Romans vs Barbarians as Western Rome

Gameplay of Romans vs Barbarians with me playing as Player 1 (Western Roman Empire).
Definitive Edition link (though it's easiest to use the in-game mod subscription system): www.ageofempires.com/mods/det...
Steam Link: steamcommunity.com/sharedfile...
Patreon: / spiritofthelaw
Background music from Epidemic Sound: www.epidemicsound.com
Game: Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition, with Forgotten Empires, African Kingdoms, Rise the Rajas, and Last Khans expansions

[@Skaitania]

"FINALLY, MY BROTHERS. Rome has fallen! Pillage and burn everyth..." *gets interrupted* "With apologies, mighty chieftain. While searching for loot under a pile of ashes and burnt bodies, we found a working door knob of the town's centre. Rome has won. We have to sound the retreat!"

[@napoleoncomplex2712]

Congratulations, one door frame made it to 477 BC.

[@Remitonov]

A black day! The doorknob of Cordoba still stands!

[@TheManofthecross]

the meme!!!!!

[@yonokhanman654]

I think it just means that rome fell a second later than it historically did.

[@JonatasAdoM]

@@yonokhanman654 It fell on the next raid season.

[@Ikuconodule]

"We did it Patrick! We saved the city!"

[@VeryPeeved]

Just look around you! You didn't protect a damn thing!

[@yoyodude-aoe2726]

Just Long enough

[@Ratciclefan]

Not even any villager xD

[@Reflexion555]

Remember in 476 when the Roman Empire used their Teutonic knights and crossbowmen to defend themselves against the barbarians and won because the war ended before the last stone of their last standing capital touched the ground?

[@pyrotech122]

Don't forget the Gundams!!!

[@AvengingDawn]

Pepperidge Farms remembers

[@pioneerAv]

Yeah I member!

[@nqh4393]

Somewhat make sense since the Roman Army employed a lot of Germanic people at the time.

[@kimckenzie6161]

Hiya folks, Trench Dog here. Was pretty damn fun playing this one- my whole mentality with this was trying to cull the barbarians before they started attacking us because I knew the fact that the barbarians could create multiple siege camps and having a Huns+Goth player= they would completely roll over us within short order. The enemy team consisted of a Britons player, Vikings, Magyars and Huns, and 2 Goths so it was definitely a real toss up in the defense. The Hun player in particular, Purple was probably the biggest threat to me during the game. Their cav archers really posed a problem for my pushes; if he didn't have that army it was highly likely I could've killed at least one of them, because I was rushing the barbarian folks when they were still stuck on spears and just upgrading their militia to man at arms. Purple definitely helped save their fellow team mates considerably. I think if I was to replay this scenario as either Rome or Byzantium I would still keep to my strategy, but encourage Western Rome to come out and kill some things with me. Even if one player is removed from the equation by completely murdering their units or decimating them so bad it takes them a long time to rebuild, that means the difference in my opinion. A mentality that the greatest defense is offense in my view. Either way, great game and I was pleasantly surprised to see this become a video.

[@SpiritOfTheLaw]

We were a good team. In previous versions the Eastern Romans could go Imperial, and even with that disadvantage you held off 3 of them for almost the entire game.

[@kimckenzie6161]

@@SpiritOfTheLaw Thank you. It was definitely tricky, especially once they begun to break through; I do know I could've ramped up production a lot better too that round. Would love to play with you again, or discuss future scenario type stuff with you. I really do think that highlighting scenarios like this is a good long term way to bolster the community- competitive stuff is all fine and dandy and a niche well covered, but the longevity of the game is definitely going to rely on user generated content like this.

[@armanddemaupertuis1967]

@@SpiritOfTheLaw : did you feel Eastern Romans were too strong with access to Imperial ? In the previous versions I liked the feeling of holding with superior technology against raw numbers. Cataphracts were quite strong...

[@ArawnOfAnnwn]

@@SpiritOfTheLaw As long as no one has access to long range seige (trebs, bombard cannons, cannon galleons), I think letting the eastern empire go imperial is good. Also take away the 1000 gold the barbs get at the 1 hr mark - they don't need any more help at that point. If you feel it's too unbalanced then, then just give the barbs more of a starting advantage so the Romans can't steamroll them too easily early.

