Egypt

[frogbeastegg]

Guide

[Inuyasha12]

The first thing you want to do is take all your good troops in alexandria, memphis and thebes and build and army to take petra, bostra, and palmyra in quick succession. The numidians are very passive they will never betray u. Once you take one over, enslave them and build 1-2 peasant units, then keep going. Don't worry because they are all rebel towns Also build a diplomat in jerusalem and send it to dumatha(long way) to obtain trade rights and alliance from parthia. Do this with the numidians in lybia with the diplomat that is provided for you. Never, EVER trust the seleucids they are treacherous bastards and their word means nothing!!
If you want you can now take a break and build up your cities, for a couple of years. Then you'll either decide to attack the seleucids or you'll be attacked by them!!

First take damascus, if you want you can slaughter/massacre the population to free up your army from garrison duty, this is a highly mobile war! Then head for antioch, divide and conquer baby!! Their settlements are now separated from each other. Build a good garrison in antioch and head either west or east to rampage through the seleucid lands. Missile troops are very good against their phalanx troops, just sit there with your archers and soften them up. After awhile throw in you chariots break their lines and send in your infantry to slaugther the rest. I suggest you don't fight parthia, they have their cities very far in the middle of the desert, and it takes awhile to get you troops there. Just go for the greek city states and pontius.


The rest, well thats up to you..
P.S. Don't use numidian spearmen, or any desert infantry on hoplites. They wont even hold for a second. Use chariots, and missle troops. Infantry is afraid of chariots..

[pyhhricvictory]

I thought the Numidians were backstabbers as well. I was fighting a rather drawn out war against the Selucids ( ) when the Numidians blockaded my ports and attacked Thebes. I gave up on that campaign, I had wars against the Selucids, Parthians and Numidians and for sime reason the Greeks were sinking all of my ships.

[Lord_Winter]

Okey having finished one short campaign on hard with the ancient anchronism egyptians of Rome:TW I will just say a few short words...

First dont go for the barabarians first at Bosra, Palmyra and Petra these can be sub goals accomplished by small mercenary forces or family members with a few units and a diplomat...

Instead build up for the first two-three turns, built roads (important since their is a good distance between memphis and jerusalem) then blitx Damascus...Antioch and Tarsus...archers and regular spearmen as well as mercenaries will do the job without a problem most of the Selucides are hoplite or light cavalry which can easily be beaten with lots of arrow fire and then charged with at best cav from behind else surrounded by supperior number of your own troops...also as quickly as possible get egyptian chariots and cavalry since used right both these types of troops are very useful in rome...

You will after this camapign have crippled the power of the Selucides and begin to consolidate the entire area Bosra, Hatra, Babylonia, Dumathra, Palamyra, Petra remember to bribe all armies which come out of the numidian desert or conquer siwa and cyracenia...both of which can be accomplished by relative small armies...

[TheDuck]

Okey having finished one short campaign on hard with the ancient anchronism egyptians of Rome:TW I will just say a few short words...

First dont go for the barabarians first at Bosra, Palmyra and Petra these can be sub goals accomplished by small mercenary forces or family members with a few units and a diplomat...

Instead build up for the first two-three turns, built roads (important since their is a good distance between memphis and jerusalem) then blitx Damascus...Antioch and Tarsus...archers and regular spearmen as well as mercenaries will do the job without a problem most of the Selucides are hoplite or light cavalry which can easily be beaten with lots of arrow fire and then charged with at best cav from behind else surrounded by supperior number of your own troops...also as quickly as possible get egyptian chariots and cavalry since used right both these types of troops are very useful in rome...

You will after this camapign have crippled the power of the Selucides and begin to consolidate the entire area Bosra, Hatra, Babylonia, Dumathra, Palamyra, Petra remember to bribe all armies which come out of the numidian desert or conquer siwa and cyracenia...both of which can be accomplished by relative small armies...

This follows my early experience. I went for the jugular on the coastal cities (Antioch, Damascus, Tarsus, Jerusalem). Once you have roads built along this lane then the rest of the desert is yours for the taking. Later game the advanced archers (Pharoes?) are absolutely deadly against massed spear you will face in the north. And also agreed on the chariots. Chariots should be fought like MTW cavalry. Charge by double clicking behind their intended target so that the continue to run all the way through the target. You will cause massive casualties doing this (since the effectively can charge all the way through it). Its quite pleasing in an ultra-violent kinda way. ;)

Don't get involved with the Parthians early on unless you want a multi-front war. The Numidians will hit you later if they survive. If the Scipii get a foot hold in north africa, expect lots of action in that area. The choice then becomes one of either 'holding the line' on one front while advancing on another, or fighting a two front war (kinda costly). I found myself building two troop production centers, one around Memphis and the other around Antioch to handle all the aggression on my borders (while expanding into Asia Minor).

[Curry]

I thought the Numidians were backstabbers as well. I was fighting a rather drawn out war against the Selucids ( ) when the Numidians blockaded my ports and attacked Thebes. I gave up on that campaign, I had wars against the Selucids, Parthians and Numidians and for sime reason the Greeks were sinking all of my ships.

