Were you drunk when you posted this?Quote:
Originally Posted by Qvintvs
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Were you drunk when you posted this?Quote:
Originally Posted by Qvintvs
I had an account here eons ago, but it got dead. So, apparently, this is my first post: 72 years of a Saba campaign.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Taking it nice and steady, I see.
Heh, the Romans got owned...
https://i942.photobucket.com/albums/...0-38-05-97.jpg
Sweboz H/M
No FD
No cheats
Then what`s up with Yellow Death and Baktria?
I'd say more whats up with Macedon being all the way north in the slavic territories
Mak had like 10 full stacks trying to take Sparte from KH and when they finally did they blitzed Sara. Getai is Mak's protectorte. Yellow death was doing good until they met Baktria now they are fighting a two front war with Mak and Baktria.
Baktria 140 BC
https://img231.imageshack.us/img231/...nbenanntwt.png
Guess who's the strongest Faction...
Quote:
Originally Posted by SwissBarbar
Well, it's definetly not the KH nor the Aedui. But my bet is for those Lusos because they hold the Iberian and the Appeninian. But - oh well - it could be everybody.
Getai.
Getai? What Getai ^^
No, it's the Lusos
It's interesting that when you play an eastern faction - Parthia, Baktria, Saka, the Seleucids ALWAYS do great in that campaign. Even if the Ptolies became the yellow death, the AS still holds their own and conquers at the expanse of other nation...
At least that's my experience
Factions you are at war with are always doing better then factions which are on the other end of the map. And factions you are allied to are the worst in the campaign. I stoped allying to faction which I want to see alive during the game, otherwise they will be conquered quickly :D.Quote:
Originally Posted by anubis88
In my current Pontos campaign I am at war with the seleucids, but I am focusing on the area around the black see, so I just conquered the seleucid areas in anatolia. Despite sending army after army at Mazaka, The seleucids are pushing the ptolies back to egypt and the parthians have only 2 cities left.
Yes, you're right, my experience too.Quote:
Originally Posted by anubis88
https://img249.imageshack.us/img249/6742/molwint240.jpg
Guess Who's Who?!? [By the time of 240BC]
edit. damn white borders.
Sweboz?
You are Parthia I think. Maybe you are one of the western greeks but I can't make out anything there...
EDIT:
Wait, I changed my mind. You are Epeiros. (if I'm correct and the green thing in macedon is the same green as in pergamon)
Gotta be Sweboz though I agree its odd to see Pahlava attack Baktria instead of AS. I think that greenish blue color in Pergamum and Macedon is Makedonia. Thats pretty typical expansion for a black wave.
nah. Rahl is right, I'm Epiros. I was pretty stunned by the AI expansion, was just toy'ing around with the SPQA (Arretium) to train my young FM's and recognized this monster that will be called Sweboz. I think i have to secure at least AM to counter them off in the Alps.
H_U
Saba campaign, 243 BC:
http://www.secretundergroundbase.com.../saba243bc.png
Casse are doing the usual, slowly taking over Britain. Nothing special there.
Sweboz are moving west, and are now finally in touch with some other factions.
Aedui are close to destroying the Arverni and have been fighting against Rome since the beginning and doing pretty well.
Rome hasn't taken Mediolanum yet. Segesta has apparently rebelled.
Lusos are running around in Spain taking the odd town. At some point they'll probably explode and take over everything.
Carthage have finally woken up and are trying to take Sicily.
Getail aren't doing anything special.
Epeiros are doing really well, and have taken everything above Thermon.
KH are still alive which is good in and of itself. They are currently besieging Chalkis and Rhodos, so hopefully they will last for some time yet.
Maks are quite small, but a have a good number of full stacks standing around. Battling mainly with KH.
Sauros have managed to divide Hayasdan who made early gains in the north.
Hayasdan took a lot of land to the north before losing it again. They've somehow managed to lose their capital to rebellion and seem to have no interest in getting it back.
Ptolemies are sending small forces to attack me and are battling against AS.
AS are doing well, they've managed to hold off most of their enemies and also make some ground against Pahlava, which usually doesn't happen.
Pahlava made some early gains against AS, but are on the defensive now. Hopefully AS will wipe them out so I never have to fight them.
Baktria only have one province and have been sending attacks against Saka for some time now, none of which have been successful.
Saka are being Saka.
I've mainly been building up my cities and have just started moving towards Patala. Took, looted and abandoned Pura on the way since my troops got dropped off early (pirate fleet attacked). Not bothering with Gerrha yet since it just means that the AS will start sending stacks down to me. This will be annoying for me and will probably let the other factions defeat the AS. Palmyra keeps revolting to me.
It could go any way the minute. Personally I want AS to defeat the Pahlava and the Ptolemies, then get picked apart by everyone else. Basically I just don't want to be fending off streams of full stacks of elite phalanxes/cataphracts.
Guess who I am.
https://a.imageshack.us/img809/3550/...0811012841.jpg
The Parthians.
Nope.:laugh4:
then the you must be Casse:laugh4: how else would they withstand the red jugernout :laugh4: which you could not posibly be
How could you possibly think I'm the Romans?:laugh4:
https://i285.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1282110484
255 BC
I'm playing as Hayasdan and I'm roleplaying the Kingdom as a hermit kingdom until atleast 200 BC, though I may push into the Levant if I'm forced.
I had just attained the King of Kings event, Ptolemys declared war on everyone and the AS threw all their eggs in one basket and lost horribly in Syria, they literally have no significant armies anymore.
https://i285.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1282115672
250 BC
The AS are pretty much a hollow power now, the Ptolemys are besieging Babylon and vassalized the Saba. They also keep throwing stacks of elites at Karkatheriokerta, and I have a fullstack there with stone walls, but I get massive casualties with each fight and my population is being drained horribly, and my the Ptolemys show no signs of stopping(and yes...I have been using force diplomacy on them but nothing is happening) Pontos is my ally and they took full advantage of the power vacuum in Asia Minor and are besieging Naiosos and Ankyra with large armies are are fighting the ptolemys in the south too, which for some reason seem to ignore them and beeline to my city in the area, thus losing many battles to Pontos.
I've never seen the Sauromatae expand like that, and so fast, they're at war with the Getai and the Parthians.
https://i285.photobucket.com/albums/.../year245-1.png
245 BC
I force diplomacied Antioch and Edessa back to AS after destroying the factional barracks in both, because I'm getting really annoyed with facing full stacks of elites every 3rd turn. AS recruited a few armies from Seleukia and are doing the same thing the Ptolemy's did to Karkathiokerta with Palmyra, except a lot more crappily.
I'm slowly recruiting a decent army(Persian Hoplites, Armenian Infantry, Kinsmen) from Palmyra, so I might actually decide to go on the offensive and capture Syria and mesopotamia soon.
Heres my latest from my new Roman campaign (started a new one to impliment some mods into my campaign). Set it to Very High Diffculty in campaign setting due to the ease of victory from my last roman campaign. In the middle of my Second Punic War with Carthage.
This faction progression suprised me quiet a bit.
https://i266.photobucket.com/albums/...BSurprises.jpg
As you can see Pahlava has forced both Saka and Baktria to become its protectorates. Though while that is interesting what i found more interesting was Koinon forcing Eperius into becoming its protectorate and the fact Pontis has been blitzing AS like crazy to the point it has reached to the very doorsteps of Seleukeia itself. Koin has been annoyingly powerful this campaign though has had a wandering army in Italy that doesnt know how to leave (small one fm in it so i cant even bribe it away) and attacked Taras a decade or so back.
when Pahlava forced Baktria into a protectorate it forced a ceasefire between it and the AS I had hoped earilier that it would give it breathing room for the AS to retake Antioch from the Ptolemaios but all it did was delay Pahlava for a few years with Baktria rather siding with their new protectors than their old allies the AS.
The Romans become the worlds largest faction after the tremedous losses the AS has had in this campaign it held up rather well for awhile at the begining taking Ptolemaios territories near antioch and retaking some territories from the Pahlava but it got utterly wrecked from the Pontis explosion i've been seeing this campaign.
