Pontus

[CompanionUK]

Pontus is hard to use but in the hands of the right commander, a deadly force and has the potential to expand over vast area's. I'm not sure on the strategies and long term plans that everyone else has developed but what i did was simple:

1.) built up enough troop stregth that allowed me in the first few "years" of the game, to quickly strike against the Seleucids while they were weak, and take Tarsus, and then Antioch...in doing so i cut the Seleucid empire in two, isolating Sardis, and taking 2 out of 3 ports from them. This also helped me make money on my own, as Tarsus and Antioch have great economic potential...i quickly allied myself with the Greeks, and the Armenians.

2.) since the Egyptians are a bunch of KINESIOLOGY, they attacked Antioch, making a huge mistake. I soon after took Sidon, and invaded Salamis and took it from them as well, and have bribed much of their armies to disband or join me. During all of this, Armenia and Parthia invaded Seleucia and Hatra, meaning i wouldnt have to do it, but i also have cut those two off from access to the mediterranean, keeping them in check from gaining more greater financial wealth. All that is left of the Seleucids is Sardis and Demascus. I expect Demascus to fall to the Egyptians, even though they are weak, they have enough to take that from the Seleucids, and i will take Sardis for myself, whiping them off the map. I will then be left with 3 options of expansion: a.) continue to go south and over-run Egypt while she is still weak and trying to recover while protecting herself from 4 threats on her boarders, in doing so i give myself even greater financial power; b.) go after Armenia and Parthia, who are even more weak than Egypt, even combind, their stregth is very low, it wouldnt take long to over-run the both of them; c.) turn my attentions west and take over Sardis, Pergamum, and Nicomedia from the Greeks(as i hav ealready taken Halicanarssus from the Rebels)...doing so will allow me to take Byzantium if needed, but in doing so i will be exposes to roman advances, so right now i might just stop once i reach the Aegean. However, taking options b or c will allow egypt to use her economic might to rebuild, making my expansion plans in other directions harder, due to the fact that eventually the fighting between me and the Egyptians will inevitably resume.

As for the Pontic Army, i agree that computer resolving the battles, reguardless if i have greater numbers or quality, i will get my ass handed to me...the computer doesnt use the phalanx well and doesnt support it as needed im sure...the composition of each full army presently(as it is later in the game and i have essentially all my best units available) is as follows:

8 bronze shield phalanxes, 4 chariot archers, 4 scythed chariots, and 4 Cappadocian cavalry(note: until you can get the Cappadocian cavalry units, pontic heavy cavalry if used right is very effective, to support them, definitely recute any Sarmatian Cavalry mercinaries you can get your hands on, they can match up to any cavalry unit your enemies can field against you early on in the game)...even though i only have 4 untis of cavalry proper, my strategy is simple:

from the outset of the battle, i send my chariot archers to inflict as many casualties as i can, then save a little ammo, and regroup back at my lines...i then send my scythed chariots, reguardless of how many losses they take(as i can always retrain or build more) and enflict as many casualties on the enemy lines as they possibly can, hoping to break them up, after which i send in the Cappadocian's who can over-run mostly anything, using their strong charge and they heavy armour i can inflict higher casualties...after which, i either send the chariot archers to finsih them job and send the enemy into a head long retreat, or i send in my phalanxes, by then the enemy is weak, and is no match...90% of the time, it is a blood bath...

feel free to respond any of you, its awesome to find people who love this as much as i do, cheers

[CompanionUK]

before i continue, please note: these are steps that should be taken to establish Pontus as a regional powerhouse, after these steps, it is entirely up to you with what you think you should do, as i have not gotten insanely far with them yet, but it works, cause as i look at my map, its nothing but Pontus lol...however another note...not all of this will work 100%, more like 80%, because the game can be very random with its events and results, but here goes:

1. what is key to understand about this area of the world, is that it is plagued with conflict, and the two main powers at the start are Egypt and Seleucia. At the start, these two will go at it in a slug fest, and generally speaking the Seleucids(immediately at your southern boarder) will empty most if not all of their cities to counter Egypt, thus your first move, will be to get a sizable force and quickly take Tarsus, giving you access to the Mediterranean, without having to move your navy from the black sea through the Hellespont, and Aegean which always ends up blockaded by the greeks, thracians, and macedonians.

