The Death of Coriolanus

[Redpossum]

The Death of Coriolanus

[spedius01]

The Death of Coriolanus

Ave possum,

You've done it again, one superb "frozen moment" from a battle and a "snappy" caption. I really don't know how you do it. I am amazed, my "gob is totally smacked", I have metaphorically taken two steps backwards in admiration.

An alternative caption could be "You're going down, bub", to which the response could be "I'm going up" or "Oh, crap"!
or "I'm tired of dying. Why me?" or "Capri's nice at this time of year"????? I'm not quite sure how the last one fits in???

I never have time to take photo's during a battle. I'm too busy checking this or that. Is this cohort where it should be, are those archers firing, have my cavalry broken their opponents, etc. When, suddenly, it's all over. The battle's won and you've met the criteria for victory, or not!!! If it's "not", then it's "back to the drawing board" to think up new tactics and deployments for your failed army or rather failed General. I feel sure that you get the "picture"!

Have you considered the idea of the photo/caption competition/s? You would most certainly, on current performance, stand a very strong chance of winning it/them. Although, I was impressed by venividivici's pictures in "Grannacus". Do you think my pictures of spreadsheets have a chance? I'll have to think up a suitable caption for them. (Just joking!!)

BTW (By the way), what does "LOL" mean. After many sleepless nights thinking up all manner of variations, I finally give up. I've noticed that you, sum1wun and others use "LOL". I've been trying, unsuccessfully, to puzzle it out ever since. Is it an "American" expression? I've also noticed that it's an expression of denial. Like "What, me? No way!" or "Leave off, lad".

Finally, with all of these random thoughts zapping around in my tiny, one-cell brain, I wish you a Happy New Year.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[tora_tora_tora]

Amazing pictures, the moment opponent Legate crash into heavy cavalries.
And also interesting is army composition. 2 heavy cavalries, several militas and perhaps several scouts.
I begin to think how to counter this kind of composition, what is the best choice, etc.
There some scrubby ground, though plenty of open ground, so war elephants or heavy infantries?

By the way, LOL means perhaps "laugh out aloud"?
I happened to ask same question at other place, maybe yahoo's chatroom or somewhere.
There are many automatons to advertise somekind of ah I can't describe in good english, there are charming people,too.

[spedius01]

Amazing pictures, the moment opponent Legate crash into heavy cavalries.
And also interesting is army composition. 2 heavy cavalries, several militas and perhaps several scouts.
I begin to think how to counter this kind of composition, what is the best choice, etc.
There some scrubby ground, though plenty of open ground, so war elephants or heavy infantries?

By the way, LOL means perhaps "laugh out aloud"?
I happened to ask same question at other place, maybe yahoo's chatroom or somewhere.
There are many automatons to advertise somekind of ah I can't describe in good english, there are charming people,too.

Ave tora_tora_tora

How have you been, are you still trying all manner of variations with the Demo game? By the time you get hold of the full game you will have more experience than all of us put together. One suggestion, is to set a benchmark (standard) to aim for, try playing the game in "Arcade" mode, then try and match it in normal, hard and very hard. Not the fame score but the kills/losses ratios.

Thank you (Arigato?) for the info, "laugh out loud" perhaps. I'm not too sure it fits the context, but thanks anyway.

Possum certainly seems to come up with some very unusual troop combinations in his armies.

I get the distinct impression that he, like you, is a deep thinker.

Keep well (Sayonora?),

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

PS. What time is it where you are?

[tora_tora_tora]

How have you been, are you still trying all manner of variations with the Demo game?

Yes, they say the release in Japan is in January, so I'm still enjoying demo campaign and start to read Simon Scarrow's novel.
And today I played without reinfocements, without healing units to replenish them.
And I managed to finish at Hard level, thanks to level 2 armors. Final troops strength are
one Legate, 8 Legionaries, 35 Legionaries, 27 Auxilias, 17 Auxilias, 1 Heavy Cavalry, 28 Velites.
Final score is 8700 points. Though all the medal which is shown at the end of every map is silver. This means killing/casualites ratio is not so good, I suppose.

