Rome Total War Carthage
Welcome to!A subreddit for all of those who love the Total War series. I've been trying to get a Carthage game off the groud but I have been met with frustrating failiure every single time.It seems like everyone and their mothers are hell bent on being at war with me. The Celticii usually declare war on turn 2 and so do Syracuse and Rome.Shortly after I also find myself defending against the north african tribes and the greek states.I end up being crushed as my 2/3 armies can't grow much due to lack of funds.What are your tips for playing Carthage? How do you survive the onslaught?. Yeah, Carthage is my faction of choice and I have the same problem.
Carthage is an expansionist trading state with a small indigenous population. As such, the bulk of its armies consist of mercenary units. The core of its land forces, however, are elite Carthaginian citizens known as the Sacred Band and mighty war elephants from the forests of North Africa.
In my current single player game I immediately made a peace and non-aggression pact with the Iberian faction that Carthage is defaultly at war with (You might have to bring a big army to their doorstep before they accept peace). Take out Syracuse as quickly into the game as possible, because you are their only natural enemy.
- Yeah, Carthage is my faction of choice and I have the same problem. In my current single player game I immediately made a peace and non-aggression pact with the Iberian faction that Carthage is defaultly at war with (You might have to bring a big army to their doorstep before they accept peace).
- Rome Total War. Playing as CARTHAGE on Very Hard Difficulty. Goal: Meet long campaign victory conditions in a timely manner. BTW April fools. Let's see how many of you read the description.
Every turn you don't attack, their army grows and they will eventually declare war on you and make the battle for Sicily very painful for you. While you have one army doing that, prepare another army to help Nova Carthago. The Numidian tribes always target Nova Carthago first and your ally will be crushed if you do not aid them. The Numidian tribes tend to field massive armies right away, which is very annoying. However, their units are very weak in combat and most of them have no armor. Their cities don't have walls either. From my experience, Rome has had too many enemies to be able to focus on attacking me, even after they declare war.
I think the best strategy is to divide the map into 4 areas. The Central front, the Nova Carthage front, the Libya front and the Spanish front. Concentrate on winning them in that order.The central front has Rome and Syracuse as your enemies.
Rome Total War Carthage Campaign
Both will attack you in the first 20 turns (at most). Raise a decent army ASAP (Libyan infantry are a must) and take out Syracuse.
Then attack Rome in Magna Graecia right away. Hopefully the Etruscans are still around and Rome will be caught fighting a two front war. Meanwhile, put a quarter to half stack inside Nova Carthago purely for defence. Ideally though you want to make peace with the Turdetani on turn 1.
While you're pillaging Southern Italy raise an army (half stack to full stack) to help Nova Carthago take out the Gaetuli. Let Libya fight the Garamantians while you do that.This way you distract Rome and get them into a tough war with you and the Etruscans while providing your client states with the help they need to win. The main thing to do is to avoid defeat once you're on Roman soil. Raid, ambush etc if you can't take Rome. While that army is on their soil they won't invade you. Try as hard as you can with any spare cash to get relations above 5 with the Iberian and Numidian/Desert tribes.
Rome Total War Carthage Best Temple
Normally factions won't go to war with you unless they have negative standing with you. Trading or signing a treaty with another, not as hostile Iberian tribe will increase your relations with other Iberian tribes.
Use this to your advantage to increase your standing with a few tribes in one stroke.As for Rome and Syracuse, they hold the key to Magna Grecia, so you'll be warring with them at some point no matter what. As long as you get Carthaginian Hoplites or better for infantry, and 3+ cavalry (not including general, which I would prefer to make an Elephant bodyguard but that's just me) you should be fine in any field battle.Siege battles you'll take more casualties with, as you shouldn't commit your cavalry to any serious fighting besides maybe helping a last push to break their morale.I tend to deal with Syracuse first, then Garamantia, and then the Numidian/Guetulian factions after that. I want a stable base from which to incorporate Libya/Nova Carthago. Iberia can be conquered if need be later.
The immediate threats to Carthage are those closest to Carthage itself.My standard 20 unit army goes as follows: 1 elephant general, 4 cavalry (two heavy, two light/medium if I can), and then a mix of at least 4 Carthaginian Hoplites and then the rest Libyan Infantry. I'll make Carthaginian Hoplite only infantry armies if I can't quite pay the extra 30 some talents per unit per turn in upkeep. This type of army has served me well in most cases, though if I'm facing the Numidians/Desert factions, I will take an extra two cavalry units to help counter their more skirmishing based armies. I came here to have a rant about Carthage. Is it just me, or is their unit roster incredibly lack luster? Even Sacred Band infantry - I acquired them recently, and in a battle they went toe to toe with 'Desert Spearmen'- and lost.
Unless I outnumber the enemy 2-1, every battle ends up with such high casualties whoever my enemy is has plenty of time to rebuild and attack.Hell, the regular infantry (Libyan Infantry, Hoplites) are simply atrocious. One on one they get beaten by damn militia. And I am sick to death of 'Heavy Carthaginian Cavalry' charging into the flank of skirmishers only to be bogged down in combat as the skirmishers fight to the last man, taking 1:1 casualties.Edit: Oh, I mean hey, I guess it's fair that my units rout at 60% casualties, even with my general alive, but every single enemy unit on the field fights to the last man.Anyway OP, my problem is similar to yours. It's not cash flow though, it's just the fact that all of my troops suck.