Macedon

[katank]

Go for Rome first. Getting Royal Pikemen is good.

[crazybastard]

Will the Thraicans turn on you first? Because they attacked Balayzora and I got pissed so I sent my best general and take Bzytanium from those treacherous bastards.

[Deus ret.]

Will the Thraicans turn on you first?

They are likely to. When the AI plays alone in Greece, the Thracians usually go after the Macedonians and often cripple them by taking at least their two northernmost cities. Which makes the way for the Brutii even easier because there are now 3 warring factions in Greece. If you are playing Macedon, the Thracians are VERY likely to attack you rather sooner than later. This leaves you two options.
1) Do a nice blitz and conquer Greece's mainland ASAP. Afterwards you can march your armies north where the Thracians should now be about to attack. Maybe you will lose Byzalora but you can hold them off at Thessaloniki. This option has the advantage of having a free back and a full war chest.
2) You instantly go for Thrace. Taking Tylis and pushing them back over the Danube river should be sufficient to neutralize them. With Campus Getae alone, they are not much of a threat. This way, you get a nice trade province early on without too great an effort (Byzantium) but you have to watch for the Greeks who will eagerly fall into your back if you leave them alone for too long. Myself, I provoked this and had a few nice exciting battles, especially for Corinth.

[Craterus]

Thrace attacked me once. I expected this attack and they ran right into my ambushing army. I pounded them and they were practically begging me for an alliance. And now they haven't attacked since. Too busy going at Dacia... and losing!

[orcorama]

i suggest blitzing sparta then trying to get peace with greek cities whle you neutralize thrace then you can attack thermon and prepare for the brutii

[katank]

Total expansion in all directions can work well.

You have enough forces to beat up Greece and Thrace simultaneously while holding off Dacia (which isn't worth fighting for).

I also once managed to get Appolonia before the Brutii even while doing this.

[Franconicus]

Total expansion in all directions can work well.

You have enough forces to beat up Greece and Thrace simultaneously while holding off Dacia (which isn't worth fighting for).

I also once managed to get Appolonia before the Brutii even while doing this.

I think you can expand in all directions. But this is not the pure 'blitz' strategy.

It says that you should concentrate on one target at a time and kill it with all your forces.

[antisocialmunky]

But isn't your final objective everything?

[katank]

But that is multi direction blitz.

Blitz is more about speed and force capable of crushing your enemy than anything else.

I call it the octopus strategy in which you strike out in all directions.

[Franconicus]

Sure!
But Blitzkrieg is really focusing on one target at a time. Find the weakest point in the defence of the enemy (or the enemies) and attack with everything you have.

Well, this is from TW WW2.
Campaign against Poland,
campaign against Denmark and Norway
campaign against Benelux and France

After that things began to become more and more decentralised. And the problems began. Campaign against Yugoslawia and Greece; campaign against USSR, campaign against Egypt while Britain was not beaten.

Of course you can win if you fight at several frontiers. USA did in WW 2 figjting simultaniously in the Pacific and European theatre. But that was not Blitz

[roguester]

Well, I just started playing. This is my third campaign. (The other two were Brutii and Gaul)

I started by taking Athens in my first three turns. The greeks attacked my that same turn and I took Thermon then Sparta.

I was immediately set upon by the Brutii, and I had to chase them from the east side of the Adriatic, taking Apollonia, Salona and Segestica. This brought me face to face with a powerful Julii, as the Gauls had gone down early. They gave me some trouble, and while this was going on, my Thracian allies stabbed me in the back.

I set seige to Byzantium and the Thracians sued for peace, which I granted as I was still dealing with the Julii. Once they were taken care of, Thrace attacked me again and I wiped them out.

A word about my tactics. I typically used two large cavalry wings anchored on a centre composed of phalanxes and missile troops. I used mercenaries extensively while I built up my cavalry, then a lot of phalanx pikemen for garrison dutias well as my centre. An army thus composed can shred a Roman army twice it's size taking very few casualties.

I also haven't started a single war so far.

After I took Campus Getae, puting an end to the Thracians, I sent my forces south to end the Greek naval menace. While they were en route, Dacia attacked and took Campus Getae, so I returned to the north.

About this time, I managed to bribe a Roman general. I landed him with a single unit of cavalry on Crete, raised a mercenary army, and took Kydonia. He then sailed to Rhodes, hired more mercenaries, met up with a bribed greek army, and took that city. He then took Pergamum as well, all with bought troops.

