I just posted the below article on Steam, ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/1011390/ ... 345880531/ ) and am cross-posting it here:
I am a beta tester for Field of Glory: Empires. Some new players have posted on the forums and on Steam expressing confusion on how to play Rome. This short guide is intended to help the new player navigate the first thirty or so years of the game playing as Rome. I have previously done an AAR based on a beta version of the game which may also help new players. It is located here: http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtop ... 34&t=92523
First, a bit of history. Some new players are surprised to find out that Rome is under a constant threat in the early game. This is historically accurate. From 509-31 BC Rome was almost constantly at war. The starting game in Empires reflects this situation. While Rome begins at war with only the Senones, the other nations on the peninsula will quickly remind the player of their presence, demonstrating an uncanny knack for declaring war on Rome at the most inconvenient times. As the manual explains “The AI uses a number of factors… [including] existing relations but also a perception of weakness. If you are already embroiled in a war, especially if outnumbered or you are losing regions, then other powers may seek to take advantage of your weakness (Rule 9.6). If you are playing Rome, expect to constantly at war during the first thirty years.
This guide is to help a new Roman player prevail against an AI-led world that seeks to crush him. By 1) Identifying its objective; 2) Developing an accurate estimate of its situation; and 3) developing a strategy that accomplishes its objectives, while taking advantage of, or mitigating against the strengths and weaknesses identified in the situation estimate. The rest of this article will address these steps.
Objective
In the early game, Rome has three main objectives: 1) Survive; 2) Unify the Italian peninsula; 3) Maintain or improve its status as a Stable Aristocratic Republic. For the first twenty or so game turns Rome cannot be too concerned about Legacy, as there are simply too many national security threats that arise, This does not mean that Rome should completely ignore Legacy during this portion of the game. Instead, Rome must first quickly unify and pacify the Italian peninsula while maintaining itself as a stable republic, thereby laying the groundwork for accumulating legacy in the subsequent decades.
Estimates
Rome starts out with several advantages: Militarily, its units are more experienced when raised, beginning with 5 XP bonus. The Barracks in Rome give an additional 10 XP for units created there. Rome has the excellent heavy infantry Legion unit. Although expensive, it is also unequaled on the peninsula. Rome also gets a free unit support bonus, allowing it to maintain larger armies in a region. Rome also receives additional leaders, allowing Rome to deploy multiple armies, exploiting multiple axis of approach against an enemy, or otherwise conducting military operations on multiple fronts. Economically, Rome receives an extra building slot and infrastructure bonuses. Socially, Rome gets conversion bonuses, allowing it to better integrate non-native populations into its nation. Geographically, Rome has the advantage of operating on interior lines, allowing it to rapidly shift forces to meet threats from either the north or south. Rome and Neapolis are well fortified, giving Rome some ability to resist invasion. Finally, no other single nation on the peninsula is a peer military competitor.
But Rome also has inherent disadvantages. It accumulates additional decadence, which can seriously hamstring it gaining legacy. Although it has a large coastline, it lacks a navy. While its manpower and metal reserves are adequate in the short term, Rome lacks significant money-generating infrastructure to reconstitute an army lost early in the game. And while Rome has no peer competitor on the peninsula, it does face numerous hostile nations that are capable of jointly defeating it.
Initial Force and Economic Structure to Conquer the Peninsula
Taken together, these advantages and disadvantages indicate that the initial Roman strategy should emphasize the rapid elimination of enemies by building of multiple armies operating offensively in a single front to seize territory. This maximizes the Roman advantages of having a larger leader pool and its superior ability support large armies in a region. However, initially Rome lacks money, metal and manpower to rebuild an army that is destroyed. Therefore, preserving the Roman army is critical, as it will initially be difficult to reconstitute. This fact implies that the Roman army needs to combine into a single force that can overwhelm its enemies with a minimal chance of taking significant losses. Once this army is built, then a second similar army should be constructed. Do not split up the initial army to create two smaller forces, as this risks these forces being overwhelmed by a surprise attack by an AI nation. Instead, use Rome’s interior lines to rapidly redeploy the single army against any unexpected threat.
The next issue is how to structure the Roman armies. The Empires combat system places on frontage, flanking, support and generals in resolving combat. See Rule 10.7. Additionally, experience is important in determining combat results. Because the maximum frontage is 12, and the effects of flanking are so devastating, all armies should have as a minimum of 12 units, to cover the necessary frontage. If the army is intended for offensive operations, it ideally needs a minimum of 16-18 units. Generally speaking, two to four of these units should be cavalry. This allows for enhanced pursuit and destruction of a defeated enemy force, or the screening of your force if defeated. Additionally, 6-10 units should be heavy infantry (Legion or Alae), accompanied by an additional 8-10 skirmishers. This type of balanced force is enough to cover any frontage in the game. It also contains sufficient skirmishers to ensure all the heavy infantry are supported and enough heavy infantry to rapidly besiege any city. Note that this is an expensive force to build. Legions and Alae are costly, and their cost increases as more are fielded. However, losing wars is even more expensive, and this recommended force structure minimizes the odds of losing battles. But because this is an expensive army, it must be carefully used, as it will be difficult (although not impossible) to replace in the early game.
