first, conquer all af Sicily. Afterwards, sail all of your soldiers on Sicily to Africa, and have them attack the Numidian capital (sail the slingers from Palma to help them out). Build a huge navy to protect Sicily. Blockade Capua, Rome and Arretium. Get alliances with The Greek Cities, Gaul or Spain and, if you can get it, with Egypt. If you don't ally with either Spain or Gaul, they will attack Corduba.

After you conquered the numidian capital, it's easy to conquer the rest of Africa. Don't conquer Lepcis Magna, that will make the egyptians attack you, and they are way to powerful to take on with your crappy troops. Don't attack the egyptians until you have at least Poeni Infantry.

After you have taken everything east from Lepcis Magna, sail all your troops, except a small force to gaurd the border to Lepcis Magna, to Spain.

Take Spain and build Towers in the mountains to the north. You will need a fairly large force to protect against all the armies Gaul (or the Julii, depending on which of those two, that controls the main part of Europe). Sail the rest of your troops to Italy. Attack the Scippii first and then the Brutii. By this time you should have Poeni and Sacred Band infantry. When all of Italy is yours, build towers in the mountains and leave an army to protect from attacks.

Now, you should have a huge economy and be crushing everything and everyone. You could take on The Greek Cities or the Egyptians now.

[This message has been edited by Im_a_beaver (edited 11-02-2005 @ 03:16 PM).]

good tips
I started a carthage campaign today (m/m, v1.2)
My first turn i built some roads and walls, sent extra troops to sicily, and since i couldnt move my army in sicily, i wnet to turn 2
Next turn i continued to build military/economic buildings
I saw the scipii move their sicily army towards Syracuse, and a greek army was waiting for them, so i decided to move my army close to the Scipii settlement, but not attack it
Turn 3
The scipii defeated the greek army and beseiged syracuse
Now i made my move on teh scipii settlement (i cant remember the name)
All they have defending the settlement is a faction member and his bodyguards

They were easily crushed (ele's are quite effective when it comes to taking down gates)

I am planning on moving my army to syracuse and defeating the scipii army left there and then taking syracuse

TTK, i would like to work with you on this carthage campaign, like post what weve done for the day and give each other tips and such

Well, like all factions you need to upgrade your economy first. Get trade right from everyone and their mother. And the grandparents too now that I think about it. Most important of all are the Greeks and Macedonians because they hold Greece until the Brutii sweep through. Basically you're going for naval trade. Build a navy to protect your ports and transport diplomats and armies. No matter how powerful an enemy is on land, without ships they can't invade Sicily.

Make some trade temples (Milquart if I recall correctly) around Carthage and on Sicily to further boost your income. Temples of Baal are suitable for the spanish provinces (you can upgrade any shrines of Esus).

You might not want to take Syracuse from the Greeks. It may be better to make an alliance, wait for the Romans to take Syracuse then hit them instead. But then again it may not. Use your discretion.

Your early infantry is no match for the Romans' Hastati, but your Longshield Cavalry is superior to Equites (and pretty much any other early cavalry west of Egypt). Basically make lots of Longshields very soon. They are also great against Numidia (who at first will only produce javelinmen and Numidian Cav). In my Carthaginian campaign I conquered them with an all cavalry army (I used mercenaries to operate battering rams, but that's it).

50% or more of your army should be cavalry. Position them closely together and charge several of them at a single enemy unit, preferably on the enemies flank. The charge of 5 Longshields will soon rout pretty much anything rome can throw at you at this point. Retreat and repeat.

When you retrain units they don't lose experience (most of the time). So autoresolve some battles to beef up your troops' experience, then retrain them.

Because of this I favor Longshield over Sacred Band Cavalry. Well yeah, the Sacred Band is stronger, but much harder to retrain. Longshields however are more expendable, so I risk them more and while they suffer casualties they grow in experience much faster (so they can match fresh SB Cav in power). Then I retrain them (easy to do in civilised lands) and they're as good as new.

Once your cities can produce Longshields, focus military building construction on upgrading barracks. Your early infantry is rubish, but Poeni Infantry are a good and reliable phalanx unit. If a province has elephants you might want to make elite stables to produce War Elephants. Nice thing about them is how they can replace rams so you don't need to wait a turn to construct equipment.

Well, that's about as much general advice as I could think of. Hope it helps.

Wow thanks guys!

I took it down to vh/h and elephants replace rams? Cool I will have to try i.

Yeah my biggest problem is that crappy Iberian infantry I get they die so quickly vs hastati expecially when fighting on stone walls. I will try the long shield thing. I've also tried a flanking with eles strat whaddya think?

