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The Seleucids are certainly an entertaining faction to play. Maybe its the challenge of holding together a struggling empire or the fact that you basically play two factions at once (one an eastern themed one against Parthia/Saka and Baktria and a western phalanx based one against Ptollies and Pontus). They are one of only two factions I played to victory conditions.
The Seleucids are very fun. It's nearly impossible to rush a game like that, and that's why I like it. For the Romans, it's a lot of hitting end turn, but for the Seleucids, you always have something to do in every turn. In the time it takes me to get to 200 BC in a Roman game, I'll only get to like 250 BC in a Seleucid game.
Plus you have a huge variety of units. In Asia Minor and Syria, you can have chariots, elephants and naked dudes, then in the east you can have cataphracts, and horse archers. Plus lots of pikemen. A very fun game.
You know, you can recruit the Cataphracts quite far into the west. :smiley:Quote:
Originally Posted by Unintended BM
Because of the large dimensions of the empire the seleukids have a vast array of regional troops at their disposal and I like to mix my armies with as much variety as possible. In modification of a quote from a certain controversial movie: The thousand nations of the seleukid empire descend upon you!:evil3:
THIS IS SELEUKEIA!Quote:
Originally Posted by Lysimachos
But yes I love to do that too, Bosphoran, Kretan, Indian and Syrian archers fighting next too Hellenic Phalanx, backed by Indian Elephants and Persian Chariots. Baktrian light infantry slides down the flanks followed by the more heavy Galatians and infantry guild warriors. Arabian skirmisher cavalry distracts the enemy while the Hellenic Hetairoi and Kataphractoi make mincemeat of the enemy. The Thorakitai Agematos Basilikou punch through the center of the enemy line followed by Thraikian Romphaiaroi!
~Fluvius
Now here's an idea for an army as soon as I have the necessary provinces :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Fluvius Camillus
Also, the original family is still in charge, so far I've been lucky with heirs (even though some turned out to be horrible and nearly all family members tend to get the "Thinks he's divine" and "Intolerant of other Gods" traits)
Apparently the shoe-ing I gave the Karthadastim last time wasn't lesson enough. This time, however, I haven't shipped an army to assist the kingdom of Kyrene, they're going to have to manage on their own.
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/Kiero/201BC.jpg
Also visible are two targets held by KH, I really want Rhodos and Chalkis, though I'm going to wait a while for both.
Elsewhere in the world, Pergamon intervened in the everlasting wars between Syria and Egypt, restoring the stalemate by assisting the Seleukids. After a swift campaign (with FD to give the Seleukids their cities back), the Silver Death is no longer wiped out in its heartland.
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...o/201BCmap.jpg
That's the farthest east I've seen AI Rome go, and the farthest south I've seen AI Hayasdan grow.
I humbly think you mean east..~DQuote:
Originally Posted by Biowulf
Indeed, did you use Victory Conditions mod, or FD'ed them that way?
The intolerant and divine thing seems to be hereditary, Seleukos II Kallinikos and Seleukos III Keraunos both got it too in my campaign!~DQuote:
Originally Posted by panten
Seleukos II Kallinikos' second son came of age, oh the luck, my future Antiochos III Megas was S/C/V U/O/L! His older brother Menekrates Syriakos (I call him Seleucus III Keraunos) is D/C/L, he has a powerful advisor and probably will have a little accident, poor guy. Also at the same time of Antiochos III, a far nephew came of age. He is also S/C/V but S/O/D in personality and called Hierax, perfect for roleplaying a civil war when Seleucus III unluckily falls from his horse and the Empire is without a heir!
Again, I forgot to post a screenshot of my magnificent Arche.
~Fluvius
I do use Victory Conditions, but unfortunately the Romans only seem to have eyes for Gaul. They don't even seem interested in re-taking Italy, though after repeatedly moving their stacks to Sicily, they've finally taken Messana, and retaken Rhegion.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fluvius Camillus
It's the work of some FD, partly to draw their attention eastwards, and partly to deny the Makedonians total dominance of the region (since I don't want much more of it than I already have). Especially now I've chosen not to intervene on behalf of KH in their homeland, and allowed Makedonia to rule over all Hellas. I'm letting KH evolve into the Bosphoran Kingdom and an independent league in Asia Minor.
In almost all my campaigns Romans were building up Tolosa at about 260 bc. I had to nerf their ability to recruit local troops and to tweak their troops roster a little bit to stop them from steamrolling in all directions. They even easily used to overrun the Alps. They seem in any case always to swim in money, even on medium campaign difficulty. I play BI exe. by Ferromancer.
Here's a Pontic Empire I've been working on for a while...
https://i184.photobucket.com/albums/...mza/Pontus.png
Early game was... hectic, I suppose. I admit that I made a frantic blitz against Arche Seleukeia's Anatolian holdings, followed by kicking out the Ptolemaioi. I had no intention of letting myself be dragged into a two or three-front war.
And, well, it worked. After the initial blitz, I slowly expanded over the course of 30~40 years until I controlled all of Anatolia, and then set my sights elsewhere... specifically, the coastal cities ringing the Black Sea--barring the ones present in Anatolia, of course--which I've only begun, er, acquiring, in the past decade or so. The vast majority of said cities were 'acquired' by one Darius Kimmerikos, whose name is just so awesome that I can't help but to use him to lead my armies.
