Not true, Seamus... the way I play is one army, one theatre. Or more than one army, perhaps. So the only reason I'd be in Asia Minor, with a crap barbarian navy, would be because I had a grand army there. So if I was attacked there by Pontus I would have no qualms about extending past Bithynia, since it isn't defensible at all. I would, rather, take Ancyra to consolidate, and the fortify the river fords west of Sinope and Mazaka. That's more my idea of a defensible frontier. Or if I felt like it, I might even extend my conquests to Sinope and Mazaka, giving me the Armenian mountian passes as a defence system.
That's assuming, of course, the Seleucids were not hostile. That's also assuming, of course, that Pontus did not send a fullstack at me that somehow managed to take out more than 30% of my army (a rare occurrence by any non-human-opponent standards). These assumptions holding, I wouldn't think twice about extending myself past Bithynia. Especially not since I have the Awesome! Power! of! Diplomats!
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