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Thread: Parthia

  1. #91
    Member Member Dead Knight of the Living's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    Pretty good advice pezhetairoi. I'll try sending some HA's into Egypt when I play next. right now I've conquered about a quarter of Asia Minor. The Pontics sieged the city I just took. I'll easily annhilate them. The Egptians just lost another army at the bridge south of Seleukia. The Seleucids and I are at peace. They just keep marching troops into my border and back out again. I don't even get the option to ask them for an alliance when I send my diplomat to them. After like 10 campaigns I still haven't figured out why I cannot ask certain nations to ally with me.

    But Seleukia in the south is at the mercy of the Eggies. I've been defending the Seleucids more than my own land. They are fighting the Sarmatians (Scythians) in the north. I don't know why they took that route. But I have a spare army of 6 HA's. I'm just going to march them around Egypt and keep adding units to them as available. We'll see what that does for me.
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  2. #92
    Passionate MTW peasant Member Deus ret.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    Quote Originally Posted by Dead Knight of the Living
    I don't even get the option to ask them for an alliance when I send my diplomat to them. After like 10 campaigns I still haven't figured out why I cannot ask certain nations to ally with me.
    In my experience, that's due to this nation being already allied with someone you're at war with. When two of your allies battle, you also have to decide for one. Thus, they are possibly allied with Pontus.
    Apart from that, good luck while smashing the Egyptians. Wait any longer and they'll smash you.
    Vexilla Regis prodeunt Inferni.

  3. #93
    Amanuensis Member pezhetairoi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    Oh, Dead Knight, did I mention you should recruit as many mercenary hoplites as you can and fight bridge battles wherever possible with your hoplites surrounding the ford/bridge's other end? Guaranteed enemy annihilation especially with coupled with HA support. Those are the only places where you should fight concentrated. Otherwise you should just march divided ;-)


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  4. #94
    Member Member Dead Knight of the Living's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    Quote Originally Posted by Deus ret.
    In my experience, that's due to this nation being already allied with someone you're at war with. When two of your allies battle, you also have to decide for one. Thus, they are possibly allied with Pontus.
    Apart from that, good luck while smashing the Egyptians. Wait any longer and they'll smash you.
    See, I thought the same thing. But they are allied to nowone. They haven't been allied to anybody since the start of the game. Maybe it is because I took one of their cities in the beginning though.
    "Never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake."
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  5. #95
    Member Member Dead Knight of the Living's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    Quote Originally Posted by pezhetairoi
    Oh, Dead Knight, did I mention you should recruit as many mercenary hoplites as you can and fight bridge battles wherever possible with your hoplites surrounding the ford/bridge's other end? Guaranteed enemy annihilation especially with coupled with HA support. Those are the only places where you should fight concentrated. Otherwise you should just march divided ;-)

    I've been fighting a lot of bridge battles. The AI is so stupid for attacking me there. I always stay close to bridges. If not, I engage with HA's until the arrows run out. When the battle is over I move to the nearest bridge and the enemy always attacks me there on their next turn.
    "Never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake."
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  6. #96

    Default Re: Parthia

    Parthia is in my opinion the faction that has the most fun considiring your opposistion. I have played 4 Parthia campaigns on VH/M and all have been exciting and (somewhat) challenging. First if you want to play as Parthia or as any of the horse-archer heavy armies it's imperative to have Player 1's bug fixer patch since it fixes Horse Archers so they can fire while they move.