One suggestion, is to set a benchmark (standard) to aim for, try playing the game in "Arcade" mode, then try and match it in normal, hard and very hard. Not the fame score but the kills/losses ratios.

Thank you for your kind suggestions. I've never tried Arcade mode before. I'll try it.
And you show interest in Japanese, it's really kind of you.

So arigatou　is ありがとう、アリガトウ、　有難う(arigatou), which means "thank you" in rather formal way, but not so too much somber.
Keep well is 　o-gennki-de, お元気で,　if I were to translate, but さようなら(sayonara) is also good.

Possum certainly seems to come up with some very unusual troop combinations in his armies.

So he got two elite heavy cavalries as hammers, and as anvil plenty of light infantries to outflank and envelop his opponents?

By the way, I'm not so much deep thinker, but rather finding fun to play this game in many ways.

[Redpossum]

Yes, LOL is Laugh Out Loud, much like the french MDR (mort de rier?).

One bad thing about having played AO for the last 4 and a half years is the way I have picked up many foolish online-type expressions. I speak "1337" amazingly (embarassingly?) well for a man in his 40's.

Actually, my army in that screenshot is 2x Lt Cav, 4x Militia, and 3x Skirmishers. It's only the Coriolanus scenario, after all. There's no money for Hvy Cav at that stage of the campaign

I do confess to a serious affection for Militia units. Let me explain why.

Primus, the Xp gained per kill is weighted by the units' relative values. So a Hvy Cav unit that kills Militia gets little or no Xp. But a Militia unit that kills Hvy Cav receives huge Xp. Since the Militia units are considered by the game to be near the bottom of the scale, they get lots of XP for almost anything they kill. I have seen a Militia unit gain 11,000 Xp in a single battle.

Secundus, the Xp requirements per level vary by unit. Check how many Xp a Militia unit needs to make L2. Then check how many Xp an Auxilia unit needs to make L2. The difference gets nothing but bigger as they both go up in rank.

So, in summary, Militia not only get more Xp per kill, they require fewer Xp for each level, compared to Auxilia or Warriors.

The same relationship exists between Skirmishers and Velites/Javelinmen.

[Redpossum]

Oh hey, Tora.

The medal is determined solely by the Difficulty setting.

At Normal, you always get a bronze medal.

At Hard, you always get a silver medal.

At Very Hard, you always get a Gold medal.

[Redpossum]

Oh, and how I do the Coriolanus scenario -

I deploy my infantry in the woods on Long Hold.

I Charge one cavalry unit down each mapedge, then stop them even with the gap between first and second enemy ranks. When the first enemy rank starts to advance, the second rank stays put for a little while.

If I attack with both cavalry troops at that point, usually one gets intercepted by an enemy troop unit, and the other gets through to Coriolanus.

[sum1won]

I bait the heavy infantry forwards with light cav, withdraw, then attack with my other light cav. Ive found it works pretty well.

[spedius01]

Ave possum,

So LOL is "Laugh out loud". Thank you for clearing that up for me, I can rest easy again now. We have a not too dissimilar expression on this side of the pond, "For crying out loud" usually said in exasperation.

Who was it said "Two nations divided by a common language"? We seem to use the same words but they sometimes have different meanings, very confusing!

I will look upon the poor, lowly militia more kindly after your elequent defence of their right to be included in any aspiring General's army.

I'm picking up a thread from elsewhere now, I recall you mentioning "I, Claudius" by Robert Graves. Have you read "Count Belisarius" also by Robert Graves? Our eponymous hero was a Byzantine General who tried to restore the Roman Empire, during the Sixth Century, with tiny, but superbly equipped and trained armies. Loads of horse archer cataphracts IIRC. As I write this I'm holding the book in my hand, Penquin books 1975. There's a picture of Robert Graves on the front cover. UK price 0.90p. (ISBN 0 14 00.1025 4)

Keep well (o-gennki-de)

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

PS. What's AO?

