Advice needed

[jhhowell]

There are two questions here - is fighting uber-AS fun, interesting, and worth doing? And, if yes, how does one do it?

The responses thus far have more or less covered the latter, though given the AI's tactical weakness I'm quite sure that a Roman player could beat them in a head-on slugfest in the Egyptian desert (or Asia Minor, or both). The blitz raid strategy would be more interesting and effective, though. Unless you're using the BI exe, Crete and Cyprus should be safe staging areas (my generals seem to get "confined to bed" after just a couple of turns at sea - very annoying, I don't advise a nonstop Tarentum to Antioch voyage).

The important question is whether one can have an interesting game after the Gray Death gets going like this. As bovi indicated, the money scripts can help, and I think most are save-game compatible (from what I've read, the mercenary scripts in the balacing mods require a new game). One can also try to stir up trouble by sticking a spy in AS cities with low public order, and optionally having an assassin stand by to knock down temples or other buildings. Against a really large empire, you should certainly be able to flip a few cities around the edges, either to the rebels or to a nearby faction (Halicarnassus to KH, in one example I've done). Also, does AS really have the east locked up? At least in my game Bactria took a while to get going, but by the 230s they had absolutely torn apart the eastern third of AS. Anyway, lots of factors to consider, and it's probably worth toggling fog of war off for a bit to get a better sense of whether the game is likely to remain interesting (unless you already have accurate, current info on what's going on back east and in northern Asia Minor).

[Axel JD]

All really good advice, I must say, I think I could still enjoy this campaign thouroughly. I have now put in motion a sort of "Grand Alliance" to combat the AS, I've allied myself to Qarthadastim, Bactria, Hayasdan, Saba and the Ptolemaioi and I have now flooded the AS with more agents than you could shake a hellen at. We shall see were this will lead...

[Long lost Caesar]

glad to hear one of us is doing well. as for myself on the other hand, my blitz idea was a load of crap. iv taken less than 6 cities in turkey and im alredy getting worn down and revolted against. and heres the reeal kicker: when the settlements revolt they become seleukid settlements, and have about 1,500 troops in them. is there some way i can make them become eleutheroi settlements, or is there no way to change the outcome of the riots? much thanks.

[kemozz]

try giving the settlements to another faction. its good a idea to give them to an ally faction that you have military access to. that way u can retreat to that settlement (just placing your army stack near that settlement) and fight battles with your allies. having military access will also speed up your retreat if you have to.

[jhhowell]

glad to hear one of us is doing well. as for myself on the other hand, my blitz idea was a load of crap. iv taken less than 6 cities in turkey and im alredy getting worn down and revolted against. and heres the reeal kicker: when the settlements revolt they become seleukid settlements, and have about 1,500 troops in them. is there some way i can make them become eleutheroi settlements, or is there no way to change the outcome of the riots? much thanks.

I guess the revolts can be random, I don't know how or if one can predict whether a city will go rebel or to a previous owner. Kemozz is right, if circumstances allow - a handoff to Pontus, Armenia, or whoever would help.

Out of curiosity, what were those 1500 troops? I assume you destroyed all MICs in the city, so I wonder what the game engine puts in revolting cities like that... In any case, your blitz did serve a useful purpose, it'll be many years before AS can raise any halfway decent troops in those cities. And depending on location they may be good targets for spies and further revolts (if you also trashed the temple, sewers, and other +order buildings). The goal of a raiding strategy is not to hold territory, but simply to ruin it so they other guy doesn't benefit from it either. It sounds like you've accomplished that pretty effectively.

[bovi]

The engine will usually put only the basic troops from the palace if there is no MIC, as well as a couple of mercenaries present in the region. And sometimes it will get all freaky and put Iberian, Persian and German units in happy unison .