Couple of EB gameplay questions/issues

[aelflune]

I'm playing Epeiros on H/H right now, and it's fairly easy, considering this is my first ever EB and TW campaign. I guess VH campaign would make it even more difficult with more enemy units, but diplomatically this game is probably the same as a VH one anyway.

Here's the thing about Hard battles: Hammer and anvil works wonders, even with non-phalangitai or hoplitai line infantry. And the other thing is, kill the enemy general as soon as you can. Captains don't seem to matter that much, so no worries about them. They seem to get replaced upon being killed anyway. But if you see a starred general alive, yeah, don't be surprised if enemy units don't rout till they're almost entirely dead. Your own general, with some help, can probably do this job even before the melee starts, unless the enemy general is infantry. Still, even with an enemy general, a massed cavalry charge to the rear seems to work, with something like 3-4 cavalry units on one unit, especially if they include your general's bodyguards.

Anyway, I don't know how you play and I'm not an expert or anything, so I can't say too much more. I like Epeiros, if only because of elephants in Ambrakia and its history (i.e. kicking some Romaioi ass). Some people would advise you to disband the expensive elephants at the start, but why would you do such a thing to the poor harmless beasts? Err... harmless to you, that is. Hopefully. Use them as a trump card, the ultimate hammer, in the early battles for a little blitzing. Doesn't matter if most of them die - that would actually save you money - they would hopefully have served their purpose in the first few turns. Disband all but one fleet instead. With a few mines, your would certainly be in the black.

Another thing is your phalangitai will never compare in class to the ones the Diadochoi can field, so don't count on that. In my experience, Chaonion Agema can't win against Ptolemaic Agema even with a little elevation advantage. So as Epeiros, hammer and anvil is even more crucial, as your infantry can really only hold the line and not win all my themselves sometimes. Moreover, with limited AoR, it's going to be more difficult to retrain and field your elites, so you will be forced to rely on local troops and mercs more. It makes for a more varied play, though. With proper execution of hammer-and-anvil and some clever manuevering according to the terrain, you can definitely beat bigger armies on this difficulty with a decent enough army composition.

Lastly, I found the Romaioi pretty tough early on, since Italy was quite difficult to reinforce. Things became easier after I shipped the elephants to Italy. They squish barbaroi. But it was a pretty long war of attrition for a while before it started to snowball in my favour. The good news, I guess, is that you don't need MoT and start with a foothold in Italy, so you can crush those pesky Romaioi before they become too troublesome without a worry.

[A Very Super Market]

VH is much harder with the Celts and Germanians. They rely more on just roughing it with the other battle line, so the difficulty really factors in on it. Hellenics have an easy job, since phalangites are practically inpenetrable. As Epeiros, you also have cheap AP infantry, and very good light lancers from the start.

[Aemilius Paulus]

As Epeiros, you also have cheap AP infantry, and very good light lancers from the start.

Watch who you are calling cheap, you lousy, not-so super mini-market. But yes, those Illyrioi Paraktioi (Illyrian Coastal Levies) are quite handy. AP infantry can always take on disproportionate in quality units.

That said, my strategy for the early parts of my Eperios game was to have the Phyletichoi Illyrioi (Illyrian Levy Spearmen) or Hoplitai Haploi (Greek Levy Hoplites) hold the centre while Illyrioi Hippeis (Illyrian Light Cavalry) swiftly wheeled around and charged into the backs of enemies. Countless Roman Triarii and Principe stacks perished in such way. Very easy game it was.

[Duguntz]

Hold the line? hold what line? No line holds Sweboz... We charge, run threw and kill kill kill

[option]

Yeah, I restarted my campaign on VH/M and it's been much easier. I immediately abandoned Taras, brought my men there to the mainland and disbanded my navy, and proceeded to blitz Makedon and KH (sacking the Royal Tombs to keep me afloat financially but leaving the rest of the wonders). Left Makedon alive on Mytilene and KH on Rhodos, and both of them are currently picking at Arche Seleukia in Anatolia while I consolidate in the Balkans. I'm planning to use spies to cause Taras to revolt back to me for an Italian foothold once the Punic Wars start, and hoping the Getai don't break their alliance in the meantime.

I'm playing Epeiros on H/H right now, and it's fairly easy, considering this is my first ever EB and TW campaign. I guess VH campaign would make it even more difficult with more enemy units, but diplomatically this game is probably the same as a VH one anyway.

Here's the thing about Hard battles: Hammer and anvil works wonders, even with non-phalangitai or hoplitai line infantry. And the other thing is, kill the enemy general as soon as you can. Captains don't seem to matter that much, so no worries about them. They seem to get replaced upon being killed anyway. But if you see a starred general alive, yeah, don't be surprised if enemy units don't rout till they're almost entirely dead. Your own general, with some help, can probably do this job even before the melee starts, unless the enemy general is infantry. Still, even with an enemy general, a massed cavalry charge to the rear seems to work, with something like 3-4 cavalry units on one unit, especially if they include your general's bodyguards.

Anyway, I don't know how you play and I'm not an expert or anything, so I can't say too much more. I like Epeiros, if only because of elephants in Ambrakia and its history (i.e. kicking some Romaioi ass). Some people would advise you to disband the expensive elephants at the start, but why would you do such a thing to the poor harmless beasts? Err... harmless to you, that is. Hopefully. Use them as a trump card, the ultimate hammer, in the early battles for a little blitzing. Doesn't matter if most of them die - that would actually save you money - they would hopefully have served their purpose in the first few turns. Disband all but one fleet instead. With a few mines, your would certainly be in the black.

Another thing is your phalangitai will never compare in class to the ones the Diadochoi can field, so don't count on that. In my experience, Chaonion Agema can't win against Ptolemaic Agema even with a little elevation advantage. So as Epeiros, hammer and anvil is even more crucial, as your infantry can really only hold the line and not win all my themselves sometimes. Moreover, with limited AoR, it's going to be more difficult to retrain and field your elites, so you will be forced to rely on local troops and mercs more. It makes for a more varied play, though. With proper execution of hammer-and-anvil and some clever manuevering according to the terrain, you can definitely beat bigger armies on this difficulty with a decent enough army composition.

Lastly, I found the Romaioi pretty tough early on, since Italy was quite difficult to reinforce. Things became easier after I shipped the elephants to Italy. They squish barbaroi. But it was a pretty long war of attrition for a while before it started to snowball in my favour. The good news, I guess, is that you don't need MoT and start with a foothold in Italy, so you can crush those pesky Romaioi before they become too troublesome without a worry.

I'd been using hammer and anvil strikes gratuitously (as always) in my VH/H campaign, and the damn enemy units would just sit there not routing and not dying. Their morale and staying power was through the roof, which was frustrating beyond belief.

[aelflune]

I'd been using hammer and anvil strikes gratuitously (as always) in my VH/H campaign, and the damn enemy units would just sit there not routing and not dying. Their morale and staying power was through the roof, which was frustrating beyond belief.

That's weird. From my experience, it works perfectly well. Did you make sure your cavalry has enough distance to charge? And you need a good charge value. Equites Romani, for example, are pathetic and wouldn't cause routs a lot of the time. You might also have to charge a few times, depending on the units you are fighting and whether the enemy general is still alive and what he's like. If you could give some specific examples, it would be good.

I think it's unfortunate that you gave up on Hard battles. I think Medium would be too easy considering the AI pretty much falls for the same tricks all the time, and once you start using tactics like denying your flanks and etc, enemy armies about double yours in size wouldn't be impossible to beat. On medium, I imagine an army even larger than that wouldn't be a problem on open ground