving, in melee, charging, etc.
Now this is a better view.
And the balls knock them down like bowling pins.
Whoever was still standing after the volleys of arrow, bullets, and cannonballs were greeted by pila.
I think I've developed the tactic of putting my legionnaires in front since they are great at being defensive, while the other mercenary units and cavalry will flank.
My Praetorian Gunners get charged while shooting. Surprisingly, instead of losing the whole unit, they only lose about half. That's pretty good.
They are retreated, and the other Praetoriani move up to cover them.
A few horse archers gallop up to shoot at my elephant artillery. What the fuck were they smoking? Hashish? Kush?
The privateers break, unable to pierce my lines and overwhelming firepower.
Meanwhile, I sic the dogs on them and my triarii go hunting the remaining enemy generals and their guards.
I lose quite a few troops to the charges of the enemy generals, but I win.
Sithra belongs to us now.
As I conquer these desert provinces I unlock new mercenary unit types whom I can train from the facilities I have established, like the time I can train Spartans without a new general.
Tuskan Warriors - They're cheap spearmen with decent enough stats. However, in the desert they truly shine. They're also free while garrisoned.
Tushkan Archers have a pretty good defense (Sagitarii are still better though), but their true quality lines in being free while garrisoned.
Tushkan Raiders would be the horse archer equivalent of the Tushkan Scouts. Pretty good missile attack.
The City Hall is an upgrade to the Council Chambers building....or was upgraded to the COuncil Chambers building? Either way, these sorts of buildings grant law bonuses (repression) and health bonuses due to better management.
The Military Stables just increases the unit pool size for my cavalry units.
The Imperial Stables unlocks a new horse archer unit. Previously I only had Equites Sagitarii, but now I have Equites Clibinarii. Which I'll advertise later when I actually get the building built.
Since the Privateers don't have much left it's time to go after the Tahar Caliphate.
And this big baby shows up as a recruitable mercenary force. Hell to the fuck yes.
And so Slavos and Tullius go ahead and besiege the Tahar settlements.
The Tahar, being smart, quickly call a ceasefire with the Valiente so they can concentrate their efforts on me. I'd like to see them try, as my newly conquered provinces are raising a lot of Tushkans as we speak and the settlementsback on the mainland are raising elite troops.
The Privateers ask for a ceasefire. I accept, since I've pretty much already conquered most of them.
The Holy Order of the Pale Knights contacts me for trade rights. Why not?
Zanhari is starved out.
I accidentally pressed Autoresolve on a sally at yaisal and ended up losing quit a lot of men, despite the victory. Epic fail.
Tushkan Swordsmen are pretty reliable units. They rely more on defense skill than shield though, so they're more vulnerable to getting shot than my legionnaires. Still, they're pretty numerous and they're pretty good.
These are the Equites Clibinarii. They feel more like ranged tanks (Sigurd, anyone?) than nimble cavalry archers.
Romuli siege equipment is actually pretty limited. The Trebuchet is the most advanced they'll go. It's basically a better version of the Catapult.
Moving up to siege Kesh.
and jakuta.
And Andelusi.
The final Romuli cavalry building would be Caesar's Stables. They unlock the cataphractii (apparently the Equites praetoriani aren't the best?), which I will advertise the next update.
The Tahar Caliphate offer a ceasefire, which I refuse.
I train up an Assassin. Look at his shitty stats, maybe if I train more I can attract the attentions of the Assassins' Guild.
Time to kill this wench. Also take note that my treasury is going up. The new settlements I've conquered are all garrisoned with free units like the Tushkan.
Heheheh. She died via snake bite.
Looks like being out in the field for too long has taken a toll on Tullius....
I send off a force to take Tulansi.
One of my spies who had been exploring around will be picked up by boat. He'll be heading to the other islands to see if there's anything interesting that I'd want to conquer. I mean, each island probably has different mercenaries.
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Do we get to start naming things yet?
Yes Hippoman, people get to start naming things since the beginning of the LP.
The Warriors of Kukulcan offer me a trade agreement. I accept. Nice to see that I don't need to be the one doing all the offering.
