Post your EB empires!

[mikepettyrtw]

Hmmm. The cobwebs have gathered on this thread, gotta dust 'em off. So here's a couple thumbnails from my current Pahlava campaign, played on VH/H with BI exe and battle time limit ON. (BTW also posted at TWC, but with different commentary.)

There's a story behind the first shot. It was supposed to be a quick punitive raid on Alexandria, but nearly resulted in disaster when my troops refused to climb the siege towers. Turns out there's a bug specific to Alexandria, at least when assaulting from the eastern side. Fortunately a spy had opened the gates so it was possible to enter, although you'd expect heavy casualties from boiling oil poured on invaders passing through the gates plus wall towers firing frontwards and backwards.

Yet losses were relatively minor--15 or 20%--since the defending garrison acted lethargically (the two elite phalanxes just stumbled around without using their pikes at all), the tower guys seemed kinda sleepy, and the boiling oil fellas apparently didn't show up at all (no burn injuries far as I could tell). As I suggested at the TWC technical section in the thread "Siege towers not working" maybe it's not a bug, but a deliberate feature by the game designers to show the effects of that infamous Nile Delta parasite called schistosomiasis (bilharzia) on people who hang around that marshy, low-lying area.

Anyway after enslaving the populace I demolished just about anything trashable in Alexandria except for Alexander's Tomb (for obvious sentimental reasons) and the naval port (might need those transports later to invade the last Seleucid bastion on Cyprus), realizing about 65,000 mnai for my efforts. Plus most of the raiding force got away clean after leaving a token garrison behind to slow pursuit. Not too bad, eh?

Thanks for your kind attention and Happy Thanksgiving to Stateside EB fans!

Alexanders tomb is the first thing I destroy when I play as Parthia or Saka and reach Alexandria. Its obviously a good idea to keep it if your Hellenic faction.
As a matter of fact, there is nothing like playing as Parthia or Saka and destroying all the Hellenic monuments, (except for Alexanders Altars) it feels like payback for for the desecration of the Temple of Anahita and the Sack of Persopolis and Pasargadae.
I do the same when I play as Macedon or any western faction and get a chance to Sack Rome.

[Jive]

So it's over. Lotsa fun but I sure wish the victory conditions were clarified. The adviser, faction leader, and script all agreed Pahlava had to outlast the Hayasdan but at game's end they still had at least three cities remaining. Then again, what's life without a little mystery?

Incidentally I'd like to thank the Ptolemies for wiping out the last Seleucid settlement on Cyprus, thus releasing me from the obligation. It's the least they could do after sending endless numbers of phalanx-studded stacks against me for the past quarter century!

[CanOmer]

Birth of an empire: Hayasdan

Campaign: Medium
Battles: Hard
With my x3 unit costs and upkeeps sub-mod: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...ts-and-Upkeeps

[Frtigern]

Birth of an empire: Hayasdan

Campaign: Medium
Battles: Hard
With my x3 unit costs and upkeeps sub-mod: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...ts-and-Upkeeps

How many Battles of Phraaspa Bridge have you had? When I played as Hayasdan, A.S. would attack me every turn and the only phalanx I could recruit were mercs or bribed AS phalanxes.

[CanOmer]

Two I remember. With three times expensive units there aren't many battles.

[vartan]

Very nice, CanOmer!

[CanOmer]

Thanks :)

9 years later:

[Hamata]

the romani hydra is slowly crumbling

[Kralizec]

A couple of months ago I had an Epeiros campaign. Sadly I had to wipe my PC and reinstall windows, and I lost all my game files.

Anyway, the interesting was that I encountered a KH general named Petraeus. I suppose that characters with that name appear all the time, but I had never noticed it before and it was just after that scandal in the USA.

I checked wether he had a biographer or mistress ancillary. He didn't.

[vartan]

A couple of months ago I had an Epeiros campaign. Sadly I had to wipe my PC and reinstall windows, and I lost all my game files.

Anyway, the interesting was that I encountered a KH general named Petraeus. I suppose that characters with that name appear all the time, but I had never noticed it before and it was just after that scandal in the USA.

I checked wether he had a biographer or mistress ancillary. He didn't.

Did the KH general retire in shame or something?

[CanOmer]

Campaign: Medium, Battles: Hard
Ptolemaioi

[The Stranger]

Hmmm. The cobwebs have gathered on this thread, gotta dust 'em off. So here's a couple thumbnails from my current Pahlava campaign, played on VH/H with BI exe and battle time limit ON. (BTW also posted at TWC, but with different commentary.)

There's a story behind the first shot. It was supposed to be a quick punitive raid on Alexandria, but nearly resulted in disaster when my troops refused to climb the siege towers. Turns out there's a bug specific to Alexandria, at least when assaulting from the eastern side. Fortunately a spy had opened the gates so it was possible to enter, although you'd expect heavy casualties from boiling oil poured on invaders passing through the gates plus wall towers firing frontwards and backwards.

