270BC

Here is the position at the start of the second turn. Dark green shows move on turn 1 and light green the proposed moves this turn.

Segesta was taken on the first turn by a the fast moving general from Mediolanium. Gaul have beaten Julii to the rebel held town. Gaul Armies are moving on three other cities, Massila, Segestica and Samarobriva. Those towns would be seiged during the winter and rams built ready for the summer assault.

269BC

Samarobriva:

Britania at Samarobriva would feel the wrath of Gaul first. An unknown garrison supportted by a powerful chariot general. Battle odds would be calculated at 6:5 in my favour.

Taking out the British general was the first objective. Infantry get this task closely supportted by chanting druids and cavalry/general

Chariots once engaged in close combat are easy kills for almost any infantry.

Now onto the main business at hand. Capture the town.

It was not hard to push into the town. Killing the light chariot archers was the first priority.

There was also the general to deal with who had survived the encounter out in the open.

With chariots out of the way it was a case of taking a rest and catching breath. Then goading the British infantry to charge out from the plaza. When they did they were mobbed and flanked.

Segestica:

The Illryian rebels had hired three Illryian mercenaries to defend their town. The single ram caused two breaches. With Gaul forces entering from two directions the defenders were soon split, flanked and killed.

The final attack came down one street with no finnesse. An all out charge meant the thin Illryian line held only moments before routing.

Massila:

A captain lead this assault. One ram.

The ram did not batter immediately. To do so might have caused the defenders to face up to the gate. Instead the ram stopped short. The defenders remained facing to one side, and Gaul skirmishers fired into the defenders undefended side/rear.

Once the limited skirmisher ammo was expended it was time to batter a way in.

The defending hoplites seemed strangly locked into their facing. Gaul charged into them and soon routing. I would regret not having my cavalry kill those routers.

Cavalry luring the other hoplites into a trap.

Cavalry and skirmishers get behind to cut off the escape.

The trapped hoplites would fight to their death. Better here than in the plaza ?

A first close up of the Gaul standard bearer. Celebrating.

In the plaza the peasants and the surviving hoplites could not be lured out. The mellee in the plaza would claim more casualties than any other fighting. They fought to the last man.

--

The single Gaul boat made its way along the coast in preparation for invading Britian. It spotted a small stack of British still on mainland europe. The troops who had just captured Samarobriva moved to attack.

They waited for a rainy day in order to reduce the british slingers firepower. (I assume rain reduces slingers and not just archers). But they need not have waited. The slingers never got a shot off before being rode down by Gaul cavalry.

The Gaul cavalry had commanded that battle, not the general, which was a clear victory losing only one man.

Man of the Hour! I had been playing deliberatley for this since the assault of Massila. Only attacks led by captains can gain MotH. By gaining towns without any other generals appearing the invisible balance between generals and towns was now seriously adrift. Many more towns than generals. The game will give out MotH regulary now if I can keep capturing towns.

Forces massing for the invasion of Britian.

Winter 269BC

Britian launch a counter invasion. Right into my forces.

Gaul troops come together and attack under command of the faction leader who is an able 6* general.

I hope for some forests to hide my infantry. There is only a copse of ornamental trees and weeds that offer no hiding. So the troops deploy in plain view..with the weak winter sun shining behind them.

Infantry are well back from the Britians. Gaul cavalry will watch and wait to see if Britian will attack. They dont. The Brits hold their formation. So the Gaul cavalry mass opposite the Brit peasants. And charge.

The charge would rout the peasants and a warband. The cavalry went on to kill the slingers before falling back upon the routing troops.

The cavalry rested a while after killing routers. Gaul infantry moved up to the cavalry. The next attack would be combined arms against the remaing warband. We would need luck and a trick to catch the chariot archers. See the chariots. They are not all together. One or two have become tangled in their own troops. Thats what I had been waiting for.

The change by Gaul went in and caught some of the chariots still tangled with the Brit warband. With some of their number in a mellee the remaining chariots rushed into fight...and against all the Gaul infantry were soon despatched.

--

After the battle Gaul troops board their boat and sail to Britian. They hire a mercenary. They cannot attack or seige. I probobly could have done something better here. Pace of expansion seems slow now.

--
Over end of turn there were the expected riots in Segestica. The governor was completing a building and insisted on very high taxes to maximise his trait gains. Garrison was withdrawn as the riots could not be avoided.

Got off lightly..no damage...but luck was not with me as the governor gain no traits.

Politically I now have trade links with Julii, SPQR, Scipii,Germany and Spain. Later two give me their maps as well as cash for Trade rights. Brutii was too tight fisted and wouldnt pay for trade rights. Cash remains tight and having to forgo some recruitment for lack of funds. Managing to build all I want though.

A marriage and two coming of age events means I have three new generals.
--
268 BC Summer

Uneventful.

A small Brit force is pushed back but not persued. Instead the seige of Londinium commeces. 1 Ram will be built.

Cash postion now easing. Thoughts turning now to population movement using peasants. An army is forming in Gaul to go and find and capture Lugdunum.
--

More will follow tomorrow.

[This message has been edited by Severous (edited 07-16-2006 @ 08:07 AM).]

Winter 268BC

Londinium assault goes in. The enemy are two British Chariot generals, swordsmen and a reinforcement unit of Druids.

The druids were intercepted and killed before they could reinforce the town. Once inside the town the confined road ways restricted the chariots mobility. Against concentrated infantry the chariots would be easy kills.