After creating an army, you need to give it a leader. The Empires combat system gives significant advantages to well led armies. Conversely, armies without leaders face significant disadvantages. To get the benefit of a leader, he must have been assigned at least one turn before a combat (Rule 10.4.4). Therefore, ensure your army is being led the turn before you begin operations. Additionally, after a battle make sure your army is still being led. If your leader died during the battle, you should replace him and, whenever possible, wait a turn before engaging in further combat operations. Similarly, if your leader is in bad health, consider replacing him during a lull in fighting. That way, his death of natural causes in the middle of a war will not force you to delay operations or risk fighting with a leaderless army.
Rome’s vulnerable coastlines are a significant argument for creating a navy. Initially, it is not a wise thing to do, because ships are expensive and not nearly as useful to Rome in the first two decades of the game. Although Rome will eventually need to build a fleet to fight Carthage that war will likely occur after turn 30. In the early game, the Tarentum and Etrusci fleets are not a great enough threat to justify the expense of building and maintaining a fleet.
Economically, the Roman player should initially direct his economy towards supporting the military. It will take approximately 30 turns of constant fighting to accomplish the objective of unifying the peninsula, so Rome needs to have an economy that can support the military needed to accomplish this objective. Military units require manpower, metal and money (3M) and equipment to be created and maintained. The Roman pool of these resources will rapidly diminish once the game starts. The first of these resources to become critically short is likely money. Because of this, the Roman player should emphasize building money -generating buildings. In the early game buildings that produce money and metal, such as blacksmiths and forges are particularly useful, because Rome frequently gets decisions that allow for a surplus of metal to be converted to manpower or money. Once Rome is consistently generating a +30/turn surplus of metal and +100 turn surplus of money, then consider building some manpower generating structures such as Herbalists. Each turn, note the current stockpile of money, metal and manpower, as shortages of manpower or money result in your troops deserting, making the army more brittle and easier to defeat.
Campaign Plan to Conquer the Peninsula
The two goals for the campaign to unify the peninsula are to 1) Rapidly seize regions while 2) preserving the military. Generally speaking, losses are to be avoided, even at some expense of speed of conquest. Quickly seizing regions will allow the provinces to quickly be formed, thereby minimizing decadence.
The first two turns of the game should be spent building the military needed for the initial campaign. Since Rome starts at war with the Senones, they should be the target of the first Roman offensive. At least two additional legions and six additional skirmishers will need to be built and combined with the starting army to ensure victory with minimal casualties. Additionally, build one Alae in Neapolis. Although this will not be completed in time for the initial attack against the Senones, it will be a needed reinforcement for the battles to come. Assign a good leader to command this army. A 2-0 or 2-1 leader is ideal, as Rome will initially be attacking and not having to worry about defending for the first turn or two. If a 2-0 or 2-1 leader is not available, assign a 1-1 leader to the army.
During the first two turns while the army is being built, Rome should attempt to get as many cooperation agreements as possible with the nations in the peninsula. As long as the chance of getting an agreement is above 5% or so, attempt to get these agreements. If possible, an alliance with Etrusci and or Samnium should be sought.
On turn 3, send the entire army against the Senones. After defeating them in Picenum, you have a choice whether to go north or south. The advantage of going south is that the army can take Aternus from the Italic tribes, thereby gaining additional experience and allowing the formation of the Italia Superior province. Rome can then eliminate Tarentum and possibly Samnium, simultaneously securing a rich city, preventing Carthaginian expansion into the southern peninsula, and allowing the formation of the Italia Inferior province. While this strategy risks a rebuilt Senones army seizing Picenum, such a risk is small and could be mitigated by building a 12-14 unit force with a good defensive general in the region. If you have 150 gold, you can entrench this force, further protecting it while the main attack takes the southern peninsula.
Alternatively, Rome could seek a peace treaty with the Senones after taking Picenum. This will last 10 turns. While a peace treaty temporarily prevents Rome from finishing off the Senones, during this period they will be acting as a buffer between Rome and the Celticii and Boii, freeing the legions to finish off Tarentum and Samnium.
By 293 the southern peninsula should be secured. At this point, Rome should have two strong armies. The initial army should by now be highly experienced, while the similar sized, but newer force likely has less experience, but is still capable. Assuming the Senones have acted as an effective buffer against the Celticii and Boii, you now have the choice of attacking the Senones or Etrusci. In this case, I recommend attacking Etrusci with both forces, taking its three home provinces first. These rich Etruscan cities are already part of the previously formed Italia Superior province, so their capture contributes less decadence. Being Italic, their populace is also easier to absorb than the Celtic population in Cisalpina. Finally, Etrusci is the far more capable threat than the rump Senones nation that is left after the seizure of Picenum on turn 3. After the fall of Etrusci, your two armies can being planning the conquest of Cisalpina, and begin considering the next Roman moves outside the Peninsula.
