Grand Strategy Imperator: Rome - the new grand strategy from Paradox

[Life of the Party]

Imperator: Rome is much more than just Crusader Kings in togas

Hands-on with Paradox's new strategy game.

When I sat down in front of Paradox's new grand strategy game I had one big question. What is Imperator exactly? Is it Crusader Kings in togas? Is it a Hellenic Europa Universalis? Is it, as the fans will no doubt ask, Vicky 3? The answer is none and all of these things.

"You have the population mechanics that are similar to games like Stellaris or Victoria, the warfare and diplomacy which is similar to EU and the characters that are closer to Crusader Kings," explains Johan Andersson, the creative director on Imperator and a Paradox veteran of over 20 years. He knows what he's talking about, because he's worked on every single one of those games. In fact when I ask him which Paradox games he's worked on the list goes on for several minutes. "I didn't do super much on Stellaris, but everything else," he says. Imperator is the culmination of all this experience.

The first thing I notice upon sitting down with the game is that the UI is dominated by a deeply Hellenic white marble and a generally bright and vibrant colour palette. "It's a very hopeful aesthetic," explains lead artist Joacim Carlberg. "Which contrasts to our previous games, at least CK, which does take place in the Dark Ages after all." There's also a terrific zoom option that automatically fades out from a detailed terrain map to a flat political one as you zoom out.

Things are generally more accessible than previous Paradox games as well, with fewer options buried multiple menus deep. One of the nicest touches is the diplomacy screen where, instead of picking countries from a list, you simply open the diplomacy tab and then click on the country on the main map. It's still not easy to understand—the sheer amount of information the game is throwing out makes that difficult—but it is better.

The second thing that I notice is the Senate. Yes, we're in the era of Republican Rome, not Imperial Rome. In fact, the game starts in the early days of the Republic and ends before the historic transition to Empire. "The Republican era is actually also when Rome is in its primary expansion phase," explains Henrik Lohmander, game designer. "When it comes to encompass the whole mediterranean and the Republic deals with the growing pains that come from that, and that's how they eventually end up being the Empire. Better to end there perhaps than do the Empire badly." Although players will be able to transition to Empire early, if they so wish.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Right now, Rome is a Republic, and that means the Senate votes on everything I do. The pool of senators is drawn from several factions, including military, merchants and religious types, all of which have different likes and dislikes (the merchants for example, don't want to go to war with anyone you are trading with). The numbers of senators from each faction change as they gain popularity, and if a faction is happy they provide a stat bonus to the Republic.

In addition to this more abstract system, there are also named characters. Each belongs to a faction, and they do jobs like governors, advisors and generals. They also have traits and personalities (Brutus is crafty, of course) and some lovely memorable portraits. Here is where things start going wrong for me, because I pick the best general I can find and stick him in charge of my only army. His name is Marius Quintus, and he's a populist.

Like any good Roman, I immediately declare war on my nearest neighbour, the Samnites. War is simpler in ancient times. There isn't really such a thing as a 'De jure Kingdom'—historic borders don't exist yet, so whatever you can hold you can keep. I still need to fabricate a claim to start wars (this is the era when casus belli first came to be used after all) but they're mostly a pretext, and it's perfectly okay to take more land than I initially demanded. "Every strategy game is about creating an empire," says Johan. "This is a period when that actually happened."

The Samnites turn out to have a bunch of allies who back them up, so I call in my friends, and then our friends call in friends, and soon the entirety of Italy is on fire as 20 different tiny patchwork kingdoms start fighting over my land grab. The battles play out similarly to Crusader Kings 2, which is useful as it means I know what I'm doing. Quintus distinguishes himself with many victories, which is where the problems start.

You see Quintus' army is now more loyal to him than they are to Rome. Since this is my entire army if Quintus decides that maybe he should be in charge instead of me there's really nothing I can do to stop him. It's characterful and appropriate to the era, but it's also an elegant solution to the age-old strategy game problem of not wanting players to stick all their units in one gigantic army. Unfortunately, I didn't know about it when I started and now there's an ominous icon saying 'countdown to civil war' in the top corner of the screen.

