I just won a complete victory in the Cannes scenario as Hannibal by conquering Rome. OK I know this is basically the easiest scenario for Carthage
But I wanted to know whether Maharbal was right when advising Hannibal to march on Rome just after his victory; well, I think he was!
Anyway, based on this game, I have a few suggestions (echoing some feedback already heard):
- Hannibal should have some Numidian cavalry with him in this scenario. As it is, he is ridiculously weak in cavalry.
- Some parameters should be changed in this extension to allow battles of encirclement / destruction. Maybe a trait that Hannibal alone would have at the beginning, but that Romans could get after some defeats. I understand this has major balance implications, but well a Punic war needs such battles.
- The AI should learn to defend Rome(/Carthage?) when under siege, since it determines the fate of the game. The fact that I won is mostly due to me focusing on this single operation at all costs, while Rome, even when Rome's garrison was starving, went on sending legions everywhere in Italy to counter-attack rather than to save Roma... I was expecting some major battles against my besieging army to save Rome, they never happened
On the bright side, the AI was not too bad at harassing my constantly flowing lines of impedimenta to keep the besieging army in supply. Although it was as a side effect of its own operations, it seems.