Damn AI made my game miserable

[Lovejoy]

Yea. You have pretty much failed.. If you are playing slow, you can't only "look to yourself", you need always have one eye on your enemies. If one faction get to large, send a expedition force to weaken them. Raid, burn and slaughter. It is important to play you enemies against each other. To make buffer states, as you have already done, is one way.

Better luck on your next campaign!

[Drewski]

I'd call it one of those unlucky games, especially if you've been able to make it work before.

The problem with "house rules", are that the AI doesn't play by them. It will act as a perfect gentleman, and ignore that fact that its neighbour has almost undefended cities, that is if the neighbour is another ai. How many times, have you seen two livelong ai enemies suddenly declare peace, just because you the player have moved into their vicinity.

And pure and simply, the ai is programmed to attack the player if at all possible. Unless I'm Rome or Carthage, early blitzing is the order of the day, just to get an economy and some peace and quiet. Pontos shares just too many land borders, I reckon you have to take all of modern Turkey, then leave a full stack in Byzantion, and a full stack fort on the isthmus border (sw of Byzantion). Then you can hopefully get a little peace.

Best example of uncalled for ai behavior--current campaign Im Epiros. I blitz Greece and leave Macedon with just Mytilene, KH with just Rhodes. Buffer Slave cities between me and Getai. I very slowly (with one 3/4 stack amazingly and no cheating;)) completely wipe out Rome. I really, really didn't want to, but they just won't make peace or leave me alone. I have buffer states to North, between me and Gauls. So I can relax, and do so, fighting not a single battle (excepting rebels for 20 yrs). Eventually, I decide to take Sicily, but leave Carthage alone.

Now here's the uncalled for behaviour--I build a very nice strong army, and easily take Messana (note it hadn't been touched, the Slave garrison was at full strength). The very next season, TWO full stack non-merc Carthage Armies beseige my full stack in Messana. I won, just about. 2 turns later another full Carthage stack, this time they must have hired every Mercenary in that part of the world...

The point, what on earth is it sitting there for with 2 full stacks, when it could have had Messana and Syracuse easily? (both slave). There are some triggers somewhere in the ai, that suddenly turn everyone into slavering maniacs. Must...killlllll.....the....human...

It gets a bit old though. I suppose the original creators or RTW never imagined elaborate mods like EB, and people playing with "house rules" or "historically"...No, the RTW engine is really only designed to be played as Rome, and the [is border city ownership = player , then kiiiiiiiillllll] overide kicks in, to give the original Rome player a bit of a challenge, and the heroic "its us against the world" feeling...

Shame really.

[TruePraetorian]

Yea. You have pretty much failed..
Better luck on your next campaign!

I wouldnt say you've failed at all. What I would do is start scrapping you border cities of their buildings...make 'em ghost towns for the money. Sell them off if you can as buffer states..force diplomacy may be a need here since the AI won't buy cities for 5k..

Now, with you nice buffer states to hide behind, build up that army. Stop building buildings also since you won't need them for the war.

Quick question: What's with your cities making no money at all?

And it's a shame to see Rome in her current predicament

[anubis88]

I wouldnt say you've failed at all. What I would do is start scrapping you border cities of their buildings...make 'em ghost towns for the money. Sell them off if you can as buffer states..force diplomacy may be a need here since the AI won't buy cities for 5k..

Now, with you nice buffer states to hide behind, build up that army. Stop building buildings also since you won't need them for the war.

Quick question: What's with your cities making no money at all?

And it's a shame to see Rome in her current predicament

well i'm making about 1000 a month... It's just i must have huge land forces... They COST a lot of money.... i had much more money 10 years earlier... But then all of my good governors died one by one, now i have newbies who don't have a clue about economy...

My very own financial crisis

[Jebivjetar]

I think that youve been too little aggressive, especially when domination in Asia Minor is in question. My opinion is that you should kick-off ANY faction outta there in the start (then negotiate about peace and trade rights), just to have some safe ground and expand more safely from it. That means kicking Macs outta Mytilene, no "grant of land" to KH and as soon as possible kicking off Ptolies outta AS too.

[Aemilius Paulus]

Well, let me simply state that there is no other faction that needs to blitz as much as Pontos. It is a matter of life and death for them. I am extraordinarily surprised that you survived for so long. Usually it is either blitz or die.

What makes your situation even worse is the fact that you cannot really play off the enemy factions. They are too large and some, such as the Maks, do not have any powerful enemies bordering them. The Romani have not yet expanded that far, which is peculiar. I suppose the Karthadastim taken their toll on them, and quite possibly even the Sweboz as well.