    Military: Horse Archers, Horse Archers and more Horse Archers should be the composition of your early armies. Until you can get Persian Cavalry you should hire the Bedoin/Arab Cavalry Units to use for the rare occasion your Horse Archers don't pull through. Focus on enemy cavalry/chariots first then focus on archers/skirmishers then finally you can massacre the infantry. I don't use the circle formation thing much since it tires your horses out very fast. Keep Horse archers in Skirmish mode and disable fire at will unless they are chased. If your horse archers are chased enable fire at will since it seems to make them fire more volleys at the chasing unit. Beware if you leave fire at will on it may take many orders to get them to fire on a unit that you choose since they have a habit of shooting at what they want to.. Once an enemy unit is listed as Shaken (Highlight enemy unit if it is close to see its status) rush from behind with another horse archer unit to rout and massacre the unit. Persian Cavalry do what HA's do except better treat them the same with the option of flanking and routing units that aren't shaken more often and they have better arrow capability. The last important part of your army is the cataphracts. Cataphracts have the capability of taking out almost any unit 1 on 1 although they rarely need it since a single flank can rout most units. Save the Cataphracts to guard your HA's from other cavalry and to flank and destroy enemy's units that are resistant to arrow fire such as urban cohorts, armored hoplites, other cataphracts, etc. After a Cataphract charge don't forget to alt-click with them to make them use their even more deadly weapon their Mace. The cataphracts mace bypasses armor and allows the cataphracts to destroy heavily armored enemies that rely on armor. Infantry should not be used in the open field except for emergencies. Use Eastern Infantry as garrisons and Archers as garrisons. Try building two units of EI to every 1 unit of archers. They are used for siege defense only and the occasional rebel killing. You can get elephants later or you can hire elephants, use them for busting down wooden walls and as mobile archer towers. They are also excellent at dealing with melee chariots. Up north you can hire Sarmation Cavalry and Scythian HA’s. Most of my campaigns that deal with fighting with Scythia I start with a large army of HA’s and as they lose troop numbers I merge and hire all the Mercenary HA’s to recuperate from the losses. Try to avoid fighting the Scythians in snow since they’re units get bonuses in snow. When fighting any army that has more than two foot or horse archer units remember to place your horse archers in loose formation to minimize losses.

    Sieges: This is your weak point but with some planning you can use your put your mobile HA’s to use. First it is important to build the best walls possible in your cities. Until your cities have stone walls they are vulnerable. When defending Place all your Eastern Infantry on the walls where you think they will attack. The next part is the most important use your archers to prevent the ram from opening the gate. Use fire Arrows to burn the ram to pieces. If you can prevent the ram from breaking the gate you’re in good shape. Then as your EI hold the enemy infantry at the walls you can use your horse archers to pick apart enemy infantry as they sit and fight the EI and get shot to pieces. If they break the gate use your heaviest unit to hold the enemy at the gate if you have no units retreat and place all your units in the town square and hope for the best. Besieging wooden walled towns is generally easy. Place all HA’s into loose formation and sit near the gates and pound the enemy with arrows once you have weekend them considerably pour your horse archers through and swarm enemies. You will take losses but you can retrain the units at the town.
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  7. #97

    Default Re: Parthia

    Expansion: When you begin you start there are 2 Rebel Towns to be captured. One is just west of your capital you should take that one easily the next is going to be your major battle ground with Egypt it is southwest of Susa. Both are lightly defended and easy to conquer. Keep an eye on Seleucia usually the AI takes it garrison out for a walk so you can capture that town and its wonder. Next decide what to do with Armenia. Armenia is generally very trustworthy to alliances and is a buffer from Pontus. You can either crush them or Ally with them but if you ally with them you must pursue expansion north into Scythia and West into the Seleucid Empire. Scythia also is generally trust worthy but I always take the town south west of your northern town. It has mines and it can trade on that sea. The town can be defended easily on both of the river passes with forts. Build HA’s in Susa/Seleucia and send them to Dumantha to meet your soon to be favorite enemy, Egypt. Egypt will send stack after stack after stack after stack at Dumantha. Your HA’s should deal with Egypt. Diplomats should secure trade rights and trade Map info for Map Info (I don’t sell map info since the money you get for it makes the game to easy). Beware the Seleucids and Egypt do not honor Ceasefires/Alliances. If Egypt asks you to become they’re protectorate do so. It seems being a protectorate makes Egypt a true ally. Later you can break the alliance when you feel ready. When dealing with late game Pontus beware of scythed chariots. I retreat all my generals from the battle map if they have more than 2 scythed chariots since the like to chase and kill your generals. Focus all fire on those chariots with your HA’s once the chariots are gone they’re army consists of EI and Hillman which are asking for arrows from your HA. I also prefer expanding and destroying the Scythians since it destroys a military that can match yours if left alone. Aslo it gives you some much needed ports into the black sea. Ally with whoever is west of you after your northern expansion so you can pursue expansion through the Seleucids/ Egypt.

