Pontus Guide: Bram’s Thoughts on this Faction and an Approach to Initial Turns

Preamble

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I use the title “guide” primarily just to help folks searching. In actuality, I do not profess to know enough about this game to suggest to others the “best” way to play the Pontus faction (or any other). Instead, here I share an “adequate” way to get Pontus off to a decent start. It has worked for my playstyle (which tends to be relatively conservative).

My Pontus experience is based on:
1. Full campaign on Normal, started in Patch 3, ended in Patch 5. For early game turns, this was basically learning how NOT to do things. https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...-Pontus-AAR-10
2. Two 50-turn starts on Hard, Patch 5.
3. The suggestions below, therefore, may not work so well at VH and legendary.

So, all that disclaimer and equivocation out of the way….

Some general comments about Pontus

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Pontus faction traits:

Great Marksmen: +1 XP rank for archers. Nice buff, not huge. Does make archers attractive as missile troops of choice….but worth noting here that Pontus only gets low-end basic archers to begin with.

Persian Trade Heritage: +10% income from commerce buildings. Self-explanatory…and awesome.

Philhellenes: +25 cultural affinity with Hellenic factions. Huge advantage, worth more than the other faction traits combined. Negates the geographically-poor start position by making war with nearby Greeks virtually impossible (unless you want such), and enabling almost-automatic trade agreements with all Greek factions.

Barbarian Subduers: +10% morale buff when fighting barbarian factions. Situational, but significant. An early opponent is likely to be Celtic Galatia, who can put together a pretty tough little army in the early turns. This trait is also useful if/when Pontus expands north beyond Bosporus.

Forsaken Persian Origins. -25 cultural aversion with Eastern factions. Pontus’ negative trait really isn’t that big a deal. Armenia and Colchis are the only nearby Eastern factions at start…and you’re probably more likely to fight them than trade/ally with them. Note, however, that if you go to war with the Seleucids at some point, most of their satrapies are Eastern; if you want to make peace with these guys later after wiping out Seleucid, this trait will make it that much harder to do so.

Pontic unique units:

Bronze Shield Pikemen. Excellent pike infantry. I don’t know if they’re quite the equal of other top-end Greek pike units, but they’re good enough. You will probably base your late-game armies around a core of these in phalanx formation.

Scythed Chariots. Capable of truly gruesome damage, especially against lighter troops, but also highly vulnerable. Some people love chariots. I’m not one of them. I’ve experimented with these things, and for me they just require too much attention/micromanagement to keep them from getting massacred. I particularly dislike using this unit for general’s bodyguard…it’s a good way to get a general killed. Then there’s the “cavalry/elephant/etc auto-resolve problem”, whereby mounted units take disproportionately high losses in AR’d battles. Chariots are particularly vulnerable to this due to their low troop numbers. All that said…if you’re a chariot fan, then Pontus has a good example in this category.

Pontic Royal Cavalry. Good high-end shock cavalry, with excellent charge value. They also have good melee defense if they get attacked themselves.

There are several other unit names labeled “Pontic” which are not specifically identified as “unique” units. Pontic Peltasts, Pontic Noble Blood Cavalry, and Pontic Swordsmen are all solid, effective units in their categories.

Military Buildings One of the Encyclopaedia’s many shortcomings is that it does not include information on what units are produced from what specific type/level of barracks. Here’s how it goes for Pontus:

Level I City/Town: Eastern Spearmen, Eastern Slingers

Level I Muster Field: Hoplites, Levy Pikemen, Hillmen, Eastern Javelinmen

Main Line:
Level II Holosideros Barracks: Citizen Cavalry (melee), Pontic Swordsmen
Level III Hoplite Barracks: Pontic Noble Blood Cavalry (melee), Thureos Spears
Level IV Royal Barracks: Pontic Royal Cavalry (shock), Bronze Shield Pikemen

Aux Line:
Level II Perioikos Barracks: Pontic Peltasts, Eastern Archers
Level III Skirmisher Camp: Horse Skirmishers
Level IV Mercenary Camp: No unit. -12% merc hiring cost, +XP levels for “some units”

Obviously the main line should be prioritized; almost the entire army will be built from these barracks. In the Aux line, I believe Level II is high enough, just to get the missile complement…Level III if you’re a mounted javelin fan.

