Rome: Total War mod Total Realism 6.0 Preview

Yes, it was very stunning the first time I played it. Never tried the Macedonians though, do they get good cavalry?

The Macedonians? They get awesome cavalry. It doesn't match the raw power of the Seleucid cavalry force, but they're easier to get and, as a rule, cheaper. Not to mention they're sitting on top of a proverbial gold mine that is Greek trade.

Your first move is to build up a modest force, using very little cavalry at the start. They'll bleed your treasury dry. Focus on the phalangites, and take out the Ptolemaic city east of Pella. Then, if that army is still strong, take Byzantion from the Greeks to secure your east. Thrace is entirely up to you, but I recommend getting it so the Thracians don't.

Move your second army, which you should have started with, against Eprius or the city north-east of it. The mountain passes are hard to use cavalry in, so you won't want to bog your force down there. Take that city, and then turn your sights to Athens. She's important.

From Elis and Corinth, rally an army to attack Athens. Ignore Sparta for the moment. She only has about two Spartan units, and she can't storm a city in less than three turns -- plenty of time to take Athens and build up troops in Corinth, or ships in Elis.

Once you've got Athens and Epirus, bring your troops in from Byzantion (they should have long since arrived if you didn't go for Thrace), and attack that city north of Corinth. Once you have them, if you've got sea supremacy, turn your forces to boats and attack Crete and Lesbos, the island south of Pergamon. Take them both (Crete has two cities, one Greek and Ptolemaic, which start with three phalanx units and a cavalry unit, roughly).

Ignore Sicily. You don't want to be slugging it out with Carthage right now. You can help the Greeks against the Romans, or you can kill the Illyrians. I suggest the Illyrians if the Greeks aren't being bled dry, which they probably are. If they are, land at Ancona and smash into Rome's soft interior. Don't go for Rome yet -- she's heavily fortified and you don't want a pitched battle against the Legios yet, especially not with them defending.

Hopefully you've gotten cavalry now, so you can bring in troops to attack any northern cities Rome captured, which is probably only two at this point (unless they're fighting Gaul, which you should play off). Don't go into Rome's southern land, as the Greeks are liable to attack you. Don't go for a treaty with them. Focus on decapitating Rome, then turn to the south and smash them both. With Italy and Greece, you'll want to solidify your holdings. Cyprus, for reasons I've never figured out, has three towns -- take them. They'll be more difficult to keep than the Italian cities, but the Ptolemaics will neglect their navy after they lose their overseas stuff. I suggest a hasty alliance with the Seleucids, as they'll need every bit of help they can get. If you can keep the Seleucids afloat, you're going to have an easy time.

Turn your attention to Thrace and Illyria. Don't bother allying them, just crush them. Both are miserably weak. The Illyrians are a bit more stubborn, though. Keep an eye out for that. Once you're done there, don't even think about attacking Sarmatia, you can't afford to extend your troops that far. Besides, I've never seen her expand.

Once you've done that, you can either turn your attention to the Ptolemaic cities in southern Turkey (Side, Halicarnassus*, something else), or go for Pontus. If you can, which you should be able to by now, go for both. The Ptolemaics will give up the three towns without much of a fight, and the Kingdom of Pontus has never had a decent army. Armenia should be your next target. Annex her. I suggest going for them because of the cultural penalty -- deal with it early.

Once you've got them, you can go for Egypt herself, Sicily, or Seleucia. I suggest Egypt, then Seleucia. Without any enemies except Parthia or Bactria, Seleucia will turn on your, especially if you've taken out their enemies. Carthage might pick a fight with you, but she's probably busy in Iberia or, as I've seen one, Gaul at this point. Do whatever the hell you want.

That's how Macedonia's meant to be played. Or, at least, that's what Caius, the former project leader, thinks. I happen to agree with him.

I'm taking over all of Europe with the Gauls. I played the Gauls because I thought it would be the hardest faction to win with. I found it quite easy however.