Trap set up to take out the second chariot general. Barbarian light cavalry lure the Brit chariots towards the trap. They take a few casualties as any contact with chariots is deadly for light cavalry. The infantry are letting off their warcry, the druids start to chant, the Gaul commander is close behind.

Surviving routed chariots would not move far from the plaza. But far enough to be killed by infantry moved forward into the town.

It was the Brit swordsmen that killed most of my troops. They would not be lured from the plaza and fought bravely. The town was enslaved. Thats the first capture to receive this treatment. The others were occupied. Londinium was too big, and it naturally has unrest. I dont want to leave a big garrison behind whilst I move north to complete the island capture.

--

Elsewhere on this 6th turn a small army has found rebel Lugdunam. Only the cavalry and a unit of new mercenaries can seige. Three full strength units building seige equipment can make 15 points each per turn (45 points in total). Thats not enough for three units to build a ram in one turn( 50 points). Damm. Thats another turn lost.
Wish I had some spies to open the gates. The only spy I have is trying to stop Julii spies in Pataviaum.
--

To try and pick up the pace ive blown a lot of money on Spanish Mercenaries. I am going on the offensive in Spain. Not at war yet but it wont be long.

I built a diplomat to go and talk to Carthage. Need not have bothered as a turn later a Carthage diplomat turned up at Narbo.

This Gaul campaign is feeling very different to the Egyptian one I played last.
- Egyptian Chariot archer generals can take down big stacks of rebels. Not so Gaul generals.
- So the rebels are going unchallenged in most of the empire.
- Cash is really tight again.
- I have to forego building things most turns.
- Populations are small.

The good news is the Brit chariots are a push over for the Gaul infantry. This is a big contrast to the first time I met Brit chariots as Julii many months ago. Then the chariots were causing terrible carnage on confident Roman troops. Feels very much like paper ,rock, scissors. Romans beat Gaul, Gaul beat Brit, Brit beats Roman.

*****
Summer 267BC

Will soon have a port at Londinium. That will bring in good trade income.
Graph shows the neghbouring factions.

--

*****
Winter 267

Julii have attacked us ! They beseige Segesta. It was a tough encounter.

Also the Brits besiege Londinium. I am not so worried about that. I might eliminate the Brit faction before their siege can be completed. But those Julii and their allied Romans are going to alter my northern Italian plans. Time to concentrate forces for a fight into Italy me thinks. Lets hope Spain falls easily..and the Germans dont enter the fray......

Some good news. I got the math spot on at Segestica. The town grew to exactly 2000. A peasant had been moved in from Pataviaum..disbanded as soon as it got into the region (does not need to be the city itself). Still a bit short of population. It was however the turn for the governor to go on a short walk. He wasnt completing any buiding so he went outside to avoid standing still in the town and thus avoid bad traits. He found an Illryian Mercenary for hire at €650. The unit card said 160 men in that unit! Thats not right..it should be 80 men on large setting. A little bug I think and caused by me also playing another campaign with 'huge' settings'. The 80 man merc unit was hired and disbanded. Now had 1990 men and at 0.5% growth that got me exactly to 2000 men and city growth. The region is very good for mining. 500 per turn income from a basic mine.
--

Feel free to post any comments or advice. Im not sure how best to use Druids. Just leave them chanting all the time or is it best to do chants in bursts?

Edit:removed the dead links created when imageshack crashed and lost lots of pictures.

[This message has been edited by Severous (edited 01-19-2007 @ 06:32 PM).]

Winter 267BC

The governor in Londinium is Prasutagus of Axona. A 1* general. This is his first command. The sally forth from Londinium to attack the superior beseiging Britannia army.

He does well to survive and showed great character by personally fighting a great deal, yet still finding time to leave the battle twice to run back to check on important town notices in the plaza.

His infantry didnt do much except take down, right at the end, the enemy chariot general. Here are the infantry turned around and starting the march back to town. In the distance two Brit chariots flee the scene.

Prasutagus had many wounds. Only one of his bodyguards survived with him. For the first Heroic Victory of the campaign he attracts two ancillaries, Famous Warrior and a Shield Bearer. He gains a command star by progressing to 'Good commander'. Having been in the wars he also gains +2 hit points. He also has one extra experience on his unit card.

'This is a most worthy victory'

--

Lugdunum will not be a rebel city after this assault.

--

The defense of Segesta

So the Julii dare attack us. Is the trade agreement we had not enough for those Romans?. Is the SPQR senate making demands on Julii to capture this slow growing town?

Gaul will defend itself. With roads in place any cavalry forces in Mediolanium can rush south as a relief force.

This is the first Gaul encounter against Romans.

A lot of Roman infantry.

First blood. The extreme left flank of the Julii army is mobbed by two cavalry units sallying out from Segesta. The fresh Hastati hold a short while before breaking. The rest of the Julii army continue to run to form a distant battle line. You can see the relief force arriving by road from Mediolanium in the distance.

In the distace the relief force take out a Hastati unit. In the foreground Julii infantry chase after cavalry and into range of wall towers. Wall towers will kill 61 Julii today.

When the Julii commander Vibius Julius committed himself and attacked the relief force he was led towards the Segesta cavalry and between them they took him down the honourable way.

Another Hastati unit. Exhausted, alone, being shot at by a wall tower, having seen many fellow romans die. Soon to break.

