Roman and Persion Invasions: OMG!!!

[scourge012]

Hey everyone! New community member, here. Just bought the game from Best Buy in the bargain area (it was published by Graphsim--a company I had never heard of, but whatever).

Great outstanding game, I love it! Congrats to the devs, you guys deserve a big pat on the back, this is the first game I've bought in a long while that works right out of the box, and if fun too.

Anywho, to bring my post on to the topic: I am having a heck of a time dealing with those pesky Roman and Persian invaders. I am Crete and have the latest patch of Spartan (I don't have GoT).

These invasions are kicking my arse, to put it mildly. I used to own several coastal cities I took from Lacadaemonia, and Rhodes. There have been two Roman invasions and two Persian invasions now, and I've lost every city EXCEPT Knossos and Gortyn. Hieraptyra (sp?) was taken by the Persians, and Kydonia by the Romans. Somehow, the ambassadors I've sent to both empires have succeeded in giving me alliance status after a few years, and I've succeeded in capturing some cities, including Byantium and others around the Bosporous Straight, but Rome and Persia are monsters and occupy the cities I need to win!

Any tips with how to deal with them? I'm thinking about restarting my game, as both nations are considered "Invincible" in both economy and military--and they have massive armies walking around Crete and no doubt garrisoning the cities I need to possess to win the scenario. So I'm interested in any tips or strategies that I can use to keep them from capturing my stuff next time. And yes, I had available Warriors, Cretan Skirmishers and Proto-Hoplites before the killer invasions struck, I guess I just need to learn how to use them properly. Any help is appreciated.

[IainMcNeil]

Welcome

The invasions get tougher as time goes by, so the later in the game it is the harder it gets. It may be too late for you now as if you let them get too much of a foothold its going to be really difficult. The difficulty level also effects the size of the invasions. I'm sure others here will have lots of suggestions. Glad you are enjoying it

[scourge012]

Thanks for the reply. How many invasions are coded into the Grand Campaign? Or are they random? I've tried a new strat today, about getting Warriors and Psiloi Skirmishers ASAP, and having two 16 squad fleets of 8 squads each sitting out in the ocean waiting for invading ships. So far it's repelled two invasions entirely, but the costs keep getting larger with each passing month, I don't know how long I can keep them out there. I know I have a year's worth of warning, but I don't think I can raise and army of that size, and deploy them far out at sea, so I decided to have two "standing fleets" just sit out there waiting for them.

[IainMcNeil]

Fleets are very expensive to maintain. I'd have them sitting by a port ready to rush out to sea. Invasions are random within certain limits.

[scourge012]

Yeah. I figured out a similar strategy. I just have an army waiting outside a port waiting for the Invasion warning then I move out to sea. So far, I've repelled four total invasions (two of Roman and Persian). Fortunately, I think the rest of the Greeks and native Easterns have achieved enough strength to repel a few invasions on their own, so now I've moved on to capturing cities I need. I only need to get Melos now...

[honvedseg]

I've seen where Persia invades after only two or three months, where you are just crawling out of the stone age, and I've also had a game where they didn't rear their heads for nearly a decade. In the former situation, I don't think there is much you can do, and in the latter case, you should easily be able to launch a fleet and intercept them before they reach land.

Keep a stack or two of light infantry (good at sea) ready in the nearest cities, plus a couple of spare cheap garrison units hanging around outside the cities to move in after the fleet launches, just to preserve morale. That way, you don't pay the huge cost of maintaining an army in the field, or at sea.

[efthimios]

I never had an interested in it so I haven't noticed, isn't it possible to disable the persian/roman invasions?