Pontic Stralegies

[Arnulf Floyd]

stralegies with Pontus.

[ReluctantSamurai]

You will eventually have to deal with the Big E, so with that in mind, Pontus should seek to get to its Cataphracts and Pontic HC ASAP. How that's done is certainly up to a player, but messing around with other Eastern factions is not the way I would pursue as their provinces are economically poor and not likely to yield the level of barracks needed.

I always take Nicomedia and Ancyra first, then Pergamum and Sardis next, followed by Halicarnassis. This yields a solid economic base and cities large enough to produce the level of troops necessary to fight the Egyptians.

My 2denarii

[gollum]

Blitz the Greeks/rebels in Anatolia, and once having pergamum,sardis,nicomedia and ancyra, you can leave Halicarnassus for later and take on the Seleucids. Once you take Tarsus and Antiochia, push all the way down to Jerusalem, against teh Egyptians as early as possible and be prepared to fight off pesky Armenian attacks. By the time jerusalem is firmly in your hands, take halicarnassus and rhodes and consider either taking over the Nile valley or getting rid of teh Armenians permanently - whichever is more urgent and sems more promisign at the time. Once one of the two is complete, the Romans will be probably knocking at your door.

Good combination of eastern armoured cav and phallanxes + chariots and decent missiles + missile cavs. Multifront wars and warring all the way, pretty interesting campaign too, akin to that of teh Armenians although a bit more intense perhaps at times as you are more in the middle and have more fronts open at anyone time.

[ReluctantSamurai]

I see someone else has the same basic strategy. You are probably a more agressive player than me. I like a strong logistical base that allows me to crank out more troops than my enemies.

Halicarnassis does provide a % reduction in building costs, but more importantly, creates a direct link to Rhodes, and with a whopping 40% increase in port trading, Rhodes is a jewel that needs to be taken, IMHO. I prefer to let the Egyptians finish the Seleucids, and decimate them at the bridges around Mazaka...which is usually their first target. After bleeding them for several battles, even the filthy-rich Eggies need time to recoup...and then it's my turn

The first Egyptian city that I take is Salamis. May seem strange, but take a look at the trade route grid for the Middle East and you'll see how important Salamis is.

As always....my 2denarii

[gollum]

You can do it either way.

The other way is as you say to get the economic resources and start to build cash flow and bleed teh Eggs dry in a war of attrition before pushing them down the Middle East.

This however allows them to make the cities there "Egyptian" all the way to huge city - that means they will saty Egyptian - and then the ZPG will be far more troublesome to get without large garrisons as you'll get penalties for cultural difference. This is why i rush them early there. Once you get Jerusalem and contrain the Eggs within Egypt, they are done for. But challenging/risky battles are reuired to do that - not always easy.