In rome total war, Macedon has to be the strangest faction ever.

1) Strangly enough, you c'ant play as it. Id rather play as macedon then, say, Parthia.
2)Levy pikemen, even though they are higher in barracks requirement than militia hoplites, Have worse stats. I mean, i know you get alot more units, but its still wierd.
3) even though you cant play as it, it still has a description set for it when you edit the playable nations list.
4) Whenever i play against it, it seems to pull armies out of nowhere. Im playing as schythia, and they have larissa and corinth left. Larissa has minimal troops, and athens and thermon are Brutii. out of nowhere, 2 full sized macedonian armies come out of nowhere full to the brim. With 2 cities, how can you afford unit upkeep costs and keep pumping them out?
5) When played as the computer, they seem to head up and capture illiria. How can they afford to move those troops there?

Any ideas about any of these things?

3) even though you cant play as it, it still has a description set for it when you edit the playable nations list.

I was told that the reason there is a description is because they were originally supposed to be playable, but were cut out from the playable factions list just before release. I agree that Macedon should have been playable and one of the first things I did was make them playable (trying to restore the greatness Alexander's homeland just seems too fun to pass up).

RTR makes them playable I believe.

I don´t know. When I played the Brutti campaign the Macedonians kept bringing thousadns of levies from nowhere... and they completely overran the Greek Cities except for Rhodes (and Syracuse, which I conquered with the "help" of the Scipii). Somehow a couple of Light Spearmen (or whatever their 7/5 cavalry are called) and some Levy Pikemen can defeat Heavy Hoplites+Spartans...
btw what´s RTR?

I've noticed that the Macedonians have no idea what planning or strategy is. I was playing with I think the Greeks, and the next thing you know, out of the blue, they attack me, all the Roman factions, the Dacians and the Thracians. Attacking me at the time was very foolish as I had just finished massing an army for an assault on the Brutii, and I had two full armies just waiting for the fleets to be made. I sent one army to attack Macedon, and sent the other on its original mission: establish a toe hold in Italy (which they did with remarkably few casualties).

In rome total war, Macedon has to be the strangest faction ever.

2)Levy pikemen, even though they are higher in barracks requirement than militia hoplites, Have worse stats. I mean, i know you get alot more units, but its still wierd.
Any ideas about any of these things?

You do know that there are two different classes of phalanxes, don't you? There's the traditional Greek hoplite, which fights with the spear, and then there's the Macedonian phalangites, who fight with the pike, or sarissa. I think in the unit description, all pike phalanxes are said to have 'very long spears'.

Basically, the traditional 80 men spear hoplites used by the Greeks can have the first 3 ranks fight at once with their spears. The 120 men Macedonian(and Seleucid) phalangites' pikes lets the first 5 ranks fight at once. Phalangites have more men per unit so you can enjoy the extra rank bonus, yet still make a line as wide as a Greek hoplite could. Downside is, yeah, unit stats are weaker than hoplite units are.

I must say, Macedon looks a lot more appetizing than the Greeks. You can argue over hoplites vs phalangites but Macedonians just have the Greeks beat when it comes to cavalry; Light lancers, Macedonians, Companions. Plus, due to the location, you can hire Thracian and Basternae mercs for seige assaults, especially for those stone walls; something all-phalanx-Greece suck at doing. I still like the Seleucid troop roster better, but man, Royal Pikemen, Basternae, Companions, and Cretian Archers :love:

With Thracian mercs you won´t do anything up a wall, they´ll be thrown off by everything except militia Hoplites.
The Spartans are awesome when fighting on a wall: they can fight with their spears, whereas the pikemen have to fight with their swords. Also, it´s better to starve them out in some cases.

Macedon doesn't exactly have a choice. Phalanxes without phalanx suck. And Thracians aren't expensive to maintain.

Yeah, Spartans rock at everything they do. The Greeks certainly need them.

The Heitaroi are the best cavalry after Cataphracts and Cataphract Archers... the Greeks should have a little better cavalry, at least like the Barbarian mercs.

go check out some mods, RTR or EB i would say, (rtr- rome total realism, EB - europa barbaroum)

greeatly increase difficulty and playabilty.