That's an incredibly good Pontos AI you have there.
Ya I know right?Quote:
Originally Posted by Hax
So far im hoping Pontos and the Ptolemaios will have a war soon due to the Pontos consumption of Syrian territories. Hopefully Pahvala will consume more of Persia and keep the Pontos's ambitions in check.
Though franklly if they keep going the way they are im gonna enjoy the Mithridates War well have when i finnaly head eastward (probably in a century or so) I dont normally find myself able to contend against a strong Pontus in the east.
https://i266.photobucket.com/albums/...ossillluck.jpg
update from my campaign. In the past 14 Years Pontos has had to contend with the Yellow death and their at their death throws now. where they once got into the very heart of the Syrian Kingdom they now face the yellow death. Though im hoping at least for a Parthain Empire to form to put the yellow death in its place. Pahvala is already on the verge of getting those Indian provinces.
Carthage is still around. We almost had a Third Punic War until i decided to ally with their ally Macedon to cemate a cease-fire. They even sided with Macedon after they were attacked by the yellow death. So i think the Anti-Bacrid faction has gotten more power in Carthage now. Which is good since the Lusotan attacked my far flung Iberian holdings and I've about finished them off they put up a hell of a fight though had to sacrifice allmost my entire pre-polybian army of my early era Roman Legions plus Iberian allied forces AND hired every mercenary i could find.
Which is good because my Faction Leader isnt going to live for another long campaign. At least its going to give him a legacy to be proud of since his wife died a natural death and he has no sons to carry on his line.
https://i266.photobucket.com/albums/...tioIberica.jpg
He killed 3-4 Fullstacks of Lusotan troops. One by funnelling them throw a narrow bridge as a chokepoint (they failed to ambush him while my leader was crossing it), and another Lusotan fullstack my roman forces actually hid in the forests of Iberia to AMBUSH THEM and issuing them a crushing defeat! Thats how i got the devoution of the Iberian warriors. Then i fought two Lusotan half stacks with the remenants of my roman forces and iberian allies in a battle where i had roughly 2000 troops to their 3800. after i crushed them i was attacked while besieging Oxtraca here with the remenants of the Lusotan.Then it was a simple march onto the city where i burned and pillaged the place to set an example to their former capital to those barbarians who would think of attacking Rome and her allies.
Ah Marcus Semproninus Longus I will remember you always even if youll have no direct descendents.
For further infromation My pre-polybian roman legions consisted of 4 Hastasti, 4 Princeps, 4 Triari, 8 Leves, 4 Republican Slingers, 4 Equites. Constitued into two legions most of which were veterans of the first Punic War + capturing northern italy etc so many of them were silver cheveron.
Needless to say Lusotan gave me a good war. I always have fun in Iberia :). Its Africa i hate though trying to conquer Tuat and Garama is a pain in the rear end to finish Carthage off.
https://img38.imageshack.us/img38/8018/haiempire2.png
Hai campaign. I have conquered the Caucasus, most of Persia, Mesopotamia, Assyria, Syria, Media, Eastern Arabia, and parts of Cappadocia. At this point I have just defeated 3/4 of the Ptolemaic offensive they directed at Syria after I kicked the Seleucids out. I just have to defeat the army besieging Antioch.
Lusotanians: Destroyed. I've never seen Carthage so tenacious in Iberia and this was obviously to the detriment of the Lusitanians. I believe they started the war and actually took one of Carthages holdings but Carthage fought back and gradually conquered all of Lusotann's settlements.
Carthage: Again, never seen Carthage do so well in any of my games. They own all of Spain, after slowly and painfully beating back the Lusitanians. They attacked the Arverni and made them their protectorate which in effect allowed Rome to concentrate on the Aedui and conquer half of Gaul. Currently, Carthage has attacked the Romans and is fighting with them over southern Italy. I expect Carthage to win if they can transport some of their larger stacks from Spain to Sicily.
Rome: The Romans had a very interesting go of things this time around. They were slow to unify Italy and warred with Epirus for some time over Tarentum and later Illyria. They had a very tough time kicking the Aedui out of Mediolanum and almost lost Massalia several times to the Arverni. They have had multiple full stacks crushed when attacking the Gauls but once Carthage protectorated the Arverni and since Rome and Carthage were allies at the time, Rome and Arverni got ceasefire and they could focus all attacks on the Aedui. They crushed them and now are fighting with Carthage over southern Italy and tentatively attacking the Central European provinces. They also made Epirus their protectorate at some point.
Aedui: Destroyed. They resisted the twin pressures of Rome and Sweboz for a long time but once the Arverni left the fight, the Aedui crumpled under Roman attacks.
Arverni: Protectorate of Carthage. Lost Sequellra to Sweboz who then lost it to Aedui who then lost it to Rome. Managed to come back from just one province to conquer two more and make a viable defense against Rome but when Carthage attacked, they readily accepted protectorate status. Now their only function is to stop conflict between Rome and Carthage in Gaul itself which would have been cool methinks.
Casse: Doing their typical thing, though quicker than normal.
Sweboz: Doing their typical thing. Ally with Rome, unite German tribes, attack Gauls. They may attack Rome soon which would probably doom the followers of Mars.
Getai: Were in the process of getting their ass kicked by Epirus when the latter randomly became Romes protectorate. Whatever. Now fight over Black Sea provinces with Sauromate, face down Central European stacks, and worry about Pontic expansion westwards.
Epirus: Looked poised to conquer Getai while expanding into the Alps and south into Italy against a weaker Rome when suddenly they became Rome's protectorate. I'm currently searching for a way to break that status but I don't know if that will happen. They were strong enough at one point to take the Alpine town with scripted defenders so I really don't know what happened.
Macedonia: Lost Pella early on, got smacked around in Greece by KH but came back from just Euboea to dominate southern Greece again. They can't seem to take Thessaly though and instead just build up stacks on Lesbos to no use. They are the richest faction in the game though.
KH: I've never had a campaign where the KH dominated Greece so I was excited when they fought their way north to Thessaly and had reduced Macedon to just Euboea and Lesbos. Of course they then lost Athens, Corinth and Sparta in quick succession and now hold onto only Thessaly, Rhodes, and Halicarnassus. Fight off occasional Macedonian forays and hope that Pontus doesn't get greedy.
Ptolys: Fought a stalemate with Seleucids for years, then allied with them and attacked Karkiotherta once I owned it. Grrrrrr. They've been my biggest foe this campaign even though the AS has been tenacious, Ptolies are the bigger threat. They have actually been smart this campaign though. Had three stacks waiting once I conquered Syria from AS and beseiged all those towns immediately. Also landed three full stacks in Anatolia to win back lost holdings against Pontus and were mildly successful. At their largest, they owned Byzantion, Cyrene, and Karkiotherta.
Pontus: With Carthage, my favorite so far. One, they have upheld our alliance. Two, they beat the snot out of the Ptolies in Anatolia. Pontus had owned northern half plus Ipsos and Sardis along with Byzantion and Odysai when Ptolies attacked them. They were down to Amaseia, Sinope and Odrysai when I took Mazaka from the Seleucids and prompted Ptolie attacks. Pontus then fought back taking all of Anatolia except Side when Ptolies landed three full stacks against them. Ptolies reconquered back to Pergamum but they became distracted by my conquests in Syria and now Pontus has reduced them to Sardis which is under siege. Pontus will then be poised to either attack me (I hope not), attack KH in Halicarnassus, or expand against Getai or Epirus.
AS: Gradually lost territory to me, Pahlava, and Pontus. Stubbornly held onto Syria until my recent attacks. Now owns Eastern Persia and Cyrene which I'm RP'ing as seperate factions. I plan on taking east Persia next if Pahlava don't get it first.
Saba: Owned Palmyra and Bostra at one point and were a major threat to Ptolies. Now they pester them in Africa and the Levant but nothing serious. Also still my good allies although I conquered Eastern Arabia and border them. Not sure what will happen once I move into the Levant.