I never played the Gauls with the vanillia version. I think im taking advantage of some of the flaws in 6.0. I use the Gauls as the true barbarians they are. I have no economy, I only make money by exterminating entire populations, then tearing down their buildings for money. I attack them from every direction taking out towns with small garisons and burning them to the ground. I dont bother leaving one single man behind to defend it unless it makes a profit over a few hundred.

Im fighting on three fronts without any problems. Im fighting the Romans, the Germans and the Iberians and the Carthaginians. And winning, I think it's the cheap mercenary armies that are always there for hire that makes this tactic work so well.  And the idiotic AI responce to you're movements. Although sometimes they do intelligents things,  I assume it's just by chance however.

Im looking forward to the expansion pack, 6.0 is just to easy. I've won with the Carthaginians now the Gauls, way to easily.

With the Macedonians I basically concerted my attack into a number of thrusts. Antigonus Gonatus starts out south with some units, joins my Pelop units and takes Athens and Sparta before making a crescent shaped trek to take Crete, Rhodes and end up in Southeast Asia minor. Another army goes west, taking the Greek cities before crossing to Italy. Another army swings west, taking Byzantion and crossing to tackle the Seleucids. A second western army takes the Egyptian city before swinging north to take thrace.

Am so reliant on mercenaries, its crazy.

I think the spelling was something like "Churgeon," or something similar, for the ancillary that almost triples the unit recovery rate.

Maybe you're thinking of the Priest of... Jupiter, was it? Minor bonus to morale or something like that. Or you're thinking of the Magician, which is +1 morale/command/diplomacy. Or you're thinking Oracle, which is +1 morale/command/diplomacy/influence.

The bonus is probably the percent per man, or something. So 45% would leave you at just shy of half recovery, barring other factors, like the army being surrounded and cut to ribbons.

I prefer not to lose men, though. Makes it easier.

Macedonian phalangites are great for that.

The archers aren't so bad. You can hire Cretans anywhere in the Greek world, really. Or at least the Ptolemaic, Antigonoid, Greek, and western Seleucid lands.

If you want to talk about preservering troops, try to keep your cavalry alive. They cost so damn much. Italian Cavalry in 6.1 is like 1,200 to buy, 700 for upkeep. It's insane. Elephants are even worse.

I do try to keep archers alive, though, simply because I always build infantry stuff first. Of course, peltasts die pretty easy, but they can help hold a line, so I'm not too concerned about them.

Who do you play as? I really like Macedon, and the challenge from Seleucia is great, but I probably prefer Sarmatae and Carthago.

The archers aren't so bad. You can hire Cretans anywhere in the Greek world, really. Or at least the Ptolemaic, Antigonoid, Greek, and western Seleucid lands.

But the ones from Crete ship with +3 experience.

Cavalry is indeed expensive, but as the macas you are not short in cash (i'm actualy trying to decrease income so that i don't have too much cash as that encoruages bad management traits AFAIK, not sure if thats changed in RTR though), and i don't depend on them too much (especialy in the part of the world where hoplites are the backbone of the infantry.

They are there as a sort of reserve, shock cavalry to hit from the back, misslile cavalry to harass and provoke, and of course, light cavalry to hunt down and kill those troops fleeing the battle (especialy enemy generals). Infact, i think i only use the general units and the greek missile cavalry (can form that circle thing), and the odd unit of Thracian cavalry that i picked up (i keep the small depleted ones in cities to 'recharge' the full ones that take on casualties).

It depends on your fighting style i guess, for me, the Macas are about walls of infantry, with archers behind them, maybe a few expendable peltast type units on the flank (to deter any flanking manourvers by the faster barbarian spearman units, and to protect the archers), and cavalry on the rear flanks.
Later on, if its a town attacker stack, i'll throw in some Balistas (though they can be a liability on standard out in the open battles, even if they do rape ememy infantry formations).

For a cavalry game i play as the Armenians. Never tried the Samaratans, been meaning too, but am put off by the sheer size of the provinces, knowing that i'll spend much time and effort hunting down rebels.

Macas = Macedonians