What ? They blockaded your ports ? My ports have never been blockaded by AI ships.

[kendonosensei]

Egypt has a wonderful selection of units. Egyptian armies can do anything you want them to. The only thing the lack is very heavy cavalry - however in the desert, their horsemen are unrivaled.

Never forget the importance of chariots. Regular chariots are like elephants - they're designed to break up a unit's formation. Run them ahead of a unit of Nile/Desert Infantry and your pursuing troops will cut through them.

Archers, however, will be key to winning most engagements. Your basic archers units come with more men than your enemies' missile units. Pharaoh's Bowmen have excellent range, damage and armour - they excel in combat. Don't go mad with archers - have enough infantry and cavalry to protect them. But never forget to use them.

As the others have said, stay on the initiative. Your short-term target should be Antioch. Once you take this, you'll cut the Seleucid empire in two. Take Damascus as soon as you have built up a medium sized force to take it. Enslave the population and then move on.

Don't forget to take the rebel provinces. They will help you increase your income and solidify your frontiers. However DO NOT MAKE THEM A PRIORITY! Go for those first two Seleucid settlements I mentioned.

Once you have taken those first two cities, you'll have secured the immediate region. Continue to expand and increase your technology. Aim to get Temple Cities of Imhotep or Horus in your main army-producing cities, to increase their effectiveness. Don't forget temples of Isis, which are useful to increase the population of provinces which have low fertility.

[Slon]

I was playing as Egypt, and I started wondering: is there any point in getting archers/bowmen instead of chariot archers? They seem to be easier to retrain and 2*56 = 112 archers (which is almost like 120 bowmen). Plus, the chariot archers can be used for hunting down enemies and for flanking infantry/cavalry. So, is there a reason to get bowmen/pharaoh's bowmen instead of chariot archers? What about camel archers? Are they better than chariot archers, since they are so high-tier, or are they obsolete?

[General Carnage]

Egypt is very very easy until you attack Rome.

[musubi]

I did no attacking for the first few turns, and spent resources building roads and a basic infrastructure. The Egyptians enjoy a fair income to start with, so check where your resources are first and exploit them.

I then decided to take the usual local rebel towns (it would be rude not to) and moved West to take Libya and Cyrenaica. In hindsight, I didn't need to do this but I wanted a small western border to guard as I planned on moving North and East in force.

As you start with a nice coastal position, it was relatively easy to move out East and north and I totally agree that the Selucids are untrustworthy, don't lose any sleep taking the towns from these guys. Enslave is sufficient to hold a town with a small garrison as their culture is similar to the Egyptians, however don't neglect the basic hygiene development as plague was quick to break out if you dont bother. Having said that, 12000 population and no sewers - I'd probably revolt too!

In my humble opinion, the unit of choice is the axeman. These guys will go toe-to-toe with ANY of the selucid units bar their heavy chariots (and the odd elephant). They will tear through a frontal attack against even a phalanx without taking heavy casualties, so a tactic I would use would be to commit axemen to facedown the phalanx's one-on-one and use a second unit to hit from the side...very nasty! After 50 battles, I have lost only 1 and that was a sea battle I had no choice over. My standard battle group consists of 5 axeman, 4 spears, 3 archers and a couple of cavalry. The spears basically stand there, the axemen do the damage and the cavalry do the required chasing of the routed enemy.

I currently hold from Libya in the West to the towns of Tarsus, Hatra and Arsakia in the East. Unfortunately, the Romans have come to visit and it's getting lively but I have strong income and a good unit base. 2 battles with the Romans and the axemen are still the key.

[JohnTzimisces]

It seems everyone likes to go on the offensive pretty quick with Egypt.

My favorite strategy with them is to build up the settlements, take the rebel towns and then take Crete to access all that Greek trade. This puts you in a great economic position for later on in the game when the inevitable backstabbing begins. Plus, when the Seleucids decide to attack (which they always will) you can quickly take Tarsus, Antioch and Damascus to further expand your trading empire. A quick jaunt east to take Seleucia and the Hanging Gardens will really give a boost to the old economy. My reasoning for this is that the Egyptian towns seem to grow a lot faster then the other factions. All that cash coming in really turns you into a war machine later on.

[randomn00b]

Just adding a few cents.

Once you get the Antioch region (Tarsus, Antioch, Damascus), you have a juggernaut that is going to be nigh-unstoppable. Considering the Selecuids have a very, very weak army early game, Egypt is a very, very easy faction to play.

Antioch, Sidon, Jerusalem, Tarsus, and Salamis alone give you about 10k a turn once you get up Ports and Roads.

With Egypt, money troubles are nonexistant. Your early game army dominates the people you start fighting out (Selecuids).

You have a ton of Bowmen in Egypt (at least on Normal/Normal), take these and move them into Sidon and Jerusalem. Meanwhile, build up some Nile Spearmen for a decent phalanx to protect your Bowmen and city sieging, and throw in some Desert Cavalry/Chariots for the standard flanking.