A second heroic victory this turn.

Segesta is safe. Farm upgrade can be completed in peace.

Narbo will grow to 2000 souls this turn. Gaul lay seige to towns in Spain and in Britannia. A boat has been built to transport troops to Ireland.
--
Current stats:
20 Family members.
14 Regions.
12 battles won and 1 lost.
The loss was a Brit boat v Gaul boat in the channel.

[This message has been edited by Severous (edited 02-24-2007 @ 03:02 AM).]

This is awesome.
You're awesome at RTW.
Awesome.

Thanks for the comment. I had wondered if anyone was reading it. Taken me a couple of days to decide what to do and play this turn.

*** Summer 266BC - 9th Turn ***

The turn kicks off considering what to do in Britannia. It wasn’t so much as WHAT I should attack but the ORDER.
- The last Brit region is Deva.
- The other battle will be against 2 powerful Brit generals west of Londinium.

Do I fight the generals now? They will be chariot units. Or do I take Deva and destroy the Britain faction. Doing that will convert the 2 Brit generals into 2 rebel generals. The type of general will change from chariots to heavy cavalry.

I decide to go for the town first. Deva is in a nice rural setting. Its soldiers fought bitterly to the end in the plaza. They would not be drawn out.





The subsequent battle against the now rebel generals was a Heroic Victory. Odds were shown as 1/1 yet I outnumbered the generals 217/66. It was heroic because the odds whilst 1/1 were definitely in the AI favour according to the slider.
--

Osca in Spain

A ram assault on the Spanish town was a success. 373 troops under the command of Rianorix *4 took on Lucco a 3* general who only commanded 39 bodyguards.

Another town occupied.

The victorious army moved south immediately and took up positions in a forest leaving a little movement points unused..on purpose or by accident im not sure...but it would be important.

--

Italy.

Payback time against the Julii. They had dared to besiege Segesta. That seige was broken. With war declared the Gaul pride will now look for profit in expansion...and retribution against the Romans.

Our spy had gone ahead and provided intelligence on both a hidden Julii unit and on Arrentium. Working alone he has only 32% of gate opening. What would you do now?


The unit on the bridge to Patavium would attack the small hidden Julii unit. Lannildut of Nemausus 0* commanding in his first, and last, battle. Against Amulius Julius 2* and a Hastati unit our commander Lannildut dies in an early charge. But his troops don’t rout and fight on. They win. They gain a MotH..an age 20 3* general.



Not only is this a better general, he is close to Arrentium and has all his movement points available. It could reach Arrentium. He gives me the edge I need to attack !

The garrison of Segesta can reach Arrentium. Leaving a weak unit in Segesta the garrison moved to attack Arrentium.

The spy opened the gates. 32% chance...well done.



Here we go against the Julii town. Reasonable odds.


With 4 cavalry units they were deployed near each gateway. One unit per gateway. Its was the faction heir who had the undefended gate. His was the most powerful unit also. what luck. He raced into the plaza to kill dog handlers before they can release their dogs. Didn’t work as a unit of Equites had come rushing back so my general had to cut short the attack on the dog handlers. So now had loads of dogs chasing me.



Barbarian cavalry tease the Roman infantry. They walk up close and into pila range. As soon as the Romans start to fire the cavalry turn and run out of range. The pila fall harmlessly to the ground behind the cavalry. Repeated until all the pila had been fired.



Trapping the general


"Oh bother" ?...no the Roman may have instead said "Merda". Look at the reception waiting for him.


Arrentium would fall.


**End of a good turn**

Meanwhile in Spain.

Spain march into my ambush. It’s my first ever. I can position troops all around the enemy. Cool. To make ambushes work you have to leave a few unused movement points in the army setting the ambush.



--
Notice the German line on the graph. Regions shown are 5 on the map, yet graph shows there are 6. Region map was bought several turns ago so is stale. Dont overlook the intelligence you can obtain from looking at the graphs.


--

One more thing I am pleased to report. Patavium is building spies. Its the first town to be able to do this and thats all it is doing now. I love spies for their intelligence and gate opening capabilities.

[This message has been edited by Severous (edited 05-14-2007 @ 01:49 PM).]

I hate my computor. If RTW was working (I'm afraid I'll have to go back to vanilla- RTR doesn't work ) I'd do this sort of thing often.
*Re-installs*

Hi EoJ

I steer clear of mods so thankfully dont have the problem you describe. Many mods seem well liked and have good followings. Is RTR just playing up for you or does it have a poor reputation?

Another turn or two.

**Winter 266 BC - turn 10**

Bye Bye Julii. Their last region is the target. Rather than a direct assault on the town I go for a weak link. By attacking the captain outside town the forthcoming battle will be commanded by a Julii captain and out in the open.

Took out the captain and the single unit with him. The Gaul commander then shouted "Let us slaughter his weakling followers"

Which they did.

A famous battle that will be celebrated at many a Gaul fireside for years to come.

Unfortunately. 7 Romans escaped including the general commanding the garrison of Ariminium. So a seige is now necessary.

The victorious stack has a unit of infantry in it that cannot move any further. So the stack cannot attack, nor can it split as it is now in the zone of control of the city. But fresh troops from Arretium can reach Ariminium and commence the seige. Then I remember spies. I lift the seige, and send in one spy. Seige recommenced but the lone spy could not open the gates. Lifted the seige again and sent in a second spy. Started the seige and yes! Spies will open the gates.

