“My Lord, we have decided to become Christians.” “What? Who told you to do that?” “The enemy general, my Lord.”

I await my heroic reception for this great victory!

All these burly troops slamming into the back of breaking units. *Sigh* I miss Cassius the Lewd. He would have loved that.

I love how Marcus the gambler lived up to his name and risked it all on that sally battle

That first battle crowned Marcus the Gambler as having the most accurate epithet* in the game, holy moley that was lucky.

*The Divine Gamble Pays Off* In the city of Aquincum, which has the distinct disadvantage of being bordered by barbarians, Eastern Romans, and being surrounded by nomadic hordes, the governor, Marcus the gambler, while rolling two dice in the sanctuary of the St. Mathias Chapel, came up with double sixes which landed on the altar relic. He took this as a divine sign and ordered the garrison to Sally forth for battle against the besieging pagans, and despite being battered, bruised and hopeless, having been driven back to the safety of Aquincum's walls, the confidence on Governor Marcus's face and his fearlessness, inspired by his faith in God and the sign he was given that day, rallied them to make one final stand. The final strong units, two regiments of comitatenses and one regiment of limitanei, joined by Marcus, left the safety of the walls and destroyed, by the grace of God, what was left of the pagan army. This battle, and the rolling of the dice on the altar by Marcus, were henceforth called The Divine Gamble

Leave that Will guy alone, always telling your archers to 'fire at Will', very mean Jon

That battle with Marcus the Gambler was epic. It really was a perfect battle for the character.

Great stories will be told of the Battle of Aquincum, where Marcus the Gambler, in his heroic efforts, defeated an army nearly three times the size of his own.

Part 5: Spurius was nearly broken. After all he had struggled, all he had fought for. His army was shattered, on a precious few foot survived. He still had his cavalry to be sure but even they had taken loses. Regardless, he rode on, back to Vickus Franki. Why had he been sent back? In a quiet moment away from his men, his guard, and his retinue, he did something he hadn’t in a long time. He wept for his soldiers. “Jesus!” he angrily snarled, “Why have you forsaken me? Didn’t I do as you asked? I brought your faith to the Pagans! I brought security to the Empire! Why have you abandoned me?” Behind him, a voice said “Spurius, all men have their free will. It was your choice to come back and you knew there would be hardship.” Spurius spun around with his blade drawn. “Son of God, I have won nothing. The barbarians drove me from their lands! How can I spread your message without conquest?” Jesus replied “You were a man of duty all your life, but think, did you ever push forward beyond that bridge? You were called a bridge troll in your past life but what did you do about it? “My duty” Spurius said exasperated. Jesus said “Yes, Rome requires a man of duty, but learn from this defeat. You are still following orders, not taking your own initiative. Worse, you don’t have the bridge advantage this time. You cannot hide behind the Earth’s waters. Rome was built on risk! It was a gamble when your people defied the Etruscans to create the Republic. It was a risk for Julianus Vatinius to march through Egypt. It was a risk to become an Empire. We need more than a man sworn to his duty. We need someone to gamble with the fate of this entire world. Rome needs more than an Emperor, they need a hero. Ugliness is not on the outside, but inside. You are still afraid. ” With that and a flash of light, Jesus was gone. Spurius arrived at Vickus Franki depressed and furious as ever, betraying the warm and sunny day outside. He went to the sparing range and began to swing at one of the practice dummies. He skill with a blade as fine as ever, but his mind was racing like a wild horse. ‘Bridge Troll!’ screamed at him in his mind. ‘I did my duty’ another part argued. ‘For the Empire, for Vatinius!’ The thoughts raged at him ceaselessly. When his daze ended, he stood there, the dummy destroyed and his rage vented. A new Spurius rose from the ground. He was no longer afraid, not of his past, not of anything. He was a man reborn in the fires of himself, for what greater obstacle is there then one’s own person, their doubts and desire for safety? He had shielded himself. He wore his shame like armor before, but now he was the Sword of Christ and he would remake this army the same as he remade himself, greater than ever before!

21:14 "They finally managed to break the limitanei" is something I never expected to hear

You should build an entire army of priests and put the most Christian Man ever in charge.

bumbling Huns, out classed Goths, static Celts, broken Berbers , ok something very bad is about to happen, it bodes, it bodes