I still like the Seleucid troop roster better

Who wouldn't? Companions, elephants, Silver shield pikes n legionnaires, man they've got it all! :lol:

Their troops are quite missmatched though. Elephants and cavalry are very fast, while hoplites are slow. And with elephants, chariots are pretty useless for what i use them for most: getting rid of light infantry, which elephants already do.

Technically speaking, Levy pikemen or phalanxes are less skilled as they are Levy troops (Levying is a form of conscription), and the levied men are generally just simple townsfolk or farmers who are called up in a time of need to serve their country. They are by no means a professional army. Levying troops quickly increases the size or your army (in this case unit) but you generally get jipped on the training aspect of things.

They are however more trained than conscripted troops who are basically handed a pike, shield, helmet and armor and sent to the field with little or no training.

The definition posted by dictionary.com is: To draft into military service.

They are however more trained than conscripted troops who are basically handed a pike, shield, helmet and armor and sent to the field with little or no training.who are more trained, etc. etc.?

Anyway, the Seleucid troop rooster is good, but somehow the Egyptians, with relatively poor cvalry, and no elephants run them into the gorund ALWAYS! :confused:

The late Seleucid roster is good.

Early, it's ****; except for the chariot.

depending on your version, the egyptians get some highly unfair bonus's that virtually every mod has nerfed.their basic axemen cav got a awesome bonus agasint armour (same with the footmen) etc, plus selicuid's are faced on all sides with opposition, like armeinian catapracts/parthia/pontus etc.

depending on your version, the egyptians get some highly unfair bonus's that virtually every mod has nerfed.their basic axemen cav got a awesome bonus agasint armour (same with the footmen) etc, plus selicuid's are faced on all sides with opposition, like armeinian catapracts/parthia/pontus etc.

Yeah, somehow everybody just loves their land.

Just like Macedon :lol:

Yeah, why do the axemen in general have bonus against heavily armored units?

In rome total war, Macedon has to be the strangest faction ever

2)Levy pikemen, even though they are higher in barracks requirement than militia hoplites, Have worse stats. I mean, i know you get alot more units, but its still wierd.

You know what "Levy" means, right? It means drafted. I won't want a good citizen unit.

You know what militia means? it means they fight in their spare time. Just should be worse.

Yeah, why do the axemen in general have bonus against heavily armored units?

Their axes cut through armour more easily.

IIRC

You know what militia means? it means they fight in their spare time. Just should be worse.

Militia means that they are like guards (National Guard). They recieve training. Levies do not.

Yes but Levies implies they are actually part of the military, while militia implies they stille have another proffesion.

Actually, levies do get trained before they are actually sent to battles..albeit a very short one ;)

The militia are a bit less cowardly... but the pike levies have the longer reach....

but the pike levies have the longer reach....

...and a bit more cowardly :lol:

cowardly or not, they´re very useful as cannon fodder, 'cso, unlik other canno fodder, they can resist charges...

cowardly or not, they´re very useful as cannon fodder, 'cso, unlik other canno fodder, they can resist charges...

True :D

And they can do much damage, too.

or we can just own them all with British Chariots. And yes, i have fought Macedon, The Selucid Empire, and their levys, with great sucess, thank you scythed chariots!

Seleucids have chariots too.. :evil:

So does egypt, who are better.

Anyone who says that levy pikemen suck, chew on thus.

Today as the Seleucids I was beseiged and forced to defend myself. One unit of pikemen, with no upgrades routed one unit of peasants, four units of nubian spearmen, two units of skirmishers, and two units of chariot bodyguards. That one unit ended up losing 63 men and killing 432, including two generals.