Attack. Ok so I dont get my 9* general commanding but reckon I have a chance.

I was indeed bye bye Julii. 2nd Faction destroyed.

In Gaul I saw black marks appearing on the map. Moving troops closer to investigate reveal rebels at large causing devastation. I build two watchtowers to provide future information and raise troops for action next turn.

** Summer 265BC - Turn 11 **

My spies are active in Italy. Intelligence in the Gaul homeland is not what it should be. Attack or not ?

Bring up all I can, including peasants. Attack. Odds good so enemy must be poor quality. Interesting that the deployment screen has a battle picture with what looks like Gaul chariots in it. We dont get Gaul chariots in RTW.

After that rebel mopping up it was the main action near Rome. Or inaction. Just too much SPQR heavy cavalry to risk it out in the open. So move up forces and build a defensive fort. Lets hope SPQR seige the fort...they will die if they try. If no attack then next turn it will be up to spies to get us into Rome.

AI turns...

SPQR didnt attack. Spain did. A Spanish stack caught a lone cavalry unit. Gaul cavalry kept out of reach for ages then the Spaninsh called it a day and started to withdraw. One of their many withdrawing units was charged down and killed. A rare close victory.

End of turn gave me a Man of the Hour for that last skirmish. A standard age 20 2* commander.

Net income after army and family upkeep now running at 12k per turn.

[This message has been edited by Severous (edited 07-08-2006 @ 06:05 PM).]

I love picture War Stories...This is great, Severous.

Hi Valinther

I like looking at pictures. Campaign position, or best battles. Anything about the game that allows me to think ...now what would I have done.

** Winter 255BC turn 12 **

This has been a long turn. Much deliberation and many pictures of important events.

It starts with some routine rebel bashing. Those rebels have been there a long while judging by the amount of black devastation on the land. There are four naked fanatic units in the enemy line up. They have good attacks and poor defense. So I go into battle having deliberately added the best missile units I can currently get...skirmishers.

Yet here I use them on cavalry. My general led the AI cavalry into range of the skirmishers.

Here we go. Into the back of the fanatics. Their defense skill/total is 8 when including 5 points for the shield. Its only 3 when you avoid the shield. I had few shots so was making them count.

When the fanatics had had enough I used the fresh skirmishers to run down the tired routing fanatics.
--

Meanwhile up in the top corner Ireland is invaded. Tara would be Gaul owned after a battle outside the town and subsequent walk into an undefended city.
--

And what would you do here? ...Rome.

Its a long story. Will post more tomorrow. Goodnight.

[This message has been edited by Severous (edited 01-20-2007 @ 07:58 AM).]

Winter 265BC – Continued

The Fall of Rome

In the post above Gaul troops in the fort north of Rome had options. Attack, besiege or stay put. SPQR have 7 family members which make’s for a lot of heavy cavalry. Too much to deal with in one go out in the open battlefield. Two of them are very big units.

My preference was to assault Rome via gates opened by spies. Then capture the walls and use the wall towers fire power to weaken the SPQR forces. With only a 51% chance of opening the gates there is an unacceptable risk of failure that will leave my besieging army vulnerable to counter attack by powerful generals.

The Plan:
1)Send a peasant unit to besiege Rome.
2)Peasant will find out if spies can open the gates.
3)If they can then bring up all forces and attack Rome. Capture walls etc.
4)If spies don’t open the gates then watch SPQR kill peasants and hopefully move its big stack apart from the one on the river. Next turn I attack at the river, which is then unsupported by big SPQR stack, or repeat peasant/spy approach.

Steps 1) and 2) complete.

Spies could not open the gates. The 51% chance failed. It was now time to manage the spies. A spy already in a city does not need to do anything. But it can be ordered to spy on the city. There is no new information yet even on 100% chance of information it has a chance of increasing its spying ability. One spy did just that raising his spy skill and raising the gate opening chance to 57%. Gates still remained shut. A third spy was brought up. It had a 57% chance of getting in (once siege temporarily lifted). It did get in, did earn an increase in skill, did increase chance of gate opening (to 62%), but didn’t open the gates.

So on point 4) of the plan I now wait.

Hmmm. I don’t like having any units doing nothing. I sat and thought.

How can I be more positive?

A change of plan. With those peasants besieging Rome it will prevent reinforcements emerging from the city. I can fight the SPQR stacks outside the city without the powerful general units from the city coming out to play.

But should I? There are still 5 SPQR Generals outside the city. I have 1.

Go for it. Bringing up another family member and all reinforcements I almost have parity in numbers.

Eporedorix a 10* commands and attacks at the river crossing.

The Battle at the river crossing

Looking on from the reinforcements you can see the battlefield. No forests to neither hide in nor give Gaul warriors an advantage. There is slight hill in this corner. The river has two crossing places. The main SPQR army is the mass of black dots immediately to the left of the distant cornfields.

The battle plan:
- Infantry to this near corner. Hill advantage. No flanks. Rest and be fresh. SPQR will come to me and in doing so will tire
- Cavalry to harass the SPQR armies. Obtain local numerical superiority and destroy in this priority order a) Captain commanding SPQR b) cavalry c) missiles d) infantry.

The plan is underway. Gaul forces cross river. Infantry will come to this corner; cavalry will go after the two SPQR units on this riverbank.

