1.0x AI Faction Progression Thread

[Hax]

Looks awesome! It seems like the AS will be crushed between the Blue Death and yourself

==========================

I started a new Epeiros campaign about two days ago, because I had to re-install EB, sadly.



As you can see I've massacred the Makedonians and the Hellenes. They are now gone from the world. The last settlement that Makedonia had was Korinthe, in which they had a full stack including their faction leader, faction heir, and the rest of their family members. Next turn, Koinon Hellenon tries to invade Korinthe, but I strike back and take Sparte: End of KH.

I took Chalkis, bribed my way into Thermon (paid only 30 k O_o), and finally, led an assault on the ex-Makedonian stronghold of Mytilene. Now I had a foothold in Asia Minor.

I tried to re-take Taras, and succeeded, and I even controlled Rhegion and Arpi for some time, but the Romans struck back fierce, and re-took all three settlements.

Not too long afterwards, one of my younger family members completed his training in the Spartan Agoge. He took an army towards Byzantion, and that city fell beneath the Epeirote Kingdom as well.

Around 250 BC, I invaded the kingdom of Pontus, taking the city of Nikaia, and killing their faction leader at the same time. I was hoping I could avoid war with the Arche Seleukeia until Pontos was destroyed, but alas, a Seleukid army from Sardis marched towards the gates of Pergamon (which I had taken about 5 years before) and laid siege to the city.

Around that time, the Pontic warleader took the Galatian city of Ankyra. For myself, I raised an army in Demetrias, and set sail towards Sardis and Halikarnassos. I took both cities within the fall of the next year, and finally news arrived from Ambrakia. They had finished the Elite Epeirote Barracks.

Quickly I raised a new army, for my spies had told me that there was a huge Pontic army near the borders of Sardis. Along with a new member of the Epeirote family, Bios Aiakides, I took Chainion Agema, the elite Epeirote Phalangites, and Indikoi Elephantes, the terrifying beasts of the far Indus. [I found out you SHOULDN'T EVER try to use those things against Thureoporoi]

Near the city of Ankyra, a great battle was fought. The elite Molosson Agema flanked the Pontic phalanxes, and before long, their army routed, marking the beginning of the end for the Pontic Empire.

After that crushing defeat, I could quickly take Ankyra, and my spies had infiltrated the city of Sinope, leading to a rebellion against their former masters.

The way to the last standing city of the empire that Mithridates I Ktistes forged, lay open. With some units of my elite phalangites, the Elephantoi, and the Molosson Agema, I could take this city as well, for the glory of the Epeirote Kingdom!

And that's where I am now.

[L.C.Cinna]

Looks awesome! It seems like the AS will be crushed between the Blue Death and yourself

Well I decided to stop attacking the Grey guys for a while because the Ptolies are quite annoying at the moment. They sent spies and diplomats everywhere to cause unrest (my assassins don't get a day of rest for years now) and they have quite strong armies (i was really surprised). They recruited quite good troops so the battles are quite interesting (if they would use more cavalry it would be even better ;) ).


Some things surprised me: Armenia loves me! They are my allies since the beginning and haven't attacked me once. When the Grey Death besieged Ani-Khama (which had nearly no garrison) and all my armies were in the west they came down with a full stack and chased the Seleucids back to Edessa lol. they spent the last 10 years fighting Sauromatae armies which wanted to invade my territory ;)

My only problem is that I think my king likes men too much...

You know it all started when my old king died and his 18 year old heir became king. I had only one army at that time and I had this other 17 year old general who looked quite promising so I placed them in one army together and thought "some roleplaying would be nice". So, I thought they are both same age, serve together, surely they would be friends and as the king has no heirs yet he would make his best friend (and my favourite general) his heir until he gets a son....

to make a long story short, now each one of them has their own army but non has children and they are well over 40 now and I gave them doctors and fertility people but to no avail. Now I think this whole thing went a bit too far... i thought they were friends but not THAT close! I wouldn't care about their private life if it were 2 ordinary generals but my royal line is about to die out!

[Hax]

Haha! That's pretty awesome :D

You could make an AAR of it

"I won't let go, Mithridates! I love you!"