Put in the middle of a street, with no gaps between the men and the street, they massacred the Egyptians, who couldn't form phalanxes because they had just turned a corner and were entangled in each other's formations.

wow dark thats pretty crazy. I can see how they'd be quite formidable in those urban environments, having been pwned by some Militia Hoplites in my storming of Corinth. I won, but how many Hoplites did i lose you ask? many

I like the Levy Pikemen because they are cheap and large company sizes

or we can just own them all with British Chariots. And yes, i have fought Macedon, The Selucid Empire, and their levys, with great sucess, thank you scythed chariots!The British chariots aren´t scythed.

all chariots are scythed in RTW, thats why they own

all chariots are scythed in RTW, thats why they own
Actually I don't think they are all scythed. That is why some are clearly called "Scythed chariots".

Why don´t you check the info scroll for the Brit HChariots?

I did, and it didn't mention anything about "scythed" anywhere.

And the one in the picture doesn´t have scythes... I checked yesterday at a netcafé-

I think their heavy, general's chariots are scythed, but their light archer chariots are not.

I think their heavy, general's chariots are scythed, but their light archer chariots are not.

The only unit that the game claims to be scythed are the Scythed Chariots...

@shortguy: The Brits have three chariots: the barbarian leader´s, the heavy chariots, and the light chariots (missiles).
@Dreadnought: the gippie chariots are scythed also...

What is a cantabrian circle? All chariot archers can form one, according to their descriptions.

The circle basically has the horse archers run around in a circle, dont know why its important though...

Cantabrian circle makes missile cavalry invulnerable to counter-fire from other missiles. The circle makes it hard to target the horsemen.

i always wondered about that! Now why cant they like form a protective circle, like Yaks do, you know what i mean? With their backs to each other, and the lances pointingo ut like a big dea urchin, if viewed from above

i always wondered about that! Now why cant they like form a protective circle, like Yaks do, you know what i mean? With their backs to each other, and the lances pointingo ut like a big dea urchin, if viewed from above

The rider and the horse would be a sitting duck for missles/artillery.

I wonder why no units have the special ability to cover their retreat, i.e. half the unit would retreat while the other half give cover fire, then vice versa when the retreating half gets behind the firing half..

Cantabrian circle makes missile cavalry invulnerable to counter-fire from other missiles. The circle makes it hard to target the horsemen.

it also is the only way to beat the amazon chariots, which guard hyperboria.

it also is the only way to beat the amazon chariots, which guard hyperboria.
Where and what is hyperboria?

I wonder why no units have the special ability to cover their retreat, i.e. half the unit would retreat while the other half give cover fire, then vice versa when the retreating half gets behind the firing half..Because all of them fire as they reatreat, that´s why. Only that sometimes they seem to move more slowly when they´re firing. Am I right in the last bit?

Where and what is hyperboria?

Northern Russia.

Because all of them fire as they reatreat, that´s why. Only that sometimes they seem to move more slowly when they´re firing. Am I right in the last bit?

They do? I always tell them to move before they auto-retreat, since sometimes they don't notice units coming

they have to be in skirmish mode to be able to retreat while firing.

Why cant you beat the Amazons any other way? I mean, i usualy teleport right up close and nail them with like six static fields...oh wait that's Diablo II. But seriously, ive never gotten that far into Russia before, can you describe these super-chariots?

The Scythians don´t have chariots... :confused:

they have to be in skirmish mode to be able to retreat while firing.

I know that. What I meant was that when they're firing at one particular unit, sometimes they didn't retreat from other units approaching from different sides.

And I've this particularly wacko hobby of having my horse archers darting in and out of enemy circles :evil:

Where and what is hyperboria?
press the ` button bulow esc.
then type in toggle_fow
thew whole map will be revealed.

You can play as Macedon. Go to the Rome Total War folder, then go to Rome - Total War/Data/world/maps/campaign/imperial_campaign and open descr_strat (you might want to back it up). There, you'll see three sections that the factions are organized in: playable, unlockable, and nonplayable. Then move Macedon or any other faction you want to play as into unlockable or playable (doesn't matter). When you open up Rome Total War it should be listed as a playable faction. When you select it, the map above it will look a bit weird because there is no file for it, but it will still work fine (although something strange might happen if you tried the Rebels or SPQR - I haven't tried that and don't plan to:p ).

