EB 2.? AI Faction Progression Thread

[Antigonos Karchedonios]

In the old EB I forum, back in my lurking days I always loved this thread: EB I faction progression thread
So i thought this is a wonderful tradition to continue with the newest edition of Europa Barbarorum!

Post the minimap (after uncovering it with toggle_fow) and show us how the AI is progressing. If you have time write a short overview what the more active factions did so far and where war is going on. i start as an example:

100 turns = 25 years in my Boii campaign (M/M)



Boii: I staret taking all the rebel settlements around me. Only war so far is with the Romanii when they tried expanding into the Balkans, couldn't allow this. Allied with Macedonia and the Aeduii.

Sweboz: Expanded slowly, they started a war with the Lugiones some years ago and just steamrolled them. I might have to intervene soon.

Aedui/ Arverni: Fighting the gallic civil war, so far Arverni winning, but Arevaci and Romani just joined in by declearing war on them.

Kart Hadasht/Numidia:Big surprise for me! Numidians started the war and took Carthage after a few turns. then they proceeded to take over the whole of modern Tunisia. Now the war is a bit cooling down in the recent years. Carthage was quiet active in Sicily at the beginning, taking Syracuse and messana after a few years into the game.

Arche Seleucida/PtolemaioiWarring in Syria and Asia minor, so far only Halikarnassos changed hands...Seleucids are also only at war with this foe, everybody else refreined from attakcing them, even the Parthains so far (they only took one settlement that had rebelled from AS earlyer) Big difference from most EB I campaigns.

Bactria Quite active from the beginning, made the Saka their protectorate after about 50 turns.

So I make another post after 200 turns, now it's your turn!

[Moros]

I started a campaign today:

68 turns in. Pergamon had no family members left or something and was destroyed without ever fighting a war.

The only really intersting war going on is Arverni vs Rome. The Arverni actually controlled two or three settlements at some point but the Romans were well...Romans.

[QuintusSertorius]

My Epeiros-as-Massalia game, 257BC (I think it's turn 63), on M/M and I've been tinkering a little (to keep the Romani out of Gallia and once to prevent Kart-Hadast falling to the Massylians; also given the Eleutheroi a lot of money on a few occasions):



Those three blue blobs under the frame are mine (yes, I only have three provinces so far).

In my game, the smaller factions seem to be racing away, but the larger ones are mostly stalling. The Seleukids seem to be having provinces revolt left, right and centre.

[Lysandros]

257BC

247BC

This is an M/M Seleucid campaign before applying the new AI. Obviously, I am not a very aggressive player and this game was also more for testing and getting to know the mod. I have to say that there is much to do for the Seleucid king even without a superaggressive AI (and I got addicted).
Anyway: The Koinon Hellenon lost to Makedonia though they at least kept having an army larger than the Makedonians' in Athens at a fort to the north of Athens. Unfortunately, it just sits there. The Koinon Hellenon further had conquered Crete, but you see the Ptolemaioi got it, so now the KH is reduced to Rhodos. At least they repel invading Makedonians (who had been too weak in numbers when I saw them there)!
I centred on Gaul for the 247 BC map because those other green Gauls (Areuakoi?) are hard to see on the minimap.
The Parthians have a province west of the Caspian Sea, probably because of a rebellion.
Interesting progression, I think, and I like it!

[Kleitos]

hello,

i thought i try to ask here: how you open the console in EBII - to be able to type the commands like toggle_fow (never played M2TW - only purchased it for this great Mod - so i dont know)
of course i tried the ^ button like in RTW but it doesnt work.

[Arjos]

how you open the console in EBII

Press "@"

[Hotseat_User]

Kleitos, with a german keyboard, it might be one of the "Umlaut"-buttons. At least, that's what i remember...

[Thaatu]

'Ö' with a Scandinavian layout.

[Kleitos]

thanks for your answers - im gonna try these

[QuintusSertorius]

Restarted my Epeiros-as-Massalia game with the new CAI (v2), this is turn 71:



Just rescued Pergamon from destruction, they left their capital undefended with three full stacks in three different directions.