2. after you stregthen your forces and use the funds coming into Tarsus, quickly take the rebel lands to the west, before the greeks can, especially take Nicomedia, and Helicanarssus...after doing this, take Sardis from the Seleucids quickly, before they have a chance to build troops to withstand a seige from your troops

3. quickly ally yourself with Armenia(as a buffer from Parthia and Scythia), as they are too weak to attack you reguardless. Now you have a choice...you can either go to war with Greece, and take Pergamum, but have the Greek navy(which is always huge reguardless) on your ass the whole time, or you can move south, and get in the mix with the Seleucids further, seeing as their Capital(Antioch) is right next to Tarsus, and will probably be lightly defended.

4a. if you plan to go to war with Greece, and take Pergamum, thus pushing yourself to the edge of present day turkey and having control over that entire area, make sure you make preperations for an extended naval campaign against the Greeks, who have enormous wealth and will follow history to the letter and have a huge navy, but only enough troops in greece proper to defend themselves, because they are not expansionists.

4b. if you plan to go south and take Antioch, make sure you have the mobility and the troop strength to maintain it, guard it from a potential counter attack, and the pressure to either try to take Damascus from the Seleucids aswell, or just perform a holding action to protect Antioch...the benefits of Antioch is that it will bring you much wealth, and will allow you to create even better units...the downside of taking Antioch, is that the Egyptians ALWAYS try to take it for themselves and control the entire coast from Egypt proper, up to modern day southern turkey, giving them even more wealth...if you take Antioch, prepare for a lengthy, and costly war with Egypt...as they are the true power in the region for much of the game, due to wealth and population they can call on for a huge standing army

5. which ever path you take(a or b) always be aware of a growing threat from Parthia to the east...they never keep alliances, so making one with them will not stave off the inevitable war with them...the good thing about fighting them, reguardles of their great mobility, is there relatively small numbers...if you are not a good strategist, you can always simply overwhelm them with your eventual greater numbers...however, you, like all eastern factions, have very good cavalry that you can call upon(always buy Sarmatian Cavalry mercinaries where you see them, they are very good crack heavy cavalry, and if used right can win battles for you time and time again if you can get them in large numbers)

6. if you are good enough, and rid the east of Egypt, Parthia, and Armenia(after you turn on them), do not go north against the Scythes...leave them b e...they will never attack you, they never have the numbers to be a threat, and there is no economic gains by going north. Go south, but go through north africa, as you will gain more and more ports on the Mediterranean = more and more wealth coming into your coffers. Taking on the Romans in this game cannot be avoided obviously, in doing so, take on the Scipii in Africa first. Hopefully by now you have used much of your money to develope a sizable navy, but better to ge a huge navy, and you can cut them off and isolate them in Africa. Once all of N. Africa is yours, invade Spain, and take th eentire peninsula(note: the spanish have very hardy troops suited to the Spanish terrain...so defeating them requires large usage of your good cavalry, with missle support...chariots will not work here as it is too mountainous). Simultaniously as you invase Spain, invade Sicily, thus isolating the Romans to mainland Europe as far north as the north coast of france, as far south as the tip of the Italian boot and the Greek islands, and as far east as the Aegean, which by now, you should have solidified modern day turkey with quality troops, giving the romans little chance of success if they were to invade. I suggest, to really hit the romans hard, since there massive expansionist policies will have their legions stretched paper thin over great areas, to attack them from all sides: attack through spain into Gaul(by now they will have taken over Gallic lands), attack across the Aegean into Greece where the terrain suits your Phalanxes and your crack cavalry units, and from Sicily into mainland Italy. By now you should have the economic resources to fund this, and this will overwhelm the Romans as they cannot respond to every invasion, from all three sides. but please note, and this is vital; by now, the Marius reforms will have taken effect, and the legions will be at their best, it is absolutely vital, and no time more so than this, that you fight every battle against the romans...because no matter what numerical advantage you might have, if you sim the battles, you will be decimated everytime, because the computer doesnt use phalanxes in simed battles properly, and you will sustain drastic loses and great setbacks...to sim the battles, means your invasion will be short lived.