    Economy: Secure Trade rights with anyone you’re not at war with. All your provinces except the few Northern ones should have Very High Tax Rates. Check with the VH tax rates what the population growth is, If the growth is under 1.5% build a farm upgrade. If the growth is over 1.5% do not build farm upgrades. Be sure to build roads first thing since your empire is huge in terms of size. Build ports for your cities that border the Caspian Sea for troop/family member transport and trade. Focus on Trade for all your cities. The only early military buildings you should have are stables and barracks. Never upgrade your barracks since it provides no benefits besides hillmen which are useless in single player. Stables should be built in all cities. Try to build an Archery Range in a few cities for archers but you do not need archery ranges in all cities. Stone Walls are important to all your cities if they are on the front. If you exterminate a just conquered city put the money looted into trade buildings/caravans.

    Diplomacy: You have 5 Nations you could call neighbors, Egypt, The Seleucid Empire, Armenia, Pontus and Scythia. Egypt is the most powerful and you can either join them and pick off the remains of the Seleucids but then later you will face the Egyptians alone which is a long and costly proposition unless you become they’re protectorate or ally with the Seleucids. The Seleucids are #2 in power behind Egypt and they are also not to be trusted. You can Ally with them early and destroy Egypt if you want or fight against them like I stated earlier. Beware if you do not take part in the war one side may become to powerful and cause you a MAJOR headache later. Armenia is your western neighbor. Armenia is generally very trustworthy. You can ally with them early if you want to focus on Egypt/ Seleucids and they provide a buffer from Pontus or you can destroy them to gain Kotais which has a port to the black sea and a mine making it a fairly decent money maker. Pontus is just west of Armenia and are #3 in terms of power in the East ahead of you and Armenian at the beginning of the game. Pontus can sometimes be trustworthy and other times not so keep an eye out for them. They also have the ability to decide the fate of the Seleucids. If Pontus allies with the Seleucids Armenia will fall and you should steal the provinces before Pontus does and you should ally with Egypt and pick apart the Seleucid Empire. If Pontus allies with Armenia the Seleucids will crumble fighting a two front war and Armenia will generally try to fight the Seleucids also. Scythia is your northern neighbor and I have yet to been backstabbed by them. They have never attacked my northern province. Scythia is fairly weak and it takes them eons to move forces for counterattacks so they are easy pickings to attack. Early I always to they’re western most town and wait for they’re single counterattack which is again generally weak then I build a fort and some watchtowers at the 2 River crossings. The Scythians will generally honor Alliances/Ceasefires. One last note before you attack an allied faction use a diplomat to break the alliance first since it seems back stabbing makes diplomacy difficult.
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  8. #98
    Passionate MTW peasant Member Deus ret.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    Good posts, eaglefirst. I've enjoyed reading them. At least there are some people who do not surrender to the chariots without at least some half-decent infantry, as I did when I was Parthia....if those darn hells-on-wheels were not there, playing HA factions would be too easy anyway.
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  9. #99
    Amanuensis Member pezhetairoi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    Nice posts indeed, they rival mine for length and detail :-) And the detail is more coherent than mine.


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  10. #100

    Default Re: Parthia

    M/M

    First time with an Eastern Faction, I took all of my troops and sped as quickly as I could into Egypt with a spy. I waited until the Egyptians sent out most of their troops to fight Numidia and Selecuid and sent in a spy to assist in capturing Alexandria. With that in hand, I kept a small force on a mountain to lure out the remaining egyptian forces to attack me where they got slaughtered. I kept my HA on a very steep hill and when the enemy got closer, by that time tired, my cataphracts charged home and smashed their lines easily. From there most of their garrisons have been weakened because of this so I easily captured Thebes and Memphis afterwards. I was seiged by a large egyptian army so I let them in where my East Infantry men held them at a bottleneck long enough for a cataphract unit to come behind and smash their lines.