Question: what does the wedge formation do?

You can play as Macedon. Go to the Rome Total War folder, then go to Rome - Total War/Data/world/maps/campaign/imperial_campaign and open descr_strat (you might want to back it up). There, you'll see three sections that the factions are organized in: playable, unlockable, and nonplayable. Then move Macedon or any other faction you want to play as into unlockable or playable (doesn't matter). When you open up Rome Total War it should be listed as a playable faction. When you select it, the map above it will look a bit weird because there is no file for it, but it will still work fine (although something strange might happen if you tried the Rebels or SPQR - I haven't tried that and don't plan to ).
I stated that i had played as macedon in the OP
Rebels dont work, they dont appear on the list. SPQR have a horrible deficit, and if you click on the senitorial positions button, the game crashes. They have no short campain goals. They do work technically though.

SB, the wedge formation concentrates the force of a charge at a single point: useful for breaking tightly packed formations. I personally rarely use it.

I used to use it on a rare case in MTW, but never in RTW, it seems like cavalry just plain sucks in Rome.

You're kidding, right? If anything, cavalry are overpowered in Rome. They're extremely fast, and good cavalry can plow through almost any infantry. They've been toned down in BI, and maybe later RTW patches, but cavalry are still a force.

Another reason not to use wedge--wedge puts the unit leader in the front, meaning he'd be one of the first to die. If it's a general/family member, you might be in trouble.

Cavalry rule! Horse archers... :)

well then again, i never use cavs in RTW, i go for hte heavy infantry, i use cavalry a lot more in Medieval, though

Cavalry rule!

Not always! I dare you charge a Spartan Phalanx or a Gothic Schiltron!

Not always! I dare you charge a Spartan Phalanx or a Gothic Schiltron!

I'll do it....from behind! :p

I said cavalry were powerful, not idiotproof. ;)

You know what's idiot proof? Hashashin and the like. THeres almost no way to use them wrong

Question: what does the wedge formation do? It makes them form a sort of wedge (triangle) and so they can divide an enemy division into two ahlves. The point is, only the foremost unit will have the charge bonus, and it will prbably be one of the first to die, so the unit loses its leader. it´s not so good , after all, to charge with your general ina a wedge formation.
I'll do it....from behind! :pYou can´t charge a schiltron from behind... it´s a circular formation (it points everywhere) :p :smug:
You know what's idiot proof? Hashashin and the like. THeres almost no way to use them wrongBut with arcani/praeventores you can always make a mistake. you can put them into catapult range, for example.

You can´t charge a schiltron from behind... it´s a circular formation (it points everywhere)


Is it in BI because I don't have tat :( sounds awsome though!

Yep, BI has new formations: schiltron (sort of a hedgehog formation in a circle) good against cavalry and some infantry, but poor against archers, and the shield wall, which effectively locks you heavy inf against enemies but is too slow and can be surrounded and is vulnerable to attacks in the back and front.

Not always! I dare you charge a Spartan Phalanx...!

Spartans are great, but on campaign, why dont just make armoured hoplite, one turn build, half the price, makeable from the earlier turns, and they dont just look great they can turn into pieces anything the AI launches at you

Cavalry is good, but not that great on higher difficulty levels, if not used wisely they ll just rout after 10 seconds of fighting, and youll find yourself outnumbered and probably being flanked in the minute later.

My favorite unit is, for vanilla RTW, RTR and other mods the onager, heavy onager even better, make one city go for these, your capital why not, once you get 4 of them you can just sit back and enjoy the fireworks. It kills everything, allows you to take cities in turn that attacked, routs elephants, destroys moral, devastates enemy phalanx on heavy and dense defensive formations, and can become super accurate with the extra experience you obtain.

The least unit i tend to use is the elephant, too expensive, easily killed or routed, id probably consider hiring some as mercenaries, since on the begiining of the game they are not that bad as AIs troops tend to suck a bit.