However, this campaign has begun to lose my interest, so I'll likely make a backup save in case the desire to continue strikes me later, then start a...
...
...I have no idea, to be honest. Maybe a... KH-turned-Bosporan Kingdom migration campaign.
196BC and still it goes on. At war with the Karthadastim over Kyrene yet again, another full stack (though fewer elite pikemen and assault infantry this time) to deal with. In Italy/Sicily, chaos reigns supreme.
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/Kiero/196BC.jpg
At least the AI Romans have actually sent some forces back to recapture their lost Italian cities, instead of ignoring it and haring off for Gaul. Again. I'm hoping to encourage them to move into Spain, rather than Gaul.
KH holding Syrakousai was my doing, after taking Rhodos and Chalkis off them I figured they needed a little assistance. They took Amaseia all by themselves, though.
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...o/196BCmap.jpg
I'm about to go to war with Makedonia to restore the Aedui to Singidnum, and maybe reduce their fighting capabilities a little.
Finally an update on my Seleukid Empire (which I paused for a while)!
The last time I posted about it, it was this size:
https://i594.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1288287341
This was around the end of the reign of Antiochos II Theos, when he was subjugating the decadent Ptolemies with his royal army. Pahlavans still independent, Saka still raiding and Baktria is taken care of by Seleukos II kallinikos and his army.
Now I've continued!
https://i594.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1288287612
I must say that this is quite a slow pace for my standards, as I try to roleplay and let the AI build up more. Which I really enjoy!~D
After Seleukos II Kallinikos returned from a victorious campaign through several (semi-) nomadic tribes (subjugating the main Parni cities and taking Caucasian Albania), he ceased campaigning and withdrew to the royal Seleukid palace. Here he spent well-deserved time with the inner circles of the royal family and tutored his heir apparent, Seleukos III Keraunos. He also witnessed the 16-years younger brother, Antiochos (in-game Aristos, but I stick with history) grow up. He showed promising traits and was sent to Alexandreia to study as soon as he reached the fit age. Also a promising nephew of him came of age the same time, Hierax Syriakos. The problem is that he developed some disloyalty traits and has to be watched closely.
The frontiers of the empire have shrunk to a small size, most are the edges of the map, against the sea or uninhabitable deserts. The main front is now Hellas, the fatherland. In an effort to help the Seleukid allies (Antigonid Makedonia under Demetrios II Aetolicus and Getia), a late son of Antiochos I Soter was sent to settle some matters. The Epeirote armies held the capitals of both allies, so Mnesiptolemus Syriakos and his son were given command of a well outfitted army to do some business there. At the same time, another army was sent to the northern coast of the Pontus Euxine. The commander was Nikolaos Babyloniakos, to help the Hellenic settlers who had been conquered by savage Sauromatae!
After the campaigns of Seleukos II Kallinikos, the Parni-Maszagatae were forced into submission (protectorate).
The army of Nikolaos met some resistance, but completed its taks easily. Mnesiptolemos Syriakos had more difficulties, the Epeirote armies were numerous and losses kept piling up. He however did settle the matter, he conquered Buridava and killed the Epeirote northern commander, then traded the city for Kallatis, which had much more Seleukid interest and the Danube became the frontier of the European Seleukid holdings.
The last keystone however, was Epeirote Pella, the ownership was hard to decide, Epeiros kept sending armies and the Epeirote Makedonian war already dragged on for more than 50 years. Mnesiptolemus did what seemed best, he took the city peacefully, slaughtered all Epeirote armies in the area and returned it to Makedonia. He made peace with Epeiros and declared the Kingdom of Kyrene a protectorate (Ptolemaioi), which then had to abandon all ties with Epeiros.
Demetrios II Aetolicus however took full advantage of the situation. He urged Seleukos II Kallinikos to continue the war against Epeiros, on sea because the Makedonian fleet was far inferior to the larger Epeirote. Seleukos then dispatched his fleet to blockade Adriatic sea ports.
Demetrios however sent three armies against Byzantion, Serdike and the allied city of Tylis, he allied himself with the Epeirotes by painting off the Seleukids as a Persian danger which all Hellenes had to defend itself against. Mnesiptolemus now uses his army with a lot of the Thraikian allies to turn back the combined strength. The defense however might break to these continued assaults. The new royal army is ready for battle and will soon join its new commander, Antiochos Syriakos (the younger brother of Seleukos III). Will he be in time to save the European holdings from this alliance?
Other stuff that is going on:
- Hayasdan is having a war of attrition with the Sauromatae over Uspe, which makes them unaggresive towards me (that is why I have not attacked them).
- The Kyrenaian protectorate is besieged by a large Qarthadast army, the Seleukids will probably be joining this conflict soon with another army.
- I leave the Massagateans and Alanii alone to keep them as a buffer against the Aorsi, a front which I don't want to wage a war.
- As you can see on the minimap (which is quite up to date), the Romani (my ally) went (as usual) berserk on the "barbarian" factions. True to history, the Lusotannan's are confined to a heavily fortified Numantia. The Sweboz are being massacred and only have Arctaunon and Gawjam Silengoz. The Romani are however too busy with the barbarian war, that they dont seem to notice that Epeiros took the boot of Italy from them all the way up to Capua.
