Makedonia recruitment

**Trithemius** · 06-26-2006, 01:28

Thanks for the reply! :)

I look forward to seeing some of these Thracian units too.

**orwell** · 06-26-2006, 03:35

Playing as Makedonia, where should I head off to conquer to recruit some good archers?

**Trithemius** · 06-26-2006, 03:55

I have no idea myself! I mostly use javelins (peltastai, akonistai, and theureophoroi).

**orwell** · 06-26-2006, 04:40

maybe I should smash the epeirotes before I remove kionon hellon? I don't know if they'll prove to be more problemsome if I leave them alone and go for epeiros first, but right now they're are a pain in the arse. Can't they focus on Rome and leave me alone.

**Trithemius** · 06-26-2006, 04:55

I expelled the Koinon from the mainland, then made peace. I then removed the Epeirotes, who had by then lost Taras, and so were finished. I made an alliance with the Getai and proceeded to fortify my northern frontier with them (just in case...) and took Crete, Rhodes (ending the Koinon) and then Aitolia.

About this time the Pontics had a go at extorting me so I had a go back at them, then the Seleukids decided to go the biff (giving them Galatia kept them happy for a short while at least) so I forced the Pontics into a protectorate and have been snipping off bits of Anatolian Seleukia since. I am planning on getting Pamphylia and Kypros and then fortifying a bit and installing decent governments. While this is happening I am also trying to make the Roman cities rebel, to avoid their buildup and I am grooming the Getai into a suitably powerful nemesis for the late-game phase. :)

Er, I went on a bit there! :x

**orwell** · 06-26-2006, 05:34

Shouldn't Rome get man of the hour's more than Makedonia? I've gotten two in just a few turns there, unfortunately both kicked the bucket on the way over to join the family.

**Simmons** · 06-26-2006, 05:37

Originally Posted by orwell

Playing as Makedonia, where should I head off to conquer to recruit some good archers?

Archers lets go East!

Or you could just use Sphendonetai (slingers) they will do just fine against the western mediterranean powers.

**orwell** · 06-26-2006, 07:33

Well, that first attempt went pathetically, started and lost in one night. Feels like a Baktrian campaign.

I immediantly took all my forces to crush KH, leaving minimal garrisons in all my towns. While conquering them, I disbanded as much as I dare, and yet still ended up with huge amounts of debt, leaving me unable to make headway and foreshadowing my downfall. After finally chasing them out with the faction heir sitting outside sparta gaining command stars for no apparant reason

I had lost more than half my entire army, and had since disbanded some more of the hammer to atempt to allieve debt. While this was happening, they took.... the town between Athens and Pella that I can't recall the name of, and made me wonder.

Why isn't Thessaly in? Why do we have nowheresville in northern europe. I generally like the city distribution but this seems like a rather.... poor decision of the EB team. You can recruit thessalian calvary, but you can't visit the city its from. Some breaking up of the monotony of desert on the eastern coast of the med would be nice too, but whatever.

After losing that town they contented themselves with turning Pella into a siegefest galore, I was fighting in the city every third turn and it was sieged every turn for about 4 years or so. That garrison wore down so much that it was just general 1 and 2 plus a couple of surviving militia hoplites. Towards the end of the siegefest they began seieging athens and other towns thus halting my recruitment which only started about half a year before the end due to my debt. The size of the armies are just too big to fight with out the hammer, and I disbanded those guys to save me from the debt that froze any sort of offensive. Now if KH did a naval invasion that'd really put the finishing blow on me.

Too hot to sleep, time for M2. This time I'll hit Epeiros first.

As far as units, I've had the best success with archers, though that was more with western med as the romans, maybe I'll try slingers against the hoplites. The only problem with slingers is that unless I'm in a battlefield they tend to kill more of my troops than the enemy.

**Trithemius** · 06-26-2006, 07:43

It took me some time to get my cash positive with the Makedonians - and I built mines in turn 1 and pillaged a lot, while disbanding a lot of cavalry, in order to do that.

I basically gather all the useful troops into two armies (one near Demetrias and one near Sparte) and kick KH off the mainland ASAP. They normally try and march in to relieve Sparte so I fight a big pitched battle and normally slaughter them handily which gives me the city for free if I can kill all the garrison as they flee. Then I make peace with the KH until I am ready to take Crete and Rhodes, this stops them disrupting my trade and also lets me trade with Rhodes for a while.

I garrison the cities, disband down to one large army, and take Byzantion, Tylis, and Sardika in that order (by using my one remaining unit of ships to sail my army out to Byzantion and then marching back. By this stage the Epeirotes are normally angry at my for denying them Sardika and want to go to war, which I am usually ready for since, by this stage I have managed to get a positive cashflow.

**Jolt** · 06-28-2006, 19:06

Originally Posted by Trithemius

It took me some time to get my cash positive with the Makedonians - and I built mines in turn 1 and pillaged a lot, while disbanding a lot of cavalry, in order to do that.

I basically gather all the useful troops into two armies (one near Demetrias and one near Sparte) and kick KH off the mainland ASAP. They normally try and march in to relieve Sparte so I fight a big pitched battle and normally slaughter them handily which gives me the city for free if I can kill all the garrison as they flee. Then I make peace with the KH until I am ready to take Crete and Rhodes, this stops them disrupting my trade and also lets me trade with Rhodes for a while.

I garrison the cities, disband down to one large army, and take Byzantion, Tylis, and Sardika in that order (by using my one remaining unit of ships to sail my army out to Byzantion and then marching back. By this stage the Epeirotes are normally angry at my for denying them Sardika and want to go to war, which I am usually ready for since, by this stage I have managed to get a positive cashflow.

Yeah, it took me some time as well, but it was very cool to see my faction emerge out of the debt pool and killing off KH and Epeiros. In my current game, I already expelled KH & Epeiros (Epeiros became Kings of the Southern Italian Greek Colonies.) And expanded first against Arche Seleuka, with Pontos help. Then I tried to take Pergamus (Damn hard. They killed most of my armies. In the end I amassed my three elitest armies to raze it to the ground), then Pontos betrayed our Alliance, and I used my Pergamus armies, now with Pezhetairoi additions, to destroy them all. I then expanded a little against Arche Seleuka and Ptolomaic. Now Seleuka's armies are so huge that, I'm having trouble holding on to my conquests. Ptolomaics had just made peace with Seleukia and were still at war with Carthage.

**Warlord 11** · 06-26-2006, 08:14

Originally Posted by orwell

Why isn't Thessaly in? Why do we have nowheresville in northern europe. I generally like the city distribution but this seems like a rather.... poor decision of the EB team. You can recruit thessalian calvary, but you can't visit the city its from. Some breaking up of the monotony of desert on the eastern coast of the med would be nice too, but whatever.

I beleve that Thessaly is a region, not a city.

**orwell** · 06-26-2006, 08:22

Originally Posted by Warlord 11

I beleve that Thessaly is a region, not a city.

But certainly there was a town in there somewhere. For the number of factions in greece, it seems rather empty.

**Simmons** · 06-26-2006, 08:57

Originally Posted by orwell

But certainly there was a town in there somewhere. For the number of factions in greece, it seems rather empty.

Once you have taken control of all of Greece as one of those factions the game is pretty much won anyway I think province distribution is very even amongst the factions.

By the way Demetrias is the capital of the Thessalia region in EB at the games beginning it is under Makedonian control with a Type 1 government.