Yet losses were relatively minor--15 or 20%--since the defending garrison acted lethargically (the two elite phalanxes just stumbled around without using their pikes at all), the tower guys seemed kinda sleepy, and the boiling oil fellas apparently didn't show up at all (no burn injuries far as I could tell). As I suggested at the TWC technical section in the thread "Siege towers not working" maybe it's not a bug, but a deliberate feature by the game designers to show the effects of that infamous Nile Delta parasite called schistosomiasis (bilharzia) on people who hang around that marshy, low-lying area.

Anyway after enslaving the populace I demolished just about anything trashable in Alexandria except for Alexander's Tomb (for obvious sentimental reasons) and the naval port (might need those transports later to invade the last Seleucid bastion on Cyprus), realizing about 65,000 mnai for my efforts. Plus most of the raiding force got away clean after leaving a token garrison behind to slow pursuit. Not too bad, eh?

Thanks for your kind attention and Happy Thanksgiving to Stateside EB fans!

omg i had that bug too... so annoying. though i think it was a different city than alexandria.

Did u also destroy the library? :/

[CanOmer]

Isolated Empire of Casse
Capital: Ynys-Mon

Luckily no faction is destroyed yet but Makedonia and Arche Seleukeia near extinction.

[Moros]

My most succeful campaign as of yet. Though that might change now I'm running out of rebel settlements to conquer. How I wished the unit reforms were already in.

[Stath's]

Mind-blown!! It will surely be a new chapter in the Total War History.

[Moros]

As I'm starting to feel the Ptolemaioi and the Seleukids breathing in my face and neck more and more, and with no other avaible options, I led an expedition towards Mleiha in the Maka province (East and North Oman). This after failing to get Gerrha revolting again. It did a few times in the past. The plan was to get revolting again, (which it was lready doing) I brought in spies and sabotaged some happiness buildings, but they didn't kick the Seleucids out anymore. Anyway it seems it is time to fight some Sabaeans, though I'm afraid one of the two hellenistic superpowers might attack when most of my forces are so far from home. And actually the Sabaean stacks look fearsome as well. Especially as there seems to be a small error in recruitment, providing the Sabaeans with cavalry archers to accompany their heavily (well to Arabian standards) armoured archer-spearmen.

[The Stranger]

which faction are you?

[Brave Brave Sir Robin]

which faction are you?

Looks like Nabataea (spelling likely butchered) to me.

Moros, is that the KH who own Kyrene? I'd love to know if that was a revolt or a naval invasion since it appears they also took Krete.

[moonburn]

he´s showing off eb2 you can also see pergamon there

[Moros]

Looks like Nabataea (spelling likely butchered) to me.

Moros, is that the KH who own Kyrene? I'd love to know if that was a revolt or a naval invasion since it appears they also took Krete.

Actually I'm not sure, but I think naval invasion as I saw one of their ships nearby when it happened. Also yes it's KH. They and the ptollies are very active on the seas. And currently at war as well.
Yes I'm playing as Nabataea.

[Ibrahim]

As I'm starting to feel the Ptolemaioi and the Seleukids breathing in my face and neck more and more, and with no other avaible options, I led an expedition towards Mleiha in the Maka province (East and North Oman). This after failing to get Gerrha revolting again. It did a few times in the past. The plan was to get revolting again, (which it was lready doing) I brought in spies and sabotaged some happiness buildings, but they didn't kick the Seleucids out anymore. Anyway it seems it is time to fight some Sabaeans, though I'm afraid one of the two hellenistic superpowers might attack when most of my forces are so far from home. And actually the Sabaean stacks look fearsome as well. Especially as there seems to be a small error in recruitment, providing the Sabaeans with cavalry archers to accompany their heavily (well to Arabian standards) armoured archer-spearmen.

I feel like my face is getting buried into that playthrough

looking forward to the release: it will be quite a sight my great empire!

[moonburn]

your only chance as nabatea is to be one of the 2 big dogs bitch and always fight to make sure there´s a balance and that is if the diplomacy works so be prepared to pay hundreads of mnai ech turn to avoid wars

for me since i hate the pants down position the best is probably to rush to the sabeans destroy them and build an empire in arabia aslong as the sabeans are alive you and them are pawns to be played and traded by the phaero and the archon

allinces with either numidia or kart hadast is a must particulary because you can´t appeal at the meroans or the axumites

with the archon is "easyer" to deal with there are many smaller kingdoms surrounding it wich will gladly join you in a treaty of all for one and one for all wich would close down the arche in a gridlock since they can´t be in too many places at once

the mikrA ASIA or to sum it up properly the messy asia is a plus since it allows you to play the hellenics hellenist against each other to keep them busy

depending on diplomacy

and as nabatea money is of litle use to you unlike the hellenic factions with their super heavy infantry and cavalery your units outisde of the desert/desertic areas are weak your only way to win is to harass raid and win trough atriction like the romans against hannibal cause in the field head on ... also depending on your siege warfare habilities

the way the society and economy are structered it doesn´t payoff to have a standing army so you´ll depend mostly on over expensive militias so when you go to conquer you must move swiftly since speed is your only ally before the army breaks down due to the lack of finantial power to sustain medium overpriçed troops

with this being said the free upkeep and the possible introduction of a garrison script combined with the desert bonus makes nabatea a strong faction on the defence aslong as you don´t get the full brunt of either the ptolemaioi or the seulekids

just my point of view on the viability of nabatea proper planing and hit and run tactics to tire up enemies and cross fire strategies to win both on the campaign and the batle front