Of course as the campaign progresses, there is no doubt that the final enormous clash of empires will be Romani vs AS.
- I play EB 1.2 RTW.exe with RS textures and FD.
- As you might have noticed, my treasury has grown quite a lot. I built Large mines in my entire empire, spread governors and made as much law bonus buildings as I can to reduce corruption. The result is an economy which makes standard 50000 mnai while I build in every city (Wonderous temples, huge markets etc. are standard in the programme). Thus I have a lot of cash to play around with. As you can see on the screen, I have trained my Armoured Elephant corps. Also I posses the ridiculously expensive Nees Megistai (Huge Poliremes), which I use in my (LARGE) fleet for the naval wars.
I hope someone enjoyed this.
~Fluvius
Controlling almost half the map in under 60 years is slow?Quote:
Originally Posted by Fluvius Camillus
Umm yes, if you usually control the whole 20 years past this date, it is. Read: my standards, for more info on those see:Quote:
Originally Posted by QuintusSertorius
the earlier posts of mine:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...1.0&highlight= <-- Epeiros
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...lem&highlight= <-- Romani
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...iew&highlight= <-- Baktria
There is some huge PontPersian Empire lying around this fourm too, but I think the former three prove my point well enough.
~Fluvius
236BC in my Epeiros as The Kyrenaian League, and this is turning out to be a lot of fun, especially playing some of the distant regions as independent kingdoms (ie no support from Kyrene):
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/Kiero/236BC.jpg
Garama has an all-African garrison led by a Libian general, and has fought off three invasions by the Karthadastim so far. Long as they don't send any of their elite pikemen, I should be alright. If I've got more money later, I might hire another general and a merc army to go plundering the Karthadastim desert provinces/free Mauretania.
Recently landed an army to "liberate" Syrakousai from the Karthadastim; I might unite Sicily or I may take Lilibeo and Messana and gift to the Romans. Either way I'm hoping for some good battles across the island before that happens. As it is, the First Punic War in my game lasted about 10 years and the Romans gave up after being driven off the island. Very disappointing.
I think I'll take the Bosphorous as a third independent region, more viable than attempting to make it a faction in its own right.
The world is thus:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...o/236BCmap.jpg
It's the Yellow Death in this game, the Seleukids are slowly crumbling without a great deal of fight. I wonder if proximity to the human player is a factor in that? In my Pergamon game, it was the Sliver Death, with the Ptlolemies flaking out quickly.
Yes, I've been tinkering all over the place and adding loads of money to the Eleutheroi (not sure if it does much; I also add units to their garrisons to prevent them being steamrollered). The "desert rebellion" in the Ptolemies hinterland is all my doing (deep raid, gift to another faction), seems to have galvanised the Sabaen into motion elsewhere.
Amazingly, KH and Makedon are at peace. Can't seem to get KH to expand in Asia Minor, either. They're no longer allies with the Seleukids, but won't take Sardis. Even though it would link up their holdings. I'd love for them to attack the Ptolemies, they have no real resistance in Asia Minor. No doubt I'll have to launch a naval invasion later on to sort that out.
So this has been by far the most interesting game I've played so far. It's a shot of my on-going campaign as the Getai in 164 BC. I'm playing VH/VH and I'm not using any Force Diplomacy.
That being said: I'm only at war with one other faction. Can you tell which?
https://i208.photobucket.com/albums/...m/Getai164.jpg
It's the Saba. But anyway, here's some fascinating little happenings from the last 50 years of gameplay.
Italy: After I pushed Epirus out of Greece, they managed to hold out against Rome. It was incredible to watch the AI duke it out like that. Most of Italy was green for a short while, then it became white. From Sicily the Carthaginians trampled Epirus and conquered all the way up to Helvetia, eliminating both factions. The Carthaginians then managed to hold onto Helvetia but lost most of Italy to the Aedui, and their Sicilian colonies revolted and switched to the Koinon Hellenon. Now the Aedui and the Koinon Hellenon are fighting a bitter war for the Italian peninsula, and the Greeks are winning. I don't think I'll ever see Italy change colours so many times in under 50 years again.
The Near East: The Ptolemies simply wiped out the Seleukids and Hayasdan, and though I tried my best to keep them uninterested in Bithynia, they soon attack. I've been stuck in a war with the phalanx-dominated Ptolemies for nearly a century, making very slow gains. But as of 10 years ago, I've managed to persuade them into a lasting peace (it's possible, even in VH/VH), and probably could've done so a lot sooner if I was willing to concede all my gains east and south of Anatolia. Now the Ptolemies are stuck in a losing war against Bactria, which has recently finished off the Saka and the Parthians. Before this campaign is over, Bactria will have swallowed all of the Ptolemies Asian possessions.
Arabia: Though I've always been far more powerful than them, the Saba insisted on attacking me, no matter how much money I threw at them. I even tried giving them Lower Egypt, Jerusalem and Nabataea, but they attacked anyway. I'm now stuck trying to force them into a peace treaty, but the only way it seems I'll be able to manage that is by taking South-Western Arabia. After that, they may be more willing to pursue their eastern war with the Ptolemies.
