Greek Cities Details (RTW Faction)

This is a Faction Details article or section. Information herein is based on players individual experiences and may not be independently verifiable. In the event of a disagreement please discuss on the talk page.

Playing the Greeks relies on supreme improvised tactics. Fighting as Greece is complicated and messy but very rewarding if you succeed.

The Battlefield

First of all Greeks are terrible mainly because of the fact that it has no cavalry of offensive value. All of its cavalry is light by weight and weapon. Even the Greek Bodyguard sucks because the general totally lacks any shield. For those not familiar with RTW battle mechanics, armor is used typically to protect against projectiles; shields are used to defend in melee combat... the one thing bodyguards are supposed to be designed for. This makes the Greek General only good for chasing down routing units. The Greek Cavalry is light and somewhat costly (IF YOU HAVE A VERY BAD ECONOMY). Players need only to mass train the militia cavalry and that'll do the job. During the beginning and middle of the battle, you can pepper the ai with spears (this won't take long, skirmishers by nature don’t possess a lot of ammo). Then move the riders to the ai end of battlefield border. When your enemy routs, they'll run strait towards your waiting cavalry!

For this purposes the Greeks must totally rely on infantry and missile alone. Compared to the Macedonians, Pontics, Seleucids, and Thracians the Greek hoplites are archaic and sooo out of date. Historically, hoplites used a pathetic 6 ft, 2 lb spear called a doru that couldn't skewer a pig. The Macedonian pikemen and everyone else who were conquered by them used a 14 ft long sarissa. The Macedonians have phalanxmen that can beat any counterpart hoplite any day. The only notable exception seems to be the Spartan hoplite.

To those who have played the historical battle the Siege of Sparta, One would have learned through trial and error to pit multiple units of pikeman at these unique hoplites in order to fight. Even this tactic though doesn't come with a high death toll. The Spartan hoplite is one of the most overpowered unit in the game. They have extremely high morale (always the last one to leave), stamina (unstoppable once they gain experience), and attack (if a city has a temple to Hephaestus take it and move your Spartans there for upgrades). On the downside they take two turns two recruit, cost over 1000 denarii per recruit, and can drain the treasury with its up keep cost. In a simulation of the battle of Thrmopylae, I sent an entire horde of 8 Parthian eastern infantry with: +8 experience, +2 armor, and +3 attack toward 1 unit of Spartan Hoplites. I left the Spartans with no upgrades whatsoever save +1 experience. The results? They routed two units and took down 47% of the men before routing themselves (even then, the hoplites fought until only 11 remained). Scary.

Back to the other hoplites. If you ever manage to get a chance to build the barracks required for Spartan Hoplite training (since they can only be trained in Syracuse and Sparta), a unique tactic is to fuse Armored Hoplites with Spartans. At the battle deployment screen place the 2 units on top of each other. Why? Spartans have an attack greater than their total defense; Armored have total defense larger than their attack. The result is a mass of 161 spears that looks after each other. Hoplites and militia hoplites should be used mainly for garrison and purposes for the simple leisurely pleasure of attacking a nearby rebel army. A thing to note is that unlike any other faction the Greeks excel at defense. Things to know:

When given the chance never fight out late age battles against any Hellenistic Faction or late age Pontus. Casualties can become enormous. Either retreat if your outnumbered or autoresolve the battle and pray to Zeus for the best. If left no other option fight out the battles with the UP Tactics shown below.

How to use the Ultimate Porcupine Tactic:

A porcupine is a quilled rodent not only thoroughly protected by spikes but capable of ejecting them. How does this relate? Place your line of hoplites in the front in either (1) a line if your offensive or (2) a ring or semi-circle if you're defensive. Have the spearmen group together as closely as possible. For a more fun and satisfying effect, place similar units on top of each other to create a massive wall of spears. Right behind them place and skirmishers and/or peltasts. In front, place any other long-range missile infantry. If given the opportunity use the denarii to recruit Cretan Archers, Rhodian Slingers or Balearic Slingers. These mercenaries are extremely worth the money as they are stronger than conventional slingers and bowmen. Behind and on the sides should lay your sorry excuses for cavalry units. When enemy phalanx men run toward you fire at them with all stones and arrows you've got. The enemy will either try to chase your archers and slingers (they are doomed if they do, as the units will simply run away if to close and fire when far away enough) or ignore them and march toward your hoplites (they are also doomed this way too as the projectiles will kill the slow heavy spearmen. When the enemy hoplites come near have the peltasts and militia cavalry, do some bonus damage. As a caution never have your missile units fire at the enemy while they are engaging in battle with your troops; your units don't fare any better than theirs against range. For any other type of unit, feel free to place them where you think it’s the most important. I did this in a battle against Egypt. The troop count was about the same on both sides. They had a little over 600 men. 6-8 units of phalanx spearmen, 3 heavy desert cavalry, and some chariots (which are terribly weak by the way). I massacred the slow Nubian Spearmen with stones and arrows and then let my hoplites finish the job. The desert cavalry were doomed from the start as no horserider can withstand spearmen. That left my peltasts to take down the chariots (skirmishers work really well against them). The results came out to 97% enemy casualties (some flagged and escaped) and 8% allied casualties. Neat huh?

The Typical Siege: What to do and How

The Greeks seemingly though do possess far greater advantages when defending their cities. When on defensive from siege attacks you should always fight out the battle. The most classic way to defend a Greek city would simply to make your hoplites form a semi circle around the gateway. This is called the Circa Porta (translated: around the gate) and infantry will be forced to squeeze into the gateway then be impaled at the waiting spears at the end. They rarely have a chance to fight back as there is hardly any room to fight back. This is more amusing when the cavalry charges in. If you are defending at own or minor city the Romans by default will attack the front gate first. Sometimes they will come armed with multiple battering rams and take down the nearby walls, too. When this happens you do one of two things: if you have enough troops you can simply have hoplites spread out their numbers and crowd around the entrance points and simply let the enemy come towards them. Keep your general or captain nearby where the fighting is most fierce though. The second option is to do the semicircle formation but have them deployed at the street ways. The defensive point should be located at the road leading from the main gate to the town center. The ai will generally take that path. However, occasionally the computer may occasionally find an alternate path a possibly hit you from behind. For this reason, always keep in eye on the radar map. Practice this maneuver only when you can't spear your forces thin (pardon the pun). If you have upgraded the cities' defenses to stone walls then this is much more challenging. The enemy is always equipped with one battering ram and at least one siege tower or ladder. It's funny to note that it is quite pointless to attack stone walled cities with rams because they can easily be destroyed by either the flaming arrows from the towers or be crushed by the boiling oil. An infantry unite will slowly progress to climb the walls. Have any ranged units you have fire down projectiles at the oncoming boarding party. Right before the enemy climbs onboard evacuates your range troops out of there. Unless they possess a lot of experience, archers and peltasts lack the discipline of standard infantry forces. The one other reason this should be done is to allow the troops to capture the gateway. This will allow the door to open to the enemy at will and allow you to let the Porta Circa do its work. When most of the enemy have routed then quickly have any spare infantry or missile unit to recapture the gateway. This is because the captured enemy gateway will now fire arrows at your forces. Modify the arrangement for saps and onagers.

Greek Faction Comparison on the Campaign and Battlefield:

With any faction, try not to be the one to declare war. This messes up your system. The greatest disadvantage playing as the Greeks is that one has to fight on up to 6 fronts including naval battles. This can be tiring and requires full thought and patience.

The Romans at the beginning should not be too hard to beat. Their infantry consists of the hastati-princepe-tiarii model. These units are moderately low in morale and can easily be routed if they take on too much damage. Unlike the other First Strike anti-Roman factions (Gaul, Carthage, Macedon) you are forced to fight 2 Roman houses at the same time. You'll be forced to fight on at least tow fronts. Syracuse should quickly upgrade their ports and blacksmiths, as the Scipii will eventually start recruiting their powerful naval units. If you hold on to Syracuse long enough to repel the Scipii quickly retrain your troops to mount an offensive to attack Messana. Do this quickly as the house will eventually send in a mainland relief force. Messana should not be too hard to take. Only a handful of units should be left garrisoned. After you take it the Scipii is done for. Unless you wish to take on the Romans on the main land just sit around and let your cities upgrade. Attacking the mainland is very risky because you'll eventually have the wrath of four factions coming down on you all at once. Sometimes the Scipii or possibly another house will try to take back Messana. Don't worry, lacking economic funding, their forces aren't small and easy to defeat. After awhile either Carthage goes on the offensive to you or Lilybaeum is taken over by the Scipii. Pray for the latter as things get complicated when you have another enemy to deal with. This gives you an excuse to attack Lilybaeum and totally own Sicily.

