A Close Defeat - but enjoyable

[RJV]

Hi all,

Just to share a quick moment with you. Playing as Armenia have been slowly wrapping up the Parthians and the Selucids. Too slowly as it turns out, but there you go. Anyway, pre-patch I was happily seiging Selucid towns one by one, with the Egyptians giving me money every now and again to fight our common enemy. I install the patch, hit End-Turn, and the Selucids and Egyptians immediately sign a cease-fire. In hindsight the writing was on the wall then, but I didn't see it. A few turns later, they ally, the Egyptians blockade my port at Antioch, and I go from being comfortable to being rather outnumbered. Figuring the best form of defence is attack I decide to take on a similar sized Selucid force outside Damascus. Forgetting that they can drag their city garrison in as well..... what the hell, I think, let's play.

Suffice to say that I'm outnumbered 400 to 1000 (default units), with all my army containing 120 Eastern Inf, and the rest HA, Cat Arch and Gen units (3 family members). They had all sorts of stuff - pikes, archers, elephants, chariots, greek cav etc.

Basically the battle turns into a series of skirmishes with regular short periods of melee. VERY enjoyable, lasted 45 minutes or so, ending with a Close Defeat for me but only because the timer ran out with me ending up with 80 odd horses without a single arrow between them, trying to defeat around 350 pikemen.... (also lost all 3 family members... )

No real stupidity on behalf of the AI, just a damn good fight. I should be able to take Damascus with my reserve force of horse archers in a couple of turns or so, but I'm spread rather thin so I might just chalk this campaign down to experience.

Anyway, my most enjoyable RTW moment to date.

Cheers,

Rob.

[Fridge]

Olaf would have been proud of you

[_Aetius_]

Im impressed you actually made something of the Armenians from the looks of things they are in at best a crap position with a not so spectacular army. Well done then.

[master of the puppets]

hmm ... interesting a battle of a lot of small skirmishes. thats an idea be roman spread all the troops out in no partucular order, the enemy of corse will travel as a bit attack group and you just keep hitting them with small forces, hopefully you will wittle um down until most of them are routing or they spread into hunting parties. eather way its interesting and when im ungrounded i have to give it a shot.

[Mikeus Caesar]

The armenian campaign can be quite njoyable once you get into the swing of it. After all, they get the wonderful cataphract HA!!!

[RJV]

The Armenian game is good, to be honest. My problem has been that in the early turns I didn't push for territory as much as I should have. There is some element of land rush that can get you some early gains, but the quality of your starting lands does restrict it a little.

I was too slow in disposing of the Parthians - not difficult but having seen the effectiveness of horse archers I could have won the battles with less units (and therefore earlier in the game), and that would have allowed me to hit the Selucids earlier. The only thing that lost me that battle really was weight of numbers - 3 or 4 more HA types and I'd have been OK.

I'll see how the next few turns pan out, then have a go with the Germanians for something a little different.