Thrace

[Quirinus]

Definitely a bad idea to turtle. As I said a few posts back, Thrace doesn't have particularly good late-game units. Bastarnae are pretty good, but don't really cut it with post-Marian Romans or armoured hoplites.

[Xipe Totec]

Turtling is not really what happened. I was forced to attack the Greeks all out because they put 2 stacks on small fleets and left Sparta with just a general, Spartans and an armoured hop. Too good an opportunity to miss! Both stacks went to the bottom of the sea and Sparta fell to the Cretun Arshes and Rrrhodian Slingers. GCS had already lost Asia Minor to Pontus so I was able to quickly finish them off in Crete and Rhodes.

Controlling Greece has allowed me to start building and growing in earnest for the first time though and creating a good trading economy to support offensive armies including Thrace's best bread and butter unit the Phalanx Pikemen. These guys can usually beat Roman Republic units with the right support both in field battles and assaults. Turtling never seems to be possible for me once I get into an all out war with the Romans because they are so aggressive towards neighbouring provinces that in the end you have to conquer them or they won't leave you alone. Plus the diplomacy system means that once you are at war with any Roman faction there is no way to end the war until all (but one maybe) are wiped out.

In the end I have found that I still haven't been able to build the top tier barracks needed to build Bastarnae in any of my settlements yet (239 bc) but having just captured Capua I can now build them there with the benefits of an awesome temple of Vulcan. This suggests that blitzing the Romans may indeed be a faster way to get highly developed settlements than turtling. Thrace's other weakness is of course poor temples, which can only be overcome by conquering and keeping those of your enemies.

Falxmen are a useful unit for early blitzing but you have to be prepared for high casualties. They seem especially vulnerable to missiles including Roman pila and javelins from peltasts or velites. They do seem to kill cavalry quickly though and can be effective general killers. They are okay if you are attacking a large settlement which can be put to the sword to provide the cash and still have enough people left to rebuild them afterwards.

It is certainly my intention now to focus on conquering the Romans before they hit Marius as my Northern border is quiet now the Dacians have been pushed back to Lovosice and I am quite happy to let Pontus keep the in check as they are sending everything east and seem happy to keep our profitable Aegean trade flowing.

[Vincent Butler]

So I started a campaign as Thrace, but it tanked quickly, I think I will restart it. Obviously Byzantium should be the first target, but do I ignore Dacia or attack them? It makes sense to go after Macedon quickly, but they very quickly started bringing up an unlimited number of large armies. I can defeat them, but I don't have the finances to retrain, so that is why I tanked. Should I attack Thessalonica quickly as well? Also, Scythia. They attacked me with heavy archer forces, but falxmen do nicely in melee combat against the Scythian Horse Archers. Thracian Mercs come in handy as well, but are rather expensive (800), Falxmen are certainly cheaper, but still a bit spendy (500).

It seems important to at least get to Falxmen. Since Macedon will have lots of phalanx, probably want more missile troops as well. Since Thrace's cav is awful anyway (unrealistically so), a Stables does not seem like a high priority. Then again, maybe it is better to get Militia Cav then Peltasts, so I should perhaps focus on that instead of an Archery Range.

[ReluctantSamurai]

I don't play Thrace very often (being a cavalryman Thracian cavalry really sucks), but IIRC, I take out Campus Scythii first. The next Scythian town is a looong way away and are all too small to generate troops for quite some time. With your rear secured, Byzantium should be next which will immediately draw the ire of the Macedonians.

Early in the game, it's the Light Lancers that create problems and the AI likes to spam scads of them. Unfortunately, you can't spam Militia Cavalry to counter as the Lancers are faster and can easily run them down. Lots of hoplites will do nicely, though

but I don't have the finances to retrain

That's why I like to go for port cities like Scythii and Byzantium early...every bit helps. Create no navy what-so-ever at the beginning, waste of money and you cannot compete with Macedonia in that respect....yet

do I ignore Dacia or attack them

Depends on what they do. In my few Thracian campaigns, sometimes they come after me, in which case you have no choice but to take them out (Porrolissum is just too close on your flank to ignore). If they head west and leave you alone, you can wait and deal with them later. On rare occasions, they get into it with Macedon which is the ideal situation as that allows you to build up your forces and strike where you please, but I do mean rare

Should I attack Thessalonica quickly as well

That might be a stretch in the beginning. Stone walls, best general, and those two units of Macedonian Cavalry (Macedon's finest!). I would take care of Campus Scythii in my rear, wait to see what the Dacians do, and secure Byzantium before Macedon gets there.

[Vincent Butler]

I don't play Thrace very often (being a cavalryman Thracian cavalry really sucks), but IIRC, I take out Campus Scythii first. The next Scythian town is a looong way away and are all too small to generate troops for quite some time. With your rear secured, Byzantium should be next which will immediately draw the ire of the Macedonians.

That's why I like to go for port cities like Scythii and Byzantium early...every bit helps. Create no navy what-so-ever at the beginning, waste of money and you cannot compete with Macedonia in that respect....yet

Being an infantryman, Thrace does not really excite me either. The Bastarnae are OK, but not great, though I guess the Phalanx Pikemen are OK. I use them as the basis of my Macedonian and Seleucid armies. The only problem is, I have no elite troops to supplement them. Historically, they should have given the Bastarnae to Scythia, as Dio said that the Bastarnae are properly classed as Scythians. But maybe Thrace gets them for balancing purposes. But Thrace also should have been given good cav, perhaps as good as Macedonian Cavalry. Thrace did have a proud cavalry tradition. I guess that's what the mods are for.

Perhaps Byzantium should focus on military after building port, and the rest focus on financial. But Tylis gets attacked a lot too. It seems if I can get to Falxmen I can hold, but they are expensive. I would not bother, but Macedon can counter my Militia Hoplites with their own, better phalanx.