Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2021 16:26:00 GMT
Basically, i'll be evaluating Punic wars, Caesar time, Augustus time, and Han conquests based on difficulty and how fun the conquest time periods are. Do note that my perception is a bit skewed as i'm a bit experienced on conquests, so i find them all not that difficult. So i'll evaluate them based on from a new to mid game player's perspective(basically 2-6 generals, not fully upgraded senate). You may find them easier or harder depending on your experiences in ET games, or strategy games in general. I'll also add the difficulty and fun based on the perspective of someone who wants to speedrun them, and if you want to break some records(the criteria is for the current records, they all become difficult as they become more optimized). The last conquest will be added when the update for it arrives. And if you're wondering what the difference of speedrun and breaking records is, speedrun is just quickly beating the conquest, while breaking records is having a lower turn count.
1. Punic wars
Normal run
Difficulty: 2/10
Enjoyment: 7/10
Speedrun
Difficulty: 2/10
Enjoyment: 6/10
Breaking records
Difficulty:8/10
Enjoyment: 7/10
> Punic wars, being the first conquest, is pretty easy. Enemies spawn reinforcements less, much easier to take cities due to being unprotected often, no bs general spawn from the enemy. Basically the tutorial for conquests. You can do nothing and just give your allies financial support and you'd win most of the time. For speedrunning it, same story but you're just doing it faster, therefore more fun. For breaking records tho, this is where it gets difficult. Due to being really simple, the fastest way to break records are pretty much set in stone, so you're basically just going to be relying on general upgrades and more luck. The one star and 3 star records currently are hard to beat, and i'll call you god if you beat the 3 star record by 1 turn. Becomes frustrating after a while, but still fun due to how less rng reliant it is compared to the other conquests.
2. Caesar Time
Normal run
Difficulty: 9/10
Enjoyment: 3/10
Speedrun
Difficulty: 10/10
Enjoyment: 2/10
Breaking records
Difficulty:8/10
Enjoyment: 1/10
The jump in difficulty from Punic wars is quite sudden. Most nations are given basic units with only 1 elite unit, so you either restrict general deployment early or deploy them on suboptimal units(which can be forced for speedruns and breaking records). Not only that, but most cities don't even have military camps, so you have to build them, making management of economy harder. Speaking of economy, most 1 star and 2 star nations have crazy belligerence, so your income is quite low at the start, tho there is the advantage that it lowers bribe costs. Combined with the fact that most 1 and 2 star nations lack governor tactics, so no forced march or spy to quicken the conquest. If you allow with rome or play as one of the romans, you face a lot of enemies and conquering them can be quite dull, and quite difficult without generals and senate upgrades. If you're allied against Rome, then you have to go from one side of the map to the other(same can be said when you ally with rome, tho it's more manageable with bribes), and it will take time to conquer the opposition due to how large they are. Worse, rome spawns a lot of generals, so you either capture the city quickly before they spawn generals, or you have to brute force them. It's worse if they spawn in a major city and won't budge, so you spend more time to siege a city. You also have to think of where to use your economy, either to bribe allies and foes, pay switch nations, or use on city upgrades and units. Speedrunning is also hell, as there are a lot of units in the map, and all of them enjoys spamming units. Expect to get stopped a lot due to enemy forces that surprise you from the fog of war. Worse, due to lower mobility of enemy units, it makes them attack your units rather than zoom past them, making you take unnecessary damage. Breaking records here is difficult not because the records are optimized, but rather how brutal rng is in this conquest period. You may find yourself conquering one side of the map quickly, only to find your allies getting bodied on the other, so you have to send someone to conquer them on that side, only for the reinforcements to be stopped constantly by enemy units along the way. Overall a miserable conquest, and unless you're a masochist or want to beat some records, then just collect your medals and leave this conquest for good.
3. Augustus Time
Normal run
Difficulty: 6/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Speedrun
Difficulty: 5/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Breaking records
Difficulty:7/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Probably the most balanced and fun out of the conquest periods. It can be difficult if you play too passively, but active play makes this conquest really fulfilling. Most nations are given elite units, and most nations can now research governor tactics, so yay forced march and spy. This is where you can enjoy using specialized units more freely like woad raiders, chariots and javeliners as they are given at the start more often, and most cities now have military camps with decent levels so spamming them is a lot easier. Going against Augustus and friends, you can either go straight for Rome and cause it's collapse quickly, or take your time in beating their allies and letting your Gaul friends march to Rome, while you go on and take the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa from Lepidus. When going against Antony and friends, it's more on the east, while you send some aid to Gaul. Speedrunning it is also fun, and attempting to break the records is also the same. Not much to say other than it's a great conquest time period. Can still turn ugly with too passive play, and it can be a slugfest .
4. Rome and Han
Normal run
Difficulty: 8/10
Enjoyment: 6/10
Speedrun
Difficulty: 3/10
Enjoyment: 7/10
Breaking records
Difficulty:6/10
Enjoyment: 5/10
Avoid this conquest with low tech levels and no generals. It's doable, but it can take a while. With upgrades and generals tho, the difficulty lowers. Might be a no shoot sherlock moment, but compared to Caesar time which remains difficult even with upgrades and generals, the number of elite units given makes it a lot easier. Using nations allied with Han makes it easier, and allying with Rome takes a more proactive play to not have to take 40+ turns of facing hordes of Imperial guards. Playing as Rome itself is really fun tho, due to the huge amount of resources and units given, but you'll also face a lot of opposition from the east. Speedrun is really easy tho, assuming max tech and a lot of generals, the only difficulty is keeping track of your units. A fun conquest for developed accounts, a 50+ slugfest for new and midgame accounts.
