Need Some Help in my KH campaign.

[Valion]

Hello Everyone!

I need some help regarding my game, i am 22 years into the game and I've expanded overseas quite a bit and created a Spartan led Greek Empire.

From Massilia in the west down to Kyrene and Alexandria in the South and up to Ipsos in the East.

If some of you wonder why i took Alexandria its because the Seleukids captured the city and overran the Ptolemaos and i had to intervene or risk the Grey Death from becoming "too" strong later on.

But here now comes my dilemma, after years of fighting i cant help but find myself annoyed by these little buggers:

They are just soooooo hard to kill!!! Specially the ones fielded by the Seleukids!! they constantly send me an army with 2-5 Argyraspides' and some of them have triple silver chevs that make them hard as bricks to route even when you flank/surround them! I like the challenge but in the long run sooner or later i think i'l be overwhelmed
I hope the AI isn't smart enough to send a all Argyraspides army haha.

So my question is, as the Hellens what can i do to counter them better or to KILL them faster? I do employ the Hammer and Anvil tactic but most of my heavy cavalry is busy in Asia Minor.

Here are the units i field in Egypt.


I also wanted to ask as the Hellens what assault infantry is available for me to recruit? atm i use the Thorakitai Hoplitai to fill in that role since they have swords and do prove useful in flanking phalangites. the Thorakitai are also proving to be very good but other than those 2 the only unit i can really rely on is the Epilektoi Hoplitai. But they are too few in numbers and rather expensive.

Thanks and Cheers!

[jirisys]

Ok buddy, KH expert here

First off, we most of forumgoers know most of the units by the names, don't need to put the images for them.

I can tell they are Argyraspides and Chaeonian Agema.
And you are using Hoplitai, Peltastai, Epilektoi Hoplitai, Thorakitai, Ekdromoi Hoplitai, Toxotai Kretikoi and Lonchoporoi Hippeis.

What you need to do, has two different options:

First off you can either make a very large (but thin) line of soldiers, like this (If you have a cav general replace a Lonchoporoi, if an infantry, a peltastai or thorakitai):

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

|=Epilektoi=||=Hoplitai=||=Hoplitai=||=Ekdromoi=||=Thorakitai=||=Thorakitai=||=Thorakitai=||=Thoraki tai=||=Ekdromoi=||=Hoplitai=||=Hoplitai=||=Epilektoi=|
---------/========\-----------------------------|===Peltastai===||==Peltastai==||==Peltastai==||===Peltastai===|-------------------------------/========\-----
-------/=Lonchoporoi=\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------/=Lonchoporoi=\----
---------------------------|=====Kretikoi=====|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|=====Kretikoi=====|------------------------

When the phalanx attacks (Most likely they will attack the flanks), get rid of any other spear infantry with your Thorakitai, Peltastai and other available units, when that is done, Take the cavalry to destroy swordsmen, and flank attack with the Thorakitai and Peltastai (If they turn around, stop them and put them on guard mode, then attack with your hoplites) then bring the cavalry, you're done with them.

If they attack your center, hold them with guard mode, let the hoplites take care of the spearmen and the cavalry of the swordsmen, charge the hoplites, then the cavalry, and those cowards (being a greek arrogant strategos here, I really do like makedonian phalanxes... As long as they are greek, ptolemaic, pontic or armenian) will be slaughtered like cows... Wait... No... Cows are harder to kill, like carrots, they'll be slaughtered like carrots

If it's phalanx only, then lure them to the center, then crush them with spears.

~Jirisys (Nice gaming)

[Ibn-Khaldun]

Or a bit simpler solution.. Conquer the Crimean cities and bring horse arches to fight them. I did id in my KH game and it was quite easy to take out all these phalanx armies. It's not historically correst but this is EB where we make our own history!

[Fluvius Camillus]

Wait until you get Koinon Phalanx, have them distract them, assault them from the rear with Thorakitai Hoplitai/Thraikioi Peltastai.

And the most important yet, you need Greek Noble Cavalry! They are the only cavalry with some good charge power. Repeated charges bring them down.
~Fluvius

[Ca Putt]

or prodromoi

anyway, aslong as you cannot train phalangitai yourself you'll have to rely on hoplitai in guard mode(epilektoi when you like to waste your money and haploi when you're of the cheap kind ;) ) to hold the enemy phalanxes in place (all of them) while all your other units can flank them, one by one.personally i prefer to use very un-spartan tactics when dealing with phalanxes, as i tend to split the enemy forces up that I gain local superiority and can overwhelm them while beeing outnumbered actually.

on elite phalanxes:
the tips above(and of most other posts) deal with phalangitai in general. elite phalanxes basicly are dealt with like other phalanxes but also regarding the common weaknesses of other elite infantry - Axemen/Slingers, rear heavy cav charges and letting them chase weak units. so as EB veteran you should know the basics.
YET there is one other weakness:
RECRUITMENT
Agyraspidai can only be recruited in Pella Tessaly Antiochia Kypros seleukeia charax babylon and some regions you already hold. although mesopotamia is out of reach(for now) Kypros and antiochia make a fine target for amphibic raids wich judging from your expansion are well withinyour possibilities. afaik most agxraspidai come from Antiochia so captureing kypros and raiding antiochia regulary can have drastic effects on Seleukian troop selection.
while epiros and makedon need some more intence treatment aka, killing them :(
that way you'll face far less Elite phalanxes but even more levy, kleucheroi and pezhetairoi phalangites which may prove more boring and annoying but much less challengeing ;)

on shock troops. no the KH does not really have shock troops. thorakitai and reformed hoplites maybe some hoplite variants (like syracusians or massilians) could qualify as shock inf but to be blunt every melee inf you can get in galatia is better suited for this job than the KH homeboys. so get some celts or tracians or even infantry from anatolia for that job.

[Octavian I]

I have the same problem, and slightly bigger as i barely have cavalry now. Which Lvl Barracks will you need to create slightly normal shock cavalry? As enemy cavalry flank me and destroy my Merc Kretans and Slingers (I see now that i should use Guard mode and no Skirmishing, that should limit some of the damage they cause). And which level barracks do you need for Kretans? As i only have Mercenaries now.