In my Sassanid campaigns I generally use Horse archers only, with some family members along with them. I use spears and archers to garrison cities.

Here we go again

When I play as the Sassanids I made my armies like the Achaemenids did. Meaning a bunch of spear armed militia guys and a bunch of Ctaphracts or Clibinarri with one or two war elephant squads.

It was actually pretty fun surrounding Roman armies with my militia while my cataphractoi and clibinarri shot at the bunched up Romans.

I'm looking forward to this one Severous.

The sassinads have a huge advanage at bridge battles because of their super heavy cavalry and nicely defended infantry. i had the same army attacked by the same roman army in my sassionad campaign and what i did was put the spearmen on guard mode at the head of the bridge, set the archers to pour arrows on teh unshielded side of romans, same for javelins, then charged my cavalry in, a few more charges later, a chain rout starts and cavalry on bridges for some reason runs down any infantry in the way, resulting in about a hundred romans flung into the river and the rest dead on the bridge.

Glad you chose sassinads, i found them the most fun BI faction, good luck.

Gosh misplacedgeneral.

That was a quick view and response.

You say 'Sassanid campaigns'...plural ? If I may ask was there much variation between them and why more than one?

Ive been thinking back the the units ive been building. Mostly horse archers like you. Horse archers turn up in increasing numbers later. Also peasants for garrison. Peasants allow me to field all the better troops the game gives you at the start...lots of levy spearmen see action (did I say better?)
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Winter 363AD Turn 2

No snow blindness playing this faction. Makes a change from the ever white battlefields of the last three campaigns German, Hun and Frank.

Better odds. 1200 vs 1000 and slider at 2:1 in my favour. Purple of the Eastern Roman Empire again. Isnt it always.

In that picture my three cavalry units (2 tanks and a camel) were at the top converging on the Roman horse archers. My infantry on its hill and in a ready position was handling the Romans quite well. I had no answer at that point to the Roman archers. Tank would get them later although not before it had routed and rallied after getting slammed hard by massed pila/spear throws. I will have to pay more attention to the range of those damm spear throwers.
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Summer 364AD Turn 3

Antioch

After that above battle there was no garrison left to speak of. The heavy cavalry proved very good at taking down the Roman Imperial Bodyguards.

The minimap shows what I know of the world. No one to trade with. No map info. A spy goes north into the waste of Russia looking for signs of hordes coming from the north. Nothing so far. In the south Im looking but not finding many towns or forces.

I posted this image elsewhere.

Its the problem Antioch posed once it was captured. Its Christian religion is getting stronger due to the church and surrounding areas being Christian. I want it converted to my religion...not Christian. Yet tearing down the church will cause a religious frenzy of unrest. I went down the same path suggestted by another forum member...and built the execution square and only later when unrest had dropped ripped down the church. It was still touch and go controlling the region.

Kotais (eastern end of Black Sea) would also fall to Sassanid forces this turn.

Got my first Man of the Hour beating up rebels near Antioch.

6 battles and 7 regions so far.
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Winter 364AD - Turn 4. Time out. No battles.
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Summer 365AD - Turn 5

No assault or siege equipment required. A spy lets us into Sidon. Piece of cake for my two heavy cav units.

Mini map above shows a new colour to the north west. Blue of the Roxolani. A horse archer type faction (like Scythians?). No one coming my way. Good. Nothing at all in the deep south eastern corner...a wasted treck.

Tarsus. Rammed my way in here.

LOTS of blue. No way that fleeing Roman was going to get down that street full of spearmen.

Extermination policy has so far been:
Antioch- Exterminate €14,336 denarii,
Kotais- Capture,
Sidon- Exterminate €7,406 denarii,
Tarsus- Enslave €177 denarii

Thats 10 battles so far and 9 regions.

Edit: Cheers. Lots of responses guys. They came in whilst I was preparing this post. Will answer them tomorrow in the next installment.

[This message has been edited by Severous (edited 01-21-2007 @ 04:50 PM).]

I'm delighted by you quick progress Severous.

I had the same problem with religion too, and a coupld of my governors became weird Zorastrian zealots too. It actually helped though as it cut down the Christianity influence by quite a bit so if you wanna hasten the dominance of your religion post some characters in the christian cities and watch then turn into good fanatics.

nice severous your back with another this is gonna be awesome. After this you have to do a medieval 2 total war one though, good luck on the campiagn.

Quote:

Yep, I've done probably 5 or so in vanilla, and two in Goths mod. Didn't finish any of them (much like my stories. . .) I've not the patience that you have.