Since nobody bothered to tell me which island on the minimap that I should go for I decide to head for the middle one in pursuit of the League of Privateers. Since the navy couldn't transport 2 armies in one turn, I let Tullius Caesar go first.
First thing to do is go after Castelo de Greystroke, a fortress settlement.
Seems like there are plenty of mercenaries on this new island.
Hispanico Bandidos. Basically, a mob of javelineers. Melee stats are shit, but they've got a hefty missile attack that ignores armor.
Numari Horsemen, unarmored horse archers whose ranged attack makes them effective against armor. I assume they're using javelins as opposed to bows. Also, free upkeep while garrisoned makes for a good incentive.
Numari Warriors, sure the hiring price is pretty expensive, and their stats suck. And they may not charge without orders, which makes for a rather troublesome unit. Still, they only have 80 upkeep, and they're free while garrisoned.
Numari Jezails - Now this unit may be useful as a cheap, but damaging gunpowder unit. Reptarii Arcebusarii are better though in every respect.
Castele de Greystroke falls to me, and I decide to sack it.
Next target, Talaveira.
I'm okay with paying up some money for trade rights. Alright, you Hispanics.
The Explorers' Guild offers to establish itself in my domain. It confers the bonuses of more trade income as well as a farther movement range for armies on the campaign map.
Hm, they're really going at each other now.
I see if there's anything to conquer beyond Talaveira. I happen to stumble across a Hispanic province. Time to head in the opposite direction.
The Great Market is an upgrade to the Fairground.
As I journey to the west to the desert lands, I come across more types of mercenaries. Here they are:
Sahar Boys: Cheap as dirt, more useless than dirt.
Tushkan scouts, actually sounds good. Huge charge bonus, but that attack sucks.
Sahar Camel Archers - Camels are slower than horses, but they work very well in desert terrain and have combat bonuses against horses. Also, they have 5 attack, which is surprisingly a lot for a cavalry archer unit.
Elephant Jezails, basically gunners on elephants, as opposed to the Sumari Elephant Archers I hired. Probably shorter ranged, but waaaay more damaging.
And for more epic ridiculousness, Elephant Artillery. Yes. Cannons on a fucking elephant.
The privateers around Talaveira finally get pissed off enough to attack the army besieging them. Let's do this.
Yes, pirates should be boiled.
I've got a double infantry line in front, legionnaires first, I believe. Crossbows can't shoot over the heads of their allies, so they're in the front too. My cavalry archers are placed in the back, as they can arc their shots. My melee cavalry are at the side, ready to flank and rear attack the enemy at a moment's notice. My catapults are in the rear, as they can arc their shots.
The catapults let loose with their flaming pots.
Your short-ranged arquebusiers are no match for my awesome ranged rocket crossbows, bitch.
No, not even Aventuriers (armored crossbowmen) can do better.
Their infantry line of cuirassiers is approaching, time to pull out the pila, gents.
Their royal bodyguard charges my elephants. I think they forgot that elephants are super effective against cavalry, and despite the 2 HP they get killed quick. Although, I do lose a few elephants.
Rear attack into some spearmen.
The cuirassiers actually prove to be an even match against my legionnaires. They have a much higher attack, but my legionnaires have a much higher defense, so it kinda evens out.
Here a unit of enemies is seen "Fighting to the death" Basically if an enemy unit routs, but is surrounded and they figure there's no clear way out, they will continue to fight your units to the last man. However, they're a a lot easier to kill at tis point, but can still inflict unnecessary casualties on your unit.
A reinforcement army of privateers finally reaches my line, but it's too late for them.
My ranged units still have their ammo, and the remainder of the enemy are quickly shot to death.
They rout pretty easily.
I found out that in medieval 2 total war's engine, units only get +1 attack every 3 levels. Their defense doesn't go up, and only morale goes up with each chevron level.
Talaveira falls to us, we occupy it instead of well...doing worse things.
The Grand Duchy of Dracule send their warmest greetings.
