You make a pretty compelling argument. I'm going to go back and read some of the earlier updates to brush up on our relationship with him. I might be changing the plan to write to him instead, depending.
Scaevola is also a good choice, in all fairness. I've been wanting to write to Atticus for a long time, though. And frankly, I can count on Scaevola to tell us a very specifically slanted version of events in Rome; I want more perspectives. And I want Atticus as a friend.
My ideal letter-writing sequence looks something like, oh...
Atticus->Proserpina->Cicero->Scaevola->Cicero->...
You're not wrong about the Marians being riskier than the other two choices, as the update specifically points out that Cinna is stamping down, it also mentions that some of her sources have already gone missing.
I am curious why you'd prioritize the Catilinarians over the Sullans, though. The Sullans were specifically noted to be on the back foot, so it wouldn't carry much in the way of risk, and the Catilinarians are unlikely do to anything before the Sullans would.
Remember Pompey's conspiracy. That wasn't among the older, established Sullans like Scaevola. It was among the younger
optimates- I wouldn't be surprised if some of the same men who were part of Pompey's conspiracy were
also part of the Catilinarians.
I'm not very worried, regardless. Prosperina is very capable, and has been the family spymaster for as long as Atellus has been living. Informants might go missing, but even if Prosperina rolls poorly, I doubt Cinna would turn the mob against our family while we're fighting on his side, and have so much influence over the legion now that Sertorius is gone.
Well the thing is, "come on, what's the worst that could happen" isn't the most convincing argument. ;P
More to the point, it's not clear on me what we're gaining in exchange for the increased expense in talents (note that the difference between four and ten talents is a big deal at our current level of wealth). We have a rough idea
in broad what the Marians are up to, we know how they're likely to react to things that might happen in Rome. The only way that investment pays off is if we crit and get some kind of actionable important secret like "the Marians are negotiating with Pompey and he wants your head as a cost of his allegiance." We don't even know if such a secret exists, let alone whether we can hope to find it.
Intel on the Marians is really only worth the price, in my opinion, if we're planning to flip to Sulla and preparing towards that end. Because Sulla, being an outlaw whose contacts in Rome are being closely watched by the Marians, probably needs all the intel we can get.
I'm prioritizing Res Publica over Study because I think we're most likely to be running into the rogue legion before dealing with Marius in any major capacity. Not sure if the following is saying that we're heading straight for the traitors, or linking of with Marius first, though.
That seems like an unjustified assumption. Marius would be unwise to leave his forces divided if he could help it, especially when the reinforcement legion is commanded by men of no extraordinary merit- men like Asiaticus and boys like Atellus, as opposed to someone like Sertorius.
We may end up fighting the renegade Romans
right away, but it's not an automatic certainty.
Solid points by you on the Consul vote
@Japanime. I didn't leave him out to plot against him, but rather couldn't I find the space to fit the action in. Maybe swap out Res Publica for it? It'd push off our studying for a turn to make a better impression. Feels kind of odd to have one action to make the legion specifically loyal to us rather than him, and then also specify an action on him, though.
We want to meet him so we know who and what he is. Does he have an excessive overconfidence in his own limited abilities? Does he have a realistic appreciation of his strengths and weaknesses? Is he willing to agree to trust us and delegate authority to us, or is he going to see any attempt on our part to assert ourselves as a form of betrayal?
Can we work with him, and is he an active threat to the legion, or an opportunity for Atellus to stretch his legs and continue to gain experience with command?
Writing Atticus instead of our mentor has the added benefit of not having our letter go through someone under the most intense of surveillance.
That's a good point, and was dancing around in my mind.
Asiaticus is
definitely politically savvy, and like Cinna probably regards Scaevola as a threat. With Scaevola being spied on at home, and with our own legate wanting to know what we're up to, writing to Scaevola means a high risk that our outbound letter will be read (probably safe enough) and a very high risk that our
inbound letter will be read (which could be bad since Scaevola will predictably complain about how bad the situation in Rome under Marian rule is).
We can write Atticus or Cicero without looking like a potential
optimates-Sullan mole in Marius' literal camp. Writing Scaevola is riskier in that regard. Sertorius, who was closer to home and more secure against the threats of betrayal and of attack by Sulla, was unlikely to worry about that so much.
It'll take a lot of XP, but as long as we're consistent, we should have the time to make it a reality, and 'Epic' intelligence will be worth it. If I'm reading the 'mechanics' post correctly, that would give +6 to every roll, compared to the +4 we get from our current 'Renowned' Intelligence. That +2 bonus represents +10% better odds for every single action we take.
Uh,
@Publicola ...
I hate to break this to you, but if you look at the campaign so far, we don't actually get +4 to every roll from our Intelligence stat. Most combat actions involve rolls whose bonus comes from our Military stat (i.e. Cicero probably has towering Intelligence but mediocre or low Military). Winning people over has historically called on our Charisma stat. And so on.
So we're looking at +10% odds on
certain specific rolls, plus (I think) enhanced XP gain. Don't get me wrong, I think it'll be quite rewarding, but I'm not sure it's worth the opportunity cost to mono-focus on it in the early years of Atellus' life.
[] Plan prepare for War
[] The Sullans: You tell Proserpina to keep an eye on the activities of the Sullan partisans still in Rome. Though greatly diminished in power, they still have enough influence to make plays that could upset the delicate balance of power in Rome. (-7 Talents)
[] Gather Support: Sertorius may be gone, but you are still here. You reassure the men's worries and fears, and promise that if nothing else, you yourself will lead them to glory and wealth in the hills of Asia.
Correspondence: As part of your efforts to stay on top of events in Rome, you write to one of your contacts elsewhere in the Republic. With such long travel times, anything you write will take a long time to arrive. However, that does not mean you cannot write. You write to... (response will arrive in 2-3 turns)
--[] Scaevola
[] Si Vis Pacem: You begin brushing up on your Greek, in ancticipation of subjugating Greek towns and villages in Asia.
[] Para Bellum: You begin studying the campaigns against the Macedonians and the Greeks over a century ago, hoping to learn more about Greek tactics, that you might counter them better.
[] Res Publica: You study the formations of your own legions, the way Romans fight. After all, you may soon be doing war with Romans -- and what is more Roman than that?
Ok this plan does both of the tactic options because I believe we will be fighting Greeks and romans sooner than later. Meeting with the Counsul did not interesting me even thou in history he was Cicero father in law. Really can't help us too much with leveling since while he was good but not Cicero great. I am writing our mentor because he was famous and popular in Asia if he does not have some pull we can use I would be surprised.
Your plan formatting is, um. Could you format it like a regular plan?
I'm not sure it's a good idea to monofocus on the tactics options. Right now we have HUGE X-factors in terms of how our own legion will react to the situation. Our own officers' inclinations and loyalties are uncertain. Asiaticus' abilities and personality are uncertain- is he a vainglorious fool who will get us all killed if we obey him, a sensible politician who just happens to know that he's not a great military leader and is willing to delegate, is he suspicious of us or trusting of us, what does he already know about us, and so on.
Basically, grinding our study actions in pursuit of better combat rolls may be a good idea, but good combat rolls only get us so far if the legion is riven by internal dissension, if the officers don't trust the commander, or if the commander is an erratic fool and we haven't taken steps to keep his tendencies under control.