They were generally the same, I used my initial forces in a three pronged attack focusing on Antioch, Alexandria, and where pontus used to be (I think the city is called Caesara)

I'm going to starta WRE campaign tomorrow as the Romans, and open up an AAR in the General Discussion area.

Nice start the religious unrest can be a bit of a nightmare in BI but using the execution square is a good idea. If you get any clibinarii immortals you'll love them, they are pretty much the same as the generals bodyguard, but if you complete your campaign in the 20 turns I doubt you'll have time to train them.

Veteranii are a good offencive compliment to your spearmen. The Clibs are insane- I've won battles using about 5 clibs. Then wait until you team them up with cataphracts

^^^^^DominicusUltimus
The manual says that governors develop weird traits if they are in a city with a different religion to their own. I will keep my eyes open for another instance of a leader with the 'wrong' religion.

^^^^Seleucia Reborn
I have MTW2 but dont expect to play it for a few months. I will let the patches come through first. Id like to play some form of forum swap/shared game on BI next. After that I think I will try Alexander expansion.

^^^misplacedgeneral
Campaigns are challenging in their early years. As you start to steam over all opposition it becomes more of a chore to micromanage. Yet completing and getting the victory movie is a satisfying end. Have you not done any? Shame :< )

That idea of yours about WRE sounds interesting. Ive been thinking about it today. Is there any way the forum moderators could allow the gaming community to upload saved games we could play as a team/community?

^^Hi Carthage
Execution and sewers have been high on the list to get towns under control. Sewers are not so good in the long run but they only take two turns to build. Clibinarii immortals..Those are the general bodyguards right? or am I mixing them up with the armoured cavalry that is not the bodyguard? I can build heavy armoured cavalry in Antioch. Takes two turns. Thats what it churns out now..on its second unit.

Not built any military buildings. Already owned plenty from the outset and capture more as I go along. Rather build economic or control buildings.

^EnemyofJupitor
Veteranii are mercenaries? I got one. Infantry is whatever can keep up with the advance. Mercenary troops are usually hired once the general has moved as far as he can. Then the mercenaries move on from there alone...if it's safe enough.

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Phew. Thanks for the interest from everyone. I posted my last short AAR in another forum. Didn't get many responses so came back to my favourite community forum. Wish we had a way to upload game related files here....is there? Couldn't see it.

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Here is a bit more.

Winter 365AD Turn 6

Agents did well at Jerusalem. A diplomat went past and gave me an idea of the opposition. Spy gave me detailed info. Finally the assassin took out the Roman governor and gained traits and ancillary in the process. This left the town garrison without any heavy cavalry.

Forces cannot always attack in the turn they come down from Sidon. Its a bit too far. Not for cavalry but is for infantry. A mixed stack would not be able to attack. Split the stack and the cavalry had enough movement point to attack. The infantry whilst not able to attack can act as reinforcements. And cool...the spy will open the gates so no need to build siege equipment.

The attack goes in immediately. Can't have any new family member appearing out of thin air in the town. Besides...I dont play slow. Incidentally...on both sets of reinforcements I will click on the AI control icon. Click on and off twice just to make sure the AI does NOT control those troops.

Extermination brought in a massive €12,880
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Over end of turn the AI attacked me twice.

ERE attacked my infantry outside Jerusalem that had lacked the movement points to move into the city after the above victory. My forces are the same as the last battle but the ERE is a bit stronger....but no chance.

Battle in progress. Jerusalem in the background. Its neat at the moment. My three captains are combining. Peasants behind spear line, missiles in front. All in the corner nearest Jerusalem. Cavalry runs into an excellent position ready to open fire downhill and into unshielded rear of the advancing Romans.

Would have 41 men killed in that one. Man of the Hour earned.

Edit: If you look at the campaign map in the above battle you can just see part of the name of Antioch (north of Jerusalem and Sidon). Ive just changed its religion to mine. The little brown Christian cross icon has changed. Its now a golden...Zon' religion symbol (just next to the yellow face icon). Now it has converted I hope to improve the place and increase taxes.
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Also over end of turn the AI had an ERE army try to break the siege of Sinope. The ERE garrison joined in as reinforcements. It was the biggest battle so far.

My general is the faction heir. He has a big bodyguard of immortals. But it was a mess that battle. Lost 457 men in the heroic victory that allowed me to walk into ungarrisoned Sinope. Extermination for €6,734

So ended a good turn 6.
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Summer 366AD Turn 7

Close to Jerusalem is a new town called Philadelphia. Hire of a mercenary Ballista unit allowed the assault to go in without spy or siege equipment.

After blasting down the gates (32% damage per salvo) the artillery crew left their guns behind and went inside the town to join in the killing.

When ERE archers started firing I sent in these heavy Clibinarii immortals.