In general the best units are the earlier, cheap and large phalanx formations, i tend to think 1 phalanx is worth 3 or more enemy units.

[QUOTE=shortguy]You're kidding, right? If anything, cavalry are overpowered in Rome. They're extremely fast, and good cavalry can plow through almost any infantry. They've been toned down in BI, and maybe later RTW patches, but cavalry are still a force.QUOTE]

Play on the highest difficulty level, and you ll get to watch your precious expensive and probably time costly cavalry being wiped out by a full pack of gaul warbands and mercenaries.

My favorite unit is, for vanilla RTW, RTR and other mods the onager, heavy onager even better, make one city go for these, your capital why not, once you get 4 of them you can just sit back and enjoy the fireworks. It kills everything, allows you to take cities in turn that attacked, routs elephants, destroys moral, devastates enemy phalanx on heavy and dense defensive formations, and can become super accurate with the extra experience you obtain.Onagers can´t defend themselves at close combat, you always have to protect them. Their aim is terrible unless they have at least 2 silver chevrons. And they don´t always scare elephants or chariots away.
The least unit i tend to use is the elephant, too expensive, easily killed or routed, id probably consider hiring some as mercenaries, since on the begiining of the game they are not that bad as AIs troops tend to suck a bit.
What? then it means you don´t know how to use them! Of course you have to keep them out of range until there´s a gap, or you can put them into the first line with some armored cavalry and/or chariots just behind, and make an all-out charge.
In general the best units are the earlier, cheap and large phalanx formations, i tend to think 1 phalanx is worth 3 or more enemy units.the cheaper phalanxes are very vulnerable to missile weapons. A company of Greek Archers or Illirian mercs can get rid of half a hoplite company very fast.

Horse archers if used properly just kill everything.

As parthia i made a couple of all horse archer armies and just killed everything the seceluids and Egyptians threw at me.

Siege their cities, you'll find it difficult to ahh take them.

Onagers can´t defend themselves at close combat, you always have to protect them. Their aim is terrible unless they have at least 2 silver chevrons. And they don´t always scare elephants or chariots away.
What? then it means you don´t know how to use them! Of course you have to keep them out of range until there´s a gap, or you can put them into the first line with some armored cavalry and/or chariots just behind, and make an all-out charge.
the cheaper phalanxes are very vulnerable to missile weapons. A company of Greek Archers or Illirian mercs can get rid of half a hoplite company very fast.

Defend onagers? Let me think? Did i metioned phalanx? What else you need, besides if you keep killing them, you adversary will just have to attack you phalanxes, and thats just the best part of the day on any fight. Aim is bad? It can kill over 400 or more during a 10m period battle. You must be kidding, try using it more and on some lan or online battles, this unit is even banned on same game types because of its power. As far as experience, 3 bronze is more then enough, and thats as far as you can get on a costum battle for RTR gold 6.0, prob because people on RTR aknowlege the power of it :)

Onagers put on the P of pressure on your enemies minds.

They dont scare elephants away? Sorry you re right, they just melte them away, try using onagers on fire mode, youlll see what i talk about. Barbacue time!

I dont know how to use elephants? i once won a battle against rome by only using armoured elephants, was kind funny too, but on the highest level of difficulty, wich is the one i always play in, elephants are just waste of money and time, besides, by the time you´lll be able to build them, the necessary improvements arent that few you know, you ll have better units to build for far less money. Know if you use one elephant to instantly break a city gate, counting its not stone wall and better, this unit as its value for sure, but on a real and decisive batlle i tend to disagree. So for me elephants are for hire or for use in a 1 or 2 quantity at most.

Besides the best way to use elephants is after the troops engage, make them flank, and clicking them to attack the opposite unit on the enemies flank, the effect will be a mad elephant running across the field and making an highway just in front of your soldiers, but then again, on higher levels and vs good players this never happens.

As far as the cheaper phalanx, archer fire and illyrian mercenarians are good yes, but then again...not that good, if im in a well disposed formation, youll see my units arent droping like you re hoping, besides, in any phalanx army i tend to have cretan archers, heavy pelstats and some sweet onagers, join in a pair of cavalry and your arrows wont be doing much damage.