Pahlava: Started strong against AS even taking Paropamosidai but they lost that to rebellion and the AS built up a huge garrison which stopped their attacks. Now they occasionaly attack the Sauros even though they don't border them and look to be attacking the AS again. Another true ally. (You can see why I'm enjoying this campaign lol)
Baktria: Fought against Saka and lost Baktra. Regained it in a rebellion instigated by me but also accepted protectorate status to the nomads. Now sit around aimlessly.
Saka: Took Baktra which they lost but gained Baktrians as protectorate. Now they are slowly moving West and attacking Sauros.
Sauromatae: At war with everyone! And still somewhat viable. They were beating on Getai but lost province to Sweboz rebellion. Backstabbed by Saka while Pahlava attack them from across the Caspian. Also had to fight off Greek rebellion on Bosporus.
239BC in my Epeiros-as-Pergamon game with 1.2:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...BCworldmap.jpg
Mine is the royal blue, the Aedui have Ankyra (not me) after a revolt. I've been using cheats to assist the smaller factions and prevent rebel settlements being swamped (mostly adding units to rebel garrisons). Its my aim to keep as many rebel settlements going in Europe as possible - especially to constrain the Sweboz and SPQR - and maintain a stalemate between Aedui and Arverni, and KH and Makedonia.
I also don't want any faction to die, so if any are starting to look hard-pressed I spawn some units in their cities and use the console to give them gold. I saved the Sauromatae from Hai destruction that way, and the Getai were nearly wiped out by Makedonia.
https://i873.photobucket.com/albums/...res/Hay212.jpg
Hayasdan H/M campaign, 212 BC. Covering the map roughly from west to east:
Iberia: Carthage have finished conquering Africa, and are allied with the Ptolemaioi, so now they're expanding in Iberia. The Lusos only just woke up from a 50-year hibernation, so things don't look good for them.
Europe: The Aedui are on the verge of extinction against a 3-way alliance of Arverni, SPQR, and Sweboz. They've only held out this long by occasionally getting towns back through rebellion. And the poor Casse can't quite unite Ireland.
Sicily: Carthage lost Messana to rebellious Greeks, who then proceeded to take over the entire island. This leaves Carthage and SPQR free to concentrate on other fronts, although they occasionally squabble over Corsica.
Greece/Thrace/Illyria: Koinon Hellenon are a superpower, having reduced Epeiros to a single Illyrian province, and exiled the Makedonians to Asia Minor. Rebellions in Hellenic coastal cities (Messana, Chersonesos, Halikarnassos) have all been turned into Greek power bases. They're at war with all their neighbors except for their allies the Getai, who are busy expanding north. The Koinon Hellenon are led by a horribly battle-scarred and lame 63-year-old Spartiate with triple-gold-chevron experience, who has left heroic-battle markers strewn across the region.
Asia Minor: A senile Seleucid leader drools on his throne in Ipsos, convinced that he still has an empire. The Makedonians hang on by their fingertips. The Koinon Hellenon are busy eating up Pontos, who wore themselves out defending Kallatis (Pontos actually walked an army past Byzantion and up the coast to conquer Kallatis!). My allies the Arverni got Ankyra by rebellion, and then I conquered and gave them Tarsos and Antiocheia to form a buffer against the Ptolemaioi. They have full stacks of freed slaves not doing anything and not being attacked by anyone.
Syria etc: After some earlier "unpleasantness" (c.f. Tarsos and Antiocheia) I'm now allied with the Ptolemaioi, and we're both at peace with the Arche Seleukeia. Seleucid full stacks are content to sit in their forts, using up resources that could be better used in the east. Saba are stuck in the desert - they got Palmyra through rebellion and then used it as a base to attack me, so I kicked them out and gave it back to the Seleucids in return for a ceasefire.
Hayasdan (me!): I've conquered my first set of historical lands to the east, and am about to intervene in Pontos and Asia Minor to the west. I feel relatively safe against the Sauros in the north (battling Greeks and Getai), and Seleucids in the south (busy doing nothing). But then there's the east...
The east: The big blue Baktrian death machine approaches. They spent 50 years conquering India, then exploded over the past 10. A 3-way alliance in the northeast between Baktria, Pahlava, and the Saka has kept them all chipping away at the Seleucids, but Baktria took all the spoils. If they don't turn on Pahlava or Saka, then I expect to be attacked very soon...
Edit: look at this lovely Baktrian stack I found in Apameia. Mercenary phalangites as the main line, thureophoroi to hold the flanks, Hyrkanian hillmen to run round the back and chop things up, peltastai to annoy, Indo-Iranian cavalry to harass and then charge, and archers to shoot up the enemy as they approach. This is a stack I'd be VERY happy to command, and the AI put it all together itself!
https://i873.photobucket.com/albums/...trianStack.jpg
Epeiros-as-Pergamon, on M/M, 217BC:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...o/217bcmap.jpg
There's been some shameless cheating to preserve and assist the smaller factions on my part. Recently the Arverni were nearly wiped out in Gaul, so I made the Aedui give them Galatia and return one of their provinces. They've since allied with the Romans and the balance of power in Gaul has flipped over. The Aedui have had two recent revolts in their favour, Mediolanium and Singidunum.
KH have held on to Mazaka despite some hard fighting with Pontos. Pahlava are finally moving and the Saka holding their own. Baktria actually went south for a change!
Still giving the rebels lots of money and occasionally boosting garrisons to prevent them being steamrollered.
You do realize that stack was just put together by recruiting all the mercenaries in the pool right?Quote:
Originally Posted by FriendlyFire
My latest Romani campaign, 206 B.C., VH/M, BI exe. All factions still alive. The AS are down to one settlement, but are currently besieging Antioch with a full stack. This is the best I've ever seen Pontos perform, usually they're the first faction eliminated.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Ah, could've fooled me!Quote:
Originally Posted by Brave Brave Sir Robin
214, Pahlava campaign.
Awww, don't spoil my dreams of a smart AI!Quote:
Originally Posted by Brave Brave Sir Robin
Besides, it's still a lovely stack, no matter where it came from :smiley2:
Europe looks very pretty, just the Greeks and Aedui spoiling the nice regular color blocks. That Epeiros-on-the-coast/Makedonia-inland thing going on in Illyria is bizarre but fun. What's happening in Africa -- are Carthage and Ptolemaioi actually at war for a change? And what happened to the Saka lands??Quote:
Originally Posted by johnhughthom
Yup.Quote:
Originally Posted by FriendlyFire
One AS FM wandered up there and in the fifty or so years since his family has carved out their own personal domain.Quote:
Originally Posted by FriendlyFire
196BC:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...o/196BCmap.jpg
Heavily meddled and interfered with by me, both through FD and more direct intervention. Most recently I sent an army to Syria and restored the flagging Seleukids, kicking the Ptolemies back into Egypt.
All those Sabaen holdings in North Africa are gifts from me after taking them from Qarthadast and Egypt. Casse in the Belgae lands, and Lusotanno in Ireland are my doing via FD. As is KH in Syrakousai.
I gave the Romans the Illyrian coast a while back, after taking settlements from Makedonia. Just about to restore Singidunum to the Aedui for yet another war with the Makedones.
My independent little kingdom of Kyrene has held against both the Ptolemies and Qarthadast. With no support from the homeland, just what they can recruit plus mercs.
235BC in my Epeiros-as-Massalia game:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...235BCmap-1.jpg
Only minor meddling on my part, such as giving Bratosporios to the Casse after taking it, and when the Romans attacked, taking Segesta off them and giving it to their allies (yeah, I know) the Aedui.
224BC in the same game:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...o/224BCmap.jpg
https://img826.imageshack.us/img826/...1007084110.png
This is my Bactrian campaign.
The AI progression has been very interesting..
Spain has been rather boring.. other than Romans and Aedui fighting over emporiom..
In gaul the romans pushed about half way thru France, only to be beatin back by the Aeudi.. however with the Swezboz now attacking them.. and the Romans.. their future doesnt look bright.