Heh, brilliant.

[Conqueror]

Update to my Makedonian campaign. It's certainly been an interesting ride with BI naval invasions. Ptolemaioi eventually gave up on capturing Hellas from me, but the Karthadastim just can't seem to accept that they'll never have Capua. They have actually built a decent navy and I haven't seen many pirates on western Med for a while.

250 BC:

240 BC:

(Note that I attacked the Getai faction, captured two of their cities and sacked all the rest of them, then forced them to accept protectorate status. They are now my bitches so you can kind of count their areas as a periphery of my empire )
230 BC:

It's kind of hard to see here, but the KH are holding Halikarnassos. They got it from the Ptolies via rebellion, after being stuck in Rhodos for many decades.

In the West, Casse has been progressing at a snail's pace in Britain. At this rate they won't be dominating the islands anytime soon. Gauls are totally mad, killing each other with neither faction able to gain the upper hand. Lusotannan are paralyzed and Karthadastim have ignored Iberia, focusing on Northern Africa and Italy. I'm glad that I have my Getic buffer zone all set up by now, so I won't have to deal with the scary and unbearably barbaric Sweboz.

Looking to the East, Baktria and Ptolemaioi have invaded AS territory in a kind of kinky double-penetration move. Pontos is doing very well, having expanded at the cost of AS and now sporting some big armies. Their king appearently has a serious lust for Lesbians, for he keeps throwing his soldiers against the walls of Mytilene. Hayasdan has ventured north to play tag with the Sauromatae. Meanwhile, the Pahlavas are putting the hurt on Saka Rauka.

Down South the Saba don't have much going for them... other than being insanely rich. They occationally make war with the Ptolemaioi, but it never seems to lead to any territory changing hands.

Finally, here's a look at the extremely interesting and confusing mess that Western Asia Minor has become:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Yes, that is indeed a Karthadastim army wandering north of Pergamon. Made up of a single brave galatian Kluddolon (not a single unit, a single man!) Bold as he may have been, he made the fatal error of crossing north into my lands, where his journey was ended in a dark forest by a scythian horse archer unit in my employ

[LordCurlyton]

240 BC, KH, H/M, BI-exe.
Some VERY interesting developments, possibly anomalies or chance. One should be very obvious, and that is the lack of 2 of the 3 steppe factions. Their killer: Bartix...I mean, Baktria. Instead of preying on the AS they've decided to become the new Horse Lords and I would not be surprised at all if they continued rolling right into Sauromatae lands, which mean we could have a Hai-Baktria war before a Baktria-AS war. The second anomaly is that I eliminated both Maks and Epeiros on the same turns that Baktria destroyed Saka and Pahlava, respectively. And the Maks died from lack of FMs, as they still held Mytilene when I took Pella, to boot.
The Romans actually invaded and conquered Corsica and Sardinia, and conquered part of Sicily, but it seems like they triggered the Pune Wars a little too early (less than 10 years into game) and are paying the price now as Carthage is advancing on all fronts and is sieging Bruttium, having taken it once already.
The Getai are doing resonably well but will most likely be headed downhill as they are about to get in my way, plus they lent military assistance to Epeiros in its final stand, so my excuse (and the diplomatic situation) are pre-made.
The Yellow Death is appearing yet again, so it seems that somehow the Ptolies have been given just enough of an edge (by accident, I'm sure) that 7 times out of 10 they will become dominant (I have seen some AS holding/dominant pics, but not too many). The also are being very annoying by trying to siege Rhodes again and again and again, and then signing peace and giving me 6k again and again and again. I'm hoping that the start of the Sand Wars will divert their attention (they've repulsed the initial Carthy wave but more are coming).
Aedui look to be the dominant of the Gallic factions and if they are lucky they can consolidate power before the Sweboz turn their gaze west.
Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary. Really enjoyed the challenge at the beginning for KH though I was sad that Maks pulled their main force back instead of sieging Athens, which gave me valuable time to solidify my situation.

[Soggius Chippius]

It's me again, which can only mean... it's 176 and time to blow my own trumpet once again.
The statistics screen is finally telling me that the Casse are the greatest faction in the known world in every single category. Finally my military is stronger than Baktria/Carthage, and here's a look at why that is.