Give me something better then this:

Cheaper phalanx- 240 mens - very long spears - defense arent that good as standard phalanx, but then again, who need it, your v.long spears keep everyone else at bay, yes even spartans, did i mention they where cheap, like 300 gold! for that price i buy an iberian that cost 250, only have 160, and they re efficience is far worse. If you retrain them, or even better join them after batlles and then retrain them youll be getting cheaper phalanxes with silver experience in no time.

Talking about an all around troop ;)

As far as chariots, those amazons are mean, the sycthed arent that bad but others are just pure crap and waste of money.

PS: as posted by undefeatable in RTW heaven forums for using elephants:

Small tip sugestion of how to use crapy units like town milita and others:
Lets say its the 10th turn of the game and you ve just been attacked by a full pack of angry gauls - warbands, swordsmen, barbarian cavalry and so on - and you find yourself having 10 town milita, some hastati/scutarii, some cavalry and skirmishers.

What do you do? A good way to deploy your army is to extend your town milita at its most lenght and then set up 5 rows of town milita close together in a column formation very close together and put them in guard mode - put another 5 row column next to the first and you have your own phalanx of crapy troops ready to hold the center for a nice and long period of time, giving you the chance to skirmish the enemy and flanking him with your cavalry and scuttari or other fast infantry.

This set up can even withstand a full charge cavalry attack, as the row is 5 inche deep (10 men) and all units are close together in guard mode.

Only a couple of things: we argentinians play very differently then, we use other tactics/strategy...

Only a couple of things: we argentinians play very differently then, we use other tactics/strategy...

hu..like for example....:rolleyes: ...share it....

Small tip sugestion of how to use crapy units like town milita and others:
Lets say its the 10th turn of the game and you ve just been attacked by a full pack of angry gauls - warbands, swordsmen, barbarian cavalry and so on - and you find yourself having 10 town milita, some hastati/scutarii, some cavalry and skirmishers.

What do you do? A good way to deploy your army is to extend your town milita at its most lenght and then set up 5 rows of town milita close together in a column formation very close together and put them in guard mode - put another 5 row column next to the first and you have your own phalanx of crapy troops ready to hold the center for a nice and long period of time, giving you the chance to skirmish the enemy and flanking him with your cavalry and scuttari or other fast infantry.

This set up can even withstand a full charge cavalry attack, as the row is 5 inche deep (10 men) and all units are close together in guard mode.

I bring some of them on campaigns to use as cannon fodder/holding units so my best units dont die.

I bring some of them on campaigns to use as cannon fodder/holding units so my best units dont die.

Yep, its more or less the general ideia, keep your better troops on the flanks and just let the elite of the enemie get slaughtered by your crapy ones and while busy flank them.

Small tip sugestion of how to use crapy units like town milita and others:
Lets say its the 10th turn of the game and you ve just been attacked by a full pack of angry gauls - warbands, swordsmen, barbarian cavalry and so on - and you find yourself having 10 town milita, some hastati/scutarii, some cavalry and skirmishers.

What do you do? A good way to deploy your army is to extend your town milita at its most lenght and then set up 5 rows of town milita close together in a column formation very close together and put them in guard mode - put another 5 row column next to the first and you have your own phalanx of crapy troops ready to hold the center for a nice and long period of time, giving you the chance to skirmish the enemy and flanking him with your cavalry and scuttari or other fast infantry.

This set up can even withstand a full charge cavalry attack, as the row is 5 inche deep (10 men) and all units are close together in guard mode.

That works even better with phalanx troops, like militia hoplites. Two of those stacked in a street really makes a difference.

Seleucia is so pitable in the beginning.

Militia hopites have to be the best militia unit in the game...

hu..like for example....:rolleyes: ...share it....
We sometimes go for very complicated ambushes... we like palying in forests a lot, als, we play many bridge battles, or sometimes we make a tundra-ish plain and have it out with dozens of onagers, elephants, cata-tanks, etc...

