Macedon: starting moves guide

[Slaists]

Disclaimer about game versions

LOL, CA changed the playing field before I finished the writeup here. What I wrote, seemed to work well before patch 7 (beta at this point). With patch 7, diplomatic reliability rating seems to be fixed. So, canceling military access with Epirus and declaring war with them on turn 2 will result in a major global reliability hit now (this was not the case before patch 7). The move is still possible, just be warned about the reliability hit. Leaving Epirus alone (for 10 turns) and moving North seems to be the way CA want us to play Macedon. In any case, earning some bad reputation tends to result in a more interesting game.

Setup

I intend this to be a short starting moves illustrated guide/AAR for Macedon. There will be a bit of role-play involved so not all the moves will be the most efficient in min-max optimization sense. I have all the screenshots and saves ready, just need to finish writing. So, bear with me.

P.S. I will insert blue color-coded tip/discussion sub-sections as I move along. These will explain the particular actions I take and are intended as tips for starting players.

Why Macedon?

It has a nice starting position. It is Hellenistic. It has a nice roster. I did not see it among the guides here in the forum.

Game version

Patch 5.1

Difficulty settings

Campaign: very hard; battle: very hard

House rules

No leap-frogging generals [this exploit seems to have been removed with patch 5 anyway]
No corner camping in battles
Dragging garrisons out into field battles IS allowed: they're sitting ducks inside the settlements anyway
No betraying allies and client states (Athens and Sparta for starters)

Initial goals

Death to Pyrrhus!
Conquest of Larissa by turn 2
Conquest of Apollonia by turn 4
Conquest of all of Thracia soon after
The world is wide open after the above


Chapter 1: Epirus Campaign

272 - Great Aspirations

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Leadership



Antigonids: Antigonos Gonatas is the current leader of Macedon (and the dynasty). Ahead of a small army he stationed in Pella. Young Demetrius Kalos is running the political side of affairs in the capital while old Peucestas is tasked with hunting down pirates in Mare Aegaeum.

Opposition: esteemed Kosmas is leading a strong Macedonian hoplite garrison stationed in Pulpudeva. Kosmas is an ambitious character so we have to keep an eye on him. An evil mother in law (-2 gravitas per turn) would come in handy.

Overview of the starting position



Macedon is at war with Tylis in the North. This is a concern, but not a major one. We have a strong garrison in Pulpudeva led by the esteemed leader of our political opposition party. He should be able to defend our Thracian holdings for a while. Most likely, the barbarians will lose their focus on Macedon anyway. Who knows, as time goes, someone might find Tylis an attractive target due to them being at war with Macedon.

The very existence of Epirus, on the other hand, is annoying to say the least. Epirus holds two resource production regions: Larissa and Apollonia. Both these lands are rightfully Macedonian. Thus, Pyrrhus and his Epirus must go! In addition, a war with Epirus might strengthen Macedon's waning relationship with our Greek allies: Athens and Sparta.

Starting military, diplomacy and trade

First things first, before engaging in any diplomacy with other factions, Macedon needs to expand it's military and navy. Any bit in terms of extra military strength helps in securing diplomatic agreements. The starting naval expansion mission comes in handy here. It gives 1000 gold for maintaining 5 ships (Macedon starts with 4). So, as the first order of business, Macedon recruits an admiral (the type with the cheapest upkeep) and transfers one javelin boat from the original fleet to the new one. The fresh fleet sets sail towards South-East to discover distant lands formerly not known to Greeks...

On the land, young Demetrius bids politics goodbye and founds a new army, Gryphon's Grace. He immediately moves this force towards the border with Epirus, near Larissa where 3 fresh hoplite units will be mustered through the winter. The two extra units: the admiral and the general give Macedon a slight diplomatic edge in securing its first trade agreements. Athens and Triballi are willing to trade. After securing the trades, it is the right time to cancel the military access with Epirus. We do not want to suffer the diplomatic reputation hit before trade deals are secured. As a bonus, Spartans seem to take a liking to the latest Macedonian diplomatic initiative...

Agents versus fleets for exploring

Some might ask why not use agents for exploration since they cost no upkeep? My take on it: on harder campaign difficulties, the player needs all the agent help he can get due to the incoming agent swarm by the AI's. Sure, a fleet costs upkeep, but the cheapest admiral + a javelin boat cost around 200 gold/turn. This cost will be compensated by the first 2 trade agreements. Any trade acquired beyond that is pure profit. I also do not disband the starting fleet since keeping it in Pella helps with starting happiness and the admiral can be used to lead city defense if necessary.

Why add a javelin boat to the explorer fleet?

If a fleet contains only the admiral's flagship; when the admiral dies, the fleet disappears. This is inconvenient, if the fleet, at the time, has just "almost" discovered all the sea-zones. If the fleet has a single javelin-boat in it, when the Admiral dies, you can recruit a new admiral to continue the exploration.