The first casualty. Roman bodyguard gets lucky stabbing a barbarian horseman.

Romans won’t be so lucky in this encounter.

Certainly not his day. The SPQR captain goes down. You can see I sent one unit of warband with the cavalry. It will act as a charge shock absorber. Don’t mind loosing a few infantry but must preserve my cavalry.

Main SPQR army fords the river. I wonder if I should have fought at the crossing. That’s what you see in so many screenshots. It’s not worked for me. I hang back from crossings.

An SPQR general charges out from the bridgehead. Is counter-charged by multiple Gaul units.

And another. Notice the yellow ‘general killed’ message icons on the left hand side of the screen. Two now. Soon to be three.

Triarii are a tough unit to kill and have good morale. My limited missiles are fired downhill and into the backs of Triarii. This was achieved by making the Triarii chase a general and by turning the chase whilst Triarii are near the skirmishers.

Another SPQR general. This is the last and biggest. Peasants are in on the party and surprisingly did not loose any in the initial contact.

Velites are easy pickings. Tired and leaderless three velite units are charged down and rout quickly. Skirmishers are using up last of their ammo on the Triarii that are chasing peasants.

I remembered ive got some new swordsmen in this army. Maybe they will do better against the Triarii. I wouldn’t find out as the engulfed Triarii unit routed immediately after this shot.

Remaining SPQR army comes on in good order. I've advanced out of the corner. Peasants out front in open formation to absorb pila.

The end was not pretty

A famous battle.

Peasants did well.

The siege of Rome is increased. An army this size can build lots of gear.

--

Meanwhile in Spain.

Nice to have some missiles. Shot the last cavalry defenders to death. They would rally in the plaza and run out, only to rout before they made contact. Rinse and repeated under a hail of slingers stones meant death for the Spanish.

Another small encounter that ends well.

--

AI turn

SPQR sally from Rome. ROME falls.

That was an unusual battle. My reinforcements had all the siege equipment. They had a long slow walk to get near the town. By the time they were close SPQR had enough time to come out side the town. I put siege tower on ‘fire at will’ but it seemed ineffective. One unit of Gaul got creamed. But after the lucky early kill of the SPQR general it was easy enough to win out in the open. Unusually I decided to end the battle at this message. I didn’t need to siege Rome after all. I've never won a city quite like this before.

Was this turn going to end on a high? Three regions captured including Rome.

No it wouldn’t. Spain attacked.

It looks as though I won’t be able to march on Cordoba next year. Gaul forces will need to crush Spain first.

[This message has been edited by Severous (edited 07-09-2006 @ 09:35 AM).]

** Summer 264BC – 13th turn **

The three units that survived the embarrassing defeat in Spain were found cowering near Numantia. Which was quite handy really as Spain had besieged the town. The three units together with the garrison attacked the besieging Spanish. The Spanish were broken and fled.

--

Unwalled Salona is captured.

Illyrian on Illyrian

--

** Winter 264 BC – 14th turn **

Here you can see that economic and public order needs are being looked after. As it has turned out those cavalry stables were not necessary…Italy has fallen to Gaul and there are stables galore.

Also in the image
- Salona built its wall just in time but even so the Brutii siege will be tough to break. Nearby are two warbands which can assist. Will have to think on tactics and come back to this encounter.
- Ariminum. That siege will be a piece of cake to break.
- Capua. Scipii didn’t march on Rome. They couldn’t as I put a fort on the road. Looking forward to an encounter there soon. (Troops in Rome can reach Capua.)
- North of Patavium. That rebel stack has been there all game. Beyond it the rebel town is without a wall. This is new intelligence from a northbound spy under orders to report back on the happenings in Germany....because...
--

Liberation of our brethren in ‘Eastern Gaul’ is underway. Those Germanic peoples must not become too powerful. This is a major strategic event in the campaign…one that was always necessary.

Did you notice the income of Londinium and Samarobriva? That short sea route earns a lot of money now ports are in place at both ends.
--

In Spain my army sent to take on the big Spanish stack was safe in a fort over end of turn. But where has the Spanish stack gone? West, East or North or ambush. Will move agents in Spain to try and locate the Spanish.

Graph shows Germany has 7 regions now. Also that Scipii went up one…probably Syracuse as Greece went down one region (not shown on this view) at the same time as Scipii went up.
--

Scipii city of Capua falls to Gaul.

I believe my fort stopped Scipii advancing on Rome during the Scipii turn. Now on my turn the retrained forces from Rome (sporting +1 shields and weapons) head south through the fort and attack. It was a clear victory.

Marching on to the city walls the spies had done their work this time. The gates were open and Gaul captured the city. There was bloody fighting in the plaza.

--
Sally at Salona

I didn’t expect to win. Damage the Brutii using my general to lure Brutii to the towers and mobbing lone units. If I can kill enough maybe Brutii would end the siege.

Once the timer ran out the battle would end in a draw. My general had 2 bodyguards left! His troops had killed a wardog unit and 3 cavalry units. The brutii cavalry that had fled the battle would later merge together and form one understrength unit.(seen in the next turn). The dogs were gone for good though...no handlers had escaped.
--

War with Germany.

It’s a good start. A Famous battle marker.

I had to melee with the fearsome German units. Axemen, then cavalry were singled out from their defensive positions and led to traps. Once the spearmen were left I had them chase me and eventually I got them separated and surrounded. They didn’t last long once mobbed from all sides.
--

This rebel general has an interesting trait.