All the workshop and training facilities are worthwhile. I tend to prioritize siege and infantry defensive buffs, then missile and infantry offensive buffs, finally cavalry. This is because of my playstyle…I generally play pretty defensively even when the “attacker”, and the fundamental core is the pike phalanx. Field artillery are my big killers, while my priority for infantry is outlasting the enemy so that he routs first; reinforcing these roles is top priority. I use missile troops primarily for thinning out the enemy and weakening his morale rather than getting high kill count themselves. Cavalry is used mainly for cutting up second-echelon missile troops and running down routers…I find that they don’t really need extra buffs to do that job perfectly fine.

Army Composition

Pontus has many ways to build and deploy an effective army. In particular, hoplites are excellent “all-purpose” troops; one can go all-hoplite with a few missile troops and cavalry and do fine…I played a big part of the AAR campaign that way.

I offer here, however, the current evolution of “Bram’s ideal Pontic army”. It is based on a central pike line with some melee/spear flexibility on flanks:

General Bodyguard: Bronze Shield Pikemen. I like using this unit because it enables me to put the general in the center of the army, spreading his influence circle over the largest number of units. Despite being up front, however, he is still well-protected. In phalanx formation, the general lines up in the back; virtually the entire unit has to be destroyed before the general is in personal danger (other than maybe a lucky missile hit).

6x Pike Units: Levy Pikemen (early), or Bronze Shield Pikemen (late). With general in center, a 7-unit long pike phalanx line forms the front line. They’re almost invulnerable in front; even the levy pikes will withstand attacks from much higher-end opposing units.

2x Non-pike “flank protection” units. These guys bookend the pike line. Several units are serviceable for this: Hoplites, Hillmen, even Eastern Spearmen. Later, Thureos Spears or Pontic Swordsmen. Their primary function is to absorb any flank attack and prevent exposure of their neighboring pike unit’s flank, thus preventing a chain-rout along the phalanxes. Units with a defensive formation should use it: Hoplites in phalanx, Pontic Swordsmen in shield-wall, etc.

3x Non-pike “reaction and reserve” infantry. Two of these are placed near the flanks. When enemy attacks one of the flank-protection unit, this reaction unit counterattacks to beat back the enemy flanking attempt. The idea is that this reaction unit is mobile, allowing the flank-protection unit to stay defensive and fixed in place, covering the pike flank. One reserve unit is placed in the rear, so that it can run to either flank. Like the flank-protection, any of the non-pike melee/spear units can execute these roles, but I think I like the melee infantry a little better for their melee-attack values.

4x missile infantry. Eastern Slingers (early), Eastern Archers or Pontic Peltasts (later). Deployment is situational: sometimes I have them line up forward as initial skirmishers, sometimes I place them protected behind the pike line from the beginning. I tend to prefer archers over peltasts. Peltasts dish out more damage-per-minute and have much better melee capability. But they run out of ammo pretty quickly, and let’s face it…if the missile troops have to use melee, then something else has gone horribly wrong. I also like the archers’ whistling-shot capability, which reduces morale.

2x cavalry. Citizen, Pontic Noble Blood, or Pontic Royal. I use them all pretty much the same way, although the first two are melee cavalry while Royals are shock. I place them together far off to one flank or the other, preferably hidden if cover is available. I almost always keep them in diamond formation. Once battle is joined, I run them out to the flank of the enemy, and then angle in towards the missile troops in their rear. They’re also good for repulsing flanking horse archers.

2x siege artillery. Ballistae are really all that’s ever needed; there’s no real reason to proceed beyond Level I workshop for siege recruitment purposes. I almost always develop to Level III for the heavy onagers though, just because they’re just that much more awesome. I avoid giant ballistae, however, because they can’t move once the battle starts….that can be problematic. The artillery are my main killers. In a settlement attack, 2 artillery units are often enough to so completely tear up the enemy garrison that the infantry have to do little more than simply walk into town.

https://i.imgur.com/0XcdaD4.jpg

Note: Much credit for this section should go to Myth for his “Pike vs Hoplite” guide. All these words are mine, but Myth's guide is what made the "pike lightbulb" turn on inside my head. Beforehand, I was using mainly all-hoplite armies (which still worked pretty good!). https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...vs-Hoplites-10

My Pontus Start

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Initial Situation

https://i.imgur.com/6Hj4GU6.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/lUN8d7X.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/i9g0n4u.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/gyrCEyw.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/LXhqHO2.jpg

One starts with two minor settlements and a total of 6 building slots…two of which are open and available. 2 small armies, 1 small fleet, 1 spy.

