Fafnir

Thank you Valens and Segestan for your informative posts ^^ I guess i can safely say that the area known as Thrace was never fully unified under its own king. Though it is expected that a strong tribe such as the Odrysai would attempt to unify the region, just a region full of strong warriors who used to live in tribal conditions could never unify longer than one generation, without outside intervention. (Macedon and later Rome) Does anyone know about the region of Illyria, Northwest of Macedon i believe? And information would be great. Tyvm, The Fafinator

I always understood Illyria and Thrace as regions where "barbarian" tribes (with some Greek influence) roamed, never being unified. Though i spoke to someone and he suggested that at one point Thrace was unified under some tribal king, though the unity didn't last. Also, another person told me that Illyria was unified at one point as well. Im just looking for information, because i dont really believe that these places were unified before Rome came in and... took charge. - The Faffy One

Bleh, that whole thing about the Spartans sickens me. >.< Different times, i suppose. And i heard somewhere else that homosexual relationships were pretty common in Rome, as long as the superior male in the relationship (someone of important status in Roman politics) was always in a dominating position. Being in the... inferior position would really destroy that politicians status.

Or... You could look at it from my point of view, in which all organized religions are evil, 'evil' meaning that organized religion tends to position people hostile to eachother. (i.e. Modern Jerusalem, Crusades) Islam is as evil to Christians as Christianity is evil to Muslims. All a matter of perspective. Islamic extremists shouldnt be what we think of when we think of Islam, but in most cases, it sadly is. Islam is a religion of peace and prosperity.

Im not Catholic, i actually despise the Catholic clergy in general, but Pope John Paul II was a man worthy of my respect. He used his "power" to attempt to make peace in the world, and he traveled alot instead of staying locked up in the See of Rome. If you see a bunch of warriors training for battle all day, and feasting all night, dont fear. You're in Valhalla, your Heaven is on the right.

Thanks for the information guys. So in your opinion, would you say the Testudo formation was more of a vice to the Roman army than a virtue?

Lmao, spartacus he was just giving information about this... topic. Its under the Roman Media section, i think its a perfect place to quote from books. You dont need to get all insecure. Good post btw, Ursus.

Im fifteen... Zeke, how many months til you turn sixteen? I just may be the youngest.

IMO, if you cant perform a simple flanking maneuver in tactical combat in RTW, you need a lil practice Scanderbeg. I can successfully do pincer movements, feigned retreats, etc through the original RTW combat system, just takes a little practicing. Feigned retreats work better on humans though, because they rush everything at you once you pull your troops back from the front. Then my cata's come out of the trees... chaotic i say.

Hehe, 78% as well... Attempting to save people when zombies are swarming them = Bad

I've heard of the Testudo formation the legionnaires performed when under arrow fire, but how effective was this formation? I assume the soldiers were very tired even before melee fighting begun if they marched in this formation. Also, according to some Han China fanboys, arrows could pierce the Roman shield at a certain distance. Wouldnt that cause the Testudo formation to lose its effectiveness? And, what if they were charged by cavalry while in this formation? Did they have spears pertruding from the formation to counter this? Or were they just hopelessly screwed if they saw a Parthian cavalry force charging their formation? Thanks in advance, Fafnir (EDIT: Btw, sorry if there's already a thread on this topic, i couldn't find one)

Greece, Asia Minor, Egypt are the places that rake in the most cash. Especially the island of Cyprus, its a major trading port. Iberia and Gaul are mostly just farming cash, not much trading there. Trading makes far more money in the long run. True though, they are easier to conquer.

LOL Longbow, you sure you didn't just make that up?

Nevertheless, RTW is one of the best games for the PC hands down, no doubt it will have its historical inaccuracies, OF COURSE YOU CREATE THE PAST, by creating your own kingdom. When i conquered all of Europe with the Pontic armies, do you think that really could have happened in the past? lol And Rome was far better than Medieval diplomatically, in Medieval all you could do was create alliances or send your princesses to get married to a foreign prince. There are FAR more choices in Rome Total War. Dont pay attention to historical inaccuracies when you're playing a game, you're playing it to have fun not chew it out for being wrong here and there. All in all: 12 out of 10.

My bad, must have been reading too fast. Though i do believe decimation to control the troops wasnt used very often... Even so, to choose 1 out of every 10 soldiers to be beaten by his friends/fellow soldiers is extremely harsh, especially assuming that the 1 person was entirely innocent.

Its quick, cheap, and an effective form of control in unruly cities. That said, i think its completely and morally wrong to kill nearly an entire people just because some of them didn't want to be conquered. Reminds me of Gladiator, where Maximus speaks to Quintus before the opening battle: Just thought id bring that up, for no reason whatsoever.

My favorite time period would have to be the early stages of Rome, even as they were still fighting for control of Italy. The Samnite Wars, etc. I just think its so cool how they overcame so many enemies, even when they weren't all that powerful.

ROFL

But Skel, using your terrain to your advantage is tactics and strategy. If all the terrain was the same, then most commanders would be identical... But if i could take terrain into account, i would choose Napoleon Bonaparte. Yes hes not Roman, but he obviously studied up on his "Arts of War" and used his terrain to his advantage in many great battles.

They're in Europe.

:sniper: [Test Results]

Although the Germanic invasions is one of the most obvious reasons why the Western Empire fell, their fall can be attributed to many more reasons then that. I believe that it was a combination of problems within and outside of the Empire that led to their ultimate demise. - The Faffy One

I will be flamed about this response later, but i have to agree with Zeke. Most religion is false, created by humans so they could attempt to understand why everything was happening around them. Really, who's going to believe a talking, burning bush? I stated earlier that im a pagan, on the poll i voted "other pagan" or whatever it was. I believe the Gods are all a part of us, they may be fabricated but they live in all of us. Fafnir, the God i am most associated with, is described as greedy. I get greedy sometimes, lol doesnt everyone? (unless you follow Stoic Philosophy, if so, then good for you!) I mean he turned himself into a dragon just so he could guard a treasure of gold. I also dont like how Christianity and similar religions turn people's instincts and values against them, turning them into 'zombies' so to speak. "Believe this because i said so..." I believe that the only reason its such a prominent religion is because their parents were Christian, etc. Dont hate me for my opinion, because thats all it truely is. Id love for someone to prove to me that there is an omnipotent being watching over all of us, it'd make things so much less complicated. -The Fafinator

If i say Han China is better, can we lock this? Please?

Londinium, because its a port town (i think...), and its the only one i know.