Tried getting trade agreements, they don't seem to last long. Interstingly enough u can get Capua with Your faction leader at the start in about 4 turns lol. But I didn't feel very safe with SPQR and The Brutii coming up.

SgtYeaton cool i will post when i can.
Good Tips:
-Sell map info, extra 200 at start.
-I started again twice to see which way was better, the second time i made an alliance with Greece and gave them Caralis because The Julii just take it anyway. INtersting enough the Julii didn't attack the city when the Greeks had it. I was also able to to Messena easily because when the Romans came to take Syracuse, I attacked with the Greeks help and we owned their army. I had a little trouble keeping it later cause the Julii came but I liked this way the best. (I am planning to backstab the Greeks

-THe second time i started I took Syracuse but this is the one that got me problems because the Scipii never stop attacking, well at least in vh/vh and My crap Iberian infantry does nothing.

So at the moment I am trying to hold Messena from the Scipii but I have Libyan spearman so alot easier and also I am making an army in carthage to take Capua.

I'll post more when I start playing today. Thnx guys.

Trade agreements last as long as you don't go to war. That's why you want to have a trade agreement with everybody. When you go to war with someone (or they attack you) your trade is simply redirected.

Iberian Infantry are sword-fodder. They can engage an enemy so you can flank the sucker with your Longshields, but in no way are they to be used as an independant fighting force against proper troops.

I also just remembered: an alliance with Gaul is better than an alliance with Spain. These two are likely to go to war and if you have to choose a side let it be Gauls. Reason is simple. Spain has the same early troops as you, just without Longshield Cavalry making them the faction with the worst unit selection in the game (not counting Bull Warriors, which rock).

Basically: Spain has weaker troops than Gaul, Gaul is busy with Julii (common enemy), if you bribe Spanish troops they mostly join you instead of disbanding.

Is it really worth taking Spain? I tried to take Spain with my Troops in Corbuda+mercenaries but the Spanish always bribe my troops! iT happened twice, I took Carthago Nova, and My guy was bribed, and than after that lucky event the Gauls Attacked Corbuda, and they both went!

Also It is pretty far away and hard to get family members up there. On more question Why is Carthage always on a negative amount of money making? If i build more farms the problems just goes off the roof =/.

I do not think its worth it
Ive spent today wrestling control of sicily from the scipii
I have an alliance with spain right now

I have been playing a Spain campaign recently and the only city that makes a good amout of money that is spains is Carthago Nova

If you take the spanish settlements you will be attacked by the gauls. period.

P.S. Syracuse is a bitch
My sicily army has like 2 units of infantry and that is not strong enough to scale those walls
The lava they poor down on people at the gate murdered my elephants, trying to break down the gate

But after a battle outside of Syracuse ( the troops guarding syracuse came out as reinforcements), syracuse has exactly one man defending it, a scipii faction member, so now i should be able to take

An alternative strategy, for a more interesting late game, is to focus on Spain. Hold Sicily for as long as you can, but do not divert undue forces there. Keep what you have, and send a few Libyans from Carthage every now and then. Use your navy to cut Messana off from Capua, and have yourself a nice little set of battles against a reasonably sized force. Your best bet for doing this is to SURROUND the port of Capua. Ships can escape a blockade without a fight, but not a circle around the port. Use Carthage to crank out Triremes, and Palma(and Carlais, if you hold it) to pump out Biremes. These will keep your power at sea unchecked. Make sure you decide how important Caralis is. If you decide to fight for it, then move your starting forces from Thapsus, accompanied by 1 or two hired Numidian Cavalry, and sail them North. Place them in a city or use them in ambush, your choice.

Sicily is not nearly as vital as it is sometimes made out to me. It is worth holding, but if you are in the mood for a late game duel with Rome, it isn't worth taking. It can provide a valuable training ground for men and anti-Roman tactics. You can choose what to do with Syaracuse. Taking it early requires money, money that could be spent in Triremes for cutting the Scipii in half, and it also streches your forces particuarily thin on the Island. An alliance with the Greeks, or if they offer you status of protectorate, is my preferred choice. Use your army, from a central point, to help the Greeks in battle, and to defend Lilybaeum. Beyond that, Sicily isn't that important. Other than a few Libyans from Carthage, and the retraining of the original elephants, use only men from Lilybaeum to defend Sicily. Focus Carthage on shipbuilding, and Thapsus on growth. When you can train Libyans in Thapsus, create an army of Iberians, Libyans, and Long shields, as well as a few Skirmishers, and March into Numidia. The problem with Carthage is that it has no real infantry and cavalry producing Backbone, anywhere. Numidia provides this. You don't have to take all of it, Ignoring Lepcis Magna was a good suggestion. You just need three to four territories for army production.

