I tried what you guys suggested and it seems to not work. I lasted longer but without phalanx i cant stop AS because they somehow have the best troops then can have in 4 turns. AS is just too powerful. How do you win battles with crappy generals calvary and native spearmen and skirmishers? By the time i take the northern cities in asia minor my army is almost gone and i have maybe 2 units of phalanx by the time AS attacks.

If the AI gets infinite amount of money, Would it really be cheating if I use the add_money cheat in console? I really dont see any possible way to beat the pontus campaign without cheating.