And I was immediately attacked by an uber Egypt who had swallowed the Selucids whole. They have given my the first real challenge. I have so far taken four cities from them; two bribed, two conquered. The sands of central Anatolia are red with Greek and Egyptian blood, yet my spies that return alive tell me that Tarsus teems with troops, and an endless stream of chariots flows over the passes.

On the plus side, there can be no more surprises, I am at war with everyone around me except my allies in Scythia and Pontus and I'm ready for them as well. The Romans are well contained, as is Dacia.

[Franconicus]

Well done!
And welcome in the org

[Deus ret.]

And I was immediately attacked by an uber Egypt who had swallowed the Selucids whole. They have given my the first real challenge. I have so far taken four cities from them; two bribed, two conquered. The sands of central Anatolia are red with Greek and Egyptian blood, yet my spies that return alive tell me that Tarsus teems with troops, and an endless stream of chariots flows over the passes.

If you go for the Eggies, and you should since they'll come for you otherwise, consider a naval landing far in their back (Sidon, Jerusalem or even Alexandria) rather than taking Tarsus. This way you are likely to encounter very little defence, and it will split the Eggies' forces as well as hurt him...maybe use a suicide squad for this and destroy everything you can get a hand on.
If you advance in Turkey, you will most likely get backstabbed by those treacherous Pontics. Who, when they overcome their crappy starting line-up (especially the early infantry), can and will be a real pain in the ass.

[Franconicus]

If you go for the Eggies, and you should since they'll come for you otherwise, consider a naval landing far in their back (Sidon, Jerusalem or even Alexandria) rather than taking Tarsus.

If you do so (very good idea) then try to get Memphis first. You get the pyramids and the Egyptian people will be happy to be ruled from you. And you can take a trip to Graceland

[roguester]

If you go for the Eggies, and you should since they'll come for you otherwise, consider a naval landing far in their back (Sidon, Jerusalem or even Alexandria) rather than taking Tarsus. This way you are likely to encounter very little defence, and it will split the Eggies' forces as well as hurt him...maybe use a suicide squad for this and destroy everything you can get a hand on.
If you advance in Turkey, you will most likely get backstabbed by those treacherous Pontics. Who, when they overcome their crappy starting line-up (especially the early infantry), can and will be a real pain in the ass.

A sound idea. I'm not sure I'll go with it though as my armies are already at the gates of Tarsus. I've finally found a way to deal with the chariots, and it has cost me a lot in blood. Tarsus will make a good defensive position, and since Cyprus is lightly defended and blockaded, I'll take that next. Then complete the naval blockade of the eastern Med and see what it looks like from there.

[katank]

Your straight on plan is more fun in the number of battles you will fight.

However, the landng idea is easier gamewise.

You can frequently cause Eggy armies to march and countermarch on the coast while you take cities in one direction and then another.

[Craterus]

Guess which superpower is evolving in the east? Nope, not Egpyt.

It is, in fact, Parthia! They have taken land from Seleucids and Egypt, and this campaign was started before I modded starting money. I really want them to knock Egypt out, but they have sent the brunt of their armies up to Seleucid settlements, which is a shame, because they currently have Egypt on the back foot.

Brutii bribed my city from me, but haven't put any men in there yet.

When assaulting Tarentum, I fought the worst battle I have ever fought. My faction leader died, I lost 500 men, and the enemy only deployed 200 men. This has completely halted my advance, because I need to retrain my entire army.

I've had a look at the Senate army, which I will no doubt face within 10 turns. 4 generals!!!!! And all the units are upgraded. I think I will need reinforcements..

Any tips for taking on these Roman stacks.

[Deus ret.]

Guess which superpower is evolving in the east? Nope, not Egpyt.
It is, in fact, Parthia!

congratulations! myself, I've never seen them becoming anything in the direction of dangerous if controlled by the AI. Well, some more colour in the game...and be it purple!

I've had a look at the Senate army, which I will no doubt face within 10 turns. 4 generals!!!!! And all the units are upgraded. I think I will need reinforcements..
Any tips for taking on these Roman stacks.

