1.x AI Faction Progression Thread

[SwissBarbar]

nice gaul, nice sweboz, very nice pontos and promising makedonian expansion. i hope the Hay, Pontos, Baktria, Pahlava and Saba can withstand the Seleukids and expand furthermore

[Mediolanicus]

Rome 226 + BI, no FD used (and reposted because of new page [on my - default - settings])

nice gaul, nice sweboz, very nice pontos and promising makedonian expansion. i hope the Hay, Pontos, Baktria, Pahlava and Saba can withstand the Seleukids and expand furthermore

Macedon was down to Pella and Lesbos by 245. Epeiros and the Getai had taken all the rest, but then Macedon came back.
Now Epeiros are down to 2 settlements (Demetrios and Athena), although I had a hand in that by taking their Adriatic possesions.
It's a shame that the Getai lost 3 settlements to Macedon... They fell silent now.

Plus, I might put a stop to Macedon now. It's either that or taking Spain that is next on my list.

Pontos is still expanding, so they will hold on. Although the Seleucids and the Ptolies just signed a ceasefire so that the Seleucids might focus on Pontos alone.

Hay are going to the steppes. You just can't keep them away from there...

The Sauros started well but then 2 settlement rebelled to the Sweboz and they went braindead.

Pahlava has been losing some settlement to the Seleucids the last 2 decades.

Baktria is still growing.

[LordCurlyton]

I'm going to sack the hell out of Roma, then give it back to the Romans(I still have the #1 gov for them there) and make them a permanant one-province protectorate until the March of Time.

Note that Roma itself will not trigger the March of Time upon reaching Huge. Give them Arretium instead.

[Mediolanicus]

Note that Roma itself will not trigger the March of Time upon reaching Huge. Give them Arretium instead.

Unless you have MAA's city mod installed, that is.

[Subotan]

More nice Pontos expansion.

[LordCurlyton]

Unless you have MAA's city mod installed, that is.

I stand corrected but then I never used the city mod.

On other news...


I'm sure I don't need to tell you who I am.
Most of the progression has been fairly standard with a few notable exceptions, all of which are directly or indirectly related to my actions.
The first is that the Aedui are holding on and gaining ground mainly because I allied with them then allied with the Sweboz, which put them at peace. The Aedui and Sweboz are now allies themselves while I am no longer an ally of the Aedui. Next is the slow Baktrian demise after I gifted them my "at-risk" provinces. It finally came crashing down for them around 234 BC when the Pahlava stormed Baktra, then the Saka in 230 BCE after it revolted back to Baktria. Now they sit as the Saka's protectorate and I eagerly await the coming of the Saka *sarcasm*. After that we have the situation in Greece. I eliminated the KH mainly b/c I had no desire to see them grow by revolution and then had a brief war with the Maks in which we traded Sparta for Mytilene. Now the Maks sit at peace with the world, though I doubt it can lat too much longer as Epeiros blocks their expansion. Speaking of those green buggers....wow. I thought Rome was going to steamroll as by 260 BCE it had taken Corsica, Sardinia, the Balaeric Isles, all of Sicily, all of Italy, and was expanding along the coast into Spain. they had the Arveni as a 3 province protectorate and for a couple decades had Epeiros as a 6 or 7 province protectorate. Then it all started to unravel about 10 years ago. All those cities that normally would have revolted to the KH? Well now the went to Epeiros. Taras, Rhegion, and Syracuse all revolted in under a year to Epeiros, naturally canceling the protectorship. The cutting off of funds and troops from that area proved deadly as the Carthies wasted little time in seizing Corsica and Sardinia back, further crippling Roman income. Once the Carthies marched up the coast of Spain and began assaulting advance Roman positions, it was over. Unable to hold back the quadruple threat of Gauls, Greeks, Germans, and Africans the Romans have just collapsed and been split apart, with Epeiros being the big winner of the pie-grabbing contest.
We'll get to see if the Carthies can survive outside of Africa as I intend to drive them out now that they have begun the Sand Wars with me.
Other than that, fairly expected AI progression.

