Sauromatae is my new favorite faction.

[Unintended BM]

Crazy powerful bodyguards, great starting position and great units. Saka and Pahlava have better units overall probably, but I don't care. I'm gonna conquer all of Europe and get a giant Ukrainian empire, it'll be great!

https://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w276/Indoril_Jarsa/EB%20pics/RomeTW-ALX2010-04-1000-35-50-08.jpg

I just thought I'd share the greatness of the Sarmatians that I am experiencing at the moment.

[anubis88]

It's great when you start playing a faction in EB, and don't expect much, but then it becames your favourite of all? Happened to me as well :)

[Madoushi]

I was sad when my game doing well as the Sauromatae started constantly CTDing.
I started one new game where I went for Gava-Yugra first, but by the time I captured that and then Tanais, I was 35K inb debt.

So now I'm on my fifth Sauro game, and hopefully gonna do things right for once. :smile:

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

I blitz very quickly with the Sauromatae in the beginning, taking Tanais within 2 turns and Gava-Yugra within 4 turns. You can only do that by accepting the fact that your attacking forces are going to be outnumbered by the defenders. However, this can help if you besiege the towns instead of assaulting them, because if your attacking force is small enough, the defenders will bravely sally out and attack you instead of sitting on the town square. In the open fields around the town, fighting on the defensive, your horse archers have the advantage. Horse archers are not so good in assaults.

[Madoushi]

I find it's better to take Gerogis after Tanais, as it's closer and means I don't have to split up my army.
Also, I never fight fair. In any battle, I have my horse archers skirmish and fire arrows, and when they run out, I run away to conserve casualties.

In my most succesful game, I never took Gava-Yugra or any of the northern provinces, I just kept pushing west and attacking the least defended settlements I could find.

It worked great, but one day I went to load the file and it CTD'd, and ever since then I've been foolishly trying different things.

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

I find it's better to take Gerogis after Tanais, as it's closer and means I don't have to split up my army.


I took Gava-Yugra with just the small army that starts very near to it, plus the horse-archer that's in your town nearby. That little army was enough on its own, I didn't need reinforcements from the west - so I managed to take Gava-Yugra and Gelonus simultaneously, rather than one after the other.

[Unintended BM]

I suck at horse archer against horse archer combat, so I waited a while and grouped up all of my armies at the start and took all the nearby towns. I got to about -30000 mnai, but obviously in the picture, I made that up relatively fast. Then I noticed a Getai army wandering on my land, so I beat the crap out of them. Very fun game.

[Madoushi]

I took Gava-Yugra with just the small army that starts very near to it, plus the horse-archer that's in your town nearby. That little army was enough on its own, I didn't need reinforcements from the west - so I managed to take Gava-Yugra and Gelonus simultaneously, rather than one after the other.

I find I take too many casualties, even when I just run and shoot instead of standing and fighting. I bring the stack from Gava down so I can field three FMs in combat and let them soak up the casualties so I don't have several units of half-strength horse archers I have no money to reinforce.

[Unintended BM]

I bring the stack from Gava down so I can field three FMs in combat and let them soak up the casualties so I don't have several units of half-strength horse archers I have no money to reinforce.

That's what I like to do in most battles, basically. I just shove like three family members in a line in front of the rest of my horse archers. I usually have them rush around and kill all the enemy troops that are capable of harming my unarmored horse archers, then I do regular horse archer tactics of surrounding and charging when needed.

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

I find I take too many casualties, even when I just run and shoot instead of standing and fighting. I bring the stack from Gava down so I can field three FMs in combat and let them soak up the casualties so I don't have several units of half-strength horse archers I have no money to reinforce.

If you assault the town, you will take too many casualties from the foot archers on or near the town square - their altitude advantage from being on the hill gives them more range than your archers. But if you besiege the town, and end the turn, the garrison will sally out to attack you - their units will be round the edges of the town and thus more vulnerable. Also your horse archers should move away from the town, and lure the enemy into chasing them. The enemy units can then be isolated from each other and picked off one at a time. Also unarmoured horse archers should be moved quickly out of enemy arrow range whenever they are being shot at, let your FM take the casualties. FM charges against enemy archers (both foot and horse) is also a good way to stop them shooting, they can't fight in melee and shoot at the same time.

[plutoboyz]

hmm... yeah, Sauromatae is tough. it cost a lot to exterminate them.

[[cF]HanBaal]

Sauromatae are a great faction with great units. Their bodyguards are definitely the best in game imo. Kinda easy start since there is no real menace from other factions. I think only Hayasdan after some years attacked my southern town. This makes it a bit boring if you like to roleplay and use diplomacy to survive. I remember i blitzed my way until I conquered Pella with its uber mines, acquiring in the way the provinces needed to get Elite Thracian Infantry. These combined with your powerful horse archers (aim for Aorsi Noble riders -> kinda cheap, armoured, good charge, fast, great range and available in many of your home provinces) make your armies virtually invincible. Pella and the preceding provinces conquered on the way there, which also have mines and ports, took me out of debt in no time since the Maks had just built in Pella mines level2 (send a spy and see when they build it). From there on roleplay and see how easy you devastate greek and roman armies.

