Rome Total War- Battle strategies

[Mythos_Ruler]

*I'd like to see smarter enemies (when they run from the battlefield sometimes they will just run straight into your troops)
*The ability to chose whether you want to surrender in a ceasefire, or if you are calling for the enemy surrender.
*more choices of mercenaries
* Fix the glitch where when you get your men in formation, then tell them to march they sometimes get into a new stupid formation.
*have cavalry switch to using swords after the first charge.
*not let the legionaries carry so many pillums (pillii?)
*allow you to decide whether you want your legionaries to throw a pilum before charging, or to just charge.
*When ramming the walls, dont let the soldiers look stiff as sticks just sliding back and forth with the ram
*let some of the fleeing enemies be able to stop and fight small bands of your troops (plowing down thousands of infantry with 20 horses doesnt make much sense)
* One bireme being able to carry an army makes no sense. limit how many troops one ship can carry.
*somehow making the battles on a scale more comparable to those of reality would be nice, but difficult.
*more accurate armor and stuff
*no more larger that life trees.
*more realistic diplomacy (if they have one city left that is surrounded by way more massive armies, they should surrender...)
*LET US PLAY ALL FACTIONS!!!!!

-Nihonius

Jared, you should really try Rome:Total Realism (Platinum Edition 1.9) or Europa Barbarum.

Here, I'll compile all out ideas together:

- Forts: 2 types, a) Army Camps, which are temporary, similar to the existing forts, but with the ability to man the walls and such for proper defense during battles, and b) Stone/Permanent forts that give some kind of territorial bonus. Perhaps "Permanent" forts can train additional troops, but require +1 turn to train and still reduce the local population.

- Attrition: An army should lose soldiers if stationary in desert terrain over too many turns. Perhaps building a fort reduces this affect.

- Supply lines and River crossings: Perhaps this can be something like Attrition. Armies too far from home territory start to lose soldiers. To prevent this, build supply depots while in enemy territory. These depots are like temporary "miniforts" and can be raided/taken over by the enemy if you are not careful. Add in the ability to build bridges (perhaps some factions can build "permanent" stone bridges" while others can only build temporary bridges that only last for 10 turns or so).

- Better AI and Diplomacy: Sea raids and invasions should be more frequent and more menacing. Diplomacy should feel more realistic. Add in hostages (Philip II comes to mind) and marrying off daughters to seal alliances. More intrigue. AI uses forts more often. AI also occasionally razes cities they capture from you. Maybe make that a family member trait, like "Callousness: +50% chance he will raze conquered cities." Alliances are more durable. A faction should be more open to peace if they are beaten too many times on the battlefield. Add "surrender" options to units on the battlefield and for factions in diplomacy. Perhaps make defeat more devastating in order for "surrender" to be a viable option.

- Unit AI on the battle map: Routing units should fight back at least a little bit when pursuing enemy units are too small in number. Routing enemy units shouldn't be stupid and run right into your lines.

- Mercenaries: Look at the mod Rome:Total Realism for a much improved area of recruitment system for mercs. Make a larger variety of mercs. Make mercenaries possibly revolt if the player's treasury is in the red for too many turns (this could be cool or annoying, so make it a toggle option in the pre-game menu).

- Cities and Populations: Make it possible to raze city walls. Perhaps give the ability to found new cities as colonies. These new cities would have a +100 loyalty bonus for 10 turns, then gradually reduce 10% per turn. Make a cheap "colonist" unit that allows the player to shift population from one city to another. Colonists cannot fight on the battle map and are easy to destroy if ambushed by enemy armies. Give a larger culture bonus/penalty to un-colonized cities.

- Navy and Ships: Sea battles should be playable on the battle map, with ramming, fire arrows, boarding, etc. There should be different kinds of ships with different functions and abilities, rather than just upgraded versions of the next one down, as currently in RTW. The number of garrisonable army units for transport should depend on the number of ships or number of units of ships in a fleet (perhaps 1 army unit card per 1 ship unit card).

- Army and Soldiers: Units should be more varied and historical. Be as accurate as possible in their graphical depiction. Give options for a step above "Huge" unit sizes, for a more realistic looking experience.

- Campaign and Factions: Unlock all factions after defeating the game with the Romans on Medium difficulty. In addition to the "standard" campaign breadth, give the option for an "expanded" historical campaign, that lasts from 500BC to AD500, which includes emerging factions, historically scripted events and characters, and multiple eras of units and technology. So for Rome, the player would progress from the old "Hoplite" army era, to the Camilan era, to the Marian era, then to the Early Empire, and then Late Imperial eras. Let different factions truly play differently, rather than as just a variation on a theme. For instance make it possible in gameplay for one faction to exist happily in a steady-state fashion, while another faction requires continuous expansion in order to survive.

- Multiplayer: Include the ability for friends to play a multiplayer campaign that can be played out over the course of weeks or months. Add more support for guilds or clans.