Strategies for fighting AS?

[Mulceber]

I'm playing a Romani campaign, and right now I'm fighting the Arche Seleukeia in Egypt and the middle east...and I'm having a real struggle against them. It's 162 BCE and I've reached the Marian reforms, but their units are just so tough that it's almost impossible to beat them without taking massive casualties in the process. When I take such heavy casualties, I'm forced to go back to the nearest city and retrain them, during which time AS sends more troops for me to fight. Any advice on how to avoid this vicious cycle? -M

[Ibrahim]

I'm playing a Romani campaign, and right now I'm fighting the Arche Seleukeia in Egypt and the middle east...and I'm having a real struggle against them. It's 162 BCE and I've reached the Marian reforms, but their units are just so tough that it's almost impossible to beat them without taking massive casualties in the process. When I take such heavy casualties, I'm forced to go back to the nearest city and retrain them, during which time AS sends more troops for me to fight. Any advice on how to avoid this vicious cycle? -M

Don't take an enemy army directly if you don't have to-that's the best I've learned playing Pahlava.

[Recoil]

with regards to fighting phalanxes in-battle, it's a pretty difficult thing to do. the old, "pin em down and flank and fire" tactic is the most obvious thing, but it can obviously get extremely difficult, especially with the wide phalanxes outright blocking troop movements on the field. in my experience against the AS it takes a lot of all round heavy units that can stand up to their sarissas in a pitched battle. i generally engage with my heaviest (defense wise) troops and do my best to encircle the enemy, making sure not to outstretch myself and to engage any aforementioned "blocking units" if i run into them. expect heavy casualties though with this method, so i suggest seeing if someone else can help with that

likewise ill throw in some advice for the actual campaign. first off, dont forget to recruit levies as well, since they, whilst (generally) not being up to par with your roman troops, are likely to be easily retrained and, as such, might be your best bet as fort garrisons. you could always do your best with your legions, and if they achieve their objectives or need retraining, send a levy army in to take their place whilst the armies head back to rome.

as for any other ideas for the campaign, and im pretty sure others would suggest or at least think this, you can always send an army by sea to overtake a poorly defended settlement, destroy everything and pull out before an army can crush your own, and make sure to try and redo it over and over to hurt their finances and send their forces into confusion. after all, one more army chasing your raiders means one less army to take on back at the front. hope this helps and good luck

[Cbvani]

If AS is properly big, and lacks proper rivals, you cannot beat them on the battle map. There won't be a one decisive battle, which will enable you to wipe up the rest of their empire. Instead, get a bunch of spies, and concentrate them in settlements you want to cause a rebellion in. Get a second army to raid the coast. If their in India, take Egypt, get a boat in the Indian Ocean and head to India and raze it. That'll REALLY distract them. Don't bring a FM along as this will basically be a sacrificial army....

Really, play strategically, have a grand strategy, and don't rely on one decisive battle.

[Zradha Pahlavan]

Hit their largest cities if possible.
Also, try to locate their troop production facilities. If possible, send a raiding party to storm the town and smash said facilities, then pack up and leave.
Hit them in as many places as you can as quickly as you can. Enslave or exterminate as many people as you can. Enslaving is better sometimes because you get to keep the people. Try to avoid direct battles unless you are defending your lands.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

You don't win a war against strong Arche SeleukeiaS(or Ptolemaioi) in the battle map. You must win them in the campaign map. Make more armies than they, make peace with the rest of the factions, attack their cities instead of armies. Try to hurt them economically. Once their money runs out it is much easier to take them down.

[Irish]

When I played as Baktria I went for AS on my frist turn, and managed to push them all the way out of what is modern day Iran, so all they had was the Levant. But that was because they didn't have many elite troops.

However since you are Romani, they have had tons of time to build a ton of huge armies with elites most likely. If you really want to elminate them, I would raid them until you have several decent sized armies, and then attack a ton of their cities all at once. You could also pay off some others, like the Parthians or the Armenians, to attack them when you are attacking them.

Like has been said before, this war is won on the campaign map.

[Intranetusa]

As the Romans, you have to fight AS like they did in history - slowly wear them down in grueling battles and beat them in the war of attrition. The Romans are stubborn sobs - they can take a crap load of casualties and come back the next year for more.

[Maion Maroneios]

Well, there are several things you can do in such situations.

First of all, if the AS is a juggernaut (which I assume it is), then I suggest you don't taske them head-on. That is, unless you have infinite stubborness and patience, as well as mnai on order to raise several elite fullstacks. Try and take small chunks out of them, until you strike the finishing blow. Here are some steps you can take in order to achieve your goal:

1) Start recruiting many spies and assasins and send them over to secluded AS territories. Use the assasins to kill their diplomats and lame FM's, while use your spies to infiltrate their border cities 2-3 at a time in order to cause them to rebel.
2) Build up some good fleets, destroy theirs and blockade their ports.
3) Use amphibious assaults with good armies at big cities that are poorly defended (most of the cases), like Antiocheia, Alexandreia and the like and raize them to the ground. Then, retreat again and move on to the next target. This way, by destroying their main recruiting centres, you will paralyze their main bases of recruitment from which they draw their best troops.
4) After you see their economy is taking the down roll, capture some of their border cities and fortify yourself. In liaison with amphibious assaults, take out their armies one-by-one.
5) Start launching a full-offensive, with stacks sweeping over them. When you take Aigyptos, Anatolia and the Levant, they should already be in a crisis.
6) Finish the job by ripping their beating heart, namely Babylonia and Seleukeia. You can either hold on to them, or sack them and then let them rebel or gift them to another faction.

Have fun!

Maion

[Aemilius Paulus]

I know this is unconventional and ahistorical for the Romani, but try out an all-mounted army. Train some Scythian Riders (best HAs available to Romani - 6 missile attack, very good stamina; pretty long range and most importantly, they have lances, which means that after they have gone through all the arrows, they can still pack a punch) in Kallatia and some heavy cavalry. The best thing you could do is recruit a bunch of Eastern Mercenary Generals. Their bodyguard is Kinsmen Cavalry - pretty much the most powerful cavalry unit, with a possible exception of cataphracts. Also, as they are generals, the bodyguards will replenish after every round of slugging, no matter how much beating they have taken.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

1. Build up multiple legions before you send the first one to the front.
2. If your legions start to get worn down, merge them. Use one as a source of men for another two legions.
3. If you notice one army is running out of soldiers, recruit reinforcements or a new one and ship them over.
4. The strategically important cities of the east are Antiocheia, Alexandria, Seleukeia, Babylon and Baktra. That's where they build all their shiny Hellenic elite units. Raid them.
5. Try to keep your frontline short. Conquer Egypt at one time, than defend it at the neck east of Alexandria. Than conquer Asia Minor, and so you can make a double assault from two directions to their heartlands Syria and Babylonia.