Hi all,
I'm interested in developing an effective military strategy to counter the Saka as the Baktrians on open ground. So far, in two attempts of the Baktrian campaign (both in Hard for both combat and campaign modes), I've followed a strategy which involves scouting the map with my spies for possible ambushes and storming enemy cities. This is because the Baktrians hold a significant advantage against the Saka when defending walled cities: you just place your phalangitai against any breached openings and have the enemy spend their cavalry against your spears. Provided that you don't have more openings than phalanxes, the Saka cavalry advantage is effectively wasted, and if you have units of Persian Archers, those can effectively pick off some ram-bearing units or even destroy a ram or two. Furthermore, the abundance of cavalry units in any given Saka army means that there are few foot units to push the rams and those are lightly armored (typically Subeshi archers). This means that you can sally forth with some cavalry units, if available, and further disrupt the enemy's approach towards your walls.
However, it is often the case (for example, when attempting to disrupt enemy reinforcements) that you will have to fight the Saka on open ground. I find it tough to mobilize my foot units (archers, heavy spearmen, light spearmen, heavy skirmishers) in an effective battle formation before the enemy horse archers have effectively reduced my army's morale and numbers to unmanageable lows. When in phalanx formation, the Pantodapoi Phalangitai appear to fend off enemy arrows well, and so do my Baktrian cataphracts; however, simply fending off arrows without any possibility of catching the enemy doesn't do much for me. This, of course, has been a historical issue with all Hellenistic and later Roman / European forces against Central Asian nomad armies and can probably be reproduced by people playing with the Seleucids against the Parthians, for instance.
In any case, I'm interested in any opinions about how this issue can be dealt with.
Thanks,
Octo
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