[Brave Brave Sir Robin]

Ugh in my Sauro campaign the Saka blitzed me by turn 10 or so. Fighting them back was a real chore and I never even conquered further west than Gelonus before a CTD killed my campaign.

[Madoushi]

I can never get the Force Diplomacy mod to work, so 'roleplaying diplomacy' isn't really an option for me. When I bump into another civ and they attack me, if I can't ignore them, I have to wipe them out, which is why I try and avoid Greece and Hayasdan

[Unintended BM]

Saka attacked me and took my eastern most starting town. I made a good army and I'm over there now holding them back from going any further. I think that's the way to do it.

https://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w276/Indoril_Jarsa/EB%20pics/RomeTW-ALX2010-04-1015-22-50-61.jpg

I love when this happens:

https://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w276/Indoril_Jarsa/EB%20pics/RomeTW-ALX2010-04-1015-22-15-71.jpg

[Madoushi]

Well, I've had a lot more success playing Sauro in my most recent game. I'm getting much better at combat, but I have no idea how to make money.

No matter how far west I conquer, and how quickly, I always end up thousands upon thousands of mnai in debt.

[vartan]

Well, I've had a lot more success playing Sauro in my most recent game. I'm getting much better at combat, but I have no idea how to make money.

No matter how far west I conquer, and how quickly, I always end up thousands upon thousands of mnai in debt.
Exterminate. Sack. Or more correctly, Enslave.

[WinsingtonIII]

Exterminate. Sack. Or more correctly, Enslave.

Those steppe towns are so small that enslaving doesn't net you very much though, and you need to make sure you build up population to get a more stable economy as well.

[vartan]

Those steppe towns are so small that enslaving doesn't net you very much though, and you need to make sure you build up population to get a more stable economy as well.
Staying in the steppe isn't going to get you rich, so I was referring to the lands one would conquer (i.e. non-steppe). Happy Birthday bro (=

[Burebista]

in my Sauromatae i blitzed tanais and crimeea , then vanquished the getai with the starting army. i roleplay so i imagine that the sauros would exterminate every village except steppe. After the conquest i choose miration and move all the steppe people into dacia & greece. I got all continental greece exterminated , epeiros & macedon too , now skirmishing with the romans for the westernmost province. Also sent a full stack into Hai lands just for plunder , not for conquest. Exterminate all then retreat through the bosphorus.

looking forward to killing some gauls/swebos and maybe casse too

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

Well, I've had a lot more success playing Sauro in my most recent game. I'm getting much better at combat, but I have no idea how to make money.

No matter how far west I conquer, and how quickly, I always end up thousands upon thousands of mnai in debt.

Then you're not blitzing fast enough - Tanais, Gava-Yugra, and Gelonus should all be in your hands by the beginning of the fourth turn, Spring 271 BC. And your taxes probably aren't high enough either. It doesn't matter if you're losing population through negative town growth at the beginning, money is more important. Just keep public order at 85% or higher.

Can give you more detailed tips if you want.

[vartan]

Then you're not blitzing fast enough
No such thing. :laugh4:

[ChingizLink]

I suck at horse archer against horse archer combat, so I waited a while and grouped up all of my armies at the start and took all the nearby towns. I got to about -30000 mnai, but obviously in the picture, I made that up relatively fast. Then I noticed a Getai army wandering on my land, so I beat the crap out of them. Very fun game.

First big HA vs. HA battle I had was my stack of 1 FM, 3 cataphracts, 1-2 Sarmatian HC mercenaries and ? HAs vs a stack and a half of Sarmatian merc HAs and HC, ALL WITH 8-9 experience and 2-3 weapon/armor upgrades on a RTR mod. Oh my god that was traumatic. Eventually I figured it out, but I remember people telling me crap like "okay, loose formation, fire at will, and just watch everything." Yeah, ooookay....

All about the highground, footarchers (if you have any, and killing those of the enemy ASAP), and using your general(s) as diversions while also setting up the strongest enemy units to get mauled by them. In my experience, anyhow.

[vollorix]

HA vs HA i simply use Cantabrian Circle for all of my HA´s, concentrating the most experienced on the nobles to increase causalities, while barely suffering any losses. I keep a unit or two of fast moving medium cavalry, to counter their bodyguards and prevent them from chasing my own HA.

[Blxz]

Oh yeah, sauro's are another of my favs. Cheaper and weaker horse archers with no reforms. Also the ability to recruit your nobles anywhere on the map is pretty awesome. Possible to conquer the whole world using only a single type of unit. I like to play where I unite all the nomads on the map. Unfortunately the lands to the east are not rich enough to support the long distances and difficult border that forms. My most recent game I had MAJOR issues with saka bribing my towns. I couldn't blitz them faster than they could bribe me to death. Pity.