Pontus is defensively allied and friendly with Bithynia, and at war with hostile Cappadocia. Nearby Hellenic factions are generally Friendly, the others Neutral or Unfriendly.

One can make peace with Cappadocia; they will be willing to do so. Pontus has to expand somewhere, however, and Cappadocia may as well be the starting point, regardless of what eventual direction the player intends to pursue.

General concepts

1. Prioritize military tech research, then civil tech research to increase income. The objective is to get at least to Level II Holosideros Barracks and Workshop as quickly as possible. This will allow the fielding of a capable multi-faceted army more than a match for any likely opponents in the early-mid game.
2. Actively pursue discovery of new factions and opening trade agreements. Maximizes the value of the Philhellene faction trait; every Greek faction will almost automatically agree to trade without needing a bribe to do so. Even if one initially refuses, just try them again in a couple of turns. Many other factions will readily trade as well.
3. Conquer Cappadocia. Still only minor settlements, but doubles your territory and provides a solid base from which to expand further. Cappadocia is not “tied in” diplomatically with other factions, so taking them out first leaves all options open.

First Ten Turns

With that in mind, what follows is a general “script” for the first ten turns. Trying to plan out move-by-move much further than that becomes increasingly unrealistic in this complex game. Even during the first ten, specific enemy moves or game events can throw a wrench into things. For example, Sinope is very regularly hit by floods during the early game, which sucks up repair money, hinders movement, and impacts public order. Plague attrition of one of your armies is another common occurrence.

Turn 1

1 - Research Organised Supply (first military tech)
2 - Build Muster Field in Amaseia, Consecrated Ground in Sinope.
3 - Convert Level 2 Cattle in Sinope to Level 2 Farm.
4 - Disband 3 of the 4 ships in the fleet (so the fleet is now Admiral + 1 ship)
5 - Sail Fleet directly north in double-time mode to discover Cimmeria faction.
6 - Combine the units of the two armies. Do not use Forced March mode.
7 - Army 1 (the one with the units in it) moves toward the mountain pass toward Mazaca (the one without the road). Do not cross border.
8 - Army 1 recruits 2x Eastern Slingers
9 - Army 2 (the lone general) stays at/near Amaseia.
10 - Replace general in Army 1 with the zero-cost unemployed statesman. Use Bronze Shield Pikemen for his guard.
11 - Spy moves into Cappadocian territory and begins intel (just to get skill-up points…no need to spend tight money on any actions yet). He should find the initial Cappadocian army near Mazaca.
12 - Propose trade agreements with all factions possible (except maybe Galatia).

Dropping the ships is simply to reduce upkeep; the fleet is not going to be used for blockade or combat for quite a while, so no reason to pay for the ships. Admiral+1 is plenty enough for a while. The idea of keeping one ship is just in case the admiral dies far from home, the fleet doesn’t disappear and can keep discovering new factions instead of having to sail a new fleet all the way back out.

The idea behind replacing the generals is to get rid of the Scythed Chariot bodyguard units. Even if you’re a chariot fan, this is a pretty lousy unit for protecting the general. If you like the original generals, there’s room to swap them all back into place over a couple of turns at no cost, but with much better guards. The Bronze Shields are the way to go if building along the concept outlined above. Otherwise, Swordsmen or Noble Blood Cavalry also solid choices.

Turn 2

1 - Fleet moves further north to discover the Catiaroi at Olbia.
2 - Army 1 stays in place near border,recruits 2x more slingers.
3 - Army 2 stays in place.
4 - Spy stays in place conducting Intel until he ranks up.

Turn 3

Your Muster Field and tech research are now complete, and spy has probably ranked up.

1 - Research Mercenaries.
2 - Fleet sails south, toward the strait near Nicomedia. Discover Odrysian Kingdom along the way.
3 - Army 1 recruits 3x Levy Pikemen.
4 - Spy moves as necessary to keep tabs on Cappadocian army (which may try to invade via Galatian territory)

Turn 4

1 - Fleet moves into Aegean Sea, heading toward discovery of Macedon.
2 - Army 1 recruits 3x Levy Pikemen.
3 - Spy keeps moving as necessary…if he doesn’t need to move, continue doing intel for more skill points.