He is now a dead true roman.
--

During the AI German turn an interesting event happened. A lone swordsman was in a forest. A German stack found it. Having used all its movement points it could not ambush. It was a failed ambush. I retreated…or tried to but couldn’t. I had to fight.

I was expecting to get smashed by the big German stack. I deployed in my corner. And ran down the timer.

And the good thing? Not only did it count as a victory, I got a man of the hour. A good one. Age 21 with 4*. He is better than the current commander of the main army in Germany.

[This message has been edited by Severous (edited 07-16-2006 @ 08:08 AM).]

wow, you are really good at rtw, im actually taking notes. btw do you have a temple on gaul whcih allows +5 exp, i think its a bug or something, theres no pic or description of it(no mods).

That's the temple fo the Horse- only Romans can get that by building on a sacred circle of Eponia

RTR works for me now- it just played up for me.
Your druid problem a while back: just stick them just behind your lines, and let them chant. Don't move them, as eventually the chant will fill the whole battlefield.

jameroquai

Thank you. Hope you can use some of your new knowledge to good effrect in your own game. Good luck.

As for the temple upgrade thing. Best ive got so far is a level two temple which can make a unit +2 experience. Maybe there is something better later.

No progress for Gaul this week. Ive been playing as Greece with a swap game I have going with a player in another forum. Gaul will get their chance this weekend. Expect another installment in the next 48 hours.

Summer 263 BC

6 Battles so far this turn.

Germany
- The first of the German towns fall to Gaul. Trier. Nothing spectacular. Odds 8:3. Close to the Gaul capital this will be an easy town to control. Occupied.

Italy
- On the way south to Tarentum there were some rebels. My 10* general Eporedorix disposes of them. Odds 10:3. He advances into Brutii territory and builds a fort to provide safe haven over turn end.

- A governor takes out a lone Brutii hastati unit east of Rome.

Spain
- A diplomat has spotted the Spanish King and his army. My 8* general Rianorix brings the king to battle.

Soundly beats him.

This army is now heading to Scallabis.

- The governor and garrison of Numantia strike west. This second Gaul army bump into another previously unknown Spanish stack.

They kill the general but allow the rest of that army to flee. This army is heading to the north west of Spain - Asturica.

- The Asturica bound army then finds and kills the survivors from the Spanish kings army.

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Meanwhile back in the German theatre of operations.

I have to decide what to do at Samarobriva. Swordsmen recruited in Londinium have massed at Samarobriva. They are my counter to the German spearbands. Sword armed troops are supposed to have an advantage against spear troops. But they are lagging far behind the front line that has pushed beyond Trier and now besige Mogontiacum. The Samarobriva forces were meant to strike east this turn but a strong Rebel army has appeared next to Samarobriva. It contains both Naked fanatics and Druids.

I dare not strike east as a weak Samarobriva will be vulnerable to the rebels. If I had more cavalry, and especially a general, it would be an easy decision ...attack the rebels. But its a close call...on vh difficulty I dont like the odds especially with morale impacting druids singing away at me.

If I stand still in Samarobriva I can have another swordsman and warband in my force next turn. But that means the German stack to the east goes unchallenged and Gaul conquest of Europe is delayed.

There is a 8* Gaul general in the area..two turns away perhaps. He will wipe opponents away with any force he commands. Even more delay though. He was meant to head east at best speed to take over command of the main Gaul forces.

Damm rebels. Going to fight them now. At poor odds I think. Hopefully I will have enough troops survive to also head east into Germany as originally planned. Results follow later this weekend.

[This message has been edited by Severous (edited 07-15-2006 @ 04:20 AM).]

Summer 263BC - Continued.

The fight against the rebels was not as bad as expected. There was a problem launching the attack. One of the swordsmen in the town had just arrived from Londinium and had no movement points remaining. The other troops could not attack because of this...unless they left the town and attacked from outside. So thats what they did.

My troops were in woods giving them all, including peasants, combat bonuses. Whilst the enemy will also get them its of more benefit proportionately to the many peasants.

Gauls let off warcries. I wish I knew if you get an immediate benefit or if they have to cry for a certain time before they get the full benefit.

Gaul warbands have low morale. With no general to bolster morale the Gaul warband routed immediately. Swordsmen did well by beating the Fanatics and Druids.

The rebels were beaten by a captain led army. Great news. Up popped a man of the hour. He recruited two barbarian mercenaries but couldnt move very far. So the stack stayed in town.

One Swordsman unit was merged with another. The 15 left over swordsmen got the boat to Britian and is now close to Londinium for retraining. Those 15 troops are the best swordsmen with +1 experience. When they retrain the whole unit will be +1.
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Fort built in Italy to protect us as we advance into hosile areas.
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Carthage Attack us !

Just as the war in Spain is swinging my way and up step Carthage. No more trade with them.

The powerful Gaul leader is just one space too far away to offer any support. I will withdraw from this encounter.

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Diplomatically the turn was significant.

Carthage and Gaul are now at war. They are the top two factions. Germany and Scythia ally. They are also in the top 5 but more important it would have suited me far better if they were enemies of each other.

Brutii beseige Salona again.
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Edit. Multiple images lost by Imageshack. Dead links removed as well as the story associated with them.

