1.1 Saka Rauka Gameplay Guide: How to Get Out of Debt Fast and Other Assorted Things

[Irishmafia2020]

Very nice, it is good to see that Saka can be debt free in under 1 year, so in some senses their difficulty is overrated for an experienced player. I may never play Saka as a Campaign, but my most memorable game as Baktria was defined by my 20 year struggle to pacify them, and their strengths were exactly mobility, speed, and ruthlessness. Just try chasing HA's around with phalanxes! I dare You! Oh well, good guide, definately worthy of being Stickied...

[woad&fangs]

Very good guide. I just recently started a Saka campaign on 1.1 and I followed a fairly similar strategy to the one that you used. It is now in the mid 260s and I've got a steady economy and the Pahvlava are on their last breath.

I think that the Saka are much easier in 1.1 than in 1.0 because now you can take 5 settlements in the first year. (Sulek, Gava-Saka, Alexanria-eschate, Chalk, and Mazaka).

One thing I think you forgot to mention is to use foot archers against enemy horse archers.

[The General]

This needs to be stickified.

An excellent guide, inspired me to start a Saka campaign.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

A lot of good tips. I think maybe it would be better to make one thread called "Gameplay Guides" and let it just be one post and close it and sticky it. Then in that post link to all these gameplay guides, *then* unsticky all the other old ones. It would remove some of those old ones and keep new ones made by fans updated in it too. Will be later today before I can make it though.

[PershsNhpios]

This is exactly what I asked for on the main forum!

People who have experience in a faction to give detailed reports in a factual, gameplay manner - a guide!

I hope this is stickied, and also left open for other Saka players to give further advice.

Edit:

Grand idea, Teleklos!

[Parallel Pain]

Wish I had this before I started mine

Of course in VH battles AI archers of any kind will shoot appart your units no matter how well armored they are and whether they are in loose formation or not.

[Leviathan DarklyCute]

Very well done! But I would also like to read a guide on the Saka after the indo-saka reforms.

[Korlon]

Oddly enough I started a saka campaign about an hour ago and this seriously helped me.

Glad to hear it.

Remember my guide, shown in my "Of Mail and Men" AAR: Baks for Breakfast, Pahlava for Lunch, World for Dinner.

footarchers: carry rams
HAs: butterflies
enobles: bees
catas: sledgehammers

Those early nobles certainly do sting... I like to keep all cavalry/horse archer armies though, so I don't have rams. Foot archers slow down my movement. The eastern cities are very weakly garrisoned so they're very prone to rebellion if you stick a few spies in there. If they don't rebel, the gates are opened anyhow so you might as well just take it.

Just try chasing HA's around with phalanxes! I dare You! Oh well, good guide, definately worthy of being Stickied...

That would certainly be a thing I would not like to experience more than once! Generally, if I somehow had all-infantry armies, I'd just make the enemy horse archers expand all their ammo. The AI hardly ever make too many of those cataphract horse archers so I win anyhow.

One thing I think you forgot to mention is to use foot archers against enemy horse archers.

Ah yes, right. I did forget. Though, if you follow my guide, you won't ever have a chance to fight much against horse archers.

Wish I had this before I started mine

Of course in VH battles AI archers of any kind will shoot appart your units no matter how well armored they are and whether they are in loose formation or not.

Indeed. VH battle difficulty is just simply a pain. One of the reasons why I would never do such a thing. It's masochism!