One question though: are the TAB a post-reform or post-March of Time unit. None of my L5 barracks that I have built will allow me to recruit them.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

I'm going to sack the hell out of Roma, then give it back to the Romans(I still have the #1 gov for them there) and make them a permanant one-province protectorate until the March of Time.

For some reason Rome doesn't trigger March of Time event. Romans need at least one other Italian settlement for that.

Edit: Gah! Should've read the rest of the posts in here before replying!

[Olaf The Great]

For some reason Rome doesn't trigger March of Time event. Romans need at least one other Italian settlement for that.

Edit: Gah! Should've read the rest of the post in here before replying!

Haha.

Well, thanks for the advice people, I'm probably going to give them capua or arrentium..bummer.

[Subotan]

I've started a Baktria game, and the Seleukids conquered Galatia, and it revolted Arveni by 269 BC.

[Mediolanicus]

I stand corrected but then I never used the city mod.

I wasn't trying to correct you or anything, I was just pointing it out. :)

Strange map you've got there. Good Getai expansion. Weird Roman expansion...

I've started a Baktria game, and the Seleukids conquered Galatia, and it revolted Arveni by 269 BC.

Happens quite a lot...

[LordCurlyton]

*insert Star Wars Imperial theme*
Mission Accomplished on driving the Carthies out of Africa. Now the Confederation of the Balaeres must fight for its survival against its many mainland enemies (now including the Arveni!).
The Romans are basically trading exterior territories for consolidation. If things keep going as they have in the next 5-10 years the Romans might mount a comeback. They've already retaken Arretium and with Epeiros engaged by the Maks and me they might yet get back into Roma. Even though the Aedui are not fighting the Sweboz they still seem to be running short of cash. The Saka have begun assaulting the Eleutheroi cities now that they eliminated Baktria. Saka-Sauro war not unexpected and the Sauro are slowly losing ground as usual.

[johnhughthom]

Love that empire, whats next, across the Hellespont? As for TABs, the AI always seem to throw them at me early in my Pahlav games so I don't think they are a post reform unit.

[LordCurlyton]

Well I should have mentioned I got my answer: tis a unit you get with Kataphraktoi. Makes sense, considering the description given in-game I guess. Definitely isn't the March of Time, since the Romans never made a Huge City (with the possible exception of Roma).
What's next? Well, I'll be defensive for a bit while I consolidate and develop my new domains, probably take Byzantion and shore things up there. Keep a strong enough garrison and my Getic allies will stay preoccupied with the steppe battles and sending stacks into super-Eleutheroi territory. After that, presuming the Saka have not attacked our extended border. I will conquer Greece and Macedonia and then work on finishing my VCs in the East, which means I'll be the aggressor in the inevitable clash of titans. Even with Catas I'm not looking forward to fighting the Saka.
EDIT: I'm tempted to take the last two Hai settlements (I know I will have to eventually for VC) so I can build up and get some noble HAs.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

Romani
234BC
EB 1.1
My previously known 'Autoresolve all battles' campaign.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Year 238BC for reference.

There was a battle against Sweboz that I fought. They attacked me in Bagacos(sp?) and if I would've lost that then all my settlements in Gaul would've been easy pickings because my other Army there was fighting against Aedui and all new Legions I recruited I had sent against KH.

[Hax]

Romani Campaign.
No Forced Diplomacy

262 BCE


252 BCE


242 BCE


232 BCE

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Romani: That's me. Things are going pretty swell, I'm expanding steadily and without any haste (though I had to kick the Sweboz back over the mountains

Kart-Hadast: Have been pretty dormant after I slapped them out of Sicilia.

Arche Seleukeia: Were doing pretty well, until they were being attacked by the Ptolemaioi, Pahlava and Hayasdan(!).

Ptolemaioi: Nothing spectacular, killing Seleucids.

Baktria: Were doing okay against the Sakae, but then lost their capital and most of their provinces.