Closing Thoughts
1) First, try to keep peace with as many neighbors as you can. Although frequently beyond your control, try to go to war with only one nation at a time
2) Go to war with an overwhelming, but balanced force and preserve it. Your experienced troops are expensive and difficult to replace. If your experienced legions take casualties, rest them until they recover, unless absolutely critical to Rome’s survival that they continue to fight without an operational pause.
3) Give the army a good leader. If you are attacking and have a 2-0 leader available, use him. BUT you have to be constantly attacking, as he is almost useless in a defensive battle. If you are not sure whether you are going to be attacking or defending, go with the 1-1 leader. Put your leader in charge of the army one turn before combat to give his bonuses to the troops. DO NOT attack without at least a 1-1 or 1-0 leader UNLESS you are attacking an enemy force that is known to be small and grossly overmatched.
4) Build troops only where they can get training experience. As a general rule, this means Rome. While training grounds can give a little experience (5 XP), the barracks in Rome gives 10. So build in Rome whenever possible.
5) For Rome, time is of the essence. It needs to quickly neutralize or eliminate enemies. Do not be afraid to assault walled cities, if you have overwhelming strength, as this shortens the war and frees up the army for duty elsewhere. While a direct assault on a level 3 walled city is not generally advisable, if you decisively beat the enemy's field army outside the walls, the city may be relatively undefended. If you aren't sure, siege the walls to reduce it to a 2, then assault.
Tips on Fighting as Rome in the Early Game
Moderator: Pocus
Re: Tips on Fighting as Rome in the Early Game
What settings was this on? Especially with the new less aggressive AI patch it seems a bit conservative even for new players. I assume you auto-resolve all the battles which makes things a lot slower. Are you also considering a really bad leader as likely?
Re: Tips on Fighting as Rome in the Early Game
This is not an AAR, so it isn't a single game-It is simply tips for a new player on how to approach playing Rome. Consequentially, it isn't on any particular setting, but simply the sum of my experiences and observations from playing numerous games as Rome. I did it because there were some comments from new players on Steam indicating they were having trouble with Roman strategy. It very well may not be an optimal Roman strategy, but it does offer a new player a strategy to unify the Italian peninsula without too much angst and frustration. The battles are auto-resolved. As far as bad leaders: In my experience, Rome almost always has at least one 1-1 leader available at this stage of the game, and this strategy incorporates that observation as an assumption.
Re: Tips on Fighting as Rome in the Early Game
Sorry, meant rulers, not leaders. Don't really think about generals as leaders as a dirty manual battle player.SteveLohr wrote: ↑Sat Jul 20, 2019 1:33 pmThis is not an AAR, so it isn't a single game-It is simply tips for a new player on how to approach playing Rome. Consequentially, it isn't on any particular setting, but simply the sum of my experiences and observations from playing numerous games as Rome. I did it because there were some comments from new players on Steam indicating they were having trouble with Roman strategy. It very well may not be an optimal Roman strategy, but it does offer a new player a strategy to unify the Italian peninsula without too much angst and frustration. The battles are auto-resolved. As far as bad leaders: In my experience, Rome almost always has at least one 1-1 leader available at this stage of the game, and this strategy incorporates that observation as an assumption.
Re: Tips on Fighting as Rome in the Early Game
The strategy I outlined really wouldn't be affected by a good or a bad ruler. A ruler with high military or diplomatic scores may make the strategy easier. Conversely, a ruler with bad scores in these areas may make it more difficult. But neither would affect the outlines of the strategy I propose. This is because Rome must unify the Italian peninsula early in the game, and that fact is independent of the quality of the ruling party in Rome. So while the characteristics of the ruling party may affect some of the minor tactics employed in the strategy, they don't affect the strategy at all.MoLAoS wrote: ↑Sat Jul 20, 2019 2:15 pmSorry, meant rulers, not leaders. Don't really think about generals as leaders as a dirty manual battle player.SteveLohr wrote: ↑Sat Jul 20, 2019 1:33 pmThis is not an AAR, so it isn't a single game-It is simply tips for a new player on how to approach playing Rome. Consequentially, it isn't on any particular setting, but simply the sum of my experiences and observations from playing numerous games as Rome. I did it because there were some comments from new players on Steam indicating they were having trouble with Roman strategy. It very well may not be an optimal Roman strategy, but it does offer a new player a strategy to unify the Italian peninsula without too much angst and frustration. The battles are auto-resolved. As far as bad leaders: In my experience, Rome almost always has at least one 1-1 leader available at this stage of the game, and this strategy incorporates that observation as an assumption.