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Author |
File Description |
Peter Gareis (Pictus_Yam) |
Posted on 01/06/99 @ 12:00 AM
File Details |
Difficulty: |
Moderate |
This recreates the Roman response to the rebellions in Judea between 69 and 73 CE. The player is the outnumbered Romans fighting against four disorganized Judean factions. The layout of Jerusalem and of Masada are based on history, as is the general make up of the Roman army. You begin in Iron age with an army, but with limited resources in a desert without friendly natives. If you enjoy economics/logistics with combat, you may enjoy this. I am learning about altering ai and per files, so I hope other completed scenarios will contain them. Look for companion sieges of Carthage, Troy, Alesia, and Syracuse. Multiplayer also : ; ; ; Yes |
Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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OldGrex |
Posted on 11/30/-1 @ 12:00 AM
Very fine scenario, IMHO. Quite hard. Good intro map, story & instructions. Terrific towns & resource distribution on a reasonably accurate terrain map - take a gander at the fabled Masada stronghold, it's special. You, as Romans, must attack Jerusalem & Masada to capture 3 relics & destroy 2 key buildings, while keeping your leader alive. You start with about 50 guys, among whom are 30 Legions, 6 Horse Archers & 2 Priests you can't replace. Use them wisely!! Resource management is crucial - they're scarce & you have to fight for them sometimes, and you need a lot 'cause of the casualties you'll take. Taking Masada is almost too hard - a one-tile-wide ramp about 25 tiles long is the only way in, and the Zealots are very strong. This one is a real challenge, and very well done. Try it. |
rakovsky |
Posted on 10/06/18 @ 11:55 AM
Playability: 5
Very good. I played it on Gameranger with a friend. On Gameranger if you want to play as Players 3-5 with the resources and certain other settings that the Designer assigned, your friend has to kick you from the lobby, make Player 2 the Computer, and you have to return. You also are supposed to set Romans as Player 1, Babylonians as Players 2-4, and Sumerians as Player 5 in the Multiplayer Staging Screen- otherwise the Multiplayer Engine assigns other random civilizations.
Balance: 4
Sieging the hill is very tough, especially with the towers being strong. But otherwise on Single Player it's more like a puzzle than a competition.
My guess is that if there are 5 Human Players, and they are all of equal ability and all know the map well, then the Judean players would be stronger as a team because it would be a 1 v 4 match, although the Judean Players each have major handicaps, like the Pharisees not being able to make buildings and there being practically no resources in the red Masada base. Plus, it's a big map so that the Pharisees could hit the Romans hard in the early stages wiping out most of the Roman forces and then the Essenes and Masada (Red) can make buildings to build up their forces. Pharisees can make a few good units but since they can't make Storage pits or Town Centers, they are very limited beyond being a fixed force with a big base.
But since it is a siege map, I think that this balancing arrangement can be legitimate even if it has a lopsided balance. You could make a strong Human player the Romans and have him play 4 weak or average Human gamers. The major handicaps on the Judean Players make it somewhat balanced despite their greater numbers.
It seems hard making a big "non-fixed force" siege map balanced for multiplayer, because ROR is designed as a "Build and Destroy" game, whereas in a siege scenario, only one side is building and the other side has an already built base that it needs to defend. It creates a situation of a war of attrition against the Defenders who don't have much resources to continue to defend against attackers who do have resources and who can continue to build forces.
Creativity: 5
Very creative. Nice with the Essenes.
Map Design: 4
The towers are tedious and tricky.
Story/Instructions: 5
Very good and historic.
It was a little funny when I won as the Pharisees in Multiplayer and it gave me a Victory Screen for the Romans. I guess it would have been better to say something in the Victory Screen like "What Historically happened was..." That way if you won as the Pharisees then it wouldn't be as direct a contradiction.
Additional Comments:
I beat it in Single Player as Rome. The Red Masada fort can be assault in two ways. There is a narrow ramp that starts on the south side of that fort and there is a wider one on the west side. The path on the west side ends in a red wall and a red tower. Since the Essenes start the weakest and have base building options, I found it best to attack them first, going along the SE edge of the map northward.
If you were playing in MULTIPLAYER as the Romans, I suppose that you would want to control the southern and western entrances to Masada first while attacking the Essenes. That would prevent Masada and the Essenes from building up forces over time as you explore the map. Masada (Red) does have at least 2 Storage Pits and some villagers on their western side outside their fort. They can't really get resources inside their base.
In MULTIPLAYER, while playing as the Pharisees and then as the Essenes and setting the Computer players to Easy and Easiest respectively, I beat a friend (Ryan) who was new to the game (his third or fourth time playing ROR) and who was playing as Rome.
The PHARISEES have only a few buildings allowed for construction, like towers, houses, farms, walls, and docks. They start with a storage pit that is between their base (Jerusalem) and the Roman starting point. So in multiplayer, as the Pharisees I attacked with most of my forces early on, since otherwise it would be like a war of attrition. And since I knew unit tactics better, I was able to fight the Romans using my starting forces, as well as making upgrades like the fighting one in the Storage Pit. Meanwhile, my human opponent hardly built a base for himself.
As the ESSENES, I won by slowing down my Roman (friend) Human opponent on the east edge with walls and towers and then as he besieged them, I sent my few villagers along the edges of the map counterclockwise. Eventually he took out all my bases, but I set up a new one in the far left corner that was semi-protected by the Yellow Pharisee base. He gradually wore down his own forces fighting me and exploring the map and gave up.
I doubt that I would have won as those teams playing 1 v. 1 against an average Human player as Rome even with the 3 AI allies' help because Rome is so much stronger than them. But who knows, I guess if the AIs were set to the Hardest setting and he didn't know the map, I would have had a chance, especially as the Essenes.[Edited on 09/26/20 @ 10:10 AM]
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HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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4.5 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 5.0 | Balance | 4.0 | Creativity | 5.0 | Map Design | 4.0 | Story/Instructions | 4.5 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 741 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 218.00 Bytes |
Added: | 01/06/99 |
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