RTW: Factions and Units.

[Scott]

What factions are people using, and what are some of the favorite units?  I've done a couple short campaigns, and want to start a long one.  I'm not sure I want to play as a Roman family again though.  The problem is that Rome seems to have the most units.  Are any of the other factions interesting to play?  

On top of that, what units are people using and like?  What seems to be effective beyond the Hastia, Principes, etc.?

[Ramoz]

I haven't played in a few days, but I was in the middle of a long Greek campaign.  Really different play than the Romans.  I rarely ever lost any battles with using nothing but the various hoplite units.

[khomotso]

I'm playing a Greek campaign as well, and their strength has more to do with throwing money around than developing interesting armies.  Apart from the distinctive hoplites, their units are a little more prosaic and lacking in diversity - and you have to give up on any cavalry ambitions you may have had.  Naval battles become more significant as well.  The Roman factions have the widest spread of units, I think, but I'm interested in trying out the Britons or Egypt just for a different take.

[Scott]

I started a Greek campaign to try the Spartan Hoplites, but didn't see them.  Does Sparta need to upgrade to build there special units?  In fact, how do some of the special units work?  Do they just appear when I select the normal Hoplite in Sparta?

[Sepiche]

I started a Greek campaign to try the Spartan Hoplites, but didn't see them. Does Sparta need to upgrade to build there special units?

Yeah, they are top tier infantry for the Greeks, so you will need to be fairly advanced to build any beyond the initial unit you start with.

s

[Roguetad]

I’ve been playing the long campaign as the Scipii.  When I'm done, I'll probably give one of the smaller, more obscure nations a try just for the challenge.

[bluefugue]

I played a long campaign as Julii, now am playing a long campaign as Gaul.

Of the Gaul units I am extremely fond of the Forester Warbands.  Chosen Swordsmen are pretty badass too.

[whispa]

I am currently playing as the Julii and am fighting Thrace at the moment. I was surprised at how good the Falxman (sp?) were the first time I met them on the battlefield. They are the infantry wielding two handed looking scythes.

[Cota]

Do each of the Roman families get a unique unit? As the Scipii, I was able to build a couple of navy units (their names escape me right now) that I never saw any one else use and required a temple to Neptune to build. Am I correct that each Roman family has a unique line of temples and therefore a unique unit or two?

-Cota

[bluefugue]

I don't recall the Julii line of temples allowing any units to be created.  Not sure, though.

[Sepiche]

I'm pretty sure the Julii get access to Arcani as well.  I think the main differences are the temples they can use, and when and what type of gladiators they get from the stadiums.

s

[bluefugue]

Oh yeah, we do get Arcanii.  Don't remember which building triggered them.  Are they unique to Julii or do other Roman factions get them?

[Sepiche]

I'm pretty sure each faction can build a temple that gets them, but I've only played Julii extensively.

s

[Cota]

Scipii get Arcani as well. I think it's the market line of buildings that builds them. Speaking of them, has anyone made much use of them? I built four of them and sent them out alone to try ambushing with them. Never was able to, and one problem I had was that the group that contained the captain wasn't able to hide anywhere like the rest could, so they were still restricted to hiding in a forest. They did seem ok as morale breakers as part of a conventional army but I didn't use them enough to really test them.

-Cota

[bluefugue]

I used them a bit.  They are tough and can really slice through routing enemies.  I think they run faster than most foot units too (not sure though).  But in a serious infantry battle there aren't enough of them to provide the main line so I'm not sure what you should do with them.  Maybe charge them at the flanks of infantry units who are bogged down fighting one of your main groups.  Their function actually seems a bit like cavalry only they can take care of themselves once they get into a melee.

[Sepiche]

I had fair luck with them in the northern forests.

In a normal battle in forests I'd deploy my battle lines anchored to a forest and put a couple units of Arcanii hidden the woods.  Usually the barbarians would try to send a few units through the forest to flank me and I'd hit them with the Arcanii... they are outstanding individual fighters and always did a number on the barbarians.

s

[Turtle]

I'm playing Carthage, and only now am I starting to get my top tier carthaginian units, the Poeni Infantry and the Sacred Band.  Both can form a phalanx

[Chesspieceface]

I've really enjoyed a short campaign with Briton.  Somehow slaying the Gallic King in battle while pushing a two prong front through France was just sooooooo sweet.  Plus the Britons get Head-Hurlers.

