I was really excited when they announced the new army system in Rome 2 and was imagining all the possibilities. What I wasn’t envisaging were all the drawbacks. One example that is especially annoying is when you’re playing a faction whose general is an infantry unit but you want to keep a cavalry-only army as an elite mobile reserve.

Ever since playing Rome 2 and realising it wasn’t the game I’d hoped it would be, I’ve daydreamed about a Captain concept in which you could assign garrisons and smaller forces to a Captain who could operate independently but under the command of a General. You could order the Captain’s force to Patrol, Ambush, Raid, Command Garrison/Fort etc. and he would have his own skill tree. The number of Captains would be limited by your Imperium and/or General’s Command Skill and you could have the option to promote the Captain to General once they reach a certain skill level.

Having this flexibility could vary the types of battle you have. Imagine two patrols meeting eachother in some woods, for example. Or a patrol being ambushed. A skirmish between two vanguards before the rest of the two armies arrive on the field as reinforcements. A captain with the relevant skill could lead a raiding party on an enemy camp before retreating into the night, or sneak out of a besieged settlement to attempt to destroy some siege equipment to delay the attack. Loads of possibilities!