[Epeiros/Pergamon AAR] Philetairos' Gift

[QuintusSertorius]

Introduction

After the failure of my first attempt at this game due to the same bug that killed my Roman game, I'm going to try once more. There's a few things I've learned, both in terms of behaviours in the game, historicity and some technical points too.

This is a M/M game with rtw.exe. I know BI.exe is more stable, but I just don't have the patience to deal with the stupid naval invasions you get. I won't be using an optimised script, instead I'm going to excise everything on client rulers entirely, since it's the source of most of the bugs I keep getting. It's not without a great deal of regret, because I think they're one of the coolest things about EB and a really clever idea.

House Rules

I'm going to attempt to be a bit more hands-off about the AI behaviour, but at the same time I still don't want any faction dying off early, and I'll still make use of Force Diplomacy and move_character when I think it necessary.

At the start of the game I'm going to move my armies to Pergamon, and take the city. Once that's done I'll use process_cq to speed up construction a type IV government, top-tier regional barracks, then destroy the government and replace with a type II. I'll also build up the walls and mines in a similar way. That done I'll move my capital, destroy all the buildings in my original settlements and let them go rebel. I'll also exact peace settlements with payments out of all the people I'm at war with (without using FD, though).

All told that cash will be the nest egg representing the silver Philetairos had control of that allowed Pergamon to flourish. Unlike before, I won't be automatically expanding to take Nikaia and Byzantion as "starting settlements" - I'll just start with Pergamon itself. Then I've got to move from there fair and square.

My aim will be relatively slow expansion, taking advantage of opportunities that present themselves and trying to avoid the wrath of the larger powers. Slow doesn't mean glacial, though, Pergamon was historically a pretty aggressive power. That was how you survived in that environment.

I'll also keep to the borders of the Thracian Kingdom as my upper limit of where I can go, along with Greek colonies (places like Chersonesos, Kyrene, Syrakousai, Massalia). My aim is to create a new Pan-Hellenic Empire eventually, though I won't be engaging in a conquest of the Greek mainland.

Armies

Pergamon used a lot of mercenaries and foreigners in their armies, I'm going to do the same. Mostly because I don't like a lot of the Hellenic roster anyway, but also because there are some very good regional and merc troops.

Core of my line will be Celto-Hellenic hoplites, representing Galatians settled in Mysia and trained in the Greek manner. They're part of a "revolution" in military tactics in my game away from the more regular Successor pike-based armies. They'll be flanked by Theurophoroi, and them in turn by two different units of regional infantry.

Skirmishers will be slingers, archers and peltastai. I'll also use lots of regional cavalry, the hammer to my infantry anvil. Generals will be active participants in battles, playing the role Alexander used to.

I'll "swap" my starting army for one that's more appropriate, disbanding the original units and using create_unit to replace them with new ones.

[QuintusSertorius]

And here we have my "starting position" at winter 272BC:



All my original provinces rebelled, now I just have Pergamon. I disbanded most of my original units and used a combination of money from destruction of everything that was in the others (apart from the unique building in Ambrakia), and some cheated money to develop my mines, ports and regional barracks, along with process_cq to get them all ready.

In a few turns time, I'll see if there's some Celto-Hellenic mercs available for Pyrrhos to go and take Nikaia and it's mines.

Anyone know how many mnai 9000 talents of silver would be? I feel I should set my starting money to that amount.

[Timoleon]

9000 talents = 540000 mnai. Too much money Quintus! Why this exact amount?

BTW, how did you change the color of you faction?

[QuintusSertorius]

9000 talents = 540000 mnai. Too much money Quintus! Why this exact amount?

BTW, how did you change the color of you faction?

Surely that would be 9000 talents of gold, rather than silver? Talents of silver are worth less than talents of gold. Not sure by how much. If it turns out to be a tenth, then I'll consider the money I spent on mines and port upgrade that "nest egg" and just leave it.

Data\descr_sm_factions.txt - there's RGB codes for each faction's colour. I also changed the Ptolemaic yellow to gold so it's easier to distinguish from Seleukid silver.

[Swordmaster]

Following this again. I've got exactly the same colours for Ptolemaios' side.

Let's hope the removed client rulers do add to stability.

[QuintusSertorius]

Conquest of Bithynia

In the summer of 268, Pyrrhos Aiakides (no relation to the famous king of Epirus) took the Pergamene army to Bithynia. After ravaging the communities around the Bithynoi capital, he laid siege to Nikaia itself.



Superior tactics and the skill of the Kretan archers carried the day, Nikaia was taken by storm and it's people enrolled in a new confederation of Greeks in Anatolia.



Editorial note

This was a surprisingly easy battle, mostly because the Kretan archers killed almost all the akontistai from outside the walls, then mauled all the other units. I'd killed more than a third of their force before the rams had even finished. Then their general died in the streets fighting my hoplites and FMs.

267BC:



Rome have already secured northern and southern Italy. Greece is a right old to-and-fro of warring. Pontos are off the starting blocks already, and angled for Nikaia before I got there. I didn't want to give them a second shot at it, not least because they'll go to war with me when I take Byzantion.

Got spies and assassins at work in Sardis and Mytilene both. Mytilene is much closer to something happening.