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In Progress Hannibal: Rome and Carthage in the Second Punic War

Malakal

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Time to explain how sieges work I think.
 

DakaSha

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Time to explain how sieges work I think.


Alright (if I make any mistakes my bad, again I'm new),

Minor cities can hold out 2 years,
Major cities 3 years,
Capitals 5 years,

At which point they just surrender and you gain them, however:
Major and Minor cities lose 2 units each succeeding turn they are besieged. Capital cities lose 1 unit each turn for 2 years, then 2 every year after. So Minor cities surrender after 1 year if they only contain the two possible militia units for instance.

The besiegers also gain an attack bonus for softening up the city during a siege. If you storm the city after

1 year for minors,
2 years for majors,
3 years for Capitals

Your attackers get a bonus.

Those besieged can opt to sally out (and the AI will if it sees no hope of relief) and try to push back the attackers. If a city is relived then both those relieving the city, and the garrison take part in the battle.

Units in a port town may flee the siege if they meet all other naval trans requirements (As livius demonstrated last turn).

edit: Mountain pass cities can not be besieged from their 'strong side' (So Placentia for instance can only be besieged if you are coming from the south)
 

Erebus

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Looks like it's not the Scipio who got elected consul (historically, he would have been much too young for that at the time), it's his father.

Upgrading defenses in Africa sounds good. We need to have enough of a navy to be able to bring reinforcements to Spain or Italy without taking huge risks.
 

DakaSha

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Upgrading defenses in Africa sounds good. We need to have enough of a navy to be able to bring reinforcements to Spain or Italy without taking huge risks.

As much as I hate to agree, I think I agree. If we can get the senate to agree on this, we stand a chance of getting more naval units which I think are the most important thing we could possibly get now. I looked at the options and the senates approval of Hannibal is 'Modest' which i believe is a step up from 'fair' (It should be seeing as we have been winning all of our battles), and the chance that the Senate listens to us for that specific option is 'Fairly strong'. The chance they listen to 'Reinforce Spain' is only 'fair'

So that is another reason to recommend it, before they do something retarded
 

oscar

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Yup African defences. We need to establish naval parity so we're not entirely at the mercy of the Roman fleet the entire game.
 

DakaSha

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Logging in and will begin planning phase. :salute: We will try to get the senate to get us the funds to raise more navies, but will also listen to Biggus Dickus' advice on trying to kill more Romans before they steal our grapes overwhelm us.

Also, it occurred to me yesterday that we definitely changed history in some way.. Hannibal's elephants died in Gaul and he never got them into Italy :smug:

That was pretty much the only thing most laypeople faggots with no education (including me before starting this LP) knew him for
 

DakaSha

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Turn 3 – 216 BC – Planning 1

The generals of Carthage had agreed to invest in a larger navy to hold off the fuckhead Romans in the water. They send their recommendation and eagerly await the decision of the senate..



‘Woot!’ the generals exclaim. Not only did they actually follow the recommendation, but we got the funds to raise a whopping 3 units in Carthage.

Here is our current force pool



‘Woot’ again the generals hooted. We have the resources to recruit 3 (out of four) squadrons. This should be a great boon to our cause. As Africa has been secured, they give the order, and three squadrons magically appear before their perfumed feet.

In other news



Africa is back in our hands.

After last year’s setbacks, this all comes as great news and the Generals have much drink and much sex for no real reason other than it being acceptable now.

Situation in early 216 BC



Roman Elections



Options





Although the senate has done the right thing, it remains to be seen whether or not this is truly a blessing or just a cruel trick by the gods. ..
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well we got our ships. It just remains to be seen whether or not we actually manage a breakthrough with them. It’s 6 to 4 in our favor but naval battles are decided purely by dice. Lets pray.
 

Erebus

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I think Hannibal only got to use his elephants during his first few battles on italian soil. Most of them had died during the crossing of the Alps and the others didn't survive long. Not sure if Carthaginian forces in Spain had some.

EDIT : Missed the update. Two questions : if we attack Fabius and he uses his special ability to avoid combat, where will his army find itself ? And how does naval combat work ?
 

DakaSha

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EDIT : Missed the update. Two questions : if we attack Fabius and he uses his special ability to avoid combat, where will his army find itself ? And how does naval combat work ?

Fabius no longer commands that army ;)
It's Marcellus now, see here


The generals are elected officials, Fabius wasn't reelected this year. Marcellus took his place. This makes up a large part of how you plan your moves. (Strong general one turn? Maybe wait and see if he is removed from his position next year)

But to answer your question: I think Fabius is just able to retreat before turn 2 in combat, not completely avoid combat. However all generals can try to avoid pitched battles (with success depending on various factors). when units retreat I believe they are sent to a random city under their control, in the province. As a matter of fact i'll look it up now.