We sometimes go for very complicated ambushes... we like palying in forests a lot, als, we play many bridge battles, or sometimes we make a tundra-ish plain and have it out with dozens of onagers, elephants, cata-tanks, etc...

You choose the battle ground that will for sure make you easily win or gives your current type of army the best advantages, that can be called a bit like guerrila warfare, and its a great way of playing, very effective.

Yes, but the guerrilla advantage is for both sides... we always agree beforehand on where to play, since, as we play on LAN, even if it´s a public place it´s fair to smash his nose if he cheats you...

Yes, but the guerrilla advantage is for both sides... we always agree beforehand on where to play, since, as we play on LAN, even if it´s a public place it´s fair to smash his nose if he cheats you...

hehehe, what if you both agree on a map like italy lowlands where only part was covered with forests, and you cant use some of your units for full effect, happened to me while using onagers and scorpions, they cant pass trough dense forest.

That´s part of the job... of course, slinger ambushes in the forest are one of the favourites... but most of my pals just don´t seem to realize how useful slingers can be... Rhodians never run out of ammunition

That´s part of the job... of course, slinger ambushes in the forest are one of the favourites... but most of my pals just don´t seem to realize how useful slingers can be... Rhodians never run out of ammunition

On earlier game those guys, and ballearic rule, but if you can hire rhodian, you arent far from the territory where you could hire cretan....

On multi battles, they dont seem to as efficient as the archers....but maybe i could be wrong.

Rhodians are so good in forest ambushes... they just don´t run out of ammunition, and they can run fast enough to hide again when spotted.

Rhodians are so good in forest ambushes... they just don´t run out of ammunition, and they can run fast enough to hide again when spotted.

;) i believe they are, thats a very good tactic Takhisis, and ive also noticed that if i advance my slinglers towords the Ai and keep killing them, he will not advance on the field until his own units like skirmishers and archers have run out of ammo trying to kill my slingers.... which can be very intersting.

I tryied ballearic the other day, im playing Britannia, attacked Gades on South Iberia and on the end of the battle, one single unit had killed almost 500 !! Pretty impressive - this on emperor difficulty RTR 5.0 Huge scale.

What on earth is RTR? is it a mod?
Here in Argentina we don´t have that kind of stuff. We only play the original game and kill each other by the thousands on LAN.

RTR is Rome Total War Realism. its a mod.

What on earth is RTR? is it a mod?
Here in Argentina we don´t have that kind of stuff. We only play the original game and kill each other by the thousands on LAN.

If you havent played RTR, you havent really played RTW, get the RTR 6 gold and the music addon, you´re in for a nice surprise trust me ;) AI is much more cunning.

For Warmongers i recomend the SPQR Rome Total War mod, on this one you have gazillion unit types and all draft/recruitment is made on 0 turns, thus you can build and sail out a fullpack instantly....this tends to have much more war.

Somehow, and I don´t know <WHY!> RTW won´t work in this machine... :( So I have to play it in netcafés. And netcafés don´t D/L any mods, except those for Warcraft 3 like X Hero Siege, DotA...

In rome total war, Macedon has to be the strangest faction ever.

2)Levy pikemen, ...
4) Whenever i play against it, it seems to pull armies out of nowhere.
5) When played as the computer,...
2) Levy pikemen are good, if one employs them so that their low morale is not an issue. I defeat them with Roman equites in early game, however... but only with properly coordinated attacks (& not head-on)... so they are not so great; lack of mobilty is their other weakness.
4) I've never seen that...
5) As an opponent, Macedon is one of the weakest... it is too willing to part with their wonder, for instance. In a long campaign, I make them my ally and immediately attack the Rebel city Athens, and about 50% of the time, my ally (Macedon) will attack with me (they are nearby), and they rush in with their cavalry and get slaughtered... then I go in, mop up, and then in a turn or two attack Macedon... which has been striped of its southern cavalry, LOL.

