My Final Army (Mk. 1)

[spedius01]

In an ideal world and if I was granted the gift of foresight then I would know what was facing me during the Roman
Campaign. What types of armies on what types of terrain. But it isn't and I haven't, so on that basis I have chosen
an army flexible enough to cope with most eventualities, I hope!

1. Legate
2. Legionary x 10
3. Auxiliary Cavalry x 4
4. Auxiliary Archers x 4
5. Scouts x 3
6. Auxilia x 6
7. Velites x 4

One of the Scouts and one of the auxilia will be designated as bodyguards. I believe the term is Singularum.
The scouts will be named as I ala Singularum and the auxilia as I cohors Singularum. One or both will always
be with the Legate in every battle. They will be in black livery and the first unit recruited of their troop type.
They will, therefore, be the most experienced troops in the army and have the first pick of any enhancements,
ie: promotions and equipment, in other words they will be the best that I can afford to make them.

I'm working on the recruitment sequence, and, when the funds allow, units will join the army up to the maximum
of 32, as shown in the list above. I'm keeping in mind that the maximum for any one battle is 20. My aim is
to complete the recruitment of the support troops first, before I tackle the legion. The light troops will have
to fight their way through the early battles on their own, without the legion to smash any tougher opposition.

The backbone of the army is, as always, the 10 cohorts of the legion. The other units are their support troops.
I believe the balance is about right and follows the doctrine of flexibility. I had thought to include Praetorians
as the first cohort of the legion but decided against the idea. I could chance my mind if the arguments for
them were persuasive or logical enough. I'm looking forward to seeing what a full legion can do.

The total cost for this army is 14,750 denari. I can recruit 21 of the 32 units by scenario #32 based on known
income rates. I havn't been beyond #32 yet, so I don't know how much I will receive for each completed battle.
The 14,750 denari is basic cost with no additions for equipment, that comes when the army is finally complete.

I would be interested to read your comments on my choice, and what your army will be or was.

Vale,

M. Spedius Corbulo

NB. See the development of ideas on the composition of a start-up army in "What To Recruit First", page 2.

[warmaster]

Hi,

I like your choices.

I would ditch the 3x Scouts and replace the 10x Legionary with Triarri.
I would also pick up one group of Praetorians for the official elite body guard unit.

I would recruite my units as follows (i'm in the process of trying this approach)

(delete start up army)

- Auxilia
- Velites
- Auxilia
- Auxilia
- Velites
- Auxiliary Cavalry
- Triarri
- Triarri
- Auxiliary Cavalry

Etc...

[zedeyejoe]

I think my final Roman army worked out at 20 units

Legate
Milita
Skimishers
Scouts
2x Hastati
4X Legion
2x Auxila
2x Aux Cavalry
2x Bows
2x Velites
Elephants
Pretorians

I only got the Pretorians right at the end so I think they only fought in 2 battles. Nothing was ever disbanded but I did buy the best equipment I could for the men.

[spedius01]

Hi,

I like your choices.

I would ditch the 3x Scouts and replace the 10x Legionary with Triarri.
I would also pick up one group of Praetorians for the official elite body guard unit.

I would recruite my units as follows (i'm in the process of trying this approach)

(delete start up army)

- Auxilia
- Velites
- Auxilia
- Auxilia
- Velites
- Auxiliary Cavalry
- Triarri
- Triarri
- Auxiliary Cavalry

Etc...

Ave Warmaster,

Thanx for your insightful response. Why triarii in the place of legionaries?

I looked up some notes I had made earlier and reckon you could have the army you've shown by move #22.
This premise is based on the following calculations:-

1. Auxilia 1 replacing start-up army (with 50 denari left over)
2. Velites 1 on move #03 @ 200 denari
3. Auxilia 2 on move #07 @ 300 denari
4. Auxilia 3 on move #09 @ 300 denari
5. Velites 2 on move #10 @ 200 denari
6. Aux. Cav. 1 on move #12 @ 500 denari
7. Triarii 1 on move #16 @ 900 denari
8. Triarii 2 on move #20 @ 900 denari
9. Aux. Cav. 2 on move #22 @ 500 denari

The total cost is 4,100 denari, from which you can deduct 300. You get this from the disbanded start-up army.

This is only if you don't spend any money in equipment with enhancements to your units. If you do it will take longer.

It's a sobering thought when you look at your choice with my little list as a guide.

Hope it helps.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[spedius01]

I think my final Roman army worked out at 20 units

Legate
Milita
Skimishers
Scouts
2x Hastati
4X Legion
2x Auxila
2x Aux Cavalry
2x Bows
2x Velites
Elephants
Pretorians

I only got the Pretorians right at the end so I think they only fought in 2 battles. Nothing was ever disbanded but I did buy the best equipment I could for the men.

Ave zedeyejoe,

Thanx for your message.

Your choice of army is interesting, was it planned or did it just evolve? My first one evolved in response to what I was fighting against. It wasn't the best army that I could have chosen, but I say that now with the benefit of hindsight!

Did you find fighting your way through the Roman Campaign difficult? Were there some battles that were harder than
most of the others?

I will, most definitely, be recommending Legion Arena to my friends.

Keep well

Vale,

M. Spedius Corbulo

[zedeyejoe]

I think the hardest battle I had to repeat about a dozen times before getting through it. And that was on the easiest level. I am trying it on Hard now and that is a lot tougher.

Yes my list more or less evolved and I wanted to see what effect different troops would have. When I fought the campaign as Gauls, I found that 3 units of archers could break an enemy unit before it got to contact. 2 units are not enough.

Elephants are good but unsupported by other troops will be destroyed. I think mine got up to level 6. Their veteran options are very differenent as well.

[warmaster]

Why triarii in the place of legionaries?

Triarri are just better in general. They have great anti-trample skill so they rock against cavalry and they are harder hitting against infantry (give them stand firm and square formation, good luck getting through one unit with 2-3 cavalry units). They don't have javelins to throw (I actually like that, they don't stop to throw or attach units they are not supposed to because they are in javelin range) and have great stat's. For 100g more, they rock!

http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3144080&did=1

Triarii
Type: Heavy Infantry
Men: 48
Cost: 900
Attack: Medium*
Damage: Very High*
Concuss: None
Agility: Low
Armour: High
Morale: High*

Kicks enemy heavy cavalry @^^

Legionary
Type: Heavy Infantry
Men: 48
Cost: 800
Attack: High*
Damage: High*
Concuss: None
Agility: Low
Armour: High
Morale: Medium*

vulnerability to enemy heavy cavalry

Some stats are missing, but you will find thats where Triarri rock (Trample, range armor, etc)

[venividivici]

Totally agree with Warmaster's findings on the Triarii. I much prefer this unit over the legionaries as they have better morale and will stand longer against cavalry and any other high stat unit before running.

[sum1won]

I actually prefer legionaries leter on, as they get better offensive upgrade options IMO. And they seemed to get fewer kills- maybe they didnt attack as quickly?

[spedius01]

Ave warmaster, zedeyejoe, venividivici and sum1won,

Thank you guys for your inciteful contributions.

As an appendix to my first thoughts when I initially wrote the lead article for this topic, I would like to post the following conclusion.

In the light of recent discoveries ie. the increased abilities of the Auxilia (and others) when awarded "Disciplined Formations" from promotions, I have decided to restart the Roman campaign. If and when I manage to refight #31, I will post another spreadsheet for comparative purposes. We will hopefully see marked improved performances from both me and my army.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo