Septimius Severus scenario

[Blind Sniper]

I'm playing this scenario as MP game (Clodius side) and Rome fallen to Septimius Severus.

Now immediately every region switch to him included cities under siege (wait guys, you cannot attack me anymore because now I'm red, no more violet, go home!!!) and given that I don't have enough EPs I'm not able to declare war to him and I have to wait several months to collect enough points (30!)...

Also he gained a wonderful NM increment, VPs and surely his ecomony will be growth as well, given that in this scenario Septimius Severus will be the player that will take Rome first it seems a big advantage...any thought about that? (Only MP game no vs AI )

Thanks

[El Nino]

Yes, it's totally historical.

After the fall of Didius Julianus, all Italia become Severus controlled. It's factual. We know that it's more easy for Septimius, but we can not change the true !

[Blind Sniper]

Uhm...are you saying if someone take Rome on 20th day of the month then immediately all the world know it?
Moreover given that I need 30 EP I cannot declare a war against the Rome usurper until reach this amount (worst case 10 months), I have some doubt about that...

Anhow my main coincern is another, I want a balanced game not a historical simulation, therefore I'm asking to other players that are played this scenario as MP game what is their feedback.

[El Nino]

In fact, the italian campagn of Septimus Severus in Italia was very quick. We would recreate that situation. The scenario is based on the pretenders, and if Septimius Severus is killed, it's finish for his faction !

For the balanced game, I understand. We want to have a balanced game too, but with the must real impact of History, so perhaps 30 PE is too expansive for Clodius to declare war ?

[ganderson1]

Why play a game that simulates history if you don't want a historical simulation? If you want a balanced game, I recommend checkers.

[Blind Sniper]

For the balanced game, I understand. We want to have a balanced game too, but with the must real impact of History, so perhaps 30 PE is too expansive for Clodius to declare war ?

About the balance I still don't know therefore I'm asking to the other players, anyhow if I see my NM and the Severus one is impressive the difference (97 vs 170+).
Are 30 EP too expensive? Again I don't know but would be nice let me go in the negative status, still no possible spent points in other actions but I can attack my enemy at least (and the most important one given that now he rules Rome).
My opponent of course don't want to declare war to me, no wise at all open another front and in this way he can attack Rome without problem, therefore I have to do it spending a lot of EPs that need for other things.
Moreover initially I remember that war declaration was 10 EP not 30, maybe has been corrected after the first beta patch or simply bad recall.

Why play a game that simulates history if you don't want a historical simulation? If you want a balanced game, I recommend checkers.

Sorry but I don't understand your point, yes playing a PBEM I'd like to have a balanced game or something close, i.e. playing ACW the USA is the favorite side (of course) but the game is still totally playable and the challenge is not take New York as CSA but delay the USA advance.

[Speedy]

I am also playing this scenario in a PBEM as Clodius and I believe there are enough EP's for Clodius. The only issue someone might have is if they spent all their EP on actions to raise mercenary barbarian forces, this is something I personally held off on doing always making sure I had enough EP available to declare myself Imperator if required. In the end the AI Severus declared war on me so I didn't need it.

[geoffreyg]

I am playing this scenario vs the AI (slightly in advance of a PBEM) and the main point I disagree with is Severus getting a 75 addition to his NM for capturing Roma.
Surely a 25 addition would be more sensible and historical.

[Highlandcharge]

I am playing Clodius in a pbem, thing is I knew if I captured Rome I was going to declare myself Emperor so I saved my EP's.....

You are correct about the capture of Rome, maybe 75MN is a bit excessive....

[Vadim]

I am playing it on PBEM and, as Goeffrey said, 75 NM is a lot, even if Niger's army is larger at the beginning the difference between both side doesn t match 75NM. Capturing Rome should of course lead to a NM boost and denarii , but 25 sounds more reasonable.

By itself, a + 75 has a too big impact on the battlefield, and now that Clodius can t jump in early in the game it unbalances the scenari a bit too much.

[Darksky]

I'm playing that scenario as Septimus. What i understand until now is that NM influences only max coehsion for each unit and cohesion recovery speed. Impact on coehsion recovery is a simple consequence of having an higher MAXIMUM cohesion. If you don't boost also coehsion recovery then increasing only the MAX cohesion value transform this bonus in a malus because a lot of calculations, excpecially in battle, are influeced by the ration Current Cohesion / Max Coehsion. So, the main bonus i see with higher NM is boost to max cohesion value.


Due to the fact that cohesion losses in game are not in % but are fixed values (for fixed i mean not depending from the max value but still variable in a range), an higher max coehsion is useful to:

• minimize impact of coehsion spent in attacking (very minimal)
• minimize impact cohesion loss suffered under attack (medium)
• minimize impact of cohesion losses due to movements. In other words, your unit is more (a lot ? few? i dunno) mobile and can move relatively far without reaching in exausted mode a region where it will fight.

When i say "minimize" i means that the percentage Current cohesion / Max Cohesion goes down slower than enemy one but still goes down.

The main matter is that who conquers Rome is very near to the treshold of 170NM that states the end of match. Who conquers Rome has to continue to fight and battle until the end in order to deserve his conquest so this treshold should be increased.
At the same time who conquers Rome automatically has to fight against 2 enemies in 2 quite far theaters (you got "the treaaaasure, my treaaasure", now all want your treasure with all their forces), plus internal ones that sometimes force you to deploy entire legions in theaters not interested in the main fights. This means that the key factor for him is the MOBILITY without sacrifing a lot combat readiness. Making Italy your fortress is a no-no because you will permit to your enemies to assault you in force and maybe together. You need to continue to mantain initiative, on both fronts.

Anyway I still don't played a lot this scenario, those above are thinking of a newbie, so i can't say what should be the right NM bonus. Maybe +75 is to much, expecially for factions that start with NM higher than 90 but at the same time +25NM could be not enough to survive to the wolfpack assault.