The House of Brutii is similar to the Scipii. They focus however on troop experience upgrades as they get temple to Mars. Beware of this. The house of Brutii generally comes knocking on your front door through Thermon. Do not let them take Thermon, as it is one of your few cities that have the potential of earning massive amounts of money. The House of Brutii is not very difficult to fight though it takes them a while to mount an offense on Macedon. Apparently, we owe them money.

You do not confront the House of Julii often except during naval battles. If you expand your empire North enough you might meet them. Sometimes they own the provinces of Western Europe. Other times they are reduced to one town with the Gauls ramming down their settlement, quite literally.

With the Romans, try to take them out by 170 BC. This is roughly the time the Marian Event occurs. The development level of the Roman cities generally determines the Event. For this purpose, attempt to take larger cities.

Macedon can be a pain. As explained earlier they possess more advanced troops and phalangites as well as extremely overpowered cavalry. Their light lancers have a 5 attack and +9 charge! When you fight Macedon, take 'em down hard and take em down quick. If they manage to get their advanced units, you're in for a long war.

Pontus is a wild card. On some instances they'll attack you with all the prerogative they've got. On the other days they are too obsessed with annihilating the Seleucids and Armenia to worry too much about you. On the downside they are a major power and rise to take many lands quickly.

The Seleucid Empire is quite unfortunate to have Egypt, Parthia, Pontus, and maybe Armenia simultaneously attack it all at once. Save if you are bored or like a challenge don't bother with them. Depending on the situation the SE may or may not attack you. If they remain your ally long enough, give them some denarii and they can help you with Pontus. Occasionally, I feel sorry for them as they make their last stand at Sardis so I help them out to attack whoever is besieging the settlement. Usually, it's Egypt or Pontus. If they ever assault you, have your peltasts prime their spears. They are the only good counter of the elephants you're bound to meet. They lack originality having their own type of troops. Instead they have units such as roman legionaries, militia hoplites, Macedonian phalangites, Eastern chariots, Parthian war elephants, Armenian cataphracts, Companion cavalry, and the terrible Greek style bodyguard. Seleucids have the most diverse selection of units in the game possessing no true battlefield disadvantage.

Thrace is not much of a problem. If you are too busy they will take the city of Byzantium in the beginning. Ideally when you finally defeat Macedon and still want to expand, Byzantium is a good place to start. By declaring war on Thrace, you simultaneously gain a high-income city to provide for the war effort. Thrace is probably the easiest faction to conquer when you come across them. They posses limited infantry and cavalry, most which are copied from the Greeks themselves. Thrace does not appear to have much gumption to no more than attack you when you come near their cities and provinces.

Egypt will come sooner or later either declaring war on you by a simple blockade or a preemptive first strike. Halicarnassus should be taken before the SE can get their hands on it. Provided that you still have Pergamon at this point, having one settlement in the north and one the south allows the player to attack on multiple fronts. In Anatolia, where sometime the fighting gets hot, do not build highly advanced roads but build watchtowers throughout. If you should ever become under fire from Egypt, the SE, or Pontus it will take them awhile to arrive to besiege your cities of Pergamon and Halicarnassus. You can easily see them coming and prepare. When you go to war with Egypt, take the African rebel settlement of Cyrene. Historically, it belongs to you and it is a good place to launch attacks on their "magnanimous pharaoh". Egypt is hard to fight due to the fact that they possess an excellent selection of heavy infantry, heavy cavalry, and advanced spearmen. Fortunately for you, their phalangites lack proper armor and is semi-light making target practice for your range troops. The Pharaoh’s Bowmen and Pharaoh’s Guard are a problem though. The bowmen possess one of the second highest ranged attack in the game (after the Gallic Forester Warband). On the upside, they lack a shield so a good cavalry charge should do the job. The Pharaoh’s guards are another story. These men have no shield but that's not your problem. Their strength comes from their amazing defense skill making hard to fight unless you have Armored or Spartan Hoplites.

