I know there’s been plenty of Rome strategies presented already but I’ve found most of them are very brief and don’t really apply to BNW.
So here is a specific strategy I’d like people to review and try out. It’s quite fun as you will soon see.
Strategy Essentials
1) Start conditions should include ‘Raging Barbs’
2) Start area must have at least 6 iron (it's worth restarting if this is not the case - this strategy requires early Iron)
3) Beeline Ironworking except for luxury techs and Pottery
4) Build Statue of Zeus
5) Unlock Warrior Code and Discipline
6) Build Heroic Epic & then start on Legions & Ballistas for conquest
Strategy Outline
The first policy to pick is the Honor opener so as to provide bonuses against barbarians and additional culture.
The next social policies will be to unlock the left hand side of the Liberty tree. Once the left hand side is completed, the following 2 policies should be put into unlocking Warrior Code & then Discipline.
Now it is obvious that it is too much to expect the capital Rome to be able to build the Statue of Zeus, Heroic Epic, settlers, workers, infrastructure, caravans as well as an army so we need to designate some tasks out. To maximise the benefit of the Roman UA we don’t want our capital to miss out on any buildings.
The Capital should focus on 2 scouts, granary/shrine/worker, 1 or 2 early units to barb hunt, and the Statue of Zeus. If the city is on a coastal spot it is worth considering the Colossus. The gold from this Wonder is enough to fund an early army and the free caravan can be used to grow the second city.
The second city which will be built with the free settler will focus entirely on building the Roman army. This city requires decent productivity and access to iron. This is important as Warrior Code and the Forge will provide a +30% bonus to building Legions.
If it is possible a coastal site will allow for sea trade routes which will grow this city faster.
Rome needs to have a caravan built and supplying food to this new city as SOON as it is built. This new city must grow as fast as possible and should quickly get essential infrastructure in e.g. Granary, Watermill. Then it must build a barracks and the Heroic Epic.
Once the Heroic Epic is in this city will start producing Legions. Build as many Legions as you can and then switch to Ballista’s
Once you have about 3 legions move them towards a neighbour and declare war. Fight on the edge of their borders to use up their army while you wait for more units to arrive. You can build forts on the edge of their terrain and let them attack you first. Legions should always fight in line to maximise the Discipline bonus and flanking effects. Once you get the Great General and have about 5 legions and are comfortable that you have dealt with your opponents armies you can consider attacking a city directly. Your Legions should have a strength of around 26 against units (before promotions) and 29 against cities (with Statue of Zeus). So base strength of 17 (+15% Heroic Epic, +15% Warrior Code General, +15% Discipline, +10% flanking bonus) should makes your Legions about as powerful as Musketeers and this is before promotion bonuses!
It’s funny to watch composite bowmen do single digit damage against your Legions and see even a Legion at 50% health kill a comp bowmen in 1 move and suffer only single digit damage!
Don’t waste too much time on Legions building Roads, their primary job is to conquer and you only have a limited window to do this in. If you must build roads make sure the payoff is worth it, i.e. you can move ballista’s into position faster through rough terrain…. Otherwise it’s better to use captured workers for this. I would also prefer to use Legion promotions towards getting the March promotion but others might prefer Cover.
Back to the Capital & Empire. Now that the capital has most early structures built you should prioritize the National College, Writers Guilds etc. Buy a Library in your second city as that city must continue to focus entirely on producing the army. At this point you should be able to roll over any resistance you encounter so you can decide to settle new cities or puppet captured ones. For social policies at this point you can finish the Liberty tree and then decide to invest more points in the Honour tree if you desire.
I would not prioritize religion as it can be a drain on resources but if you can get one Guruship & a gold Founder belief can be very helpful. For technology Metal Casting is important if you have Guruship so your Workshop specialists produce 4 hammers. The Forge is also an essential piece of infrastructure and the city with the Heroic Epic should have one purchased with gold ASAP. After this you should beeline Education to get universities.
Continue conquering as long as you can or until you decide you want to go for a different victory strategy. Build as many ballista’s as you can before you get Trebuchets. Remember that Ballista’s are a lot cheaper to build then Trebuchets and once you are able to build Ballista’s every 3 turns it doesn’t matter too much if they are a bit obsolete because you can still overwhelm with numbers and Legions will still be able to hold their own against Renaissance era Musketmen.
So what do people think? What difficulty level would this strategy be successful up to?
So here is a specific strategy I’d like people to review and try out. It’s quite fun as you will soon see.
Strategy Essentials
1) Start conditions should include ‘Raging Barbs’
2) Start area must have at least 6 iron (it's worth restarting if this is not the case - this strategy requires early Iron)
3) Beeline Ironworking except for luxury techs and Pottery
4) Build Statue of Zeus
5) Unlock Warrior Code and Discipline
6) Build Heroic Epic & then start on Legions & Ballistas for conquest
Strategy Outline
The first policy to pick is the Honor opener so as to provide bonuses against barbarians and additional culture.
The next social policies will be to unlock the left hand side of the Liberty tree. Once the left hand side is completed, the following 2 policies should be put into unlocking Warrior Code & then Discipline.
Now it is obvious that it is too much to expect the capital Rome to be able to build the Statue of Zeus, Heroic Epic, settlers, workers, infrastructure, caravans as well as an army so we need to designate some tasks out. To maximise the benefit of the Roman UA we don’t want our capital to miss out on any buildings.
The Capital should focus on 2 scouts, granary/shrine/worker, 1 or 2 early units to barb hunt, and the Statue of Zeus. If the city is on a coastal spot it is worth considering the Colossus. The gold from this Wonder is enough to fund an early army and the free caravan can be used to grow the second city.
The second city which will be built with the free settler will focus entirely on building the Roman army. This city requires decent productivity and access to iron. This is important as Warrior Code and the Forge will provide a +30% bonus to building Legions.
If it is possible a coastal site will allow for sea trade routes which will grow this city faster.
Rome needs to have a caravan built and supplying food to this new city as SOON as it is built. This new city must grow as fast as possible and should quickly get essential infrastructure in e.g. Granary, Watermill. Then it must build a barracks and the Heroic Epic.
Once the Heroic Epic is in this city will start producing Legions. Build as many Legions as you can and then switch to Ballista’s
Once you have about 3 legions move them towards a neighbour and declare war. Fight on the edge of their borders to use up their army while you wait for more units to arrive. You can build forts on the edge of their terrain and let them attack you first. Legions should always fight in line to maximise the Discipline bonus and flanking effects. Once you get the Great General and have about 5 legions and are comfortable that you have dealt with your opponents armies you can consider attacking a city directly. Your Legions should have a strength of around 26 against units (before promotions) and 29 against cities (with Statue of Zeus). So base strength of 17 (+15% Heroic Epic, +15% Warrior Code General, +15% Discipline, +10% flanking bonus) should makes your Legions about as powerful as Musketeers and this is before promotion bonuses!
It’s funny to watch composite bowmen do single digit damage against your Legions and see even a Legion at 50% health kill a comp bowmen in 1 move and suffer only single digit damage!
Don’t waste too much time on Legions building Roads, their primary job is to conquer and you only have a limited window to do this in. If you must build roads make sure the payoff is worth it, i.e. you can move ballista’s into position faster through rough terrain…. Otherwise it’s better to use captured workers for this. I would also prefer to use Legion promotions towards getting the March promotion but others might prefer Cover.
Back to the Capital & Empire. Now that the capital has most early structures built you should prioritize the National College, Writers Guilds etc. Buy a Library in your second city as that city must continue to focus entirely on producing the army. At this point you should be able to roll over any resistance you encounter so you can decide to settle new cities or puppet captured ones. For social policies at this point you can finish the Liberty tree and then decide to invest more points in the Honour tree if you desire.
I would not prioritize religion as it can be a drain on resources but if you can get one Guruship & a gold Founder belief can be very helpful. For technology Metal Casting is important if you have Guruship so your Workshop specialists produce 4 hammers. The Forge is also an essential piece of infrastructure and the city with the Heroic Epic should have one purchased with gold ASAP. After this you should beeline Education to get universities.
Continue conquering as long as you can or until you decide you want to go for a different victory strategy. Build as many ballista’s as you can before you get Trebuchets. Remember that Ballista’s are a lot cheaper to build then Trebuchets and once you are able to build Ballista’s every 3 turns it doesn’t matter too much if they are a bit obsolete because you can still overwhelm with numbers and Legions will still be able to hold their own against Renaissance era Musketmen.
So what do people think? What difficulty level would this strategy be successful up to?