    If there's one thing I noticed the AI is really disorganized when they have troops that just entered a city and attempt to get back into formation, use this to your advantage as the Cataphract's charge is really powerful.

    East Infantry men are also good for taking out chariots as there are so many of them(240 on Huge) the chariots get clogged up and fall like flies. If anything, I think EI are good to use in battles where you can send them in to attract an enemies attention on them and expose their flanks long enough for your horsemen to smash in.

    I also surrendered to the Selecuids in order to get them to stop blockading Alexanderia's port so I could get out of my debt. As most people said, the factions around you are not very good people and will backstab you even with an alliance, a protectorate status keeps that in line. This gave me time to conquer Salamis, Kydonia, and Rhode island which usually have small garrisons to get enough money in which I used to help build up my forces in the Egyptian area. For some strange reason the Greeks, despite being attacked on all sides, sent a fleet and army to take me out in Egypt So I took Rhode Island as a punishment but what the heck! I broke my alliance with the Seleucids though the Egyptians in the Jerusalem area are acting as a buffer so I wouldn't have to pay tribute to them anymore.

    If any of you are wondering about how I did this I lost all my starting cities to Pontus, Armenia, and the Selecuids as I attempted to capture Egypt but not before I brought taxes to high and destroyed all my buildings except for campus statke or something, it's the one near Scythia. So yeah my empire is kinda stretched out alot
    Last edited by nameless; 06-29-2005 at 17:39.

  11. #101
    Hǫrðar Member Viking's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    Quote Originally Posted by nameless
    I also surrendered to the Selecuids in order to get them to stop blockading Alexanderia's port so I could get out of my debt.
    You`re playing with 1.0 right? Otherwise you should barely have money.
    I remeber in my first Parthian campaign with 1.0, I surrendered both to Egypt and The Seleucid Empire so that I grew strong again.
    Man, I miss those days..
    Last edited by Viking; 06-29-2005 at 20:01.
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  12. #102

    Default Re: Parthia

    No 1.2, by the time I got Alexandria I was like -4800 denari, then I executed the lot to get the money back. I guess I got lucky but I was in debt.

  13. #103
    Amanuensis Member pezhetairoi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    Craterus, you miss the days of surrender? tch, tch... :-P


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  14. #104
    Hǫrðar Member Viking's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    Quote Originally Posted by pezhetairoi
    Craterus, you miss the days of surrender? tch, tch... :-P
    Nah, more 1.0 as a whole

    But please call me Viking!
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  15. #105
    Amanuensis Member pezhetairoi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    *slaps forehead*

    You'll kill me for this, I know, but I never realise Craterus'd become Viking... >.< I see Bartix has become a part of Org lore, eh. :-)


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  16. #106
    Member Member Agent Miles's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    My first shot at playing Parthia:

