Finished my 1st Grand Campaign...

[TheHellPatrol]

Playing as the Romans at normal difficulty, i recalled some things from my experience with Legion/Legion Gold that i had forgotten. There is extreme glee in winning a battle when you are outnumbered and must rely on tactics and terrain to assure victory. Proper use of terrain and units can be very rewarding thus inspiring "just one more turn", and having bigger armies available (thru research) just adds icing to the cake. I was suprised as to how easy i cleared the map, but i must admit, i am no novice strategist. My first conquest seemed logical to me in this scenario: Take out the Persians[X(]. After the LONG boat ride there, and a little help from some soon to be neighbors[;)], i took over their nice roomy brick 8 city which made an excellent staging point for the slow, plodding terrain across the eastern side of the map. I'm ready to start another Campaign...hard...but who??? So many choices...If i could add one feature to this game, and it is a huge bargain/steal as it is, it would be to add some different terrain for the battles ie: desert, snow, river etc...I can understand weather being a huge factor to add but a little more diversity, forest and grass in every province?, would make GOT a perfect 10 out of 10 in my book. I have a high-end Alienware PC and it amuses me that i enjoy this title more than Rome:Total War, hmmm...if there ever was a merger...[&o][:D]

[Hard Sarge]

Try the Berzerker Mod, it makes the AI give you a little better game, even on normal

first game I played on normal, the next best country had 3 citys when the game ended

the last one I played(with the mod) Alex the Great had 57 !, but I still pulled out a win

Try one of the Island countrys, you don't have everything you need and everybody else wants what you got

HARD_Sarge

[dbt1949_slith]

Altho I've won all the campaign games I've played I've never conquered everything. This time as Crete I think I'm going to. I find one of the main things is to upgrade light infantry barracks and have supply complexes in those cities too. Maxing out all the officer and armor/arms bonus's doesn't hurt but the lt inf makes the costs more managable. Also after getting the Shipyard built and you lrg lt inf units means you rule the sea.
Great game! I still have a lot to learn tho.[;)]

[Hard Sarge]

LOL
playing the berkzer Mod and playing as the Spartans, finished off a turn and saved the game, as it was BED TIME

so went to finish the game tonight, load it and end the turn and get the message, you have won the game !

LOL, guess you got a wait a turn once you get your goals before the win comes up, but had already won the dang thing

good battle, drove north east from the start, since they don't like me, then moved over to take out the Athenains (wanted there city with the Silver, beside the fact I need there Cap to win)

the Iconi, we a royal pain, they took out the Creteians, and with there gold mines, they were able to mount Heavy Raids, (one of the only AI countrys I have seen that build Hoplites as there main battle force, most stick with light Inf)

funny, the people who in real life ended up being the Slaves to the Spartans, I had left alone, and they ended up being one of the strongest/largest countrys (but, looks like they just used mass, end of the battle, they were still mainly beginning troops)

very enjoyable game

HARD_Sarge

[ravinhood]

I mostly play on hardest and impossible. The ultimate challenge is on these levels. Wave after wave of 5 spot armies heading your way. I even had one game I got wiped out of my starting position, but, managed a foothold on another island and was able to build back up and take out Athens. What a game, a masterpiece of challenge.

I also modded all the factions to build their best units, their elites as soon as possible, it only took rearranging the "priority build" file and making sure the heavy barracks and high research given priority to build these elites. With the resources the AI gets on hard, hardest and impossible, lol, there's no paulty light infantry or light cavalry coming at me, it's hell on earth of heavy foot and sometimes heavy cav. I really enjoy it.

[ioticus]

ORIGINAL: ravinhood

I mostly play on hardest and impossible. The ultimate challenge is on these levels. Wave after wave of 5 spot armies heading your way. I even had one game I got wiped out of my starting position, but, managed a foothold on another island and was able to build back up and take out Athens. What a game, a masterpiece of challenge.

I also modded all the factions to build their best units, their elites as soon as possible, it only took rearranging the "priority build" file and making sure the heavy barracks and high research given priority to build these elites. With the resources the AI gets on hard, hardest and impossible, lol, there's no paulty light infantry or light cavalry coming at me, it's hell on earth of heavy foot and sometimes heavy cav. I really enjoy it.

Ravinhood, does Spartan have a better AI than Troy, or did they dumb down the AI in that game too? I'm thinking of giving the system another chance when Spartan is available for download, but I want to know if they kept the good AI you talk about before they changed it in Troy. I have no clue how to mod a game myself, so that's not an option for me. Even if I knew how, I shouldn't have to do so to get a decent AI.