[Mouzafphaerre]

​

hello,

i thought i try to ask here: how you open the console in EBII - to be able to type the commands like toggle_fow (never played M2TW - only purchased it for this great Mod - so i dont know)
of course i tried the ^ button like in RTW but it doesnt work.

Independent of the keyboard layout, the key just left of 1.
​

[QuintusSertorius]

Ha! Having just bitched about having to save Pergamon, here's 251BC/turn 86:



Note how they've started to rebuild Lysimachos' Thraikian Kingdom, from the European side?

I helped Makedonia taken Krete, transported two armies there, the second one eventually did the job. The Bosporans finally got moving. The Lugiones have exploded (again). The Massylians have suddenly collapsed.

[Blovski]

Turn 41 (10 years in). Bosporan Kingdom, H/H. New CAI (ver 2). No meddling. Alliances with Sauromatae and Koinon Hellenon.

Macedon is the first to go (literally this turn) as the victim of the good old Pan-Hellenic dogpile. Either the KH or Epeiros killed its family members in battle as all their former possessions are a juicy power vacuum in Greece. KH and Epeiros are at war with each other and the Ptolemies and Rome respectively. Rome is really growing like a nettle and is fighting Carthage for Sardinia now. Epeiros has a chunky stack in South Italy but I think that'll only last until Rome turns around. Otherwise not much idea if anything exceptional is going on.

I'm a healthy 5 rust-red provinces on the edge of the Black Sea now. Have a nice few thousand in income and a standing army of hoplites, HAs and xystophoroi. Debating whether to kill one-province Dacia with a mix of hoplites and horse archers or to take a weakened Byzantium and then rush to grab some former Makedonian possessions before the Greeks and Epeirotes gobble them up.

[joshmahurin]

Glad to see Hayasdan actually took a province! Also interesting that Makedonia fell so quickly.

[GRANTO]

Glad to see Hayasdan actually took a province! Also interesting that Makedonia fell so quickly.

there generaly is a loser in thr greek war with being such a small space and them at war from the start...in version 3 all small like hayasdan and bosphorous come alive..as dp pahlava, baktria , saba, soramatae etc...

[mmiki]

Makedon, M/M, turn 50, CAI version from Aug 30:


I took it as slowly as I thought was reasonable, considering Greece is pure chaos. Epirote failed to take Thermon several times. Took out 2 Epirote full stacks but didn't take any of their provinces. Used force diplomacy to force them into cease fire (both our kings died in the battle, so it made sense). Yes, that's them in Messina. They are at war with Carthage, that is controlling Rhegion.

Took out KH's mainland cities. In a suicidal move, they landed an army next to Halicarnassus. I might take Rhodos soon because I know they are going to piss off the Ptolomei enough sooner or later. But then again, I might be grabbing land too fast.

Took (neutral) Crete 5 turns ago. I'm actually losing money from controlling it (with low taxes).

In a stunning turn of events (not really), Romans are ignoring the south.

As a side note, Syracuse falls rather quickly in all games I played so far.

[Maldaran]

Pritanoi VH/M on turn 145 with the first version of the CAI:


145 turns in and still no factions have been destroyed.

Im allied with the Aedui Arverni Boii and the Arevaci.
After uniting all the tin isles i began sacking Carthage's Iberian colonies but after a few turns of the cities changing hands i decided to stop raiding and take them over. After awhile i was able to truce them out and began pushing north into the Lusotannan territory and now were at peace with them having just one province left. I've since begun raiding Carthage again taking Sardina as a jumping off point to raid further down their coast.
In the rest of the world, Pontos Nabatean Pergamon and Numidia are all vassals of either the Grey, Yellow, or White blobs of death and live relatively peacefully. Eperios Carthage and Rome are all best friends which is horrible. Eperios kicked the Koinon out and are half way through with Macedonia. The Getai have wandered over and took the province above Pontos capital.
The Grey death have seemed to be getting the uperhand on the Yellow, they've taken Cyprus and a few others and seem to declare war on each other every other turn. Further east the Baktrians have made it clear that past the Grey death is their territory, the Taksashila are on their last legs and might be the first faction to be eliminated with the Baktrians besieging the last two Taksashila provinces.