Northern Europe: Sustainable peace is absolutely possible. I've never engaged in any hostilities with the Sweboz or the Sauromatae.
Also, if anyone's curious, I have not been winning battles with the Getai's elite units, mostly because the population of Getia is usually so low compared to the rest of my empire. Most of my armies that have been fighting with the Saba and the Ptolemies before that were bred in Asia (from Antioch, Alexandria and Damascus mostly), like the ones on the screenshot above. Very Hard battle difficulty does not make things impossible.
Nice saldunz. Also fluvius camillus. And quintus seritouns.
Actually, I like all the empires. Very good stuff there.
Since my Kyrenaian game may be dead, and I don't feel like going back to Pergamon yet, here's my Bosphoran Kingdom game:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/Kiero/258BC.jpg
My entire "empire" really does fit on one screen for the moment. Olbia is the next target, but worryingly the Eleutheroi AI has been adding to its garrison. I don't have an army yet (what's left of it you can see in Pantikapaion's garrison), just garrisons, which is why there are all those positive numbers. Concentrating on building up my economy and military production base while the AI is leaving me alone. All ports, markets, roads and farms for the moment.
I suspect you like starting new migration campaigns. What are your victory conditions that you have set for yourself in this game? I can't imagine a bosporan kingdom would feasibly want to expand much more than the circumference of the pontic sea. Could be a short game. I guess they could aim to control hellas proper by the end also.Quote:
Originally Posted by QuintusSertorius
I'm certainly experimenting with them. I've had this one on the go for a while, but on the back burner while I was playing the Kyrenaian one.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blxz
Not sure I have much of a goal beyond the circumference of the Pontic Sea. I might try to make the Sauromatae a client state (certainly don't want to be wandering out onto the Steppes). As much as anything, I want to try out my army formation to fight horse archers.
Would you ever consider playing online? I'd love to test out your army comp vs a swarm of horsearchers =)Quote:
Originally Posted by QuintusSertorius
Thanks for the offer, but it's not really my thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blxz
Too bad. Still, keep us informed of how your campaign proceeds. I've never bothered with a migration campaign before but I must say they intrigue me.Quote:
Originally Posted by QuintusSertorius
I haven't posted another update yet, because visually nothing has happened (it's now about 253BC). Been doing more building of economy-boosting installations and slowly putting my army together as my fiscal power increases.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blxz
I'm looking desirously at Trapezous as well as Olbia, but the former is now held by Pontos. Who have three full stacks stomping around the area, and Sinope only has a minimal garrison. For the moment they seem to be ignoring Sinope (perhaps because it recently upgraded to stone walls), but it's only a matter of time, I think. By then I hope to have taken Olbia and thus my army be freed up to sail across the Pontic Sea to defend Paphlagonia and liberate Pontos Parailos.
I need to change the name of my royal family. It's currently "Kyrenaios", a leftover from the other game but "Aiakides" isn't much better.
I'd highly recommend giving a migation campaign a go. Epeiros are the easiest faction to do that with (doesn't materially affect the rest of the game by moving them, huge expansion region and access to a lot of Hellenic troops all over the place). Lots of option too; Massalia, Syrakousai, Kyrene, Pergamon, Bosphoran Kingdom, for just the major ones.
250BC and after a battle on the steppes and a big siege, Olbia is mine:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/Kiero/250BC.jpg
Pictured is the Bosphoran army immediately post-siege. There was basically a full stack in Olbia, though about six units of horse archers were out wandering around the province. Fought them first, then besieged what was left (Sarmatian Noble, a few more horse-archers, a unit of Scythian foot archers, a couple of Pontic spearmen, some Akontistai and about five units of levy hoplites). All in all, I think my new model army survived quite well considering they were under a hail of arrows a lot of the time.
The world in 250BC:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...o/250BCmap.jpg
I always thought the KH would be a better faction to move for those migrations? I don't really care about affecting the game. After all, some rebellions can easily simulate the extent of the KH in greece. I am more concerned with troop choice. Is epiros as flexible in the regions as the KH?
Rebellions are a pretty weak simulation of anything, really, look how quickly they all get gobbled up if you do nothing to aid them. I add money to the Eleutheroi fairly regularly, and even then they're pretty inconsistent about boosting their garrisons. Not to mention the rarity of somewhere turning rebel of it's own accord (as Side did recently in my game after AS took it off the Ptolemies).Quote:
Originally Posted by Blxz
Epeiros is pretty flexible (check out the Recruitment Viewer, they have access to most of the Greek regional and faction troops in many places, less so their own), but a big advantage for me is their cavalry FMs. Means I never need to recruit heavy cavalry, whereas with KH's infantry FMs I would.
Didn't even think about the FM's. I'll give it a shot sometime. I just feel that its always going to turn into an epiros game after a couple of years. The only way to really avoid that is to avoid their area... I'll try it out and then come back and complain some =)
On bi.exe, without any mods such as Force Diplomacy, how would one migrate Saba to Kirtan at the start of the game? ( other than the boring old fashioned way of marching there)
One would either have to modify the descr_strat to give it to them from the beginning, or use the move_character cheat to teleport their armies there.
A little update.
