EB 2.? AI Faction Progression Thread

[QuintusSertorius]

Ha! Having just bitched about having to save Pergamon, here's 251BC/turn 86:



Note how they've started to rebuild Lysimachos' Thraikian Kingdom, from the European side?

I helped Makedonia taken Krete, transported two armies there, the second one eventually did the job. The Bosporans finally got moving. The Lugiones have exploded (again). The Massylians have suddenly collapsed.

[Blovski]

Turn 41 (10 years in). Bosporan Kingdom, H/H. New CAI (ver 2). No meddling. Alliances with Sauromatae and Koinon Hellenon.

Macedon is the first to go (literally this turn) as the victim of the good old Pan-Hellenic dogpile. Either the KH or Epeiros killed its family members in battle as all their former possessions are a juicy power vacuum in Greece. KH and Epeiros are at war with each other and the Ptolemies and Rome respectively. Rome is really growing like a nettle and is fighting Carthage for Sardinia now. Epeiros has a chunky stack in South Italy but I think that'll only last until Rome turns around. Otherwise not much idea if anything exceptional is going on.

I'm a healthy 5 rust-red provinces on the edge of the Black Sea now. Have a nice few thousand in income and a standing army of hoplites, HAs and xystophoroi. Debating whether to kill one-province Dacia with a mix of hoplites and horse archers or to take a weakened Byzantium and then rush to grab some former Makedonian possessions before the Greeks and Epeirotes gobble them up.

[joshmahurin]

Glad to see Hayasdan actually took a province! Also interesting that Makedonia fell so quickly.

[GRANTO]

Glad to see Hayasdan actually took a province! Also interesting that Makedonia fell so quickly.

there generaly is a loser in thr greek war with being such a small space and them at war from the start...in version 3 all small like hayasdan and bosphorous come alive..as dp pahlava, baktria , saba, soramatae etc...

[mmiki]

Makedon, M/M, turn 50, CAI version from Aug 30:


I took it as slowly as I thought was reasonable, considering Greece is pure chaos. Epirote failed to take Thermon several times. Took out 2 Epirote full stacks but didn't take any of their provinces. Used force diplomacy to force them into cease fire (both our kings died in the battle, so it made sense). Yes, that's them in Messina. They are at war with Carthage, that is controlling Rhegion.

Took out KH's mainland cities. In a suicidal move, they landed an army next to Halicarnassus. I might take Rhodos soon because I know they are going to piss off the Ptolomei enough sooner or later. But then again, I might be grabbing land too fast.

Took (neutral) Crete 5 turns ago. I'm actually losing money from controlling it (with low taxes).

In a stunning turn of events (not really), Romans are ignoring the south.

As a side note, Syracuse falls rather quickly in all games I played so far.

[Maldaran]

Pritanoi VH/M on turn 145 with the first version of the CAI:


145 turns in and still no factions have been destroyed.

Im allied with the Aedui Arverni Boii and the Arevaci.
After uniting all the tin isles i began sacking Carthage's Iberian colonies but after a few turns of the cities changing hands i decided to stop raiding and take them over. After awhile i was able to truce them out and began pushing north into the Lusotannan territory and now were at peace with them having just one province left. I've since begun raiding Carthage again taking Sardina as a jumping off point to raid further down their coast.
In the rest of the world, Pontos Nabatean Pergamon and Numidia are all vassals of either the Grey, Yellow, or White blobs of death and live relatively peacefully. Eperios Carthage and Rome are all best friends which is horrible. Eperios kicked the Koinon out and are half way through with Macedonia. The Getai have wandered over and took the province above Pontos capital.
The Grey death have seemed to be getting the uperhand on the Yellow, they've taken Cyprus and a few others and seem to declare war on each other every other turn. Further east the Baktrians have made it clear that past the Grey death is their territory, the Taksashila are on their last legs and might be the first faction to be eliminated with the Baktrians besieging the last two Taksashila provinces.

[GRANTO]

Pritanoi VH/M on turn 145 with the first version of the CAI:


145 turns in and still no factions have been destroyed.

