Rome Total War 2 looking likely!

So just in case we’ve forgotten about historical Total War, I’ve been laying Caesar in Gaul expansion and it is great fun. No Mods --vanilla is great now. Lots of problems resolved. You know I tend to be a CA apologist but they do try to correct their problems both strategically and tactically (Attilla and Napolean come to mind),

Caesar in Gaul can become a slog but it can also be a fantastic recreation of the real Caesar’s Gaulic Wars. Took alesia last night and fought 3 successive waves of barbarians (a semi-non-politically correct term) but it was great!

This is by far the best and tightest of the campaigns in Rome 2, I think. I agree it’s good. I wish they could translate that success to the larger maps.

(I like Rome 2 a lot, but there are some things which remain infuriatingly unfinished - the politics system, for instance, was broken by the later patches and never repaired).

I love this game, and both the Grand Campaign, and the the Gaul campaign are awesome!

The last time I fired it up though, it hadn’t aged that well - particularly compared to Attila, and of course the newest Warhammer game. There’s just too many systems, and of course, graphics, that doesn’t do it (for me) anymore, which is a damn shame.

Well- Here is hoping for Rome 3!!

Wow I am getting beat in that Caesar campaign. Ouch! It is not too easy on VH/VH. Even with my elite legionaires. It is a bit pop a mole with rebels everywhere. I love losing!

I agree about the politics system, especially after playing so much Attila. By the way, the ancient empires mod for attilla is still growing and may convert that game to a Rome game. Not a lot of huge updates lately but they have done some huge work on it.

That’s sort of the cool thing about that campaign I thought, first time I played it I flat out lost. I spent years and years at a standstill about 5 or so provinces short of my goal and as fast as I could recruit and field armies the barbarians were matching me, we were in a grind-fest standstill.

I believe I finally abandoned it 3 provinces short.

That campaign reminds me of Shogun 2, basically you start at realm divide and it’s full on war from start to finish.

Glad to hear you are enjoying Rome 2 : TW @richardlgaines! One of my absolute favorite TW games.

Caesar in Gaul is an excellent campaign that is very difficult because the secret to victory doesn’t lie so much in the military might as it does in the strategic layers of the game. You can’t win by just building overwhelming army stacks and sending them out to crush the barbarians, the barbarians will match you stack for stack and grind you down (plus you usually end up fighting wars on multiple fronts). Instead it’s all about the strategic decisions. Upgrading your economy quickly and efficiently is a must. Keeping provinces happy is a must. Efficient production of the right units in the right provinces so they’re available quickly when things start to heat up is essential.

Also essential is the use of agents. Around mid-game you’ll see a huge influx of the use of spies and other agents by the enemy (but especially spies, they LOVE to undermine your construction projects at the worst possible times). Countering these with agents of your own can make all the difference in the campaign. By mid-game all of your large armies should have a Champion in them, and every army should have at least one spy out in front of it, preferably with high zeal to maximize the potential for damaging enemy provinces and units. While technically not an agent, you should also pay special attention to the generals in your armies, weeding out the ones with serious flaws and putting them on provincial governor duty back behind the lines somewhere. Sometimes the margin between winning the day and losing a battle is as thin as having a positive combat attribute on your general versus a negative one.

I’m probably not telling you anything you’re not already aware of. Caesar in Gaul is TOUGH, but winnable with enough strategic planning and more than a little luck. It was probably my favorite of the scenarios released for Rome 2 : TW. Even just talking about it makes me want to go back and play again. Have fun, and good luck!

[quote=“SlainteMhath, post:867, topic:69677, full:true”]Also essential is the use of agents. Around mid-game you’ll see a huge influx of the use of spies and other agents by the enemy (but especially spies,
[/quote]
This was one of the things I take issue with in Rome 2, agent spam in this one is absurd.

Yeah, I dislike the agent game in Rome 2 intensely.

CiG is very much a race against the clock - the barbarians are easy early, but they are real trouble when they start fielding stacks of Noble Swordsmen and Spear Masters. Those are more than a match for your best legionary units. So you really need to have taken a big chunk of the map before that happens, and this requires some careful distribution of military force.

Spies are nerfed in Attila, in Rome you can flip whole provinces with spy rebellions.

Hey as I have progressed more and more of Slaint’s wisdom has appeared. Yes there is a mid-level agent game. But you know if you treat the Rome (CIG) expansion as strategy and adjust for what it is, it is great. And I’ve done “This is total war” chievo on both Attila and rome and this expansion is tough.

I have stuck with legionaires as opposed to cheaper auxillaries. But It has not been easy to keep order. I may screen shot where I am atm but I have most of the left side of the map with the suebi (German) assets as allies as well as massila still an ally.

Alesia is the key, it is the lynchpin for my Operation Cobra L shaped offensive. Wish me luck! This one wont be easy/

This should actually be the historical total war thread. Or I could start a new one. Warhammer total war is fantastic but not at all the same.

The real fun begins when those allies abandon you as you know they most certainly will…

Ok it is like WW1 in Gaul almost trench warfare. I think I can win it. I have to admit this is tough. BTW We are discussing Caesar in Gaul expansion for Total war: Rome 2. Very tight difficult expansion that requires a lot of strategic thought. SlainteMhath a few posts above has the right ingredients, most of which I learned after dying horribly to hordes of gaulic (and Spanish) armies.

I made a lot of use out of Gallic auxillaries. They are better skirmishers than your velites, and very good flankers. Their upkeep is also less, making for good troops when you need to keep order.

Started over. Sigh. This is tough but it’s not so tough I think I can’t do it. I felt total unable in my Attila “this is total war” achieve grab, and I figured it. I am not sure CA knew what they had with CIG. It may be one of those rare gems where difficulty and hope coincide. But wow if you over extend? Forget it you will be chewed up.

Since no one chimed in let me say this. Rifles probably break the Total War format.

Well, I mean I thought they worked pretty well in limited use in Shogun 2, thought they worked quite well in Fall of the Samurai, and while it’s not my personal favorite because I thought it was limited in scope, they worked rather nicely in Napoleon (and Empire).

Ok I have been enjoying the Augustus addon for Rome 2. I was playing antony but I think I’ll load some mods and play Augustus. Kinda a main campaign with extra difficulty because you have some roman counterparts. If you play Rome 2 or attilla play the addon dlc campaigns. They are often more focused and better.

Also I have to say, we need a Total War post up there on an average basis. This series is great even with the stumbles.

Augustus campaign is flawed. But I have had real fun in it. Download the mod Imperial legions of Rome and get serious on these guys! VH/VH,

I am gonna be the only Rome 2 supporter here I guess but is is a great game NOW as opposed to THEN. Great may be overdoing it a small bit,