Part 4: Decimus had always love the Eternal City. He loved the court and the fashions. The robes and dresses…and many of the vices as well, though not alcohol. He knew many of the petitioners like the back of his hand and would always have a kind word for random servants. It made life so much easier when everyone was on the same team. The city itself had been in dire straits recently with the news of the Vandals marching towards Italy. The city had been in such a fury as he had ever seen it. Many thought it the end of the world with all the chaos that entailed, while others barely seemed to care as they thought the army would simply deal with it. Decimus was able to keep order as he always had fortunately until his father had taken care of the threat. Decimus himself was of mixed feelings. On the one hand, his father, Caius Flavius had cunningly chased the Vandal horde from Aquincum right into the halls into the trap of Italy itself. A bold and desperate gamble as Caius had the main military force and the rest of the land had to make do with barely more than the regular security forces. It paid off though and the homeland was safe once more. That wasn’t the concern however. Spurius “the most Christian man who ever Christened and Heir to the West” Flavius had failed. Sure he had defeated an entire army of Saxons at first, but their second army had gone about his flank and routed them. “Spurius”, Decimus thought, “give us back our legions!” Spurius survived though and was marching back to Vickus Franki with some of the cavalry that managed to survive. It was still a disaster, but Rome had setbacks before. This would be no different. The economy continued to do well under his guidance. At the very least, Decimus would not fail as Spurius had been driven back. Still, he wondered if this wasn’t a test from God to challenge them. “No, if anything were to challenge us it would have been the Rebellions.” Decimus wondered. Still, maybe a personal challenge to see if Spurius is in fact worthy? And if Spurius wasn’t worthy, then who would take up the mantle?

Epic Sax(on) Guy

Tbh I didn't think the Goths could be beaten in their seige, but Markus the Gambler and Jon held their nerve. The lesson learnt then, is to trust in the strength of Roman walls and the sharpness of their steel.

46:27 "I just love having archer superiority", Jon is a true Englishman haha

2:45 - Ahhh, the classic Gothic infantry spam, AoE2 players know it well.

Classic Jon ignores the massive attack on the left flank in order to micro and watch his archers shoot some other archers.

I just realized: We should probably start refering to Emporer Caius as Caius Italicus or just Italicus for his epic victory over the Vandals in northern Italy. Caius is not the most imposing name for a faction leader tstl *Edit: After deliberating with a more knowledgable patron, I have changed the suggested name to Caius Vandalicus. Italicus implies he defeated Italians and...yeah, that wont fly.

Seeing MATN uploaded a new Barb invasion episode is always a highlight of the day. I needed this after today.

Dammit Jon, why must you taunt me. I was supposed to go to sleep now, but now I'm ending up watching you fangirl all over Rome Total War again.

Bolts, Jon. Crossbows fire bolts. You're killing me.

I blame you for the bad day I will have tomorrow. Keeping me up at night with your stupendously entertaining videos.

25:30 goths: were charging you MATN: *takes out uno reverse card*

Oppius Flavius Ferry Service, there's a shirt idea. Or, Oppius Ferrius.

"I love it when voice crack narrator man gets excited". We all do, Jon.

Defining battle from Marcus the Gambler in this legendary and iconic Total War campaign. Arguably the finest of KZfaq and beyond. Taking down that double full stack on a Sally out??? How the F did he pull that off? Coupled with the hilarious commentary. God bless John. What an absolute gem.

Rewatching this a few years on I find the big battle of this episode really is one of my strongest and fondest MATN memories ☺️

Lowkey just wait for John to post his damn Total war campaigns every day

Jon: Why build hermitages if you can build academys? Acandemys grant 5% happiness by law, wich also decreases corruption and make your leaders better. The hermitage is just that slight bit inferior.

_Well boys, we're eating _*_lasagna_*_ tonight!_

@ 22:40 at this point, this is starting to resemble the siege of Amida--the Persians took the city, but God-damn did the Romans give them a bloody nose: 30,000 Persian dead was a lot for the time.

Holy crap, that sally out at Aquincum is now far and away my favorite battle from any of your Total War series. That was remarkable.

As bad as that battle was the other day against the Saxons, that's how good this one was against the Goths. Nicely done.

What a great title: "Throw the dice" in Latin. Very apt.

I've taken to attempting this challenge, same as Jon only as a pagan West Rome. Things have been easier in some regards, but I have considerably less money than Jon and a very unhappy Southern Italy!

Petition to strip faction heir status from Spurius the failure and give it to Marcus the goddamn gambling hero

"Don't get yourselves flanked" says Jon while turning his infantry backs towards the enemy. Oof

36:20 Hi, I'm Dakar Dimmidi, owner of the Dimmidi Dimmi Hippodrome. Thank you for locating my long lost Berber city.

Holy crap, Jon. That battle was amazing.

There should be a statue of a limitaneus raised in the center of Aquincum.

How amazing it was to see Marcus the Gambler make such a gamble and win, I guess that is how he got his name.

"These rebels will prove an EXCELLENT testing ground for our new artillery!" -Jon, channeling his inner Palpatine.

I didn't thought that Aquincum sally would work but you did it! Cheers and glory to Marcus the Gambler!

42:10 Why am I getting Grand Moff Tarkin vibes here...?

this became my favorite TV show

Next time in Rome Total war: The empire strikes back!