Turn 5

By now, your first army should look like this:
https://i.imgur.com/tOE8ljm.jpg
This should be able to deal with anything the Cappadocians or Galatians can throw at you.

1 - Research Advanced Chariots
2 - Fleet discovers Macedon, keeps sailing toward Mediterranean towards Knossos/Rhodos.
3 - Army 1 now enters Cappadocian territory and advances toward Mazaca. This mountain pass doesn’t have a road, so might not get there in 1 turn. Or might have to fight a battle with their field army.
4 - Army 2 (the second general in/near Amaseia) starts building. Recruit 3x Levy Pikemen.
5 - Build Shrine of Poseidon at Sinope.
6 - Spy continues intel or moves as needed. Employment is situational; won’t make any more specific spy action recommendations.

One can also go after Samosata first, it doesn’t matter that much. I tend to prefer going toward Mazaca because that’s where the initial Cappadocian army starts, and I’d rather defeat it earlier rather than later. This army will either remain at/near Mazaca or possibly invade Pontus via Galatian territory. I suppose it could do something else, like attack Sardes or something, but I haven’t seen it do so. If it invades you, you probably won’t see it until it’s in your territory. Which is okay, you don’t really want to risk worsened relations with Galatia by busting their territory. Fighting Galatia and Cappadocia at the same time is a pain…becomes a game of whack-a-mole and makes you go defensive against their combined armies. If the Cappadocian army does invade this early, then it probably hasn’t recruited many units. Rather than go after it with your main army and delay going after Mazaca, you might be able to hire a few mercs into Army 2 and go schwack the invaders. Just don’t forget to immediately disband the mercs afterward so their upkeep doesn’t wreck your economy.

Turn 6

1 - Fleet heads east towards Antioch. From here on, make a broad clockwise circuit along the Mediterranean shore, discovering Egypt, Libya, possibly Nasamones, Carthage, Syracuse, Rome, and the various Adriatic factions. By the time the admiral has gone all the way around the eastern Med, can either continue further west for the Iberian factions, etc, or bring him home, because fleet by then might be useful in the Black Sea for other actions. I won’t continue to make describe any fleet-specific actions.

2 - Army 1 attacks Mazaca (or the Cappadocian army, if situation dictates).
3 - Army 2 recruits 3x Levy Pikes.

By now, the original Cappadocian army should be destroyed.

Turn 7

1 - Army 1 should occupy Mazaca by now, and will probably remain here a few turns for public order. Convert the town building to Hellenic version.
2 - If the Cappadocian army has been destroyed (hopefully this is the case), then Army 2 can now move toward border nearest Samosata. Once there, recruit 3x Slingers.

Turn 8

1 - Advanced Chariots is now complete. Research Workshop.
2 - Upgrade Muster Field to Holosideros Barracks at Amaseia.
3 - Army 1 remains at Mazaca.
4 - Army 2 recruits 2x Hoplites, 1x Hillmen

Turn 9

1 - Army 1 remains at Mazaca.
2 - Army 2 recruits 2x Hillmen, 1x Slinger (obviously the specific order of recruitment over past few turns could be different).

Turn 10

Ok, Army 2 should now look like this:
https://i.imgur.com/Fkqf1Wm.jpg

1 - Army 1 remains at Mazaca. Even if public order is getting better now, it’s going to take another hit soon, and anyway, this location is fine jump-off spot for subsequent moves after Cappadocia is finished.
2 - Army 2 attacks Samosata. 2nd Cappadocian army is forming there now. Combined with garrison, it may be a pretty daunting force. Your army should be able to deal with it, but another viable option is to encircle the town; they’ll often surrender without a fight.

Status after 10 turns:

1. Four settlements. They’re all minor, but territory is doubled.
2. Cappadocia destroyed.
3. Trade agreements with at least 10 factions, for roughly 1000-1200 trade income per turn.
4. Two decently-sized and reasonably capable field armies.
5. Robust enough economy (mainly because of trade) to start building a third army.

Your settlements should look something pretty close to this:
https://i.imgur.com/j6wGYsr.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/nvx2nYr.jpg

Next Moves

1. Miitary tech has proceeded far enough for now. Start researching civil techs in the philosophy line to improve income. Specifically, beeline to State Banking. These few techs dramatically improve net income, largely through corruption reduction.
https://i.imgur.com/qtzAF2P.jpg

2. Go after the Galatian capital at Ancyra next. They should be at war with your ally Bithynia. Ancyra will give you your first walled provincial capital, and you’ll be close to consolidating the Galatia et Cappadocia province.