[@planescaped]

Compared to the three other time's I've seen this map, you played Eastern Rome better than anyone else. :P

[@DrDJX]

That ending almost broke me. I can't think of a single recent movie that had me in greater suspense. My heart was fighting its way up my throat as I watched the health bar turn red.

[@planescaped]

5 seconds... wow!

[@Evan-rj9xy]

16:33 "Not a bad trade" Dude, I think that was the most one-sided trade I've ever seen lol

[@ducktape-3470]

This comment.

[@mattks1001]

That wasn't a trade. It was a victory. A sound defeat of the enemy barbarians.

[@Zonalyre]

Hahaha exactly my thoughts!

[@cfv7461]

This has been the bert trade deal in history. Maybe ever.

[@ahuzel]

sotl should had pushed to the orange at that moment, he could had effectively won control over the whole sea, londinium would be hard as fuck to destroy without water support.

[@napoleoncomplex2712]

What amazes me so much about this mod is how quickly things go South for the Romans. It's winning every battle, winning every battle, winning every battle... ok, there's a bit of pressure here, EVERYTHING COLLAPSES.

[@wolflarsen1900]

that reminds me to the corona virus..

[@Sierra026]

Yup, sounds about right. It'd be amazing if you could somehow add in this game mod other contributing factors such as rampant disease, corrupt/cowardly politicians trying to backstab each other or save their own asses, natural disasters, and the general populace becoming more and more apathetic to all the chaos. Maybe one day, someone can make a proper Fall of Rome Simulator, where the challenge is to try keeping everything in mostly one piece for the longest time, but you'll eventually fail and the empire crumbles to dust.

[@marcossidoruk8033]

@Kevin Szillat nah, the decline of the roman empire was a really long process.

[@15thobserver]

@Kevin Szillat Only if you believe in the official narrative of history and do no research outside of government funded academia. Romans did not fall to barbarians and people believing that nonsense is laughable.

[@timzijlstra1010]

Rome most definitely didn’t fall due to the barbarians (alone), but the idea of Rome as an invincible power did hold the empire together far longer then it had any right to, since the romans would “win” all conflicts eventually. And when they stopped “winning” they collapsed fairly quickly (I’m using “win” instead of win since a lot of those victories involved payment to the enemy and mostly just returned Roman territory) But that’s just my 2 cents

[@aleverettes2789]

You might need to put a big disclaimer into the description of this map: Don't pick Western Rome if you suffer from any chronological cardiovascular diseases, the creator of this map is not responsible for any psychological stress caused by being a victim to the fall of Western Rome Empire.

[@poutykeiki2574]

XD

[@rochreech3173]

Cant play this id die

[@Ahmadabdal_]

I played my first game of Romans vs barbarians today Picked player 1 Big mistake

[@ryzziktrognesou1]

@@Ahmadabdal_ Outch. I feel for you my friend xD

[@gordonplayer]

"probably the closest finish i've ever had" - 26:23 dude, it's literally the closest finish POSSIBLE.

[@Demonhorse1]

"The Defend the Wonder game mode no longer concludes before the Wonder’s destruction animation has completed." You might have been saved by this little patch note. I'm not sure though.

[@ichigoblackTWD]

I thought the same

[@Azzengar]

At least what I noticed is that buildings are only removed when the animation is finished, as you can't walk over them until the animation completes.

[@jasepoag8930]

It bothers me that Rome is blue, and East Rome is red. Usually red is associated with Rome, and purple is associated with the Byzantines.

[@SpiritOfTheLaw]

Player 1 and 2 are usually the most experienced in the lobby. It helps with the balance since Rome is tougher to play.

[@jasepoag8930]

@@SpiritOfTheLaw Got ya. I don't actually play, so I was unaware of how the colors were assigned. It was just messing with my brain the whole video. haha

[@honorguard7616]

Err,how exactly?

[@ducktape-3470]

@@honorguard7616 i feel you. I don't understand how the colors affect the experience and difficulty

[@AnimeFan-dl4qd]

@@SpiritOfTheLawlol, just say the 2 most experienced players in the lobby that they have to use purple and red colour

[@ducktape-3470]

OH God. FOR the GLORY OF ROME That ending is EPIC.