Disaster is thankfully averted, although not because of me. Instead Quintus's popularity gets him elected to head of the Senate. This placates him and ends the civil war countdown. Thankfully, unlike CK2 I am not playing as a particular dynasty. I'll be in charge of Rome whoever is elected. In fact, if I wanted to change Rome to an Empire while still staying in charge then having a powerful populist leader like Quintus would be exactly what I wanted. "They're bad for the Republic, says Henrik, "But they might not be bad for you."

During this period I start to dig down into the peacetime mechanics a bit more. In Imperator, each city is populated by citizens who produce research, freemen who produce manpower for the army, tribesmen who are useless and slaves (this is Rome after all) who produce raw materials. I can manually promote people between these different roles, but it takes a while. I'm assured there'll be a less micromanagement-heavy way to do it in the final game.

There is also a relatively easy to grasp trade system. Each province produces goods, and each good gives a stat buff or opens up new building options (you need wood to build ships, for example). If a city has a surplus it can send that surplus elsewhere, including abroad if you have a trade agreement. But I only have a few hours with the game, and I want to see a civil war. Perhaps I shouldn't have thwarted Quintus after all.

Thankfully content designer Peter Nicholson comes to my rescue. We start a new game as Macedonia, which unlike Rome is a Monarchy. This means I don't have to rely on Senate votes but instead track a stat called Legitimacy, which acts as a hard cap on the loyalty of characters and provinces (a third government type, Tribal, wasn't available to show). When Legitimacy is high a Monarch can do whatever they want, but Peter is about to show me what happens when it is low, using console commands to drop Cassander's legitimacy through the floor.

Quickly the loyalty of Cassander's subjects plummets. If I'd only had one disloyal province or governor, Peter explains, they might just defect to another empire, or declare independence. But I don't have just one disloyal province, and instead Macedonia tears itself in two, with one half declaring itself under a pretender to my throne. This is not an easy fight, and unlike peaceful power transitions, if I lose it's a hard game over. This is Imperator's showpiece: its way to blow up a successful empire and keep the game interesting.

I have run out of time, unfortunately. I won't get to see if Cassander survives (I don't rate his chances), but before I go I ask Johan one more question: Paradox is famous for supporting games for years after release with DLC and patches, so I ask him if he plans to do this with Imperator, expecting a non-committal answer. Instead I get a blunt "yes." In fact, he starts reeling off ideas for expansions that give depth to certain cultures: "a Greek one, Persian one, Indian one." He's very matter-of-fact that Rome is here to stay. This is a project Paradox is committing to not just now, but for years to come.

https://www.pcgamer.com/imperator-rome-is-much-more-than-just-crusader-kings-in-togas/

 

[Life of the Party]

Future Paradox games will be easier to mod, thanks to a new engine

The engine that powers Paradox’s grand strategy titles is getting an upgrade, which means that the studio’s future titles – including the upcoming Imperator: Rome – will be much easier for modders to tinker with and even completely redesign.

For Venture Beat, Fraser Brown spoke with Paradox’s engine team lead John Wordsworth about what changes are in store for the Clausewitz engine, which Paradox has been using for its games for more than ten years.

It turns out the answer is giving old Clausewitz and ally instead of a replacement. Now, the team is working with an additional layer, which they’ve named Jomini, after the Napoleonic general Antoine-Henri Jomini, a Swiss officer and celebrated writer of the period.

What the Jomini layer adds, Wordsworth explains, is first and foremost a set of tools – something the Clausewitz engine never had. Up until now, modders had to dig into text files and edit actual code, and with Jomini, coding will no longer be a barrier to creating Paradox mods.

That’s great news for anyone who’s ever tried, say, the Game of Thrones mod for Crusader Kings II, but it’s also making things easier in-house for Paradox.

“Let’s imagine Stephen King or the world’s best 3D artist came to our door, looking for a job on a new game,” Wordsworth tells Fraser. “We’d have to ask them: ‘Can you script? Can you edit text files with curly brackets? Now we don’t need to.”

Jomini is also bringing additional functions to the creaky Clausewitz engine like DirectX 11 features, dynamic audio, and better performance options for games that can wind up running thousands of distinct AI characters simultaneously.

Wordsworth says that it won’t be possible to update Paradox’s old games with the new Jomini functionality, because it would fundamentally change how they work and their system requirements. It’ll make its debut with Imperator: Rome, which comes out next year.

https://www.pcgamesn.com/imperator-rome/paradox-new-engine-jomini

 

[catfood]

Upgrade your 486.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Average Manatee]

Wow, they're already giving out previews of boring, simplistic bonuses unlocked in a linear fashion by spending arbitrary points. You'd think this was the 15th DLC for EU4 fresh off the "just make some meaningless crap up and sell it" assembly line, but no, this is a whole new yet to be released game.

 

[Space Satan]

 

[Life of the Party]

Hello and welcome to the 21st development diary for Imperator. This time we’ll go into how land-combat works in the game, and talk about Combat Tactics.

Combat

Combat in Imperator occurs when two armies is in the same city. The army first in the city is considered the defender, unless the other side has control over fortifications in the province.

The battlefield have 60 different positions for each side, as well as a reserve where cohorts currently not fighting will be. Armies will be organised with infantry in the middle, cavalry on the flanks and ranged support in the backline when possible.

Each day, each unit will fire on one target in front of them, or towards the side, if they have a high enough flanking ability.

Damage is determined by adding up the dice with the combat modifiers from terrain and leaders, where a total of 0 or below gives 2% damage, and the maximum of 15 from terrain and dice gives 30% of damage.

The impact of diceroll on a battle is far less in Imperator than games like V2, EU4 and CK2, as the range of dice is smaller with just a 1d6 being rolled, rather than the usual 1d10.

Crossing a river, or doing a naval landing, gives -1 to the attacker.

Mountains gives +2 to the defender, while Hills, March and Forests gives +1 to the defender.

Leaders impact combat as well, with the difference in martial giving a bonus to the one with the highest martial.

Then the damage value is modified by the following before being applied to the target. (Please note that all damage is done after the round of combat is calculated, so it’s not beneficial to fire first.)

If you are firing from the back line, you are basically at 50% efficiency.

The attacking units discipline is a positive modifier for damage, and this discipline can be either the country, or individual modifiers of discipline down to cohort., and loyal regiments will do slightly more damage.

Each type of unit can also have bonuses for fighting better or worse when doing damage or receiving damage, and also for fighting in certain terrains. Of course, they could also have generic bonuses that makes them all around better or worse.

Some units perform better versus other types, where Chariots are good versus Light Infantry but bad versus Heavy Infantry.

And then the comparison of the combat tactics between the opposing forces.

The experience a unit has reduces how much damage that unit takes.

Then this damage is multiplied by a value to scale damage so combat lasts over a desired amount of ticks.

Combat Tactics

One of the more major difference-makers in combat is the tactics. For each army you can determine one offensive and defensive tactic, which each has 1 they are great versus, and 1 they are bad versus.

The offensive tactic is used if you are the ATTACKER in a battle, and the defensive tactic is used if you are not the attacker.

Offensive Tactics

All Out Assault
+30% versus Withdraw
+20% versus Probing Counter Attack
-20% versus Hard Defence
Both sides takes +10% casualties.

Frontal Assault
+20% versus Withdraw
+10% versus Probing Counter Attack
-10% versus Hard Defence

Outflanking Attack
+10% versus Strong Counter Attack
-10% versus Mobile Defence

Echelon Attack
+10% versus Mobile Defence
-10% versus Probing Counter Attack

Probing Attack
-10% versus Strong Counter Attack
+10% versus Hard Defence
Both sides takes 25% less casualties

Defensive Tactics

Strong Counter Attack
+10% versus Probing Attack
-10% versus Outflanking Attack

Probing Counter Attack
+10% versus Echelon Attack
-10% All Out Assault
-10% Frontal Assault

Hard Defence
+10% All Out Assault
+10% Frontal Assault
-10% Probing Attack

Mobile Defence
+10% Outflanking Attack
-10% Echelon Attack

Withdraw
Both sides takes -25% casualties.

