I tried Romans VH/M and after conquering Spain, Gauls, Greece, and kicking out of Carthage out of north Africa(they now reside in the desert. poor fellas) I kinda got bored with Romans since it was going to be endless war with Egyptions(I blitzed them and conquered all Nile River cities).
So, I decided to start Baktria.
Since I usually play on VH/M, I just went for it, and failed once.
I didn't even know there was a city on the southeast side of the Baktria lol
Now on the second try, things went little better.
So here we go.
Just the intro... Baktria is awesome...
Yeah. That's a city northeast to the Baktria. Spy was already there, and if you send him more to the north, you see a lot of good HA and archers. Let's just leave them be for now. And, they do become good shield for Saka for the time being ^^. Oh, by the way, send your diplomat to Saka through Pahlavan land for scouting and diplomacy.
So, on the first turn, disband a horse unit since you don't really need them. You have the best Generals' bodyguards. Just use them instead. So, leave whoever you prefer(or not prefer) in Baktria and get everyone else to the west border. Also don't forget to put the tax to the highest.
Then, you will find Pahlava declaring war on AS on the beginning of the next turn.
It would be very nice to have AS on your side, but it just doesn't work.
So... Enemy's Enemy is an Ally.
So WAR! Arche Seleukeia! Pahlavans will be a great help. And as you can see, with the army that was sent to west, attack Antiocheia-Margiane. It shouldn't be defended too well. Also, don't worry about AS cities to north. They will be busy fighting Pahlava and Saka. At least they won't move very much. Although, I cannot stress this enough, Put your spies everywhere!!! You want to know where the enemy is coming from at least a turn before. That's crucial for defending with less troops.
And here we go..
and that's only the beginning.
Don't stay in that city for long. If you enslaved the city, a general and a Persian archer can deal with it with no problem. Get the archer from Baktria(produce it and send it there at some point). Make sure you destroy all unnecessary buildings to get more mnai and I also recommend destroying granary in Baktria if you run low on mnai and absolutely need more.
Also your diplomat should be arriving at Saka, and make a deal with them.
Make a ceasefire treaty and offer trade rights and map information. In return, demand their map info and lots of mnai. I demanded 1500, and I got them no problem. (Although that will shame their helot. lol) mnai in early game is so important, rip off every nation you can think of. Even Egyptians will pay you for a ceasefire later.
So, now start making your way to Alexandira-Ariana to the South of Baktria. And put down every resistance! This time, I got lucky and while I was on my way, they decided to attack me on the bridge.
And..
Try to fight with least casualties. Do not throw archers into close combat and use archer-spearmen for support. Phalanx are the back bone of your army. Just hammer and anvil the soul out of your opponents. Or use terrain advantage to shower them with arrows and tire them before fight. But you cannot camp, though, since you'll be marching and blitzing all the time!
And, there goes down the Alexandria-Ariana. It's not that difficult to siege with tons of archer units really ^^
It becomes hard when they start to have some high walls...
Now this is the real deal. If we can take that city, then we should be much better off. It has a mine and everything else(lots of people to enslave too) So Blitz again.
Don't be afraid of outnumbering opponent. Maneuver your generals with care - phalanx and archers will hold their lines relatively well.
So let's kill off the runaway from last battle
Yeah! Prophthasia is now under control, and look at that sexy income! lol
loot from the city is big, too and destroying some buildings will help too, but I recommend only breaking the MIC for AS. You should be able to recruit Persian archers here from the beginning, so queue 2 of them and leave asap.
There will be some AS troops heading east. Finish them off.
That's it for my first post.
Baktria is a fun faction to play as, since its units will be diverse. And I really want some Kataphract action, so I will post more later with how it's going.
Thanks for reading!
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