Baktria - Opening moves and early strategy

[Rumpole]

You start with just one city, but there are lots of lightly defended nearby settlements that belong to your supposed allies the Seleukids. You can capture three of them and get out of debt in just a couple of years.

Send the army of Patrokles, minus one archer, to attack Alexandreia-Eschate.
Send the army of Theodotes to attach Antiochea-Margiane.
Send all the troops in Baktra, plus the extra archer, to attack Alexandreia-Ariana.

In Baktra, queue up foreign conscription and recruit two phalanxes and two slingers.

On the third turn you can attack all three cities and take over Eschate, which has no wall.
The next turn you can capture the other two cities.

By mid-271 you control four settlements and are out of debt.

Continue your blitz of the Seleukids by attacking Marakanda. For some reason, Marakanda tends to rebel. If that happens, the garrison will consist of cavalry and archer-spearmen, and any army that includes a couple of phalanxes can beat it on auto-resolve. There will also be an expelled Seleukid army that can cause trouble.

Now switch to defense. Fight off incursions by the Seleukids and Saka while building up your infrastructure. You should be able to start building mines in Eschate and Marakanda about 267.

Expect the Seleukids to make one serious attempt to retake Alexandreia-Ariana. After that, a fort just south of the river appears to be enough to discourage them, perhaps for decades.

Beating the Saka on the battlefield is almost impossible. If you are not averse to exploits, build phalanxes and auto-resolve all your battles with them. It is convenient to wipe them while you are free from Seleukid attacks.

Once you have built mines in the captured Saka cities, you can capture the rebel provinces on the eastern edge of the map and then raise a large army to take on the Seleukids.

[OctoJob]

Having just started with Baktria myself, I am inclined to agree with the points presented. If it weren't for the early debt, I would not want to attack either the Seleukids or the Saka. However, financial matters point towards an early offensive strategy.

I would also like to add that it is NOT a good idea to attack the north - eastern eleytheroi town (goya - something) first, just because the game places your spy there. This is because there's a large (1300+ troops) rebel army next to this town which, if you were to attack the province, is extremely likely to either ambush you or fight you in terrain extremely favorable for them. Add to that the fact that this army consists primarily of Saka horsemen, and you have a recipe for disaster. Avoid this city until you have a large enough army to devote to the cause.

[d'Arthez]

There are several options:

1. blitz to take out Pahlava. The main advantage would be that you won't have to fight them later, but their lands are not THAT wealthy. Not worth the effort, especially if you also have to defend the bigger border against the Saka.

2. Blitz to cripple the Seleukids
It is probably better to avoid Alexandreia-Escate unless you are ready for war with the Saka. Preferably, let the Seleukids try and defend the border against them. It is not your money and troops that go down the drain that way. Keep Baktra as your northern border until you have established a large empire, since it is a lot easier to defend (stone walls will really make your life a lot easier) and the Sake are far less likely to declare war on you, even if they take Alexandreia-Escate and Marakanda. For a similar reason it might be a good idea to make certain the Pahlava border at least one Seleucid province.

There are plenty of potentially rich settlements around (Kophen and most Seleucid cities have mines or can build them). The Indian cities can provide you with powerful units as well, though it will take a lot of precious time to conquer them. Spend some time building up the mines, since they will allow you to field massive armies.

Because distances are relatively large, you can gobble up the Eastern Seleucid holdings without too many problems, since it will take their armies a year to get from the heartland (Seleukeia, Babylon, Ekbatana, Susa, Arbela, Charax) to the eastern frontier, and another year to get to Baktra. Just try to keep as few as possible border cities to allow yourself to intercept anything coming for you from there with the might of your campaign army.

3. Turtle along, and take Kophen, Takshashila, and the rest of the rebel cities around, avoiding Gava-Haomavarga and a potentially rebelled Alexandreia-Escate (unless you want to enjoy the thrill of war with the Saka) and slowly build up your economy, deliberately avoiding war with the Seleucids. Problem there is that your economy will not really develop as nicely as under #2, since Seleucids often don't invest in their eastern cities so when you do eventually take them, you still have to develop them. Another downside is that you have to garrison Baktra well, since you may otherwise end up being attacked by a wandering Seleucid army.

Never underestimate the uses of spies and watch towers. When the Ptolemaic diplomat comes offering peace, make sure you collect a few thousand Mnai. Make good use of your regional units (Eastern Slingers, Persian Archers, Persian Archer-Spearmen). They are good quality and can be retrained in most of your settlements, at a relatively limited cost.

I prefer tactic #2, but #3 is certainly viable as well.

[Jive]

QUOTE=Rumpole;2053320355]You start with just one city, but there are lots of lightly defended nearby settlements that belong to your supposed allies the Seleukids. You can capture three of them and get out of debt in just a couple of years.

Send the army of Patrokles, minus one archer, to attack Alexandreia-Eschate.
Send the army of Theodotes to attach Antiochea-Margiane.
Send all the troops in Baktra, plus the extra archer, to attack Alexandreia-Ariana."

Silly me. Since the Seleukids were my good buddies and I didn't want to ruffle their feathers, I thought it would be a great idea to go after Chach. Brilliant, eh? Chach turned out to be an isolated backwater, Saka were furious, Pahlava attacked me a few turns later because of my "alliance" with Selukiae, and then the Ptolemoids jumped in since they were allied with Pahlava. So I wound up fighting a three-front war just to keep friendly relations with a useless ally!


"Beating the Saka on the battlefield is almost impossible. If you are not averse to exploits, build phalanxes and auto-resolve all your battles with them. It is convenient to wipe them while you are free from Seleukid attacks."

Difficult and exhausting, but not impossible. As others have mentioned, you should fight them in hills, mountains, and settlements to reduce their mobility. Have at least a two-to-one numerical advantage. Try to get them to attack you; otherwise avoid attacking them if they have a significant elevation advantage. Keep your units together at all times and don't chase routers (unless you've already won). Keep your phalanxes in front to absorb missile fire, while guarding their flanks with regular infantry and skirmishers (more armor the better). Stay constantly on the alert for sudden attacks to your flanks and rear. And once you (finally!) manage to take one of their towns, get a Type-IV government and mercenary general as soon as possible.

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

Silly me. Since the Seleukids were my good buddies and I didn't want to ruffle their feathers, I thought it would be a great idea to go after Chach. Brilliant, eh? Chach turned out to be an isolated backwater, Saka were furious, Pahlava attacked me a few turns later because of my "alliance" with Selukiae, and then the Ptolemoids jumped in since they were allied with Pahlava. So I wound up fighting a three-front war just to keep friendly relations with a useless ally!

It will get worse. If you don't keep the Seleucids sweet by paying them continous regular tribute (say 200 mnai a turn for 40 turns, a ten-year stretch) they are almost certain to attack you as well.

[Jive]

It will get worse. If you don't keep the Seleucids sweet by paying them continous regular tribute (say 200 mnai a turn for 40 turns, a ten-year stretch) they are almost certain to attack you as well.

It sure did! At one point I lost Chach, Marakanda and Alexandreia-Eschate to Saka, and it took about five years of brutal warfare (including two Heroic wins) to get them back. But the Seleucids didn't attack me at all, perhaps 'cuz we were still allies.

Believe it or don't I actually won in 194 BCE. For some reason I'm not allowed to post attachments here but you can check out my pics at twcenter.net (it's the "your EB campaign" thread, pg. 58).