    My setup was vanilla RTW 1.2, i.e., no extra units added or mods. I chose a strategically sound course (I hope) of attacking and destroying one enemy at a time. To this end, I abandoned Campus Sakae and sent the garrison to “lower Parthia” in the bireme. Before CS revolted, I “built” a diplomat that I sent first to the Scythian faction and then on to Europe. I also added a diplomat at Susa and sent him to talk with the Seleucids and the Egyptians. The diplomat I started with, went to Armenia and then Pontus. Within four turns, I was able to ally with Scythia, Pontus and the Seleucids, as well as gain over twenty thousand denarii in tribute for trade and such with them and Armenia. This was a decisive factor in keeping my finances going in the early game.
    I quickly took Phraaspa and built two forts at the river crossings to the north. I built a third fort at the river crossing south of Susa. These would delay a Scythian or Egyptian army if they betrayed me. With the forces from Arsakia and Campus Sakae united, I stormed into Armenia. A spy opened the gates to Artaxarta and my HA’s shot the garrison apart from three sides. The cataphracts finished them off. I then quickly moved on Kotais and captured it before the Armenians could get organized. Next, I cleared out the rebels and brigands that dotted my regions while my new public were brought in order. I built another series of forts to close all of the mountain passes around former Armenia and one on the river north of Kotais. At this time, my allies, Pontus and the Seleucids, went to war. I chose to side with the Seleucids, so Pontus broke our alliance. This was great! The Seleucids could now keep Egypt in check and I could take Pontus for myself. My army consisted of my general (a “cavalry commander of genius”), two somewhat under-strength Cataphracts, four Persian Cavalry and twelve HA. I slipped down the valley between the mountains that run to Sinope from Kotais, and took Pontus by surprise. With the help of spies, I stormed Sinope and captured it. I then offered Pontus a ceasefire, on the condition that they give me Ancyra, which they did! Pontus was now split in two and finishing them off was a simple matter. Also, I could finally build Cataphracts at Sinope.
    Next, I built a navy and took Rhodes away from a weakened Greece and then Kydonia as well. I got a ceasefire from Greece and left my ally Macedon to finish them off. This gave me a lot of income. I built watchtowers along the Black Sea coast, on Rhodes and both ends of Crete. I sent spies to Salamis and caused a revolt. My army took the rebel city right from under the noses of the evicted Egyptian garrison. I also built watchtowers on both ends of Cyprus. With a large navy, I destroyed the Egyptian fleet and blockaded their ports. Egypt offered a ceasefire, and I demanded Dumatha. They agreed! I sent an army into Arabia to build a series of watchtowers that gave me a great view of the surrounding area. Several spies were then positioned to give me a complete view of the Seleucids’ regions. I let Egypt survive (for a while) because the Seleucids would have gotten the lion’s share of Egypt’s settlements if I weakened them too much. Basically, Egypt and the Seleucids had been locked in an even-sided struggle and neither had expanded much. Pity.
    I had an assassin whack Seleucid agents until they broke the alliance, because I believe that your diplomatic record matters (don’t attack an ally). Then I was ready for the next phase. The Seleucids had a small navy and most of their army was fighting the Egyptians. They held Sardis, Halicanarssus, Tarsus, Antioch (the capital), Hatra, Palmyra, Seleucia, Damascus and Jerusalem. I had three cavalry armies as above, one outside of Mazaka, one on Cyprus and the last in Arabia. My plan was to destroy the Seleucid navy and blockade all their ports. The armies on Cyprus and near Mazaka would take Tarsus with the aid of spies and build a fort at the pass between Tarsus and Antioch. This would split the Seleucid’s realm in two. One army would then move west and take Sardis and Halicanarssus. Spy teams caused these to revolt and the garrisons fled. The other army held the pass. The army in Arabia would lay siege to Seleucia (which I was able to take) and threaten their eastern flank. This gave me a lot of income again and I was able to make another cavalry army, which aided in the final destruction of the Seleucid faction.
    During the war with the Seleucids, Scythia declared war. Fortunately, they were a paper tiger. About nine spies went through Scythia like a wrecking ball, while three ships blockaded their Black Sea ports. I sent a cavalry army north to clean up what was left.
    With the fall of the Seleucid faction in 213, I had met the goals of the short campaign. I am the top overall faction. If I continue, it should be a simple matter to turn what’s left of Egypt, Numidia, Cathage and Rome into a breakfast entré.
    Sometimes good people must kill bad people to protect the rest of the people.

  17. #107
    Amanuensis Member pezhetairoi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    Welcome to the Org, Agent Miles. It's an interesting expansion path you have, and certainly one of the best displays of diplomatic manoeuvre I've ever seen (as compared to the warmongers loitering in large numbers here who believe in slaughtering every army they come across, no offence meant :-P).

    I don't believe I've made as liberal use of spies as you have, but it certainly is an option given the cavalry-sparse Parthian unit roster. Very impressive work for a first post. I'd never considered moving along the black Sea coast, I must confess. My thoughts were on striking south and west through the desert and along Mesopotamia to take out the eastern Seleucid Empire and hit Egypt at Jerusalem where they least expected it, to cut them in two.