Since you're Macedonian, it's not too dificult provided you have somewhat advanced troops. Just gather a throng of your best phalanx units (that is, royal pikes if possible but phalanx pikemen should also do), some archers to lure the family and add in several cav units...Greek bodyguards suck, though....and you should be able to defeat them as long as
(a) you keep your phalanxes together and prevent enemy flank attacks and
(b) you watch out for their cav. Your aim should be to let them charge frontally into your spears in pursuit of your archers (or general). If you succeed in nailing them in melee you've basically won. Use your own cav for relief charges against those Principes etc. if they hurt your pikes too much ...which they are likely to, not least because of their pila.

Katank has suggested to throw some peasants in front of the pikes just to absorb the pila. See also the Greek cities thread.

When I played Greece and finally attacked the Senate, they had 7 family members in their army, with the faction leader aged 82 supporting the attack from another direction (wonder why he still killed quite a few of my men instead of collapsing from his armor's weight)....I lost half my army but in the end I won. Even without Spartans. Thus, you can do it!

[Craterus]

I'm not sure about wasting precious roster space for a couple of peasant units. Oh well, we'll see how it goes.

I've been keeping up with the Greek thread because the tactics used for GC are very similar for the tactics that are applicable to Macedon.

[Dead Knight of the Living]

I played Macedonia on RTR 5.4. I couldn't bribe anybody. I took out the Greeks quick. I allied with Thrace and Germany and left Dacia alone as they were at war with both of them. Not to mention the threat of Rome. I left Dacia as a buffer for Rome.

Immediately after the Greeks, I went after Pontus where my allies the Egyptians declared war on me. All 3 of us took turns conquering one of the western towns in Asia Minor. Smyrna I think it was. That city changed hands a few times. I destroyed to fully stacked Pontic armies and they were done in the field. Egypt remained however. They didn't have a significant military presence in Asia Minor after I knocked out their first couple of armies. Once I conquered out to Antioch that changed completely. I conquered the Pontics fairly easily. But now Egypt would show me their real power.

They took Antioch from me twice and seriously threatened it a third time. Some mercenary recruiting along with some phalanxes finally secured it for me. My buddies the Parthians declared war on Egypt's Seleucid Allies. No worries there. Armenia and Sarmatia (Scythia in RTW 1.2 I think) left me alone. They were way too weak to do anything.

I spent a good 15 years or so just conquering from Antioch down to Bostra. It was a long gruelling war. Meanwhile, I was building up three armies in the vicinity of Sparta. When ready, I invaded Egypt proper, landing west of Alexandria. I took the entire Nile River area in about 5 turns. They had no troops there. When that happened, Egypt caved. It was all over but the crying.

I was quite proud of myself. I conquered the Eastern Med. I was at peace. Who would be next. Dacia volunteered themselves first. And wouldn't you know after I took the first Dacian town, Rome ante'd up against me. I transferred quite a few armies from Egypt and the Eastern Med provinces to the west coast of Greece.

I was very successful in conquering the central Dacian provinces. BUt they along with the Romans stopped me like a brick wall along the Adriatic coast. I'd win like 3 or 4 battles in a row and they'd finally beat me because they'd wore down my army. Eventually I had a steady flow of replacements flowing to plug the holes after each battle. I managed to get within eye shot of Segestica at which point I launched 3 full armies around the south of Italy and landed them in Rome by sea. Rome fell with a very bloody battle. My 3 armies vs 2 of theirs. All full stacks. And then about 4 units in the Roman garrison. I didn't want to let the AI control my other two armies, but it was too good to pass up. It was awesume.

I never took Segestica. I actually initiated a battle with a Roman Army south of the city before I initiated the battle for Rome. My army south of Segestica got crushed due to my losing track of what my Macedonian Cavalry was doing. By the time I got back to them they were routing. And then, their cohorts engaged my main line on the left flank and routed the extreme left phalanx. I threw theruoprodroi (spelling?) at the left flank as it was all I had to get there. My ballistas were blasting away, but were quickly over run by the enemy cavalry chasing my routers. That was it. The theuroprodroi put up a good fight routing one cohort, but that was because they flanked them. When the next big daddy cohort marched up it was done. I moved the next left phalanx into them and they got flanked and the Cavalry that finished off my ballistas took me in the rear. I had 3 units of Macedonian cavalry left, but they were too far away to get back and help. My line crumbled.