Question: Looking at the heavy cavalry above they are using their bows. Would the charge have been more effective if I turned off fire at will and had used 'Alt' attack to charge? Would they have charged in using maces? They did switch to maces once in combat.

Enslaved that town for €154

Incidentally I like trying to mix up exterminations and enslavements. That way regions can trade slaves as an additional trade resource for more income.

Finishing off rebels in the Jerusalem area earned a man of the hour. Third one so far.
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Over end of turn the AI again launched two attacks.

ERE sally from besieged Caesarea. My 1200 verses their 900. Sassanid had a captain..Romans had a 2* general.

Its a long mach from the corner to the walls. The ladder carriers look like they have thrown a strop. "Its too far to walk". They have turned around and are walking off. Made me laugh.

Next was turn on 'fire at will' for the spearmen pushing the tower. This used the tower as a missile unit against the sallying Romans. Not bad for a non missile unit.

The battle ended when all Romans were routed. That victory became a walk into the now undefended Caesarea. Exterminate for €9,338 Resistance is futile!
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And at Tarsus. Rebellion!! A small village of 400 souls did not get the same patient religious conversion approach as at Antioch. Ripped down its Christian church immediately. Its been rioting ever since with no way of getting public order up to 70%. This was the third turn of riots...and the 400 population had had enough. It rebelled back to its previous faction owner. In this case ERE. The purple Romans now had a garrison given to them for free. 2800 troops...a full stack. From a village of only 400 people that must have been some underground movement.

The ERE attacked at Tarsus. This was now the biggest battle of the campaign..at least for the ERE. I had only 450 men of which 240 were peasants. Most of ERE were peasants thank god.

Im glad I had the timer on. Its for this reason I insist on the timer. No way an all infantry army can catch cavalry if cavalry dont want to be caught. So ran the timer down to avoid defeat. Killed a few in the meantime....well the General and his immortals did.

Did you spot that? General gained 5 experience in one battle. Thats my personal record.

I would have to besiege Tarsus and capture it all over again. A bit of a set back that.

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[This message has been edited by Severous (edited 01-22-2007 @ 05:08 PM).]

Quote:

Remember a month or so ago I was asking who everyones favorite factions were? Well, my original plan was to gather a few people and have them all do the same campaign on the same difficulty setting, but each with a certain objective. Like, say it was a ERE campaign, one objective would be destroy the sassanids, another to destroy the WRE, and another to destroy the Goths and other Steppe barbarians.

BTW, my AAR will be up in a minute. good going Sev.

'Question: Looking at the heavy cavalry above they are using their bows. Would the charge have been more effective if I turned off fire at will and had used 'Alt' attack to charge? Would they have charged in using maces? They did switch to maces once in combat.'

yep, but i'm not sure whether they would have charged in the city streets, already forgetten some things about rtw after playing MTW2 for a few weeks (in mtw2 cavalry will never charge in streets). their charge is not very powerful however, nowhere near as powerful as the cataphracts.

nice one with the last battle gaining your general 5 experience, did you get to keep it all? my best so far is 8 in one battle, but that quickly went down to 6 after my bodygaurds regenerated from the 3 that were left.

[This message has been edited by jameroquai (edited 01-22-2007 @ 06:31 PM).]

@ Sev: The Clibinarii Immortals are indeed generals bodyguard but they can also be recruited as troops I think (i'm not 100% though as I haven't played BI in a few months.

Quote:

I suslaly witch on fire at will and alt-attack everything with clibs. It works for me, as the clibs fire as they run into combat, and they have no lances, so it doens't undermine their effectivemeness too badly.

[This message has been edited by EnemyofJupitor (edited 01-23-2007 @ 10:58 AM).]

I like having them shoot into combat, lowers morale and weakens the line.

hmm.i have to say i would probably suck with these guys.Plus i am bored so i thought i would post

Hi Guys.

Those heavy horse archers do 'fire at will' when they move around. When I next get into battle I will try out that charge without fire at will turned on. To see if it makes any difference. Will report on that much later this week as I still have more campaign pictures to catch up on....starting now.

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Winter 366AD Turn 8

Unwalled rebel Petra fell. Should have done. Odds were 20:3 in my favour. Lots of weak rebels to practice fighting. Its the smallest settlement seen in BI. Just the single governers building.

Another Man of the Hour in a small mopping up engagement against ERE.

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Summer 367AD Turn 9

Ive run Antioch too strictly. The loss of Tarsus may have had a knock on effect and pushed Antioch over the edge of 70% into riot. Ive not had riots presented in this format before. Perhaps because Ive not had three riots at the same time?

