Thrace

[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.