Getting the Most Out of Nothing: The Economy

Playing as Greece, you're in trouble already in the beginning. Although all of your cities are have ports, which provide good trade, your settlements are scattered. The main downside to this is that if one of your cities ever becomes besieged, then other towns cannot send a relief force fast enough. For this each of your settlements will have to rely on itself until your forces can connect. Your main objectives are to destroy Macedon and Thrace but the rule of the Total War thumb is simple: To field a large army you gotta pay it! Each of your starter cities is unique in the way they function. It is advisable to build ports when you get the chance. This is your main advantage and you need ships to move your armies across the Aegean and Mediterranean.

With all of your settlements capable of building ports, this provides a daunting economic advantage. Gain as many trade agreements and alliances as possible from the other factions. Or you could just wait for their diplomats to come and offer treaties. The only exceptions should be the Roman factions. They’ll attack you by the second or third turns so don’t bother. Even Macedon should be considered. You can earn plenty from the roads that lead to their settlements. Speaking of settlements…

Your Beginning Settlements

Syracuse- It is your most advanced city and is the most annoying. This is your settlement that gives you a foothold on connections to the west. It is very vied for but it has great defenses and already has some range troops garrisoned in. Prepare to lose a lot of money, as it is practically impossible to take to the offensive without having Syracuse lose a lot of denarii. Of all your cities, this one never gains an income because of your soldiers' wages. The cities must expense out some of their income to your troops based on their relative sizes. Besides Rome and Carthage, Syracuse is the most highly advanced settlement at the beginning therefore it must pay heavy expenses to your troops. It is one of the two only cities where you can train the Spartan Hoplites when you build the Army Barracks. At the start of the game it is extremely advisable to construct military buildings and civil buildings; i.e. sewers, temples, ludus magna etc. Do not bother with a temple to Hermes. Instead construct a temple to Athena. Your population will be pissed off and go the code blue about 60% of the time, especially if you raise the taxes.

Sparta- Your capital city and quite frustrating to look after. If the Macedonians ever attack you this is generally where it all begins. It is not suggested to attack Corinth, as it is much better to use the quiet time quickly construct economic buildings and a temple to Nike. This is other city where you are allowed to train Spartan Hoplites. When waiting for the first strike from Macedon, keep a five-star or higher level general garrisoned at all times. The Macedonians apparently like to assault with a large force and this is the only act if you wish to keep a small army in Sparta and still keep up is a general who can win an outnumbered fight.

Thermon- This is your most valuable military settlement besides Sparta. When the Romans start attacking you it is a good idea to make some clear choices about your buildings. You have three construction decisions to make at this point. Either build a temple to Nike to counter the powerful Roman armies; build temples to Hermes to allow more incoming money; or build temples to Aphrodite to quickly advance your city to allow more powerful recruitment, income, and defenses. This is the settlement that will help you raise the money you need, but if you take to the defensive the Brutii and Macedon besiege it quite frequently.

Pergamon-It is your final and weakest front-line settlement. Either the Seleucids or Pontus will come knocking sooner or later so it is a good idea to train a garrison of militia hoplites and wait for the enemies to come. The first few turns are peaceful, as everyone to the east is busy dealing with trade deals and expansion. Your first 15 turns should give you the moments to build a barrack, a port, a wooden wall, and an archery range.

Rhodes- This is your backwater settlement. Not tested entirely but hypothetically, the ai never seems to attack it even though it's sitting right there in midst of enemy territory. For this sole reason alone Rhodes is your only beginning settlement where you can build civic and economic buildings before you construct your military ones. You won't need several troops to be recruited there unless you need a large garrison size to keep the masses happy or if you’re fighting in Anatolia. Build a temple to Hermes here as you can gain much wealth from this place if you budget correctly. Provided you have enough money, this is one of the three areas you can recruit the powerful Rhodian Slingers. If you ever achieve code red and start losing a lot of cities, this settlement is a good one for your armies to fall back on.