This is my first ageod game. I need help

[towerbooks3192]

Ok this is my first AGEOD game. I heard a lot of mix stuff about the engine. I bought the complete edition of AJE on steam and fired up the Ager Gallicus Scenario. I want to win as the Senones. I did manage to complete the scenario as the Romans but I want to try and oppose Rome in every opportunity I get in every scenario. I am really overwhelmed by the game and I don't know where to go. I don't know what to do. As much as the Tutorials tell me how some of the basic stuff works and the manual explains parts of the game, I feel a bit lost in looking for things to do in the game. I don't know how a combat should be fought or what I am doing is good or bad. I win and lose at times but I don't get why. I need all the help I can get.

[Remko]

Hi towerbooks,

I have played AgeOD's Rise of Prussia before, and am now getting stuck into AJE for the last few weeks - and having a great time.

You are right that some of the elements of the Ageod games can be a bit hard to understand. But IMO it is not necessary to grasp all the details in order to play and win scenarios.

My suggestion would be:

STEP1: play tutorial several times, read manual (which you have done).

STEP2: read this entertaining AAR from Narwhal, which actually has 'beginners corners' which cover the most important subjects such as combat, leadership and supply in an understandable way (although for v1.0 so slightly out of date):
(EDIT, I cannot post links, but google for +paradoxplaza +"the-hero-the-traitor-and-the-barbarian-an-aje-pbem-beginner-aar" and you will find it).

STEP3:
Play the 'Four emperors' scenario as Vespasianus (who starts in the Middle East): you are in a strong position with decent army and good income, and will get to play around with army/navy against different types of opponents. There are no real gotcha's to trip you up (but keep two legions near Parthia to avoid an invasion!).

A few basic pointers that I found useful:
- Heavy infantry seems strongest, so the starting rule is to have your field armies based around heavy infantry, with at least one cavalry unit added so you are not blind, and supply wagons for food and 10% combat bonus. Light inf is decent in bad terrain.
- Ensure that your super stacks have enough leadership to not have a command penalty (mouse over the little envelope) and the best leaders.
- Merge all leaders in thatarmy stack with individual units (eg: centurion with legion), apart from the stack leader who will be unmerged (but still in the stack of course!). He will give bonuses to each unit in the stack, while the merged leaders will give additional bonuses to their merged unit only.
- IF storms happen (% chance based on season, Winter having highest chance), then they occur in the same ~two dozen sea zones, which is signified by a cloud appearing. Any other sea zones NEVER have storms, not even in winter. So the location is not random at all, the chance is just whether a storm is triggered in that location during the coming turn (clouds refelect the last turn).
- don't move in snow if you can avoid it. You will lose readiness but also incur actual lossess.
- don't run out of supply (cooking pot completely red); your amry will melt away and fight badly.
- buying replacements for your existing units is in the ledger (F2), while buying new units with money happens via the statue in the bottom left corner. I do not know why this is split. Buying units via engagement points happens via ledger (F3).

I am more or less playing scenarios from the top, usually as every side, and haven't played 'Ager Gallicus' myself yet.
But if you have more general gameplay questions, let me know.


-von Schmidt

[JWW]

I suggest the video series here.

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?25309-Youtube-Tutorials

[H Gilmer3]

Dear Towerbooks3192. I was much the same as you. I bought the first civil War. Fire it up, played a few turn, put it down and thought, "What do I do? I don't know what to do??"

And this is natural, I think for people used to playing hex based games. In Hex based games, you build lines and you try and slug through the lines. In these games, maneuver is important and coordinating your forces in the right place, at the right time, with the right supply, cohesion, generals, etc. That can be pretty daunting.

Also, in hex based games, you lose a a big city and it is almost a disaster. Here, you can lose a big city one turn, and take it right back the next. I finally broke through with Rise of Prussia and then Civil War. I am pretty much hooked. I still get annoyed with supply mechanics, but overall, I keep coming back and plopping down my money. You just have to play a few games and see what the AI is doing then you kind of know your strategy. Sometimes it is deny him the cities, sometimes it is destroy his army. It always seems different.

[Agesilaus]

Start with the Spartacus scenario as the slave faction, I reckon. It's a very small theatre, you have very few battle groups, you don't have to defend anything if you don't want to, and you get events that let you choose your goal.

When playing AGEOD games, I always start with the small scenarios. I just find them more enjoyable, and they're a good way to learn the mechanics quickly.

AJE is my favourite AGEOD game, if only because of the theme. My favourite scenario is probably the Pyrrhic Invasion of Italy. Nothing like having elephants stomping Romans into the ground.

One thing I do dislike about this game is the siege warfare. Romans automatically get siege equipment, but hellenic armies don't. This is a major weakness because taking towns is a lot of effort. Why they lack the tools, I don't know; I'm pretty sure the Greeks had plenty of trained engineers in the time period covered by AJE. If you're camping outside a city for a few months, you definitely should get the opportunity to assault/make breaches.