As far as the history of the last 10 years goes, it's really been a bit of a fizzer compared to my last update. In the east, Baktria was finally provoked by its long time client state Pahlava, and proceeded to crush them, the faction's final destruction coinciding with the destruction of the Seleukids in the Autumn of 178 (it's a nice feeling having two faction destroyed boxes pop up after the AI turn) and aside from that, Baktria have finally gained a decisive upper hand in the steppe war, and have pushed the Sauromatae back to the very edges of their once fairly impressive grassland empire. And that's it really. Mentioning any of the other factions out east seems a bit anal since they've done next to nothing in the past 40 turns. That's not going to stop me of course, but the complete powerlessness of the east sans Baktria really can't be overstated.
Let's see. The Seleukids lost Antioch and Damascus almost immediately after 186, but managed to hold on to their one city in the Caucasus less due to their own impressive will than to the extreme disorganisation of the Baktrian army in the Middle East area (they've been far more interested in the steppes for some reason) Happily enough, they did finally succumb, but the city turned Eleutheroi for a fair while until retaken only a turn or two ago.
The Ptolemies were kicked out of Babylon early on (around 183 IIRC) but did have a resurgence for about two turns when the eastern coast of Egypt revolted for the umpteenth time. They now have enough stacks to take back their lands, except they're all stuck on Cyprus in some sort of post-apocalyptic world where the art of boat building has been lost completely. Oh well. At least they're still around to whip up trouble for Phoenicia Nova.
The Mako-Phrygians are doing ridiculously well considering the size of their kingdom. They have so many full stacks I can barely see the actual land, so I can at the very least expect them to hold back the blue for another decade.
Pontos is.... well...Pontos. They're still around at least, which I frankly find hard to believe, but there you go.
Finally, the Greeks are thriving on Baktria's cack-handed overexpansion, lapping up cities around the Black Sea through civil revolts. Unfortunately, due to the nature of taking cities through chance revolts, their 'empire' is pretty sporadically set out, *and* sitting right on Baktria's active front as well as their soon-to-be-active front in Anatolia.
I suppose I could try and say something positive about the Saba, but really, only Themistius could possibly put a positive spin on their position. They haven't got a chance of coming back, what with one front being blocked off by Baktria and the other by Carthage *and* Baktria. Even then, they're not going anywhere, because their lands aren't worth campaigning for. Even the AI knows this. It's a logistical nightmare, not only for invasion, but also for counter-invasion by the Saba, so they'll most likely be ignored until Phoenecia Nova is swallowed and the Mako-Phrygians are dealt with. And even then their conquest will take several updates. :P
Oh, the Saka? Why bother. They still have the same lands they had in 216. The only difference between them and the Parthians is that they're smart enough to not nip Baktria's heels.

Now, what about the west? Well, aside from Greece and the Balkans, it's all under my thumb. The last decade has mostly been consolidation, with my Spanish army taking of the rest of Africa (Fun fact: Tuat is aptly named, as it takes something like 2 years to reach from the closest town, and when you get there all you meet is a bunch of Tuats. They're such Tuats in fact, my general had to sit in their godforsaken shanty town for 4 years just to get them to promise not to murder the weak client ruler they put forward. Even then they were still 'disillusioned') He was only able to leave a few turns ago, and is currently speeding towards the eastern front of Libya. As for said eastern front, look! A picture! A break in the text! Make a run for it!