With Patch 1.5, the Macedonian cavalry is weaker than ever. A bit strange, at least for Companions, as they really were strong. I suppose it was a game balance issue, though... but it hit the Macedons hard, particularly the Lancer charge in early game.

So I have not really found them "strange", just "strangled." :D

It sounds as if you heavily exploit the AI. No idea if the RTR AI is better in this regard.

... the AI.
The macedonians were weakened in Patch 1.5 in particular because of the toning down of the cavalry in the game overall. Their bonuses were important, like the Lancer's... so the Macedonians were fairly powerful before, but now... despite the cheap phalanx unit, they are weak.

All the factions are subject to diplomatic maneuver... while RTW AI is pretty good overall, the diplomatic AI does actually work. Its just that it does not think ahead as much as a human does, nor take certain kinds of risks (and make certain sacrifices) that can (usually) get a high reward. The AI does "nothing wrong" technically, but just as mobility with units on the battlefield is under-valued in things like AI computations and auto-resolve, so is value in the diplomatic core, which is why the Macedonians (and others) can lose control of their wonder early in the game, for instance. :)

I've played about two campaigns of RTW and the rest on RTR. How can the diplomatic AI be good if it gives away wonders without a fight? My description of that would be a four letter word beginning with s.

How can the diplomatic AI be good if it gives away wonders without a fight? My description of that would be a four letter word beginning with s.
The AI does not give them away... you will negotiate & pay, but not with a big battle initially. The battle will come, however, unless you can make them a Protectorate (possible in some cases, but not always probable). That's presumabley the point of diplomacy, & why they put it into the game. Just like in Real Life, when diplomacy could help create/secure empires.

Diplomacy can accelerate the game, and if you use it a lot, it can accelerate it a lot. And if you do it early, you can fight the inevitable battles necessary to win the game in diverse places on the map, simultaneously... and fund them simultaneously, instead of the slowly building steamroller. You can get about half your goal of Provinces with diplomacy, but at much higher initial cost than that of battle losses -- how you deal with the Empire's finances after that sets the tone for how/if you can hold on to your diplomatic gains (which can be quite tough to do).

So I'm presuming you've tried (?) power diplomacy, and still prefer the sword from the gitgo... :cool:

The AI does not give them away... you will negotiate & pay, but not with a big battle initially. The battle will come, however, unless you can make them a Protectorate (possible in some cases, but not always probable). That's presumabley the point of diplomacy, & why they put it into the game. Just like in Real Life, when diplomacy could help create/secure empires.
I find that diplomacy is only semi effective. With Macedon I find it far better when diplomacy occurs at the point of a lance, in this case a sarissa. However, when I fought the Seleucids, I had remarkable success pushing through Asia Minor, and after conquering most of modern day Turkey, they came and offered a cease fire. I countered with them becoming a protectorate, and from what it seemed, they pounced on that offer.

Diplomacy can accelerate the game, and if you use it a lot, it can accelerate it a lot. And if you do it early, you can fight the inevitable battles necessary to win the game in diverse places on the map, simultaneously... and fund them simultaneously, instead of the slowly building steamroller. You can get about half your goal of Provinces with diplomacy, but at much higher initial cost than that of battle losses -- how you deal with the Empire's finances after that sets the tone for how/if you can hold on to your diplomatic gains (which can be quite tough to do).
This is true, but once you get that steamroller goin', ain't nothin' gonna stop it!
I tend to be aggressive in taking Greece and the Ionian Coast, so you can secure an abundance of wealth, then switch over to diplomacy. This is thus far the easiest method I've done. I use force for these, then use diplomacy and military might quite evenly.

So I'm presuming you've tried (?) power diplomacy, and still prefer the sword from the gitgo... :cool:
I am very honorable in this game, I have yet to break an alliance, I'm always attacked first, which is insane for them to do. I risk a significant number of troops helping them win battles, and what do I get for it? I get knived in the back, at which time I "bury the sword up to the hilt in their liars guts!".

I only draw first blood initally for the Greek Territories, Ionia, and my shortgame goals (which I generally aim for even if I am playing a long game).