1.x AI Faction Progression Thread

**jhhowell** · 05-12-2008, 21:23

Mediolanicus - I've seen both of the quirks you've noticed. Baktria loves to bribe Seleucid troops in Asia Minor for some reason. You're seeing it at the source, I saw it as a trickle of tiny dark blue armies trying to march across my Hayasdan empire (they usually made it, including a lone FM one time; Baktria and I are allies and AS is very weak...).

I also saw the Pontus weak cavalry fixation in the same game. In my case it was because I'd pushed them out of their homeland, so for a time junk like that was all they could recruit. It's not clear if that's quite true in your game, looks like they might still hold their original capital. But certainly troops raised around Pergamon will be remarkably bad for quite a while, until the AI gets a good level MIC into operation.

**Mediolanicus** · 05-12-2008, 21:38

Baktria should rather defend her own territories instead of bribing distant armies, they are down to 1 province!
On the other hand they are pumping out Indian and indo-hellenic elites.

Pontos is doing very weird. Suddenly they rush and conquer western asia minor and just as suddenly they let the seleucids conquer half their possession back. Now they have 3 stacks near their old capital doing absolutely nothing.

**Skullheadhq** · 05-18-2008, 09:04

Originally Posted by jhhowell

Mediolanicus - I've seen both of the quirks you've noticed. Baktria loves to bribe Seleucid troops in Asia Minor for some reason. You're seeing it at the source, I saw it as a trickle of tiny dark blue armies trying to march across my Hayasdan empire (they usually made it, including a lone FM one time; Baktria and I are allies and AS is very weak...).

I also saw the Pontus weak cavalry fixation in the same game. In my case it was because I'd pushed them out of their homeland, so for a time junk like that was all they could recruit. It's not clear if that's quite true in your game, looks like they might still hold their original capital. But certainly troops raised around Pergamon will be remarkably bad for quite a while, until the AI gets a good level MIC into operation.

Baktria in Asia Minor? How did they get so far?

**jhhowell** · 05-19-2008, 23:25

Originally Posted by Skullheadhq

Baktria in Asia Minor? How did they get so far?

They didn't. Their diplomats chose to bribe small armies there, which then tried to march home. I've seen Carthage do the same thing, both in Greece and Asia Minor.

**Nobo** · 05-20-2008, 07:58

Originally Posted by jhhowell

They didn't. Their diplomats chose to bribe small armies there, which then tried to march home.

Ive never seen anything like this... which version of RTW are you running?

**jhhowell** · 05-20-2008, 20:03

Originally Posted by Nobo

Ive never seen anything like this... which version of RTW are you running?

RTW 1.5, EB 1.0 (though I can't imagine this would depend on anything in EB, as Mediolanicus sees the same thing in 1.1, above). Maybe it's less common with BI.exe with the AI spending money on ships to allow naval invasions. It may also depend on how far into your campaign you are - I see regular bribery in 200 BCE, and thinking back I think I first noticed the Bactrian bribes in Asia Minor around the 240s.

Might be interesting to spawn a Casse diplomat or two in northern Gaul - they're usually an absurdly rich faction, maybe some bribed armies would get them to do something on the continent.

**Mediolanicus** · 05-20-2008, 20:20

I play with BI and so far I've seen a Baktrian stack in Asia Minor and a Roman stack in Trace, both certainly bribed.

**Nobo** · 05-20-2008, 21:45

I'm playing on Alexander, but maybe it's been happening and I just never noticed it. I'll keep my eyes open

**Tyrfingr** · 05-21-2008, 12:43

I have seen bribed armies almost everywhere. Pontic armies in India, Ptolemaic armies in Gaul etc.

Talking about dislocated armies. When I conquered Iberia in my Roman campaign from the carthaginians and the Lusotana, one half-stacked army (simple freed slaves and some spear leevies) of the carthaginians got sad with the loss of Gader and started to walk northwest.

I thought they were going to attack my poorly garrisoned italian cities, but it turned out that they were (in the AIs mind) to weak to attack anything so they started the long journey for Carthage (or at least carthaginian land)...on foot! Last time I checked, they had just defeated a rebel ambush just south of Sardis, got a heroic victory which made their captain a family member and they have just now passed Antioch. Meanwhile, Carthage have expanded and currently holds Egypt so they will be home soon...