You can see my religion has now been spread to all towns except Jerusalem. You get a conversion effect from the neighbouring regions. So all the same means they are all helping convert each other. Got to be careful at Jerusalem ..they had Judean special forces in RTW. Wonder if there are any still here in BI.
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Tarsus. Recapture.

Peasants can use rams.

Slingers drawn up in a narrow front so they can all fire through the doorway.

At the other side of town the mercenary ballista have blasted the gate. Crew left weapons behind and are inside chasing routers.

Spearmen and peasants. One purple roman peasant has the right idea. He has turned away.

Artillery crew chasing routers again. Big cavalry guys nearby. They are out of arrows so no fear of friendly fire.

Tarsus enslaved for €44 denari. Tight wads.
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Cyprus. Falls to a ram led assault. The state of the roads left a lot to be desired. Looks like the ram has got stuck.

Exterminated for €3962. Lots of naval trade opportunity now. ERE controls the seas...I hide my ship in port.
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Dumatha

Deep in the Arabian deserts I had eventually found the town. It was unwalled but my small mix of mounted troops was not ideal for beating the various defenders.

Path finding around cities is bad for 'Huge' scale cavalry units. Its even worse on the outskirts of unwalled cities. I used that to trap the defending missile cavalry. They could not shirmish away and were killed by camel charge.

Out of ammo and facing tough mountain men (spearmen) on the plaza. Should my cavalry attack? Pity I didnt have any tin can immortals as that would have been an easy desicion.

What the heck. If I loose I have more troops arriving to take out the survivors next turn. Charged as best I could. The press of mounted men on three sides pushed the infantry off the plaza. As soon as they were off the plaza they routed and the option to end it immediately was taken.

Enslaved for €8 !
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8 more pictures tomorrow and I will be caught up to my current position in the campaign.

[This message has been edited by Severous (edited 01-24-2007 @ 03:57 PM).]

Hi

Winter 367AD Turn 10

Two assassins are in striking range of Alexandria. One is an expert with 9 eyes of skill. The other a novice with skill of 2 or something like that.

Ive noticed that sabotage of enemy religious buildings carry a better chance of success. Even a novice assassin can have a 95% chance against them. It would be silly to use the better assassin on that building when the novice will have just as much chance.

As it turned out the novice failed and I did have to send the expert assassin in to damage the christian cathedral. Loss of such a building has huge consequences in BI due to the religious dimension of the game.

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Manage the fire at will function.

Here the unit running has stopped firing in case it shoots at routers and hits my troops. That unit is also luring the Roman units persuing it...causuing them to chase and turn their backs on various missile units that will now shoot on them.

About time I had a shot with flying troops. We have all had them. Here I was watching these armoured camel mercenaries for the first time.

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This is the assault on Ancyra with a ladder and siege tower.

Slingers had pushed this tower close to the wall and used its fire power to shoot Romans. It later pushed the tower up to the wall and climbed it but didnt exit. Instead they fired on the enemy from the tower top.

In the distance spearmen are about to climb the ladder and come along the wall top to take on those roman troops on the wall.

Heres that wall top fight. The Romans have come to engage my spearmen. They move into range of the wall tower (foreground) that Ive captured. So they come under fire from the tower. They have also moved away from the wall where the slingers siege tower is parked. This allows the slingers to come out the siege tower, onto the wall, capture a tower, and now fire stones into the backs of the roman wall top defenders.

Bit of a sand storm blowing. Spearmen in the plaza being charged by the Roman general. My heavy cav are coming...just takes a while path-finding.

Exterminate for €8,883
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[This message has been edited by Severous (edited 01-24-2007 @ 03:58 PM).]

How did you get them to not climb out?

Hi misplacedgeneral

The slingers climbed the siege tower as normal. Many wait on the top platform before the drawbridge goes down. Simply stop them. After a short they will start firing....and be fired upon.

I really enjoyed that siege assault. I've not assaulted onto walls holding enemy troops. Usually spies or equipment gets me in on the undefended sides.

[This message has been edited by Severous (edited 01-25-2007 @ 03:24 PM).]

I generally besiege and wait for either a sally or an army to try to lift the siege.

Well, off to my own AAR.

When I siege cities in RTW, RTR, or EB I usually storm them after building considerable siege equipment of course and having good assault infantry like Thracian or Galatian mercenaries for non-Roman factions.

I might start my own AAR about a Romani or Roman campaign in Europa Barbarorum. Given that I have not seen or read any EB inspired stories or AARs here I think it might add a bit of flavour to the war stories forum.

I hardly ever used seige equipment for a while after I got the game but I got the hang of it a while back now.

I never really used siege weapons in RTW, but I think I'm likely to after going back to it after spending an insane amount of time on M2TW