[@Raoul9753]

When the DE destruction animations make you win a scenario xD

[@MaaxMarc]

Meanwhile the Tyrells are still farming... Ooops wrong video.

[@Kude1707]

"its impossible to win as Rome" Spirit Of The Law - "Hold my wololo"

[@Hamanuna]

It could be interesting that you can create Legionaries and Centurions from the Castle, if that's possible to do.

[@JackOpulski]

Plus they had really awesome-looking Roman soldiers for the Bari campaign, how cool would it be to have them as a unit in this scenario?

[@XMonkeyKongX]

@@JackOpulski They are AOE1 models !

[@AHappyCub]

Actually it's possible, I've played a custom campaign that allows me to create unique editor specific units from a barrack

[@Hamanuna]

@@AHappyCub Nice, maybe the Legionary can replace the Teutonic Knight and the Legionary with the Cataphract

[@JackOpulski]

@@XMonkeyKongX Oh wow, so they recycled them from the first game? that's cool. I'm curious how they look like in DE...

[@Duckman1616]

A way to buff the romans while still keeping them the underdog could be to make the wooden walls at the start stone instead. Perhaps replace some with a stone gate as well. This would limit the barbarians from raiding until castle age and would still allow the romans to raid if they wanted. It could even make sense within the context of the game, as it's during the fall of the romans, so they once had the ability to create stone defenses but no longer have the resources and manpower. It's also something players could do on their own, rather than requiring someone with experience to make.

[@celdur4635]

Makes perfect sense, Rome only fell after all, because the Rhine froze over at the same time all the legions guarding it had been pulled back to defend northern Italy, commanded by a very successful half-roman general, it was just dumb luck that it had to happen at that particular point in time. (It was probably going to happen anyway, the Romans refused to grant citizenship to the "barbarians", and the state economy of the west was whacked.

[@drdiabeetus4419]

I can't help but think of that one gif from one of the WWE games where it's hulk hogan smiling and giving a thumbs up and then text appears on the screen saying "Mission Failed". That was this game

[@lemmonsinmyeyes]

I think the 1000 gold should be removed. The barbarians are always in a good spot by that point.

[@pairot01]

Completely agree, giving the stronger side an injection of 4K gold when you still have a third of the game remaining is insane. At least make it so it only gives it to them if constantinople still stands or sth

[@Joker-yw9hl]

was just about to say this. 100%

[@Kevin-wx7wu]

Wasn't that the point? To make it brutally overwhelming

[@f.c.laukhard3623]

And Rome does not get anything when a capital falls. :(

[@flakstruk-8481]

Make constantinople falling worth 1000per player as well as the time extension

[@patrykapiezo1650]

>Destroys million of sheeps with getting one of his ships barely damaged >"Not a bad trade for me"

[@georgeofazgad2176]

Those 'sheep' were definitely deadly

[@ahuzel]

@@georgeofazgad2176 Indeed, i was like WTF? for a minute lol

[@patrykapiezo1650]

@@georgeofazgad2176 i believe i will only get more likes because i got the spelling wrong, though.

[@patrykapiezo1650]

@@ahuzel to the unaware: i'm not a native speaker, to me the word 'sheep' sounds exactly the same way as 'ship' so its natural mistake to make. Waiting out there for you when you try to learn polish ;)

[@Kevin-wx7wu]

@@patrykapiezo1650 the 'sh' is more stressed in sheep. I'm not a native speaker either, and you can pronounce them exactly the same and everyone will understand(context provided), but It's very easy to see deficiencies when written :P

[@yonokhanman654]

Now I want to see this scenario with 8 Spirit of the Laws.

[@poutykeiki2574]

you want the universe to explode right?

[@zintosion]

Western roman empire getting overwhelm. Well this seem like a good time to give the barbarians 1000 gold to help them out!

[@djavanalderromero]

I would love to see another tribe (huns) to be the third team to put pressure on eastern rome and all the barbarians

[@sitrilko]

Right? Diplo mode would be awesome on this map! However, how cramped the barbs are together the backstabing would be too un-fun. Are larger map sizes possible? (even performance viable?) An option would be for the barbs to settle the W. or E. Roman lands, just like IRL the feoderati system worked. But then the victory condition would have to be revised - even 1 barb joining Rome would swing it huge.

