Horatius at the Forest

[Redpossum]

I just had a fantastically fun game with a new member of the community named Porsenna.

We had each won a single game, and were in the 3rd game to decide the match.

It came down to me with 2 fresh L2 Militia units and my Leader, all skulking in the forest, and Porsenna with one L? (21/24) Heavy Cavalry unit and a semi-fresh unit of L? Skirmishers.

He came in after me, like a good sport. Both my Militia units and his Skirmishers routed after a while. That left me with my unscathed Leader and him with a shaken (17/24) Heavy Cavalry unit.

They hacked and fought for the longest time, but the Hvy Cav couldn't hit my leader, and he did occasionally land a solid 9-10 point hit. Eventually, he killed one of them, and that was enough to rout them.

It was a fight to remember. I won the last battle of the match, with nothing left but my leader. And he was still untouched

[Redpossum]

44 views, and not one comment, eh?

[sum1won]

Yeah, some of the newer players are surprisingly good tacticians. Although they seem to be tempted to make "Elite" armies, often with one super-super elite unit. Cough lvl 11 paretorians with 500 in upgrades end cough.

[Redpossum]

Whoah, that sounds intimidating.

Were they as badass as they sound?

The obvious problem with putting all all your eggs in one basket like that is that no unit is invulnerable when it's flanked. Thank you, Slitherine, for putting realistic limits on super units.

[spedius01]

Whoah, that sounds intimidating.

Were they as badass as they sound?

The obvious problem with putting all all your eggs in one basket like that is that no unit is invulnerable when it's flanked. Thank you, Slitherine, for putting realistic limits on super units.

Ave guys,

I trust you both had enjoyable Christmas and Boxing days.

I feel impelled to interject in your thread. I too fell into the trap, vis-a-vis, a super-unit. I had this notion, create a bodyguard cohort of auxilia, promote and equip it with all the wondrous skills and gizmos available within the framework of Legion Arena. Then, believing them to be "virtually" invulnerable "total badass muvvers", I put the life of my Legate into their calloused hands. I awarded them the "Dacian falx" and pitted them alone, on scrub & rocky ground, against hordes of African cavalry and javelinmen, BIG mistake!! The African cavalry dutifully charged in and my bodyguards, singing a lewd Roman drinking song, were happily slaughtering them, when, out of the blue, I was killed by the javelinmen. Game over, a failed objective, everyone in my army of one unit runs away. What joy!

African Cavalry & Javelinmen 1, Auxilia Bodyguards 0.

The abject lessons I learnt from that fiasco were:

1. Don't believe your own propaganda ("I AM the greatest, I always win")
2. Don't under-estimate the enemy ("We're going to win, chaps. These guys are nothing!!")
3. Don't spend obscene amounts of denari on only one unit, spread it around ("Anybody else want a Dacian falx?")
4. Don't feed your troops firewater and bullshit before a battle ("We're definitely going to win, chaps. Have 'nother drink. Hic!!")
5. In order to win, you need more than one unit in your army (unless you're fighting against me)
6. Bodyguards are over-rated (I down-graded mine, decimation was too good for them!!)

I'm happy to be able to report that the return match was:

African Cavalry & Javelinmen 0, Auxilia EX-Bodyguards & army 1.

Finally, as you can see above, I've learned some new words over the Christmas break.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

PS. Just in case anybody asks, "What were the name and lyrics of that lewd Roman drinking song?" I don't know because I was too busy being dead!!!

PPS. What is a literal translation of your new signature, possum? Is it, "If you're Greek, you can read this"???? Or " You don't need to be Greek, to be able to read this, but it helps"???

[Redpossum]

LOL, no. It means, "It's greek. I can't read it"

The quote is from some roman who was shown the inscription on a famous greek tomb.

It's also the origin of the english-language expression "It's greek to me", meaning that you don't understand something.

[sum1won]

Well, they didnt get a chance to be badass. The first time, they walked into rough terrain. Guarded by 4 units of warriors and one unit of javelinmen. Had those units not been there, the praetorians would have rolled up my entire flank. But they were there, so the issue didnt come up.
The other time, he decided to sit back and let me come to him. With two units of lvl 6 archers firing at them, and no units appropriate to counter them, they routed. He let me get 4 volleys before deciding to charge (17 casualties) and they routed after two more volleys and a cavalry charge.

To tell the truth, I made sure each battle not to get into contact with them without several things in my favor.