Any good guides for Hannibal at the Gates?

[Stevonian]

I've looked and haven't found any written guides. I just finished my first regular campaign, and am now trying out Hannibal as the Rome faction. It seems a bit trickier and I'd like to see what others have written about it.

Any ideas?

[Rognomli]

It's not that much trickier.Also the fact that turns only represent either 1 month or 2 months I don't really remember how much it is on Hannibal at the Gates.Your generals and agents won't die of old age.Just get 1 stack and put 1 Champion to train them from the beginning.Try not to loose that army.and it will grow and and become elite.Nothing more I can say it's rather easy to be honest.

[Stevonian]

I understand the similarity between the regular campaign and Hannibal. For me the difficulty is in the starting situation. I start off with a weak and fragmented Rome and many potential allies, but alliances that are fragile and that have disagreements between each other. The starting economic situation isn't too great either. Between attacks from other countries (as well as back stabs from aliies) I saw several amphibious assaults from Carthage.

At no time was I able to have a full stack army, and my navy was attacked and sunk early. I did manage to take several provinces, but my armies dwindled from the battles and I was under constant counter-atttack. I could fill my armies with mercinaries, but the upkeep costs would strain my already fragile economy.

I focused much of my research on the diplomatic research to try and hold my alliances together with mixed results.

At any rate I enjoyed the game but found my situation worsening to the point that I decided I should start over with a fresh perspective on strategy. My regular campaign (also with Rome) against the entire known world went much, much more smoothly.

: )

[dyne2alex]

well you can start by taking genua annd maybe vercellae since you'll have mission for genua anyways. If you disband mercs, you'll have about 4k income. You can try gathering your land forces at pisae including the army you start off with in the water, and bring your navy to lilybaeum to train some cheap autobalance fodder ships. You can also put one defensive triarii general at karalis in case carthages tries to naval attack that area, and if they move their navy past karalis, you'll have time to respond with yyour own navy. Meanwhile using that 4k income to build a decent army while getting infrastructure for economy. From there on, it's kind of personal preference.

imo trying to focus on allies is kinda pointless since they're mostly cannonfodder anyways. Oh, and keep track of which "allies" hate or like you. For example, if one of your friendly allies decares war on boii, an unfriendly ally, just stick with your friendlier ally.

[DDCP]

Hi Stevonian!

I'm a much slower, "historical" player, in that I often try and use diplomacy, espionage, and strategy than bull rushing through with armies as quickly as I can build. I play on Normal for battle & campaign.

I am loving Hannibal at the Gates... I'm currently 63 turns played, so about 5 years in (213BC). This campaign is still long as heck, as it spans 218 - 202BC (2nd Punic War), so you can (and should in my opinion) take your time.

For me, I relied heavily on 3 points:

1. Greek Allies: Massilia & Syracuse were vital allies I needed to keep to "hold the front" for me at times. I quickly secured pacts, trade, gifts, and helped in their wars so that Carthage couldn't sway them. Syracuse in particular helped in disrupting Carthage's economy by taking settlements on the Numidian coast... they needed help badly with only one 20-unit army, but me being Rome I saw an opportunity in letting them simply disrupt them for a few years while I built up strength to eventually take the land myself. :^)

2. Subdue the Barbarians: The north is perilous; moreso than your Italian allies, even though the Samnites show "treacherous" in their diplomacy, after one Italian diplomacy mission (in the tech tree), the Samnites & Etruscans were (and are) quite loyal to the point where I can squeeze 500 denarii gifts from them every turn or so. They have largly remained out of the conflicts for me, but the Etruscans can help in the north. Speaking of which (and back to the point), that was the biggest key for me economically. With marble, iron, & lead, taking control of Gallia Cisalpina & Gallia Transalpina (save for Massilia), I was well secure to raise 4-5 legions en masse & being focused on the real enemy.

3. Iberia: As the official wiki (and history) very heavily hints at, Hannibal is programmed to try and make his way north from Saguntum through Gallia Transalpina, and into northern Italy. Knowing this, I took a gamble and left 1 legion, and 1 classis (navy) in Sicily to defend my south... very risky I know, but with Syracuse keeping Carthage & Libya busy, I was never invaded or even attacked much worse than Carthage ships passing near.
This enabled me to send a few legions into Gallia Transalpina and help Emporium (another key Greek ally)... with their large city holding, we beat back Carthage and I eventually made my way south into Nova Carthago. To be honest, in my campaign the Spanish peninsula is largely a mess... while I am in good relations with quite a few tribes, and even have one client state near Emporium, there is in-fighting and client states at risk of being overrun. However that is something I'd rather deal with down the line than Carthage domination (or subjugation) of the peninsula.

After that... the knockout blow. I transfered 4 legions from Iberia / Gallia Transalpina into Sicily, and invaded Carthage itself. Unfortunately Hannibal didn't make it in time for an epic clash like in history, but with Carthage, Africa, and northern Tripolitania under my yoke, economicaly & militarily the war is over for them. It was long, at times perilous, and a bit nerve racking (at the thought of Libya or Carthage hitting Sicily), but the gamble paid off...

I'm still heavily engaged in Nova Carthago, where a siege of my city was just lifted thanks to a legion by sea landing... and Carthage brought up reserve armies in Gades & Mauretania. Still a potent force, but dying slowly.. I'm trying to get Libya to sue for peace, albeit under my terns that they break their client state agreement to Carthage.

Anyway... hope this helps! I'm attaching a few map pictures to help illustrate my current positions.

Best of luck,
DDCP

[img] http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/38609435455055778/475115E87E0C37601D9E5D8824C7D35CAC1C5FC9/ [/img]

[img] http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/38609435455056418/9B25D9550C4829EC08AB98CA0C2A3AC8B0146178/ [/img]

[Stevonian]

Awesome advice guys; thanks so much! I'll be trying these points out right away.

[Stevonian]

Started early this morning with everyone's advise and the game is going GREAT. Everyone in and above Italy likes me, as does everyone in Spain. I just ambush Hannibal's army going up the eastern Spanish coast and killed him. Income is around 10,000 per turn (taxes on lowest) and happiness everywhere. I'm running five legions (no navy) and moving towards modern day Gibralter.

Very much appreciate the advise on how to get started.

: )