Expeditions: Rome

Uh, oh.
When I decided to go with the archer I also started over to give me the best start possible.
Things were going swimmingly until I played the little training grounds battle that introduces pilum bandages, etc.
I lost . WTF? Decided shift happens and didn't worry about it.
On to the tutorial ambush battle. I lost again. :oops: Playing on medium and this never happened before. Going to give
it another serious effort, but if I fail again I may have to consider dropping a difficulty level and I really don't want to.
Was looking at a YT vid and discovered what happened to the hot key to light up items that are interactive. It changed from "V"
to left [alt] with the full release. Here's the noob video with some other good tips.
Ah, ha! Just realized the problem. All the enemy encountered now are level II! That's not good.
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I think the approach of "kill em all and let god sort em out" isn't going to work in this game. You are often over numbered by the AI and have to use other means besides brute force to succeed. Secondary abilities beside giving you the ability to strike again also can affect the AI units morale. Sometime when a AI controlled unit panics he will thrash about wildly striking other AI controlled units on his own side. I had this happen once and was confused by it.

Also identifying the leader of AI controlled units and killing him will cause other AI units to break and run.

I've seen on other how to guides that the grey haired guy you start out with is often best used switching to bare handed mode to use his special abilities to heal or use other abilities he acquires.

I'm still early into the game, but apparently later on in the game there are huge battles like sieges where you have a lot of units to control and the AI has a lot of units and battles take over an hour to resolve. I think I saw a review where he said it took 3 hours to finish. If so there better be an ability to save during a battle.
 
Well, I really am liking the combat mechanic in this game. I love the Pilum so I can take care of those shield wielding Hoplites! But the archers are.....a problem. They have insane mobility, and always seem to be able to move to a place to shoot past my two shield guys and hit my squishy party members. And they outrange my archer dudes by quite a bit. Giving me fits!
 
I think my pick of having an archer turned out correct.
I did not realize I could buy additional NPCs for my group which means often I get a generic princeps and his shield to help out.
I had a terrible time figuring out conquering provinces so as to then capture resource sites and I'm still a little vague on it.
However, recently I just managed to get enough resources to start crafting so that's going to be fun. I like how they've implemented it
so it is helpful rather than a grind as is common in most of these genres.
I made a terrible pick making my tent first as I thought resource sites would regenerate resources over time. Nupe. So it took me a long
time to get the armory up and running. Having done that I just discovered I need to build a Forge next in order to upgrade my crafting!
The devs turned out to be devils.
Good news is that I'm doing pretty well in my battles as soon as I realized I needed to actually be careful every single move.
I also read somewhere that the devs intentionally made the game so there is no hurry. No clock issues. Just play at my own speed and have fun.
How'd they ever think of that?
 
I ran into a game breaking bug. I entered the warehouse and pillaged a bunch of items. Unfortunately I'm now stuck at the warehouse and can't exit. I submitted a bug report. Seems like other also have issue where they get stuck at certain points.
 
I just restarted Steam and a hotfix was applied. I'm now able to exit the warehouse and proceed with the game!
The bootie from the warehouse game my companions some nice upgraded equipment which I'm going to need. I gave the gray hair guy some chainmail and a amulet, my main character better shield, sword, helmet and amulet, the gladiator an amulet and better spear. The archer got a bow that dishes out a lot more damage.
I also got some crafting stuff and skill. I'll have to research on how to utilize it. I also haven't upgraded my base camp and I've seen you should do that to get some additional stuff.
One youtube video suggested that the Triare unit was the best/powerful unto to be.
 
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My L5 Sagittarius - Druses Valerius Carbo
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Whew! I was very concerned about the possibility of having to consider a restart.
However, when I sent my Legion to garrison a territory that was giving me the issues things fell into place.
I think I've figured it out. Pacifying is done one of two ways. Some merely involves sending your legion to a location and proceed to kick their ass.
The other way is to pick and complete a pacifying quest. There may be some required fighting thereafter, but you are on track to complete the
pacification.
The Steam forum just had a single topic on the matter so it's obvious it is just one of those "me" thingies again...mostly.
 
All that gear is a very small amount of the loot I've picked up. I've already probably used 5-6x that and turned them into crafting
resources.
What has surprised me a lot is the amount of NPCs you can hire. Now you need 2-5 just to man the upgraded camp facilities. Frequently
you will find yourself in a fight wherein you are allowed only one of your best team and then fill in the rest of the open spots with your hired help.
So, the hired guys need to be equipped as well as your Praetors (sp). At least as best as you can. Plus you need to look at their skills carefully, as
some are better than others at making your camp upgrades produce at max capacity.
 
Warning! :oops: This game is devious.
I just finished a quest., I think it's called "The Smuggler." You'll probably pick it up as you try to pacify the northern territory.
It starts a little different as it gives you two options as to what you want to do about a situation. I chose to deal with the smugglers and recover
a large cache of supplies to be used against us. Not sure it that was the right choice, but time will tell. What is important is a new wrinkle in the fight.
Or I should say fightS! You had better have the best soldiers available to you and armed to the max (including water) because after you win (eventually)
the first fight you will be directed to the second. Anybody needing hospital care will have no time to recover and perform accordingly.
Well, at least after that fight...nope...here comes a THIRD and you will be forced to bring your further beaten force into that one without repair/relief.
Your biggest enemy threat will be archers (of course) and higher ground, thus having longer range than your archers. Of an equal threat is enemy alchemists
(you'll know them by icon and when they starts throwing fire bombs six hexes in the middle of your force). They also have a number of caltrop throwers to pin
you in.
The first time I didn't see this coming and was unable to proceed to battle three. I took two hrs to rearm/refit/reorganize before I was ready again and even
then I forgot to bring water. Still, with the warning clear in my head, I succeeded by being verrry careful every turn.
Good luck with that one guys. :cool:
p.s. My healers have the perk that allows self heal. I've never seen that option in battle. A little help?
 