[@dragonlord4643]

@@sitrilko there is a map size "gigantic" which would make it possible for the set up you mentioned but its not good for multiplayer even on this map by larger population it got laggy, on gigantic i guess will player start to drop out of the game.

[@planescaped]

I was also thinking that the Huns should maybe be hostile to everyone.

[@djavanalderromero]

@@planescaped that's what I meant when i said "third team". Give them some powerful but not overpowered capacities and make them fight every one

[@rubico1894]

Would be cool and viable with larger map sizes. They could do a thing that the barbarians are given time to build up before the hunnic invasion and then once the huns invade, will find it more compelling to progressively move closer to Roman teritory and loot it in order to survive. Rome and ERE, instead of being complete enemies with the barbarians will begin neutral and are allowed to make alliances with some of them. The barbarians would get loot from looting Roman cities. It would work better as a survival type of scenario with build and destroy mixed in like those prey scenarios with an added twist

[@abhishekparmar6702]

OMG that played like a suspense thriller movie

[@JackOpulski]

I really think the Gallic capital is meant to be Lutecia (Paris), Lugdunum was a more important town but much further south

[@smithmiddleton8893]

I mean he made it but i get what you mean.

[@matthiasdarrington3271]

Lyon will always be the most important city in France ;)

[@JackOpulski]

@@matthiasdarrington3271 True, it's still overpopulated tho. But maybe I'm just agoraphobic

[@rouxmain934]

Lugdunum was important for the Romans historically, Julius Caesar started his campaigns in Gaul from there and 2 Roman Emprerors were born there

[@187Streak]

Spirit Of The Lag

[@RedbadofFrisia]

I really like this scenario and your commentary, I would enjoy more videos of this kind!

[@armanddemaupertuis1967]

I had a very enjoyable game I lost for 7 seconds on timer fighting to the last pikeman in Spain and running out of everything. Actually there is a trick with Spain, if you cut the trees on the French/African borders and put byzantine castles + mangonels on the choke points it's almost unbreakable from land (put also castles and towers everywhere on the Spanish coastline) From my experience I would say the best strategy as Romans is to hold France and Britain until everything is mined out there, and then turtle in Spain. I love this map for the feelings you have especially playing as the Romans.

[@lexwayfarer5771]

not so sure about the stalling strategy, you can never stall 6 people enough if you just let them boom as long as everyone is on about the same skill level, you'll see the same thing as you saw in the last town center except it will start from like 30 minutes in so red was definitely doing the right thing here not to mention how he pissed them off and forced them to waste time taking him out which likely took more than 15 minutes which are awarded for Constantinople's destruction

[@davidmatlock3149]

I think spirit was saying that the blue player should stall while the red player goes aggressive, because of blue expands too much they risk leaving their capitals too weakly defended

[@MaryamMaqdisi]

Agreed, offense first and then defense sounds best

[@neumeria8558]

That was amazingly entertaining lmao what a bloodbath. The ending was the cherry on top of the sundae that was this game.

[@blasterixx1]

Man this was epic, that ending... Beautiful! I really love watching these type of custom games/scenarios and your commentary complements the gameplay really well as well, i hope you will do more of these type of videos in the future!

[@billmcelgunn7819]

Fantastic map! As a map maker myself finally seeing the scripting aesthetics and gameplay flow smoothly is a extremely satisfying experience

[@farelfahrezi554]

that was so intense

[@cooperross9495]

Idea: One of the problems faced by Rome in its later years was that it needed forts and outposts along its border to fend off raids and protect trade, but maintaining those forts and their garrisons was expensive and put the empire deeper and deeper into debt. So maybe, instead of putting a hard limit on the number of castles, you could make each castle the Romans build reduce their gold gathering rate, or outright reduce their current gold supply over time. Also, of course, the Romans would sometimes employ a strategy of just paying the barbarians not to attack them, so maybe there could be an option for the Romans to tribute gold to a barbarian player and force them into a status of "peace," though only for a short time.

[@SerpentStare]

Wow. That was pretty amazing. I hope you're proud, not just as a player, but as a creator, that your scenario has provided this level of tension and challenge.

[@gregoriotauro4469]

Loved the ending! Had me glued to the screen!

[@12vietnow]

Love these videos spirit. Great job on this custom map. Would love to see more of these!