For some reason I don't trust the Qarthadast... No worries, I anticipated this so a new fullstack is just leaving Antiocheia!
https://i594.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1288893165
Aristos (see the army in the pic has now landed and taken Sparte! He will continue to crush the Makedonian-Epeirote Alliance. Epeirote is trying to take Roma, while the Romani themselves are preoccupied with taking Numantia and Arctaunon.
~Fluvius
Just started a Pontos game, the Neo-Persian empire. I blitzed As early on out of Anatolia, took Mytilene from Makedon before making peace with them, accidentily started a war with the Ptolemaioi over Halikarnassos and kicked them out of Anatolia, now I am their ally. Still allied with Hayasdan, Baktria and Pahlava, they all sided with me when I declared war on AS. As won't take a peace offer because they border me, but I'm not at war with anyone else so now I'm just building up my economy, planning on taking Pergamon next and lavishing the province in an effort to use ancient Troy as a symbol of my defiance to Greek masters. The first image is the aftermath of my last battle against the Ptolemaioi, they sallied, where my faction heir besieged Tarsos with only three Hoplitai Haploi, two half-strength Pantodapoi Phalangitai, one unit of mercenary Galatian shortswordsmen and 1/5 strength unit of Cappadocian cavalry to supplement his bodyguard. The enemy had one sphendonetai, 2 klerouchoi phalangitai, 1 hippakontistai and a whole load of akontistai and pantodapoi. All full strength. The second picture is my empire so far.
https://img824.imageshack.us/img824/...oicvictory.png
https://img258.imageshack.us/img258/...1041427499.png
That the Qarthadast preview is done doesn't mean the EB team has time to relax!!!:clown::clown:
Looks like a good start Tanit, I see good old Ariobarzanes is doing fine! Did you play with them before? You didn't feel like taking Salamis before the peace talks? And what about Rhodos? If you are still at war with the KH (because of Sinope), would you try to take it from them? And finally, did the Bosphoron allies already cry for help? Or don't you feel like going that way?
The funny thing is I tried the exact opposite of what usally happens with Pontos. I sided with the Seleukids when the allies broke away. That way the AS remained my ally and Hayasdan became neutral towards me. I used one army to take Side (I left Tarsos for the Seleukids). The other starting army went towards the Hayasdan. They took Ani-Kamah first and then attacked Armavir head on, with the final troops I could take Mtskheta and eliminate the Hai. I had almost no units left.
But these new provinces gave me the economic recovery I needed. I slowly came in positive numbers and finally squeezed out an army to take Kotais and Trapezous. Later I also took Sinope and by the time the Arche Seleukeia betrayed me I was ready to meet them.
While I was lucky that the AS didnt attack me right away, this was a fun way to play it and can work too.
~Fluvius
I've played it both ways on VH/VH before, building up and keeping the Seleucid alliance, and taking them out early as I did this time. Right now I'm only playing on M/M for a nice relaxing game. I have not attacked Sinope yet, and thus have not gone to war with them yet. Bosporus hasn't said a word to me yet. And I didn't have a fleet to take Salamis with. Currently the Koinon are doing really well since I kicked Macedon out of Anatolia and Epeiros took Pella. The Koinon have taken Korinth and as such haven't built any additional armies on Rhodos, meaning I have some time to prepare to attack that island if I want. I'm also experimenting with doing a bit of roleplaying. I have restored Sardis and Ipsos as the 'independant' kingdoms of Lydia and Phrygia while Kappadocia is royal territory and Halikarnassos and Mytilene are philhellenic satrapies. Side is becoming a Persian satrapy and Tarsos is going to be part of my royal territory.
https://img219.imageshack.us/img219/9269/0107z.jpg
Here's the Carthage that I built after a few weeks of labor. I spread myself out all over the place toward the beginning, but I eventually connected most of my territories by the end. I still haven't reached the victory conditions for some reason..it says I still need to raid Kirtan and a couple other north african cities, but I've already captured them, so..
I went to war with Ptolemaioi fairly early on. After capturing Egypt, Lusotannen and Romani attacked me immediately, and over the next 50+ years we slowly fought it out.
Macedon became the rival superpower to me and the strongest AI faction in the game. They eventually got worn down attacking the Sweboz and my troops at the Bosporan Kingdom, and are pretty weak now.
One thing I noticed when playing this campaign - I realized why the Romani always start off strong and then get stuck later on. In my game, they were steamrolling at the beginning but then ran into the impossibly strong rebel armies and generals around Eburonem. They ended up spending the next 20+ years pouring all their stacks into Erzurum and getting destroyed, and they ended up falling apart.
You still have to take Sidon. and possibly those two Epeirote Italian territories. The raiding just means you have to have owned the territory once by the time you finish the rest of the victory conditions. Don't worry, it will count later.
Oh, you're right..I forgot all about Sidon, way over there. Well..time for a sea voyage!
He owns the Epeirote territories, because Epeiros is his protectorate.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tanit
Nice empire btw, it seems that the Romani finally succeeded in taking Eburonem.
