For the last week or so I’ve been playing the Europa Barbarorum mod for Rome: Total War. Like many mods, it aims for realism before anything else, even to the point of giving each faction an overly “correct” name. Greeks, for example, are the Koinon Hellenon. The “rebel” controlled cities are given the somewhat anachronistic name of Eleutheroi – a term properly used for independent Greek cities, not Numidians, Celts and Germans.

The mod is veryy good. Costs are increased so it’s harder to replace decimated armies. Instead of a single Roman military reform, there is a series of them, and the reforms change not only unit types, but which units can be built in which territories. You won’t be raising legions in 3rd century BC Qart-Hadsasht/Carthage, for example. For those of you complained about the speed of Rome‘s battles, those in EB move at a slower pace. There is enough money to do a few big things each turn, but you won’t be rolling in cash until you have a sizeable empire. And there are a lot more pacifying buildings to reduce squalor, unrest and other things that made vanilla Rome a little unsatisfying at times.

But there are a couple of unintended consequences to some of the changes that make me already a tiny bit nostalgic for vanilla Rome.

First, custom battles. I love doing custom battles. Set up the Egyptians against the Pontines and see whose chariots win out. But in EB, the custom battle menu has every conceivable unit in the menu. If I want to have a Roman army, it’s very difficult to pick out the legions I want in the mess of mercenaries, Gallic swordsmen and Greek peltasts. If I randomize the army there’s a good chance it will spend the coin on non-Roman troops because, in certain cities in the campaign, Rome will depend on local troops. I still don’t know what a good coin level is, either. With the default 10000 bucks, you’ll be lucky to get a general and three of his friends.

But this is a minor thing. EB is a campaign mod and the wide range of available units will make it easier to get the right fit in historical battles. I still have vanilla installed somewhere, so if I need a rapid battle fix, that’ll do.

A more serious unintended consequence is the AI’s new reluctance to take on the independent cities. Each of these cities starts with a good sized defense force, big enough that it’s entirely possible you will take two cracks at conquering it unless you show up with overwhelming power. In vanilla Rome, the independent cities were defended by enough soldiers to require an effort, but not so strong that the AI controlled factions won’t think about expanding at their expense.

But if you give the independent cities too many troops, they become a very risky proposition for the AI. Enemy factions will happily declare war on you – that’s their job. But by being overly cautious in attacking the independent cities, EB’s Gauls or Germans or Macedonians are at a serious disadvantage. You can easily use the independents as a buffer zone – these cities never attack you and the AI isn’t going to come through them. So instead of facing the annoying but balance inducing multi-front wars, you can plan your expansion carefully with minimal threat from an unexpected quarter.

From a pure historical standpoint I guess this makes some sense. For most of the late Republican period, the Mediterranean was dotted with small independent kingdoms and city states. To prevent the entire region from becoming a monochromatic blob you need to give these cities a chance to survive. But the cumulative effect is to neuter the enemy factions. Every city that they do not conquer is one more you can conquer and sack, every route they judge too dangerous is one more you don’t have to watch.

If you play as Rome, the game tends to unfold in a quasi-historical way. Since no faction is really a threat until you are on their doorstep, you consolidate your hold on Italy, move into Etruria and Sicily and end up nose to nose with the Gauls (here divided into two rival factions) and Carthage. Then you end up in one or two major wars.

But there is also a sense of inevitability here that goes against the grain of game design. No, the AI in the Total War games never really poses much of a long term challenge, but it could frustrate or delay you. In EB, there is little sense that your enemies are even playing the same Expand, Exploit and Exterminate game that you are. It’s a tougher opponent on the battlefield (Because some units just won’t break. Stupid naked Gauls.) but weaker on the map since it would rather attack a strongpoint of yours than one of a rich independent city like Syracuse.

That’s 10000 more minae for me.

None of this, by the way, takes away from the major accomplishment that EB is. It has new models, new loading screens, new traits, a new map…it’s huge and well worth the download. And, since it is a fan project, will probably be improved as it moves forward. Even with my misgivings, I thank the developers for reviving my interest in one of my favorite games of recent years.