You also get a few Chariot Archers in Alexandria. They kick ass, bring em along too.

Take this force, which should be everything you can muster up and put into Sidon and rush Damascus, Antioch, and Tarsus. At this point, I find Egypt overruns with gold, has a huge population in Alexandria, Memphis, and Thebes, and so gets very, very boring.

One last thing: Build Roads. They are your top priority. I cannot emphasize this enough. It's a long walk from Alexandria to Antioch.

Your main army (which whups Selecuid arse) is in Alexandria, and it's going to take way too long to go after the Selecuids without Roads, and Paved Roads.

Getting this army to Antioch is the most important thing the first two-three turns of the Egyptian campaign.

[LestaT]

I have played Egypt. After conquering 15 provinces I got bored and stop. Too easy even on VH/VH....

[WarMachine420]

I have played Egypt. After conquering 15 provinces I got bored and stop. Too easy even on VH/VH....

I actually found everything easier on RTR....

[Garvanko]

Your main army (which whups Selecuid arse) is in Alexandria, and it's going to take way too long to go after the Selecuids without Roads, and Paved Roads.

Getting this army to Antioch is the most important thing the first two-three turns of the Egyptian campaign.

Better to send 'em by ship (with your faction leader of course!). You'll have Antioch by turn 4 or 5 this way.

You can take Damascus without a fight by agreeing a ceasefire-give region deal with the SE. Make sure you garrison it immediately though or it will revolt to the rebels. Eitherway, it'll free you time and space to take Tarsus.

[Deus ret.]

people, some of you I know from other forums as passionate fighters of the Egyptian threat. their ranks include myself, though I have been pondering about playing a nice Eggy game...but what would be a good way to make it challenging without gifting the SE with all of the orient's riches (because then they would hunt YOU down...)?

btw since applying the package fixing the scarface issue and some others I experience game crashes whenever there are Lybian mercenaries involved in combat. is there anyone with similar problems?

[katank]

I personally don't think it's possible to have much of an challenging Eggy game. Even the Nile Delta alone is capable of producing some nice armies and supporting them.

You can gift a lot of things to the S.E. and hope they get their act together but it can take a long time.

[Garvanko]

The only challenge with Egypt is dealing with its incessant plague.

[Stefan Ehlers]

Hi I am Stefan, this is my first letter to you. I still trie to figure out how the forum works.
Theres one question I have.
Apparently there is a provincial campaign in rtw, how do one access that campaign.

Greetings
Stefan

[Craterus]

Provincial Campaign is with mods such as Rome: Total Realism and Mundus Magnus.

Not sure about EB, probably because I don't care.

[aarya]

auto resolve in RTW:egypt is very tough i had 6 numidian spear ,4bowman ,2 nile spear, while defending city i lost to a selucide genaral????????????????

[Seamus Fermanagh]

auto resolve in RTW:egypt is very tough i had 6 numidian spear ,4bowman ,2 nile spear, while defending city i lost to a selucide genaral????????????????

Auto-resolve is not the way to go. According to the computer, their spies opened the gates, the general raced outside, ran through the open gate on the far side charged to the square and ran down everything in his path. Enemy factioneers can sometimes make Yoda look like a candy-ass....if the AI is wholly in control.

On the other hand, garrison work with the anachro-egyptions in Vanilla is pretty simple. You have bow units that are as large as peasants so you can pump up garrison numbers and wall defense simultaneously. Moreover, the upkeep on a Nubian spear -- which can for phalanx -- is DIRT cheap. 6 bows + 4 nubes + 1 cavalry give you a garrison force of nearly 1100 for a cost of 2200 denarii or so and many towns can do with a smaller garrison of 4 + 2 + 1! Once they have their archery ranges open, the Eggys should only build peasants for population relocation.

You can even build whole armies as a pre-set. Attack army takes town, retrains and leaves the next turn. Moments later, you arrive with the occupyer force of 6 Bow, 4 Nube, 1 Cav/Governor, and 9 peasants. Town suddenly bops up by over 1k pop -- all of them from Memphis/Thebes/Alex. Gets your conquests healthy and happy quick.

[Plaguelion]

I am in the middle of a very successful Egyptian campaign, i own all seven wonders of the world, and im master of the eastern mediterean. all of this aside i was wondering if anyone else has had problems fighting heavy calvary with the Egyptians. i personally have found it incredibly hard to put down cataphracts and other heavy calvary, i do a normal strat, move up phalanxes(nile spearmen) then flank with everything i have. Then hopefully that takes out the tanks...(cataphracts).
Anyways i was just wondering if anyone had a suggestion on another approach cause right now im stuck fighting pontus and Brutii at the same time and honestly im having more trouble from Pontus with load of heavy calvary than with the "civilized" roman army. BTW already elminated Armenia, and Parthia in bloody wars.

[x-dANGEr]

Use your desert cav, they are deadly.

[Watchman]

Chariots might work too. Particularly the heavy ones. Not that I've tried, but any and all cavalry seem to be positively allergic to chariots in RTW, and the buggers are easy to retrain anyway.