~Fluvius
It's not an explicit house rule as such, but I tend to avoid their homelands anyway. Haven't gone anywhere near them in four different migrated campaigns. To be honest I've never played Epeiros "straight" either. Being clear about your own sphere of influence helps, I think.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blxz
233 BC, sorry for the huge image.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Guess who I am.
Sweboz
http://screenshot.xfire.com/s/106406481-4.jpg
Orro, I bribed him from the Adeui, he fought and destroyed countless armies of romans and aduei with himself and 400 leuce epos. (only 100 of which survived the sacking of rome) He pushed into italy, sacking 3 different cities on the road to Rome... the money made from said sacking and slaves built many new homes and services and schools for the people Gaul. The Averni nobles awarded Orro's new found courage and loyalty to the tribe with by voting him the selected superior. He is now King!
The adeui have allied with the stinking romans, so have the sweboz, and so have the iberians. Our only "ally" is Carthage, through neutrality. Epiros swaps between being a client state and rebelling against their roman masters. Whats happening in the east i really havent been paying much attention.
I've been holding back from expanding outside of Gaul. Want to keep things in the realm of historical possiblitity... probably have broken that line already :P
Yes. I'm not sure how you could tell so fast.
Anyways, it's a really really slow game I've got going there. Basically, I'm waiting until I build up a good amount before I go and conquer. I also wait until I get a really good governor before I conquer another city. Normally I blitz the gauls and maybe the Romans in my Sweboz games, but this way is fun too.
Also, German Pikemen are fun. Never really used them before.
It was quite easy, you took the rebel city east of Rugoz, the city on the Amber route. Ascaucalis perhaps?Quote:
Originally Posted by Unintended BM
There is nothing weird going on with the city but the AI seems to avoid that city like the plague. It would be one of my first moves too when I should play Sweboz. I have NEVER seen any AI faction take that town.
~Fluvius
Oh. There are some rich regions around there, I don't know why everyone always says to avoid the Sweboz homeland when in other campaigns, a good portion of them have mines and are coastal.
Yeah, Sweboz AI NEVER takes that region even if only 1 unit guards it. Made for a pretty easy guess.
236BC in my Bosphoran game:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...ro/236BC-1.jpg
Yes, in 12 years since the last one, I've taken one settlement. I was provoked, the Sauromatae attacked Olbia, so in retaliation I raided one of their other settlements and took Tanais off them. My army is in that fort next to the capital, ready to move if they should start things up again. Given the full stack garrison I can see in the nearest settlement, I don't think it's far off.
I'm also planning to take Trapezous, though Pontos are pretty weak right now so I've been staying my hand. What I'd like to do is recruit a new army and have a go at the Seleukids (taking Mazaka and giving it to Pontos, for example), but I'm not quite sure how I'd afford the upkeep.
The world is thus:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...236BCmap-1.jpg
I just did some FD to roll back the Romans (who'd gone off into Gaul again) and take the Karthadastim desert provinces off them. It seems adding a lot of money to the Eleutheroi at regular intervals is having some effect on their durability, which is good.
you clearly are at home fighting batles in forests with the hellenic (carthie) phalanxs or the romans formations where your missiles are almost useless since you can´t see the enemies (ambush mode) where you get surprised and you´re units are just 1 or 2 moral points away from being routed completly by barbarians using clubs and smashing your elite armoured like if they where pansies wearing pinkQuote:
Originally Posted by Unintended BM
invading germany is fighting forest batles against the experts of forest batles for lands who can´t and won´t pay up the garrisons you´ll have to keep much more the armies and resources you´ll have to deploy to get them (best chance at germany ? take over the coast cities and be happy with it )
AI Sweboz is overrated. I took them out with ease on one of my Roman games, and on an Aedui game. I've never tried it with a Hellenic faction, but common sense against the AI goes a long way, so I don't think it'd be that difficult. Plus, I have the giant tree fix where there aren't oversized trees anymore, so it makes it a bit easier.
Even with giant trees AI Sweboz are a pushover. Not everything there is wooded and even if you cant see the enemy, medium and elite phalanx will keep fighting and Hetairoi and Kataphractoi charges to the rear do the job, also in woods. Mass rout, mass chase, you win. I don't see Sloxonez routing Pedites, TAB's or those sorts, the Ai stays dumb forever.Quote:
Originally Posted by Unintended BM
~Fluvius
My Romani world, VH/M, 185 BC.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Taking things very slowly, and I'm a bit surprised the AI hasn't been more aggressive. I've had a truce that's held up with the Aedui since the beginning of the game, and I've had a mutual border with the Luso's for quite some time with no war.
I allowed a KH full stack wander aimlessly around Italy for a time (you can barely make it out under the coins from Arpi) and they've finally decided to beseige Taras.
Just one faction dead so far (AS) with no FD, but Pontos and the Make's are in peril of being swallowed up by the Yellow tsunami. It also appears the Backtrians will be usurping Pahavla in short order.
Wow, I've never seen the Saba do thatQuote:
Originally Posted by QuintusSertorius
If I am not mistaken, he did that for Saba.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kikaz
~Fluvius
On their own, they wouldn't. That's Force Diplomacy at work. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Kikaz
BI.exe is proving to be much better. Pontus game is getting exciting. AS finally accepted peace after Pahlava attacked them, KH took corinth off of Macedon and then decided to land troops in an attemot to take Mytilene from me. I responded by taking Rhodos. A Ptolemaioi fleet is lurking around Rhodos, I'm worried they're thinking of landing the troops on board and breaking our alliance.
