Britannicus, a Legion Arena Mod

[tex]

Finished the Brits campaign, cool!!!

Do i gather it only works on the hard setting?



I had a good look around the various directories and cannot find a readme.txt file anywhere from LegionArena down through its sub-directories.

[miki]

Nero is dead and Britannicus have restored the Republic now...

Very well done, nice and funny campaign. Thanks a lot, Possum.

Any more campaings in mind for the future?

[Redpossum]

Tex & Miki -

Big Grats on being the first two people (other than me) to finish the campaign!

I am delighted to hear that you have both completed it, and enjoyed it

As far as the readme, I guess Slitherine omitted it when they integrated my mod into their modpack. This is not a good thing, but we are all human, and we all make mistakes.

As far as additional campaigns, yes. I am currently thinking about 2 ideas for new campaigns.

First, a Judean Revolt scenario, based on the Bar Kochba rebellion.

Second, a fictional campaign based on and inspired by Wilbur Smith's novel "The Sunbird".

As far as whether either of those will ever see daylight, only time will tell. I put a hell of a lot of hours into this Britannicus campaign, just an appalling number of hours. It is not a small committment.

Ian has suggested shorter mini-campaigns, but (with the greatest of respect for Ian) I have little enthusiasm for that idea. After all, the unit development is what makes LA so fascinating, and a short campaign just doesn't allow much scope for that.

[miki]

Hi Possum

I also prefer long campaigns. Size is that important...

I would like to encourage players to try Possums's BRIT MOD. Its as good as the original campaigns.

Thanks again for the Mod.

[tex]

A big thanks to you Possum for all the work. The limited fame on the first few battles certainly made me work a bit harder.

Is there a slight quirk in that you start with a unit that cannot actually be recruited? I seem to remember disbanding it and then finding I could not get it back.

Running through that campaign made a refreshing change from the rather soul destroying work of fighting ghosts etc. on the Very Hard level of CoM. I think I will try the BERSERKER mod before going back to that!

[anarguat]

I am a genious if I say that this mod is very funny but quite easy if you disband the 4 original troup to buy just one : the veteran.

With only them (and a powerful legat), we can reach the 12th level easily.

After I recruit noble heavy cavalery, and nothing can resist to this team.

They gain a max of exp?©rience, i can buy them a max of equipement ( it is easy when you don't recruit and when you have only two troups and a legat to equip)

I will tell you if it is possible to finish just with them. For the moment my fun is to win scenarios with only my veterans, without losing more than five of them !!

Anybody have try this formula ?

[Redpossum]

I am a genious if I say that this mod is very funny but quite easy if you disband the 4 original troup to buy just one : the veteran.

With only them (and a powerful legat), we can reach the 12th level easily.

After I recruit noble heavy cavalery, and nothing can resist to this team.

They gain a max of exp?©rience, i can buy them a max of equipement ( it is easy when you don't recruit and when you have only two troups and a legat to equip)

I will tell you if it is possible to finish just with them. For the moment my fun is to win scenarios with only my veterans, without losing more than five of them !!

Anybody have try this formula ?

(sigh)

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[plucero]

HI
Does your mod work with the Mac version of LA?

I've tried downloading your mod but I can't seem to load it up into LA game on my Mac. The zip file opens automatically on my desktop and I gather I have to drop it into the LA file, but nothing seems to work.
thanks all best
Patrick

[Redpossum]

Plucero

I don't remember much about macs; it's been about 15 years since I used one.

OTOH, we were just discussing this very issue in another thread, and Iain had some input, let me find that...

[plucero]

I guess the short answer is that there's not much out there for the Mac users of this fine game. No scenario editor or painless way to add on mods unless you have bbedit and know how to use it. So unless you're able to find another Mac player for online multiplayer the game has limited life to it once youy've completed all the scenarios as Roman or Celt. At least thats the way it appears so far.

