Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

portwineboy · 10-11-2005, 05:43 AM

I picked up the expansion to Rome TW 2 weeks ago and I've put a few hours into it. I thought I'd post a quick review.

Here's the short version.

It's really hard.

Here's the long version.

Rome TW BI picks up several hundred years past the original game. The Roman Empire has split into 2 factions, Eastern and Western. Most of the original factions are gone having changed into new variants. Barbarian civs can pick up and move their entire peoples in a horde like fashion. They get huge stacks of armies than can move accross the map like a plague of locusts. Sometimes they settle down in a city they've taken, sometimes they do an uber sack that generally ruins the city and puts ownership into a 3rd "grey" faction's hands. While in horde mode barb armies require no upkeep! When a horde settles down some of their armies change back into normal citizens and the rest require upkeep. Since you'll wind up with a pretty big army even after this happens it is difficult to pay for them because you generally only have 1 or 2 cities at this point.

I've played mostly as the Western Roman Empire so far. You start out in a seriously precarious position. Most of your cities are ready to revolt and just as you start to get that under control here comes the barbs out of the East. While the Eastern Empire is nominally your ally, they won't do anything to help and will probably sneak attack you as soon as possible. Money is a huge problem as your cities will require tons of upgrades and your armies need to grow and repair. It is proving very difficult to hold things together, much less take new territories.

Part of this is also the result of great improvements in the battle AI. No longer does the AI toss troops at you in bits and pieces with their general at the front. Now generals hang back and the barbs come at you all at once!! I've found the only way to hold a city being attacked by barbs is to give up the walls, defend the square and slaughter them in jobs lots in the narrow streets. You'll see much larger battles than the in the original because the barbs come with such huge armies.

There are tons of new units but I'm not too sure how much better/worse they are than what was included in the original.

Religion is now a bigger part of gameplay and you can have items like priests in battle that chant and give your guys morale. Although the game has improved the unit morale popover messages to give you a better sense of what they are happy/unhappy about I never saw any message saying having the priests chant made a unit feel better.

All in all I'm happy with this expansion. The game is much more challenging now that the battle AI is so much harder. I'm looking forward to investing some time with barbs so I can get a better feel for that gameplay.

One. More. Turn.
Unus. Magis. Verto.
Bar. Bar. Bar.

Coppertop · 10-11-2005, 07:29 AM

I'm eventually going to pick this up, I am sure. I played RTW quite a lot when it first came out, but stopped playing. Why, I am not sure. I think I just enjoyed the time period of MTW more. Now, if the RTW engine could be used for a medieval time period I'd be all over that. Same goes for the shogun era of Japan. But I'll likely pick this up after the price drops somewhat.

One more turn, indeed.

Lucifer · 10-16-2005, 05:52 AM

I liked RTW very much, but it was too much for my computer.Now I've gone back to MTW. I like the strategy board better, more like chess in moving my pieces around. Thinkin of getting STW back out for a bit more.

Uncle Pony · 10-16-2005, 07:47 AM

I picked up Barbarian Invasion a few days ago. So far I love it, for the most part. I cannot keep my cities from rioting. I've built everything in the construction que, put a few soldiers in there, a governor, and lowered the tax rate to the lowest setting and the damned cities still riot.

The one thing I hate about RTW and this BI version is that it takes weeks to play one game. You spend more time managing cities than building armies and conquering.

Kostya · 10-17-2005, 04:42 AM

I can only conclude that the gaming industry wants my academic career to be a horrifying failure...

The deadlines for all my work is in the weeks following the release of this, and Civilisation 4....

The only thing keeping me going is that I know I can't play computer games and be homeless at the same time...

Damnit...