Naval battles are just like normal battles but:

a) Every time you move a fleet you must assign a command phase just like when using generals. However there are no admirals. You just assign any ship to that status. They do not have any command bonus, but if the admiral ship is destroyed in battle, that fleets turn ends. I'm not exactly sure when this would happens since you decide on which ships are destroyed. I just saw it in some aar before buying the game

b) All squadrons are 1/1

In short, fleet battles mostly depend on numbers with a nice bit of luck involved

Btw it hasn't happened yet, but there are storms at sea which can either damage fleets or send them to port. If the fleet has no friendly port close by then The WHOLE thing can be lost (so there is a possibility of surviving a massive Roman Fleet in the Mediterranean)

Also you CAN transport units through water tiles with enemy fleets, but they can be subject to attrition (they must first be seen, based on size). You always have the possibility of reinforcing somewhere or starting an attack, as long as the senate allows it and you have navies anywhere on the map (including in port)
 

Erebus

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Right, I should have realized Fabius no longer being a consul meant he wouldn't be in charge of the army.

I guess we'll have to try and crush Marcellus, then. Do we have any tricks that'd work on him ? I remember that Ambush only works on low-level generals.
 
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Surprise can work against non-dumbfucks. And since Scipio doesn't have his insane command level (he used to in my games, could've been a pre-patched version?) this shouldn't be too hard.

His only problem is that the Roman AI can raise tons of troops so he'll always be losing dudes to battles and sieges.
 

Malakal

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I think Hannibal only got to use his elephants during his first few battles on italian soil. Most of them had died during the crossing of the Alps and the others didn't survive long. Not sure if Carthaginian forces in Spain had some.

EDIT : Missed the update. Two questions : if we attack Fabius and he uses his special ability to avoid combat, where will his army find itself ? And how does naval combat work ?

Hannibal had exactly one elephant alive after the crossing of the Alps, so perhaps he has used it in battle but surely to no great effect.
 

Malakal

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Now its time to explain the cards and their effects I think.

Especially the forced removing of units is important, does it work on cities? What happens to removed units?

What are emergency levies? Recruit extra Spanish and Italian unit how? Can strategic influence be used to teleport troops from Africa?
 

DakaSha

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Turn 3 – 216 BC – Planning 2



Carthages generals all agree on the next steps concerning the navy. The new ships we purchased will be organized with the older ships that were in port, and then sally out to break the roman sea blockade. If all goes to plan the single squadron in the port of New Carthage will be brought down to reinforce them, hopefully warding the Mediterranean from further Roman bullshit, and allowing them to reinforce Spain and/or Italy in the near future.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile Hannibal has a lot tougher decisions to make. For starters: He has spoken to the local chiefs and Cisapline Gaul has no more recruits to offer, for now.

Recruitment pools will fill up again over time

This makes the area unimportant for the time being in regard to recruits. It would however be unwise to completely neglect it.



Not only would leaving Cisapline Gaul to the Romans cut off Hannibals brother Mago to the North, and make him an easy target, should the Romans so choose, but we could lose the support of the Gallic Tribes.

Nevertheless, this is war, and the region has lost some value when viewed pragmatically.

Hannibal must also press on, he can not let the Romans tie him up endlessly in northern Italy.

It is getting late and Hannibal must sleep. But before heading off to dream about the upcoming battles, he devises three quick possible plans

The first is called the 'Safe Retake'




[]In this plan Hannibal would creep along the southern edge of the mountains and link up with his troops in Placentia. This would cost him some extra provisions (Extended March option, or risk attrition, because hes moving from one province to another, then back again) but his army would at full force to confront the enemy. After destroying Grachuss he would move on to retake Gaul, hunting down the remnants of Grachuss surviving force while doing so.

If particularly bold, Hannibal could once again risk hardship on his troops and attack Ariminum to keep up the attack on Italy. []A variant of this plan would call for skipping the three minor cities and heading straight for Ariminum after defeating Grachuss (and risking attrition or card use).

This is the safest plan but it would slow us down.

The second plan is called: 'No fucks were given with possible advance'



[]Hannibal attacks head on, using one of his famous punic tricks, meets up with the rest of his troops and either retakes the rest of C Gaul and then heads to []Ariminum, and proceeds from there, []or, as in the other plan, skips the retaking of C Gaul and heads straight for Ariminum, saving time and troops.

The advantage of this plan is that we need not risk any attrition or cards for movement and could adavance on mid Italy. The downside is that we will face Grachuss with a smaller army.

The third and final plan for the night is called: 'Crazy mothafucka'



[]Hannibal heads south to meet with his army in Placentia, ignores(!) C Gaul, and tries to catch the Romans by surprise, by invading either []Etruria or []Umbria-Samnium

This is the most risky of the three, would cost cards and/or attrition, but is perhaps the most spectacular.

----------------------------------------------------

It should be noted that there is a Roman villa in Etruria





We could always destroy that if we go with plan 2 or 3 or some variant.

Hannibals plans do not cover all angles, but Hannibal is tired and Hannibal go sleep now

On a side note, i think this post shows what the game is capable of. There are a lot of options. I'll answer the posts tomorrow
 

Malakal

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If there are no more recruits in C.Gaul the province has lost its meaning for now, it can fall to Romans.