[Rovert]

RomeTW 2014-01-01 13-44-25-81.bmpRomeTW 2014-01-01 13-44-34-92.bmp RomeTW 2014-01-01 13-44-39-74.bmp RomeTW 2014-01-01 13-45-05-05.bmp

[Moros]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

As the Nabatu met up with the Sabaean army in the newly created desert (thanks Alin!), Almuqah's thundering hooves made it rain and thunder. But the arrows shot by the children of Al-Qaum would outnumber even the water drops. Our mighty cavalry force brought fear into the hearts of these effeminate city dwellers. Their shields and armour can't save them in the desert, nor can their petty gods or their perfume. Their riches made them soft, but they will not remain theirs for long. It's only five days travelling to the splendid city of Maryab according to our Bedouin brethren from the 'Amar tribe. There we will face the giant walls of the ancient city, behind which these cowards hide. Yes, we are not great besiegers. But how long can they last in there? The days of the palace of Salhin are numbered. Their damns will crumble and their temples burn. They will kneel before their new malek and never be worthy again to carry their knives and call themselves men. The sacred gold of the trees, treasure of the winged serpents will be ours!

[Ibrahim]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

As the Nabatu met up with the Sabaean army in the newly created desert (thanks Alin!), Almuqah's thundering hooves made it rain and thunder. But the arrows shot by the children of Al-Qaum would outnumber even the water drops. Our mighty cavalry force brought fear into the hearts of these effeminate city dwellers. Their shields and armour can't save them in the desert, nor can their petty gods or their perfume. Their riches made them soft, but they will not remain theirs for long. It's only five days travelling to the splendid city of Maryab according to our Bedouin brethren from the 'Amar tribe. There we will face the giant walls of the ancient city, behind which these cowards hide. Yes, we are not great besiegers. But how long can they last in there? The days of the palace of Salhin are numbered. Their damns will crumble and their temples burn. They will kneel before their new malek and never be worthy again to carry their knives and call themselves men. The sacred gold of the trees, treasure of the winged serpents will be ours!

you know, with this, I'll consider myself blessed if I became a beta tester

[Principe]

I'm not a great fan of EB II, because I have to be strong when I can't get it. My parents think EB is ruining my Life. I thought this forum was ended forever, since I posted three AARs without a single reply. Where was everyone?

[QuintusSertorius]

Have Koinon Hellenon or their equivalent Greek faction taken Kyrenaia over there (by naval invasion)? Or did it revolt to them? They seem to have done an impressive job of taking over the islands of the central/eastern Mediterranean. Again I wonder whether they invaded or got them by revolt.

[Moros]

Have Koinon Hellenon or their equivalent Greek faction taken Kyrenaia over there (by naval invasion)? Or did it revolt to them? They seem to have done an impressive job of taking over the islands of the central/eastern Mediterranean. Again I wonder whether they invaded or got them by revolt.

Crete they certainly conquered. Cyrene, I'm not hundred percent sure, but it seems they conquered them. KH, the ptollies, the seleucids and pergamon are/were quite active on the seas.
@Ibrahim : I'm afraid it's not the Nabatu and Sabaeans who need beta testing the most. As I already have figured out most issues with them.

[Ibrahim]

Crete they certainly conquered. Cyrene, I'm not hundred percent sure, but it seems they conquered them. KH, the ptollies, the seleucids and pergamon are/were quite active on the seas.
@Ibrahim : I'm afraid it's not the Nabatu and Sabaeans who need beta testing the most. As I already have figured out most issues with them.

yeah, with two factions, it's relatively easy to find and fix the problems, iron out the kinks in the Arabian factions--certainly compared to other factions. I was just messing

in any event, if I were a beta tester, I'd go wherever I was told to, not where I want. I've seen what its like to leave these things uncoordinated.

[GenosseGeneral]

So I dug out a several years old Hayasdan savegame on H/M... I have just taken over the Seleucid heartlands, all the provinces between Tarsos and Charax. Now I have pushed the Ptolies back to Hierosolyma and they have to dealwith a carthie invasion, whereas my ally Pontos has just finished the AS in Asia minor and now apparently plans war against me.
So far, so much fun, economy is decent but I would like some peacetime, as I like some RP'ing and building up my provinces.
Can anyone explain, how do I exactly get these rather complex 'Rebuild-Persia'-reforms?

And that savegame seems to be highly unstable, extremely prone to after-battle ctds. What might this be linked to? I think, this was the reason why I had abandoned it 3 years ago. And fighting the Ptolies' stacks wice because the game crashed does not make it more fun.

(I might upload some pics tomorrow)