3. Start building third army. As soon as Holosideros Barracks is completed, you can also replace your Eastern Spearmen and Hillmen with Pontic Swordsmen or more Hoplites. The Holosideros will also enable adding Citizen Cavalry. Once a growth slot opens at Sinope, build a Workshop, which will unlock Ballistae.

4. Once Galatia is defeated, there’s several strategic options:

South. Capture Iconium to unify the Galatia et Cappadocia province. This means, however, that you have to attack Sardes, a Seleucid satrapy. This will get you into a war with the Seleucids and all their other satrapies. This is not necessarily a problem. Just be aware that going after Iconium probably means an expanding war toward the south and eventually taking Cilicia/Syria (which are good provinces, especially Syria). As previously mentioned, even if/when Seleucids are destroyed, their Eastern satrapies are unlikely to make peace because of Pontus’ negative diplomatic trait. You could be fighting toward the southeast for a long time.

East. Trapezos has probably been conquered by now, either by Colchis or Armenia. If not, they’re certainly at war with one or both of these factions. Armenia is a natural enemy, being Eastern. Going to war with them is probably going to improve your relations with the Seleucids, and open the way to make them a long-term ally if you want. If at war with Armenia, the small Eastern factions in Caucasia are natural follow-on enemies as well, and pretty easily beaten once Armenia is gone.

North. Cimmeria is a bit of a wild card. Sometimes they get friendly, sometimes they become a royal pain in the Black Sea. Either way, they seem not to get along very well with a lot of the Greek factions, so making war on them shouldn’t result in a big diplomatic hit. Bosporus is only a 3-settlement province, but all three are ports, so it’s pretty good regardless. Opens the door to Scythia and Ponto-Caspia as well, where Pontus’ anti-barbarian faction trait can come into play.

West. Probably the least attractive of the various options, because this area is filled by friendly trading partners and perhaps allies. Even so, there’s a lot of good provinces in this direction, and you’ll want to go this way eventually. In my opinion, it’s better to expand in one of the other directions first.

Good job on the guide.

Just a side note on peltasts, historically, peltasts were hybrid types used both in melee and with missiles. That's how I tend to use them an they fare pretty well in that role. I also use them to hunt enemy missile units.

As to diamond formation: I never use it against the AI. A side effect of the diamond formation is "loss of acceleration" and extra fatigue and you need a lot of reaction if playing against AI (since it is constantly running everywhere, in every direction, all the time).

As to Samosata, no need to wait, there's nothing there except garrison: defeat them on turn 2 once you've combined both starting armies (+ recruits from turn 1). Then, turn 3: circle through Seleucid territory (can obtain military access beforehand; can just skip it) and on turn 4: strike straight at Mazaca.

I also start the third army straight from turn 1: can use that general to move troops back and forth once the first two armies have gone South.

Good stuff! This is my favorite faction so far, though haven't played many. I, too, underestimated pike front lines until I read Myth's guide. I have been playing around with different armies of later, but it is tough to beat the one you show as the basic setup.

Weird how each game is different, too. The first one, which I got rolled (very first campaign), I allied with Galatia and we both just rolled the south....until Cimmeria from the north ran rough shod over me.

So the next time I allies with Cimmeria really early, and still, 190 turns in, they are my staunchest ally, still protecting my northern sea approach as well as the land approach to the east. I value them so much when I got "rich" I just started giving them 5k now and then lol.

Yep, peltasts can certainly do things which archers cannot. I've just tended toward archers for the reasons listed in the guide...it's a playstyle thing I guess.

Good point about diamond...I haven't really delved into the pluses/minuses. I will say, however, that I rarely have a problem with tired cav. Will try regular formation in current campaign for a while. To be perfectly honest, one reason I use diamond so much is that it just looks cool, lol.

I've done the Samosata/Mazaca circuit just north of Tarsus, that works. I wrote it up this way, however, in order to leave Pontus with as many options open as possible. So this method avoids a big negative diplomatic hit with Seleucids. It won't provoke them to declare war, but will make it that much harder to develop them into an ally later if one desires. On the other hand, if one intends long-term to roll south against Seleucids anyway, then yeah, making the loop around the mountains and hitting Mazaca from the south makes perfect sense. Re military access, I haven't had success in getting Seleucids to give it that early...at least not at an affordable price.

