150BC:



The theatres against Makedonia. My main aim is to blitz them out of Asia Minor and those outside of Makedonia. They're going to be gifts to other factions. Ipsos has a skeleton garrison left now after Sopatros' victory, that's going to Koinon Hellenon, same with Side. I think I'll leave them as the "Asiatic Greek" faction for a while - least til it's time to create Asia province. The alternative would be to make the Kingdom of Pergamon proper, but that would mean a load of client rulers and fiddling with scripts. Wouldn't take that long to knock off Mytilene, Ipsos, Sardis and Side.

Nikaia I've given to the Getai, Byzantion is going to the Aedui. Tylis when I get there is for the Casse or Arverni. It's a quick solution that doesn't benefit any one faction overly, and prevents the creation of a power base in the region too. Pella and Thermon I'm keeping. Once I turn on the Greeks, Demetrias is first, then a blitz of Greece.

I realised why the first battle was so hard; almost all of the troops were super-veterans. Here's the reformed phalangites:



I'd originally spawned them in Thermon and Demetrias to stop the Makedonians being steam-rollered by the Greeks, since they seemed incapable of recruiting them, even though they could. Now here they were being used against me. Same goes with 7-experience peltastai, who were better than my principes. They had three of the former, and four or five of the latter. Against my newly-recruited army. Until the enemy general died, it was touch and go, I thought I was going to lose. Everyone got badly mauled.

In not too many turns I've also got to think about my war in Africa, plan is to roll up Qarthadast from two directions. Got an Italian general recruiting African mercs, I might resort to using create_unit if I can't roist up enough of them. Or bribing some Sabaen stacks.

I gave the Aedui Numantia back after it surrendered without a fight. Busy, busy.