    Strategic considerations based on 'most advanced faction' in all my campaigns indicate that Egypt is the faction to beat because with their advancement they are capable of massing ranged units and chariots which will become your Parthians' nemesis. Hence you may wish to consider beating Egypt instead of playing them off against the Seleucids, because the Seleucids are infinitely more vulnerable with their fixation on phalanx units, and the relative vulnerability of their scythed chariots.

    But otherwise, it's a very potential axis of advance that I will try when I play Parthia.


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  18. #108
    Member Member Agent Miles's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    Thanks, you're most kind. So far, everything has worked without a snag. Having crushed the Seleucids, I attacked Sparta with a mercenary army of hoplites, thracians, cretan archers, peltasts and slingers. This finished off the Greeks and gave me a temple that grants three levels of experience to the Persian Cavalry trained there. I have blockaded all ports in Thrace, who are at war with my ally Macedon. I think that I will take her settlements and gift them to Macedon. This should make Macedon strong enough to cripple Brutii. I'm also giving denarii to Germania in hopes of slowing down Julii. Scipii I will take care of myself. As for Egypt, they attacked me outside of Damascus. I blockaded Alexandria and Sidon. Then I encircled and annihilated about forty Egyptian units, to include the Pharoah, in two great battles. Sidon fell also. I'm sure that in Alexandria they are ready to cry "Mummy".
    Sometimes good people must kill bad people to protect the rest of the people.

  19. #109
    Member Member Dead Knight of the Living's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    Little update on my campaign. I don't get to play a whole lot so I haven't gotten very far. But I've conquered all the way out to the west coast of Asia Minor. I forgot the northernmost town name there.

    Meanwhile, I'm decimating every Egyptian army that comes after Seleukia. But they've now branched out and are sending some armies into Asia Minor after me. It's getting tougher. They've taken no cities from me, but I can't stop all their fully stacked armies. I'm only getting 2-3,000 for money. It sucks.

    Pontus only has two cities left. I'll beat them, but I believe the Eggies will be relieving me of responsibility of some of my own cities here pretty soon. My horse archers and persian cavalry are too much for them. With 4-500 HA's and PC's I wipe out entire stacks of Eggie Armies. I manage to go back and retrain and hit the field again. BUt they've become so wealthy they are replacing one army with two.

    If it continues on like this I'll be through. I can't get any help from the Seleucids who lost all their western cities.

    What I'm hoping for is that I can take all of Asia Minor, securing my western flank and than take the Eastern Med coastal cities (Antioch, Damascus, Jerusalem, etc.) If I can't build catapaults soon I won't be able to accomplish this. The Pontic towns are easy enough, but the Eggie towns all have stone walls.

    The situation is desperate. But I'm still alive. The next 10 turns will determine my survival or demise I think. I have to get the catapault range built and crank out at least one catapault for my "Army of Asia Minor" I'm confident the Eggie towns will be meat when that happens. I have to disrupt and delay Eggie movement in the vicinity of Seleukia and my eastern Asia Minor cities. I can only afford to lose one or two of those cities. If I hold onto Seleukia and Western Asia Minor I'll be good to go.
    "Never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake."
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  20. #110
    Amanuensis Member pezhetairoi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    Play nomadic. Pack up your show and cross over to Greece. Surrender your eastern cities, let them starve the cities out and take them but don't bother with anything more than a one-peasant garrison. Leave eggy alone while you move into Greece. It's easier prey for you, since hoplitai are just Greek for 'sitting ducks'. Also, Italy, whose legionnaires are also Latin for the same. Take those out and you've got a far more profitable and much safer base of operations. Then you can adopt my Brutii strategy for a 'shock and awe' campaign on Egypt: Phase 1, 10 turns of diplomatic bribing, phase 2, kitting out 2-3-4 armies to land simultaneously at various points in the Egyptian empire while producing Grand Fleets to get naval superiority from the Egyptians and blockade them until they cry mummy, to borrow Miles' expression ;-) Then phase 3, complete annihilation based on three-pronged attack mixed with manoeuvre and splitting of forces to bewilder the AI. Let Pontus live as a bulwark against Egypt. If Seleucia dies, you can't help it. They're pretty much defenceless anyway. If you want to stop Egypt from touching Seleucia, try to build a fort at the crossing south of Seleucia. Chances are that the Egyptians have possession of Dumatha, so they will launch attacks from the deep desert. Build a fort at the crossing, and a watchtower at the extreme south to watch for Eggies.