Sakae: Killing Baktria, and have been attacking Seleucid settlements.

Sauromatae: Nothing really interesting. Usual stuff.

Pahlava: Expanding into Seleucid territory, though not really fast.

Hayasdan: Un-ho-ly crap. When I saw that they and the AS were at war, I found out that the Hay took the first step, and they had conquered Karkathiokerta and Edessa, which is really unusual. They have also taken Seleukeia, but you can see that in the next update.

Pontos: Dormant until about 240, after which they went insane and conquered Mazaka and Sinope shortly after another.

Epeiros: Conquered Pella and Thracian settlements, blah blah.

Makedonia: Got slapped hard by the Koinon Hellenon and Epeiros.

Koinon Hellenon: Regained all of the Peleponessos and Athenai, and Halikarnassos recently rebelled.

Getai: Good expansion, grabbing settlements all around Buridava.

Sweboz: Took the usual route, crossing into the Alps, after which they tried to take Mediolanum. I then sent three legions to deal with these Teutonic invasions and then I gifted the Alpic towns to the Aedui (who are my allies).

Aedui: Engaged with the Arverni, got two settlements as a gift and are gaining the upper hand in this fight.

Arverni: Engaged with the Aedui, are slowly losing to the Aedui.

Casse/Lusotannan: Normal expansion.

[johnhughthom]

From my AAR at 229BC.

[Ignopotens]

so you're Rome?

[johnhughthom]

so you're Rome?

Yep.

[Subotan]

I'm loving the Sauro/Qarthadast expansion.

[LordCurlyton]

Time marches on...
Alas, I was not able to stay on my side of the Hellespoint as Epeiros has held its own against all the AI attackers and has vigorously pursued conflict with me, both on land and sea. This has forced me to maintain a lovely income-depleting fleet in Africa and in the Aegean. Coupled with the fact that all my FMs are beginning to die and I am getting no new ones to replace them, or any viable alternatives (sorry, creepy 73 year old, you don't make it), I am suffering a dearth of competency at the moment, which has eaten into my income far more than the fleets. Watching a few k on about 10 major central provinces disappear puts a crimp in the spending. In fact, one could say I am suffering a major recession at the moment. My treasury has been steadily dropping for the last 10 years from around 400k to 40k but has begun to stabilize as I've begun to stop building those expensive mega projects in the well-developed heartlands. But it is going to be touch and go for a while as Africa still requires large garrisons, but at least some of the provinces are beginning to get large enough that i can upgrade the town to my culture, which will help my income by letting me reduce the garrisons. Also, I may just start running festivals in more distant, safe locales and disband some garrison. Surely the cost of bread and circuses is less than the cost of the beefy garrisons needed to keep people happy.
Thankfully for me the AI has been typically dumb in developing MICs and it has only a few centers of production that it gets its decent units from. As you can tell, I'm busy taking out the most dangerous part of Epeiros' MICs, which almost certainly will lead me into conflict with the Maks (again), but then that is my plan anyways. They'll be an easy kill since Epeiros did the legwork and took the Maks well-developed MICs. The only other developed MICs that Epeiros has is Rome, Arretium, Dalminion, and Syracuse. All that Celtic/Thraikian territory the have? Not a single MIC in the whole lot. A shame really. Usually the AI will build MICs where new units are available. Won't complain about removing Chaionian Agema (sp?) out of the equation, though. They love to munch on my units in battle or in auto-calc.
All in all, I'm pleased with the fight Epeiros put (is putting) up since it forced my to send back and replenish my Africa-conquering armies, which took several years on its own, but now they are back and leading the charge. Well, not quite a charge as a slog, as each has suffered roughly 20-25% casualties at the moment and must remain on the defensive while I train some more troops to garrison. Thankfully the war over Pella and Byzantion likely broke the best of the Epeirotes, especially the Byzantion conflict, which saw an exchange of control several times and many high-level Epeirote FMs committed to the cause.
On a different note, the Romani got to the Marians apparently before their big collapse. In fact, it must have happened right at the start of the collapse as the first two cities to revolt to Epeiros don't have the Marian marker but the rest do. Which means Epeiros' conquest is even more amazing since they marched through a bunch of Marian legions to do so (one would imagine). Or, as I think happened, Rome got caught in 5 wars, had all these Camillan troops out there, suddenly got the Polybians, maybe upgraded a MIC or two, then the AI Marian trigger kicked in at the most inopportune time, leaving all these armies without fresh faces. In the rush to resupply, the revolt happened, and Rome just got screwed by bad timing. That, and they started spamming Vigiles everywhere that wasn't a developed MIC instead of developing even the Regional MIC. Thankfully, they are holding on in the area they did develop their MICs. Whether they can fend off the mighty Lusotannan, the Aedui, Epeiros, and the Sweboz is uncertain, but at least they got some turf back via rebellion (Mediolanum and Patavium), which has also conveniently split my enemy in two, meaning I may not have to assume control of Italy and Sicily to end this war.
I feel sorry for the Getai, almost. They didn't start the war with Epeiros and their grand armies have been crushed mostly, but then they may have actually put up a fight if they hadn't kept sending stacks into the meat grinder of Central Europe. Or capitalized on the Sauromatae being occupied by the Saka.
Carthage is holding out, barely. After i kicked them out of Africa they lost their Spanish holdings in swift succession. I've considered attempting to provoke a revolt in Mastia and Gader in an attempt to give them some traction again. Ironically, since they too are at war with Epeiros they have allied with me and made peace with Rome.
The Arveni and Luso are now at war and this will likely draw the Aedui in as well soon, since they are now allies. After getting the Sauro territory by revolt the Sweboz have stalled mainly since they keep trying to send reinforcements to said province over very hostile, and deadly, Eleutheroi territory. The Casse will probably sit on their Isle for the next few centuries wondering what all the hubbub on the mainland is about.