Im allied with the Aedui Arverni Boii and the Arevaci.
After uniting all the tin isles i began sacking Carthage's Iberian colonies but after a few turns of the cities changing hands i decided to stop raiding and take them over. After awhile i was able to truce them out and began pushing north into the Lusotannan territory and now were at peace with them having just one province left. I've since begun raiding Carthage again taking Sardina as a jumping off point to raid further down their coast.
In the rest of the world, Pontos Nabatean Pergamon and Numidia are all vassals of either the Grey, Yellow, or White blobs of death and live relatively peacefully. Eperios Carthage and Rome are all best friends which is horrible. Eperios kicked the Koinon out and are half way through with Macedonia. The Getai have wandered over and took the province above Pontos capital.
The Grey death have seemed to be getting the uperhand on the Yellow, they've taken Cyprus and a few others and seem to declare war on each other every other turn. Further east the Baktrians have made it clear that past the Grey death is their territory, the Taksashila are on their last legs and might be the first faction to be eliminated with the Baktrians besieging the last two Taksashila provinces.

is this the release CAI??..i liked it as well, it was way too slow for many players and parts of it were broken...
but i like the idea of a very very long campaign and its something i aim to do later when the mod has matured with age... ps .there must be some amount of stacks on the campaign map can you post some pics and are they all standing around cities? ta

[Blovski]

Still in the lazy uncropped style. Next time I will be better. Turn 81/20 years in. Same Bosporan H/H campaign as before.

Interesting things:

I basically sent in an army to assassinate the Getai leadership then ended up leaving their provinces to head for Byzantion, making them the second faction to fall in turn 46. Wanted to just make sure my back was free but now feel slightly remorseful. The KH got to Pella after I prevaricated about it and headed for the essentially un-holdable bits of Dacia instead. Away from my deceptively small-looking empire...

Rome and KH are both big points of concern and both bullying the remnants of Epeiros. The whole East appears pretty indecisive. The Lusotannan took the northwestern tip of Gaul and both of the Iberian factions are spilling into Gaul. Pergamon are probably the nearest threat, assuming Rome and KH go to war with each other but I almost feel mean naval dropping a massive stack on their capital for an assassination. Carthage are doing alright, at war with both Rome and the Areuakoi.

Four main options standing out to me right now:

1. target the softer Dacian and Thracian provinces and try to secure them before Rome or the KH work their way over there.
2. Cross the Hellespont and try to create a littoral empire, fairly flimsy opposition with just Pergamon, Pontos and the Eleutheroi but I don't really want to spend the next 800 turns fighting the two Deaths once I'm through that.
3. grab the KH by the horns and try and kick them out of Pella and Greece while they're distracted with Epeiros and Rome.
4. disband my second stack. Use massive income to develop my homelands.
(5. Ship my second stack home. Backstab the Sauromatae massively.)

I'm really enjoying how open the Bosporan starting position is and that even at this point I've got a ton of distinct mechanical options with very distinct flavour overtones.

[QuintusSertorius]

Turn 153 (yes, no expansion from me since the last one):



It's all been kicking off the last 30 turns or so, suddenly the AI factions are starting to turn on each other. Karthadastim just decided I needed to go and have almost wiped out my allies, the Areuakoi. I need to save them, then humble those Phoenicians.

[Antigonos Karchedonios]

Turn 50 in my pritanoi campaign. Everybody building up nicely and slowly (with the ususal exeption of Pergamon and Pontos). Only war so far is the first Punic War which is probably scripted when Carthage takes Syraucuse (?).

[mmiki]

Only war so far is the first Punic War which is probably scripted when Carthage takes Syraucuse (?).

When either Rome or Carthage takes Messina(Messana), which is what caused the first Punic war historically.

I'm actually surprised to see Rome expand south in your game, in a few of my games so far they didn't take Tarentum within the first 90 or so turns.

[GRANTO]

Turn 50 in my pritanoi campaign. Everybody building up nicely and slowly (with the ususal exeption of Pergamon and Pontos). Only war so far is the first Punic War which is probably scripted when Carthage takes Syraucuse (?).

No not scripted, i made that happen solely through CAI work.