All best
Patrick

[Redpossum]

Yeah, it bites
AFAIK, the answer is that no mods are playable on the Mac, because the patch is required to activate the mod menu, and the Mac version is still pre-patch.

I would, however, point out that this is (unfortunately) out of Slitherine's hands.

[IainMcNeil]

Freeverse are planning to release the patch, but not date is set for it yet.

[anarguat]

Bouh...

Possum semms to find my pleasant solution not very funny...

Have i to be ashamed of that
Or very proud

?

[Redpossum]

Oh no, it's fine. You should be proud

One thing about being a game or scenario designer is that you have to accept how gamers use your creation, even when it's nothing like the way you had envisioned them using it.

[Redpossum]

Shamelessssss Bumpage!

OMG, I'm such an attention-whore

[gwinn]

I'm obviously very late to this thread, however, I've just started playing the Britannicus mod and I've noticed an odd behaviour. In the first few scenarios I've taken care to minimise my losses so that, for example, by the end of "Bandits" I've lost 4 Velites. However, when I start the 4th scenario I immediately find that I have just 19 Velites. Is this deliberate?

Is there a particular patch level that I need to install before the mod? I'm running Legion Arena exactly as it comes off the CDs so it occurs to me that maybe the mod is expecting a later patch level.

I'd like to echo other comments here too. It's an excellent piece of work (and I've only seen the first three scenarios so far).

Best wishes,

Geoff.

[Redpossum]

I'm obviously very late to this thread, however, I've just started playing the Britannicus mod and I've noticed an odd behaviour. In the first few scenarios I've taken care to minimise my losses so that, for example, by the end of "Bandits" I've lost 4 Velites. However, when I start the 4th scenario I immediately find that I have just 19 Velites. Is this deliberate?

Is there a particular patch level that I need to install before the mod? I'm running Legion Arena exactly as it comes off the CDs so it occurs to me that maybe the mod is expecting a later patch level.

I'd like to echo other comments here too. It's an excellent piece of work (and I've only seen the first three scenarios so far).

Best wishes,

Geoff.

Geoff, hello, glad you're enjoying my mod thus far!

The odd behavior you are describing is something new to me. Replacements are supposed to be very limited in the first 4 battles, as you are in transit from Rome to Northern Britannia, but sudden changes in the number of men in a unit is not an intended effect!

The intended patch level is v1.0101

You should see this displayed at the top left of the splash screen, as the game is loading.

Might you perhaps be so kind as to send me a savegame file, (attach to PM, please, or PM me for email addy), so I can see this oddity for myself?

I am vitally interested in such issues, as I have just begun work on a new "Rise of Carthage" campaign.

Rise of Carthage is to be a more ambitious project than Britannicus. The Britannicus mod merely introduced a new campaign, with no changes to the engine whatsoever. Rise of Carthage will involve some changes to the units themselves, which then brings up the dreaded issue of balance

This means I am wrestling with aspects of the LA engine that I had previously not investigated, and results thus far are decidedly mixed

[gwinn]

possum,

Hi. Thank you for the very quick response.

I've sent you a note via PM with information about the SaveGame file.

I've tried re-fighting the first three scenarios tonight and a) I do slightly better and b) I don't see the problem of disappearing troops. So whatever it was is not easily reproduced.

I am running version V1.0101 which is also useful for me to know.

I'm intrigued by your reference to "Rise of Carthage". I'd rather assumed that Slitherine must have hired you as a scenario designer by now.

One thing I particularly like about Britannicus is how well it follows from the two standard campaigns. Having to fight with such limited resources (and replacements) is forcing me to think more about what I'm doing and how best to use different troops. In the standard scenarios I had a tendency to use heavy cavalry and infantry as a battering ram and I usually got away with it, even if it meant a lot of recruiting afterwards. On the other hand if I'd encountered this as the very first campaign I might have given up.

Anyway, if this helps you I'm happy to do whatever I can at this end.

And now to sort out the Picts ...

Best wishes,

Geoff.