If your campaign is so boring, then quit it. I always seek the ultimate challenge in EB (just as long as I have a hope of winning), but if you are bored with the current campaign, then there is no sense to continue it. It is just a game after all. I would suggest starting a new campaign and this time blitzing. As some people have mentioned, raiding deep into enemy territory and razing everything is very effective, as is constant expansion.

[TruePraetorian]

well i'm making about 1000 a month... It's just i must have huge land forces... They COST a lot of money.... i had much more money 10 years earlier... But then all of my good governors died one by one, now i have newbies who don't have a clue about economy...

My very own financial crisis

What i do to combat huge military costs is to make forts at key locations and stock them with 1 hoplite mercenary/unit and and archer (cretan ). This way when the AI comes knocking at my doorstep I have at least 1 year of before the fort is taken to build up units for the invasion. Not to mention they sallies and the fact a hoplite in a doorway is enough to beat up a good sized enemy.

With my territories safe I usually have 1-2 full stacks and thats it. I try not to maintain a huge navy also. In my current Romanii campaing its 249BC with the Punic wars just begun and I have 162000+ mnai, not to mention the 50+k I recieve a turn.

[anubis88]

What i do to combat huge military costs is to make forts at key locations and stock them with 1 hoplite mercenary/unit and and archer (cretan ). This way when the AI comes knocking at my doorstep I have at least 1 year of before the fort is taken to build up units for the invasion. Not to mention they sallies and the fact a hoplite in a doorway is enough to beat up a good sized enemy.

With my territories safe I usually have 1-2 full stacks and thats it. I try not to maintain a huge navy also. In my current Romanii campaing its 249BC with the Punic wars just begun and I have 162000+ mnai, not to mention the 50+k I recieve a turn.

I do have forts in key areas, but that's not enough... Also it's hard to have only 2 full stacks... I needed 3 of them just to keep the north and west from macedon and south from the ptolys. But now Armenia has attacked me with and elite half stack + a full one....

I could live with fighting the ptolys and Armenia, but having Macedon of whom's massive empire i'm the only enemy really sucks... I don't really want to fight with them for the steppes..

P.S. On another note: does anyone know why i can't recruit the hellenic medium phalanx+cavalry in ipsos with a level 4 MIC? seems wierd

[Africanvs]

When going on the defensive is not working, go on the offensive.

1) Do whatever you can to get some money coming in, even if you have to sell off some buildings.

2) Disband any units that are too expensive, like excess ships. (keep a few ships however)

3) Raise taxes to max possible, while keeping cities happy.

4) Create a couple of 1/2 to 3/4 stack armies.

5) Begin hitting any enemy cities by sea that are not well-defended.

• Massacre the populace, destroy every building that you can and leave, or:
• Massacre the population, destroy the MICs and leave the smallest garrison possible to hold the city.

6) You will now have several fronts and a bit more income to increase your military forces. Let the enemy waste time re-taking those cities. Hopefully they will stop attacking your home provinces after a while.

7) You must minimize your fronts.

• Start by slowly conquering Asia Minor.
• Mak provinces first, and then the KH.

8) Once you do all of this, you can fortify your new fronts. Your bosphoran territories may be difficult to keep.

9) Now you should have a lot more money coming in, and some decent military forces. Pick an enemy to destroy, while keeping enough forces at home to keep the others at bay.

10) You can do this, but you have a lot of battles ahead of you. I wish I were in your position; it isn't very often I find myself in such a challenging situation. Enjoy it! Things are far from hopeless.

As for your other question, hellenic medium phalanx and cavalry are available in Ipsos with a level 4 regional mic, not native. (That could be your issue?) That is if Ipsos is in Phrygia, which I'm pretty sure it is.

[anubis88]

yeah Africanus... That could be it... ( about the hellenic units)
I always mix-up those two MIC's.
I just won a battle against armenia 3600-2300, a heroic victory, i'm trying to take side now, and to keep trapezous... I will see how it goes...

The thing is also, that my goal is to have the Mithridatic wars, no matter how long it takes. But i want a historical pontos, i don't want to destroy the ptolomys or anything... I could've done this already, but then the game would become boring... (ironic huh?)

[Lovejoy]

I wouldnt say you've failed at all.

lol, maybe a little bit harsh! if he have the will and patient to fight numerous battles every turn he still got a chance to win.

I suggest a big raiding party into Greece. Kill, burn and slaughter. Get yourself a base in Greece, ,which mean you get yet ANOTHER war front, but hopefully the Macedonian attacks will concentrate at that front. With the new money build armies, take the whole of Greece. Dont bother to much with the ptolemoi... thats what I would do.