Greece has been most interesting.. First the Makedonians were pushed out to Mytilene where they have expanded to where they are now. Eperius owned everything that KH and Maks have split.. Pella.. Ambrakia.. Byzantion.. and north of that.
KH has pushed and taken over greece, still fighting with the exiled Makedonians and using their resources to overwhelm the enemy.
The yellow death is slowly strangling Carthage like a snake.. They have a peace treaty with the grey death, so not much expansion in Asia.
The parthians and myself pushed and carved our own empires out of the Arche.. however soon after they attacked myself and are currently being crushed.
Saka has yet to try and move south..
AS244 BI.exe m/m
https://img202.imageshack.us/img202/4811/as244.jpg
allies: Epeiros.
enemies Baktria, Hai, Pontos, Kart, Saka.
Nothing too unusual about AI expansion so far except I've never seen Casse so weak or Sauromatae so broken up.
Romani 223 bi.exe h/m. 3.1 minimod. This for me is the most fun/realistic set up for any faction. used to play rtw.exe all difficulties. just recently started using minimod and bi and permanently switched to hard campaign. Almost feels like a new game. Navy becomes critical. I see ai expansion patterns in BI that I did not see in rtw. Some odd, but overall better.
https://img140.imageshack.us/img140/6201/romani226.jpg
Lusotannan campain at 263 Bc with Alex.exe and Jirisys Mega Pack (Vh/m)
https://img156.imageshack.us/img156/7564/lusos263bc.jpg
My first with Alex exe and is being quite fun!
I had played Lusos many times (can you belive that? =P ) but usualy I first blitz the Carthies ou of Iberia and then focus in economy and in conquer the rest of it but now I'm doing the things the other way: conquered 2 eleutheroi settlements, paid some tributes to Cartage while developing some basis economy and them waited for them to betray me. Belive me, fighting them all over iberia is much more fun to just siege eleutheroi towns so I'll let them stay around more time. Theire bringing reinforcements by boat (mostly sardinians and balearians), I'm hoping that they bring some elephants, but unfortunly AI almost never use them in my campains, maybe with Alex things will be different (I hope). :bucktooth:
And btw LOOK AT THAT GETAI, who gave them steroids? :shocked:
Thinks are pretty hot in the steppes, almost a shame I'm so far away :2thumbsup:
And lol, Casse was destroyed very early by eleutheroi.
Its being a fun campain :yes:
Epiros, medium/medium (bi.exe)
An invasion of Punic troops in Italy from see. (They didn't came from Messana).
https://imageshack.us/m/42/8648/62319806.png
In 272 I took Pella and Demetrias and Serdike, the Koinon Hellion took Korinthos the same year. Removing Chalkis did cost the Greek more time though. I lost Taras twice, yet nice rebellions gave it back.
The Koinon sieging and taking Mytilene, while Makedon had succeeded in invading Rhodos isn't someting I've seen often. (Note: In the second picture The Koinon is invading Rhodos). And Pontos has Pergamon.
Edit: AS has Salamis.
https://imageshack.us/m/845/2002/21925505.png
https://imageshack.us/m/713/2451/47288056.png
However succesful the Free Greeks have been so far, they made a huge mistake in sieging Demetrias, the first time I'm in war with them. I have four full stacks (thanks to the mines, and I have even 5000/6000 mni each turn), they have one stack (with some non-professional alongside some professional troops).
https://imageshack.us/m/862/3950/44215989.png
https://imageshack.us/m/683/2629/42274982.png
As you can see, the Ptolemaoi, Bactria an Pahlava are doing wel.
https://imageshack.us/m/18/3936/37835227.png
Anyone care for some more Empire building?
Don't have a screenshot at the moment but by 230 my Sauromatae empire is quite large , the most successful attempt to date . Alex.exe vh/m huge size units ,have "cheated" to win previously ctd'd battles as I hate having to replay at least half an hour of constant micro with the horse archers . Usually I have much more casualties than playing the battle manually ( again ) but I can live with that*edit* After the Ptolemaioi have attacked I can't live with that any more , if this campaign dies , it will be because of my hatred of replaying ctd'd battles *edit* . I hate replaying the same battles . Otherwise I don't cheat at all , not even the "legitimate" cheat of " force diplomacy" .
After uniting the tribes around the starting territory and capturing pantikapaion and ... the other crimean city and olvia ( some heroic victories ), I initially expanded to the west , captured the skythian lands and even expanded a bit ( 2 provinces ) in the baltic , attaching two allied tribes to my growing empire .
Since Saka Rauka proved to be the best ally ever in EB ( almost 40 years of alliance with common borders and without attack ) I then continued my expansion to the south , I passed the Caucasus mountains and destroyed Hayasdan and on the other side of Euxeinos Pontos I stole Kallatis and .... the-city-immediately-to-the-west from Getai . Again tough resistance from both of them . The Getai are quiet ever since , they have probed once or twice with a single unit towards Gawjam Bastarnoj but were beaten back immediately from local militia .
Beside the Getai where nothing interesting is happening , at the moment I am facing the KH which for the past 10 years ( or more ) is rather obsessed with Kallatis , even though it has no bordering province ( Tylis still owned by Eleutheroi ) , they have been very active launching expedition after expedition by sea to Kallatis , I must've killed over 25 thousand of troops . I also face the Ptolemaioi who declared war on me the very next round after we shared a border for the first time .
Other than that I have a severe financial problem , with 21 cities now I still can field 3 quarters of a stack worth of HA units of which 5 units are elite ( of which only two are Aorsi Nobles - not the best one there is ) and the rest are regular non elite Sauromatae Archers or Aorsi Riders . These are splitted three ways : 2 Sauromatae Noble Horse Archers with a family member go rebel hunting , 1 SNHA with 3 Aorsi Riders and 4 SHA and one FM are in the Balkan front and 2 Aorsi Nobles 2 SHA and 2 AR and 2-3 FM's are on the other front , Caucasus etc , the rest of my economy supports guards in the cities , all Sauromatae footmen .
The thing is that I may have some profits now , but I think that if I invest on a third "army" ( practically another halfstack - the rebel hunters barely count as an army ) to conquer more territory I don't think that with the additional garisson costs I will have any profit at all , perhaps I will lose more than I will gain , financially speaking . Non HA armies are worth nothing if they're not supported by elite cavalry , so it's a financial dead end methinks .
Moreover I want that 6-8k profit margin to develop my territory ( slowly ) .
What I think kills me is unrest . Contrary to our settled neighbours we don't have enough happiness / law buildings and on top of that we have many FM who simply want to be in the wild / seek the glory in battle who don't make great administrators .
At the end of the day it's ok , because I was forced to play like a steppe horde is supposed to : I organize raids deep into enemy territory with the sole purpose of sacking cities ( so as to develop territory faster ) :D
Am I doing something wrong ?
Let me know if I do .
Satyros
P.S. : I moved my capital to Tanais , which was a brief relief , but further down the road squalor will hit hard my captured cities . With the exception of the 2 Baltic cities I have migrated everywhere .
P.P.S : If this is not the right thread for this post , perhaps a moderator can move it somewhere more appropriate ? Thanks in advance .
P.P.S. : The Ptolemaioi are monstrous ! Monstrous I tell ya !They've taken ALL of western Seleukeia including famous cities such as Babylon and Seleukeia , they have even managed to keep their provinces in Mikra Asia and currently attack my ally Pontos . I have decided to build a HA army of Doom ( which means about 12 units ( 50% elites ) , 14 with the addition of two FM's and DESTROY THEIR CITIES .
excuse me but i got a little confused.......this is the barbarorum 1 or 2?????thank you
This is Europa Barbarorum 1.
Interesting expansion here from Romani. Especially since they were going after Sicily when Gaul had Roma. They continued attacking Sicily while the Celts took everything else. Taras is about to go but Athens is strong and they have owned that and have been allied with Makedonia for almost 20 years.