"The die is cast."

Probably the greatest battle i've ever witnessed, well done.

OMG your narration makes it so exciting. And you are creating character that I actually care about.

That sally battle, is what EVERY Total War player wants in Seige Battles: lots of risky moves to consider, where both sides need to switch between defensive and offensive constantly.

god damn that battle with the goths left a carpet of bodies out side the city

The franks are *frankly* suffering. The lombards may be bombarded by all sides. It you tell me there are not puns... I will accuse you of being a hun. If not, I will be foiled again.

26:25 THAT'S A LOT OF DAMAGE

Yes Jon! Just what I needed tonight. Thank you so much for letting me take my mind off my finals for an hour.

That was absolutely awesome @ Aquincum 😂 nice one! Archers on the walls is such a classic

The editing in these campaign videos is just brilliant...

Have you considered doing a Mount and Blade Warband playthrough?

Marcus "Actual Mad Lad" The Gambler

Marcus the Gambler living up to his name

the "Do not pursue" button is the Guard mode button

Great battles, I particularly appreciated the way in siege offense units are supporting each other, yay!! And when 2 tired spear units are sent forward alone to hunt horsey, they break almost immediately ..

This séries is way too good

Wow , The Fields run red with the blood of barbarians , Good show Jon.

50:43 the king gave his life for the faction heir lol

From this moment on, Aquincum would be nicknamed " Villa de Bello" 'The town of battle.' And many would travel to the blood-soaked ground directly outside Patavium. Tales of Marcus the Gambler's courage would be told for decades, and many historians would comment on his military prowess and sound command skills.

I will be so upset if Spurius Flavius, the most Christian man who ever Christianed, ever dies in battle.

Yes Jon, it's Spurius that got humiliated by the barbarians. Just Spurius. No one else was responsible.

I wish there was an episode every day!

literally watching this at 5:00 am after going to the bars. I have class at 11:00. MATN is more important than life at this point

Jon's current video style (as opposed to the early Fallout Kill Everythings) lends itself far more to this type of game. But, I do miss Jon's comedic stylings in FPS games, where I don't care as much about the stats and tricks.

39:30 "I'm not sure we actually need to be urgently building armies right now." Says the Western Roman Empire...

Good work Louis the Limitanei. You won us the battle.

Just a reminder Jon, crossbows on a flat battlefield will shoot your own troops in the back if they are placed in front of them. Unless they are clearly at a higher elevation, it's best to put them at the front, and just have melee units protect their flanks.

The gods have favored you! The enemy are destroyed! Tour victory is complete!

Clap clap, well played sir

hey jon, has claire introduced you to the glory that is Astérix?

I thought Jon couldn't suprise me anymore, but he totally did with that sally out battle !

43:38 Assassin Order coming under fire. Always knew Jon was a Templar.

When rushing at archers or horse archers with your cavalry - go into open formation mode to reduce losses from arrows while charging - and back into close formation just before your cavalry hits. If you sully out to attack besiegers, use one of the city's side gates, and attack enemy lines from their flank. Most of the time enemies will maintain their original position facing the wall (and send a few units to attack you), and you can just roll up their entire line after you cut them down with your archers.

MATN has released a new Barbarian Invasion video. Spot on.

The salmatians will never die, they are too experienced

Good fucking job on that Gothic sally.

When besieged by a huge army, sally out with a cav unit, preferably a fast one, and lure the armies in to get pebbered by arrows and the towers with your cavalry.

THE DAY IS OUOUURS!

Marcus the gambler should be renamed to Marcus the horde Slayer

Bloody hell, all those Gothic corpses!

Finally!!!!!!! A new total war video!!!!!

That was a famous victory by Marcus.

I'm just Learning this Game I usually play Sub Command or the Fallout series. It pretty Fun on some battle fields they have Rock formations. I used that to cover one Flank in One Battle, And in a couple Battles I just used U shaped Attacks or a couple L shaped ambushes Running the towns is a Learning Curve. One time I managed to get some archers Into a 3 sided Rock Formation up high and just pelted the Calvary they could not figure out how to attack them.

Rome total war barbarian invasion many a true nerd-Part 8: The die is cast

Great video can’t wait till the next!

47:30 with 6 units of archers he has 960 ish men firing simultaneously. if each unit uses all of their arrows before losing anyone: thats 23,000 some odd arrows...

Please keep making these!

JOHN! Put your skirmishers in loose formation!

Dangit Jon why can't you just upload this series every other day!?

Jonnic Victory Definition: A poorly managed pyrrhic victory, but the victor is utterly convinced it was an entirely valid and worthy conventional victory. Also see: Trump.

The oppius flavius delivery service: the amazon of Rome. Buy your catapult today with free shipping!

Amazing battel jon