Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So I have been glued to rome total war for a very long time. The bruitii campaign is my best yet, with Greece and Macedonia being annihilated and with me being a billionaire in possession of all Asia Minor and Greece...


But the problem now is that I'm stuck fighting over one damn Egyptian city behind a choke point, and just getting the fun sucked out of the game. Egypt has infinite fething chariots and armies against my smaller armies, and I'm just getting worn down and tag teamed by so many armies. How the feth can I stop the infinite hordes of Egypt and endless chariot parade?!

I set up zones of control.

If the enemy is strong enough they will come after you, so I set up forts along important zones of moderate size armies of defensive infantry and ranged units.

The chariots do a lot of damage as they charge the forts but many will fall from ranged fire and any that hit your blocks of defensive infantry will quickly be cut down when they are stuck.

I found I couldnt fight the chariot armies conventionally. So I had to fight them where I would have an advantage.

It shouldnt suck the fun though, there is no fun in ruling an empire (on a game) where its easy. Loosing is a good thing. But yea castle up, you will still get hurt, but if your men hold they will cut down the chariots and the light infantry will be a breeze if you can secure your flanks.

With Israel

 Jehan-reznor wrote:
With Israel

I agree that forts would probably be the way to go, but how should I go on the offensive? I need to start conquering again so they stop funneling through the mountains to kill me. And what should I do when they launch multiple armies at me? I can't respond in with another ally because they will just come in piecemeal instead of all at once

With a lot of difficulty. I too had problems against Egypt, since the Egyptians field a lot of spears and Calvary, and the Romans don't really have a hard counter for those.
Have you tried archers and siege engines? Upgrading your soldiers may help as well.

Another possibility would be to buy as many Hoplite Mercenaries as possible; chariots hate phalanxes, and if the AI is stupid enough to charge one head on (and it will be), that chariot unit will melt.

When facing multiple armies, do not face them on the field. Hide your soldiers in a fortified city, where the enemy will be forced to fight you with their foot soldiers. Generally speaking, Roman infantry is better than Egyptian infantry, unless the Egyptian infantry have their spears up. Which isn't possible on the castle walls.

Going on the offensive is tricky against Egypt. They have more money than you, and can just spam soldiers. The trick is to be patient and keep up the assault. You'll eventually get high ranking soldiers who can out perform the Egyptian troops.
It took me about 50-100 in game years to beat Egypt, and this was after the Marian Reforms.
Also, also exterminate, [i]especially[i/] Alexandria. Egyptian populations are massive, and you just don't have the time to maintain order. Better to just wipe them out, take their money and move on.
The plus side is that as the population is depleted in that region, if it is recaptured it cannot be used as a recruitment hub as efficiently. Do not be afraid to use scorched earth tactics.

That will be difficult seeing as all my navies melt to Egyptian boats. How about that little island they have near the top? And should I try and launch an invasion of Alexandria too or just fight for one city at a time.?

My other worry is that Thrace and decia will be getting stronger in the north, so should I attack them at the same time?

The last thing you want when fighting Egypt is a divided front. I had no other enemies when I fought them, and I still had trouble.

Do you have control of Turkey (that group of territories near Pergamon)? You could launch a conventional land assault from there if the navy is proving to be a problem.

What ships do the Egyptians have? Remember that you can build better ships than them later on.

I don't know what kind of ships, but yea I conquered the pontic empire when egypt invaded and have almost all of turkey except Tarsus where my war is taking place now

Good, you can use those regions as a starting point.
Try to put a fort in that pass next to Tarsus to buy time while you mass produce soldiers.

I'm going to do that next time I play, but they might overwhelm that force. to take Tarsus, should I use ballistas? or should I try to make onagers

When taking a city, I tend to go for Onagers. Unless the city still has wooden walls, Ballistae are useless.

Ballistae are better on the battlefield, imo.
Especially when you are getting attacked, because then you can deploy them on a hill and snipe the enemy all day.

Speaking of ballistae, the flaming projectile is fairly effective against tightly grouped infantry, like phalanxes. It's like an explosive round.
The great thing about the Roman faction is that they more siege engines than anyone else. No other faction has access to scorpions and repeating ballistae, so abuse the hell out of that.

Oh okay, thanks! I still need to make some onagers. are scorpions useful too? I have a stack with some of those coming to reinforce my armies.

