Macedon

[pezhetairoi]

Yeap I do, but against such an idiot AI that dashes itself to shreds on phalanxes, how could anyone not? I doubt I'd like fighting Craterus the Cavalry General with my Phalanx Combined approach, though. He'd cut me to pieces and send pikes routing over the field.

[Alexanderofmacedon]

I really need to get my router to let me play online games. I have mastered the phalanx to it's fullest of manueverablility. I bet I could take Craterus...

[pezhetairoi]

Not against the supercavalry commander, you can't. ;-P But it's be nice and instructive to watch. It'd also be a very long battle if you had no archers.

[Alexanderofmacedon]

You talking about Craterus, the REAL Alexander general or the Craterus on this site? (I know he's a good online player so I thought you were maybe talking about him)...

[pezhetairoi]

...lol, of course THIS Craterus, the online one. He's really good. You should read about his exploits on the earlier threads in the guides. Legendary, I tell you. Things like routing a whole army with 2 units of cav. Unsurpassable.

[Alexanderofmacedon]

Good...I was about to say...

With your username you should know Craterus was not a cavalry commander...he was indeed the commander of 3 of his hometown units...the pezhetairoi

[pezhetairoi]

Aye, I know that. Craterus 2000 years ago was an infantry commander... now he's reborn as a cavalry commander. Ironic, no? ;-)

[Craterus]

Actually, Craterus went on to command the Companions after Philotas' execution (the assassination plot that he was supposedly involved in).

Then, he became ruler of the Macedonian part of the empire... and died whilst fighting against Seleucus, I think... not too sure about his death..

EDIT: Oh, and Alexander, any time you're up for a beating, give me a call...

EDIT2: And Pez, it was 2 units of Generals' Cav... But hey, give me a few units of light lancers and I'd be happy to take you on...

[pezhetairoi]

If I remember, Craterus, your namesake was killed by an alliance of Diadochoi in some battle or other. Strange, I always thought he was an infantry sorta fellow. I never knew he commanded the Companions.

Oh, d'you know Alexander might have bequeathed his empire to Craterus? I just read an article in which they said ancient greek for 'to the strongest' was something like 'krateris' or something like that, which could very well have been 'Krateros' for all we know. And so history was changed because of one mishearing. :)

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Advice to Macedonians in RTW (vanilla):

You have an excellent light cavalry. Use it well.

I had two armies (4.5 Hoplites, 9 Light Lancers) combine against my Brutii city defense (Fac leader, Equites, Hastati, Town Militia, 3 * Peasant). Hoplites bust the gate, back off, and Lancer after Lancer charges in. Let's just say that horse-steak was on the menu in a big way (us'n - 70 or so, them'ns -730+).

So, remember, sons of Mokdon, Lancers are for field engagements, not gate crashing.

[pezhetairoi]

Dear Seamus, I always used my LLs for gatecrashing because my levy pikemen were so hopeless in melee. :) As long as you send enough LLs at the enemy AT ONE TIME, they will break. :) You should the spectacular fireworks when 6 units crowd into the gate and gain enough mass to charge. :)

Yeah, I know, it's suicidal. But it's kinda hard to do otherwise when they're such good stuff. Anyhow, in 1.2, you can gatecrash, join combat, then vamoose out the gate, and the defenders -will follow you out the gate-. Then you can slice'n'dice them to bits in a field engagement, and repeat until the enemy charges everything he has at you. ;-) Remember, when the enemy charges out the gates pursuing you, leave one unit of cavalry next to the gate to cut off their retreat once they're out the gate :-D

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Actually, in the game I am playing, they really did pile in about 6 units in one grand charge.

I three sided them, but did NOT follow any routers out -- that would have been my debacle in a hurry. Those lancers have little staying power, but their first hit is a wallop.

[pezhetairoi]

hell yes. Oh well, against you I guess expecting you to charge out after them is asking too much. But for the AI defending, it's perfectly wothing reason... one of the reasons I love the AI. :)

[Seyfullah]

I haven't read all of this thread yet so I don't know if someone posted about what I am going to ask:

I was fighting the Brutii to wipe them off Greece while suddenly I had Cyrene. I don't recall sending any troops there especially because the garrison's attack, defense, and experience ratings were high and they were composed of only peasants and militia hoplites.(7 peasants and 2 militias I think) Anyways I just wanted to know if there was a trigger or this was a random event of some sort. I don't know much about mechanics, I was curious about this maybe my computer/game is going crazy.

If someone has a logical explanation for all this I would be very happy to know.

Thank you before-hand.

[Craterus]

Each settlement has a founding faction.

If the town rebels(verb) from the Rebels(noun), the founding faction is "gifted" the settlement.

[Seyfullah]

Craterus thank you!
I was surprised with this and I didn't know what happened. This info will prove to be useful in the game(I don't know how much). I will use the opportunity as a chance to expand in Africa.

