In the Greek campaign I played, one general commanded my entire conquest of Sicily and the lower Italian Peninsula, exterminating the Brutii and Scipii both, fighting at least a dozen victorious battles and seizing five cities until he closed on Rome. How good was he? Ten stars. 29 years old.Vympel wrote:My faction leader Oppius is only ... 45 and is already "the Mighty" with 8 command stars, so I figure there's a good chance he'll become Oppius Augustus.
There was his version of Cannae, enacted but miles from Rome with five units of cavalry (including him), one unit of Samnite mercenaries, and the rest of the army filled with his hardened Hoplites or Armored Hoplites. I arranged the Hoplites in a long, straight line across the face of the enemy, and arrayed all of my cavalry on my right flank. The Senate of Rome, with a army full of hastati, velites, principes, and several units of generals, chose a more traditional formation, echeloning his units in a sort of square. My cavalry gallop off quite wide, so far that they don't even menace his left flank, and my infantry begin to advance.
He advances his infantry and charges with his cavalry, stopping the center of my line, but the experienced hoplites hold him there. The flanks continue to advance, slowly sweeping inwards to envelop his army. A few minutes later, his entire army except for a small hole at the very rear is ringed by phalanxes, and I plug that hole with a charge of my Greek Cavalry. His casualties are already severe, but then panic strikes. The Senate general is brought down by a javelin from my Militia Cavalry, and his army routs as one. But there is nowhere to go. Most of those that slip the net are run down by militia cavalry.
Kill ratio was something like 10:1 in my favor, as I fully liquidated a 1,300+ army while losing only 100 or so. The severity of this defeat, in fact, left Rome herself virtually undefended, and I seized it two turns later. If you can hold your flanks and rear, the Greek cities are a lot of fun to play. Hoplites just completely rule if they're used properly. My favorite moments were when the enemy tried to hurt my experienced armored hoplites with a cavalry charge from the front. Half the cavalry would be dead the moment they hit the formation, the rest would either rout away or die moments later.
Seriously, though, those barabrians are tougher than they appear. The Gauls are easy, but the Spanish and the Germans are not. 
