Thanks for the Beta patch; some questions!

[smartspick]

Is it just me, or has it been harder to take cities by assault? I seem to be getting much more casualties assaulting even small towns. Thanks!

[mercenarius]

I didn't make any change in city battles except to improve the way the AI uses the City Militia when there are other units in the garrison. I didn't change any combat results probabilities.

It's likely that you are just getting a few battles that are "outliers." In other words, you hit a streak of bad luck. But it could be selective perception. That happens to me quite often.

Thanks for testing the beta patch, by the way. [:)]

[smartspick]

Another question if I may. Does it make any difference tactically if I am the one attacking an enemy force rather than defending from an attack? 

[mercenarius]

In a word, no. For those who want details, here goes.

Tactically speaking, it doesn't make a difference in the same type of battle: a battle at sea or a pitched battle. The hits and routs are scored in exactly the same way. Naturally it is very different to sally out from a city or to be attacked in an attempt to storm that city.

Ties usually go to the defender so in some cases it may make more sense not to intercept and let the Romans attack your force. IF both sides are completely routed (or destroyed) at the end of the battle, the defender is declared the winner.

This only makes sense if you know that the AI is going to attack.

The rules for retreat are also a little different between an attacker in a pitched battle and a defender. If the attacker must retreat and doesn't have a city of refuge in the current province or in an adjacent province, the attacker remains in the field in the current province. If the defender loses the battle and has no city of refuge the defender must then retreat to an adjacent province even if that means undergoing Mountain Attrition.

Apart from these other considerations, the fact that a "tie goes to the defender" is the only difference between attacking and defending in battles that don't involve a city in any way.