Quote Originally Posted by WinsingtonIII View Post
Pontos is one of those factions that have it rough. Any campaign you play with them with be very difficult due to both their starting position and their poor roster. Their biggest benefit, as I can tell, is that they get the largest selection of Galatian troops out of any faction in the game, and Galatian troops are generally pretty good. However, they are only recruitable in one province. The combination of Hellenic and Galatian rosters is interesting, and you can play them with either Hellenic or "barbarian" tactics, or a mixture of both, but Pontos is hampered because its Hellenic roster is subpar and Galatians are limited to one province. They also lack cataphracts, so even their cavalry is generally outclassed by those around them. Conclusion: Pontos has a weak roster, with little in the way of strengths, but that's just how it is.
I wouldn't call Pontos's roster all that bad. It does take some time to get to their better units, but once you have them, you can field an army that can easily beat anything the AI will throw at you. (Hey, is that surprising?) They don't really lack much--Chalkaspides are an elite phalanx that seem to get bad press, but aren't all that bad. They are the same price as Hysteroi Pezhataroi and are recruitable at the same MIC level. However, the Chalkaspides are almost identical to the reformed phalanx...they only lack a single point of attack. Same defence and morale. Pantodapoi Phalangitai are also present, being cheap and very good to hold the line. In the way of Galatian elites--true, it's just one province (Two, if you count Odrysai, which can recruit the Shortswordsmen and Heavy Spearmen, as well as Rhomphorai instead of Tindonatae) but is very centrally located and provides the Heavy Spearmen, unmatched among anything you'll see in the AI armies except for their clone, the Heavy Swordsmen that the Ptolemaioi sometimes field, as well as the Tindonatae which can easily rout an AI army. Plus you get cheap but dependable medium swords a good four turns after Galatia falls (Something you can accomplish on turn two/three without losing many men if you force a sally and win, which is quite possible, if difficult)

As for the issue of cataphracts, I don't know what exactly you mean by that term, but Pontos does get the Kinsmen Heavy Cavalry. They're not true cataphracts, but are pretty close. They're recruitable in Amarvir with an MIC that Hayasdan will always build for you if you don't blitz them out of existence within the first fifteen or so years. And if you're worried about cavalry inferiority, get the Scythed Chariots. They shred non-cataphract cavalry, and if maneuvered correctly will put a dent in even the cataphracts, assuming that the cataphracts aren't allowed to charge.