Garamantian legendary campaign

[isador]

Hey guys, so i've been trying to win a campaign as the garamantians on legendary, but honestly I keep getting stuck around the same point. I almost immediately attack the romans in hopes of conquering as much of their territory as possible (starting with Leptis Magna and Sabrata to the north). But I always end up getting knifed in the back because the garamantians start so close to both the eastern roman empire and the western roman empire. The moment I turn my conquering army on one of them, my meagre defensive force gets swarmed by the other side.

My food production is so finely tuned this campaign that I can't afford to lose any settlements, so while I'm conquering the western roman empire, the eastern roman empire sends a fullstack to attack my eastern flank. If I instead start conquering towards the east, the western roman empire will eventually send a force my way to conquer my outlying settlements.

I'm kinda stuck and not sure what to do, and getting real sick of rebooting the campaign. Does anyone have any tips they can share to help a poor fellow out?

[isador]

None, they're too far away. I only really start surrounded by the romans to the north and th Gaetulians to the west. South is just impassable desert.

[Teh_Diplomat]

For Garamantia, I sent my King to capture the Gaetulian's settlment - the one with Gems to complete your hold on the province. From there you should (if you kept your trade with the WRE) should be able to afford a 2nd army.

I use the 2 armies at this point to expand and hold walled settlements. Thus your King can to go North into WRE's walled settlement North of Gaetulia; from there send your newly created army to the walled settlement North of your capital.

At this point, the ERE usually send stacks to your Capital, but by this point, you should have used those few turns to contruct an army for defense of your capital.

[Hat8]

Fortify near Libya and fight a defensive war against the Byzantines.

Focus on the west. Defeating the west will make you friends with the rest of the barbarian world and allow you to later focus entirely on the East.

[Politruk]

as mentioned beforehead, build up your posisiton a bit, conquer neighboring berber tribes of Gaetulians and Maurians, build second army, kick WRE out of Africa, by that time they should have enough troubles with germanic tribes and rebelions, and fortify yourself in Garama, wait and let ERE to loose its troops to desert attrition on their way to you

[isador]

Alright, this sounds like great advice. A quick question: I have immense trouble maintaining public order in that first province. Even with a governer in that first rank of the offices (for a +5 public order bonus) i find myself being forced to replace the Bazaar in your capital with a Courthouse just to maintain public order, which severely impacts my economy. Then once I conquer my neighbours to the west, I actually tear down their farms for one of those religious structures. This all makes my economy cry...

But not as much as a rebellion taking my outlying towns.

[Teh_Diplomat]

Recruit a spy on turn one, then select the market for deconstruction; You'll still have a way to scout ahead for danger, and addtional funds can be used to ensure you don't go broke. Pick up a few mercenaries, lest they are picked up by the Gaetulians.

Construct a Hamam in the capital, and you can use you're newly conquered Gaetulian lands to hold a camel farm.

Once you conquer the Gaetulians - Preferably within 2-3 turns of the campaign (also make sure you get the better mercs, they tend to buy them within the province as well.) you'll want to wait perhaps 3 turns for public order to subside.


And, if you still have your trade agreement with the WRE, then see about getting one from the ERE for a few turns, as a result of building a relationship with their allies. This opportunity diminishes, depending on their faction leader's traits, and your overall relationship.



Ultimately your capital should be (Mid-game) developing towards maximum economics, as you'll want Aegyptus, and Mauretania to be your recruitment center.

Egpyt and Africa's province will be your bread basket /food stores; but, maintain adequate local food supply everywhere else (Aethiopia, Mauritania, Sahara, Tripolitania, and Libya). Use fishing jetties when necessary, but ensure you've accounted for the -2 Sanitation & -2 Public Order that they bring with them.


Garamantia has the added bonus of +15 melee attack in the desert, this allows your infantry to hold and cut the lines of your enemies.

You also get very quick (within 3 turns) access to Armoured Camel Warriors. As such, armies should reflect this by have at least four camels - up to six, if you can afford the upkeep.

From there, 4 Desert Shields for counter-cavalry, a collection of Mercenary Legionary Defectors, and bows/hurlers (in campaign I usually go 3 Archers/1 Slinger).

Slingers have the added bonus of applying a -25% speed reduction on cavalry. Combine this with the low armour, and in the case of Tier 1 light cav, low HP, slingers can prove quite devastating, even for unarmored camels, as their speed of 73 is cut down to the high-50's.