Using BI h/m with minimod, city mod, realistic movement mod, and some other stuff. AI victory conditions is on. Pontos was wiped out 265. This is my first campaign with realistic movement mod. I thought I would not like it but I actually do, especially for ships.
232bc
https://img407.imageshack.us/img407/4865/casse232.png
https://imageshack.us/f/819/resultsgx.png/
https://imageshack.us/f/4/theyseemerolling.png/
Just battle with romani, Thoughted that well lets take out the 1800 men stack but accidentaly got into battle with 2700 men vs my 972 men
https://img52.imageshack.us/img52/61...orldmap246.png
seleucids campaign 246 BC on H/M using Realistic Movement Mod
sothis is what happens when you give Rome and Carthage realistic movement...
Romani E/E 225BC
My first campaing what has lasted about 200 turns I have 76 settelments at the moment and trying to get the 90 before ill slow my progress down
Attachment 7407
Here is picture about my faction leader and his army + his 120 men strong galatikoi tindadoae guards.
they got their silverchevron from smashing plotemaioi stacks
Attachment 7408
Seems that epeiros has some good stacks out there, and yeah i have done principes spam abit
This is my campaign with the Getai. I haven't seen anyone achieve the victory conditions, so I might just post the empire here. Campaign is on M/M, I usually do play like this because I like bribing FM from time to time so I can culturally enrich my factions with some foreigners.
http://s12.postimage.org/yl8p05qex/dacia.jpg
Some addition details about it:
Just because I have achieved the victory conditions doesn't mean the campaing is over. I was thinking to start a AAR from the victory condition with the Getai in this campaing. The same season I achieved victory 230 I had the Egipt betray me - tho they did not attack me; we have no next to next city just an sea invasion is possible.
So where do the Getai stand at the moment? In the north east no real theat, save borders, lots of Eleutheroi to expand. Britain seems tempting to take with 2, 3 stacks, since it's easy to defend. I have an alliance with the Sweboz who are fighting the Aedui and Arveni at the moment, I'm in a war with the Romans who still have two cities. I did chose not to eliminate them so I won't get in a war with Carthage, whom is their enemy. Even so, earlier in the campaing the Romani and Epirus, worst enemies, no? Well they allied against me :D. I hope I can still keep Carthage neutral, else it will be messy. The Getai have a really bad navy, I can't compete with carthaginian war ships. Not even Egiptian ones. At the moment I have, as you can see on the map, a large town in Africa, that i need stone walled asap. Bribed it for the carthaginian FM. That guy is now pointless and skilless. Still is a Carthaginian.
Anyway, what I was planning to do is fortify my borders, all stone walled cities, outposts, forts on the main roads and go take Alexandria and the surrounding with something like two stacks. That might hurt Egipt. This or obtain back the neutrality, which would be better for the time being since most of my offensive stacks are in north ( i have the borders well garrisoned, tho').
Best expansion would be for me to get the western Mediterranean Sea, of course, but the Egipt.. they are the second factions in rankings and a prolong war with them being so far away would leave me in a way way bad shape. War will come, undoubtedly.
http://i50.tinypic.com/qye34y.png
Aedui campaign, 231 BCE, VH/M.
Only provinces left for the victory conditions are in Britain, while my continental extension is greater than needed. I'm currently at war with Rome, the Sweboz and the Lustoanna, though none of them is a threat at present. Roma is currently under siege and should fall next turn (for the fourth time this campaign, this time I'll just finish the SPQR off).
I've been roleplaying and haven't expanded as fast as I could, managing to avoid war with the Sweboz for a long time. The silly Germans were obsessed with Eburodunum as far as I can tell, but never managed to beat the scripted defenders (they never even took Heruskolandam, and I beat them to the Belgae provinces). When I got around to sending a strong enough army to wipe out the Boii, the Germans promptly attacked me. Their assault on Eburodunum was en epic battle I ultimately lost: my governor and last man standing fell in the central square with 2 minutes left on the timer, and the Germans lost 1400 of 1600 attacking soldiers. They held it for less than a year though, just the time to recruit a general and give him an army, and in general they've been losing the war since they started it.
I've also got a border with the Getai but they've been turtling up since achieving their present borders maybe 20 years ago, and are allies (but so were the Sweboz).
The fight for Greece was fairly balanced for a long time, with Epeiros holding Makedon and Makedonia holding Epeiros, which I thought was hilarious. I was bankrolling Epeiros and the Koinon (Makedonia having gone Philoromaios), through legit tribute, not console, so probably negligible on VH campaign, but KH and Epeiros did ally and Makedonia eventually crumbled under their combined pressure and became a protectorate of Epeiros.
In the East, AS did better than I've seen it do before, at one point going up to Jerusalem, before being kicked back to the Euphrates by the Yellow Fever. The combined attacks of Ptolies and Pontos drove the AS out of Mikra Asia, but they've struck back and taken Antiocheia back. Armenia seems to always do well in 1.2, Sauros are being driven West by the Saka and Hay. In the steppes, Saka and Baktria have been dancing, Baktria's been overall getting the better, though they've been bigger than in that screenshot. Pahlava are being nibbled at by the AS, as usual.
In Africa, I think it's the second or third time Kush revolts to Saba. Since Saba finally got Ma'in, they might have a real war with the Ptolies on their hands. If the AS don't keep up the attack in the Levant, then things might get really ugly for the Arabians.
The West is obviously dominated by my Aedui at this point. I started out by talking Vesontio from the Arverni and beating their armies until I could force a peace so I could expand East and North while holding back Rome. The Romans rapidly got too insistant to ignore, and that first war against them was really a gruelling affair. Eventually though I managed to field two full stacks at once, so I could beat them and sack Roma, which I returned to them (much damaged) in exchange for peace and tribute. They attacked me after only a few turns, so I retook Roma over the bodies of their Freed Slaves and this time made them a protectorate when giving it back (completely wrecked after two sacks). I got a ridiculous ammount of money out of that, much more than I expected from the SPQR with a gutted capital, but I guess it just shows how much the VH AI "cheats". I really would have preferred getting less money as this feels like an exploit, but protectorate status is the only way to make them keep to the treaty. It also takes all the aggressiveness out of the AI, which is why Rome never went South (except for taking Taras fairly early).
My one bit of console cheating was giving Arsé to the Carthies, because in 250 or so they still hadn't moved at all. This soon led to the Lusos attacking them in Arsé and taking all their Iberian provinces except, ironically, Arsé. It did kickstart Carthie expansion in Africa though, so I'll just roleplay it as meaning Hanno and the landowners' party hold sway in Qart Hadasht.
I did some expanding against Eleutheroi and building my economy until the Arverni, after some hibernation, took Tolosa and Burdigala. I crushed them then, of course Rome was still allied to them and broke the protectorate. I threw together a new army in Italy while my two armies in Gaul crushed the Arverni and sacked Rome again, reducing the Romans to a protectorate again after wiping out the Arverni. At this point, all of Gaul was mine. I took Eburodunum and Vindobonna then, before crossing the Pyrennees. This brought me into conflict with the Lusos while Eburodunum brought on the Sweboz backstab, which Rome used as a pretext to revolt again. I really tried to not wipe out the Romans, but peaceful coexistence is just impossible with some people.
Oh, Casse on their isle have been doing their usual thing on their own. Of course, since I need their lands to achieve the true Celtic empire, their future looks grim...
P.S. this campaign really persuaded me that slingers need to be majorly nerfed. They're the cheapest troop type available yet they're completely overpowered once they get a little experience (and with Type IV gov, Field of Games and Fortress Temple of Teutatis, they start at 3 experience). Some of my battles against the Lusos were like High Wood on the Somme, they advanced on my position, lost over their half their army to slingers on the way, then my line tossed some javelins and the survivors broke and ran. No melee at all, which is just not realistic for large armies in this time frame, as far as I know, especially in the West. These aren't elite Persian or Cretan archers, or Rhodian or Balearic slingers, just run of the mill iosatae and sphendonetai.
