Questions about Baktria...

[ARCHIPPOS]

I'm new to EB after trying a few rounds with all factions i've settled down to playing Baktria as i really like their troop selection and the faction's general feel...
I've set the campaign and battle difficulty to hard, no battle time limit ,and activated the script and i must say i was really impressed by the mod's challenging complexity and realism...

I'm into 258 BC by now and things are kinda stagnant...i've blitzed the Seleukids over the first year and conquered Antiocheia Margiane and Marakanda and then the AI started shelling me with halfstacks-Saka, Seleukids and Eleutheroi coming from all sides ... mostly archer, horse archer and pantodapoi armies conducting guerilla warfare (really annoying when you have to drag them out of the woods and high grounds they're skulking)... the Sakas and Seleukids have besieged Marakanda and Baktria so far but i've rescued the cities with my relief army...

I'm relying on a shooty army of 3Xpersian archers,3Xpersian slingers, 3X persian skirmishers and 3Xnative phallanx along with two or three general elements as shock cavalry, the army and agent upkeep leaves me with a profit of around 1700 mnai per turn to throw into building and infrastructure ( i've built mines in Marakanda)... so far the army works fine (crushing enemies with 10-15% casualties) except when facing the Sakas where things turn into a friggin bloodbath ... those guys decimate my units so much i have to send them into retraining after the battle (casualties up to 30-50%)... their general bodyguard is outrageously heavy and resisting to missiles and can punch through everything i have and has a tendency for going after my generals (cutting off the head)... this turn they have started fielding kataphracts which is really upsetting for my poor phalanxes...Now on to my questions:

A)my main problem is that i cannot seem to expand anymore... i have 9 family members which i use as garrison to reduce army upkeeps (2 at each city plus three in my army)... but i'm costantly preoccupied with protecting my territories from all sides... when i move to the north a new threat arises from the south or the east and so on...
by now the Seleukids have turned each of their borderline towns into strongolds of 15+ units ...for example Alexandria Eschate (a constanst Seleukid threat on my North east) has a 20 unit army of sparabaras, pantodapoi,heavy skirmishers, thyreoforoi,heavy skirmishers, indogreek cavalry and of course the supeb Seleukid Companions... AND a general with a stack of 12 Units manouvering around the city...as soon as i decimate that 12 unit army a new army and general regenerates...i have tried to cause civil unrest in Eschate with two spies and a superbely trained assassin ( sabotaging the festivals,temples etc) and have brought public order as low as 55% and then next turn -BAM- it's restored back to 85% and the blasted Seleukids are still there!!!
It's obvious that if i want to expand anymore i need two armies-one 20 unit heavy one for attacking (expecting very heavy losses) and a shooty smaller one (perhaps 12-15units) like the one i already have for defending my lands but frankly two armies is beyond my economy's capacity... any ideas on what to do???

B) Being as hard pressed as i am against the Sakas i'm wondering when the heavier Hetairoi Kataphraktoi ( the guys with the lion heads)are going to kick in... are those guys a normal unit or are they some kind of reformed late bodyguard that comes free with the family members??? and if so what will i have to do to make them avalaible asap???

a final word of praise to the entire EB team... what an amazing,mind blowing mod!!! You guys kick ass!!!thank you,thank you,thank you!!!

[anubis88]

First of all, Welcome to EB. Now to your questions.
1) With Baktria you must try to mix all of your troops for maximum impact. Have the army your having for fighting the Sakas and Parthia, but try a more mixed one ( especially more Horses) when you go against seleucids. I recommend an army of 4 phalangites, 2-3 missile units, 6 medium infantry ( thureophoroi and such) plus 4 units of cavalry (that's how i work with them.) You should try to conquer a few other seleucid settlements, or try heading east, and south, Since India is very rich, + you get awesome units there.
This probably isn't much help, but i really don't know what alse to tell you, since i don't know if your doing something wrong. Also the battle difficulty should be medium ( the AI gets no bonuses, on hard it gets + 4 attack and defence i think, that's why those nomad horse archers are kicking your but).

2) The hetaroi Katapraktoi will become your bodyguard units once a city in Italy, (that's not rome) becomes a huge city

[athanaric]

Did you take Kophen (the Eleutheroi settlement east of Baktria)? It is a really good target for early expansion. To quote myself from another thread:

I highly recommend Paropamisadai (sp?) because [...] you can build highly profitable silver mines there. Additionally, it is out of harm's way should the Saka or Pahlavân attack you.