[GRANTO]

Pritanoi VH/M on turn 145 with the first version of the CAI:


145 turns in and still no factions have been destroyed.

Im allied with the Aedui Arverni Boii and the Arevaci.
After uniting all the tin isles i began sacking Carthage's Iberian colonies but after a few turns of the cities changing hands i decided to stop raiding and take them over. After awhile i was able to truce them out and began pushing north into the Lusotannan territory and now were at peace with them having just one province left. I've since begun raiding Carthage again taking Sardina as a jumping off point to raid further down their coast.
In the rest of the world, Pontos Nabatean Pergamon and Numidia are all vassals of either the Grey, Yellow, or White blobs of death and live relatively peacefully. Eperios Carthage and Rome are all best friends which is horrible. Eperios kicked the Koinon out and are half way through with Macedonia. The Getai have wandered over and took the province above Pontos capital.
The Grey death have seemed to be getting the uperhand on the Yellow, they've taken Cyprus and a few others and seem to declare war on each other every other turn. Further east the Baktrians have made it clear that past the Grey death is their territory, the Taksashila are on their last legs and might be the first faction to be eliminated with the Baktrians besieging the last two Taksashila provinces.

is this the release CAI??..i liked it as well, it was way too slow for many players and parts of it were broken...
but i like the idea of a very very long campaign and its something i aim to do later when the mod has matured with age... ps .there must be some amount of stacks on the campaign map can you post some pics and are they all standing around cities? ta

[Blovski]

Still in the lazy uncropped style. Next time I will be better. Turn 81/20 years in. Same Bosporan H/H campaign as before.

Interesting things:

I basically sent in an army to assassinate the Getai leadership then ended up leaving their provinces to head for Byzantion, making them the second faction to fall in turn 46. Wanted to just make sure my back was free but now feel slightly remorseful. The KH got to Pella after I prevaricated about it and headed for the essentially un-holdable bits of Dacia instead. Away from my deceptively small-looking empire...

Rome and KH are both big points of concern and both bullying the remnants of Epeiros. The whole East appears pretty indecisive. The Lusotannan took the northwestern tip of Gaul and both of the Iberian factions are spilling into Gaul. Pergamon are probably the nearest threat, assuming Rome and KH go to war with each other but I almost feel mean naval dropping a massive stack on their capital for an assassination. Carthage are doing alright, at war with both Rome and the Areuakoi.

Four main options standing out to me right now:

1. target the softer Dacian and Thracian provinces and try to secure them before Rome or the KH work their way over there.
2. Cross the Hellespont and try to create a littoral empire, fairly flimsy opposition with just Pergamon, Pontos and the Eleutheroi but I don't really want to spend the next 800 turns fighting the two Deaths once I'm through that.
3. grab the KH by the horns and try and kick them out of Pella and Greece while they're distracted with Epeiros and Rome.
4. disband my second stack. Use massive income to develop my homelands.
(5. Ship my second stack home. Backstab the Sauromatae massively.)

I'm really enjoying how open the Bosporan starting position is and that even at this point I've got a ton of distinct mechanical options with very distinct flavour overtones.

[QuintusSertorius]

Turn 153 (yes, no expansion from me since the last one):



It's all been kicking off the last 30 turns or so, suddenly the AI factions are starting to turn on each other. Karthadastim just decided I needed to go and have almost wiped out my allies, the Areuakoi. I need to save them, then humble those Phoenicians.

[Antigonos Karchedonios]

Turn 50 in my pritanoi campaign. Everybody building up nicely and slowly (with the ususal exeption of Pergamon and Pontos). Only war so far is the first Punic War which is probably scripted when Carthage takes Syraucuse (?).

[mmiki]

Only war so far is the first Punic War which is probably scripted when Carthage takes Syraucuse (?).

