SPQR guide : How to survive the first fifteen turns.

[czePowerslave]

Well the testudo would be very much ineffective then, if it were arrows

[cnaeus]

if you're in testudo you will suffer some casualties but not as much as in loose formation!!!!!!!

cnaeus,

[czePowerslave]

if you're in testudo you will suffer some casualties but not as much as in loose formation!!!!!!!

cnaeus,

Guess again, there is a need to test this exactly

[Ejergard]

Testudo will suffer more from missile fire as wel i believe, Lt changed it i think. Shield wall is excelent against barbarian infanterie you should use it against them and try to take out there archers with your cav asap.

if you're in testudo you will suffer some casualties but not as much as in loose formation!!!!!!!

cnaeus,

Interesting... So interesting that I did a little testing. A series of 9 tests to be exact. The tests took place on the grassy flatlands map, where there is no elevation differences. The 1xRoman cohort met head on with a missile unit, where I let the missile unit empty all ammo on the cohort to see the casualties.

Republican Cohort in testudo formation vs 2x Carthaginian Archers: 115 of 164 left standing.
Republican Cohort in normal formation vs 2x Carthaginian Archers: 0 of 164 left standing.
Republican Cohort in shieldwall formation vs 2x Carthaginian Archers: 1 out of 164 standing. (Not routed, archers out of ammo)

Republican Cohort in testudo formation vs 1x Carthaginian Archer: 152 of 164 left standing.
Republican Cohort in normal formation vs 1x Carthaginian Archer: 1 out of 164 left standing. (No rout, archers out of ammo)
Republican Cohort in shieldwall formation vs 1x Carthaginian Archer: 0 out of 164 left standing.

Republican Cohort in testudo formation vs 1x Carthaginian Skirmisher: 111 of 164 left standing.
Republican Cohort in normal formation vs 1x Carthaginian Skirmisher: 9 out of 164 left standing. (Unit routed and enemy stopped firing)
Republican Cohort in shieldwall formation vs 1x Carthaginian Skirmisher: 16 out of 164 left standing. (Unit routed and enemy stopped firing)

I guess some more testing can be done between shieldwall and normal formation, but these tests clearly proves that testudo is far superior to protect your precious legionnaires from missile fire, be it arrows or javelins!

[hiho TW]

some people must be so at this game if they cant survive the first 15 turns...

[Raglan]

hmm, interesting what would be usefull is how long it took for the results to be achieved ie, shieldwall and normal seem to give simular results but did it occur quicker agaist shieldwall, - if not this makes shieldwall more usefull as one of its disadvantages is specified as being weaker agaist missiles

[Hesus de bodemloze]

Well using shieldwall will always give you more victims becous thy stand to close to each other.

[czePowerslave]

Testudo is awesome against missile fire yes, but suffers greatly against cavalry, artillery and infantry charges

[Hesus de bodemloze]

That is why you need to act quickly to undo the testudo when you get charged by infanterie or cav. We are wandering of topic, this guide is to survive the first FIFTEEN turn so there won' t be any testudo movements becous of the pre marius units.

[z32236]

I just pass the first 5 turns in SPQR7.0 with M/M difficulty.
I beat Cathage's 2 troops with 50% lost of my own legions.
I use Vibus's legion beat the Gauls and got one Gaul city in my north boundary.
It looks that the money is not a problem anymore in SPQR as I already have 10000 dinar in 5 turns.
I find that the Gauls is nothing and I think I can use town watchers as the first line to fight with Gauls.

[czePowerslave]

I just pass the first 5 turns in SPQR7.0 with M/M difficulty.
I beat Cathage's 2 troops with 50% lost of my own legions.
I use Vibus's legion beat the Gauls and got one Gaul city in my north boundary.
It looks that the money is not a problem anymore in SPQR as I already have 10000 dinar in 5 turns.
I find that the Gauls is nothing and I think I can use town watchers as the first line to fight with Gauls.

10 thousand. That is no money. And fighting Gauls. You will see. I am about 120 turns into the game, and I have 126 recorded battles with gauls

[Raglan]

well your obviously doing better than me cause im struggling to make 5000 each turn - mind you i have only just recaptured italy(genoa and south of the po + messalia in sicily) so not had a chance to build my economy much yet and i'm supporting 7 legions

[Hesus de bodemloze]

You should build up your economie afther taking Sicilia before invading other lands, becous you need to support more legions then 7.

[Raglan]

other than mines anything that you would recomend (i'm reluctant to build farms cause i dont like to large a pop growth)

[czePowerslave]

other than mines anything that you would recomend (i'm reluctant to build farms cause i dont like to large a pop growth)

When you will start fighting on larger scale, you will need all the people you can get

[Hesus de bodemloze]

Ports, traders, forums, ...

[Raglan]

so same as vanilla then really?

[Hesus de bodemloze]

Sort of. Also roads bring in extra money and law to your cities.

[z32236]

I find it's 0 turn building armies. Is it reality?
I will try to invest more money in the city, as now I only have 3 half legions.
How to mark the legions with number? I can only see the SPQR in the legion flag, but no legion number.
Why there are legion number on each city?

[czePowerslave]

I find it's 0 turn building armies. Is it reality?
I will try to invest more money in the city, as now I only have 3 half legions.
How to mark the legions with number? I can only see the SPQR in the legion flag, but no legion number.
Why there are legion number on each city?

0 turn recruitment reflects the ability to train multiple units at time. IE you dont need in reality to train single cohort for half a year, then another one. This way to train entire legion it would take 20 game turns. This represents as you can train like 8 cohorts at the same time.

Indeed invest into your cities. Against Gauls you need about 4 legions, and more for conquer.
Legions with numbers come when you get Marius reforms. And they are expensive