Army Construction Guide: Part I- Eastern
I have decided to make a new series of guides regarding unit recruitment for varying cultures. Making sure that your army is more effective than any other is one of the main keys to victory. The guides will of course be split up into different cultures as cultures tend to use the same types of units (notice I use the word TEND, this is not always true, Scythia is a perfect example of a case where this is wrong). These guides will show you the most effective ways of using your armies, and how to deal with various cultures.
In part one we will look at Eastern factions. Their culture is akin slightly to the Phoenician Culture (carthage and numidia), mainly in terms of building and town development, but not units. There is a good historical reason for this; The Phoenician peoples were eastern people as well. They came from modern day Lebanon, and the area surrounding it. Anyway, less on history now, on to the actual guide.
Eastern Army Building
Intro
Eastern factions tend to be far more cavalry-orientated then any other culture groups. (you may think of the Scythians here, but they are actually in the Barbarian culture group) They are also quite unbalanced in that all half-decent infantry they get is later in the game, except for the Parthians, who don't get any good infantry at all.
Overall, the people of Pontus are fairly different in their army build up than the Parthians and Armenians, in that they get phalanxes and chariots. They also have javelin cavalry, known as Pontic Light/Heavy Cavalry. Cappadocian Cavalry can also be trained by Pontus at the start, but only in Cappadocia. Other than that, their armies are pretty much the same.
Armenia also differs slightly in that they get Cataphract Archers, probably the best melee horse archers in the game, and also a fairly average phalanx unit, Heavy Spearmen.
Parthia has it's own unique units as well; for a start it is the only Eastern faction to train War Elephants, and secondly Cataphract Camels which are good for attacking other Eastern factions.
Infantry
First we will be looking at infantry. Most infantry that Eastern factions get is very poor.
Eastern Infantry are the normal infantry unit for an eastern faction, and they are very sub-standard. They are very unreliable. Hillmen are occasionally used by Eastern factions, but they come at level three and are therefore quite useless. They are much better value for money than Eastern Infantry, but are not necassarily that much better.
Pontus is different from this. They actually get greek-style Phalanx units, but not that much. Pontus is not as developed as Greek factions so the phalanxes they get come fairly late in the game, and seeing as they only get Phalangites and Bronze Shield Pikemen their phalanxes are not as useful as the Greek hoplites and pikemen overall.
Armenia can field Heavy Pikemen, which are average infantry units, but do not compare to Hellenic and Pontic phalanxes. They should be called upon when in need however, as they are the only infantry unit available to Armenia.
Archers, Peltasts and Slingers are occasionally useful, but should be kept in towns to defend, rather than out on the battlefield where they have trouble keeping up with your cavalry.
One Eastern infantry unit worth thinking about however is Armenian Legions. They immitate Roman legions and are very effective. If you can get that far up the tech tree they are useful, especially when throwing back at the Romans what they threw at you (so long as it is backed up by cavalry)
In general, infantry should not be used much by Eastern factions, unless they are decent merc units or possibly the phalanx units available to Pontus and Armenia. The only use for them is probably in a siege.
Cavalry
As mentioned earlier, Eastern cavalry some of the best cavalry there is. They should form pretty much all of your army, as in tests that I have performed Eastern Infantry and Hillmen made little to no difference in the results of a battle, so best to keep that space open to cavalry.
Pontus does have some pretty good chariots. Scythed chariots have an outstanding charge, but are weak in melee. They should be drawn out of fighting immediately after the charge. Anyway, this isn't about tactics, just about the most effective armies, so I'll stop talking about that. Their chariot archers are something to speak of as well, but one really does guess at the point of having a completely non-melee capable unit on a chariot, as you can just as well have them on horses. Anyway, Pontic chariots are scarcely available, remember you need a BLACKSMITH and then an ARMOURER. They should be used whenever possible however.
Pontus also has javelin cavalry as well, two different types in fact. One is fairly good in melee (pontic heavy cavalry) and one isn't (pontic light cavalry). That is the only real difference. Remember that they are quite inaccurate though, so using them while you have men fighting up front is a bad idea.
Eastern Horse archers are a big question. The answer is, they are lifesavers in the early game, but get exhausted in the later game as the enemy can field new and better units. Horse archers are very useful, they can swiftly skim by an enemy and fire arrows into them, and then disappear into the distance. In the beginning, before you get any better cavalry, you should use these as much as you possibly can. Armenian Cataphract archers are just as good at firing, just slower and better in melee. An alternative available to the Parthians is also good, "Persian Cavalry" are just as fast as normal horse archers but are considerably better in melee. A good choice for a unit to put in your army.
Cataphracts are an Eastern thing as well. The Seleucids get them, but they are not covered in this guide. Armenian Cataphract Archers are not as good as normal Cataphracts, but have bows, and that makes them a handy unit all the while. Parthians have Camel Cataphracts and they are great for dealing with other Eastern Factions, as they are effective vs. cavalry. Their purpose is exhausted as they go on, however.
Parthia gets War Elephants, which are scarce and costy, and they don't get Armoured Elephants or just Elephants at all. If you can afford and build them, they are really worth it.
Cavalry should be the main bulk of the Eastern army, coming right before infantry and chariots.
Generally
As mentioned several times before, use CAVALRY in your armies, and others only if they are worthy of a space in your force.
Greek factions, mainly the Seleucids, are not only your worst nightmare (as they can actually combat your armies well) but are also on you early on in the game. Despite what everyone says, the Seleucids do use one hell of a lot of phalanx, and so it is wise to use horse archers, as they are the only thing that can combat them effectively (provided you don't engage them). Use cataphracts to charge the rear. Otherwise the Seleucids do have cavalry and infantry in their armies (sometimes), and camels or phalanxes should be used when they are faced. The Macs have some cav as well, do the same with them. The Greek Cities only really use phalanx, and their cavalry aren't threatening, so they shouldn't be too much of a problem (compared to other Greeks that is). Overall Greek factions do have immensely powerful armies, and they should be approached wisely.
Egyptian factions are the next people that Easterners are likely to come across. Now their armies really are balanced, although they don't make much use of their fairly shabby cavalry. They have powerful chariots however. Just treat them as you would treat anybody normally, using horse archers and cataphracts. Pikes are useful against their chariots if you can train them.
It depends which Barbarians you talk about when you talk about Barbarians. As a rule, Barbarian armies tend to differ from faction to faction, mainly the Scythians. Normal Barbarians usually fall when cavalry is thrown into them. British chariots and many kinds of germanian cavalry are different, and should be treated the way you treat any other cavalry. The Scythians are a different matter though, as they use the same kind of stuff as easterners, only with much more of it. Nearly all of their army is going to be cavalry, and so you must approach them with care. Use cataphracts against the Scythians.
Romans are heavy-infantry based. This means that they are your prey upon the battlefield, and your superior cavalry armies should soon get the better of them. Not much needs to be said further here.
And finally that brings us to the Phoenician culture. They like elephants a lot, and have a couple of phalanxes which should be watched out for. Horse archers fired into elephants, probably even foot archers (as they can use flaming arrows) do the trick most of the time. They are probably the most balanced of all cultures, so be careful when attacking, even more so than anybody else.
I hope you found my guide helpful. Watch out for part two on Phoenician cultures. I'd like some feedback if you want to give it to me.
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Re: Army Construction Guide: Part I- Eastern
Fortunately HA can kill phalanx with eyes close. I am very happy everytime I see phalanx. 
Why cant we just get along???
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