always feel free to respond, cheers

[CompanionUK]

order of battle:

Bronze shield pikeman x 8[p]
Cappadocian Cavalry x 4[c]
Chariot Archers x 4[a]
Scythed Chariots x 4[s]



Deployment:

...........ss ss...........
cc aa pppppppp aa cc



Suggested strategy:

if you're the attacker; simultaniously send your scythed chariots at the enemies center(if the center has pikeman or spearman, adjust trategy accordingly)...send your cappadocians and hit them in the flank hard with a hea dlong charge...with your chariot archers, set them up so that they can hit the rear of the army, to weaken any counter attack on your movements...if needs be...send your phalanxes after the enemy is broken up

[asearchforreason]

I agree with Companion. In the grand stratgey, you need to immediately go South for Selucia. In my Pontus game, I had a full stack Armenian army siege my capitol in the first few years. After destorying them, I immediately counterattacked and spent the beginning of the game destroying Armenia and hoping that by not attacking the Selucids, they would be able to put up a strong fight against Egypt. Well, I was very wrong and soon I had a powerful Egyptian force at my southern doorstep. After a long series of skirmishes and some large battles, I'm now finally just taking Antioch and Sidon from Egypt. The tactic I used and would definately recommend again to someone is to try to destroy Egypt economically while being somewhat defensive until you have a clear opening. I used a plague bearing spy and uber-powerful assassin to spread chaos and disease across Egypt. I've gotten a few of their provinces to revolt and their armies are busy taking the provinces back. Plauge and rebellion also seriously hinder the economic power of a city, and due to these tactics, I haven't seen the hordes of Egyptian armies that I usually do when playing in the East. I think the fact that Numidia is almost as strong as my own faction and is now knocking on Egypt's western border is only going to help me. So, go for Selucid lands first or the Egyptians will beat you to them. Also, I've found the Anatolian provinces that border the Aegean to make a good profit if you are able to trade with Macedonia and/or Greece.

[CompanionUK]

going after the Seleucid's off the bat is key for two reasons:
1. you get their lands that are wealthy and you get access to mediterranean trade
2. you stop the egyptians from expanding, becoming more wealthy, leading to them becoming more powerful, and thus even harder to defeat in the long run

however, i generally prefer to fight a multi-front war...makes expansion faster, and i have yet to lose a battle because i personally command all of them...presently, egypt is destroyed, armenia is destroyed, parthia is down to two provinces, both of which are about to be under siege, and the seleucids are down to nothing but Seleucia left, which i am also about to siege...im contemplating subduing the Scythes to the north, but that's a waist of manpower and resources cause i will gain nothing from a northern campaign...instead im going to head west and take out the numidians who are weak...good for me is that in my imperial campaign, the Scipii havent streatched farther than the city of Carthage and the one immediately to the south...only the Brutii have made significant progress against the Greeks, the rest of rome hasnt gained much, which makes my job all the more easier

cheers

[Shindogisan]

Hey do you think that we could get starting move guides put on here or if you guys know anywhere to get some of them?

[mikey2001]

I have been playing as Pontus recently and have found in an enjoyable experience. I now control most of modern day Turkey, except Byzantium (the Thracians took it before I had the chance) but have captured Antioch and Tarsus from the Selecuids. I have allied with the Armenias and the Greek Cities and I'm enjoying profitable trading routes between them!

My next objective is to finish of the Selecuids and attack the Egyptians, hopefully before they overrun my settlements.