When either Rome or Carthage takes Messina(Messana), which is what caused the first Punic war historically.

I'm actually surprised to see Rome expand south in your game, in a few of my games so far they didn't take Tarentum within the first 90 or so turns.

[GRANTO]

Turn 50 in my pritanoi campaign. Everybody building up nicely and slowly (with the ususal exeption of Pergamon and Pontos). Only war so far is the first Punic War which is probably scripted when Carthage takes Syraucuse (?).

No not scripted, i made that happen solely through CAI work.

[mmiki]

No not scripted, i made that happen solely through CAI work.

I'm positive there is a script when a player is involved...Or at least there was in my Rome test game.

Does that not apply to two AIs?

[GRANTO]

I'm positive there is a script when a player is involved...Or at least there was in my Rome test game.

Does that not apply to two AIs?

not sure , i was able to move it around from my CAI work both as a rome player and without, surely if it was a script it would be consistent...i must check up on that ..thanks.

[Maldaran]

is this the release CAI??..

Sorry when i said the first version of the CAI i should have said the first version of the updated CAI that came out a few days after the release

[mmiki]

Continuation from previous post:
Turn 100 Makedon, M/M, CAI Aug 30th version



Took Rhodos around turn 55, eliminating KH.

Took Epirote Greek holdings (turn 76 and turn 99). They lost Messana to Qart-Hadast and signed peace quickly afterwards. They are down to holding only Taras but they are marching a full stack towards undefended Arpi, while the Romani are busy fighting over Rhegion with the Phoenicians and, well, expanding north as is apparent. They aren't at war with the Romans yet, but something tells me that won't last long.

Pergamon has expanded, taking Bythinia (not sure what the city name is, Nikea maybe?). They have been trying to take Byzantion for the last 40 turns or so, but their attempts at doing so have been half-hearted at best, while Byzation is defended by almost a full stack of Eleutheroi troops.

Pontos has expanded nicely. Seleukids have trouble holding onto their lands which is a very welcome sight.

Getai were attacking Tylis for at least 30-40 turns before they managed to take it.

Dalmatia is defended by a full stack of Illyrian troops and it resisted attempts by both Romani and Epirotes to take it. Might end up being my next target.

All in all, I'm very happy with how this looks.

[mmiki]

Same save, turn 150:



While I was having fun simulating a dynastic struggle, all sorts of things happened. Romans completely rolled over Sicily, made progress into Gaul, and invaded Numidia.

Boii went into conquest mode, took Lugiones home city, turning them into nomads (I think, there was an event that said something like that). Unfortunately, they don't seem to be just standing around their old city and not doing much of anything.

After Pergamon was attacking Byzantion rather ineffectively for another 20 turns, a Getai stack showed up and rolled it over in 2 turns. Peragmon and Getai are now at war, we'll see how it works out.

Oh, and Epiros is still alive in Tarentum. It's almost undefended. It's like Romans have a blind spot there, it's silly.

I might need to stop mucking about and start conquering more. Ptolomei look like a juicy target...

[Folgore]

Turn 100 in my Pergamon M/M game.

Had a bit of an odd start, what with my faction leader dying of old age on turn 2 and my FM commanding my entire army being bribed on turn 3. Allied on turn 1 with Arche Seleukeia and they've kept me safe ever since. Currently at war with Makedonia, as they attacked (and captured) my faction leader while he was building watchtowers along the borders (only to release him without ransom). They're getting pretty beat up by Epeiros, so I managed to capture Pella without too much trouble. Just lost a major battle when I attacked 2 of their full stacks (5000 men) with my army (2000 men) near Tylis. Quite an interesting battle, which was more or less even for the first half hour, but my medium cavalry could not stand up to his heavy cavalry, so I had no troops to hammer his flank and they won the battle of attrition on the main battle line because of their numerical superiority. Still, I killed about 3000 of them, so once I've retrained my forces, I can go back in and take the town.

[Yavana]

@mmiki Your game seems great, I love the development of the AI. I love this thread in general :D