[This message has been edited by Severous (edited 01-20-2007 @ 08:08 AM).]

Winter 263 BC - 16th Turn

The fast moving General and cavalry arrived at Mogontiacum last turn and built a ram. This turn the infantry and dogs arrive. Together the army assaults. Quite an easy one this.

Made easier by the German axemen coming out side the city once the gate was rammed open.

Surrounded the axemen rout and are 'fighting to the death'.

BUT...does fighting to the death matter? Ive seen many players and guides say you should leave an escape route otherwise a trapped enemy will fight. When that fight ended there were no axemen alive and no further casualties have been incurred by Gaul troops. So I say that fighting to the death doesnt need to worry you.

Fighting troops in the plaza is more like fighting to the death. The enemy cannot rout in the plaza so is always effective. Because of this I draw the enemy spearmen away from the plaza.

Bit further....

Gotcha !

Two fantasy units fighting it out.

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Salona was beseiged by Brutii last turn. Going to work my General hard luring Brutii units towards the walls.

General ends with more experience than bodyguards. Good job bodyguard numbers replenish during seiges.

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Tarentum

Launching their attack from the fort the Gaul go for the Brutii troops outside the city. I am counting on the city garrison acting as reinforcements for Brutii and sure enough that happens.

I launch my cavalry at the army that will enter ahead. It will be split by the unusual water feature in this battle location. Have used the group functions to line my infantry up neatly.

Brutii came at me hard after my general attacked thir troops. This was fine my me. My troops are fresh whilst their will be tired.

Must kill the general....

..and the infantry

One of my first battles with chosen swords....

Two remaining hastati units look on at the approach of the Gaul army

Pinned from the friont and charged from the rear.

This was why it was important to kill the generals and all units.

Tarentum used its entire garrison as reinformantes to that last battle. Now those troops lie dead and the city is free for me to just walk in and claim. No seige equipment nor spy needed here.
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I notice a town needs 120 more population to reach 2000 and the trigger that allows more building. So a peasant moves as shown and upon entering the region is disbanded. This adds 120 men to the population and immediately, during the turn, triggers the town growth message and allows the government building to be started.

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Over end of turn Spain attack the army that is beseiging Scallabis. This is another situation like Tarentum. The city garrison will fight and if I can kill them all then the city will be defenseless.

Killing is underway.

Killed them all..in particular the generals. Another town falls.

26 Regions now.

[This message has been edited by Severous (edited 07-16-2006 @ 03:32 AM).]

i found that +5 exp temple thing thats on the building browser, its a bug but im gonna see if i can make it anyway.

severous, how come you get so many man of honors? in my campaign ive had 2 heroic victories with captains, one was on odds 3:8 and i did not get one either time, is there a trick such as losing that particular general in that fight, thanks and good luck with the rest of your campaign.

Hi jameroquai

Man of the Hour can be awarded for any win when there is no general in command of your forces.

Ive had them:
-when a captain commands the army
-when the general in command of the army was killed
-when the general is in the reinforcements (main army captain led)
- when attacker or defender

I dont think the quality of the win is very important. Nor is how well or often that particular captain has fought.

It is all about the number of regions you control compared to the number of leaders you have had.

In this campaign I have been expanding quite fast. Capturing regions most turns. There have been few 'coming of age' or marriages. As a consequence the number of regions compared to generals is high. The game is awarding man of the hour to make up for this.

In a Brutii campaign played a few months back there were three man on the hour in one turn. 4 regions had been captured.

If expansion is slow and there are lots of children coming of age Man of the Hour wont occur.

Does that fit with your situation?
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Summer 262BC - Turn 17

This first encounter is particulary relevant to the above talk of MotH. I chose this battle first in my current turn to hopefully illustrate the MotH point. It worked.

Strategically I am about to open a front in Central Europe. Attack north from Patavium to destroy those rebels who are devastating the land (200+ income lost per turn). Then march on Helvitia. After capture of that unwalled town swing east into Dacian lands.

I dont have any Generals in this area. A man of the hour would be useful.

The weak governor from Medolonium can just reach the battle but cannot lead it as he lacks movement points to attack. So the Patavium stack will lead the attack under command of a captain. The Governor and his heavy cavalry bodyguards will be reinforcements but wont command the battle. Odds are a little against me but with missile and mobility superiority I should be ok.

I am most excited about this battle for other reasons. It is my first ever command in battle of the superb Gaul Forresters.

The first clash of battle is a mess. The rebel force has two generals who charge into me before I have gained the hill top and before I let loose any missiles. Forresters narrowly miss hand to hand combat here as they run to get away and get to the top of this commanding hill.

The rebel generals fall to good old cavalry action. Three on one. (edit..dead link removed)

All missile troops getting off shots. All the targets are lightly armoured so are easy to kill especially with height advantage. All troops have fire at will disabled because of the hectic battlefield and mixed up forces.

Notice that Forresters are armed with a spear as their secondary weapon for hand to hand fighting. Thats what makes them good against cavalry in hand to hand combat. I bet many Julii horsemen have fallen in many a players campaign without realising these archers are also devastating anti cavalry spearmen.

Surprised its only a 'Clear Victory'. with odds against I was expecting a 'Heroic Victory'

Man of the Hour ! A good one as well. Maybe the battle odds being against me did influence the quality of the MotH after all. (Edit: dead link removed. (The MoTH had 4*)

An ancillery/retuinue exchange happens. A Priest is given to the new general. He is now 6* when commanding any cavalry. Not bad at all. The road north into Hevita is now open.