[Subotan]

Your empire is now the biggest the world has ever seen.
Gratz.
Sounds like an actual war is taking place :D, and I'm loving that Roman remnant in Iberia. But why aren't you taking Arachosia/India?

[Ignopotens]

I'm wondering more about why he hasn't taken Gerrha, it's so close to the capital and doesn't even add a new border threat.

[Tellos Athenaios]

Uhh chances are his capital is not Seleukeia but Antiocheia instead. Doesn't harm the Eastern bit too much, most of the troublesome provinces are at the max 80% penalty limit regardless, but sure does help when expanding to the West. Believe you me: upon capture, Halikarnassos can be an absolute pain to control with an in-experienced governor when the capital is in Seleukeia, but it sure is a heck of a lot easier when he gets orders from Antiocheia instead.

Gerrha tends to be troublesome with or without the capital seat in Seleukeia. And as you say: it can be captured any time you will, making it probably a low priority in what looks like a 3 front war.

[LordCurlyton]

That and it adds no new notable troops or mines to my empire. Also the trade I would gain from taking Gerrha would be minimal at best. That area generally underwhelms in terms of trade.
I'm not taking Arachosia/India because: I don't have to yet, generally the Seleukids had decent relations with the Mauryans and invading is hardly friendly, and I want the Saka to actually become true Indo-Saka. They're going to be a pain anyways when the war happens; I'm still amazed they haven't attacked me yet but I guess my large, prominent garrisons and large walls are an effective deterrent. That and I left the Eleutheroi there to entice them to stay away from me. So far, so good.
The reason the Saba are stagnant is that several decades ago, right after finishing off the Prolies I marched down there and made them a Protectorate. It involved besieging all their towns simultaneously plus depleting their armies and a few of their FMs, but being nice and giving their provinces back + money (which you get back anyways) worked. I REALLY didn't want continual thorns in my backside emerging from there, so I dealt with it. I ended up doing the same with the Hai and I gave them back Kotais so they would act as a buffer state.
And my capital is still in Seleukeia, so this unwanted western expansion is troublesome, to say the least. I'll switch back to Antiochea once I upgrade the Pahlava territories. Of course, that is if they aren't already at 80% *makes note to check*, otherwise I'm going to switch over ASAP.
EDIT: Now that I think about it, I'm not sure WHERE my capital is. Its either Seleukeia or Antiochea but its been so long I forget whether I switched back to Antiochea or not.