KH campaign, approx 250bc
War with Makedonia isn't going in their favor. They've hit a stone wall against Epieros, and I've run them out of Greece. They're also broke, thanks to a combination of their large inactive army and a three year long blockade against their ports. Just started a new campaign to take their island settlements.
Epieros has been waging a go-nowhere war against the Romani in southern Italy, and haven't even made a move against Thermon.
The Romani seem content to stop at the Alps for now, which doesn't make sense as Carthage is locked in a stalemate with Ptolemy. Money isn't an issue for the Romans either...they are ridiculously rich.
Seleukids made a move against Halikarnassos, causing that settlement to rebel an join me. They haven't made a second attempt due to eastern powers picking away at them.
The Sauromatae have a nice chunk of the steppes conquered and are starting to encroach on Baktria.
The Sweboz are holed up in their forests, seemingly ignorant to Arverni expansion along the Rhine.
The Aedui are still reeling from a few failed attempts to dislodge their Gallic rivals. There's now a temporary peace in Gaul.
The Iberians have been seizing eleutheroi settlements around them, paying little mind to the Carthaginians.
Ptolemy has been more less toying with Carthage while expanding east from Palestine.
Casse is still trying to bring Britain under control.
The Getai have expanded north and have forged a nice little kingdom from the rebel settlements.
Pontus controls most of Asia Minor and are trying to move into Thracia.
Hayasdan has expanded very little thus far, though they and their neighbors are keeping the Seleukids busy.
Hello HopliteLegion, welcome to the .Org and to EB ~:wave: .
Sounds like you are doing well. Have you already taken Pella? I would recommend you to do so quickly: the mines there are very profitable, and if you don't Epeiros is likely to snap them up.
I have not. My naval assets have caused me to cut back on troops for now. I've blockaded Makedonia's ports hoping that it will prevent them from raising an army large enough to fend off Epieros and attack me simultaneously. In the mean time, I've been using what little funds are coming in to bolster my economy and I'm trying to secure as many naval trade partners as possible. The siege of Korinthos nearly bankrupted me, and I've yet to Kydonia's citizens to be happy enough to raise taxes.
Yes, fleets are very expensive. So expensive, in fact, that blockading ports is only worth it if you were going to keep the ships anyway. The A.I. gets financial support from the script, so blockading is not as effective as you might think. Especially not if has built mines in Pella.
I don't know your exact situation, but I would consider disbanding the fleets and using the savings to attack Macedon.
I am playing as Carthage. The year is 239, I have been at war with the Romans for years and have finally been able to push them out of Italy only to be attacked by the Aeudi slowing my inevitable conquer on the two divided Roman halves remaining. The Yellow Death had been harassing me in Tripoli and with all my elite troops tide up in Italy with the new Gaul danger i can only field local units against the Yellow Death's mighty phalanxes so i began to raid his coastal cities from recently conquered Crete but with it's superior navy i have no choice but to raid territories on the edges of its empire or face disaster.
Iberians are my allies... for now, they still have a good deal of territory left to take in the north so im not too worried.
Aeudi signed a peace treaty with Roma upon my invasion of Italy giving them a free hand to expand and kick some Arveni butt. However, the Arveni quickly sign a Vassal agreement with the Aeudi. After a peace treaty with the Germans the Aeudi turn to besiege my newly taken city of Segesta a year ago.
Arveni havnt taken a single province all game and they are just barley hanging on against the Germans in the east.
Sweboz have been gaining momentum, conquering all the way to the alps in short order and commands MASSIVE stacks.
Romans are split with three territories south of Gergovia and two in Illyria. They have slowly been expanding outwards from Italy ever since i took Capua somehow.
Epieros spans from Athens in the south to far north in territory which is usually held by the Getai in all my games, not only that but since they removed KH from Greece theyve been at peace with all their neighbors even the Makedonians and Romans. They also seem to be completely forgetting about Aetolia as they have yet to even besiege it.
Macedon had a rough start but came back to retake the southern part of Greece. Now they're allied with Epieros and attempting to take Pergamon from Pontus.
KH had held Athens for years even against several armies of Macedon and Epieros but eventually fell. Not alot else going on with them except the recent rebellion in thr southern tip of Anatolia.
Getai, being too slow to seize territory before Epieros, had no choice but to expand into the steppe and had some early success but now their stacks stand mostly idle in the north for some reason.
Sauro have been getting roughed up between the Getai and the Hayasdan.
Hayasdan had been expanding north in Sauro territory reaping the rewards of the Getai-Sauro Conflict in the West and had split the Horse lords in half for a time. But upon losing Uspe in 243 it was the Hayasdan who had become split.
Pontus was a slow start but eventually it declared war on Arche and began slowly taking cities. Its now at war with Macedon but its main line of expansion still appears to be Arche in Anatolia.
Arche atlast seems to be losing in Anatolia after the combined pressure from the Yellow Death and Pontus. Its Capital is also underseige in Mesopotamia by a Yellow Death army that crossed the desert. It's armies are still in the East eventhough Pahlava is just one tiny provence away from defeat and stands no threat. It has yet another army standing around in southern Mesopotamia appearing ready to invade eastern Arabia. If only they turned towards Syria and Anatolia the Yellow Death could be put in its place.
*Sigh*
Yellow Death this Campaign went right at it, attacking me as soon as we had a border with eachother and pouring troops into Tripoli that normally conquer the southern nile and Nabataea. Strangely it still has a full stack bordering Nabataea that sits there year round and it only moves towards me when i besiege one of their cities.
Saba hasnt done much of anything i can see
Saka hasnt moved south towards Baktria in awhile instead it fights small battles against Arche forces without much territory gained on either side.
Baktria is going to make waves soon, they are on the verge of taking the Indian territories to their South and with that cash flow under their controll the saka wont stand a chance unless they make some moves soon.
Pahlava had been doing good up until a few dozen turns ago when Arche decided to send almost all its elite troops against them now they hold a small village south of the Caspian.
I was going to add a picture of the map but unfortuantly i need atleast three posts to do so :/
239BC in my Epeiros-as-The-Bosporan-Kingdom game:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.n...ac1f95cb2a9472
Well, I decided to have one last fling on 1.2 before the second game came out, because otherwise the waiting would be killing me. So: here's Makedonia progression. H/M, RTW.exe. No player interference with AI armies (other than killing them when they get too close). It's 216 BC by a system of time measurement that doesn't exist yet.
https://i.imgur.com/J8vE7kz.png
Casse - Zzz. Finished taking over the isles by 235. Haven't done anything since, unless you count allying with the Aeduoi for no good reason.
Lusotannan - They cut off Qarthadastei expansion in Iberia early on by surging through Sucum-Murgi, Baikor, and Arse, reaching the Mediterranean by 257. Then, they sat pretty quiet, expanding into Celtiberia and Cantabria painfully slowly. Once they'd taken all the Eleutheroi cities, though, everything began to happen very fast. In the mid-220s they kicked the Qarthadastim out of Iberia over the course of five seasons. Then they turned on the Auernoi in the north, swarmed through the Pyrenean passes, and are now pre-creating the Visigothic Kingdom of Alareiks II. They are the real power in the West and I'll probably end up fighting them for central Italy in ten years.
Aedui - The ultimate survivors. They created a north Italian empire in the 260s and promptly lost it to Rome. They lost several races for Eleutheroi cities in Gaul to the Auernoi and had to be content with a few scraps. Sweboz armies showed up in northern Gaul and besieged a few of their cities. Somehow, they've fought all those menaces off, rebuilt their empire in northwestern Gaul, and have taken advantage of the rapid collapse of the Auernoi empire to reestablish themselves as a strong regional power. They'll probably find some way to screw this up, too, but it's nice while it lasts, eh?