Stay tuned, next week, Trin Tragula will be writing a bit about the game..

 

[Agame]

Guys I heard you like +10% so I am adding some +10% to all of the +10%.

 

[Tigranes]

At least you can actively determine the tactics used by your armies, it seems?

 

[Average Manatee]

"We reduced randomness but also added in a mechanic where you play a rock-paper-scissors game with tactics every day on top of the dice rolling"

Uhh, thanks? This is possibly the dumbest feature ever, how does it pass playtesting?

Also jesus christ paradox kill the awful grid-based combat system. No one likes it. A slimmed down CK2 system with 3 phases and tactic selections that mattered would be interesting. Instead they have horse archers that are automatically charged into melee with heavy infantry. Great.

 

[fantadomat]

At least you can actively determine the tactics used by your armies, it seems?

Nah,you just find which one is the meta in the first few hours and then you spam it. Also the tactics seem pretty retarded,most of them shit that people used in a single battle at once. They weren't being oh we will use frontal attack but will not flank because of reasons. Still they could implement it be in kind of turns or something,but i doubt it.

 

[Agame]

Combat is obviously not a strong point of most paradox games, but this looks like a shitty retread of eu4/ck2. Would have been nice if they took a risk a tried something new.

Cant remember the name but there was an old budget strategy game, I think about the persian wars where you set up your army in rts view and then your army and enemy army just march straight at each other and fight and you had no control. It kind of worked as thats how most ancient battles were fought, the key was the setup and deployment as a general would not have a lot of control after battle was joined, or often led from the front eg. Alexander.

Anyway I:R looks like they are going very safe, and just mashing a lot of ck2/eu4 stuff togethor that they already know works.

 

[Average Manatee]

At least you can actively determine the tactics used by your armies, it seems?

Nah,you just find which one is the meta in the first few hours and then you spam it. Also the tactics seem pretty retarded,most of them shit that people used in a single battle at once. They weren't being oh we will use frontal attack but will not flank because of reasons. Still they could implement it be in kind of turns or something,but i doubt it.

Well it looks like you can change tactics mid-battle so just pause the game at the start of every battle and pick the one that gives advantage before unpausing.

Cant remember the name but there was an old budget strategy game, I think about the persian wars where you set up your army in rts view and then your army and enemy army just march straight at each other and fight and you had no control. It kind of worked as thats how most ancient battles were fought, the key was the setup and deployment as a general would not have a lot of control after battle was joined, or often led from the front eg. Alexander.

Not sure what game you're talking about but Dominions fits this to the T.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

every paradox game looks like a reskin of another game they've already made

 

[Space Satan]

Never ever hard counters or rock-paper-scissors approach worked in strategy games. Absolutely degenerative mechanics

 

[ZeniBot]

you spend all that time making models of soldiers and THAT'S your battle UI. I don't know why they don't just take a page out of Call to Power's Book and have those battle counters represented as actual map pieces. It'd be so easy to do. Sigh. Stellaris' battles have spoiled us

 

[Space Satan]

Endless Space 1, Galactic Civilizations and other games with RPS shit ended up in only one result - you must have all army types or have none. in case of endless space it is even more degenerative - you send one ship to see what weapons enemy ships have and refit you fleet instantly to hard counter it. And now we'll have army templates - X infantry Y archers Z cavalry or something like that. And everyone will build this meta. Always.

 

[Stavrophore]

"Things are generally more accessible than [in] previous paradox games"

Depends on what this means -does the UI is better than in previous paradox games, or they've dumbed down the games even more. Given the modern game journalists, i can bet on the latter. Really bad sign.

