Paaaaarrrrtttthhhiiiiaaaaaaaa....

**Gaius Magnus** · 07-20-2005, 19:54

I just played a custom battle as Parthia.

Oh maaaaan that took a loooong time.

I played against Macedonia. Macedon had:

1 Armoured General
4 Light Lancers
2 Archers
1 Peltast
6 Royal Pikemen

Parthia (me) had:

1 Eastern General
8 Persian Cav
4 Camel Archers (forgot the name)
1 Eastern Infantry
3 Archers

This was my first experience ever playing as Parthia. No troops on either side had any experience or weapons/armor bonuses, just straight units.

Well, I won.... finally. It took forever. Those stupid camel archers were so slooooow. And not only that, they kept routing over and over again.

The Persian Cav was pretty good, though they are no match whatsoever in melee against the Light Lancers (even a few of them at a time).

One thing I found extremely frustrating was that none of these Parthian cav units (except the Eastern General) seemed to want to obey my commands. When they did obey commands, they were sooooooo slow, expecially the camel archers. I tried turning off Fire At Will and Skirmish to see if that would help them get across the map faster, but it really didn't help all that much. It was difficult keeping them from being pinched by two enemy units because of their erratic behavior.

The Eastern Infantry are a joke. They routed almost as soon as the Royal Pikes touched their shields. I just wanted one unit to protect my foot archers from a possible charge (to give the archers enough time to run), but I might as well have just not recruited them in the first place.

After I eliminated the Macedonian Light Lancers, Archers, Peltasts, and Armoured General, I had to spend forever stringing out the Royal Pikemen one unit at a time so that I could surround them with my whimpy cav archers and charge.

It was a nice learning experience, but I don't think I'll be using a Parthian cav archer army any time soon without some heavier cav units in the mix. What a nerve wracking experience.

Oh, and after the Royal Pikemen had been chasing my cav around the map for a good long while, running much of the time (after the enemy archers, peltasts, Light Lancers, and Armoured General had been eliminated), they were still "Eager, Fresh" and this was a LOT chasing AFTER the main battle. Not only that, but they were almost as fast as my cav units when they went out of Phalanx mode. I was like WTF, mate?

So, what do you think about light Parthian archer armies? Anyone here prefer them?

**Gaius Magnus** · 07-20-2005, 20:00

Oh, and another thing...

It was nearly impossible to get my Persian Cav and Camel Archers to charge against the Light Lancers. Even when one unit of Light Lancers was in the middle of 4 or 5 units of Persian Cav/Camel Archers. They just wouldn't do it.

**Silver Rusher** · 07-20-2005, 20:06

Parthians? I play as them alot. I have to tell you something though, the best idea for a parthian army is ALL cavalry. I usually use about 6-8 persian cav and 3-5 cataphract units, and that's it. You just harass the enemy with the pcs and then flank 'em with the cataphracts when they are distracted.

EDIT: Changed all "infantry" to all "cavalry"

**Marshal Murat** · 07-20-2005, 20:14

They keys for Parthia are
1)Horse Archers
2)Catapracts

Have your archers deploy ahead of the catapracts, shoot the heck out of the enemy. If they are a largely cavalry based army, scatter them then hit with a catapract fist.

If heavy infantry, then have horse archers ride circles, shoot the heck out, distract them, then smash into them with catapracts. If the enemy is a steady sort after the charge (unlikely with 2 or 3 catapracts charging at a time)
press alt key, and go at them with maces (not a very inspiring mace, very 2-D looking)
They rip them apart.

If light infantry, hit them with HA instantly, and then retreat, and catapracts hit.

If an effective mix (probably only in Custom Battles) string them out, and hit the cavalry, then the heavy infantry, then the lights. If you ever get stuck in H2H combat, switch to maces.

I played a custom battle against a roman cohort, post marius legion, parthia had a catapract.
The catapracts charge, hit them, then switch to maces.

**pezhetairoi** · 07-21-2005, 00:26

Blue repper, are you sure you turned off skirmish mode and alt-clicked on the light lancers to make them charge? I played so many battles as Scythia before I actually learnt that the way to make them charge was to secondary-attack them...

**Productivity** · 07-21-2005, 03:02

Parthia (and Pontus for that matter) really struggle when you take infantry. So don't! Take more cavalry instead, I'm not sure where your thinking about them being slow is coming from, whenver I have used either against my friends, tehre main comments have been how the hell did I get to where I did so fast. Don't be afraid to make your cavalry run, you will need to at times.

**Gaius Magnus** · 07-22-2005, 05:27

Originally Posted by dgb

Take more cavalry instead, I'm not sure where your thinking about them being slow is coming from,

From the fact that they were pretty darn slow!

**screwtype** · 07-21-2005, 03:36

Are you grouping your units? Grouping is quite badly bugged. Units will frequently fail to follow orders when grouped. That may be the problem.

Also, ensure that the "run" symbol is activated when you try to run your cav. I often find that if I pause the game and tell a unit to run, then unpause it, it switches back to walking when it is unpaused.

**pezhetairoi** · 07-21-2005, 06:33

remember to press H on the keyboard... using the hotkeys makes it easier. I find it much more efficacious to click on each individual unit in each group and press H in very quic succession or on pause. It seems much more accurate.

**Deus ret.** · 07-21-2005, 17:27

I can only second what the posters above me said: Use HAs and Katanks together and if you time it right you will send most enemies to hell very effectively. Elephants are nice but you don't really need them; the same applies to the camels, except if you face a cavalry-heavy army, in which case they excel in their role as cavalry-killers. Almost without losses, that is.
BEWARE of chariots though, they are quite common in the eastern areas. A chariot-heavy army will easily wipe the floor with your cav, and the more easy the heavier armored stuff you field...
For a more diverse Parthia playing experience, try RTR as it adds several at least somewhat useful infantry units to your roster.

**pezhetairoi** · 07-22-2005, 00:27

gee, how has this turned from how to beat Parthians into how to use Parthians? :-P

**Slug For A Butt** · 07-22-2005, 04:01

I've got to say. I've never been interested in a Parthia campaign. But after hearing you all talk about it, it sounds like a completely different challenge. Almost like, forget everything you think you know about RTW battles. Sounds good, I need a change anyway.