Baktrian gameguide:

[Musopticon?]

Gava-Haemovarga was a bit too much with it's hippotoxotai-fullstack. I couldn't even wait out the siege, since the units there were so high quality that no matter how big army I sieged the town with, they always sallied the next turn and totally devastated my phalangists. I never went there again.

[pezhetairoi]

i never touched haomavarga either. with only 2 phalanx units in the beginning you will just get steamrollered by the aursa, who are as good lancers as they are archers, especially when your phalanx doesn't even have the solid staying power to stop 6 units charging down a narrow street at you. Mine got simply steamrollered in a brutal frontal attack.

I went south--Kophen, Alexandropolis, then on to Arachosia other Seleukid provinces. I got a little daunted by the fullstacks of indian longbowmen and stone walls of the indian cities. in the baktrian campaigns I have played before, i made it all the way to Edessa, and only then did i start building an army for India and after that, Arabia. Never got to test it out though, 0.7.4 came out after that and it wasn't savegame compatible.

[Musopticon?]

Ah, fullstacks of longbowmen, how I hate thee!

Yeah, my Baktrian campaign didn't really go anywhere. I lost half my army taking Kophen, then went southwards for the next town and got annihilated there. That was around the same time Pahlav started to kick Seleucids' arses. Suffice to say, my campaign wasn't exactly a success, if you get my drift.

But I love Baktria still, like Pontus, the mix of different ethnicities, influences and warfare styles is just adorable. If Greco-Saka-Indian doesn't ring awesomeness-bells for you, then I don't know what does. With 0.8 they are going to get a revamped unit roster and more indian units, not to mention Saka-Rauka breathing down thier neck instead of those lousy Yuetzi. Colour me interested.

[Zastrow]

I personally love the Baktrian campaign and their unit roster currently, expand it even more and I'm tickled pink. Baktrians are unstoppable in multiplayer, the combination of solid medium infantry (Indo-Greek hoplites + Agema), pikemen (cheap pantadopoi or more expensive prezhetarioi) and some of the best abng for your buck cavalry in the game (those superb Hippeis + Cataphracts + Javelin cavalry) is devastating against my friend who likes his Barbarian factions.

He loathes my Baktrain Hippeis, they look pimp, they are rather cheap and are devastating, especially when you use them behind a spearhead general unit of full Cataphracts. Cataphracts break apart the unit and the Hippeis follow behind in a massive flood that just plow over the unit. I can erase entire units from gameplay in a matter of seconds with that combo, even head-on and losing only a few horsemen.

Maybe its overpowered, but I don't care, I love my Baktrians!

Looking forward to the .8 campaign and their new unit rosters, any additions to their fine setup would be remarkable.

[paullus]

I find that heading into the Indus valley isn't really THAT difficult. Part of the reason is the large numbers of pantodapoi in the garrisons (I assume those Indian spearmen will have slightly better stats, right?). I do feel like there might should be another Indian field army or two, just to make the invasion a little harder.

I also went to the Indus because I was flippin' freaked out by the hordes of horse archers to the NE. It took me 15 yrs to destroy one group, which was occupying part of Baktra itself (and draining something like 500 mnai per turn), and I still lost a lot of men in the process. I didn't take Gava Haomavarga until the yuezhi did, and then claimed it after the yuezhi attacked my border guard.

Is there a way to make pathfinding toward Kophen easier? So that it might be an easier option for the AI to see? Or is that not the problem? How many questions can I ask back-to-back?

[Teleklos Archelaou]

I think we are going to have to do that P. They just will not naturally go that way now. If we could only "pull" them over there and away from the steppe now in 0.8...