Slitherine

Good evening, gentlemen.

First of all, I wanna thank you for this game. It’s the first, unique ancient history based strategy for PlayStation Portable. You know, years ago, when I was a child, no one can imagine that one day it will be possible to take small console with your favorite games anywhere you want. But we live in a high tech age and that’s striking!

I have a «small» problem in connection with «A Small Victory» battle and hope that somebody can help me to solve it. You should kill 300 enemy & take less than 120 casualties. I really don’t know how to achieve it. And what is more, I can’t even get close. My forces include:

Leader (30 lvl)
2 squads of Militia (25/30 lvl)
Principe (21 lvl)
Triarii (21 lvl)
3 squads of Auxiliary Archers (8/6/6 lvl)
2 squads of Legionary (10/11 lvl)
2 squads of Praetorian (6/8 lvl)

I’ve tried to buy some Archers (have 2265 units), but unsuccessfully. Slaves kill me in an instant. Think that it was gross fault to hold and even upgrade Militia. Also, I feel regret that disbanded all skirmishers – they’re really useful in the end of campaign. What can you advice in this situation?


Kind regards

Elias

After 3 days of torment I've done it!
Interesting idea to use war elephants against archers. It's easy to reach when your best warriors are fighting in the middle of map. They draw the enemy's fire and, therefore, flank are not protected well.


Kind regards

Elias

Alright! Glad you were persistent and worked it out. Those Spartacus scenarios can be tough!

Everything seemed easy after that battle, but now I have some problems… again.
It’s called «Africa». You should take less than 80 casualties, general must survive & number of squads can’t be more than 10. In the other topic I read that better to use archers, but it doesn’t work.

My army contain:
Leader (35 lvl)
Principe (23 lvl)
Triarii (23 lvl)
3 squads of Auxiliary Archers (12/10/9 lvl)
2 squads of Legionary (13 lvl each)
2 squads of Praetorian (15 lvl each)
Also in reserve:
2 squads of Militia (27/34 lvl)
2 squads of Elephants (8/9 lvl)

I’ve tried to use archers, heavy cavalry, elephants… everything. Now I really don’t know what to do. Enemy cavalry isn’t problem for me, but how to kill skirmishers…
I’m in perplexity…


Kind regards

Elias

Right, Africa, that's the one with Scipio against Hannibal, part I. And I believe Zama is next. Well, that's never going to be an easy battle, but it shouldn't be stopping you cold like that.

I can offer you the advice that has worked for many inquiries of this sort...

There is a thing called the Possum Method. It's not perfect, and it's not the only path to success, but it does work.


INFANTRY

Take Swordsman, Drill, and Feint for your first three skill levels.

Then go Advanced Swordsman, Disciplined Formations, Advanced Drill, Advanced Feint. If training Legionnaires, etc, that start with Disciplined Formations, then just ignore that step; you can grab Armor Penetration or Missile Protection instead. But we'll assume that we're talking about Auxilia or something that needs it. Now you're level 8.

Next take the same three skills, Swordsman, Drill, Feint at the Expert level. Now you are level 11.

At level 12, take Master Swordsman.

At level 13, take Frenzy if available; some troop types get it, and some don't. Otherwise, start on Missile Protection and Armor Penetration. OR look at the Special Equipment thread, decide on something you want, and start driving on the requirements for that.

Be aware that you must have Master Feint in order to qualify for Weapons 4 and Weapons 5.


CAVALRY

All the same as above, except that instead of interrupting the sequence at level 6 for Disciplined Formations, you interrupt it at level 8 to take Trample. Cavalry in general can also, if you wish, interrupt the sequence once or even twice more to take Advanced or even Expert Trample. But do not not not neglect Drill with your cavalry units. You will inevitably wind up using them as a Fire Brigade, and they have to be able to MOVE when you need them to move!


The "Protection From XXX" skills are a waste of time.

The "Anti-XXX Specialist" skills are a waste of time, including Anti-Elephant.

Dodge and Parry are a waste of time.

Endurance is not a total waste, but I am still not a big fan because the HP it adds at any given level are only a small percentage of the HP you would already have at that level.

Do not neglect equipment entirely in the early game. Even just Weapons 1 can help enormously. But of course it's a balance between recruiting troops early enough to get them experience enough to meet the challenges of the mid-to-late game, and having good enough equipment to get that far at all.

As I said above, this method is not perfect, nor is it the only path to victory. But it does work. I have been advocating this approach for about 2 years now. I have offered it as suggestion to more "help me I'm stuck on this battle" threads than I can count, and every one who has tried it has come back and said that it worked.

Of course, this means starting over again...

Because, you see, decent Heavy Cavalry should eat Skirmishers like a seagull gobbling french fries in the parking lot at McDonalds

Oh yes, and two final caveats.

1) While the Possum Method consistently yields very good to excellent results in the regular game, at difficulty levels up to Hard, there are a certain modifications to the Possum Method which have been suggested by those who regularly play the game at the Very Hard setting.

2) Cult of Mithras, the Legion Arena expansion which continues the Roman Campaign into the Afterlife, introduces new "supernatural" troop types (ghosts and ghouls and such). The Possum Method has not shown itself to be particularly successful against these "supernatural" troop types.

Um... no, Zama was 24 battles ago Now I play 14th campaign, very close to complete the game.
Anyway, thank you, Possum, very much for your advices! Next time I will play on the highest level, therefore, counsel is very useless and well-timed.


Kind regards

Elias

Nevertheless, what do you thing – is it possible to complete this game with my army? Or, without heavy cavalry, I don’t need to waste time?

Just one more question for today. You said «drill». Could you, please, explain the meaning of this word? In my country this is the synonym for «auger» or «gimlet».


Kind regards

Elias

Oops!

Oops again!

"Drill" is the name given to the practice of battlefield maneuvers, on a parade ground. In the game, this is the skill which reduces the Order Point Cost of sending orders to a unit: -1000 order points at level 1, etc.

I hope this helps explain Possum's post.

As a note, I play only at Very Hard in the campaign now that I have scouted all the scenarios, and play GBOR where units only become available over time. I always keep my first militia, as well as the first one I buy after buying spearmen in The early Republic, for the entire game. They are the only melee-qualified light infantry available until Auxilia are avalable after Alalia; but I never buy them any upgrade except Weapons 1 until very late.

I generally use the Possum Method for training melee troops, though I frequently reverse Expert Feint and Expert Drill for later units and occasionally make other small tweaks to the order. I generally give my Legate only combat upgrades at early levels.

Good luck.