    If you can't fight them, bribe them. But to do that you need to make more than 2-3k a turn. To do that you need Greece and Rome, since your moneymaking Asia Minor is definitely NOT safe.

    Egypt cannot be beaten in a casual campaign. Lots of planning and preparation needed to weaken them.


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  21. #111
    Member Member Dead Knight of the Living's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    Two cities left and all of Asia Minor is mine. I'll be relieving the Eggies of responsibility for governing Antioch in the next two or three turns too.

    I had an unbelievable turn of good luck. Seleukia was besieged and the city to the west of it as well. I submitted as protectorate to them in exchange for them paying me 3650 denarii for 10 turns. I moved my army to one of the bridges west of Seleukia. Sieges were lifted. Next turn, the Eggies attacked anyway. Three full armies attacked the bridge one at a time. And one at a time I David Copperfielded them. It bought me a lot of time to heal up my other very depleted army. The tide is slowly changing. I'm pulling in like 4,000 denarii per turn now. That still sucks, but it's better than the 1500 I was getting a few turns ago. I've kicked the Eggies out of Asia Minor completely. I only have two rebel towns left to take. Smyrna and the other one's name escapes me. Once Asia Minor is completely subdued I'm off to take the holy land. Eggies are still fielding a lot of full stacks, but they're dropping like flies when they attack my armies. This is definitely the most fun campaign I've ever played. I'm glad I didn't start over.

    And Pezh,

    I kind of took your advice. I didn't completely abandon the eastern cities, but I'm not really paying attention to them anymore. I've moved my capital to Samosota which is further west towards Asia Minor. I plan on moving it to Apamea since I've almost conquered all of Asia Minor. I'm focusing all my development on the Asia Minor Cities. The only city in the east I care about is Seleukia because it's fairly developed. And the eggies seem to be magnetized to it. I guess because of the world wonder attached to it. I kill most of the Eggies on the bridges by Seleukia. It's definitely my center of gravity right now. Thanks for all the pointers everybody.
    Last edited by Dead Knight of the Living; 07-11-2005 at 13:20.
    "Never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake."
    -Napolean Bonaparte-

  22. #112

    Default Re: Parthia

    What Or Who Are Eggies?persians?
    VAE VICTUS-PaNtOcRaToR
    Quote Originally Posted by Tomi says
    Honour is that which preserves the dignity of the human spirit.
    It’s how you treat people, that makes you an honourable person.
    Not how many battles you win.
    The glory of your victories will soon be forgotten.
    But the kindness and respect you show for others, will not.
    So is there really any honour in Total War games?
    No.
    But there is in some of it’s players…

  23. #113
    Member Member Dead Knight of the Living's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    Quote Originally Posted by VAE VICTUS
    What Or Who Are Eggies?persians?

    Eggies=Egyptians
    Persians=Persians. People who lived in what is now Iran. Or the name of empires formed by non-Persian people, but formed the empire or nation in the land of Persia (Iran).
    "Never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake."
    -Napolean Bonaparte-

  24. #114
    Amanuensis Member pezhetairoi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    Lol, first time I saw anyone ask about Eggies. Yay, dead knight, glad to know it works. As long as you defend at the Seleukia bridge you won't have any problems. The east is incredibly poor though. How's your campaign against Egypt doing?