Interestingly enough, that picture shows you basically the full power of Cart...sorry, Phoenicia Nova. Aside from those troops, they have maybe a half stack in the field left over from their suppression of the Ptolly rebellion on the east coast. Also keep in mind my one army has been able to deal with about 3 full stacks in the past 2 years, and I doubt very much those two stacks there have anything close to a better grade of troops, so once they're gone it's just a matter of trouncing the tiny garrisons they'll have left. (though before I move into Libya it may just be time to move my Capital. Rome maybe. It's currently Gergovia)
Aside from that, I made two more acquisitions in northern Europe, taking the little island off Scandinavia (forgive me for forgetting the name. Possibly Gotanoz) which I then used as a waypoint to ship an army off to Sapmi (interesting landmark there) to teach the remaining Sweboz a lesson (they're not really the Sweboz anymore anyway. The Sweboz merged with the Casse upon taking their king's seat. The remnants are just the Neuriji, one more independant power amongst the many in Eastern Europe) Can't really be bothered continuing east, since one more settlement and I'm slap bang under the gaze of Baktria, and I don't think the distance to capital bonus would be much fun either.
Finally, the Epeirotes declared war on me. Normally, this is where I say "The fools decided to assault Patavium, at which point the mighty war machine of the Casse was brought to bear on their weak fragmented pocket kingdom" but honestly, if they'd waited any longer I'd be calling them idiots anyway, so more power to them.
Or less really, since the Adriatic is all mine. Here's the threat my new acquisitions currently face from them.



The invasion so far has actually been a bit of a laugh. I faced something like two full stacks before assaulting the first city along the road from Patavium, and then encountered token resistance from then on, with two unit armies trying to lift the siege on cities with 2 unit garrisons. 4 unit armies aren't exactly the toughest challenge you're going to face in TW, but a 4 unit army broken up into two parts through reinforcing somehow manages to be even more of a walkover. Anyway, since I have little to worry about from their full stacks that have so far proven to be 2 elite phalanx units and 18 Akontistai (give or take some skirmisher cavalry) I'm just going to ignore them and go straight to a once great city, the mining industry's Constantinople, Pella.



Also, it would seem my previous guesses as to why the Epeirotes seemed to be sitting around doing bugger all has been proven, as my spy can attest.



This really explains a lot of things actually. Firstly, why the Epeirotes took so long to attack me. They had been focusing on avian pie, sending army after army into the jaws of the Boii. Secondly, why they were so easy to send into civil revolt/why their infrastructure was so shoddy (half of their provinces are still roadless) They'd been wasting all their money on super armies that were never going to come to anything anyway.
I guess I should be outraged that those rebel provinces are making the game so easy, but honestly, I really like them. They lower the time I have to spend fighting army after army of akontistai and fragile horse, and they leave me with a massive challenge once I've cleaned the Epeirotes up.

One last point I nearly forgot as well. In 184, my mighty faction leader Adcobrovatae, vanquisher of the Carthaginians, conquerer of Italy, the islands and North Africa, died peacfully in his fort amongst his men, as he defended Lepkis from his old foe. He has left his capable son Caradog in charge of the destruction of the white menace, a task he's already well on his way to completing. Already, a hero cult has emerged around him, with hero cult mausoleums across the empire dropping the worship of older heroes like Barae and Gwydion in favour of the sole worship of Adcobrovatae the Magnificent. His worship has bound the diverse peoples of the empire more tightly together than simple administration ever could, and certainly doesn't seem to be coming to an equilibrium. Indeed, it only seems to be increasing in popularity, with a few people beginning to suggest that he was in fact more than a mere human. His birthplace in the fens seems to have merely reinforced the belief of some that his true origin was the otherworld.

Anyway, hopefully I'll stay interested until 166. 4 years till the Yuezhi come! (btw, I read somewhere I need to d/l some patch to stop the game exploding when the Yuezhi arrive. I certainly don't want to lose the use of this campaign, so can anyone clarify?)

[Bava]

Whoa, blue seems to be the new grey...

Certainly one the most impressive progression reports i´ve ever seen, Soggius!
I sincerely hope you´ll keep your interest in the campaign, another update would
be great.

P.S. For some reason or another i cant stop looking at this massive baktrian empire...^^

[Tristuskhan]

And that's it really. Mentioning any of the other factions out east seems a bit anal since they've done next to nothing in the past 40 turns.

Bored to THAT point?

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

That is frightening man. Really frightening.

