Some questions about pontos

[Treverer]

1.what provinces can I recruit my faction's troops in?

2.where can I get steppe riders and scythian noble cavalry? Any other regional troops in the area I should know about? *preferably ones in seleucid territory since I seem to be at eternal war with them*

3.why do my galatian heavy speamen carry swords and why do they cost twice as much as hoplites with only slightly better stats and less men?

Greetings,

ad 1:
well, first let me say that Pontos' got not that many faction troops - at least thoses one can call "high-end". You have the "Cappadocian Medium Cavalry", the "Pontic Elite Phalanx", the "Galatian Heavy Spearmen", the "Galatian Heavy Cavalry" & the Chariot unit. All of those, you can recruit in your starting province ("Amaseia"), and some of them in your other "Homeland" provinces.
But beware, in "Trapezount", "Sinope", "Nikaia" and the eastern/southern shore provinces of Asia minor (& "Ipsos"), you get practically none of them (built regional MICs there & recruit Greek / Hellenic troops).
In Galatia ("Ankyra"), build just regional MICs and at level 5 you get the "Wild Men" (Tindanotae, spelling correct ?), expensive, but VERY useful. Therefor, build the "Pontic Allied State" government in that province.

As a rough rule: in greek territories, built regional MICs, in 'eastern' ones', built factional MICs. What to built in the (modern-day time) Balkans, I cannot tell ... yet. ;-)

ad 2:
both of them in "Chersonesos" & "Pantikapaion" (must have regional MIC 4 to built the Nobles). Of thoses I'm sure, but the neighbouring provinces should have them too.
You get Horse Archers in "Ani-Kmah" ("Steppe Riders") and "Kotais" ("Skythian Horse Archers"), as well as in Armenian territory.

ad 3:
I don't know. I use mainly the "Hellenic Native Phalanxes" and after I can afford them, the "Pontic Elite Phalanxes" (2 per army) as backbone. Much later, I recruit Tindanotaes (2 per army) as reserve / shock / assault infantry.
Actually, I'm less used to employ cavalry ... though from time to time I have a light or medium unit with this or that army.

Yours,
Treverer

being a big fan of Pontos & wishing for X-mas the missing Pontic units ...

[Slim_Ghost]

Speaking of missing Pontic units, I wished that there would be Sinopic nobles or chariot archers in the next release.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Chariot archers aren't right for this timeframe.

[Treverer]

Chariot archers aren't right for this timeframe.

Sorry to be (too) curious, but what about some kinda "Kataphracts"? Did Pontos have them?

EDIT: question's a bit irrelevant though. Kataphracts can probably be recruited in the approprate provinces via the regional MICs. (ashes on my head)

[The Errant]

Sorry to be (too) curious, but what about some kinda "Kataphracts"? Did Pontos have them?

EDIT: question's a bit irrelevant though. Kataphracts can probably be recruited in the approprate provinces via the regional MICs. (ashes on my head)

Sorry. Pontos does not get Catas in the Parthian style. They will however get a heavy cavalry unit that will be most useful in the next build. It's quite powerful and with a wider recruitment zone than the Galatian Lavotuxri. Apart from that a few more interesting reagionals are coming for Pontos.

Treverer is right about the recruitment zones. Except for Trapezous. Pontic Homeland territory is most of Northern Asia Minor (modern Turkey) That's the settlements of Amaseia (your capital), Sinope, Trapezous, Ani-Kamah, Mazaka and Nikaia.

In the first five it's advisable to build factional MICs. The highest level will allow the recruitment of the Chalkaspidai (Pontic Elite Phalanx). In Ani-Kamah building a level 4 Reagional MIC will allow the recruitment of HA. HA are also available in the Armenian provinces to the East. And in the steppe provinces to the North. Remember this about Sinope and Trapezous. Only once your Factional MIC reaches a level 3 minimum will you be able to recruit any useful factional troops here. The higest level will give you access to the Chalkaspidai aswell as stone and arrow projectors in the Greek style. Building up to level 3 Reagional MICs in any Greek province is advisable. I found Classic Hoplites and Peltastai to be a very useful addition to my Pontic battle line.

Nikaia is another Homelands region. It's recruitment for factionals is a bit limited but you do get a number of Dacian reagionals. Including Drapanai shock infantry (falxmen). You also get access to Thracian Peltasts. Which double as shock infantry and Thrakikoi Prodromoi. The second best Medium Cavalry in the game. Nikaia also has two precious metal resources so mining there is very profitable.

Scythian Nobles can be recruited in the Crimea provinces. And some of the others North of the Black Sea. One of the most useful reagional units nearby are the Syrian Archers. They can be recruited in most provinces surrounding Syria. Armoured in scale mail they make a tough if somewhat slow archery unit that can double as decent melee fighters. As long as you keep in mind that there primary role is that of an archer. Not a swordsman. The second most useful reagional is a merc unit in Mesopotamia. The Babylonian Heavy Spearmen are a great and versatile unit. They can take on cavalry with their spears and they double as very effiecient shock infantry cause their secondary weapon is an AP mace.

You did realise that the secondary weapon of those Galatian Heavy Spearmen is the Celtic Longsword with a whopping .225 lethality. The spear is just for use against cavalry. If you're doing melee with them against any infantry use alt-click to change their weapons pronto.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Thrakikoi Prodromoi. The second best Medium Cavalry in the game.

What's the best in your opinion?

You did realise that the secondary weapon of those Galatian Heavy Spearmen is the Celtic Longsword with a whopping .225 lethality. The spear is just for use against cavalry. If you're doing melee with them against any infantry use alt-click to change their weapons pronto.

Alt-Clicking will make them use spear-only, it's their secondary weapon. You can't do anything to force them to use swords, just hope.

[The Errant]

What's the best in your opinion?


Alt-Clicking will make them use spear-only, it's their secondary weapon. You can't do anything to force them to use swords, just hope.

1. The best Medium Cavalry in the game is the Sabaean Citizen Cavalry. They got better armour, the horses have excellent speed and stamina. Plus their secondary weapons are longswords which gives them superb lethality in melee. They are a bit more expensive than the Thrakikoi Prodromoi but they are overall somewhat better.

2.

;40
type             galatian infantry kuarothori
dictionary       galatian_infantry_kuarothori      ; Galatikoi Kuarothoroi
category         infantry
class            heavy
voice_type       General_1
soldier          celtic_infantry_arjos_rycalawre_solduros_kuarothoroi, 30, 0, 1.25
mount_effect     elephant -1
attributes       sea_faring, hide_forest
formation        0.7, 1, 1.8, 2.6, 4, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         11, 6, no, 0, 0, melee, simple, piercing, sword, 0 ,0.225
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         12, 6, no, 0, 0, melee, simple, piercing, spear, 0 ,0.13
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  12, 9, 3, metal
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        5
stat_ground      0, 0, 0, -1
stat_mental      13, disciplined, highly_trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 2013, 503, 80, 130, 2013
ownership        carthage, romans_julii, seleucid, macedon, slave

My bad. It seems the sword is primary and not secondary weapon. Anyway this puts the Kuarothoroi on par with Macedonian and Seleukid Hypaspistai. Basically a heavy phalangite that can fight extremely well in a melee. Just remember to use the sword against infantry and the spear against cavalry.

edit. If you can't make the sword work it's propably a glitch the team will have to fix in the next build. This is how the unit looks in my EDU. And from the looks of things they aren't half bad with that sword of theirs.