The Lao Che Khanate offer a princess to my faction leader. I accept for the lulz, only to find out later that she's more than 5 years older than him. What. I....I have been screwed over. This be like Roy and Cecilia...or whatever her name was.
At least it boosts his popularity, as his wife seems to be a rather admirable person.
The Thieves' Guild Headquarters offers to establish itself in my domain. Only one headquarters of a certain guild type can exist at a time, and they confer faction-wide bonuses. In this case, any of the spies I train inthe future will be of quite a good caliber.
A Master's Studio confers better bonuses than a regular Artist's Studio.
The Docklands are an upgrade to....uh...what was the last naval merchant building I described?
The Naval Drydock is the final naval building I believe, it'll let me produce the War Galley, a significant upgrade over regular Galleys.
I receive another mission where one of my generals wants to marry a princess int he royal family. Thing is...they're both from the same family...so does that count as incest?
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Thank you. =)
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Yeah, I ignore them now. "GO BLOCKADE LONDINIUM'S PORT" "Actually, my fleet is ferrying my armies around the Mediterranean and, well, there's a decent chance I wouldn't make it there anyways." "HOW DARE YOU NOW CAPTURE THIS SETTLEMENT IN THE MIDDLE EAST" "Sorry, I'm capturing Carthage right now." "ARGGGHHHHHH- Y'know what, now that you AREN'T following our orders, we'll give you some spots in the Senate!" By the way, what DO those spots do?
Those spots show up as personality traits, and confer bonuses to the character receiving it.
But their territories extend FOREVER inland. I thought they'd just be near the coast, but apparently not. I don't get why chariots are so good, either. Didn't cavalry replace chariots? And I'd imagine those bodies would clog them up... Oh, right, they have like 5 HP. Elephants have like 8. aslfhasldfhlasdhfasldfhasl;df. Also, I guess this changed between the demo and the current version of the full game, but my experience with elephants was... bad. They consistently routed before reaching the enemy lines and then, rather than go on a rampage, simply ran the opposite direction.
Cavalry did replace chariots, but in-game chariots slaughter cavalry. And for elephants....try not to let people shoot them, especially with flaming arrows. It makes them run amok alot. Fatigue also makes them run amok. It's best to position them somewhere behind your lines or maneuver them behind enemy lines. They're not quite tanky as stats suggest they'll be. And if they do run amok, tell the riders to put a nail in the animal.
NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!
I swear these LPs do more for people's health than being a doctor ever will! Besides, imagine how much good you can do with these in the time it takes for you to become a doctor! Although, honestly, I don't think I'll have time to do more than one, either. I have too much stuff during the school year. What are going into in medicine?
Also, any progress?
The lack of feedback begs to differ, HA!
Well I'm not exactly going to medical school, but I have to study up the tests leading to it as well as put something under my resume...
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Wouldn't that put me at war against all of the Romans?
The worst part is that they do more damage after you've routed them. Well, at least in a siege. Also, Egypt appears to be buckling under pressure. It had stretched as far as Turkey and Carthage, but it got hit by a huge plague and all of the provinces I could see on my map rebelled. The Scipii are taking advantage of that. Ugh. And I've had to start exterminating provinces to keep them under control. Hopefully I can take out Carthage quickly. Four full stacks should be all they have, right? I mean, I AM on Easy.
I like how this has become a thread to discuss how my RTW playthrough is going. Should I do an LP for my second campaign, or do people think that should be left to skitarii?
Yes, but as you keep conquering the Senate is going to decide to screw you anyways.
Yeah, elephants and chariots suck in sieges. And yes, with easy mode on they shouldn't be too hard to get rid of.....
Hahaha, it's more of a side project, I guess. I mean, I don't think I have time to do a LP after this one (I have to start preparing for medical school and research and all that). So go ahead, you can be my successor.
