No Hoplites for Sparta?

A mix of deep gameplay and rich historical flavor, Aggressors: Ancient Rome lets you relive history as the ruler of one of the mighty civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean. Choose one of twenty available factions and conquer the world.
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PDiFolco
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No Hoplites for Sparta?

Post by PDiFolco »

Well, just got the game, I still s*ck at it ...
Playing Sparta I don't understand why I can't build any hoplites ? It was only possible in the Cretan city, that I lost to Athens (but I took Athens and Delphi from them!).
Fighting Rome with Peltasts is a bleak prospect...
pavelk
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Re: No Hoplites for Sparta?

Post by pavelk »

Hello PDiFolco,
welcome to the forum and thank you for purchase!:)

Playing Sparta as a first faction is very bold decision especially when you play on normal or higher difficulty (where all the features are already turned on). I would really recommend to play one of the "Big three" and also go through (At least) simple tutorial. But it is your game, so if you decide to stay with Sparta, have fun!:)

The possibility to build hoplite on Crete only at the beginning was actually a design decision. We wanted to add strategic importance to Crete so player will really try to not lose it. You can eventually start building Hoplites in any other city, but you need to get to that technology.
PDiFolco
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Re: No Hoplites for Sparta?

Post by PDiFolco »

pavelk wrote: Thu Aug 15, 2019 9:10 pm Hello PDiFolco,
welcome to the forum and thank you for purchase!:)

Playing Sparta as a first faction is very bold decision especially when you play on normal or higher difficulty (where all the features are already turned on). I would really recommend to play one of the "Big three" and also go through (At least) simple tutorial. But it is your game, so if you decide to stay with Sparta, have fun!:)

The possibility to build hoplite on Crete only at the beginning was actually a design decision. We wanted to add strategic importance to Crete so player will really try to not lose it. You can eventually start building Hoplites in any other city, but you need to get to that technology.
Thanks Pavel for the ultraquick answer !
I prefer to start small, but don't think I'll win, I've lost in 25 turns with Iberic Celts already :)
It's a bit weird to deny Sparta its iconic hoplites, and put them in Crete which is known for its light skirmishers, but well it's your game !
pavelk
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Re: No Hoplites for Sparta?

Post by pavelk »

There were number of reasons why we decided to do it this way:
  • Like I said we wanted to emphasise the importance of Crete and in general the whole "islands" culture.
  • Because of you need to transport your units back and forth from Crete, you are "busy" even in the beginning of the game, which makes it more fun (otherwise you would just need to wait many turns till you prepare your economy for further expansion).
  • From the beginning Sparta has a boat which should help you with units transportation. It should also "simulate" the need for vessels in Ancient Greece.
  • One of the Sparta's initial objective is to improve its existing peltasts to hoplites. It is one of the first things to do (you get a reward for that), so you cn simply transport them to Crete, upgrade and possibly transport back.
We were streaming our Sparta gameplay here, so if you are interested, have a look.
PDiFolco
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Re: No Hoplites for Sparta?

Post by PDiFolco »

Well didn't get nowhere with Sparta, my boat get sunk in 1 attack ...
Not much chance with Massilia neither, gobbled by Rome.
Indeed small nations have no chance, you get steamrolled by the big league whatever you do, even if you have the highest attitude and alliances with them they attack you a couple turns later, and then always refuse peace !
Plus Romans have unbalanced units that whack anything you can throw at them.
A bit disappointed, it's unfair...
pavelk
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Re: No Hoplites for Sparta?

Post by pavelk »

You can dock your boat in any coastal town which make it safe.
All the factions in game were tested on normal difficulty if player can win with them and it is possible.

You should also train your units with improvements and take advantage of terrain which is in favour of your army type.
PDiFolco
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Re: No Hoplites for Sparta?

Post by PDiFolco »

pavelk wrote: Fri Aug 16, 2019 4:15 pm You can dock your boat in any coastal town which make it safe.
All the factions in game were tested on normal difficulty if player can win with them and it is possible.

You should also train your units with improvements and take advantage of terrain which is in favour of your army type.
Ok... maybe I s*ck, but Massilia got celtic type warriors (they should get hellenic type troops...), put 3 of them fortified in a city and they still fall to a couple legions from my warmest former Rome ally!
No idea of what I could do better.
pavelk
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Re: No Hoplites for Sparta?

Post by pavelk »

Massilia is the only nation which is able to build greek army type and "barbarian" army type from the beginning. They used to hire mercenaries from north.
I probably cannot give you any advice on particular situation but I would really advice to start easy with a bit more powerful faction. Once you get familiar with all the mechanics, you can try a bit more difficult faction.
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Re: No Hoplites for Sparta?

Post by n0kn0k »

Use the terrain along with the proper army type. Fortify there. If they declare war. Wait there for them. Inside cities is also good.
Use trade to improve diplomatic relations. Even gift them stuff if needed. Use a morale booster vs their troops through the diplomacy screen.
But remember, you can't win all wars. Sometimes you just have bad luck.
I agree smaller countries are tougher. Try germanic nomadic tribes if you want to see a tough game. Those made me cry, and I've beaten the game on Legendary with Rome. :(
My advice would be to play on noob level the first time, the enemy is less aggressive then, but activate all the games features.
If you play with Rome, you get a fun game, and get a hang of how the game works.
After that try some other smaller power. And increase the difficulty level when needed.
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Re: No Hoplites for Sparta?

Post by Morbio »

With experience, the right tactics and luck it is possible to win with any country even on the hardest levels. I found it about 50-50 whether I'd win with a small country on the hardest levels (this is the luck element). The main things I can recommend are;
- Play Defensively: units are relatively expensive to replace in the arly game and some initial units can't be replaced until the technology is developed, so it is important to put them on or near key cities and resources and fortify them in favourable terrain. Let the enemy lose units fighting against the odds. Heal units ASAP and as their experience grows the harder they are to defeat.
- Trade is key: make friends and trade ASAP. Generally you can soon negotiate biased trade deals giving 1 item and gaining 2 or 3, often you can negotiate new deals to trade back the same items imported to get effectively free resources.
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Re: No Hoplites for Sparta?

Post by lordhoff »

pavelk wrote: Fri Aug 16, 2019 6:06 am There were number of reasons why we decided to do it this way:
  • Like I said we wanted to emphasise the importance of Crete and in general the whole "islands" culture.
  • Because of you need to transport your units back and forth from Crete, you are "busy" even in the beginning of the game, which makes it more fun (otherwise you would just need to wait many turns till you prepare your economy for further expansion).
  • From the beginning Sparta has a boat which should help you with units transportation. It should also "simulate" the need for vessels in Ancient Greece.
  • One of the Sparta's initial objective is to improve its existing peltasts to hoplites. It is one of the first things to do (you get a reward for that), so you cn simply transport them to Crete, upgrade and possibly transport back.
We were streaming our Sparta gameplay here, so if you are interested, have a look.
Egads! All the times I played Sparta, I never thought to upgrade the peltists to hoplites in Crete!

Another bit of advise (actually, too late since it sounds like you are at war with Athens): Athens tends to end the "homeland movement" treaty rather abruptly and early - I wouldn't move any units into Athens.
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