    EB DEVOTEE SINCE 2004

  25. #115
    Member Member Dead Knight of the Living's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    Quote Originally Posted by pezhetairoi
    Lol, first time I saw anyone ask about Eggies. Yay, dead knight, glad to know it works. As long as you defend at the Seleukia bridge you won't have any problems. The east is incredibly poor though. How's your campaign against Egypt doing?

    It's going well. I've taken all of Asia Minor now. IT's all mine. I'm about to grab Malta I think. The one with the Colossus Wonder. That'll boost my trade very well. I took Antioch also. They've besieged it, but I'll easily lift that. It's still a little hairy over by Seleukia. They've now figured out to bypass my army on the bridge and go around. I've had to fight a couple of battles away from the bridge. IT's no problem though. I win, I go to Seleukia to retrain and go back to the bridge. And now I've another 8 unit army over there to help keep them running around. I basically use this army to siege Eggie towns and turn their armies away from Seleukia. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. If it doesn't I attack with the 8 unit army and expend all my arrows on them. By the time they get to my main army in Seleukia they are at least 50% strength and ineffective.

    The biggest thing going in my favor is that so far they have never put more than two archer units in their armies. I rarely see chariots and if so never more than one or two units of them. It's normally all phalangites. My HA's and Persian Cavalry chew them up slowly and spit them out. If I can't defeat them in one battle I at least attrit them down far enough so in the next battle I wipe them out. I rarely lose more than 20 or so men in a battle.

    One disturbing thing though. Before taking Antioch I fought a battle and they had two units of Pharoah's Guard Bowmen. I thought for sure I'd take a bunch of losses. But what I did is surrounded their entire line. Whatever side of my circle they moved to I withdrew and closed the other side of the circle. I also kept moving the units laterally to help throw them off balance. Eventually a hole opened up and I sent my General and my only unit of cataphracts in to take out one of the PGB's. Also, they had one unit of Native bowmen. These idiots advanced ahead of the phalangites so I charged them with two units of PC's. Instant Route. These PC's took a few casualties from the sole remaining PGB. Not much. But before this last PGB unit did more damage I managed to get my general and cataphract units on them too. AFter that is was just a matter of taking out phalanx units one at a time with the classic


    >>>>>>> <<<<<<<<
    >>>>>>> <<<<<<<<
    >>>>>>> <<<<<<<<
    >>>>>>> <<<<<<<<
    Persian Cav Enemy phalanx



    ^^^^^^^ Flanking Persian Cavalry
    ^^^^^^^
    ^^^^^^^
    ^^^^^^^

    One at a time. Slow and STeady wins the race.

    I will add this. If the Seleucids decide to declare war on me, I'm done. They'll be free to siege my towns and I won't be able to spare an army to stop them. Now, that of course is slowly changing. My income is increasing each turn. And after I take Malta I'm sure I'll be able to build an army to defend my eastern borders from them.
    "Never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake."
    -Napolean Bonaparte-

  26. #116

    Default Re: Parthia

    Quote Originally Posted by Dead Knight of the Living
    I'm about to grab Malta I think. The one with the Colossus Wonder.
    Not even close. Malta is south of Sicily. Not to worry, you were only a few hundred miles out.

  27. #117
    Member Member jacked's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    I think the one with the colosus wonder was Rhodes

  28. #118
    Member Member Dead Knight of the Living's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    Quote Originally Posted by Craterus
    Not even close. Malta is south of Sicily. Not to worry, you were only a few hundred miles out.
    WHat's a few hundred miles when your empire spans thousands. Hey, they're both in the Med. I was close.
    "Never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake."
    -Napolean Bonaparte-

  29. #119

    Default Re: Parthia

    Very true.

    And jacked, you were right Colossus of Rhodes is located on Rhodes.

  30. #120
    Member Member Dead Knight of the Living's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parthia

    Quote Originally Posted by Craterus
    Very true.

    And jacked, you were right Colossus of Rhodes is located on Rhodes.
    Yeah, I missed that whole of Rhodes part. I'm square now. Good thing I'm not a travel agent.
    "Never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake."
    -Napolean Bonaparte-

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