They are basically long range ballistae. They are pretty nice, though I would support them with infantry, since they have a slightly longer firing times iirc.

alright, i'll cover them with co-horts or something. I just hope they can take down chariots.

what units and tactics should I try on the field before stopping the machines with bodies?

Well, are you at the Marian reforms yet? It's a bit harder dealing with chariots pre-Marian reforms, because the Romans don't have very good anti-cavalry units before hand. If you can't get spearmen, try buying Mercenary Hoplites. You should get a lot of them in the ex-greek territories.

What you want is for them to attack you. Then you can position your soldiers on a hill, preferably with the anti-cavalry units forming the first line. If you can't get spear units, then get a bunch of infantry to absorb the charge, and use cavalry to just drown the chariots. Hitting them in the rear should break them. I think Heavy Infantry (principes if pre-Marian reforms) might do the trick. They even have a nice little ranged attack. Just be sure to activate Fire at Will when fighting on the defensive.

Archers are always a good choice; Roman archers aren't that bad, surprisingly. Not as good as the Egyptian archers, but not too shabby.

Please note that if you do use bolt-throwing engines, do not put units in front of them. Unlike archers, they do not arc their shots, meaning they will hit anything in front of them.

noted, and thank you for the tip!

I have my armies mostly made of early cohorts, but not full legionares. I am the post marian reforms, so what should I do with the new units?


also, should I have my ai control and help out as allies so I can have their entire army help?

I wouldn't advise it. As I said before, the AI is...well, dumb.
Like, I've seen the AI charge their general head first into my spear men.

You could try though. Just don't give the AI access to any family members.

Anyway, if you are post-Marian reforms, good. You have access to Rome's best units now. I believe there is supposed to be a spearman type unit. I forgot what they are called, but you can check by looking at their profiles.

Alright, cool! I also heard javelin clvary is good against them too?

and should I continue to spam early legionares or start using regular legionares?

Yeah, you could try missile calv. I think they might be able to kite the chariots.
It depends on your finances. If you can afford legionaires, go for it.

I have over 1 million for funds. i think I can fund it =P


Hopefully I can take tarsus soon, as if I can get out of that chokepoint I would be a lot better off.

Triarii are the Roman spear unit. They are only available through Senate Mission rewards AFAIK. I'll second Merc Hoplites. They are awesome. I buy them whenever possible

I take it you haven't beaten the game yet? Not even on a short campaign? When you do you unlock a large amount of non-Roman factions. Greeks and Egyptians and Selucids abound.

You can also edit the files to add those (and other factions that don't unlock without file editing) manually. I've done it to my game and the only faction that glitched out was the Rebels. You can even be the S.P.Q.R. faction without glitches. I've started a game before to test that fact

I know, I did that too! =D

also made 0 turn recruitment for peasants >.>

 Overlord Thraka wrote:
Triarii are the Roman spear unit. They are only available through Senate Mission rewards AFAIK. I'll second Merc Hoplites. They are awesome. I buy them whenever possible

I take it you haven't beaten the game yet? Not even on a short campaign? When you do you unlock a large amount of non-Roman factions. Greeks and Egyptians and Selucids abound.

You can also edit the files to add those (and other factions that don't unlock without file editing) manually. I've done it to my game and the only faction that glitched out was the Rebels. You can even be the S.P.Q.R. faction without glitches. I've started a game before to test that fact

Ah yeah, I forgot about them.
Probably because I didn't use them that much; they are unlocked quite late in the tech-tree, and are pretty pricey.
Good, but pricey.

I am taking a break from rome currently, but determined to make egypt a lost civilisation. Going to spam some spearmen and other things to help.

By the way, I'm currently playing as Egypt, and Brutii just declared war on me.

As an Egyptian player, I can say that Praetorians are very, very scary if they attack the walls in a siege. I've seen a single unit of Praetorians delete axemen, spearmen and archers, and lost Sparta because of them.
In the open they aren't that scary since I can encircle with with cavalry, but on the walls I'm pretty much screwed since Egypt doesn't have much in terms of heavy infantry.

I do know that. one game I had a regular legion cohort kill over 265 light infantry and bowmen while taking a wall and only take 6 casualties in return. roman legions are scary!


now if only i can get to a city rather than being clusterf^cked on the plains