Since you already gave it away with the statement that this was the 'easy' part, I believe a more accurate description of the 'optimists' would be the 'criminally deluded'.
While the Barbarian horde mechanic certainly feels realistic, it also is one of the things I don't really like about Rome: it just feels like you end up in endless cycles of barbarian-swatting, especially if your border provinces are surrounded by barren wastelands (AKA barbarian breeder reactors). Thankfully, for AAR's sake, you're made of stronger stuff than me.
Actually writing it up, it doesn't seem as awful as it felt at the time. I had one legion on the verge of utter defeat but it seems I actually won most of the critical battles. The main cost was it really delayed me from properly recovering my manpower after the disaster in N Africa.
I really like how you can turn such simple thing as killing barbarian spawns into a good history-book AAR!
By the way did the colonies in Histri and Liburni allow you to now have a land connected empire all the way to Thracia?
Yes, at this stage Thrace is still barbarian but by the end of this section that too is a Roman colony, so I end up holding continuous land from Gades into Asia Minor
Nice going with the expansions, although I'm surprised to see the Barbarians not only pose a real and actual threat to the Empire, but to also create such good source material!
I hope Rome can expand as far as possible and defeat all her enemies, but considering the AAR's name, I'm expecting something to go horribly wrong at some point!
There's an old quote (it may actually be from Startrek) - 'we have met the enemy ... and he is us' which rather sums this AAR up, the biggest threat to Rome is Rome. I seem to be always on the edge of civil war, every time I sack someone its a case of expecting a full scale revolt, and I give jobs to total idiots on the grounds they are too stupid to actually be rebellious. Damn the rest of the world, they are no threat - though I am about 20 years ahead in gameplay and the Seleucids are staging an impressive recovery so I may yet end up facing a very dangerous external foe.
That went rather easy indeed, looking forward to the difficult part now!
your wish is, as ever, my command ... though I fear having actually written it up, it wasn't that bad, just long drawn out and costly in terms of manpower
Waiting for the hard part and good luck. :laugh:
Do you have any useless generals?
lots of them - the Republic prizes loyalty well beyond any merit or competence, in the next post, my only competent general, Mandonid, was, ironically a Gaul
Got some generals and governors who may be getting too big for their britches it would seem. I enjoyed Rome, had to put it aside however when I kept having everyone get murdered. I was too quickly left with nothing but disloyal old men
Great stuff seeing the Empire expand, certainly those pesky Numidians will have to be dealt with again.
since I am going for an amount of role playing, I will tend to take account of the Senate's demands and carry out missions (or at least try to), so at some stage there will be more war in North Africa.
At this stage revolt was mostly low key, and I could handle it often by a bribe/job/title or addressing one of their other needs, but every now and then I had to gamble on simply sacking someone
Last edited: