Rome II

[mikeck]

iPhone+fat fingers+2 screaming kids =poor editing

[Gusington]

I empathize. Just squeezed in a 45 minute session and my economy is clicking now. I need to decide where to point my armies next though...Greece, Germany, Gaul or re-try colonizing Corsica and Sardinia...which would mean going to war with a newly imperial Athens.

[LongBlade]

I'm not sure how helpful this may be, but I've created a brief summary of my Rome II experiences to date and placed them in an article I call a "strat chat."

LMK what you guys think.  http://grogheads.com/?p=2618

[Nefaro]

I have to admit...I consistently get ASS KICKED. In naval battles. Big even close. If I use assault biremes, I get chewed up with javelins. If I switch to javelins, my ships get rammed by big assault ships. I thing the AI is really good at naval battles

I still have some issues with getting my ships to Board instead of Ram.  The button and cursor icon seem to be working properly now, unlike the release version, but I'm still seeing some of my ships just sit there and do nothing after giving them a Board order.  I even had one recently row backwards quite a ways and had to stop it myself.   ???

I'm pretty sure the naval battles still aren't finished.  I generally just auto-resolve them because the order system and ship AI is still wonky.

[W8taminute]

Brilliant article LB.  I really look forward to hearing more.  You seem to have a decent handle on the game and I particularly liked the 'Destroy to Create' section. 

[mikeck]

I have to admit...I consistently get ASS KICKED. In naval battles. Big even close. If I use assault biremes, I get chewed up with javelins. If I switch to javelins, my ships get rammed by big assault ships. I thing the AI is really good at naval battles

I still have some issues with getting my ships to Board instead of Ram.  The button and cursor icon seem to be working properly now, unlike the release version, but I'm still seeing some of my ships just sit there and do nothing after giving them a Board order.  I even had one recently row backwards quite a ways and had to stop it myself.   ???

I'm pretty sure the naval battles still aren't finished.  I generally just auto-resolve them because the order system and ship AI is still wonky.

Mine seems to work ok. My last battle though, as I peppered the enemy ships with javelins, they rammed me full speed and sunk most of my ships. I have big had as much luck ramming theirs and once I begin boarding, my guys get killed by tons of enemy javelins

[bayonetbrant]

just nuke 'me from orbit

[LongBlade]

Brilliant article LB.  I really look forward to hearing more.  You seem to have a decent handle on the game and I particularly liked the 'Destroy to Create' section.

Glad you found it helpful.

Destroying buildings was something that I hadn't though of for many, many turns. Somewhere along the way I realized that some of those industries were dragging down my public order and if I ever wanted to hold those areas without an occupation, I needed to get rid of stuff that was holding me back. From there it got quite easy to identify when and where I needed to do a home makeover.

In areas that have 100 public order and +20 bonus to order - then I take down a temple and put in whatever I think I can use. There's a balance to it, but so long as I keep order up and food available, the rest of the game is fairly simple.

[Nefaro]

LOL!

You guys never trashed the buildings that gave negative Public Order, after capping new cities??  No wonder you were having problems! 

I also usually clear the barracks out. 

Just be sure that you don't clear a space out and then leave it sitting open.  You'll eventually get a random 'Slums' event and you'll have to spend money tearing them down to be able to build something.  Same goes for when your population grows and you can unlock another space.. don't do it until you can afford to start building something there that same turn. 

My first favorite go-to building in regular regions is usually the Temple, and then quickly upgrading it to the one that provides the most Public Order for that faction (usually +4 PO for the first upgrade and +8 for the second).  When the capital of the province gets a little space, I also drop an Market/Inn thing (the yellow one) and upgrade it quickly because some of those provide extra PO too, along with more income.  If I keep an army and Ambassador (or whatever the specialist character is called) there for a few turns, I generally don't even have to turn off that province's taxes.  The Ambassador will help convert culture at a faster pace, and that's usually what provides the most PO penalty after the initial few turns of capture penalty wears off. 

[W8taminute]

When you think about it destroying buildings in newly conquered provinces that don't contribute to order and happiness is realistic.  Realistic in the sense that the occupying power must take care of the populations chief concerns for creature comfort under their new master.  Later when the province is stable it will become possible to invest in some sort of industry, military or economic. 

That's why I was intrigued by that part of the Strategy Discussion on the front page.  I gotta get this game and that article pushed me one step towards the 'I can't wait for a sale get it now' phase of my purchasing decision.   ;D

[LongBlade]

LOL!

You guys never trashed the buildings that gave negative Public Order, after capping new cities??  No wonder you were having problems! 

Can't say I had too many problems, but expansion went faster when I started tearing down blacksmiths.

Just be sure that you don't clear a space out and then leave it sitting open.  You'll eventually get a random 'Slums' event and you'll have to spend money tearing them down to be able to build something.  Same goes for when your population grows and you can unlock another space.. don't do it until you can afford to start building something there that same turn. 

Interesting note on the slums. I've not seen that.

[Gusington]

Weird I have gotten slums with some regularity. Now that I have a handle on how these things work that should happen less.

[Boggit]

I'm not sure how helpful this may be, but I've created a brief summary of my Rome II experiences to date and placed them in an article I call a "strat chat."

LMK what you guys think.  http://grogheads.com/?p=2618

I thought it pretty good. I was playing some R2 earlier this evening, and found the chat relevant.

[MengJiao]

I have to admit...I consistently get ASS KICKED. In naval battles. Big even close. If I use assault biremes, I get chewed up with javelins. If I switch to javelins, my ships get rammed by big assault ships. I thing the AI is really good at naval battles

I still have some issues with getting my ships to Board instead of Ram.  The button and cursor icon seem to be working properly now, unlike the release version, but I'm still seeing some of my ships just sit there and do nothing after giving them a Board order.  I even had one recently row backwards quite a ways and had to stop it myself.   ???

I'm pretty sure the naval battles still aren't finished.  I generally just auto-resolve them because the order system and ship AI is still wonky.

  I think they work okay.  If you give a ship a ram target and put on ramming speed, they will do some spectacular ramming.

[Nefaro]

I have to admit...I consistently get ASS KICKED. In naval battles. Big even close. If I use assault biremes, I get chewed up with javelins. If I switch to javelins, my ships get rammed by big assault ships. I thing the AI is really good at naval battles

I still have some issues with getting my ships to Board instead of Ram.  The button and cursor icon seem to be working properly now, unlike the release version, but I'm still seeing some of my ships just sit there and do nothing after giving them a Board order.  I even had one recently row backwards quite a ways and had to stop it myself.   ???

I'm pretty sure the naval battles still aren't finished.  I generally just auto-resolve them because the order system and ship AI is still wonky.

  I think they work okay.  If you give a ship a ram target and put on ramming speed, they will do some spectacular ramming.

The ramming works fine. 

It's when you switch them over to Boarding and try to use that order after a ram.  It only seems to work if my ship is contacting the other one nose-to-nose.  If I just rammed one in the side, and give a Board order, it'll just sit there.   Sometimes it'll reverse backwards until I stop it. 

I don't think the tactical AI can execute the Board order very well.