[johnhughthom]

Eight years on from my last post.

edit: thought I should explain the Arverni, I was trying to keep all three barbarian factions about the same level to keep them occupied with each other so conquered and gave them the two settlements immediately north of the Alps. I bribed a Carthaginian army that was coming toward Massalia and used the three units left to take an Aedui town and give it to the Arverni, then another, then another, then another. Those three units (it was only two Maures and one Iberian light spear) took four Aedui towns before I disbanded them in the last one. So I think I have slightly unbalanced the situation, still it's nice to see lime green dominate for a change. Oh and yes they did betray me, immediately after I gave them two cities, 10000 and 100 a turn for twenty turns. Oh RTW campaign AI, how we love thee.

[Mediolanicus]

I absolutely love that eastern part of your map johnhughthom! Gallia and Germany are nice too.


Little update from my SPQR campaign in 218BC (just before the invasion of Africa).



Arverni are going to die. They still have 3 cities but all are under seige by the Aedui.

The Germans are on steriods!!! They have 10 or so fullstacks, took one of the Alpine regions (and defeated the spawning army), took Mediolanum from the Aedui (which I took from them) and are now going against the Boii and even against the Getai! i manage to chace them back over the alps and I now have ceasefire that seems to last.

The Casse are doing resonably well.

Makedon is exploding and eating the Getai. I am allied with Makedon and Pontos and they are allied too. That explains why Makedon goes north.

KH is losing against Epeiros in Greece.

Pontos... well... just look at them!

Hay: great armies but they keep going into the steppes, conquering and losing the cities again by rebellion...

Ptolies : started slow, but I'm afraid they've started getting a fever lately...

Pahlava and Baktria are holding out well against the Seleucies.

[Sagittarius]

Playing RTW EB 1.1, since I started crafting Roman empire before the 1.2 patch, I am determined to finish it.
Difficulty level VH/VH.
It all started in 272 BC - will not place the world map since everyone knows how it looks at the very begining...
The expansion of Roman Republic started heavily towards south - the wars were limited to merely sieges of eleuthroi towns plus taras - since the soldiers were too few and too expensive, actually shocking expensive, the Rome and its provinces were totally undeveloped and could field only one full legion.
The conflict with Carthage started pretty much after Roman army entered the Sicily. Carthage did not manage to achieve the Cannae succes despite I thought it will. In this epic battle Carthage used 2 separate armies with elephant units and in general the battle was very chaotic - the initial order of roman ranks disturbed after defeating the first army and then came reinforcements with elephants. Romans barely managed to make 2 separate battle lines of tired troops - first was routed after a long fight, but the other line managed to take out the elephant units and some of carthage cavalry and then again remaining forces clashed. By a mirracle it was the carthage's forces wich routed finally... It was a pyrric victory.. I mean not much left of my legion, but then again... Carthage forces in sicily and as later appeared the carhage - the capital was undefended too.
Romans quickly tried to exploit this, there were few heavy battles in nothern africa, but Carthage was doomed, since its sicilian armies were destroyed, and they lost their homeland because the rest of their armies were commited in conquering the western africa and struggling for spain. The homeland was totally undefended.
But not everything was that easy for Romans - during the war with carthage Romans tried to expand northwards, but brave Aedui nation had some gaisatae in their ranks, so the Roman advance after some heavy losses had to be stopped, but only when Romans finally captured Mediolanum. Gaisatae filled armies proved that expansion northwards is total suicide.
Luckily the peace was signed with Epeiros, so they forgot about their italian holdings, however the Koinon Helenikon decided that Taras is greek city, not roman - and invasion by force of 2 armies started - the romans had to use mercenary armies to initially defend the homeland and later destroy those greek armies, but could not punish greeks for thier actions - simply there was not enought army to make offensive campaign in greece. Greek diplomacy was very treacherous - Romans signed peace with them for 3 times - each time they were breaking it as soon as the garrisons from italy were sent to help fight in north africa. Here is the general view of roman republic and its enemies in 241 BC:

[Sagittarius]

So.. the war went on... Romans decided to wipe out the Carthage totally - so the invasion into Iberia was next logical step. It was done from 2 sides - 1 roman legion, mostly heavy infantry with light cavalry support was ferried by sea to the north of iberia, the other army, consisting mostly from veteran legionaries heavily mixed with all kinds of local mercenaries started invasion into iberia from northern africa shore.
The invasion was succesful, the aim to destroy carthage was complete - it was not hard... the hard part was holding those possesions. The enemy was wild lusitanians this time - they were the first to start war. The war became very difficult due to unability to ferry reinforcements - the piracy (eleuthroi) was on the rise.. and romans had no money for good ships.
Romans had initial succes but only till they had some legionaries left in Iberia, but pretty soon the legions were reduced to 4 full roman units, and local iberiant infantry of very bad quality started to be used in this conflict. Bloody victories and terrible losses - that is what romans remember from iberian war. The roman army was not falling apart only because it was led by 3 veteran commanders, who crushed the carthage. The help of legionaries was still badly needed for the offensive operations, so decision was to cut the route through the coastline from italy to iberia. 3 full legions were sent to the iberia to win the war... But only 1 of them managed to get there... Averni did not like the newcommers I guess :) But still, that 1 legion plus freshly conquered coastline towns improved military and financial situation in Iberia, and the balance was destroyed - lusitanians started to retreat towars the northwest till there was no place to retreal. Total victory. And triumphator general was taken to Rome to get the triumph ;)
Fight in iberia was not the only theater of war... the romans expanded their north africa posessions (fighting eleuthroi), but due to lack of troops it was slow. And the most eastern posession - Augila - just south of Kyrene, was quickly soon disputed by Ptolemaic egyptians. Romans did not have strong armies on eastern border, only one army, which was made of local libyan infantry, numudian cavalry, garamantines and mercenaries tried to interrupt the Ptolemaic intentions, 6 times Augila changed the masters, but finally, after agema kleruchoi, kleruchoi galaktikoi, and kleruchoi phalangitai became quite usual units in egyptian armies - Romans had to forget that Augila was their posession, and to accept the shame of defeat. War went on at the east of africa, but from now on - only defensive.
After conquering iberia, there were more money in the treasury of Roman Republic, what is next logic decision? Of course the punishment of some enemy. Ok, this decision was based not on the logic, but purely on the purpose of revange. Greeks. 3 times I asked for peace with them, and each time they were accepting it and then breaking and dragging funds from other theaters of war into the defence of italy. The Naval invasion was made by 4 legions - 1st having best succes and hiring all the mercenaries in greece to hold the posessions, 2nd legion was totally annihilated by 600 greek infantry and 600 mercenary cavalry, 3rd and 4th legions totally overhelmed the greece and sieged last remaining greek town there. Rest of greeks went to live into exile - Krymean penninsula... next to scythians. A right place for a treacherous nation - somewhere next to nomads ;)
After getting the greece with it's rich trading cities - the was became easier. The decision was made to destroy gallic nations - aedui and averni, and also to cut a coastal way into the greece - right throught epirote territory. War with epirotes was not hard, barracks were constantly training troops, the money flow was constant, so epiros was kicked out of their western posessions pretty fast. I guess by kickin the greeks and epirotes I helped macedonians a lot - they were badly beaten by those 2 nations. By the 220 BC the map of the world looked like this:

[Sagittarius]