[woad&fangs]

My Avernii Campaign, 237 BC

Gallic Civil War- 272-265
War with Rome"War of Betrayal"- 252-247
War with Sweboz"War of the Rhine"- 239-present
technically at war with Getai but we're dancing around the issue for now.
At war with Pontus because of Galation rebellions in Ancyra

Allies: Epeirotes, Casse

The Sweboz attacked me but I had an elaborate system of watchtowers and forts on the northern half of the rhine river so I used that year and half of the next to mobilize troops across the empire. Naked Spearmen from Ictis, Hoplites from Massilia, Northern Swordsmen from Bribracte, Gaesatae from Gergovia, Alpine Phalanxes from Adventicos, and other mid level troops from various cities. So now even though I'm outnumber, the Sweboz have mostly low quality troops were as I have a top flight army. I've now crossed the Rhine and have brought the fight to them. Although it's hard to see, I own Ictis in Britain.

Casse are doing nothing.

Lussottannan started fast but are now a protectorate of Carthage.

Carthage- Not doing much but it looks like they might be gearing up for an assault on the completely undefended Western half of the Ptolemaic Empire.

Romani- Filthy traitors, die die die, burn in Hades.

Aedui- Long dead

Sweboz- Were doing well, but unless they accept a ceasefire and some generous reperations on their part then I'll have to eliminate them. *sigh* I'll never finish my victory conditions if I keep getting sidetracked like this.

Epeirotes- They've taken Dalminion and I've gifted them Arpi. They have a fullstack in Tarentum and one near their Capital.

Macedon- down to their capitol and the fullstack residing in it.

KH- Woohee!!! look at them go. They've got about half a dozen half stacks walking around in addition to a couple of fullstacks. They're at war with Macedon and are besieged at Byzantium by Pontus, but the KH have a stronger force their.

Getai- Pretty decent expansion. They have a full stack garrisoning Ak-Ink and a half stack out side of it. I'm letting them wear down Naissos for me before I try to take it. Besides Ak-Ink their lands are lightly defended, so I'll deal with them when I've made decent headway against the Sweboz.

The situation for AS is even worse then it looks on the map. They'll soon be gobbled up by the yellow fever and cookie monster.

[Deadhuntr]

Suggestions Needed:
Is it just me, or did I mess up somewhere long the way? I have reinforcements inbound to both besieged cities but so does the attacker...I don't see this going well and I am going to defiantly loose ONE of these 2- I think anyway. If it comes down to it, which one should I give up? Or anyone see away for me out of this? Macedon wont accept a ceasefire and I obviously can't bribe anyone.

[Pezlu]

@Deadhuntr: It seems from the screenshot that Naissos brings in more cash; it's closer to your territories so it's easier to defend; and the Makedonian army there looks weaker. I'd save Naissos if I had to choose. And if you decide to take this path, it's even better to destroy everything in Tylis so the Maks will have difficult times rebuilding everything; unless, of course, you are planning on reconquering it very soon.

Also, what's the diplomatic situation in that area? Is Makedonia at war with someone else? How are they faring in their other wars, if any? If they have some other problems, you could retreat, retrain, and prepare to strike in a more favorable moment, while expanding north or west and defending your home territories.

However, I think you can defeat both armies if you fight the battles well. Naissos should be easy; of course it depends on army composition. Tylis will be more difficult, but it looks that with some luck and superior tactics you can win. I would position the reinforcements near the besieging army and then sally out, so the Maks would be somewhat unprepared; unless you have lots of cavalry or some other kind of army which fares better on open ground.

I would train horse archers in Kallatis however. Think of them getting behind the phalanxes and unleashing a rain of arrows in their backs... while their fronts are threatened by your infantry

[Deadhuntr]

"Also, what's the diplomatic situation in that area? Is Makedonia at war with someone else? How are they faring in their other wars, if any? If they have some other problems, you could retreat, retrain, and prepare to strike in a more favorable moment, while expanding north or west and defending your home territories."-


If this dosent help I dont know what else to say.

"I'd save Naissos if I had to choose. And if you decide to take this path, it's even better to destroy everything in Tylis so the Maks will have difficult times rebuilding everything; unless, of course, you are planning on reconquering it very soon."-
Well I need it for victory, so yes.


"Tylis will be more difficult, but it looks that with some luck and superior tactics you can win."-
I am VERY good @ defending with 2 Inf+1 Archers or 3Phalanx + 1 Archers, however all I have there right now is 2 Generals and 2 Skirmishers.

"I would train horse archers in Kallatis however."- Cant, not enough income.