But like I said, I took Rome afterwards, and with my 51st province won the game. Good thing too, because the Romans had like 5 fully stacked armies coming down from northeast Italy to smack me down. After the disaster of Segestica, I only had two fully stacked armies defending the Adriatic Coast. I'd have been able to bring some more in from central Dacia, but that would have left me open for an attack by Sarmatia or Thrace. It was an awesume campaign.

[Garvanko]

Take one region from thrace and they'll never bother you again. As someone said earlier, don't bother with Dacia till much much later when (if!) they ever tech up.

Macedon is an easy and enjoyable faction to play, mainly due to their fantastic Pikemen and Light Lancers. Beat the Greeks and Brutii early, then you can have fun with the other Roman factions, but watch out for the threat from Pontus.

[Dead Knight of the Living]

I left Thrace alone on purpose. I was trying something new. I actually paid them some tribute to see if they would expand into DAcian territory. I gave them a lot of money. They managed to successfully defend their territory from Dacia and make some incursions into Dacian land even besieging a couple of cities, but they never took a Dacian City. Thrace and Dacia were at war the entire game I played. I also paid Germany a tribute. They took some of the northern rebel provinces that Dacia had conquered early in the game, but they never went into the Dacian homeland. They used my money to stomp Gaul and Briton into the ground. Germany got huge in this last Macedonian campaign. I never had to fight them. It would've been a great war I imagine.

[katank]

Going after Thrace isn't too productive.

Trying to take Byzantium before they do is quite worthwhile though.

In vanilla, in a few turns, Pontus invariably lands a full stack next to Tylis and this keeps the Thracians entertained provided you kept the peace with them until then.

[Garvanko]

In my current Macedon campaign i let Thrace take Byzantium, then took from them. Then I took Tylis, and they seemed to get the hint. Dacia left me alone for about 50 years, they they attacked Bylazora... I think they'll regret that..

By the way, Germania always destroys Gaul in all my games. If not them, then the Julii.

The problem with Roman factions, is they never use Cav against me, so they never stand a chance against my Lancers and Macedonian Cav.

[Craterus]

In my game, the Romans field a lot of well-trained Equites, which can get tiresome. Strangely though, the Romans (SPQR, Brutii, Scipii) are fielding armies of a couple of well-trained units as opposed to massing up troops. Julii have still massed up armies comprised entirely of Velites.

[Dead Knight of the Living]

The problem with Roman factions, is they never use Cav against me, so they never stand a chance against my Lancers and Macedonian Cav.

My campaigns it is either the Britons or Germans that destroy Gaul. The Romans use cav every once in awhile, but very rarely do they use archers. I just tear them to shreds with archers when I'm Macedon. Cretan Archers when I have them.

[pezhetairoi]

When I played Macedon I usually faced Romans fielding balanced armies with about 4 units of Equites max. I rarely used archers on my way to Rome even if I had them (was using them against the Seleucids and Egypt), i preferred to just move into the red zone of Roman armies, form pike square and let them dash themselves to pieces on it.

A question now: Is the fact that pike formations face 5 rows of spears compared to the hoplite 2 rows any advantage at all? I tried modding levy pikemen up to Hoplite stats, the only difference being the pike vs spear, but I didn't see any marked improvement in performance between the two in a unit-on-unit clash.

[Deus ret.]

maybe you should test those pikemen against non-phalanx units. In my impression, phalanx units are not too effective in combat against each other, that should be due to their formation. With pikemen, your 4 frontal rows are fighting (at least in the animation), compared to the hoplites' 2 -- that should make up for a major advantage over non-phalanx units. At least that's how I explain their stats to me, which are always considerably lower than hoplite units of the same level.

if that does help you....

[pezhetairoi]

well, actually no it doesn't ^_^ I'm even more confused now because I gave eastern infantry spears and phalanx formation, and they beat a pezhetairoi (phalanx pikemen) formation in one-on-one O_o can someone tell me what the HELL is going on? Eastern infantry, even on phalanx, should not beat qualitatively and offensively superior troops...

[SpawnOfEbil]

I know the answer is probably obvious, but I'm having trouble getting my phalanxes to work against barbarians, such as Dacians.

They tend to flank around my main phalanx body, straight into my cavalry. Normally, this isn't a problem, as I tend to countercharge them and rout a few units in the process, but light lancers only come in packs of 14 and I normally lose a few in each charge, so by the end I may only have 3 or 4 lancers left from each squad.

And when I don't have any cavalry, my phalanx is easily flanked and annihilated.. Can anyone help?