Quote Originally Posted by oz_wwjd View Post
. . . I was kinda hoping that the Selucid Empire would make life difficult for them so they'd be forced to stop attacking me but it looks like I'll have to take the time and deal with them. Will I have to take there whole Empire,or just the cities nearest me? I'm worried about getting into conflict with the Egyptians if I go too far down. ...
Just a Postscript, oz_ - As one of our colleagues above mentioned, Pontus is ruthlessly determined to expand. Very true statement. You will have to crush them eventually. If you leave them alive at Sinope and Mazaka, they will come back to haunt you. The Seleucid Empire is what might be referred to (to borrow a term from the Old Testament) as a broken reed. I have very seldom seen the AI do anything with the Seleucid Empire but have it devoured by its neighbors. If you've played the Seleucids, you'll know from experience that they can easily find themselves in a four front war right from the get-go. The Armenians go for Hastra, the Parthians try to grab Seleucia, Pontus as you know makes for Sardis and Tarsus, and the Egyptians like to push early for Antioch. The bottomline is there is very little you can depend on from the Seleucids. Its pretty much determined by the game that they are one of the 'expendable' factions and are often one of the first to be eleminated.

I've found when I play the Greeks that the Egyptians usually don't become a problem until they've taken Tarsus. Then they start pushing deeper into Anatolia, usually going for Sardis. Sometimes they will actually try to land an expedtionary force on Rhodes. But I haven't seen that often. Try to keep a couple small fleets posted in the waters east and south of Rhodes so you can see what's coming. (Hint: I like to position a spy on the southern Anatolian beach north of Cyprus (Salamis) and just west of the mountains that are west of Tarsus. He 'lights up' the area so you can see who's hanging around Tarsus and at what strength. He also lets you see how large is the garrison @ Salamis.)

Another hint - if and when war breaks out with Egypt, don't push into their strength by fighting through their armies starting at Tarsus, then Antioch, then Sidon, etc. Hit them from several directions at once. Distract them with a push toward Tarsus, but land an expeditionary force on Cyprus to take Salamis. That army can them jump ashore potentially at Sidon. Divide and conquer, steal their profits, take their ports. Hit 'em where they ain't. Also, hit Alexandria with a second expeditionary force. I've found that the Egyptians like to build up their forces in the eastern Mediteranean in neglect of Egypt proper. Taking Alexandria and Memphis will take the wind out of their economy's sails. Their most advanced military buildings are usually in the three cities of Egypt - Alexandria, Memphis, and Thebes. Take those cities and you can deprive them of recruiting their best units - Pharoah's bowmen and their elite hoplites.

I've found that one of the things that makes the Egyptians such annoying opponents is their variety of missile troops. Pharoah's bowman are good long range archers who also can double as infantry. They are not the pushover for cavalry that Greek archers are. Tough hombres. Their generals start out as chariot archers. In the late game their generals convert to more conventional heavy cavalry.

I'm getting long-winded, so I'll stop now. :)