Completed SIGNA FERTE or Let's Play A Legionary's Life

[baud]

We missed some interesting fights, like Hannibal's veterans, the variety of Hellenic enemies of the third act and of course the FINAL BOSS. But I'm happy people gave this a chance, it's a simple work of love. Dunnow if the author will ever manage to do the same, apparently this required two-three years and ancient historiography isn't chock-full of campaigns that can be adapted like this.

Out of my mind, maybe Procopius gives you enough variety in "follow a general around, see the world, kill people". But that would require mounted combat an' archery and shit and I don't know if the combat engine would support it.

Wouldn't the campaigns of Alexander be well suited for that? They covered a lot of ground after all. Granted, the sarissa may not be super convenient for duels, but they also had sword, and the player could be a hypaspist.
The anabasis could also work.

How about the Gallic War with Jules Cesar? There's at least one campaign there, with maybe Britain afterward. And then if I got my history right, there's a civil war afterward. And maybe a war in Egypt. Though there's still the issue of mounted combat.

 

[Kz3r0]

Little gem of a game despite Gaius having the typical Codex luck of all LPs protagonists around here.

 

[Storyfag]

Come now, this is not entirelly fair. Gaius died in Africa, having survived Spain. I consider this a pretty good result.

 

[Galdred]

We missed some interesting fights, like Hannibal's veterans, the variety of Hellenic enemies of the third act and of course the FINAL BOSS. But I'm happy people gave this a chance, it's a simple work of love. Dunnow if the author will ever manage to do the same, apparently this required two-three years and ancient historiography isn't chock-full of campaigns that can be adapted like this.

Out of my mind, maybe Procopius gives you enough variety in "follow a general around, see the world, kill people". But that would require mounted combat an' archery and shit and I don't know if the combat engine would support it.

Wouldn't the campaigns of Alexander be well suited for that? They covered a lot of ground after all. Granted, the sarissa may not be super convenient for duels, but they also had sword, and the player could be a hypaspist.
The anabasis could also work.

How about the Gallic War with Jules Cesar? There's at least one campaign there, with maybe Britain afterward. And then if I got my history right, there's a civil war afterward. And maybe a war in Egypt. Though there's still the issue of mounted combat.

They even made a 2 season HBO serie about such guys!

 

[Storyfag]

FYI, I now lost 4 characters in Africa

 

[Dayyālu]

You know, for "improved" characters I've never tried Shield Focus. Who the fuck cares about Shields, gladius is where's at.

Shield focus characters are murdermachines. Charge+Knock+Neck mauls low-level opponents easily, and more difficult opponents sooner or later fall to knock or charge too and then you can maul them at your leisure.

I'm now at my third attempt at trying to off the Agema Chiliarch, fucker is resilient.

FYI, I now lost 4 characters in Africa

Where? There are a number of difficult fights in Africa, but in most cases you can avoid the worst. Probably Hannibal is the hardest one you can't avoid.

 

[ValeVelKal]

We missed some interesting fights, like Hannibal's veterans, the variety of Hellenic enemies of the third act and of course the FINAL BOSS. But I'm happy people gave this a chance, it's a simple work of love. Dunnow if the author will ever manage to do the same, apparently this required two-three years and ancient historiography isn't chock-full of campaigns that can be adapted like this.

Out of my mind, maybe Procopius gives you enough variety in "follow a general around, see the world, kill people". But that would require mounted combat an' archery and shit and I don't know if the combat engine would support it.

Wouldn't the campaigns of Alexander be well suited for that? They covered a lot of ground after all. Granted, the sarissa may not be super convenient for duels, but they also had sword, and the player could be a hypaspist.
The anabasis could also work.

How about the Gallic War with Jules Cesar? There's at least one campaign there, with maybe Britain afterward. And then if I got my history right, there's a civil war afterward. And maybe a war in Egypt. Though there's still the issue of mounted combat.

Caesar fought the Gauls, the Brits, the Germans, the Egyptians in one of the rare urban battle of Ancient Age, the Pontics and finally the Romans. Good one.

Marius would be a good one (Gauls, Numids, Romans and also Greek I think) but I think the best would be a man of Mithridates Eupator : he thought Pontics (his mother’s men), Cappadocian, Scythian, Roxolanoi, Bythinian, Galatian, Greeks of all sorts, of course Romans (several factions), Rhodian, and then a few more in Crimea.

 

[Darth Roxor]

I still haven't got out of Africa because each time I think I can handle the five dindus, and each time I'm proven wrong

Roxolanoi

 

[Dayyālu]

I still haven't got out of Africa because each time I think I can handle the five dindus, and each time I'm proven wrong

Seriously, my last Shield-focused guy went in and chopped all of them without even getting tired. Max aggressive stance, they could not get a single feint or attack in, killed three with standard attacks, charged the last two and necked them.

To think I went Weapon Master for so long.

Also, I had the most hilarious duel with the Barrel Chested Officer. Get in, accept duel, throw pilum

HIT

BULLSEYE (NECK)

132 DMG

"ok I guess"

 

[Darth Roxor]

I'm trying the shield focus right now too.

This... is hilarious. It's like every fight is decided upon the enemy's first miss - after that it's just CHAERG and groin/head stabs until you win.

 

[overtenemy]

Game is good but as pointed out in the author's decision to make intelligent characters benefit less from sacrifice, he does appear to have a slightly moderntarded streak.

Spoiler

He studied Latin and then means to tell me that a fluent Latin speaker speaking to a fluent Latin speaker could really create such a deception? The reality is even when reading this stuff you know what the author meant by context, and the spoken word would be then even easier to discern by inflection and pauses. It would be very obvious to all present what the woman meant and I'm not sure what the (int) So you fight the good fight with your prophecies on Scipio News Radio option is meant to accomplish. There's also a few instances of virtue increasing where I don't see why it would from the Roman perspective. This aside, the game is very good and everyone should buy it.