[Craterus]

Of course. It's a nice little base. Good luck, but I'd recommend you garrison it first. You don't want to lose it right after getting it. Just build peasants for a garrison, they're cheap and effective.

[pezhetairoi]

No worries about that, Craterus. Cyrene always reverts to Macedon with 6 units of triple-gold-chevron militia hoplites and 3 units of single-gold peasants. At least, it did the two times I played Macedon. That is more than enough for you to take on the Nile valley once you send over a family member or two and a few units of cavalry and archers. :) No need to worry for a garrison, just leaving those peasants behind is already enough to beat off most of the mobile forces Egypt has short of a half-stack :)

[Seyfullah]

Exactly. But I think it was 6 peasants and 3 hoplites. Anyways, until I send someone over I plan to stabilize Greece and the Balkans. Too many fronts can be exhausting.

[Craterus]

Dude, it's "TOTAL War". Not "One-Front-At-A-Time War"

[Seyfullah]

Well, think of it this way: I have played one game with the Julii e/m, long campaign, and won(this was my first rtw game ever). Now this is the second game, m/m long.
Maybe you'll cut me some slack.
Also even though I said too many fronts can be exhausting, I'm fighting the Gauls, the Dacians, the Thracians, all the Romans, and the Numidians(only at sea and if they siege Cyrene) at the same time. The year is 249 BC.

[Craterus]

Ok, maybe I'll let you off. Don't forget to keep us updated on your campaign though.

[Seyfullah]

Well, I'll give you a quick summary and I'll keep you up to date on it.
As soon as I started I went for the unification of Greece. The Brutii had taken Apollonia of course, but I conquered Thermon,Athens,Crete,and Sparta. Even though I was trading with Thrace and Dacia, I had to fight them because they attacked me and were in the way of my plan. Before the plague in Thessalonica, I was already in contact with Gauls(which I allied asap) through Segestica. Anyways, that's when I had a huge setback. I was having little skirmishes in the north with Dacia and Thrace , and I was building up an army to take on the Romans in Italy. Through my careless game play, the faction heir died defending Thermon, his son while going up to Segestica, and his father(the faction leader) of either old age or plague. Also during this time I lost Thessalonica to the Brutii and was stabbed in the back by the Gauls. I worked hard to take those places back and was 'gifted' Cyrene. Currently the Brutii are out of commission(not by me, and I'm mad about this) and I have landed a small force in southern Italy. A big force is after the Thracians.
If you guys have any advice, I gladly welcome it.
I'll keep you posted.

[pezhetairoi]

Just keep going, and develop the situation further. The fun's only just begun. Though I have to say, losing those 3 family members was careless. :)

Expand that small force in Italy. Capture Tarentum or something, and use it as a base and expand your Italian army. The Italian front will be one of your most profitable so you should speed it up your turning of the paninsula black and orange.

[C-F]

Well,
I finished my second tech-tree, the Macedonians, 5 levels, 55 buildings, 20 units, and one ?-mark; I could not figure out what the 'bodyguard improvements' are.
The image quality is not for printing, as for the 1024 byte restriction; I'm looking for an upload site for the original 3.5Mb bmp file and will post a link when found.
Let me know if there are any errors or mistakes...
Enjoy

[C-F]

... will post a link when found.
Let me know if there are any errors or mistakes...
Enjoy

You can download it here

[Seyfullah]

I had a weird battle last week. I was sieging Tylis when the garrison and a reinforcements attacked me. I held a good place on top of a hill and so did they. They came but while I was watching out for my cavalry, I lost focus of my main line and they routed most of my phalanx. I used the general to rally them and got some of them back. Towards the end they had 2 infantry units and 3 pikemen, I think. I only had my general with 10 guards, half a unit of merc. peltasts and about 6 merc. peltasts in another unit. Using my general to attack the infantry from rear (also downhill), I let the mercs get away to a safe distance. Then I manuevered my general out of pikes' way and set him as a bait (by this time only 6 of them left) and put the mercs a little bit to the front on left and right. Whenever the pikemen came I pulled my general further back and flanked with mercs from both sides. When they switched their attention to the main merc unit, I flanked with my general. This happened for some time until all routed and I won the battle and the city.
At first I thought I was going to win with my strong force but when they routed I was kind of worried. The last piece of inspirational tactics saved me.

Just thought I should share this with y'all. I think it was interesting.

[Craterus]

Good use of the general, they're crucial if you're down to your last units.

[Garvanko]

Anyone know a good strategy for dealing with Falxmen? Without sustaining significant casualties.

[Craterus]

Pincer them..

Let them run onto phalanx (anvil) and use cav into the back.

They're tough, but once you've got rid of Dacia and Thrace, they don't exist anymore.