[ld78]

Britannicus in Britain, a new Legion Arena Celtic campaign.,

Download the mod >here<

Install Notes

1) Point the unzip operation at your Legion Arena directory. This is usually C:\Program Files\BlackBean\LegionArena. The zipfile will create a \mod directory and the \brit directory under that.

2) Zipfile is brit_100.zip, size is about 260K, unzipped size of mod is about 3.3 megs.

Run Notes

1) Start the game. If you did the install right, you should see a screen asking you what mod to use. The two choices are "None" and "Brit".

2) Start a new campaign, choose the Celtic Campaign.


Player Notes

1. This campaign is intended for the experienced player, who has completed both of the standard campaigns in Legion Arena. This campaign is intended to be played on the middle difficulty setting ("Hard", in the english language version). This campaign is intended to be challenging. But feel free to play it any way you like. Because lower difficulty settings yield less fame, it may be the case that playing on the "Normal" difficulty setting is not really much easier, (see note #2 immediately below).

2. Fame is handled a bit differently in the early game. Most of us are accustomed to having huge excesses of fame, won in major battles witnessed by thousands, (and affecting the fates of many times that number). The initial parts of this campaign deal with obscure events off on the fringes of the empire, or hidden away from public view. Thus, the gain in fame is very small at first. Instead of accumulating a huge surplus of fame, you may find yourself doling out what little you have for much-needed replacements. This is intentional, but really only an issue for the first three scenarios, while you are en route to Britannia.

3. If the "Heal All" button is not active, but the hearts are red, it means you don't have enough fame to heal all units. You can still heal some by double-clicking on the spinning red heart of the unit you wish to heal.

4. If the hearts are black, it means you are not allowed to get replacements now. The next battle happens very soon after this one, and there simply isn't time.

5. Do not neglect the direct combat skills of your leader, or his personal equipment. To win the 7th scenario, he will probably need to have Weapons 2, a helmet, and a half-dozen combat skills. The ones with the little sword next to them are my personal favorites

6. In scenario #3, watch out for the bandit skirmishers, they may be the one dangerous enemy unit in this scenario.

7. Suggestions. My suggestion is that you keep all 4 of your starting units. The first 8 units you buy might be something like this - 1x Archers, 1x Nobles, 3x Warriors, 3x Veterans. And try to get your units to Weapons 1 and Armor 1 as you go along. Don't try to fill the roster before starting to buy equipment.


Download the mod >here<

Historical Notes

1) This is historical fiction. In actual fact, Britannicus stayed in Rome to contest the succession with Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. Lucius or his mother Agrippina murdered the Emperor Claudius, Lucius took the throne as emperor Nero, and Britannicus was murdered shortly before his 14th birthday.

2) Agrippina was known as Agrippinilla in her youth, because her mother was also named Agrippina.

3) The general period was one of great unrest and turmoil. The actual Iceni rebellion ended rather differently, but it was followed by the Batavian rebellion 7 years later, and the year after Nero finally died was known as the year of 4 emperors. So while the scenario is fiction, it is by no means impossible.

Very good But is it working in CoM (french version) ?
And you used the scenario editor for legion arena ? Because I hope to edit scenarios or mods, so I hope to have an editor for legion arena/CoM ... thank you

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tiens tu parles français aussi ?

[Redpossum]

Very good But is it working in CoM (french version) ?
And you used the scenario editor for legion arena ? Because I hope to edit scenarios or mods, so I hope to have an editor for legion arena/CoM ... thank you

pas de comentaire

tiens tu parles français aussi ?

The Britannicus mod will work with or without CoM installed. You just need to be running v1.0101

There should be no problem at all using it with your french version of LA, but of course the mod will only speak anglais.

Yes, I created this using only the publicly available Legion Arena editing tools. I spent months planning the campaign, and about 2 or 3 weeks creating it, though I should caution you that I did very little else during that time period, aside from eat, sleep, and go to work

Non, mon vieux, tres desoler. Je suis americain; je ne parle pas francais