The most important conquest you have to make is Spain. Transfer the Baelarics from Palma, as well as a few Libyans/Long shields from Carthage. Give Corduba a temple to Tanit, and watch things happen. Take Carthago Nova early. It is an effective Springboard for defeating Spain. From There, drive the Gauls(Through bribery, assaination, whatever) from Spain. Preserving Peace is for the best, but not needed. From There, Spain is at your mercy. I keep Scallabis and Asturica alive for training purposes, but the choice is yours. Just make sure no Bull Warriors are produced and you will be fine. After Spain is under your control, turn it into an economic base, like Numidia will be your military one. Use temples to Tanit to get to 6000 people, then switch to Execution Squares and Milqart. Build a network of Roads, and upgrade Mines, Soon it should be producing the wealth needed to fund an empire, even if you lost Lilybaeum. From there you have several choices. I typically gather my best men in one army and take Sicily, retrain, move to Spain, make Gaul a protectorate after taking Narbo Maritus or Massila, and then I follow Gallic armies around, helping them to establish dominance. After a few years of that, I retake Northern Italy for Gaul(If the Julii have taken it) and then I march into Italy from the North. The Scipii should be a non threat, simply for lack of money, but the Julii, Senatem and Brutti each possess sizeable forces, even some after marius units. After I pillage Italy and gift it to Macedon (Except Rome) in exchange for trade and protectorate status, the world is open. All regions should be sufficently developed that they will pose interesting challenges. I typically bribe Southern Gaul, then move on and take almost every coastal region not under Macedonian control. The Selucids, if alive, are particuarily fun, because they have such diversity. As are the Pontics.

This is probably a little late, seeing as you already started, but when you win your current campaign, maybe it is worth a try.

Good Luck.

Very good

You show a very useful alternative strategy while still being able to eventually take rome

The Navy Idea is a very useful one
Being able to hold of the romans without actually fighting them

Though, you do think that creating these armies and getting the buildings to create them is nothing

Just for an idea for my campaign, how long did it take you to destroy numidia, then how long till spain, and so on with gual?

Yeah It's too bad I took Lepcis Magna and lost Corbuda. =(
I tried the Ship thing and It is awesome! Especially when u get scipii ships with only like 40 men and numidaians navies with like 80 men, atm I have a tirmere with one of them gold stripes. (Careful of the SPQR ships at the start, u can have twice a navy and they still win

Maybe I'll try get Spain, just for the good ole historic way

Another good things I finally managed to get Sacred Band Infantry at Carthage. I am making elephants at Lilybaeum than plan to attack croton, I will see how that turns out.

TTK... Hehehe. Brings bak memories. Any relation to the Call of Duty clan?

Nah sorry, TTK is a clan from age of mythology that I'm in

What a coincidence, I just started a vh/vh carthage game. I spent all my cash on ports, agriculture and traders the first few turns to get the cash flow going. I built peasants in all the cities and evacuated the troops in palma and caralis to carthage. Finally, I raised taxes as high as possible in all cities without them revolting.

An early alliance with Spain has kept them passive in the west and Gaul always seems preoccupied with the Romans and Britons (who are actually steamrolling Gaul and Germany right now.) So in Corduba I have just continued to build up the infrastructure.

In North Africa, I took the troops from the two island cities and Carthage to Cirta, which as we all know cripples the Numidians for the rest of the game.

Now, on to Sicily. I have found the best thing here is patience. In every game I've ever played, the Scippi attacked Syracuse first. This is important because it weakens the roman army in Sicily and makes Greece eager to ally with you. If you're lucky, Greece throws back the besieging army. In my experience, this proked the Brutii to send a large army to exact revenge. Sinking that ship opens at gateway to all of Southern Italy once your army in Lilybaeum takes Messana. So far my economy is in full swing, I can build sacred band in Carthage, and all fronts are completely defensible. And I have only fought 2 full flag armies (Numidia at Cirta and Brutti at Tarentum) and one half-flag (Scippi at Messana).

It's all about picking your battles and winning the war at sea.

I finally took control of sicily!!!!