Yes, if you haven't seen them, they hurl human heads.  Talk about a terror weapon.

British Light Chariot Archers are quite effective too.

[whispa]

I did play Medieviel Total War so mercenaries aren't new to me but I just have to say how much I love the option to fill an army out with different troop types in a pinch. Merc Hoplites helped big time when I couldn't create spearman in my towns yet.

On a side note, there is no way to replenish mercenaries numbers is there? I usually just disband them if there are a few left after battle.

[Ronin]

I believe that many Mercenaries can be retrained in towns that are advanced enough to do so. But I remember hearing that it can only be done if you are in the area you recruited them in. For example, if you recruit Gaulic Cavalry and take them to Egypt you can't retrain them in Egypt.

[Sepiche]

I believe that many Mercenaries can be retrained in towns that are advanced enough to do so. But I remember hearing that it can only be done if you are in the area you recruited them in. For example, if you recruit Gaulic Cavalry and take them to Egypt you can't retrain them in Egypt.

I've heard you can retrain them, but I've never been able to do it myself... then again I tend to not build many training facilities in my towns, so that could have something to do with it too.

s

[Scott]

I managed to take Rome last night while using the Carthaginians.  I ended up  sapping the walls, and throwing 6 units of war and normal elephants at the troops.  That seemed to work pretty well.  Elephants are nasty in this game.  I think started retraining them to fill out there loses in Rome, as it is pretty advanced.  Now I only have to worry about the Brutii and Juli factions.  Ironically, my invasion force wanted to make Spain, but the overpowered Roman fleets forced me towards Italy, and I figured why not.

Now my goal is to capture Spain to finish my short campaign, and do a long campaign with another faction.  

The northern tribes (Germans, Gauls, Britons) all look interesting, but they start off so weak and poor, that it is frustrating.  I like having Carthage's wealth, or even the Romans, and just buying off people.

[Daveman]

RE: Spartan Hoplites

I played a Greek campaign on Hard/Hard through to 30 provinces conquered and got bored.  Money was simply no object at any point in the game.  I could go through each town and if it wasn't building or recruiting anything, I could afford anything on the menu.  Every turn.  Not to mention having enough to bribe away certain armies now and then.  Even fairly early I was bringing in 10-15,000 Dinari per turn... lots of ports and the Colossus = more cash than you can really use.  Fighting with Hoplites was fun though... and it's made me a better player I think.  It's certainly made using other factions phalanx-capable units easier.

Anyway... I was thrown by the Spartan Hoplites and what was needed to build them.  At first, I thought they might have been a mercenary unit.  Then, while browsing the in-game tech tree in various towns, I realized... you need the highest level barracks the Greeks can build AND it has to be in one of a few provinces... the initial Greek player territories IIRC (Sparta, Syracuse, etc.).  I wonder if there are any other region-specific troops (besides mercenaries) as I liked the idea.  I would have killed to build Cretan Archers out of Crete.  The initial unit I started the game with probably accounted for 1/4 of the kills in my early "Drive the Macedonians Out" campaign.

Building the highest level barracks in other provinces is sort of a waste IMO, as it doesn't get you Spartan Hoplites and only lets you build regular Hoplites with +1 experience.  The XP is nice, but I usually had Nike temples in my key cities providing extra XP, not to mention I'd moved up to Armored/Spartan Hoplites as well.

[Andraax]

Regarding mercenaries,

I do not think you can rebuild their strength, but you can merge 2 depleted units of the same type, and you can upgrade their weapons and armor in cities that have blacksmiths or appropriate temples.

I know I've merged both Cretian archers and mercenary hoplites during my Brutii campaign.

[bluefugue]

I'm fighting Gaul against Greece right now.  Armored Hoplites are an almighty bitch.  I've taken to building huge numbers of Forester Warbands and use the archer power to whittle their ranks.  Of course, the hoplites are so heavily armored that it's still slow going.

[Turtle]

Carthage can get pretty rich, but they have to work for it.  Their territories are spread out, so you'll often be fighting 3-4 enemy factions at once.

It's also difficult to control the seas, something which Carthage must do to transport armies around effectively.  So there's another war to fight.

Carthage doesn't get many unique units until near the end.  Elephants help, though, and if they can take africa they'll have a steady supply of them.

Depending on how the computer factions ally and fight, playing Carthage can range from medium, to downright hell.