Mines around Kophen yield twice the amount of mnai of those in Marakanda or Baktria.

Normally the "March of Time" happens around 240 BC, give or take a few years. It will bring you as well as the Saka and Pahlava new, heavier and more melee-oriented bodyguards. It also gives you an edge over the neighbouring faction because the Hetairoi Kataphraktoi are the heaviest cavalry unit in the game.

[iounas]

I recently finished the Baktria campaign on h/h..
It was the easiest campaign I ever had..
Pahlava and Saka attacks Seleucids and I break alliance with Pahlava and take 2 right rebel cities when stupid Seleucid AI attacks me.. so I start a war with them and soon Pahlava is my ally again as is Saka..
I start eating up their territory along with building mines and Im swimming in cash 40000 profit per turn..
So I just buy Pahlava and Saka territories I need for victory and thats it.
Taking 3 Indian rebel cities was a harder task than the rest of campaign..

[ARCHIPPOS]

some great tips

Kophen and its richly silver mines huh??? Sounds like a tempting target for immediate conquest (instead of that hedgehog of Alexandria Eschate!!!)

errrr, i have already built stone walls in Baktria, and Margiane and currently building them in Marakanda but walls can still be breached by decent Seleukid infantry...so i guess i'll arm my cities with some pantodapoi before leaving for Kophen ( just to make sure)...

and i will equip my army with some horse archers and thyreoforoi as soon as i get the economic opportunity...

thank you guys!!!

[miotas]

i have already built stone walls in Baktria, and Margiane and currently building them in Marakanda but walls can still be breached by decent Seleukid infantry...so i guess i'll arm my cities with some pantodapoi before leaving for Kophen ( just to make sure)...

What I do is sally forth and kill as many enemy as possible with my archers, targeting phalangites is usually best, then when the enemy are weakened I use my pantodapoi phalangitai and the bodyguards to crush the remaining enemy. If done correctly you should easily take less than 100 casualties.

[miotas]

Kophen and its richly silver mines huh??? Sounds like a tempting target for immediate conquest (instead of that hedgehog of Alexandria Eschate!!!)

After you have mines in Kophen you should concerntrate on building a level 3 factional mic, this will allow you to build Hoplitai Indohellenikoi, Baktria's most useful infantry, they have good attack and defence stats as well as having good stamina and they are fast moving.

[miotas]

Patience is a virtue when playing as baktria. You need to start out by taking kophen and then disbanding most of your army except you archers and a unit of pantodapoi phalangitai that you will use as a garison for baktra. The first thing you need to construct is a stone wall in Baktra. With stone walls, defended by persian archers and your bodyguards you will never lose that city. You then need to focus on constructing mines in kophen, building roads, and upgrading your mic's.

You should continue building up your cities for 20-30 years. After this you will be ready to build an army and go take those indian settlements to gain access to your indo-hellenic troops and those indian troops.

Your best army composition should be mostly native troops, supported by some heavy baktrian troops. My current army is
1 persian archers
2 pantodapoi phalangitai
2 Baktrian Light infantry
2 eastern skirmishers
2 dahae skirmisher cavalry
2 Kambojas
for the native portion of my army, and then
2 thorakitai
2 hoplitai indohellenikoi
2 peltastai indohellenikoi
2 Hetairoi kataphraktoi
1 indian archers
for the indo-hellenic portion of the army.

When the indian city has a better mic I will also change a couple of these units for indian guild infantry. I'm not sure when this will happen however, as I allow my Allied states to be autonomous.

The suggested difficulty is very hard campaign and medium battle, this is what I'm using in my current campaign.

As anubis said, a city in rome needs to be a huge city to get the hetairoi kataphraktoi. If you feel that you need them asap then a quick way to get it is to cheat "add_population Capua 4000" a few times each turn and then cheat "process_cq Capua" each turn. It should only take a few turns till you get your new bodyguards. Also, a glitch I noticed once in an old campaign was that one of my recruited generals got a hetairoi kataphraktoi unit when the reforms rolled around. Never seen it again though.

And the most important thing to remember is to have fun, great units, great spot, great colour, whats not to love?

*edit*

You guys kick ass!!!

When did the EB team start animal brutality?