Pontus

[Guyus Germanicus]

[QUOTE=amazon77]Well, i'm playing a pontus campaign for a couple of days myself on N/N mode.

I'm reading amazon77's remarks on his Pontus campaign, impressed as "Gehenna" with his bankroll. And, !!!, he's playing in N/N mode. Gosh, it seems like everyone that posts in the Guild is working in Hard or Very Hard. Here I am, a newbie, working my way through my first long campaign in E/Eeeeeeaasy mode. I'm in Pontus myself right now as an adversary (Julii). I didn't go there of my own accord. I'm minding my own business, being a good Roman, slaughtering Gauls and eyeing lustily the Britannica provinces in France proper, when the Senate keeps giving me assignments that take me East. Mind you, I'm trying to make an alliance & get trade agreements with Macedonia and Thrace, and they keep giving me the cold shoulder treatment. Finally the Brutii, having pretty much finished up with the Greek states, make their move on Macedonia, and the Senate orders me to take a Macedonian settlement to help them. Eventually, I end up taking Thessalonica before the Brutii - so the Senate orders me to blockade Nicomedia (Pontic). So, to give me some geopolitical leverage and position my armies for future operations, I make a big "mistake?" and have my best eastern general take the rebel city of Byzantium. The Senate then orders me to take Nicomedia, then Sardis. My good general dies after taking Nicomedia, and I'm having this major reallocation of resources fighting off some really large, nasty stacks of Pontic "legions" when Thrace finally gives me the promised alliance and trade agreement I wanted . . . then, promptly attacks me. (And you thought the treachery only showed up in the very hard games, eh, Guyus). So, my 69 year old faction leader, who I posted in Thessalonica to help manage that economy to abundance, was forced to take the field against Thrace. I was merciless with the Thracian cities. I slaughtered the inhabitants after taking them and just raked in the modest cash somes from my cat to keep my Pontic legions fighting. Mind you, going east was not my idea. I grabbed one Dacian province through negotiation after menacing them with two huge armies I had built up from Gaul and northern Italy and got them to cease fire. But the Senate and the Brutii kept pushing the issue with them. So, I'm back at war with Dacia. My poor faction leader is now in his 70's, and by hook or by crook, I'm going to try to get him back to Thessalonica for a modest retirement before he croaks. The natives in Thessalonica are restless and I'm about to draft the entire population into the legions if they don't quiet down. The Pontic campaign is surviving on Greek mercs and three solid generals. (I love this game.) Long post, sorry about that. :)