[honvedseg]

My approach to this scenario is a bit more straight-forward. I have my two light cav units charge the skirmishers in the front, while my two Auxilia are placed alongside each other in the middle. The Legate accompanies one of the mounted units. I give specific orders to each of the Auxilia to attack the unit of spearmen directly ahead, to keep them from getting distracted by the skirmies. By the time they get fully involved with the spearmen, the cav have broken their initial targets. I now provide the spearmen with their worst nightmare, by having the cav attack their exposed flanks. Once they fold, I send the cav and aux. out wide to avoid having them suck the enemy general into the fight this early, then have them pounce on the hapless light infantry in the back rank, to rack up some cheap kills. That leaves poor old Coriolanus sitting out in the open with nobody to protect him. Assuming you've given your Legate at least one or two combat enhancements by this point, you can send him in to settle the score personally, or else let one of the regular units get all the credit.

This approach worked fine in all three levels of difficulty, and I've never had to re-run it for reason of losing the battle, although I've taken another crack at it once after having "Cory" drawn into the early fights and the battle over before it really got going, with only a handful of "XP" awarded for my efforts. It shouldn't be that hard, as long as you don't take on the entire opposition at one time, since they just sit passively for you unless you get too close.

[jdm]

Hi TYora

I am not aware that any of our publishers have a release scheduled for Japan. In fact there are currently no deal;s in place to cover Japan

Where did you hear that it would be released there. We moght be able to speak to them

Regards
JDM

[tora_tora_tora]

Hi TYora

I am not aware that any of our publishers have a release scheduled for Japan. In fact there are currently no deal;s in place to cover Japan

Where did you hear that it would be released there. We moght be able to speak to them

Regards
JDM

<the release in Japan
http://www.4gamer.net/
Here is not a dealers' site, it's news site for gamers.
type in the left upper window "タイトル検索", "legion arena", and the result shows this.

メーカー : Slitherine Software 機種 : PC ジャンル : Strategy
発売日 : 2005/01月中 価格 : 未定


maker:Slitherine Software
platform:personal computer
genre:strategy
release date: January 2005
price:not yet determined

so, I just thought 2005 is wrong for 2006, and there are several articles like notifying Beta test, and demo released on OCtober 17 2005.
And I read the October 17th article and DL the demo. Here is the link.

http://www.4gamer.net/patch/demo/legion ... rena.shtml

[jdm]

Tora
Its as you say but we know nothing of this. If you are aware of Japanese publishers who woulkd be interested in this genre of game, we can certainly contact them.

In the meantime you might be a lot safer ordering a copy from our on line shop

Regards
JDM

[tora_tora_tora]

If you are aware of Japanese publishers who woulkd be interested in this genre of game, we can certainly contact them.

As I'm not a insider, but there are some publishers who sell foreign PC games.
Sorry, I cannot find their mail address except one. And the address I find may not be not for business approach, but just in case it work, I copy it.

エレクトロニック･アーツ株式会社
http://www.japan.ea.com/index.phtml

株式会社ズー
http://www.zoo.co.jp/
And here is their site in English.
http://www.zoo.co.jp/english/international.html

株式会社サイバーフロント
http://www.cyberfront.co.jp/
webmaster@cyberfront.co.jp

株式会社サクセス
http://www.success-corp.co.jp/corporation/index.html
http://www.success-corp.co.jp/inquiry/others/index.htm

In the meantime you might be a lot safer ordering a copy from our on line shop

Thanks. But the problem is 1, I want Japanese comunity to play with, so I want some company to sell Legion Arena here in Japan, if possible in Japanese version. 2, I hate to use creditcard online, though I'll be glad to buy one "pay on delivery".

By the way, I can translate demo version into Japanese except streaming video parts to disseminate to Japanese online gamers.
As I'm not a somekind of programer, I want to translate the text into English and put it on web with link to English version.
If this is not good for your business, please say so.I never do this. If it's OK, and you feel there's no problem, I might start a blog and upload text in Japanese.

