ALEA JACTA EST

[Nefaro]

Why do you need to print the manual?  If you've ever played an Ageod game you know most of it already, and can jump to the rest.

It actually has a few differences in the details.

For instance you don't get VP every turn in a city you control, which has less than 51% loyalty to you,  unless you leave a regular unit (not a garrison) there at the end of every turn.

The supply system is a notable change since there's no supply "push" through cities and supply depots in AJE.  So what you can carry is basically what you have and the regions produce varying amounts each turn - none of which can be stocked for later use.  So supply can be more difficult when it comes to big armies compared to previous games.

I've noticed these differences by reading part of the manual thus far.  There's probably some other subtle changes I've not read yet, too.  It's not essential, though, especially since the betas are taking the time to explain such things on the AGEOD forums.

[Kushan]

I don't normally have manuals printed anymore. As much as I like a physical copy, putting the PDF on my iPad is more convenient and cheaper in the long run. Having it on the iPad also lets me read manuals when I'm on lunch at work without having to carry something else with me.

I've tried the Marius vs. Sulla scenario 3 times now as Sulla. I end up losing all of Italy and then can't recruit more legions. Not sure if I need to just march Sula back to Rome instead of retaking Macedonia and Greece. I started a Caesar vs Pompey campaign this afternoon, playing as Caesar. I've taken all of Italy, not hard since Italy is defenseless at the start, and Sicily. Just beginning to advance into Spain and Greece. I didn't concentrate my forces like in the scenario description but sent most of my starting forces to Spain, and recruited new legions for the Greek theater.

Really enjoying the game so far, despite my failures as Sulla. What I'm not liking is that fact that enemy forces seem to just appear in my rear areas. As I advance into Spain, Pompeian forces keep just appearing outside of Massalia in Southern France and I have to send a force to take it back. I'm not sure if they are being dropped off by ship or what, there seems to be a constant FOW over sea zones unless you have units in it.

Just bought...downloading now.  Yeah, like I really needed yet another computer game.

I only bought it because I wanted to play Oblivion, but it asked me for the disk and I'm too lazy to paw through my stack of 200 CDs to find it.  Give me digital, or give me death I say!

You can get Oblivion on Steam for $20.

[Grim.Reaper]

Note to self: Just because barbarians aren't included in a scenario description, that doesn't mean you can leave Brittania undefended.  Dumbasstus.

I remember him, but his full Roman name was Gaius Stupidus Asinus.

Still need to load this puppy up. Anyone take this to Kinkos to print out? I was wondering how much is cost.

I tried to have my local staples print it out but they wouldn't do it because of the copyright on it.  First time I have ever run into that situation with a manual.

[Huw the Poo]

I tried to have my local staples print it out but they wouldn't do it because of the copyright on it.  First time I have ever run into that situation with a manual.

Surely if you explain to the developer or publisher, they'll email you an approval?

[Grim.Reaper]

I tried to have my local staples print it out but they wouldn't do it because of the copyright on it.  First time I have ever run into that situation with a manual.

Surely if you explain to the developer or publisher, they'll email you an approval?

Not sure if that would work or not...just surprised me since I have printed many other manuals before without issue.  Either way, not a big issue, I'll read onlone:)

[besilarius]

Blame Michael Eisner of Disney for the MIckey Mouse rules regarding Copyright.

[undercovergeek]

so hows the gameplay? immerssion? ai? strategy?

or is everyone just...............

photocopying the manual?

[Keunert]

it's the manual that is most appealing. turn times are short and the pages are quite colourfull.

[MarkShot]

Got it this morning!  I got to squeeze in one more extra day with my PC so that I can get it loaded.

Has anyone been checking out Charles's series on Youtube?  They are quite good.

[Bison]

Yes they are very good videos.  Something that Ageod games have needed for a long time to help make them more approachable.

[Ubercat]

There's a rather good and extensive Let's Play series on Youtube for AACW. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V33eKwj1F18&feature=relmfu There are more than 30 videos in all and the author demonstrates his attempt at an unorthodox strategy as the Union. The results are mixed, though mostly positive. I've watched most of them but haven't finished the series, yet.

[Tuna]

There's a rather good and extensive Let's Play series on Youtube for AACW. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V33eKwj1F18&feature=relmfu There are more than 30 videos in all and the author demonstrates his attempt at an unorthodox strategy as the Union. The results are mixed, though mostly positive. I've watched most of them but haven't finished the series, yet.

I like that guy's video's better ^^^^.. I didn't make it through the first one for Alea Jacta EST series.. maybe I'll give it another try once i pick up the game. One thing, does the guy really have to have a video of himself in the video? I want to know what I'm missing in the lower right hand corner!!!  :o..

Again, I really enjoyed Zerotasker's ACW series.. it's long, but I learned a few things here an there, and he was the first to admit that he is not an 'expert' on the game. But it's aproachable, his narration is very good, not hard to understand like some Let's Play's i've found.

[MarkShot]

Snivel ... snivel ...

I had to archive my copy and code.  I've spent the last two days getting a few desktops/network migrated to a single old laptop and iPad2.

Too bad I did want to spend an hour or two with the game.  Well, it will have to wait until 2013.

[Kushan]

so hows the gameplay? immerssion? ai? strategy?

or is everyone just...............

photocopying the manual?

I finished my campaign as Caesar last night. The AI isn't bad IMO but it could be better. It made a couple of good moves, like invading Italy when I left it undefended and doing naval landings behind my lines. But in the end, I brought Caesar back to Italy from Greece, and I learned to keep small forces to knock out its raiding forces. It never seemed to mount a real significant attack or defense. It didn't do any major counter attacks where it tried to take on my main armies. Most of its armies consisted of 2-3 legions and occasionally support troops. When it did have a decent stack it seemed to split it forces into smaller armies. I had two main forces in the east and west (consisting of 4-6 legions and some auxilla), supported by 1-2 smaller armies of 2 legions and some cavalry each. From that particular scenario I get the feeling like I out produced the AI, and simply had a stack of doom. Maybe that particular scenario is balanced so that Caesar has the "easier" win and Pompey has things bit harder.

In my Sulla vs Marius campaigns (playing as Sulla), I feel the AI did better. The Marius AI systematically took control of my Italian cities. The AI also kept the pressure on me in Greece by sending Pontus forces via Byzantium. The Pontus forces were pretty good size stacks, so I unless I wanted to lose all of Greece, I couldn't just send Sulla back to Italy to deal with the Marius forces. I'm going to try that the next time I play the scenario to see if it works out differently.

As I said, I'm not sure if the scenarios have a favorite to win, and are designed around giving the underdog a greater challenge. That may be why Caesar felt like a cake walk, and Sulla felt a little more difficult. Both of my games were played with default difficulty settings, which I think are one step below what the developers recommend, Attrition/supply was also set to default settings.

Either way, I'm enjoying the game. Looking forward to having to having Early/late Roman republic scenarios next year.

[Nefaro]

I believe some of the testers mentioned that the available supplies in the system need to be further reduced so that those big Doomstacks melt away much faster when in the same spot.

I've had at least one situation where my 4+ legion army has had some brief supply problems but not enough to actually start taking noticeable losses.  Obviously the AI is overly cautious about the supply situation and it's not quite that bad in reality.  Fixy fixy!

I'm not sure how constrained it should be for this period, myself.  Just how many men/legions in a single army could be expected to live off the land while on the march in the Roman period without losing many of their numbers to malnutrition, disease, deseration, etc?  Kushan's 6 legions sounds too big, to me.  I'm not even sure if my 4+ one would be tenable in quite a few locales and that one was marching through modern day Switzerland.