[IainMcNeil]

The AI is very challenging in Gates of Troy and Spartan. If you find it too easy there is a berserker mod you can download and install, which we created for the hardcore gamers. I wouldn't recommend starting with this mod! If you want any more feedback on gameplay, then ask over at our forum www.slitherine.com and I'm sure people would be happy to help.

[Sonny]

ORIGINAL: Iain McNeil

The AI is very challenging in Gates of Troy and Spartan. If you find it too easy there is a berserker mod you can download and install, which we created for the hardcore gamers. I wouldn't recommend starting with this mod! If you want any more feedback on gameplay, then ask over at our forum www.slitherine.com and I'm sure people would be happy to help.

Good to see you on this forum Iain.

[IainMcNeil]

Thanks - I check in from time to time to see if anyone is having any problems. So far seems pretty quiet

[ravinhood]

The best games are on the hardest and Impossible level of difficulty.

[ravinhood]

Ravinhood, does Spartan have a better AI than Troy, or did they dumb down the AI in that game too? I'm thinking of giving the system another chance when Spartan is available for download, but I want to know if they kept the good AI you talk about before they changed it in Troy. I have no clue how to mod a game myself, so that's not an option for me. Even if I knew how, I shouldn't have to do so to get a decent AI.

Unfortunately the AI in SPARTAN was upgraded to the exact AI in GATES of TROY. I made a big stink about this at the Slitherine site, but, to no avail, they listened to the whinners about how HARD it was over the veteran beta testers who know good quality AI when they see it. But, there is salvation, you can back patch to volume 1.013 and get the AI that I play against that is the best AI they had, or as I also did you can play around with the AI files for a couple of weeks and bring volume 1.017 to that level of difficulty that v1.013 had. Volume 1.017 really didn't add anything necessary to SPARTAN unless you were planning on getting GATES of TROY also. So v1.013 works great by itself.

I'll be glad when developers stop listening to cry babies who can't beat there games and start making AI's that are hard and continue to be hard as the difficulty scales up. RTW (Rome Total War) was the worst game I got last year because the AI on Very hard/Very Hard was sooo easy I destroyed it the very first time I played it. I can't say that for SPARTAN's AI on it's most difficult level that is for sure (impossible difficulty is definitely a great challenge for any grog out there). That is if you play like I do and try to conquer the entire map. The scenarios, many of them are too easy to complete even on the harder difficulties, but, trying to conquer the whole map is a different story. SPARTAN v1.013 is the best AI I've played against since the Civilization series. Sad, but, mainstream games for the kiddies 12 years old and such just don't cut it when it comes to a challenging AI for old grogs like me.

[IainMcNeil]

Dont forget we created the berserker mod especially for you that makes the game just as hard as it used to be in 1.013

[ravinhood]

ORIGINAL: Iain McNeil

Dont forget we created the berserker mod especially for you that makes the game just as hard as it used to be in 1.013

Heh Iain I bet my mod would put your Beserker mod to shame since I upped the resources and changed the build structure of the AI to warmonger for all nations. I also set all diplomatic stances toward my nations to 10's. Talk about "hard/impossible", it's still the best game all around 1.017 or 1.013 or my own version modded. I'm not saying it suks, I just wasn't happy with the change in the AI in v1.017 and you guys kneeling to the whines of the noobs. hehe

I'm anxiously awaiting "Legions II", I'll look at Legion Arena, but, for some reason just the sound of that doesn't impress me, I like SOLO games not multiplayer games since I just don't have the time for them unless they are only an hour or 2 at most. I can't sit up that long to play more than a couple of hours of any game.

As long as you don't follow the crowd and turn your games into some sort of kiddie clickfest I will support you till the cows come home. Spartan/Gates of Troy are your best accomplisments in my opinion. But, STW/MTW were Creative Assemblies greatest as well and then they betrayed us and delivered that kiddie clickfest RTW, I will never buy another product made by them now.

[Reiryc]

Just got spartan after getting legion gold a couple weeks ago. Very fun and having a blast with it!

[IainMcNeil]

Glad you like it

As for Arena - it is a one player game by design, not multiplayer. The cloest comparison is a game called Dark Omen - Shadow of the Horned Rat, from many years ago. You take an army through a series of batttles, recruiting more and boosting their skills as you go. It takes you through ROman & Celtic history. As the Romans you go through the 3 Samnite Wars, 2 Punic Wars, 3rd Servile War, Gallic War, Civil War and more in around 80 separeate missions.

If you want to mail me your mod I can host it on our site for those who want a real challange!