The crucial point is denying the recruits to the Romans either by killing their armies or taking their territories that can provide new troops. Therefore I advise to move south-east into Ancona and Asculum, capture those, build up some more troops in a new province. But before that kill the Roman army camping in C. Gaul. So: battle->no recapturing->move into s-e Italy and recruit/deny Romans there.

Now how about Sardinia/Corsica, is it worth any recruits, anything at all when conquered?
 

Erebus

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I'm in favor of the second plan. Defeat the roman army (we can't afford to leave such a threat behind us), then get the troops in Placentia, then ignore the northern cities and aim straight for Ariminum.

The Carthaginian Senate wishes you a pleasant sleep and hopes your dreams remind you of your sacred duty to send back as much wine as humanly possible to the mother country. Remember to use oaken barrels, not those sissy amphoras used by Romans, which don't improve the flavor and frigging break all the time.
 

Gondolin

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If the Gauls have no more troops to give us at this time, what would we lose by having Mago attempt to take those northern cities one by one? I don't remember what units he has at his disposal, but maybe we can beef him up with an extra infantry unit, seeing that the northern cities are defended only by one militia unit each.

Hannibal can crush that army in the field and then head for Ariminum or Pisa.
 
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Defeat Gracus' force then link up with your troops and head south.

Burn the villas. From what I remember having Africa and Spain threatened is much worse than worrying about roman armies in italy.
 

SCO

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Kill off Livius before he fucks up spain, if the fleet attack is a miraculous success with few losses, start planning to send men from spain or from carthage to link up to hannibal from Genua
attack that puny city with magus if you can safely, so as to make him recruit in that province (unless the roman recruitment has already drained the pool i guess)
Kill the gracchus army, burn roman villas to try to encourage the roman commander on rome to be a shithead and engage on the field instead of sitting tight getting even more massive armies. Retreat to Genua obviously (well, a city at least). They'll probably attack then. Or maybe not, since that didn't work for the later stage of this war.

edit: only 2 moves? Then do 2)



If they keep on capturing the cites you've captured you're fucked.
Did you leave Hasdrubal on Spain because of the bad experience on the first play? And is there no way at all of getting more generals? Even if really shitty ones, just to move troops?
 

DakaSha

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If the Gauls have no more troops to give us at this time, what would we lose by having Mago attempt to take those northern cities one by one? I don't remember what units he has at his disposal, but maybe we can beef him up with an extra infantry unit, seeing that the northern cities are defended only by one militia unit each.

Gaul has more recruits. C gaul doesnt. Also, he can't move into italy, we don't have approval.

Did you leave Hasdrubal on Spain because of the bad experience on the first play? And is there no way at all of getting more generals? Even if really shitty ones, just to move troops?

I have more generals in carthage.
 

DakaSha

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Turn 3 – 216 BC – Action 1 - "Yay Spaniards, Nay Navy"


Apparently the group of Spaniards that had joined the Army led by Livius last year were actually members of a tribe that aim to resist the Romans no matter what the cost. By joining the Roman ranks they were able to slip some men onto some of the ships that were stationed in the Mediterranean, and sabotage them when the time was right.



Of course the Romans aren’t utterly fucking retarded and quickly realized who was responsible. They had the entire Spanish unit in Grachuss army crucified.

There was much rejoicing among the Generals of Carthage

I played the second option of the card and selected the fleet in the Mediterranean, and the army in Spain, the Romans decided to get rid of their Spanish inf they had recruited last year

And with that they decided now is the time to sally out to relieve the blockade…



In the first hours of the battle neither side was able to do any meaningful damage (first turn no hits or routs), but the Roman admiral wasn't the type to fuck around.. he had his fleet get into formation and storm the much larger Carthaginian fleet.. and it worked! (Second round: 2 hits for the Romans, one Rout for us … ). Content with his success the Roman decided it was then time to retreat to the Ionian.

“Well… I guess that could have gone worse”, a young Carthagian petty officer said with a dopy smile. He was promptly fed to the sharks.

The Generals of Carthage realized that, due to less than optimal results at sea, they had to reevaluate the situation. The Romans had a fleet totaling 8 squadrons in the Ionian, much more than our petty fleet could handle. Especially if they let themselves be fucked over like in the last battle. However, 3 of the squadrons in the Ionian belong to Syracuse and they are known to stick to the waters surrounding the Island of Sicily (They can’t leave the Ionian). That leaves a total of 5 Roman squadrons.

The Romans also have 3 squadrons in the bay of Tarentum… for a total of… 8. However moving all of those fleets would cost the Romans precious command resources…

It’s a difficult situation.

We have a total of 5 ships (if we station the Squadron in the port of New Carthage with the rest of our total fleet). Should we move our ships back to the safety of port? Or should we leave them in the Mediterranean to not give a fuck?
 

SCO

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Funny how the game is shaping up to making the same kind of moves from the Carthaginian side that happened in real life. Hopefully with a better outcome.
 

DakaSha

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I'm not exactly sure why, but i seem to have lost command of my fleet. I guess it must have something to do with the battle but damned if i know. also cant find any info on it..
Well the decision as to whether I should move back to port or not is now moot. I was going to do it too. Oh well
 

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