I took 10 battles, the last three in the same exact spot, im not kidding, they were in the same exact spot, i won all three times but i did take some heavy causualites cause i have mostly skimishers and calvary skirmishers

I do not know what im planning to do next, i got about 10k in my treasury, im beginning my navy

I think im going to create a new army and attack numidia,
that would be the smart choice

I have an alliance with spain and greece so im not going to attack spain....

yet

I finally killed the Scipii, have control on sicily and have Tarentum, and Croton + Capua

WAR ELEPHANTS ROCK!
I charged 3 units of war elephants into the Brutii army (700 men) and i lost 0 units, while he lost 75%! LOL.

I would strongly advise taking Capua, for me it brings in 2000 denari a turn, and eliminates the Scipii threat.

Also the only city worth getting in Numidaia is Cirta, Cirta is getting me about 1900 denari, maybe Tingi is worth getting if ur planning to go to Spain as well, but the other Numidian cities suck.

If ur gonna take Capua, Make sure to exterminate the population!!! Also have a very big army, i lost over half my army jst walking to the town square!

One more thing, I gave rome one of my Numidian settlemets, Dimmide (in the middle of the African desert) and atm they aren't attaking me... It gave me enough time to take the Brutii settlements on Sicily anyway.

U guys come up with any good strats? Best i have atm is the war elephant charge.

Also the Greeks broke their alliance with me, and attacked Lilybauem, be careful and prepared of them.

I find it impossible to generate enough gold to support a big navy without Sicily.

Sicily is always worth taking. Sicily - Caralis - Carthage - Thapsus generates insane amounts of money. It gets even better when you start to conquer the italian mainland.

It's true that Spain isn't very rich, but it's fairly easy to conquer and defend. I always find Spain useful, just conquer and forget.

Taking Spain Is very far from your capital..
But i agree with taking sicily, with Carthage+lilybaeum making units u need those settlements pumping out ships.

update to my campaign

Today i have made major progress towards domination

As you all know i have taken sicily, now sicily is my major naval base and my 2nd army base

I have finally dominated the seas, the 2nd best ship you can get, i forget the name, dominates the roman ships

the romans do not stand a chance of attacking me

i have a almost full stacked army in sicily, just itching to attack italy, but i need a few more cav units

I am now at war with numidia and have taken Cirta

I took the most losses in a single battle trying to take cirta

I'll describe the battle cause i have nothing better to do

I had Cirta under seige with about 450 troops

Then a reinforcement army of 50 troops attacked along with about 170 soldiers trapped in certa

At first I was facing the army of 50 (wow waht a challenge) I sent a RS (round shield) to attack the spearmen, they were quickly routed

I then turned to face the army of 170 comign at me

They general and about 100 soldiers charged my frontline and battered the center. I sent my libyan spearmen to help with the attack but they were routed. About 3 of my iberian units routed, and i sent my 2 general units along with my 2nd libyan spearmen unit to attack. I finally killed the enemy general and defeated the remaining attackers. I took heavy causualties (for me) i lost about 180 men but i still won the battle. I did take out one of their strongest faction members as well.

i am confuzzled that i have 155% public order but Cirta is revolting? can anyone tell me why?

anyways, i think im just going to let the rebels take the settlement after i retrain my troops and i will go fro the capital

Should i train some peasant units and try and hold it or should i just forget about it?

I will attack Italy tomorrow, i will post what happens, i am going for hte 2 brutii settlements first

Edit: Also, i was looking of the campaign map (the poster one) and has anyone ever tried to take every single settlement?

[This message has been edited by SgtYeaton (edited 11-01-2005 @ 09:16 PM).]

Lol I think it would impossible to take the whole map,

1. The campain woun't let you
2. Happiness would be crazy lol.

Intersting, how much are you getting with Cirta, Maybe if u had Spain it would get you big bucksm but if u are going more to invade Italy/Greece I would loose it unless it was HUGE bucks.

Also try deleting Numidian Temples? Maybe that is the reason dunno. But if u have 155% happiness than the revolts should be quelled when they attack...

I Stress go for Scippii, it is an enemy gone, and you don't have to worry about their ships etc, than go Brutii, make sure to have war elephants.

But the way what sort of Troops r u sending to Italy? I Took the bottom half with only Sacrend Band infantry and War Elephants+ Mercenaries.

Your best bet is getting Sacred Band they rock, I was able to train them cause of a temple, I chose the happiness one, keep updating, I should be able to play tomorrow or Saturday, I have heaps of exams atm.

Than i shall update

To your 1st question

Cirta is making about 800 denari, which is good considering it was a numidian settlement

The next turn the revolt went away so thats ok, but that city revolting isnt the problem

Corbuda and the city u start out with south of carthage (cant remember name) have been revolting... i have plenty of troops i just dont have sewers or enough cleanliness whatever.

