Quote Originally Posted by Brave Brave Sir Robin View Post
I have never played the Ptolemioi and it wouldn't surprise me if many others have not as well considering they always seem to dominate the AS in my experience and well, they are comparatively easy to play. However, I can say this about their troops from fighting them in campaign but also from multiplayer experiences. Recruitment is a little more difficult for them since they use Machimoi Phalangites as their levy and these are only available in Egypt, not sure about the Levant. Otherwise their armies are similar to AS with three exceptions: far different auxiliaries based on their starting regions, lack of superheavy cavalry, and different elites. The Basilikon Agema I actually prefer to the typical Hellenistic elites because they have an AP secondary attack but you will regret the fact that they are only retrainable in Egypt. Those missions to Macedonia and Babylon won't be nearly as fruitful unit-wise for the Ptollies as they might for other Hellenic factions. You will also lean heavily on Galatikoi Klerouchoi for good reason. They are one of the best heavy infantry units in the game; basically Neitos on steroids. Ptollie cavalry is good but not as good as AS. Comparative to Makedonia and Epeiros I would say as their Agema cavalry is relatively useful but again limited recruitment-wise. This being said, Ptollies can get decent auxiliaries like Iudioi, Machimoi, and Ethiopian Archers. Just don't expect the dominant auxiliaries that the AS gets access to such as Dahae horse archers or Guild Warriors.
Hmmm, sounding less and less like my cup of tea. For one thing, I certainly don't want an easy campaign (one of my current ones is Koinon Hellenon). Also, doesn't seem like the units are interesting enough, the cavalry seems lacking, etc.

How about Baktria? Would you recommend them? I'm guessing they are kinda-sorta successor, but probably have some twists like very heavy cavalry, elephants, and a challenge perhaps?