Cimmeria is a weird duck. Hard to predict what they're going to do. I note, however, that they seem to have become friendlier in Patch 5; it was Patch 3 where I found them intransigent.

I am in the middle of an MPC playing as Pontus. The first thing AI Cimmeria ever did was ask for alliance ;)

I have to say I was very against pikes until I read myths guide. I implemented them towards the end of my Pontic campaign. Very very good units. Great guide you have here. I have to say that pontus is my favorite faction out of the three ive played

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kamakazi

I have to say I was very against pikes until I read myths guide. I implemented them towards the end of my Pontic campaign. Very very good units. Great guide you have here. I have to say that pontus is my favorite faction out of the three ive played

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With Pontus you also can have a varied roster. I have some armies that are Roman style sword based (after all, Pontus used to have legionaries and have a decent rank-and-file sword unit) while other armies are pike based: just for variety and so I can have different feel for battles.

This is possible with all Hellenic factions though. I believe all get thorax swords or their equivalents (such as Pontic swordsmen for Pontus).

Yep, I started using this pike setup a lot toward the end of the Pontus campaign and really liked it. But I also retained a lot of all-hoplite armies as well, and they did fine all the way through. Must admit I didn't fully explore what I could do with Pontic Swordsmen, but from what I saw it's pretty bad-ass; I could easily see a Romanesque melee army centered upon this unit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bramborough

Yep, I started using this pike setup a lot toward the end of the Pontus campaign and really liked it. But I also retained a lot of all-hoplite armies as well, and they did fine all the way through. Must admit I didn't fully explore what I could do with Pontic Swordsmen, but from what I saw it's pretty bad-ass; I could easily see a Romanesque melee army centered upon this unit.

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I use that Romanesque melee army to storm walled cities. The armored swords have better survival rates against archer towers, etc.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Slaists

I use that Romanesque melee army to storm walled cities. The armored swords have better survival rates against archer towers, etc.

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Indeed. The one major Pontic debacle I had was from hoplites getting chewed up by the maze of towers in a Level IV city.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bramborough

Indeed. The one major Pontic debacle I had was from hoplites getting chewed up by the maze of towers in a Level IV city.

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If it's level IV and has scorpion towers: anything and everything dies in seconds. Scorpion towers are like World War 2 machine gun bunkers. Once I encountered a tower that was bugged (I could not take control of it), before I realized it was bugged, I lost 8 infantry units to its fire. A general's unit went from 80 men to 2 in just some seconds...

I replayed that battle. This time, saved my ballista ammo. Brought them into the town (the tower was in the middle of Massilia) and took the sucker down.

So upgrading key main settlements to tier 4 actually might make sense to stall a front line while you focus on something else.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Myth

So upgrading key main settlements to tier 4 actually might make sense to stall a front line while you focus on something else.

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The problem is, this feature used to be bugged before patch 5. The advanced towers did not show up in player upgraded cities. Also, in AI cities, I have only seen scorpion towers in a couple places (Massilia is one of them). Many AI towns that are upgraded to town center III and IV have only arrow towers during battles inside those settlements. I have yet to have a battle inside my advanced walled cities post patch 5. So, I do not know if this has been fixed.

Also, if the AI grabs your minor settlements while dying on the walled settlement, it will still set you back significantly unless you can recapture the minor regions fast. The AI knows how to prioritize capturing: goes after undefended regions first, then the walled center.

My thought on upgrading city to Tier IV for defensive purpose is much like my take on upgrading for economic purposes. It's nice to have, but by the time one can afford it (and enough turns pass to actually build it), then the critical period is past, and probably not really needed any more.

Also, I haven't really tried it out, but my hunch is that one would have to be careful not to AR any siege defenses...not clear to me that the AR calcs would properly take into account missile towers' full potential effect. I think the key would be to use 1/3 to 1/2 of available garrison forces to contest the wall breach or gate where AI attacks, allowing local towers to do max damage at that point. Once they're through, then remainder of garrison should set up to defend last-ditch at the elevated citadel which Tier IV cities have...the uphill ramps leading to that particular VP are covered by multiple towers, it's a deathtrap (as my FL learned in Pontus AAR).

That's my thought, anyway...I don't think I've ever had AI actually attack any of my Tier 3 or 4 walled capitals, so don't have empirical evidence to back it up. Just know the AI did it to me once.