Arverni - I thought, for a bit, that the Auernoi were going to win the War for All Gaul for the first time. Like, I've never seen anything but the Aeduoi coming out on top. By the late 230s, the Auernoi had grabbed the lion's share of the western provinces, and unlike the Aeduoi they were holding strong in the face of the Sweboz armies. A 228 Iberian intervention even got them Emporion. Everything was coming up Auernoi. Then, in 222, the Lusos showed up, kicked them out of Iberia, and captured their cities north of the Pyrenees. Now all of the Auernoi cities save Vesontio are under siege, either by Aeduoi or Lusotannan armies. It's been quite the fall.
Sweboz - Pretty standard job by them. They directed their armies mostly to the west early on; in the 230s they looked to be taking apart the Aeduoi in concert with the Auernoi, reaching Bagacos and Bratosporios. Their eastern territories came through rebellions. First the Sauros captured and lost Asodat, then in 217 the KH captured and lost the Bastarnae lands. Now the Aeduoi have revived, the Romans are north of the Danube, and their expansion options are increasingly constricted by Eleutheroi terrorstacks and factions that are stronger than they are. On the bright side, they're allied to me, so well done.
Safot Softim biQarthadast - Monstrously boring. Did nothing whatsoever in Iberia apart from allying with the Lusotannan in the 250s. Three decades later the Lusos betrayed them and snapped up Mastia and Gader embarrassingly easily. They kinda messed with Epeirote plans in Sicily in the 250s and 240s by stationing single-unit armies all over the place and blocking the Epeirote stacks trying to go for Syrakousai. Then after the Epeirotes weakened the Syrakousan garrison they went in for the kill with a tiny army and took it for themselves. Within a season of that happening, a Mak army showed up and captured their two Sicilian provinces within a year. After that, they focused on conquering North Africa. Starting in 219, Qarthadastei ministacks started interfering with the Ptolemaic reconquest of Kyrene to little point or purpose. Hopefully this will blow up into an actual war. This screenshot gives me some hope.
Senatvs Popvlvsqve Romanvs - These Romans are crazy. First they lost major ground to Epeiros; not only did they fail to take Taras, but by 247 they'd lost Capua, Arpi, Ariminum, Rhegion, and Bononia to them as well. Roman territory was basically Latium + Etruria + the Po Valley. Then the Romans did something fairly extraordinary. They used their fleet to blockade pretty much all of the Epeirote ports, cutting off a huge chunk of their money. Then, when the Epeirotes' scariest stack got stuck in Sicily due to Qarthadastei and Syrakousan resistance, the Romans recaptured their Italian territory bit by bit. By 232, they'd recovered everything in Italy save Arpi and Rhegion...and they're still stuck there. Unable to crack the paltry defenses of those two large towns with wooden walls, the Romans unleashed their troops into the Alps; they just captured Mrogbonna a year ago, although all the guardian stacks are still there. I signed an alliance with them back in the 260s when it looked like they were doomed, and it lasted up to the 230s when their navy started doing that inane "must blockade everything" thing. So now we have off-and-on wars: they blockade a few ports, I annihilate their fleets, they peace out within a few turns, and the situation remains as before. I haven't killed them yet because a) I want MoT reforms and they still need another huge city in Italy and b) most of my armies are busy elsewhere.
Epeiros - Nemesis. Pyrrhos chose to ignore Pella in 272 in favor of a weakened attack on Thessalia. I punished him for his presumption by killing him with an army in Hestiaiotis two years later that I'd extemporized from the troops released by the defeat of all KH armies on the mainland. (They still had Athenai, but it was no threat.) In 265, after I managed to sneak into Ambrakia, Helenos Aiakides fled Greece by ship with the good parts of the Epeirote army, going off to conquer a new empire in Italy as the old one crumbled. After that, I peaced out and watched the Epeirotes and Romans slaughter each other. And although Epeiros came tantalizingly close to total victory - armies in Aemilia, Campania, and Umbria encircling Rome, with the Romans barely fending off assaults on Latium - the old demons showed up again. Just like Pyrrhos, his descendants failed to focus on a single opponent. After the failure of the first few attacks on Rome, the bulk of the army went down to Sicily and shattered on the walls of Syrakousai. Rome's fortunes revived, and those Makedonian jackals took the opportunity to capture Messana from a badly overextended garrison. Ever since the late 230s, they've clung to Arpi and Rhegion, somehow. I would've finished them off already, but I want the Romans to get huge cities first.
Getai- After I kicked Epeiros out of Greece, I was planning on grabbing my objective territories in the Balkans and pushing on toward Anatolia. Previously, I've managed to stop at Serdike/Tylis/Kallatis and then keep the peace with the Getai for most of the rest of the game. Unfortunately, I lost the race for Kallatis to the Getai, so I decided to kill 'em all. I hate the way their large towns and cities look anyway. Sarmizegethusa fell in 262 and Buridava followed it three years later due to stupid Pontos drawing away the army that was supposed to finish it off.
Makedonia - Yo. I go too slow for a blitzer and too fast for a roleplayer. Sorry?
Koinon Hellenon - Instead of trying to fight Pyrrhos and the Chremonidean League at the same time, I took everything out of the north and blitzed Sparte and Athenai, trusting to AI stupidity to keep the Epeirotes off my back long enough to conquer southern Greece. It worked; by 267, the KH had been driven out of the mainland and was confined to Rhodos. Having dismantled my own navy for the cash, I peaced out with them and turned against Epeiros. Somehow, the RTW 1.5 AI was smart enough to bring Areios' Spartan army back from Krete and use it to invade Karia. From the base in Halikarnassos, the KH fought both the Ptolies and AS successfully; by the mid-240s, Rhodos had established a viable south-Anatolian empire of Halikarnassos, Side, and Tarsos. From then on, unfortunately, the Ptolies inundated them with troops and kicked them out of Asia. Just in time, the Sauros lost Olbia and Chersonesos to rebellion, and the KH reconstituted itself as a new empire on the north shore of the Black Sea. Now that I've got disposable armies, though, their days are numbered. Heh heh heh.
Arche Seleukeia - This was a little strange. Up to the late 260s, the AS looked to be holding its own - lost some ground in the east to the Saka and Pahlava, but captured Tarsos and Sidon. Then the bottom fell out of the ship in about 255, when the Ptolies got their act together and marched into Syria, the Pahlava kept pushing in the east, the KH started a war from their Karian base, and Pontos snatched Mazaka and Ankyra. But then, in 252, the Ptolies snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by peacing out of their war and allying with the AS in order to, I dunno, fight in unison against the KH. The Seleukids promptly used that opening to betray their alliance with me by attacking Pergamon and Nikaia from their remaining Anatolian bases in Sardis and Ipsos. So I curbstomped them. Now they're locked in a bizarre three-way war with the Saka and Pahlava over the Upper Satrapies; they hold Antiocheia Margiane with a stack and a half and periodically send out flying columns that capture cities and lose them within a few turns. And they control a little Seleukid island of Syria-Koile in the middle of a Ptolemaic yellow ocean, which never gets any less stupid.
Pontos- They tried so hard and got so far, but in the end, it didn't really matter. Pontos came out of the gate strong, took Mazaka + Ankyra from the AS, beat me to Nikaia and Byzantion, and then launched an invasion of Makedonian Thraike in 261. I turned it back, inaugurating a series of unnecessarily cautious counteroffensives from me. With each city, I slowly cut off all the angles, drew Pontic armies into farcically bad positions, and ground them into dust. My sole focus was never on Pontos; early on, I was still fighting the Getai, then the AS, and then the Ptolemaioi. But eventually, in 225, I captured Mazaka and ended the war.
Saurometai - For a few decades - the 240s and the 230s - the Saurometai were riding high. They captured most of the Greek cities of the Black Sea coast: Chersonesos, Pantikapaion, Trapezous. They'd pushed back the Hai and held their own against the Saka. They never seemed to be able to take Olbia, though, which turned out to be a blessing. Because when they did capture Olbia in 227, it promptly revolted to the KH. Which proceeded to steamroll Sauro possessions around the Black Sea while the Hai did their own Lazarus act in the Caucasus. They're back-footed now due to the combination of Hellenic and Hai threats, but it's doubtful that either faction will get any farther.