As for attacking italy, i have already taken Croton and Tarentum with reletive ease. I am attacking italy with a mix of long and round shield cav. for infantry i have iberians main with some libyan (i am not advanced at all)
I do have one unit of elephants with my army, and i am currently building another in Carthage.

With an army of about 550 soldiers i am going to take the scipii capital, wait for a reinforcement army of atleast 400 then atttack the SPQR army....

Yeah the Brutii were easy for me to take, but the Scipii Capital was a huge pain. It was set so that i had to walk ages around the city until i got to the town square.

Also Thapsus revolting??? It would be not enough health with too much pop I am guessing, Prolly squalor, and don't forget peasant garrisons

I think it is ashame you have such weak units =(, try take Capua, but get sacred band infantry and war elephants so that u can take Rome, They have some pretty elite units. Focus on your military buildings =) Also I have found the execution square works wonders, make sure to get that.

Also if u are planning to take Spain, tell me, as I would want to know if it is worth getting, I think it would be pretty easy to get, but the money wouldn'y be worth it prolly. Secondly, if u are focusing on spain, change your capital to Cirta might work? It is pretty central to Sapin and Italy

Sorry SgtYeaton for the delay in response. Spain can be defeated quickly and early on. Use the army you have there, and send a ship to transfer the Baelerics from Palma to the Mainland. You have an army instantly better than most anything Spain has. Round Shields are underrated, and Spain has a lot, but otherwise it is just some Iberians and Town watch. On h or vh you fight mercenaries, but if you have enough cash you can cut them off by hiring them. From there it just takes time. Carthago Nova will go quickly, then Numantia. These are the biggest cities in Spain, and will allow fast retraining of Iberians and eventually Libyans and Long Shields. From there, it is attrition.

Numidia takes longer, and may be delayed. You have to either wait for Spain to be subjegated, or build an army from scratch. Mercenaries are your friends. Train them, and couple them with men trained in Thapsus. Depending on how fast your start is you could have an army in 20 turns, even 15 if you are really good in battles and don't need lots of men. From there, you simply beat up Javelinmen and wear out Numidian Cavalry. It can be controlled within another 20 turns from the start of the war, faster if you keep churning out men in Thapsus, and if you are able to get a Spanish army down there. This does drain resources though, so it is your choice.

I hope that helps.

thx for the advice ttk and exe

I do not think i am going to take spain ttk, i have having enough problems maintaining my empire....

I can build Long shields just about everywhere now, so i am getting more advanced, but making the buildings to get them takes a while...

I attacked the scipii captial..... 1 word

diaster

I got the gate down with relative ease, but i dont not have catapults or art. yet, and they have a stone wall...

I rushed about 400 of my 550 into that gate and there was a major traffic jam. They pour that god damn lava on my calvary and that alone killed 70 of my men

There archers did some good damage to me to...

after losing al those 400 soldiers i just gave up on the battle...

Though, i didnt save the game... i know i cheat.... but that was just really unfair.

Now im going to wait it out and wait for them to sally forth, this should give me time to make another army

Yes, I warned ya Capua was a pain. When i sieged it, I made sure to get about 2 sap points 1 seige tower and 4 ladders, Anything STone wall or bigger, forget about rams, it's all about sap points.

When i attacked Capua, I had 3 units of elephants and about 6 units of sacred band with some mercenaries, and I still had trouble getting, I saved before seigeing, and it took me 3 turns to eventually it. (load, loose, load, loose load, win)

Make sure to position your laddders accordingly, check out the shortest route to the town square and than focus on that point. Also a spy MAY make your like easier, I am not sure.

yea, its a pita....

update for my campaign..

Bascially the scipii have 20 soldiers total, and one island settlement they took from me behind my back

i took the capital because i had my army beseigeing it and a scipii army attacked, and the army defending capua came in as reinforcements.

they got their asses kicked and there was no more men left to defend capua, so i just took it and slaughtered the romans for defying my might!!!!

well, after a weird war peace and war again with the romans (long story) and my alliance with the greeks is over cause i clicked the wrong button when the scipii became my protectorate and they went to war with the greeks, so i clicked the wrong button and i allied with the scipii and went to war with the greeks. Then i attacked the scipii cause i never wanted to ally them in the first place.

Ive lost 2 battle with the scipii, mainly because they have 6 star generals and i dont have a general to fight them, and the troops im using are crap, but they will be dead soon.

This is the part in the campaign where i lose interest.

the good soldier buildings take forever to make, and im being attacked everywhere.

I guess i just need to be patient and create new armies.

I am about to attack the numidian capital, they have nothing to defend left with