Ranking them on Difficulty(hardest to easiest):
Caesar>Han>Augustus>Punic
Enjoyment(painful to fun):
Caesar>Han>Punic>Augustus
1. Punic wars
Normal run
Difficulty: 2/10
Enjoyment: 7/10
Speedrun
Difficulty: 2/10
Enjoyment: 6/10
Breaking records
Difficulty:8/10
Enjoyment: 7/10
> Punic wars, being the first conquest, is pretty easy. Enemies spawn reinforcements less, much easier to take cities due to being unprotected often, no bs general spawn from the enemy. Basically the tutorial for conquests. You can do nothing and just give your allies financial support and you'd win most of the time. For speedrunning it, same story but you're just doing it faster, therefore more fun. For breaking records tho, this is where it gets difficult. Due to being really simple, the fastest way to break records are pretty much set in stone, so you're basically just going to be relying on general upgrades and more luck. The one star and 3 star records currently are hard to beat, and i'll call you god if you beat the 3 star record by 1 turn. Becomes frustrating after a while, but still fun due to how less rng reliant it is compared to the other conquests.
2. Caesar Time
Normal run
Difficulty: 9/10
Enjoyment: 3/10
Speedrun
Difficulty: 10/10
Enjoyment: 2/10
Breaking records
Difficulty:8/10
Enjoyment: 1/10
The jump in difficulty from Punic wars is quite sudden. Most nations are given basic units with only 1 elite unit, so you either restrict general deployment early or deploy them on suboptimal units(which can be forced for speedruns and breaking records). Not only that, but most cities don't even have military camps, so you have to build them, making management of economy harder. Speaking of economy, most 1 star and 2 star nations have crazy belligerence, so your income is quite low at the start, tho there is the advantage that it lowers bribe costs. Combined with the fact that most 1 and 2 star nations lack governor tactics, so no forced march or spy to quicken the conquest. If you allow with rome or play as one of the romans, you face a lot of enemies and conquering them can be quite dull, and quite difficult without generals and senate upgrades. If you're allied against Rome, then you have to go from one side of the map to the other(same can be said when you ally with rome, tho it's more manageable with bribes), and it will take time to conquer the opposition due to how large they are. Worse, rome spawns a lot of generals, so you either capture the city quickly before they spawn generals, or you have to brute force them. It's worse if they spawn in a major city and won't budge, so you spend more time to siege a city. You also have to think of where to use your economy, either to bribe allies and foes, pay switch nations, or use on city upgrades and units. Speedrunning is also hell, as there are a lot of units in the map, and all of them enjoys spamming units. Expect to get stopped a lot due to enemy forces that surprise you from the fog of war. Worse, due to lower mobility of enemy units, it makes them attack your units rather than zoom past them, making you take unnecessary damage. Breaking records here is difficult not because the records are optimized, but rather how brutal rng is in this conquest period. You may find yourself conquering one side of the map quickly, only to find your allies getting bodied on the other, so you have to send someone to conquer them on that side, only for the reinforcements to be stopped constantly by enemy units along the way. Overall a miserable conquest, and unless you're a masochist or want to beat some records, then just collect your medals and leave this conquest for good.
3. Augustus Time
Normal run
Difficulty: 6/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Speedrun
Difficulty: 5/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Breaking records
Difficulty:7/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Probably the most balanced and fun out of the conquest periods. It can be difficult if you play too passively, but active play makes this conquest really fulfilling. Most nations are given elite units, and most nations can now research governor tactics, so yay forced march and spy. This is where you can enjoy using specialized units more freely like woad raiders, chariots and javeliners as they are given at the start more often, and most cities now have military camps with decent levels so spamming them is a lot easier. Going against Augustus and friends, you can either go straight for Rome and cause it's collapse quickly, or take your time in beating their allies and letting your Gaul friends march to Rome, while you go on and take the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa from Lepidus. When going against Antony and friends, it's more on the east, while you send some aid to Gaul. Speedrunning it is also fun, and attempting to break the records is also the same. Not much to say other than it's a great conquest time period. Can still turn ugly with too passive play, and it can be a slugfest .
4. Rome and Han
Normal run
Difficulty: 8/10
Enjoyment: 6/10
Speedrun
Difficulty: 3/10
Enjoyment: 7/10
Breaking records
Difficulty:6/10
Enjoyment: 5/10
Avoid this conquest with low tech levels and no generals. It's doable, but it can take a while. With upgrades and generals tho, the difficulty lowers. Might be a no shoot sherlock moment, but compared to Caesar time which remains difficult even with upgrades and generals, the number of elite units given makes it a lot easier. Using nations allied with Han makes it easier, and allying with Rome takes a more proactive play to not have to take 40+ turns of facing hordes of Imperial guards. Playing as Rome itself is really fun tho, due to the huge amount of resources and units given, but you'll also face a lot of opposition from the east. Speedrun is really easy tho, assuming max tech and a lot of generals, the only difficulty is keeping track of your units. A fun conquest for developed accounts, a 50+ slugfest for new and midgame accounts.
Ranking them on Difficulty(hardest to easiest):
Caesar>Han>Augustus>Punic
Enjoyment(painful to fun):
Caesar>Han>Punic>Augustus