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I think what they meant by that is that my healer can now heal himself by using a bandage on himself. Too bad, atm, I don't have any bandages to try it out.
So, the devs are at it again.
I have almost conquered "Ah'-zee-uh Mee'-nor" (as it is pronounced in the game). I think all that is left is taking down the fortified town of Chalkedon. To do that I was ordered to divide
my force into 8 and 4 soldier teams. Each having a battle of its own. I got through the 8 man battle with some pretty heavy casualties. As I was pondering that my 4-man team got crushed in that
I had no idea how to go about winning. Orders are to take down as many catapults as possible o/o 5 total. In six turns. o_O
I had no plan that could accomplish that, although I was thinking of ways. Still, best to check You Tube and I confirmed how it can be done, although the guy only got 4 in the video. It seems on the
first turn all my guys need to run to a nearby bonfire and light some torches. Then, spread out and get the catapults within throwing range. If you are careful you can do that without getting spotted
and attacked. After that head for the last catapult or find a place you can defend for the 2-4 remaining turns without getting overrun.
I haven't done it, but when I saw how it was done I had to do a restart to reorganize my teams. Then, after that there is at least one more battle on the grounds to rescue prisoners, including a Legate
that had been captured earlier. Whew.
I really like the writing and voice acting. Top notch.
 
Well, the catapult quest was a bit anticlimactic. I destroyed 3 and one was burning when the time ran out. As it is, that meant the bad guys
had two catapults to use against me next battle. Not a big deal. They are terribly inaccurate and were no real threat in the next fight. Certainly
not worth any of your team taking any kind of serious injury in an overreach.
As for Chalkedon? Better bring your "A" game and a lot of water jugs. It seems the whole city ends up on fire at one point or another. Oh, there
are FOUR major, contiguous battles. Good luck.
So, now I find myself back in Rome. Having crossed the Rubicon the legion has been disbanded and my legionaries sent home. Now I have to
deal with the Senator who killed my father, married my sister and took all the family property. The good new is that Cato is pressing my claim.
The bad? Cicero is defending my enemies.
I've retired for the night, but have been warned my enemies may not wish to allow the matter to be heard before the senate tomorrow. Hmm. :unsure:
 
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Well, after a tumultuous experience while in Rome (no spoilers) I find me and my reconstituted legion at war again.
A slightly unbelievable story line (first time) finds me in Egypt fighting to restore Cleopatra as sole Pharaoh of Egypt, having rescued her from
potential imprisonment by her younger brother/husband. She made promises about her loyalty to Rome and to help deal with the ongoing traitorous
behavior of the Roman senator who wants me dead. Who can turn down Cleopatra? Certainly not me.
There is a small problem. My sole legion is badly outnumbered if I intend to take on Ptolemy's forces. My efforts to recruit manpower from the local tribal
leaders did not go well. It seems I will need to defeat them first before I can do stuff for Cleo.
That's fine because it puts me back on the pacify/conquer route and I am desperate to gain another lumber resource. This will allow for an armory upgrade
and the ability to start crafting LvL II arms and armor. The enemy seems to have a slight edge currently in both and I'd really like that not to get out of hand.
My most pressing issue atm is money. I need to go take stuff from the tribes. I can do that. :cool:
 
"4X (abbreviation of Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate) is a sub genre of strategy-based computer and board games,
and include both turn-based and real-time strategy titles. The game play involves building an empire. ... The first 4X computer
games were turn-based, but real-time 4X games are common." - Google :geek:
E:R is not a 4x game.
 
Hmm. Just lost back-to-back fights for the first time. In my defense the roster parameters did not allow for more than one of my core soldiers as I was
told to "delegate" the mission responsibilities. Thus, five of them were hired swords. Something odd did happen (I think) when I went back to the location
for round 2 the battle map and enemy OOB was different from the first. The 2nd time I was outnumbered 3-1. Not complaining, just have to play smarter.
I should mention here that I'm finding the AI to be tactically smart, both with the enemy performance (ie. archers move to high ground to get better range
and LOS) and friendly NPCs actually help! What a concept.
I've got LvL 2 armory up and running so armor/arms are improving. I am having some issues with crafting though as I am running low on "good" crafting materials.
Most worthwhile crafting items require at least some "good" materials along with 1-2 other higher grade materials. This will keep the player from crafting unrealistic
(and wasteful) quantities of goods.
The grind. It can be, but it is mostly self inflicted. I find myself crafting and upgrading the equipment my soldiers wear/use more than necessary. Fun, but I need to
watch it as it has inhibited my overall progress occasionally. Yep, a "me" problem, albeit a small one.
I've been hung up on 60% territory occupation for some time (see crafting) so I've got to focus a bit. AI has been very good at throwing me curves and forcing me
to defend objectives the AI wants to take back.
All a matter of timing...as I draw my Gladius II and yell "Onward Legionarii!"
 
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