 

[coldcrow]

Never ever hard counters or rock-paper-scissors approach worked in strategy games. Absolutely degenerative mechanics

In Sacrifice it worked well. But that is a really weird hybrid of RTS/FPS.

 

[Life of the Party]

Hello and welcome to another Development Diary for Imperator:Rome!

I am @Trin Tragula and today I will talk a bit about maps and the political situation at the start of the game.

Previously we have talked about how we have approached researching the map. In this diary I will instead focus on what our map actually looks like, and the situation in Italy at our start date, 304 BC. This date was chosen after long consideration and we hope that it will provide an as interesting setting for a game that spans the main expansive phase of Rome’s existence (as well as many other things, but we will get to those later, in other diaries).

Italy Ab Urbe Condita 450 - 304 BCE

Central Italy - The Rise of Rome:

At the start of Imperator, the city of Rome is already an impressive 450 years old. Rome has however not been a major force for nearly as long. In the last 40 years leading up to our start Rome has begun to grow quickly, first unifying the lands of the Latin League under its rule and then expanding at the expense of its former Samnite allies.

The recently concluded Great Samnite war has transformed Rome from a local power in Latium and designs on Campania to a large country stretching right across the central Apennines to the Adriatic coast.

The defeat of both Samnium and Etruria has both sent shockwaves through Italy and made a few select Romans very influential and very rich. This is an age where the Republic went through a period of dynamic development, with its institutions and its internal politics transforming from that of a small city to what would become the center of a growing empire.

Starting Countries:

• Rome: Independent Italic City State that has grown in the last 40 years to be the dominant power in Central Italy. Having just defeated both the Samnites and Etruscans, and acquired a number of new Feudatory subject states, Rome is starting to draw the attention of more faraway powers such as Carthage, Rhodes and Epirus. While the success of the Samnite wars have cemented Roman military superiority, they also highlight how even small conflicts can blow up into great multisided wars in this region.
• Samnium: League of Samnite states. Former ally but now immediate rival of Rome that has just been defeated in the Second Samnite war. Controls a number of fortifications that cut Central Italy from the south. The emergence of a strong Roman power have made them look abroad for supporters, to Etruria, Carthage and Syracuse.
• Etruria: Tribal Federation of Etruscan states. The Etruscans are the formerly dominant people in Central Italy and overlords of Rome and many other states in the region. Now, however, they are a country of much more limited power and influence. They retain control over the central Etrurian region as well as parts of the island of Corsica, which was conquered with Carthaginian help many years ago.
• Sipontum: Small greek city state on the Adriatic coast. Sipontum belongs to a number of states that try to get by without being pulled into the designs of nearby powers such as the Samnites or Epirus on the other side of the Adriatic.
• Frentani: Sabellian Tribal Kingdom on the Adriatic coast. The Frentani control a vital communication route between the Roman colonies in the east and the route through the Apennines to Rome proper and are among the groups that turned to Rome to offer their allegiance at the end of the Great Samnite war.
• Nuceria: Sabellian Plutocratic Republic, that fought against Rome in the Great Samnite War. The small state was however spared any vengeance in return for their everlasting loyalty to Rome and starts as a Roman Feudatory.
• Peligni: Medium Sized Tribal Kingdom in the upper Apennines. Sued for peace with Rome in order to become a Roman Feudatory at the end of the Second Samnite War.
• Marsia: Tribal Kingdom by the shores of the new lost lake of Fucino. Formerly Samnite ally but now Roman Feudatory since the end of the second Samnite war.
• Sabinia: Small Tribal kingdom precariously situated on the border of Etruria and Rome. While relations have never been good with the Romans, their recent victories have made Roman settlers even more interested in Sabinian land.
• Picentia: Tribal kingdom on the Adriatic coast. Neighbors with Ancona and allies of Umbria.
• Umbria: Aristocratic Republic in the Umbrian Apennines. Traditional enemies of the Etruscans and friends of Samnium. Allied with Picentia.
• Ancona: Greek city state founded by Syracusan settlers. The local economy based on the export of dyes. With Syracusan presence in the adriatic waning Ancona is nowadays on its own, and surrounded by much stronger tribal countries.