Hayasdan - Surviving and thriving. They initially lost the race for the Caucasian cities; the Saurometai grabbed Kotais, Kabalaka, and Trapezous while the Hai were stuck with Mtskheta, Phraaspa, and Ani. Most of the Sauros' success was built on their scary FMs, though, and when those died the Hai started to pull through. They kicked the Sauros out of the Caucasus for good in the early 220s and have been trading Uspe with them ever since. They periodically lose Trapezous to KH rebellions but always seem to get it back in the end. They've rebuilt their alliance with the AS as well.
Ptolemaioi - The Yellow Death just ain't the same these days. In the early going it lost its Anatolian empire to the combined forces of the KH and Seleukids; then when it got its act together in the 250s and 240s and stormed into Syria it only went halfway, reaching Palmyra and Antiocheia while leavingDemetriasDamaskos untouched. And then the Ptolies peaced out with the AS and allied to it, a move that only gets more incomprehensible with time. They had a decent shot at rebuilding their Anatolian empire in the 230s and early 220s, when they got all the way to Halikarnassos. That was when my armies intervened; before I managed to capture Tarsos in 223, they got several fullstacks through the Tauros Mountains, and hunting them all down was a piece of work that I only finished in 219. That front is mostly just festering now; apart from the two stacks guarding Antiocheia, most of their military might has been directed south, toward the Saba (lol) and Kyrene. Good luck with that. Once the KH is dead, it's their turn.
As'Sabyn wal'Jau - The usual from them. They've got a chokehold on the four cities of the Yemen. Gerrha periodically revolts to them whenever the AS captures it. Same with Meroe and the Ptolemaioi. They can never seem to build on any of the successes that fall into their lap. Oh well.
Pahlava - Locked in the aforementioned three-way slugfest with the AS and Saka, and they're the lightweight. Two things are keeping them alive: their FMs (which the AS really sucks at killing) and the fact that Indian and Gedrosian provinces revolt to them. The Saka keep getting distracted into reconquering Taksashila, and the AS can't seem to hold onto anything east of the great salt desert apart from Antiocheia Margiane.
Baktria- Lost the race for Marakanda andAntiocheia in SkythiaAlexandreia Eschate with the Saka. The Baktrians managed to delay their demise for a few decades by bleeding the Saka for every inch of ground south of the Oxos, but it was a losing battle. First they lost Baktra, then the Haomavarga valley, and Saka troops finally stormed the Paropamisadai in 236.
Saka Rauka - These guys are deceptively scary-looking. They steamrolled Baktria with something like two and a half stacks in the 240s and 230s, looking like the scourge of God, but ever since then it's been all they can do to hold onto their possessions as they are. Gandhara keeps revolting away, their offensives against Antiocheia Margiane are all non-starters, and the stacks that push down intoArachosiaSakastene seem to get distracted very easily.
Fifteen years later...
https://i.imgur.com/Fh3dtG9.png
Casse - Have done exactly nothing. They have three stacks sitting around Camulosadae twiddling their thumbs because they can't be bothered to declare war on anybody (and vice versa).
Lusotannan - So I was a bit off on the estimate, but the Lusos still ripped up Gaul like nobody's business. They'll probably finish off Lemonum in a few years and move on to bigger and better things. It's anyone's guess where - they've got stacks lurking along their frontiers with both the Sweboz and the Romani, although they are allied to the former.
Aedui - Ak-Ink revolted from the Romani in 208 just in time to save the Aeduoi, who lost their final Gallic province to the Lusos three seasons later. Rome took the opportunity to vulture Viennos and force them into a protectorate. Now they're a useful buffer zone between my Getic provinces and Rome's bizarre transalpine empire.
Arverni - Any season now. Lemonum's besieged by Luso armies pretty much round the clock; the Auernoi have picked up two heroic victories in the process of defending themselves but the end is undoubtedly nigh.
Sweboz - They were pretty quiet for most of the 210s and 200s; out of the wreck of the Gallic states they only managed to snag Vesontio, and the Eleutheroi stacks to their east have boxed them in after the conquest of Coutinoe. In 202, though, in order to take advantage of Rome's weakness, they declared war. It's been a singularly ineffective war so far, with no major invasions on either side yet, but it's still early days.
Safot Softim biQarthadast - Perhaps the most inspiring story of the bunch: the AI has been adventurous in a good way. They've been trading Kyrene with the Ptolemaioi off and on (just lost it by revolt two seasons before this screenshot); there are some pretty nice stacks involved, so I'm hopeful that somebody will start kicking somebody else's butt. They also tried a naval invasion of southern Iberia when the Lusotannan were distracted with Gaul in 205; the army was annihilated and they made peace within a year, but at least it's something.
Senatvs Popvlvsqve Romanvs - In 214, they captured Arpi and made peace with Epeiros; it took them another six years to reach MoT. Once that happened, their fate was sealed; I rolled over south Italy in rapid succession, annihilated almost all of the Romans' factional stacks, and then agreed to a truce for an operational pause once I had taken all of my Italian objectives. Apart from taking Viennos from the Aeduoi corpse they've done virtually nothing else; Noricae remains out of their reach with two Eleutheroi guardian stacks still intact, and the Romans are doing zilch about it.
Epeiros- They flailed about for another two years until the Romans recaptured Arpi, at which point I decided 'screw it' and attacked Rhegion. Epeiros finally bit the dust in a pretty uninspiring battle outside the town in 213.
Getai- Still dead.
Makedonia - Still alive.
Koinon Hellenon- I invaded Rhodos in 214 and attacked the Bosporan cities a year afterward. Hayasdan held up its end of the bargain by holding down Trapezous. The last hegemon of the allied Greeks died in battle at Tanais in 209.
Arche Seleukeia - They've got an on-again off-again relationship with the Ptolemaioi and have been periodically sending stacks at Tarsos and Mazaka. Those don't tend to have a very long lifespan, except when they retreat from battle (which happens really often, for whatever reason). Probably should've been using the stacks on the East; they've been gaining ground there, but only glacially slowly. Prophthasia is under their control more or less firmly, but their hold on Astauene is ridiculously tenuous.
Pontos- Also still dead.
Saurometai - Floundered about for a bit, lost the territory of the Iazyges to the Hai, then peaced out in frustration. For completeness' sake, I conquered Pantikapaion a few seasons after the KH finally died, and the Sauros ran away from that war too. They seem to be pretty much neutered.
Hayasdan - It's kind of funny how awful they are at holding on to Trapezous. On the bright side, it apparently makes for an excellent buffer zone; the Hai haven't gone to war with me at all for the entirety of the game, and I haven't got any particular interest in changing that.
Ptolemaioi - For almost all of the intervening fifteen years, they've focused exclusively on Africa: their war with Qarthadast, and their war with Saba-controlled Meroe. They're kind of winning the Qarthadast war - they've pumped fewer troops into it from what I can tell, and Qarthadast can't hold Kyrene even when it does capture it - and they definitely beat the Saba in Meroe. Then I declared war the turn that this screenshot was taken. So far, Antiocheia and Salamis have been besieged and a Ptolemaic squadron of 'fours' was basically annihilated off the Syrian coast.
As'Sabyn wal'Jau - Zzz. Gerrhaia has revolted to them twice and they've lost it both times. They can't seem to hold onto Ubar. They'll probably get Palmyra and Bostra in the course of my mad rampage in the Levant. Whatever.
Pahlava - They're still alive, kinda. Haven't done anything other than capitalize on revolts from Saka and AS control, though.
Baktria- Also also still dead.
Saka Rauka - In 212, most of the Saka garrison in Drangiane launched a harebrained invasion of Karmania that actually succeeded, creating one of the weirder empires I've ever seen. Unfortunately, within two years the AS had recaptured both Karmana and Prophthasia due to the Sakas' failure to reinforce either city. Apart from that, Saka armies keep battering themselves to pieces on the walls of Antiocheia-Margiane and not much else. They haven't even tried to reconquer Gandhara.
Nice. Keep us posted, Constantius!