Cavalry Tactics

[Redpossum]

Whoa, necro is right, you revived this beast from three years ago

I honestly haven't played Legion Arena/COM for over a year; I should dig it out and dust it off. That and Spartan/Gates of Troy were my two favorite Slitherine games of all time.

I have been playing a long, slow PBM game of GS-modded Commander Europe At War. But my opponent is in Spain, and apparently with the problems there, he has found it difficult to keep the game going.

Unfortunately, as far as new games, it's bad times economically here in the States too, and it has hit me just brutally hard. Hopefully that will improve in the near future.

[Aleksandr]

Whoa, necro is right, you revived this beast from three years ago

I honestly haven't played Legion Arena/COM for over a year; I should dig it out and dust it off. That and Spartan/Gates of Troy were my two favorite Slitherine games of all time.

Yeah, not the freshiest of threads, but I wished to share the tactic.
For some strange reason I'm a bit addicted to Legion Arena. Seems like I should try the two other games you wrote about...

I have been playing a long, slow PBM game of GS-modded Commander Europe At War. But my opponent is in Spain, and apparently with the problems there, he has found it difficult to keep the game going.

Unfortunately, as far as new games, it's bad times economically here in the States too, and it has hit me just brutally hard. Hopefully that will improve in the near future.

Good luck!

[Redpossum]

While we're on the subject, did you ever check out my Britannicus Mod for Legion Arena? It's not really a mod, in the sense of changing game mechanics, but rather a replacement Celtic campaign.

I based it upon a brief passage in "Claudius The God" by Robert Graves, (the sequel to "I, Claudius"), in which he mentions wanting to send his son Britannicus to be fostered by a friendly tribe in Britannia, in the hopes that his son could, in this manner, grow up free from the corruption and murderous intrigues of Rome.

Historically, of course, Britannicus stayed in Rome and was murdered by Nero (or his mother) shortly after the assassination of Claudius himself. But I took this idea and ran with it, creating a work of historical fiction in which Britannicus goes to Britannia to be fostered.

I placed him with the Trinovante tribe, rather than the Brigantes mentioned by Robert Graves, because I then tied his progress in with a slightly-earlier-than-historical Iceni Revolt. As the campaign progresses, you have a chance to return to Rome, defeat Nero, and avenge your father's murder.

In all honesty, I think this was the best scenario design work I have ever done in my life. It was a huge amount of work, and it's not perfect, (the Visiting The Neighbours II battle is a bit too difficult, and the final battle is probably a bit too easy), but there was a gratifying amount of positive feedback on it at the time, and I've never done anything better since.

If you're interested, it may still be in the Slitherine downloads area under the filename brit_100.zip. If not, let me know and I'll get you a copy.

[Aleksandr]

Ave possum!

Yes, I played your mod!

I've tried possum's "Britannicus" mod and I liked it.



As always - just in case the image disappears...:

BRITANNICUS' BRAVE BODYGUARDS:

(Hard)

Legate 18
Auxilia 16
Velites 17
Archers 17
Archers 17
Nobles 16
Nobles 16
Nobles 15
Warriors 12
Warriors 11
Archers 14
Archers 13

Gold: 2943
Fame: 167185
First Loss: Lucius' Ambush


Shame that I haven't done notes during the playing, but nevermind.

Imho the opening scenario is a bit too hard, or maybe too random.
I played till the scen_7 or so, but then I decided to restart the thing as I was unsatisfied with the progress and with an army composition. I'd be much more pleased if possum gave us 25 more Denarii before leaving for Britain, so that I may buy the second Auxilia, but well, he knew what and why he did.
Thus I've kept the Velites, although I'm not the greatest fan of them. They're neither a real light infantry nor real shooters, but well, when I see their level, it looks like they're not completely useless.

As always, I've decided to skip the heavy infantry section. Their sanctions in harsh terrain combined with their low speed are too much. I rather use heavy cavalry that is extremely fast and saves itself lots of trouble thanks to high Trample skill.

Some of the battles were so so, namely Rubicon is very frustrating and I replayed it ten times, until finaly making it through. The scenarios towards the end are bit too easy, mainly the ones where the enemy force is a small one. Imho the final battle could be more epic again. But nevermind.

I really liked the opening stages, very RPG, very atmospheric. The Roman/Celtic army is also a fun aspect. I think that the author could have gave us a Scouts + Auxilia + Velites starting army (and design the battles accordingly), not only because the Militia sucks, but also because it'll be a little mixed army. But this is unimportant whining, of course.

Conclusion: I liked it a lot.


I can't tell what now, but I surely won't be leaving the world of Legions anytime soon.

[Redpossum]

Aha, cool! Glad to hear it

[pgeerkens]

HI Possum,

I finally found the right force mix and strategy to reliably (> 50%) win Lucius' Ambush on Very Hard.

[Redpossum]

HI Possum,

I finally found the right force mix and strategy to reliably (> 50%) win Lucius' Ambush on Very Hard.

Wow, that is impressive! My hearty congratulations. Personally, I never had much success on Very Hard

And good to hear from you again, pgeerkens.

[Aleksandr]

I've abandoned my two tries of Roman campaign (in the classic Legion Arena). The first one was stopped during the Siege of Arretium, as I was unable to make it through the scenario with my new build - far too many missile troops. Even though I finaly manage to defeat the enemy, I was quite tired of trying, namely when I realized how hard times await me. I started again with a decision to build a bit different army, but this time I abandoned the command during Etruscans at Caere, which, ironically enough, is not only an extremely easy scenario, but it was also a place of my first defeat during my very previous run. I seriously dislike how the squads sometimes do what they want to do, and although I gave them manual orders to stop in the bog, they just ran away, and not even the Hold command stopped them.

Disgusted by this fact I tried the Gaul campaign, but well, the Chief's Sword is so awfully designed that the words can't even tell. You know, when you kill both the bodyguard units without a single men lost and then attack the General with 45 seconds remaining, you'd expect to win this one, wouldn't you?

Question: Should I try the Britannicus mod at VH?

[pgeerkens]

The very first scenario of Britannicus, on Very hard, is virtually impossible. If you come up with a good strategy, and try it 20 or 30 time, it can be won, but I just drop down to Hard and jump back to Very Hard. I have won it twice some time ago, with ample luck, but have been unable to do so again .

From Scenario 2 on Britannicus I definitely do-able on Very Hard, and in fact the later scenarios are even too easy in places.

[Aleksandr]

The very first scenario of Britannicus, on Very hard, is virtually impossible. If you come up with a good strategy, and try it 20 or 30 time, it can be won, but I just drop down to Hard and jump back to Very Hard. I have won it twice some time ago, with ample luck, but have been unable to do so again .

From Scenario 2 on Britannicus I definitely do-able on Very Hard, and in fact the later scenarios are even too easy in places.

Exactly. I couldn't win the 1st scenario no matter what, but the last scenarios were piece of cake. The opening scenario can be really frustrating.
Oh, and nice to see you again!