[This message has been edited by Severous (edited 01-20-2007 @ 08:15 AM).]

Summer 262 Continued

Sally at Salona

The Brutii seige could not be broken last turn. I need to do it this turn as the Brutii have constructed 2 rams and will probobly attack.

Relief is on hand. 2 warbands and a cavalry unit arrive and the sally this time should be far more effective. Two cavalry units under my command should swing the balance to Gaul.

Notice the chariot in the deployment screen. How I wish that were true for Gaul. Love those things.

This is a typical scene during the opening seconds of a sally. The beseiging army runs to form a line in one corner or other. If your cavalry is strong enough it can pick off the last infantry units in the column. Here the two equites in the distance are my Generals target. None of the running infantry will fire at me.

Did you notice the Generals morale ? Distraught at the number of enemies. Often its only safe to use this tactic with a general..lessor units will rout.

The two cavalry units have taken down the enemy general. He was only a 0* so no significant battle benefit. I now have command of the battlefield. My infantry can never be charged down by the remaining roman infantry.

About to break those Velites.

General deep behind the enemy lines on a heading to cut down routers.

Pushing up infantry. Skirmishers have killed a few damaging the Brutii morale. Charge...

Have we all done this ? Chase routers...kill them. But theres an enemy ahead who is ready and can hurt us. Kill a few more routers...how close can we go....

Later. Its nearly all over.

It is now.

Clear victory ...again. Whats going on? With odds against me I have been accustomed to heroic victory. Thats two battles with odds against that have not produced a heroic result.

Salona is safe. Brutii doesnt have much left now. I have Croton under seige. After capture that will leave them with only Appollonia.
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Naval invasion by the AI !

Scipii coming to reclaim Rome. A just recruited 2nd Forrester unit is in the right place. Its gold weapon fired from a wall top will be devastating.

Wonder what the Scipii stack contains. Pity all my spies are inside beseiged Croton.

[This message has been edited by Severous (edited 07-16-2006 @ 12:11 PM).]

yeah it does, i have lots of family members, and one is spewing out babies, think he has 6 kids so far. 4 regions in one turn, thats damn nice.

The last battle of the summer of 262BC is in Germany.

Bit of a chancy move coming up.

There are powerful Germanic forces around. But a weak defense of Batavodurum? Three spearbands and a general are reported by the spy that is in area. If my general and two cavalry units can wipe them out in the open battlefield it will leave the town empty of garrison and I can occupy it without delay or seige. The rest of the Gaul in the fort(s) cannot move any further this turn.

Here we go...so far so good

About to take out the German general.

Two light cav units will charge downhill into its flank and my general will turn back in a head on charge once the germans have stopped to fight the light cav.

I tried to tire the spearbands. But they wouldnt get worse than 'warmed' up. Seems they can march in phalanx all day long. In the end I did the same on them as on the General. They broke soon enough.

So ready to walk into the town. No. No more movement points. The Gaul stopped on the map next to an empty town. It was theirs for the taking. Damm again. The Germans would build a unit there over their turn.

Elsewhere on the map. That big German stack in the centre is next to a reasonable Rebel stack which you cannot see due to fog of war. A battle occurred there over end of turn and now I cannot see anything there. I need to know as I plan to leave the towns lightly defended as I push east.

For the second time a unit/stack was bribed away. Going to have to be careful with these diplomats about and the alleged 10k cash bonus per turn than the AI gets on V/H.

Scipii did indeed beseige Rome over end of turn.

[This message has been edited by Severous (edited 07-17-2006 @ 03:17 PM).]

This is seriously quite magnificent, Severous. Good job!

Winter 262 BC

The Scipii forces that had landed from ships beseiged Rome. Having built a chosen sword unit to fight in the streets and brought up a second cavalry unit from Capua it was time to sally forth.

The cavalry harrassed the Romans who countered by moving closer to the city. Then the Forresters opened fire from the wall tops.

As you can see from the routing cavalry in the last shot it wasnt all plain sailing. Barb cavalry has low morale...especially new units lacking experience and without a general bestowing lots of command/morale bonus.
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In Spain.

This General has not seen battle before. He only had 'mildy extravagant' as a trait.

After that battle he would be 2* plus 1* more if attacking.
Oh yes, and Carthage would have sufferred its first casualties against the Gaul. :< )

Forces continue to move north to the last Spanish region as well another army moving south towards Corduba.
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In Hevita the advance on the rebel city is just a bit short of its objective. The new general gained through MotH went and swapped an ancillery and as a result is short of movement points so cannot lead the attack. Cavalry in the next square attacks..the general is a reinforcement.

After winning the cavalry is out of movement points and is adjacent to the city which lost all its garrison in the fight. Another city for the taking. But MotH again occurs. The general cannot move at all but can hire mercenary. The mercenary is part of a stack that lacks movement points to attack. But moving the mercenary unit out of the stack frees its from the movement restriction of the main stack...it can now alone march into the town.

Its those sort of tactics on the campaign map that can keep you moving along at a fast pace.
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[This message has been edited by Severous (edited 07-17-2006 @ 03:20 PM).]

nice work severous. exchanging ancillaries, i learn something new with every post. how do i go about exchanging ancillaries? thanks and good luck on the rest.