227BC in my Bosphoran Kingdom game:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/Kiero/227BC.jpg
I finally took Trapezous in about 229, the war with Pontos was brief. They besieged it twice, I fought off the besiegers and they'd run out of fresh troops. I gave them Mazaka as consolation. They're sniffing around Nikaia again, but failed a few times to take it.
Makedon recently attacked Kallatis, mobilising the Bosphoran army to defend their ally in Mikra Skythia. You can see the remnants of the army on its way back home in the screenshot. During the war, I re-ordered the map over there. First I took Tylis off them and gave it to the Arverni (hoping they'll join up with Galatia via Nikaia and Byzantion). Then I took Serdike and gave it to the Getai. Lastly Dalminion which I gave to the Romans in the hope of pulling their attention east, rather than north. Killed four Makedonian FMs in the process. They now no longer share a land border with me, and I hope that will refocus their efforts into Hellas (and towards their new neighbours, the Romans).
The world:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...o/227BCmap.jpg
Ptolemies are winning the superpower scrap, I'm no longer allied to them after an incident with an assassin who got caught, so I think it's time I altered the balance of power there. Not with my Bosphoran army, but with the Greek/Caucasian army I'm building on the southern shore of the Pontic Sea.
I noticed my "Belgae" Casse have strayed across the wrong side of the Rhine, the intent was for them to keep the Sweboz at bay, not conquer them. Been teleporting their wandering units back to Britain to weaken them in Germania, hopefully the Sweboz will kick them out.
Pahlava are having variable fortunes against the Seleukids. They'd swept up a load of territory and have been rolled back (witness the rebel territory there).
Your screenshot looks a little distorted. Have you turned "widescreen" on?Quote:
Originally Posted by Africanus
No, could just be I didn't have my mouse wheel scrolled all the way back. I'm also using the RS textures map.Quote:
Originally Posted by Julianus
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The Sweboz have just broken the near 100 year alliance and laid seige to Segestica. They will now face the wrath of my Illyrian legion led by the Consul Decimvs Cornelivs Cinna.
The KH keep marching armies through my Illyrian holdings, past the Aedui in Transalpine Gaul, and down through Italy to lay seige to Taras. Got a nice fight vs two full stacks resulting in a heroic victory. Why they don't just build a ship and cross the strait (BI exe) like they did earlier in the game only the AI knows for sure.
meanwhile...
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
LOL.
That last pic......!!!!
Man if you are planning to expand historically into the eastern mediterranean you are in for a rough time!~D
~Fluvius
Quintus:Quote:
Originally Posted by QuintusSertorius
Very nice campaign! Brilliant idea to give Saba the Numidian provinces, gives both Saba and Carthage someone to fight besides Eleutheroi.
I strongly suggest teleporting a couple of Casse armies into Iberia to give the Lusotanns some competition. Then the Casse will be fighing a three-front war, at home in Britain, in Germania, and in Spain, which should slow them down a bit.
I can't claim credit for the idea, though I forget now who it was who originally suggested it. They're Semitic like Qart-hadast too, which has a neatness about it. Does make things much more interesting for both factions though, I agree. Also gives the Sabaens something to do with their money when they've conquered the Arabian peninsular and start getting rebellions to them in the Levant and the Sahara.Quote:
Originally Posted by Titus Marcellus Scato
That's not a bad idea, I might see if they'll take Vellika. There's a reciprocity if I put the Lusotannan in Ireland.Quote:
Originally Posted by Titus Marcellus Scato
Otherwise Spain gets really boring with the Lusotannans snapping up all the rebels then eventually turning on the Karthadastim. I'll throw Rome into that mix with some FD eventually, once I've got them settled in the Adriatic.
I wonder if Saba could also be used in southern India to give the Bactrians a tougher time in that region.
Well, I have something astounding (as far as Campaign AI goes), in my campaign, I decided to take a look at the factions and their progress, only to find myself AMAZED at the Romani AI...
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
They have:
1. Repelled the Epirotes from Taras
2. Started a Punic war by besieging Messana (4 years earlier, though)
3. Currently siegeing Bononia
As far as Historicallity in AI goes, I give it a 6...
Here's the world map:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Anyway... more details about my campaign soon (as soon as you figure out the eternal and extremely difficult riddle of WHAT FACTION AM I?:clown:)
I mean it, figure it out:clown:
~Jirisys (C'mon fluvi, be the first:clown:)
Koinon Hellenon
Agreed: there's no way the AI takes Krete, Chalkis, Mytilene, Korinthos, AND Thermon, all in four years :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Celtic_Punk
Krete, Chalkis, Mytilene, Korinthos, Thermon, Sinope AND Trapezous (then, after the shot was taken: Pantikapaion and Demetrias)Quote:
Originally Posted by FriendlyFire
Next stop! Byzantion, Emporion, Massilia, Syrakousai, Tanais AND (whatever city is in the Taurike Chersonesos region) :clown:
:grin:
Besides, I don't think the KH faction symbol would appear as the Open faction scroll button in a Saba game :clown:
~Jirisys (Quite slow eh?:clown:)
Well wasnt really a guess after seeing the first screen ...:)
The Romani did nothing amazing,Taras,Rhegion and Segesta.They did as usual,happens in every second game and perhaps even faster:) Romani sending third huge army to conquer Sardinia....that was amazing.Lets face it,Romani have to conquer these cities.For example Taras start with Scipio Ante Portas ready for siege and Rhegion is next target and its the only possible next target.Same in north,Segesta or Bononia because they are again only possible targets:).As usual,perhaps slightly dissapointing but not impresive at all.They are on best way to get stuck with Carthies for decades of one turn peace/one turn war.