[@Richi_Boi]

When the destuction animation wins you the game. thx DE

[@BricktowneMedia]

LOLOL Amazing...that was literally down to the last second....how crazy...haha I cheered at the end when i saw the victory screen. Great work!

[@SD-tj5dh]

I wish Western Romans was still an optional unit in AOE2 so you could do more realistic 'fall of Rome' scenarios.

[@Bacher108]

I don't even know much about this game at all. Played it maybe once or twice as a kid and noticed it again on the PC game pass. But that ending was so amazing. How crazy that you actually won lol. That was awesome to watch.

[@Whiterabbit124]

What a fantastic video! Please post more epic, large player number/high skill fights. This is like the default "Barbarians at the Gates!" game mode but a LOT more thought out and fun. Wow!

[@HT-jj5sx]

I haven't played AOE in a long time, your vids have got me super interested in it again, terrific work man. Happy New Year!

[@dirkvanderplas5895]

crazy game, liked it very much!!! keep up the good work!!

[@Jac0bIAm]

Absolutely crazy ending. Genuinely had no idea who would win till the end. The suspense :D

[@brycekotz4833]

Great video man

[@dadnovak9099]

This is brilliant. Well done

[@oliwerrzepkowski6677]

This match is more dramatic than all drama movies altogether. Wow. I was literally like “NOOOOOOO!!!!” When you um ‘lost’ and then “YEAHHHHH!!!!” when you WON!

[@redcastlefan]

Please, i need intro. I feel weird without it. All that buildup then blue balled.

[@leetcoding1]

i on the opposite loved to finally not have to skip that intro

[@DetectiveNyx]

@@leetcoding1 compromise and play half the intro

[@leetcoding1]

@@DetectiveNyx haha i'll take that vs the full thing

[@jasv49]

"All that buildup then blue balled." pretty much describes the ending of this game

[@xotl2780]

That ending was a textbook definition of a photo-finish.

[@seamushogan9668]

This had me at the edge of my seat!

[@markdowse3572]

Wow, Mr Spirit Of The Law! THAT was a close one!! Ha ha ha 😂 Well done. 😄

[@randomfluffypup9608]

this is crazy cool, wondering all about different strategies. maybe red should transition to full slinging so you can have 200 military?

[@TovKafur]

Red is the only player with access to Imperial age. Blue should feed red, not vice versa, because barbs have no counter for elite catas and fire ships spam.

[@f.c.laukhard3623]

@@TovKafur In the version played in this vid, Byzantium cannot go Imp anymore. Not sure if it was changed on purpose or not though.

[@planescaped]

The ideal strategy seems to be for Western Rome to play super defensive and Eastern Rome play harassment.

[@itmarcel]

Really intense game, really enjoyed this one. And the previous one

[@blacknifetreesh]

Dat ending just sent me on the biggest rollercoaster ride of emotions

[@Clerkius]

Excellent Choice!

[@Unkindledash99]

The Attila and Alaric campaigns are my favorite ones by far and seeing this game mode is like a cherry on top.

[@HoraDeJugarJueguitos]

HOLY SHIT that was EPIC AF MAN

[@user-or5ke5yn4w]

Loool, that was definitely the most weird AoE2 game I've ever seen! Epic, legendary one xD

[@Blackhound73]

Damn this was good. What a match!

[@ashg9023]

Remove the 1000 gold injection and give the Romans an extra 25 pop each

[@igorrozasgimeno5044]

AMAZING. Loved it.

[@509megsy]

Please do more of these! :)

[@MrElTee13]

That was amazing!

[@fanslifejapan255]

Brilliant game!!! The last minute i was really holding my breath for the outcome. I guess the roman team did virtually a lot to defend the game. But I think giving a pop cap increase to 250 or 300 would help the blue quite a bit so they can spread out more armies at different towns for protection.

[@Oxillious]

That was epic!

[@retsilagnilooc]

I live for this

[@kartoffsun]

That was awesome.

[@philippedepontbriand4806]

Must be so stressful playing romans, no wonder you were so exhausted!

[@Kevin-wx7wu]

Spirit of the Clutchness

[@alejandroromero6464]

My gf and I are playing it in HD. We love it. We play against the AI, not human players, the AI doesn't really focus on blue's TC but still it gets pretty intense in the middle. Thanks!