 

[Darth Roxor]

He studied Latin and then means to tell me that a fluent Latin speaker speaking to a fluent Latin speaker could really create such a deception?

I'm going to disagree here because that's exactly how all Roman prophecies worked - fluent Latin speakers deceived other fluent Latin speakers by using naturally ambiguous grammar constructions that could be read in any way.

At first I thought this particular example here was a bit far fetched too, but when you think about it a little more, it's very easy to imagine the soothsayer's saying 'redibis non morieris' in a 'fluid' manner that would make it sound like it can go either way.

 

[Storyfag]

I'm trying the shield focus right now too.

This... is hilarious. It's like every fight is decided upon the enemy's first miss - after that it's just CHAERG and groin/head stabs until you win.

Just tried it out. LOL dat shield. Vibranium or what?

 

[sqeecoo]

The ibis redibis thing is actually a "real" (as in recorded) prophecy from the Oracle of Delphi!

I gotta try shield focus then

 

[Dayyālu]

The ibis redibis thing is actually a "real" (as in recorded) prophecy from the Oracle of Delphi!

I gotta try shield focus then

Yes, it's also one of the running jokes about the problems of translating, the author probably did Classical Studies like me and it's one of the things they never fail to tell you

Ibis, redibis, nunquam per bella peribis.

Meaning "you will go, you will return, never in war will you perish". The other possibility is the exact opposite in meaning:

Ibis, redibis nunquam, per bella peribis.
That is: "you will go, you will never return, in (the) war you will perish".

I was sorta surprised that apparently there's no ancient sauce, who knows, maybe it's another 19th century thing (considering how punctuation was in classical times, so typically non-existent, it's a good chance).

EDIT: Also killed the Agema Chiliarch, it was a slugging match. Seric sword gives you the much-needed edge to reliably damage him through his insane defences and armour.

 

[Grimwulf]

EDIT: Also killed the Agema Chiliarch, it was a slugging match. Seric sword gives you the much-needed edge to reliably damage him through his insane defences and armour.

For me, this battle is one of attrition. All you have to do is press Respite and Recover (if he made a successful feint) and wait. When the Chiliarch goes for attack and misses, you might also throw a feint, just to keep him busy recovering.

The goal is to exhaust him by 2 levels, while remaining at full stamina yourself. And also not die, 'coz the Chiliarch can land a hit every now and then. So it was never about what weapon I had, it was more about the armor.

 

[Kz3r0]

I'm trying the shield focus right now too.

This... is hilarious. It's like every fight is decided upon the enemy's first miss - after that it's just CHAERG and groin/head stabs until you win.

Just tried it out. LOL dat shield. Vibranium or what?

Actually this is how Roman legions won so many battles, scutum&gladius and spear&shield, ancient warfare in a nutshell.

 

[Storyfag]

I'm trying the shield focus right now too.

This... is hilarious. It's like every fight is decided upon the enemy's first miss - after that it's just CHAERG and groin/head stabs until you win.

Just tried it out. LOL dat shield. Vibranium or what?

Actually this is how Roman legions won so many battles, scutum&gladius and spear&shield, ancient warfare in a nutshell.

Is that even a scutum at the time of the 2nd Punic War?

 

[Kz3r0]

According to Polybius, the scutum gave Roman soldiers an edge over their Carthaginian enemies during the Punic Wars:[10] "Their arms also give the men both protection and confidence owing to the size of the shield."

 

[Dayyālu]

Is that even a scutum at the time of the 2nd Punic War?

Yes. Not the Imperial type we see from Trajan's column and the like, but the development went from Greek-style warfare in hoplite formation to the maniples and the evolution of equipment. Even Successor States deployed shielded heavy infantry, we get to fight 'em here as the Thorakitai, even if never with the training or the deployment of the Republican Romans.

Fascinating age indeed.

 

[KickAss]

Fun lp, and a fun game. I wish these types of games were ported to mobile. The only time I have to play is when im hiding in the bathroom...

 

[Dayyālu]

Fun lp, and a fun game. I wish these types of games were ported to mobile. The only time I have to play is when im hiding in the bathroom...

Dev is working on Android port. Wait a bit, you should get your wish.

 

[Endemic]

Yes. Not the Imperial type we see from Trajan's column and the like, but the development went from Greek-style warfare in hoplite formation to the maniples and the evolution of equipment.

A lot of RPGs seem to forget how common polearms were compared to swords. Pikemen were still an essential component of armies in the gunpowder era, until bayonets replaced them.

 

[Dayyālu]

A lot of RPGs seem to forget how common polearms were compared to swords. Pikemen were still an essential component of armies in the gunpowder era, until bayonets replaced them.

Cultural and literary conventions shape even fantasy writing or RPGs, it's common for us to think of the sword as the "baseline" or "noble" weapon (helped by the fact that polearms were often the cheaper equipment for "lesser soldier", not that there weren't good troops armed with polearms). Very Germanic.

To make a typical counterexample, even if the "death-dealing sword" is well-present in Homeric Epic, the primary weapon is the "long-reaching" "gleaming in bronze" spear, and rightly so. Poetically then, usually it's the shield who gets the focus, both for the Homeric archetype of Achilles' shield and the Latin copycat (Aeneas' shield). We simply aren't used to think of the spear as a "heroic weapon", but that's cultural. I bet my pants, I dunno, maybe the Chinks or someone considered the bow the essential noble weapon or something (I don't know a thing about Eastern literature).

 

[Kz3r0]

Chinese god of war has a spear as weapon of choice, actually a halberd.