Starting construction

None. At the start, our treasury will be fully focused on military to ensure swift and decisive victories for Macedon.

Starting research

Logistics is the choice. We want to bee-line for the first siege tech that allows Macedon to obtain ballistae. On top of that, logistics allows Macedon to recruit champions.

Agents

Macedon starts the game with a spy: a foxy lady who goes by the name of Alexandra. She gets dispatched to gain experience and observe Epirus' movements near Larissa.

271 - Fall of Larissa

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Tylis

The spring of 271 brings great news to Antigonos. Just as expected, Tylis is getting into more trouble than they can handle. Ordyssian Kingdom has noticed them as a tasty little snack. Let the barbarians brawl each other while Macedon attends to more important matters!



Pyrrhus

From the South of the border, Alexandra reports an interesting development near Larissa. Overconfident Pyrrhus has rushed his Champions of Nike in forced march stance. Exhausted, Epirote outfit is about to enter Larissa but have stopped for a break in an isolated mountain pass. This needs to be taken care without delay. Young Demetrius reinforces Gryphon's Grace with mercenaries from Pella. Attack?



Not so fast.

The very act of going to war can be profitable

Epirus is already at war with Sparta. Let's check if our Southern allies are willing to contribute anything to our upcoming war efforts. Be as it may, Sparta is willing to pay Macedon 1000 gold for joining the war against Epirus. As an extra bonus, joining Sparta's war should further boost Macedon's relationship with Sparta.



Descending from the mountains, Macedon's forces make a short work of unsuspecting Pyrrhus and his elephants.



Effects of forced march stance or, "don't get caught with your pants down"

The success of Macedon's first victory relied on Pyrrhus' forced march stance allowing Macedon's army to execute an ambush attack. As a result, Pyrrhus' army suffered a hefty morale penalty and could not be reinforced from Larissa. Neither the Epirote army stationed there could join nor the city's garrison. They were reduced to mere spectator role in observing their beloved king die on Macedonian pikes.

Dealing with elephants

Similar to RTW 1, the elephants in RTW 2 are very vulnerable to javelins. A few volleys from the starting javelin-men unit from Pella were sufficient to bring down the towering beasts of Pyrrhus.

Larissa

Things go not much different for Larissa's garrison. Despite Alexandra insisting the city garrison be poisoned ahead of the assault, Demetrius' Gryphon's Grace strikes with no hesitation. Epirotes meet Macedonians on a hill near Larissa but find themselves heavily outnumbered and outclassed as Demetrius is joined by royal pikemen of Antigonas. After a valiant fight, the settlement falls and Macedon gets its very own amphorae production center.

Demetrius decides to winter in Larissa, dismisses the remaining mercenaries and musters more hoplites. As Alexandra rushes to Apollonia she discovers Epirotes lack any land armies there. Eagerly anticipating the next season, Antigonas pikemen set up his winter-quarters in Pella's Northern mountain passes leading straight to the fertile vineyards of Apollonia.

Macedon has some morning to do as well. The starting Companion cavalry outfit dies to the man while fighting Epirote Royal Bodyguards. Demetrius' orders to disengage were not heard in the heat of the battle. Oh well, not all can go our way, can it?

Construction

Still nothing. All Macedonian masons have been drafted.

The age of discovery

Macedonian explorers encounter new land to the East. The locals call it the island of Rhodes. Admiral was pleasantly surprised to learn the aborigines were no cyclopes and spoke Greek. However, despite cultural affinity and what seemed like friendly disposition, the locals bluntly refused any trade with Macedon. The cook could not procure even a barrel of smelly, half-decomposed tuna in the market. Must be a religious thing or something. Or could it be that the good folk of Rhodes did not agree with Macedonian sailors eyeing plump merchant wives near the docks? Oh well, can we blame the boys? The voyage was long and lonely.

[Myth]

No corner camping is easy if you have cav superiority.

[Slaists]

No corner camping is easy if you have cav superiority.

It's more fun in other situations too ;)

On top of that, many battle maps in RTW have nice terrain features that allow for more natural flank guards: buildings, rock walls, etc; much better in that regard than RTW 1.

[Hooahguy]

Glad to see this, I was planning on doing a Macedonian AAR after my Suebi AAR wraps up.

[Slaists]

Glad to see this, I was planning on doing a Macedonian AAR after my Suebi AAR wraps up.

Mine will be pretty short (or so I think): just to get things rolling for Macedon. I do not have the patience (or the attention span) for writing a full-blown AAR, LOL.

[Slaists]

First two years complete. More to come later.

[Hooahguy]

Mine will be pretty short (or so I think): just to get things rolling for Macedon. I do not have the patience (or the attention span) for writing a full-blown AAR, LOL.

Dont worry, I also plan on doing a Suebi guide once I finish. Or maybe Ill just do one this weekend.