Scipii (RTW Faction)

Scipii (RTW Faction)
Name:	House of Scipii
From Game:	Rome: Total War
Culture:	Roman
Playable:

The Scipii are one of the three playable factions in Rome: Total War that are playable from the beginning (the other two, of course, being the other Roman Houses, the Brutii and Julii).

Gameplay

Being one of the three Roman families, the House of the Scipii will receive missions from the Senate, and will be forced to deal with the consequences of not completing them.

At a certain point during the game, the Senate will demand that your faction leader commit suicide. If you accept their demand, the heir will become the faction leader and the process will be renewed several years later. If you refuse, you will initiate the Civil War, a gameplay mechanic unique to the Roman factions. It should be noted that, once your popularity with the people is high enough, you can simply initiate the Civil War by attacking another Roman faction. Also, if you are playing as another faction the Civil War will not take place.

Starting Position

Scipii Starting Position (Click to enlarge)

The Scipii begin with control of two settlements, Capua on the Italian mainland and Messana in north-eastern Sicily.

Win Conditions

• Long Campaign: Hold 50 provinces including Rome.

• Short Campaign: Hold 15 provinces and destroy or outlast Carthage and Numidia.

Units

House of Scipii General's Bodyguard.

The Roman factions all have a very strong roster. Before the Marian Reforms they are an Infantry focused faction with limited cavalry and some archer and javelin support along with strong siege weapons. They have good infantry armed with big shields, Pila, which are heavy javelins, and a gladius, a short sword. They also get a strong Spear unit, the Triarii.

The Marian Reforms happen when a Roman faction controls a Huge City somewhere in Italy besides Rome. After the reforms they lose access to their old roster and get a heavily improved new roster. Any older units will not be automatically replaced, they will continue to exist, but you are not able to train any more or retrain them. After the Reforms they are still Infantry focused, but have much better core and support troops. Their late roster has extremely strong heavy infantry, among the best in the game, units such as Legionary Cohort, Praetorian Cohort and Urban Cohort. These men can overpower virtually any infantry opposition, and can form a tourtoise formation that makes them practically immune to arrow fire. They also have some excellent cavalry options that are only defeated by the ultra heavy Cataphract Cavalry from the East. Both their light cavalry and heavy cavalry are very strong. They get a very solid long range archer unit as well, the Archer Auxilia. Their only weaknesses are that their Spearmen, Auxilia, are not the best by a longshot and that they have limited ranged cavalry, only Cavalry Auxilia who are armed with javelins. Despite these slight drawbacks the Romans after the Marian Reforms are certainly one of the strongest rosters in the game.

In multiplayer battles the Romans can mix pre-Marian and post-Marian troops at will.

• Pre-Marian Units
  • Infantry
    • Peasants
    • Town Watch
    • Hastati
    • Principes
    • Triarii
    • Mirmillo Gladiators
  • Missile
    • Velites
    • Roman Archers
    • Ballistas
    • Scorpions
    • Onagers
    • Heavy Onagers
    • Repeating Ballistas
  • Cavalry
    • Equites
    • Cavalry Auxilia
  • Special Units
    • Arcani
    • Wardogs
    • Incendiary Pigs

• Post-Marian Units
  • Infantry
    • Auxilia
    • Early Legionary Cohort
    • Legionary Cohort
    • Praetorian Guard
    • Urban Cohorts
    • Early Legionary First Cohort
    • Legionary First Cohort
    • Arcani
  • Missile
    • Light Auxilia
    • Archer Auxilia
  • Cavalry
    • Roman Cavalry
    • Legionary Cavalry
    • Praetorian Cavalry
    • Armoured General's Bodyguard

Unique Units

Mirmillo Gladiators: Every Roman faction has its own unique type of gladiator, and the Mirmillo Gladiators are the ones that are available to the Scipii.

Corvus Quinquireme: A battleship that is slightly more powerful than a regular quinquireme. Becomes available when you build an Awesome Temple to Neptune in your capital.

Deceres - The most powerful battleship available to any nation. They become available once you build a Pantheon to Neptune.

Strategy Guides

A campaign strategy guide for the House of Scipii written by fallingsuperspark can be found here.

RTW Factions
Armenia | Britannia | Carthage | Dacia | Egypt | Gaul | Germania | Greek Cities | The House of Brutii | The House of Julii | The House of Scipii | Macedon | Numidia | Parthia | Pontus | Scythia | Seleucid Empire | Senate | Spain | Thrace | Rebels