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It's more the fact that they had France, most of Spain, and of course Britain. The Germans have like Germany over through European Russia, althoguh the Brutii are starting to attack them- and lots of rebellions are starting. Unfortunately, my two armies are in Spain and N. Africa right now. I'm Julii, by the way. Brutii basically have Eastern Europe, with the exception of the northern stuff which they are grabbing now, and Scipii has Turkey and Greece. I've got Northern Italy, France, some of N. Africa and Spain, and the few islands in the western portion of the Mediterranean including most of Sicily. The Egyptians, I dunno, but they've worked their way over as far west as the city of Carthage. Carthago Nova was Carthage's capital until I captured that, and then it was Corduba, but I captured that. I think the Scythians are sitting with their original 4 provinces right now. It won't be long until the Brutii strike them, I presume. Basically, we're down to Egypt, the Roman factions, and the Britons- everyone else is gone or will be gone soon.
Edit: I HATE WAR ELEPHANTS
Hm, looks like you'll have a Realm Divide....err..I mean Rome Divide of sorts. Time to rebel against the Senate?
Mercenary War Elephants kick major asses, you should hire them whenever you get a chance.
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And a quick update.
Secundus Caesar, our old faction leader, dies.
And Consul Tullius now becomes Tullius Caesar. I'm sure I can develop this young man into a fine emperor.
Porto Novo and Fulgora fall in an autoresolve.
Constructing an Archery Range unlocks an archery unit called the Sagitarii Caesaris, a unit of pure-blooded Romuli. Their stats are only slightly better than regular Sagitarii, but they have much better stamina and morale.
Pagans and Christians fighting, no surprise.
Alright, I need your help in deciding what I should do now. I'll give you a few choices:
A. Secure the east end of the continent I'm on. This will put me in a war with the Lao Che, whom I should be able to fight off.
B. Move to the middle island right above me. There's more Privateer settlements up there.
C. Move to the eastern island above my Greek city settlements (Sparta, Messene, Troy). I'm not sure what is up there, but we might find new enemies and ner mercenaries to hire.
Funny, my favorite musical group went to perform at Malta recently.
Let's Play: Thera Total War
in General Gaming
Posted
Crossbowmen on the walls? ROCKETS.
Did I also mention that Reptarii run pretty fast too?
Seems like those guys don't want to fight.
Epicness level up. C'mon, how often do you see a samurai, legionnaire, and knight on the same screen?
Ronin be ownin'.
Thou shalt not win.
Things aren't so crowded on the other side.
OKay...now that kind of hurt.
Are those maces?!
These guys are tough nuts to crack.
Whereas some of the infantry managed to fight their way to the city square.
Wow. That's some heavy casualties right there. Those knights just cut down my legionnaires like they were.....iunno...Numaris.
After awhile everyone else joined in the fray.
Screw the templars!
While the fighting continues, I decide to check out the stats of the enemy. Most impressive.
Exhausted, but continuing.
I hope you know how to aim that thing.
And we have a victory!
Begone, knights.
Holy shit, complete recovery of casualties for the Legio Caesaris. Must be that Jesus Shroud thing at work!
We made war on these guys, so I'm not going to sack them or exterminate the populace I do have standards, after all.
The Hispanics, on the other hand......EXTERMINATE. For they were the aggressor.
Hmmm...
A small elite force of mine lands and heads to the town of Romeo.
Well this doesn't look good.
SHIELD WALL.
Javelins, javelins, and lots of javelins.
Damn catapults, took out a chunk of my shield wall.
JAVELIN DUEL.
Keep that cavalry off our backs, scalies!
SHIELD WALL, FORWARD!
Cut 'em all down, you're Praetoriani, dammit!
Meanwhile the cavalry chase ranged units.
Chase chase chase ooooh HOLY FUCK WHAT ARE YOU
Some spearmen charge my reptarii. Well, things don't look too good.
Pull back, pull back, dammit!
Now I'm gonna see how long I can last. My cavalry are no match for that bodyguard unit, so all I'm doing is running around randomly cutting up ranged units and trying not to get caught.
HOLD THE SHIELD WALL.
Espadas Velhas are absolute monsters in combat. They have a whopping 12 melee attack.
What sucks is that a lot of Hispanic units have the "Can Hide Anywhere" trait. These guys just popped up out of nowhere.
Meanwhile, catapults continue throwing crap at me.
Annnnd my captain is gonna die.