Or if you're just interested in Demo version in Japanese, I can send translated text to you. Maybe I'm sure there are many Japanese interested in Legion Arena, but English is sometimes too difficult to tackle in their spare hobby time, and I just want to thank you for letting me play a little bit of this game for free in this way. And I swear, this is for free, I don't want money, I just want other Japanese to play with this game. So maybe free demo version in Japanese on your site is a bit of help. I'm not a good English writer, though I've been Japanese for more than thirty years, so I'm really fluent in Japanese.

P.S.
If you're interested in not localization to Japanese, but using dealers, there are some shops to sell foreign PC games.

有限会社ランドクラフト
http://www.gamers-inn.com/
info@gamers-inn.com

有限会社ジェイ・ディー・エンタープライズ
屋号 エンソフ・リミテッド
http://www.ensof.com/

and I finally find Japanese dealers which already has imported and sold it.

it says
Legion Arena (Slitherine / Strategy First) \6,400 (税込\6,720) CD-ROM 4957727042546
ローマ帝国の 3D アクション/ストラテジー。U.S. 版。(12/2005)
OS: Windows 98/ME/00/XP
最小スペック: Windows 98/ME/00/XP, Pentium III 1GHz or Athlon 1GHz, 256MB RAM, 1GB hard disk space, DirectX 9.0c, 64MB video card, 1072 x 768 monitor.

"ローマ帝国の 3D アクション/ストラテジー。U.S. 版。"
Roman Empire's 3D action/strategy U.S.version.
Price is 6720yen including sales tax.

[kongming]

My approach to this scenario is a bit more straight-forward. I have my two light cav units charge the skirmishers in the front, while my two Auxilia are placed alongside each other in the middle. The Legate accompanies one of the mounted units. I give specific orders to each of the Auxilia to attack the unit of spearmen directly ahead, to keep them from getting distracted by the skirmies. By the time they get fully involved with the spearmen, the cav have broken their initial targets. I now provide the spearmen with their worst nightmare, by having the cav attack their exposed flanks. Once they fold, I send the cav and aux. out wide to avoid having them suck the enemy general into the fight this early, then have them pounce on the hapless light infantry in the back rank, to rack up some cheap kills. That leaves poor old Coriolanus sitting out in the open with nobody to protect him. Assuming you've given your Legate at least one or two combat enhancements by this point, you can send him in to settle the score personally, or else let one of the regular units get all the credit.

This approach worked fine in all three levels of difficulty, and I've never had to re-run it for reason of losing the battle, although I've taken another crack at it once after having "Cory" drawn into the early fights and the battle over before it really got going, with only a handful of "XP" awarded for my efforts. It shouldn't be that hard, as long as you don't take on the entire opposition at one time, since they just sit passively for you unless you get too close.

I'm surprised to hear that honvedseq has both two Auxilia and two light cav at this point. I would guess that you kept your initial light cav and added the other units, so possibly your two auxilia are low level units.

Following several other posts, I sold all my initial units and bought one auxilia. Then added a second when funds were available. Now, I am holding out for the next addition, either archers or auxilia cav. So I faced Coriolanus with just 2 auxilia, levels 4 and 5, which cuts down on the options considerably.

Thus I am left with only my legate as a mobile force to draw units off from the main body. It is really kind of cheap to bully the AI this way, but what else can a captain do? I sent my legate charging into the javelinmen on one flank, then disengaging at the first moment, only to be pursued by the silly javelinmen all the way back into the waiting arms of my auxilia. Repeat on second flank. By this time Coriolanus caught on to the plan and began his advance. I regrouped my boys in the forest like the merry men of Sherwood, waiting for the spearmen to arrive. Sadly we didn't even get to smack them around in Sherwood since Coriolanus came out in advance of his spearmen and was quickly brought to justice, and his spearmen turned back to the sea.