[Kaz]

I HAVE RESTARTED THIS CAMPAIGN ON A SLIGHTLY LOWER DIFFICULT (9/23/14)

Hello everyone,
    I am back with another Total War story play-through, this time I am tackling the campaign as the Romans. This time around I will be playing with the Emperor Edition of Total War: Rome II that was recently released; the Emperor Edition comes with many new features, revamped campaign/battle workings, and an increased graphic display. I would like this to be a very interactive story, but sometimes waiting for responses can be boring, so I will open interactiveness in as many ways possible while still keeping myself entertained and hopefully any followers of the story. I will be relying on coin flips and dice rolls in order to make a multitude of decisions both on the campaign map and the battle map.
Now, to get to the purpose of this post; there's change on the horizon, from the lands of Latinum an upstart and warlike people have emerged with only one thought-- to conquer the world. Through shrewd diplomacy and militaristic expansion; these people will let no thing and no person stand in their way, all will either bow to them or be destroyed. Look, to the horizon, Rome arises!

Rome:
To start, Rome has three political families to choose from-- the Julia, the Junia, and the Cornelia. Each family has its own benefits and problems, along with a great history that ranks them high amongst the patricians of Rome. Each family vies for control over the Roman Senate and the world.

• The Julii family are as ancient as Rome itself and has always held high political and military offices. The most famous of the Julii would be Gaius Julius Caesar, who became life-long dictator and whose nephew Octavian became the first emperor of Rome.
• The Junii are perhaps the most respected of the patrician families, known for by the labors of Lucius Junius Brutus who successfully drove out the last Roman king, Tarquinius Superbus and helped establish Rome as a Republic.
• The Cornelii are the most illustrious family of all of Rome, more become consuls and generals than any other family. The famous dictator, Sulla Felix, was a member of this family, also the Scipios were a branch of this family.

Choosing a family is a challenge by itself, so I've decided to use dice rolls to pick. Using a single die I have assigned each family two numbers and out of 12 rolls, whichever family has the most tallies will be the one I shall use.
Here are the assigned numbers: Julii : 1 & 4, Junii : 2 & 5, Cornelii : 3 & 6

Roll results:
1, 5, 6, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 6, 4
Julii : 5
Junii: 3
Cornelii: 2

The Julii family wins!


Now, for the start of the campaign!

We start in the summer of the year 272 B.C., the Roman people has united the lands south of Roma, to the tip of Italia (see picture below).
(Red=Rome)
We are at war with the Etruscan League; a confederation of Latin yoke who defy Roman rule, we must claim their cities north of Roma in order to secure the province of Italia and protect the Eternal City from attacks.
I have been given a mission, completely secure 2 provinces either through direct ownership or client states/military allies. The mission comes with 3 bonus objectives;

• Hold the entirety of one of the following provinces: Magna Graecia (Southern tip of Italy and the island of Sicily) or Italia (Northern bit of Italy, including Rome)
• Subjugate the Etruscan League either by taking their last settlement or making them my client state.
• Be at war with the Carthaginians of Africa.

Each bonus objective will give me a reward of extra gold for my treasury upon completion, so my first task should be uniting Italia and subjugating the Etruscans. I have command over two armies and one fleet; Legio I Italica - led by Julius Libo, Legio II Ferrata - led by Cornelius Scipio, and Classis I Misensis - led by Junius Brutus.
Obviously, my family member (Julius Libo) is in command of the first legion.

Let's move onto politics!

Internal Politics:
Politics within Rome is a mess and it always will be; between political intrigue and family feuds, the Senate will always be divided until some brave and ambitious soul can unify them. The 3 major families hold fairly equal amounts of influence within the Senate at the start; split by number of Senators under our influence. The Junii has 21%, the Cornelii has 21%, the Julii has 22%, and the remaining 36% falls to other houses.

External Poltics:
Rome's standings amongst the neighboring factions isn't what it could be, many of the nearby rulers are weary of us and our rapid expansions. We are at war with the Etruscans, we have a flimsy peace treaty with the accursed Carthaginians, but we have a trade agreement with the Greek-state Syracuse on the island of Sicily. Politics will expand through out the game as we conquer foreign lands and discover new horizons.



Our first moves are simple, unite all of Italia and bring an end to the war with the Etruscan rebels. I relied on some shadow work for the start of this campaign by sending my spy, Postumia Scapula, to the war camp of the Etruscan general (and I think King, don't know for sure) Publius Trainiaus to end his life. After a successful assassination; disorder and panic spread through the camp like a plague, giving the Legio I Italica the opportunity to destroy the camp. With only few casualties to the Legion-- the Etruscan swine were butchered and any remaining enemies were bond and sold into slavery. After the onslaught, Julius Libo took his men to the nearby town of Velathri, held by the Etruscans. Julius made quick work of the meager garrison of soldiers and claimed the town in the name of Rome. The vineyards of Velathri provide a valuable resource to offer for trades with other nations.

With Julius Libo's glorious conquests, our family has earned the respect of many more Senators, skyrocketing our influence to a whopping 45%. Also, Libo has earned the rank of Quaestor -- keeper of Rome's treasury.

[Kaz]

By the way, the difficulty is set to Hard, my first time playing on that high of a difficulty. It's going to be... well... hard lol

[Kaz]

If I don't have any followers of this, I'm not continuing it. Too much work for nothing.

[Clay]

Im reading it!
Looking forward to it.
(I read it on my tablet the 1st time and didnt reply bc typing on mobile sucks. )

[Kaz]

Okay Clay, for you, I'll keep going!
I'll probably have an update soon, I don't have the patience to deal with this campaign tonight lol

[Kaz]

Important update, a lot smoother of a campaign now.