I’ve been playing the game on and off. I decided to do the hardest thing possible I could’ve think of in game.
First the screenshots:
So here’s what I did:
Video Game Name: “Total War: Rome 2”
Setting: Defending Roma City with allied forces against the Ardiaei Greeks, during Winter, at night, under heavy rain & thunderstorm.
A.I. Difficulty: Very Hard(hardest possible setting).
Allied soldier count: 11.040
Enemy’s soldier count: 10.200 + Many siege weapons.
Battle duration: approx. 55 minutes.
Result: Pyrrhic victory.
First, they focus fired with siege weapons onto the main gate and its neighbouring walls. Then all the NPCs sent their infantry, trying to march over the rubble of the wall’s remains. My allies and I intercepted them before they could march into the city. 1/5th of my units refused to fight because the battlefield was too scary for them (that’s what it was written when I hovered over their unit cards with the mouse). So I sent them back near the Colosseum and sent my archers to help allied units.
While my retreating units were on their way to safety, moving through the streets, I was informed that they were under attack somehow. I then turned my gaze towards them and saw that the enemy already sneaked a siege ladder on the side of the city and were capturing one of the capture points inside! The highest game difficulty prevents you from viewing the minimap and tracking the enemies that are out of view.
I immediately advanced all my army back there only to find out the enemy was extremely tenacious and they refused to die. Capturing back was costly and I lost my General in the process. When the General of one’s army dies on the battlefield in Total War games, the entire army’s will to fight takes a sharp nosedive.
But after dealing with that, I rushed my entire army back to the frontlines again regardless only to find that their main forces overwhelmed my allies’. I immediately sent the cowering forces to the frontline to witness them desert after a tsunami of enemies advanced. So what I did was, having no General, no archers, only Praetorian Guards and a spear unit left I ordered them to hold still and form a shield wall. At a parallel passage to the one I was holding, my allies were in shambles. We held the line until the enemy surrendered after realizing they were going to lose to time expiration.
So in the end we succeeded at defending the city.
The losses were too great to do any celebration.
It was the most intense battle I’ve ever fought outside EVE.