10-11-2005, 05:43 AM	#1 (permalink)
portwineboy Master of No Domains Location: WEEhawken, New Joisey	Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion I picked up the expansion to Rome TW 2 weeks ago and I've put a few hours into it. I thought I'd post a quick review. Here's the short version. It's really hard. Here's the long version. Rome TW BI picks up several hundred years past the original game. The Roman Empire has split into 2 factions, Eastern and Western. Most of the original factions are gone having changed into new variants. Barbarian civs can pick up and move their entire peoples in a horde like fashion. They get huge stacks of armies than can move accross the map like a plague of locusts. Sometimes they settle down in a city they've taken, sometimes they do an uber sack that generally ruins the city and puts ownership into a 3rd "grey" faction's hands. While in horde mode barb armies require no upkeep! When a horde settles down some of their armies change back into normal citizens and the rest require upkeep. Since you'll wind up with a pretty big army even after this happens it is difficult to pay for them because you generally only have 1 or 2 cities at this point. I've played mostly as the Western Roman Empire so far. You start out in a seriously precarious position. Most of your cities are ready to revolt and just as you start to get that under control here comes the barbs out of the East. While the Eastern Empire is nominally your ally, they won't do anything to help and will probably sneak attack you as soon as possible. Money is a huge problem as your cities will require tons of upgrades and your armies need to grow and repair. It is proving very difficult to hold things together, much less take new territories. Part of this is also the result of great improvements in the battle AI. No longer does the AI toss troops at you in bits and pieces with their general at the front. Now generals hang back and the barbs come at you all at once!! I've found the only way to hold a city being attacked by barbs is to give up the walls, defend the square and slaughter them in jobs lots in the narrow streets. You'll see much larger battles than the in the original because the barbs come with such huge armies. There are tons of new units but I'm not too sure how much better/worse they are than what was included in the original. Religion is now a bigger part of gameplay and you can have items like priests in battle that chant and give your guys morale. Although the game has improved the unit morale popover messages to give you a better sense of what they are happy/unhappy about I never saw any message saying having the priests chant made a unit feel better. All in all I'm happy with this expansion. The game is much more challenging now that the battle AI is so much harder. I'm looking forward to investing some time with barbs so I can get a better feel for that gameplay. One. More. Turn. Unus. Magis. Verto. Bar. Bar. Bar. __________________ If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a veteran.

10-11-2005, 07:29 AM	#2 (permalink)
Coppertop Getting Medieval on your ass Location: 13th century Europe	I'm eventually going to pick this up, I am sure. I played RTW quite a lot when it first came out, but stopped playing. Why, I am not sure. I think I just enjoyed the time period of MTW more. Now, if the RTW engine could be used for a medieval time period I'd be all over that. Same goes for the shogun era of Japan. But I'll likely pick this up after the price drops somewhat. One more turn, indeed. Last edited by Coppertop; 10-11-2005 at 07:42 AM.. Reason: sperring

10-16-2005, 05:52 AM	#3 (permalink)
Lucifer Husband of Seamaiden Location: Nova Scotia	I liked RTW very much, but it was too much for my computer.Now I've gone back to MTW. I like the strategy board better, more like chess in moving my pieces around. Thinkin of getting STW back out for a bit more. __________________ I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls. - Job 30:29 1123, 6536, 5321

10-16-2005, 07:47 AM	#4 (permalink)
Uncle Pony Crazy	I picked up Barbarian Invasion a few days ago. So far I love it, for the most part. I cannot keep my cities from rioting. I've built everything in the construction que, put a few soldiers in there, a governor, and lowered the tax rate to the lowest setting and the damned cities still riot. The one thing I hate about RTW and this BI version is that it takes weeks to play one game. You spend more time managing cities than building armies and conquering.

10-17-2005, 04:42 AM	#5 (permalink)
Kostya Little known... Location: Brisbane, Australia	I can only conclude that the gaming industry wants my academic career to be a horrifying failure... The deadlines for all my work is in the weeks following the release of this, and Civilisation 4.... The only thing keeping me going is that I know I can't play computer games and be homeless at the same time... Damnit...