Sicily in the age of Agathocles

Sicily is one of the greatest and richest islands of the Mediterranean. Like southern Italy it is home to a sizable Greek population, but unlike southern Italy it also has both valuable mines and great farmlands.

In 304 BC the island is divided between the Great Power of Carthage and the Kingdom of Syracuse. The latter is ruled by the self proclaimed Tyrant Agathocles. A man who rose from humble origins and a life as a soldier and an adventurer, to be the leader of the greatest city on the island.

Agathocles’ installation in Syracuse can in many ways be attributed to Carthage, who assisted with their army, hoping to destabilize the Greek state with which they had competed for hegemony over both the island of Sicily itself as well as Corsica and Sardinia.

No sooner had Agathocles been installed and slaughtered his political opposition, than he turned on his former allies. The last 8 years have been a long and drawn out struggle between Syracuse and Carthage. One in which the seemingly much stronger North African republic would see its countryside in modern Tunisia burn, and its commanders decapitated.

Nonetheless the peace that was finally signed in 306 BC, just two years before our start date, has more or less been a return to status quo. Carthage and Syracuse still control about as much of the island as they did before, and a central part remains unaligned, unwilling to directly declare for either side.

This is an uneasy peace, more dictated by a will to gain respite than real will to seek reconciliation. In Carthage itself, an ambitious general takes this as an opportunity to proclaim himself Tyrant, much like Agathocles did years prior. But where Agathocles could massacre his opponents, Bomilcar is abandoned by all his friends and publicly crucified.

It is now 304 BC and in the east Alexander’s former generals have begun declaring themselves kings in their own right. Despite the uneasy truce with Carthage, Agathocles has decided to do the same, and names himself King of Sicily. What his plans are for realizing these ambitions are, only time can tell.

Starting Countries:

• Syracuse: Sicilian Greek Kingdom that at times have controlled most of the island. Only a medium power in the grand scheme of things but an important strategic piece of the mediterranean puzzle. Syracuse has previously been the overlord of much of Southern Italy and many expect that it has ambitions to that effect again.
• Siculia: The weakest country on Sicily, this small Tribal country represents the various cities that are not under Syracusan or Carthaginian control at our start. Their population are mostly Siculians and Greeks.
• Carthage: Carthage is not a Sicily based power, and we will speak more about them in a future diary. Nonetheless they are one of the most influential playable countries in this region. The population of Carthaginian Sicily is a mix of Carthaginians, native Siculians, and Greeks.

Southern Italy - Magna Graecia

At the time of our start date Southern Italy is a divided region. Also known as “Magna Graecia” It is home to a number of Greek city states, many who have ties to their former homeland, and to the great Hellenic power of Syracuse. The region is also home to a number of large tribal federations such as the Bruttian and Lucanian Leagues.

Many of the Greek cities once cooperated in the Italiote League, but many divisive conflicts have made that form of cooperation less relevant.

Historically Syracuse has been dominating force in the region, but now Epirus, Rome, the Samnite League and even Sparta are also meddling in local politics.

The end of the Second Samnite war in the north is about to send ripples through the political sphere, with some major powers reorienting themselves to be able to protect themselves from Rome, and others instead seeking Roman protection.

Starting Countries:

• Tarentum: Small but influential Greek City state, leader of the new defunct Italiote league. Tarentum has often been an ally of the Samnites and sometimes an enemy of Rome. Fearing growing Roman power, the Samnites have come to support Agathocles of Syracuse but Tarentum is equally concerned with Roman and Syracusan aggression and has instead sought other friends. It has found new allies in Sparta, Epirus and even the former enemy Messapia.
• Lucania: Tribal Kingdom and Regional Power representing the Lucanian League. Enemies of Tarentum and the Samnites, Lucania is in some ways a logical ally for Rome, at least for now. Should Roman expansion take them too far south this might easily change in the future.
• Messapia: Tribal Messapian Kingdom on the heel of the Italian Boot. Historically often at odds with Tarentum but for now instead allied with both them and and the Apulians.
• Apulia: Tribal Messapian Kingdom, allied with Messapia.
• Bruttia: Tribal Kingdom in the far southern tip of Italy. Asserts influence over many of the nearby Greek cities and as such is the main safeguard against any Syracusan expansion in the region.
• Croton: Old Greek city state maintaining a precarious independence from the Bruttia. In a defensive league with Metapontum and Herakleia.
• Metapontum: Greek city state on the Tarentine Gulf. Metapontum is in a defensive league with Herakleia and Croton.
• Hipponion: Greek city state and tributary to Bruttia, traditional rival of Croton, historically often in the Syracusan sphere of influence.
• Locri: Greek Plutocratic Republic, feudatory of Syracuse.
• Rhegium: A formerly influential city in Magna Graecia, the Plutocratic Republic of Rhegium is a feudatory of Syracuse.
• Thuria: Small and weak Greek City state with a very diverse greek population. Tributary to Bruttia.
• Herakleia: Small Greek City state surrounded by Tarentum and Lucania. Herakleia is currently in a defensive league with Metapontum and Croton but is likely to reorient itself towards one of its larger neighbors.

Northern Italy & Gallia Cisalpina

In 304 BC the northern Italian basin is dominated by Celtic, Lepontic, tribes. Many among these tribes migrated into the area at the beginning of the century; a moment in time quite entrenched in the Roman psyche, as the tribesmen reached as far south as the city of Rome itself, sacking it, in what would be remembered as the Gallic disaster.

Apart from occasional raids and mercenary bands, however, this region is not as integrated with Central and Southern Italy. To most states in this region the growing Roman state is not yet seen as a threat.

Starting Countries:

• Boii: Tribal kingdom centered around the location of the modern city of Bologna. Like many other tribes they are said to have migrated into Italy across the alps, but their exact origin is unknown.
• Veneti: An Italic people with celtic influences occupying roughly the same location as the modern Veneto region in north eastern Italy.
• Lingones: Small tribe from Gaul that has settled in the Po river delta.
• Cenomanni: Tribal Kingdom along the Ph River.
• Insubria: Celtic tribe in the region around the modern city of Milan. The largest of the Lepontic populations. Enemies of the Taurini.
• Taurinia: Celtic tribal state on the slopes of the western alps. Enemies of the Insubres.
• Senonii: Small Celtic tribe from Gaul. Responsible for raiding Latium and Etruria as well as the sacking of Rome, and the continued fear of Celtic raids among the Romans.
• Friniati: Mountainous tribal kingdom in the northern Apennines on the border between Etruria and the Boi.
• Genuates: Tribal kingdom on the inhospitable Ligurian coast. Guards one of the routes into Italy, but considered by many to be harder to traverse than using the Alpine passes.

That was all for today. Hopefully you have enjoyed this diary about the setup at the start of the game. Next week I will talk a bit about the Greek world and of the Greek Military Traditions.


EDIT: To clarify a Starting country is one you can select at start. There are no countries on the map that are not playable.

 

[fantadomat]

Is it me or the colours look very strange and unnatural?

 

[M. AQVILA]

B O I

 

[Agame]

Is it me or the colours look very strange and unnatural?

Yea they do look strange, kind of fluro and pastel combination, dunno what the hell they are thinking. CK2 has very nice palette.

 

[Deflowerer]

Cant remember the name but there was an old budget strategy game, I think about the persian wars where you set up your army in rts view and then your army and enemy army just march straight at each other and fight and you had no control. It kind of worked as thats how most ancient battles were fought, the key was the setup and deployment as a general would not have a lot of control after battle was joined, or often led from the front eg. Alexander.

You are talking about Slitherine's Legion / Chariots of War / Spartan(?) games.

 

[RNGsus]

B O I

That was the first word that jumped out at me. Excuse me while I open my wrists in the bath.