And again.. the war went on...
Averni were destroyed, their arch-enemy Aedui were fighting Sweboz tribes, who were in peace with me I guess only thanx to to my fort system in nothern italy which was garrisoned by a lot of troops.
Main effort was to get control of Gallia, since it was quite easy and not only Aedui, but Sweboz posessions were not heavily defended - the invading legions battled both enemies at same time. Easy at the beginning war versus Sweboz turned out to be difficult and epic - I was sending one legion after another - Sweboz leaders had exelent foot body guards, exellent veteran armies with lots of chevrons, I even tried to pair those legions - send pairs of legions (so they would help each other in case of battle) - with up to 8-10 legions operating at the same time in sweboz territory. There were victories, however there were heavy losses tooo... Enemies had 10 star general which was around 58 years old when I first encountered him, and have huge bonuses to the morale of sweboz armies. I lost 4 battles versus him, I was always outnumbering him, and I was throwing better quality troops at him - nothing helped. Even good roman generals did not help a lot - they watched the armies getting annihilated, tried to charge enemy infantry from behind, but... still had to retreat.
But... the Sweboz ability to raise new troops was lowering, since they stared to loose some territories, Roman legions were coming closer and closer to sweboz capital town - Swebotrastasnaunoz. It was taken. It was taken in the epic battle where 2 legions finally beated 3 drained sweboz armies, and all their leaders died in the battle. Unfortunatelly romans could not revange on that old sweboz general, who annihilated 4 legions. Only after that battle I realised that this general went to his ancestors due to his... old age....
During the hard war versus sweboz one more war - of much less extent, however also very gloriuos took place in asian Minor. Romans sent expeditionary legion with young much promising commander - intellegent, charismatic, vigorous and by they way - he also had a trait good looking or something like that lol... - to the asia Minor. He landed near halikarnassos, took it, then he occupied sardis... only then the Egypt reacted... I never thought it will be sending a full army every season, usually commanded by 1-2 generals who were protected by damn hetairoi. Phalanxes, elite phalanxes, galatikoi were usually included in these armies. The war was very hard - Sardis was sieged by ptolemaioi and relieved by romans many times.. but... Romans soon were simply out of troops - legionaries were too few, all mercenaries were hired - sardis and Halikarnassos produced bad quality troops with halikarnassos going to 400 inhabitants, meaning Romans lost this source tooo. Of course the day came when Sardis could not be relieved, so ptolemaioi took it - and then begain the march towards halikarnassos, Romans managed to hold this tiny land for few more years - only because the defence was made on river, but finally the ptolemaioi came from both sides of the river - the last stand was epic, the general tried to retreat but... Ptolemaioi attacked the remaining 200 soldiers and the fate of brave general was over, this also meant the loss of halicarnassus, which happened in two more seasons.
So... the Germans were beaten at the same time the possesions in minor asia were lost... what could decision be? Romans did not want a full scale war in the east - Europe had to be conquered first.. the plans were to take british isles, to destroy macedonians, getai, epiros, and only then get on egyptians.. however an instul from ptolemaioi was too much - to plans mentioned above was also added a naval invasion into egypt... And so the wars began:
Britain was invaded by 6 armies - no legionaries - mostly iberian infantry, some milites ilergetum neitos and of course birhentin.
Macedonia and getai was invaded by 6-8 legions, they were accompanied by local troops and mercenary cavalry. Hoplites were quite useful in this war.
Naval invasion into egypt was made by 2 fleets ferrying legions constantly.. and by the 202 BC the view of the world was this:


In order to show how strong the roman revenge was there is one more screenshot 2 years later, in 200 BC:


And finally the info stats on Roman/Egyptian army comparison:




Romans already have 2 legions of Marian legionaries but.. they were never at battle yet... at the moment - they are on the way to egypt.... :) The expansion was achieved equally by polybian legionaries, mercenaries, and regional troops.

[Chris_]

Previous Image

Luso campaign, 207BC, posted earlier in the thread.

Basically, after taking Spain, and watching as Ptolemaoi destroyed a good Pontos, I decided to intervene in the east (the line must be drawn here) , and have removed the Ptolemaoi from most of Asia Minor, and I'm going to carry on to let the other factions take some land for a change.

Hayasdan have been doing very well for themselves on their own though.