Seleucids

**Grazza** · 02-21-2011, 16:00

Placeholder to increase post count in order to post images

**Grazza** · 02-21-2011, 16:00

So I came back to R:TW after about 3-4 years after somebody showed me Empire:TW and got me interested again, deciding to play what I already have rather than go buy new stuff. I've just finished the first campaign (long) after my install, and enjoyed it immensely, but I spotted something odd: everything I've seen in guides or forums indicates that the Seleucids should be wiped out in the early game by the rising power of Egypt, unless the player intervenes. However, I lifted the fog of war after my game finished to have a look at the rest of the map, and found this:

If it's not clear, the Scipii and the Seleucids have taken most of the SE map (I left a couple of Scipii provinces there after taking Egypt as a buffer so I didn't have to worry about that front, given the Scipii were quite weak there), while Egypt are down to just Cyprus and 1 other province. What even more odd, is that I know from what glimpses I'd seen previously that not long before I won, the Parthians owned most of that area. So has anybody else seen the Seleucids thrive so well? Do people think it's mostly down to the arrival of the Scipii (though I know that the Seleucids were doing quite well anyway before I decided I wanted Sardis for the temple of Artemis)?

**Alrik** · 02-21-2011, 16:50

Yeah the balance swings, I assume the Seleucids are one AI faction that's not favoured by the autocalc early on, but who get better odds as their later units come into play, so if they can just survive, then they might very well do alright. I think Gaul is an opposite of that, tends to thrive early and get their heads smashed in later.

You do nkow how to take a screen cap? For some reason RTW is a bit of a hazzle, you have to go into video options and move the anti-aliazing slider to the left, so that it reads "no anti-aliazing" and then it's just like normal. (alt+print screen on my keyboard and then paste into image editor of choice.)

**Myth** · 02-21-2011, 17:10

In my games they have a hard time handling their neighbors. Considering that I myself have a hard time playing as them before i take out Pontus/Parthia/Armeni and the big E, this is no surprise. I would suppose the main thing that happened was that somehow the Scipii cleaved trough Carthage early on. They are programmed to steamroll Egypt after Carthage is no more. You yourself might have helped seeing as how you hold all 3 settlements on Sicily as well as Carthage itself.

**Grazza** · 02-21-2011, 17:46

Originally Posted by Myth

In my games they have a hard time handling their neighbors. Considering that I myself have a hard time playing as them before i take out Pontus/Parthia/Armeni and the big E, this is no surprise. I would suppose the main thing that happened was that somehow the Scipii cleaved trough Carthage early on. They are programmed to steamroll Egypt after Carthage is no more. You yourself might have helped seeing as how you hold all 3 settlements on Sicily as well as Carthage itself.

The other Roman factions started off very, very slowly, although I decided now to get in their way - I just started on the west coast of Greece, working my way first south, then north through Macedon, Thrace and Dacia, and taking the Greek and Rebel territories in Asia Minor. The other factions exploded just before I'd finished with Dacia, which was what gave me the 'Chance at Power' message - I took Carthage and Thapsus towards the end of the game because the Scipii had moved all their troops eastwards after I took Egypt from them - I landed and took Memphis just after they'd rolled through and got as far as Sinai, so I didn't actually give the Seleucids any help at all, and in fact I took Sardis from them and destroyed a couple of stacks they sent to get it back. The Scipii didn't arrive for quite a long time, so they must have done a good job of surviving in the early game, until the roman war machine rolled through Egypt to give them some respite

**Grazza** · 02-21-2011, 17:47

Originally Posted by Alrik

You do nkow how to take a screen cap? For some reason RTW is a bit of a hazzle, you have to go into video options and move the anti-aliazing slider to the left, so that it reads "no anti-aliazing" and then it's just like normal. (alt+print screen on my keyboard and then paste into image editor of choice.)

Thanks - I wondered why my screencaps turned out black - I wanted to take a couple at another point but decided it wasn't worth the hassle

**Guyus Germanicus** · 02-21-2011, 18:25

Actually, I've found the game to be quite unpredictable over time. As I've played harder settings, I noticed campaign developments that I had not seen in a myriad of previous games. I remember my surprise the first time the Pontids took cities in Egypt proper. I have noticed that the Seleucids seldom ever survive the early game in my matches. But it wouldn't surprise me too much if I saw a game where it ended differently. Your own experience now being the case in point.