Anybody play Rome: Total War?

[EphelDuath]

Addicting game, for sure. Though it gets frustrating once your empire gets to the ~30 territory phase.

[Jennifer G.]

I've played the demo. I don't like those types of games since it winds up being a "click fest". "Move archers here", "Move infantry there", "Move cavalry over here", "Now move archers back over there..."...

[brotherhrolf]

I did for awhile but I'm like Jenn, I didn't like the "click fest" plus I got really frustrated of not being able to win that siege scenario. I must have played that 30x.

I'm still playing Civ III. I have Civ IV but it just doesn't run well on a 2001 PC.

[Jennifer G.]

Originally Posted by brotherhrolf

I did for awhile but I'm like Jenn, I didn't like the "click fest" plus I got really frustrated of not being able to win that siege scenario. I must have played that 30x.

I'm still playing Civ III. I have Civ IV but it just doesn't run well on a 2001 PC.

I also have Civ3 and 4. Maybe I'm all tested out from Civ4 (and probably from Civ3, too), but Civ4 just doesn't click for me like Civ3 does. Civ4 runs decently, and does have features that I like (and I could probably reprogram it if I had the time - after all, 95% of the game is in the mod DLL and other files - I believe at least one person has done just that. It reminds me a lot of the application we use at work, too... much of the code can be added, changed, or redone using a modification DLL... ).

I've also tried playing the Europa Universalis game, but that's slightly click-fest-like (you can pause the game each "turn"), and it seems to have a limited number of turns without the option to keep playing.

[EphelDuath]

Well, there is clicking involved, but I've found that it's very strategically in-depth. Plus, there's nothing more satisfying than winning a battle where you're hopeless outnumbered.

[brotherhrolf]

Originally Posted by EphelDuath

Well, there is clicking involved, but I've found that it's very strategically in-depth. Plus, there's nothing more satisfying than winning a battle where you're hopeless outnumbered.

I can learn from my mistakes but I refuse to use hints, guides, cheat codes, etc. After 30x playing that one siege scenario, it comes back to Avalon-Hill's Gettysburg board game from the 70s. One shot at winning........one chance. Get to the commanding ground before the Union. That's really not fun but an astronomical roll of the dice It may reflect history but it is tactical rather than strategic.

I like the turn based strategy games much better.

[Claude Frollo]

I played Rome Total War for such a long time. It is absolultely the best strategy game I have ever tasted after Civilization series.

I also recommend Rome Total War Barbarian Invasion when Roman Empire was divided into two as East and West. It was such a good feeling to play with the Eastern Roman Empire and try to gain back the power as Justinianus did.

It is so hard to defend Western Roman Empire against barbarian attacks and hold all the provinces.

[EphelDuath]

I have this odd quirk where I'm incapable of playing expansion packs before I finished the main game. I played as the Brutii and got to 31 provinces, but then I couldn't figure out how to win the civil war so I started over as Carthage.

By the off chance that I manage to finish this sometime soon, I'll be sure to start BI.

[Claude Frollo]

I would recommend you to expand to the east to Greece. There are some provinces there which contain wonders and they give you great bonuses. Such as Hanging Gardens, Temple of Zeus. Eastern provinces are richer and they will support you to gain more land in the west.

It really becomes harder when you try to hold more provinces because you have to manage so many cities but you should manage everything manually to make better process because AI does not understand your strategy. I would recommend after having already 40-50 provinces, turning the auto management on but just for buildings. Do not let the cities produce units automatically. This will cause certain financial problems.

Build strong 4 armies each would control east west south and north and do not leave too many units in peaceful cities.

Nice game, have a nice time, don't get addicted

[EphelDuath]

I own all of Greece, Thracia, Pontus, Macedon and half of the Seleucids. I'm at war with Egypt right now. But that's not the frustration; the part I'm annoyed by is the civil war. Rome has like ten legions sitting around, and I of course only have two cities on the mainland, so I have to ship some troops from other settlements by boat. It's just a huge hassle and a lot of frustration.

[brotherhrolf]

You guys got all the expansion packs...........I only had the original.

[EphelDuath]

There's only one XP.

[brotherhrolf]

I quit following it when I couldn't get past that siege scenario. I just don't have the bucks to get a new super-duper computer. My 2001 era works just fine for what I need it to do.

[Claude Frollo]

If you have whole Greece, your economical situation must be better than the other Roman Factions so it is time for you to stop expanding your territory and finish this annoying civil war.

I would recommend you just to protect the borders and send one or two strong armies to crush the civil war and rule the city of Rome by yourself.

If you collect well organised armies commanded by experienced generals, these legions in Italy will not stand a chance.

Once civil war is over you will haven a sweet united Roman Empire.

[EphelDuath]

I have so much wealth that I can bribe two of their legions. That still leaves about... eight of them, and that's not even counting the Julii. I mean, I could do that if I really cared, but it would take like ten rounds to ship enough troops up there. Not a big fan of video games after they become work.