[@snorrijornsen4566]

Hey Spirit of the Law, I really love all of your videos, but the ones with you casting these mods or AI vs AI games are really something I have come to enjoy lately. Big thanks to you for pumping out more great videos lately and maybe some more Pokemon mod casting or GoT?

[@deadeyeridge]

Awesomely intense!!!

[@CompletelyZoningOut]

That was epic!!

[@ianaranda4640]

AMAZINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG FINAL!!

[@napolien1310]

I was on the edge of my seat, if only with out the FPS dropped or lag.

[@ashgames417]

Yes thank you more please

[@uzairahmed4832]

That ending nearly have me a heart attack! Next, start with a disclaimer or something...

[@ananass8030]

The last 7 in game minutes were so intense... Even if scripted (the sinic in me says it's too perfect) that was beautifully executed

[@gunarsmiezis9321]

Fun fact the majority of germanics who went to Britan where saxon the reason when they unified in to 1 kingdom under AElfred the grate that they called it the Kingdom of AEngalland is because the king preffered that name. But the Keltics of Britan still call England Saxa.

[@raulfernandez57]

Talk about pushing it to the limit lol GG

[@nojourneywithin]

That was awesome

[@Ratciclefan]

Beautiful

[@thetayz72]

What a photo finish! Maybe the Pope had a chat with Attila ...

[@JakeArnet]

If anything, this was more akin to Hannibal destroying the Roman army at Cannae and *still* losing the war. "...you know how to gain a victory, but not how to use one.”

[@spdutahraptor777]

LeRome James!!! At the buzzer!!!!!

[@blackerpanther3329]

Very entertaining

[@TheFoyer13]

That was intense

[@Curbex]

"gg easy" :D

[@irtifairshad2646]

Best game I've ever seen

[@rzero21]

Have you considered replacing the wonder with a Colisseum?

[@matthewnefedov7755]

wow, that was cool

[@zanto9812]

More!

[@Kalenz1234]

If the map's creator (and a fairly good AOE2 player at that) only has a 50% winrate with one faction then there is clearly a balance issue :P

[@SpiritOfTheLaw]

Since saving Rome would be defying history, I'm okay with that.

[@hm09235nd]

assymetric gameplay can still be really fun. it’s similar to tower defense games where waves incrementally get to an overwhelmung point. or tf2 gravelpit.

[@settingsun3470]

He said earlier that it’s supposed to be harder for the Romans

[@Kalenz1234]

@@settingsun3470 The romans should have to fight an uphill battle because their winning condition (survive) is easier. The winrates for a balanced map should even out at 50% for the average player. I really think the map would benefit from the romans being able to build stone walls though I would drastically increase their cost/build time.

[@rockyli7526]

Not really saved though, history doesn't stop at 1:30. What would be fun is that after the clock the game continues but Barbarians return to dark age and all of their army units become Militia and naval units become Fishing ships. Rome would then need to survive another 30 minute. Don't know if that's possible to script though.

[@1985tris1]

When you Did the barbarian side it was Easy for you. When you played rome you Did sort of lose. Seems like rome could use a very slight buff.

[@PanzerIVAE]

I think that's by design The Barbarians did win in real life and it should be nearly impossible to save the Western Roman Empire

[@1985tris1]

But also needs to be fun.

[@terrab1ter4]

Holy shit that ending was intense

[@christopherg2347]

Just some ideas: - Castles along the english channel. Even if they do not protect the British TC or if said TC already fell, they will harass all further Orange ships passing by. Wich cuts down Orange ability to aid drastically, being overfocussed on fleet. You might even leave a path to your Birtish TC that does not require rams to kill it, with the idea of delaying Orange rams. The main goal is disrupt shipping there. - A bit more focus on Africa, perhaps? With your strong defense in the English channel, you could have used the trade cart opportunity (or even trade ship opportunity), but a few barracks there, etc.

[@chainedsharkmedia2699]

Western Roman Empire: *everything is on fire after invasions and civil wars* This is fine.

[@rafaelsodre_eachday]

I'd like to see more iterations of this scenario.

[@JonatasAdoM]

Someone could make a scenario inspired on this one, where the hordes of Uruks and orcs try to overwhelm Gondor and Ronan.