However check the Sauromate or Saka,much more impresive.Sauros with whole Krymea,Tanais,Olbia and three other provinces named Gava something..just amazing if we consider range betwen these cities and some of them are well defended.Actually if i know Krymea have some issues with two big Eleutheroi stacks when you come from north.And still they took 2 times more cities then Romani.AI did rarely awesome job in their case.Or AS moving south so soon,they rarely did it even with Egypt and whole east in their hand.Or Getai,as usual but faster then i ever seen before.
But most suprising is inactivity of Sweboz,they are jewel of my games and their full stacks promises lot of fun.
In 80% of people's games, Romani doesn't conquer Taras and never goes to Sicilia; That's why I gave him a 6, not excellent; but at least better than the normal game when Epeiros starts to conquer Italia and romani never come out of their homeland.Quote:
Originally Posted by william weedzor
Sauromaete always does that big of a conquering soon; I have the Realistic movement mod so they have a lot more movement points.
~Jirisys (Wait)
@Jirisys
You can't expect a European to be on this forum on 3 a.m.:clown:
But yes, your faction symbol next to the end turn symbol gave it away far too easy, apart from the other things said.
The first game ever where I did not blitz my immediate surroundings, it was kinda fun, fighting with Pontus, AS and Makedonia. Until my "friends" the Ptolemaioi backstabbed me. The only faction which really is friendly towards me are the Qarthadastei.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
This is my colonial empire!
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Going fine now, fighting a lot with a few forces. But I went back to my AS campaign anyway so don't expect much updates on this. This is my first ALX.exe game with Lz3, usually I play RTW.exe.
The rest of the world has nothing interesting going on.
~Fluvius
A little unresty don't you think:clown:
Anyway... Update:
The romans took Sicily, Massilia, Cantabria and Emporion (Which they breached first as the dumb*** ********* lusotannan garrison decided to fortify themselves at my position :angry::angry: (the Romani were the ones who attacked them)).
I waged war at them, and I'm thinking of raiding every single spanish territory and slaughtering them, stupid idiots....:angry:
Anyway; the spartans conquered the Bosphorous and the Pontus shorelines; the athenians will go for Syrakousai (yes... I hope they win this time) and other west european cities
~Jirisys (If I raze them will they have won the world cup?:clown:)
https://i873.photobucket.com/albums/...osItaly262.jpg
10 years into an Epeiros H/M campaign. Pyrrhos went back to Italy - and this time he finished the job :-) But since he's been gone for 10 years, and has had the temerity to declare Taras to be the new capital, his power in the Epeirote homelands has been usurped. i.e., I made Ambrakia and Epidamnos rebel.
Not surprisingly, Pyrrhos has become a restless warmonger, so after finishing off the Romans and conquering down to Sicily he's now on his way north to pacify some Gauls. The Indian elephants are still going strong, but I've left them in Messana. Although I'm currently at peace with Carthage, they have African forest elephants in Lilybeo and are gradually building up a full stack to support them, so I'm hoping we can eventually have some epic elephant-vs-elephant battles on Sicily. And at some point I'll obviously have to conquer my way through Illyria and retake my homelands from either Makedonia or Koinon Hellenon.
With no Romans anymore, there'll be no March of Time. Not sure how that will change the balance of the game: no Eastern uber-bodyguards sounds good, but Carthage won't get its late infantry. I'm also playing with the city mod for the first time, to restrict most city sizes, and I have no idea what that will do to AI expansion.
They should get their new infantry since it's linked to MIC level or until 200 BC I believe.Quote:
Originally Posted by FriendlyFire
D'oh! Thanks for the correction :-) I'll go read up on what the exact unit changes areQuote:
Originally Posted by Biowulf
(And I just had my elephant battle on Sicily. A Carthaginian diplomat had demanded cash the year before, and then a spy had been seen in Messana, so Pyrrhos had brought the army back from Gaul - just in time to meet Hamalcar's full stack advancing on Syrakousai. There was inconclusive battling on the flanks, but in the center my Epeirote phalanx wasn't prepared to advance on the Carthaginian elephant screen, and vice versa. Thankfully my peltastai's final javelin volley routed the elephants (my next step was going to be an elephant-on-elephant charge), and they ran amok back through the Libyans and Liby-Phoenicians behind them, causing many casualties and disrupting the line. At this point Hamalcar withdrew his remaining forces and they fled to Lilybeo, which Pyrrhos has now besieged. Death to Carthage!)
You say death to carthage and you have Punic Infantry as your avatar? Irony..
Must be a deserter who recognized the epirote superiority.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lazy O
Plus if I had to change my avatar every time I played a different faction, I'd need... hmm... an animated gif maybe, cycling through every possible factional avatar!Quote:
Originally Posted by Lysimachos
Thats why I have my avatar (whom i share with Appo) I'll never betray my Gallic and Gaelic brethren. Britons be damned!