KH Advice?

[Novellus]

In my experience, I had a terrible time starting out. But here's what I did to at least give myself a fighting chance:

Withdraw soldiers from Krete by boat. Leave the spy. Park the boat in the port of Athens. The soldiers on the ship will be unable to unload due to their movement points being depleted.

Take your strongest men from Sparta (both family members) and their armies and send them to the ship. Unload them directly on the docks. In this way, you're at least able to have your forces combined at one spot.

In Athens, recruit two units of Hippakonistai. A big weakneess infantry-based armies have is the lack of ability to chase down routing enemies. The last thing you want in the early game is a re-emergence of enemy phalangites.

Makedonia seems to be preoccupied with the Epeirotes. When they are far enough away, take your army and take over Chalkis. Also, with a small force, load the ships and sail for Mytilene. There is a very small garrison present on that island, which should be able to be taken by the end of the third turn. There are no defenses, and the AI does not seem to even bother doing anything to the island. Leaving a minimal garrison afterward doesn't cause many problems. I tend to leave behind a unit of Akonistai for garrison duty.

The Makedonians seem bent on taking over Athens. But for some reason, the AI tends to task them so that their entire force moves off to the forest outside of the city whenever you sally forth. Use this to your advantage. Park your units of slingers and your Kretan Archers on the walls. They'll cause tremendous casualties to the enemies below.

Very large hills surround Athens, and even the gate appears to be in a valley. But if you move a few units of Hoplitai Haploi, some Akonistai, and Hippakonistai (or better yet, and your Kretan Archers if they still have ammunition), the enemy often sends units to try to counter your new position. Your soldiers will become exhausted from scaling the hill, but so will the enemy. Use the ranged units to knock out targets below. Even cavalry under fire from above don't stand much of a chance. I've even exhausted the famed Hetairoi to the point where Hippakonistai can hack them to pieces in close-combat.

When the main Makedonian army is far enough away, you should also plan to take Korinthos as well.

NOTES ON FIGHTING PHALANXES:

The Makedonian phalanx is the bane of the Greek Hoplitai. But there are ways to defeat them. First off, keep your units in guard mode when charging. Usually this is ill-advised. But often the phalangites seem to change the focus on where they're attacking. When their sarissae are pointed in the wrong direction so that you have a massive flank to attack, charge it, then when engaged, take the units out of guard-mode. This causes your hoplitai to spread out and it begins to hack the enemy phalanx from the inside out. Usually when this happens, the enemy routes. Even elites become panicked when there are enemy hoplitai staring at them within their own ranks.

Another tactic I enjoy is using the Akonistai to attack the rears of phalanxes. Their javelins cause high casualties when they attack from the rear, and then when they charge, the massive 240-unit usually panics the enemy to the point that they'll run away.

Phalanxes are tough, but fortunately, they're not as invincible as they seem. Survive long enough and you'll have phalangites of your own, along with cavalry to do the damage. Think how ironic it would be if the Makedonian "hammer and anvil" tactics were used against them by the Hellenes?

Good luck! Hope this helps!