Faction strengths?

[WinsingtonIII]

I wouldn't call Pontos's roster all that bad. It does take some time to get to their better units, but once you have them, you can field an army that can easily beat anything the AI will throw at you. (Hey, is that surprising?) They don't really lack much--Chalkaspides are an elite phalanx that seem to get bad press, but aren't all that bad. They are the same price as Hysteroi Pezhataroi and are recruitable at the same MIC level. However, the Chalkaspides are almost identical to the reformed phalanx...they only lack a single point of attack. Same defence and morale. Pantodapoi Phalangitai are also present, being cheap and very good to hold the line.

But compared to Hysteroi Pezhetairoi, Chalkaspides have an AOR of 4 provinces in Asia Minor, while the Hysteroi Pezhetairoi are recruitable in S. Italy, all of Greece and S. Thracia, the entire West coast of Asia Minor, Antioch, N. Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Baktra. From a campaign perspective that makes them a better unit. Plus I think the more accurate comparison to make is between Chalkaspides and Agryaspides and Klerouchon Agema, because those are the elite phalanxes you will actually be facing for the most part. In comparison to these, Chalkaspides do not stack up. Just going by morale alone (which I consider the most important stat for phalanx troops) the have 13 while the equivalents the AS and Ptolies will be sending your way have 16. The fact that they are less expensive is actually a very good thing from the perspective of playing as Pontos, but they are not as good an elite as the ones you will be facing.

As for Pantodapoi Phalangitai, I agree they are a surprisingly good unit, but practically every faction in the East has access to them, so I don't think they are really a particular strength for the Pontic roster (that implies that it's something unique to them). So really, the three things the make the Pontic Hellenic roster weak compared to others are Chalkaspides, a lack of Pezhetairoi, and a lack of successor cavalry. I realize that these don't really hold them back much in the hands of any human player versus the computer, but technically they do have a below average Hellenic roster, that's all I'm saying.

In the way of Galatian elites--true, it's just one province (Two, if you count Odrysai, which can recruit the Shortswordsmen and Heavy Spearmen, as well as Rhomphorai instead of Tindonatae) but is very centrally located and provides the Heavy Spearmen, unmatched among anything you'll see in the AI armies except for their clone, the Heavy Swordsmen that the Ptolemaioi sometimes field, as well as the Tindonatae which can easily rout an AI army. Plus you get cheap but dependable medium swords a good four turns after Galatia falls (Something you can accomplish on turn two/three without losing many men if you force a sally and win, which is quite possible, if difficult)

I would agree with you on every point here. I said in my previous post that Galatians are one of the strengths of the Pontic roster, but I lamented their small AOR. The reason I didn't include Odrysai is because early on you probably won't control it, and Galatia is in a better location to reinforce against the AS anyways.

As for the issue of cataphracts, I don't know what exactly you mean by that term, but Pontos does get the Kinsmen Heavy Cavalry. They're not true cataphracts, but are pretty close. They're recruitable in Amarvir with an MIC that Hayasdan will always build for you if you don't blitz them out of existence within the first fifteen or so years. And if you're worried about cavalry inferiority, get the Scythed Chariots. They shred non-cataphract cavalry, and if maneuvered correctly will put a dent in even the cataphracts, assuming that the cataphracts aren't allowed to charge.

Well they don't have true cataphracts, that's all I meant by that term. I don't even like cataphracts very much, but I just thought that I would point out that this is something that Pontos lacks that pretty much every other Eastern faction has access to. I love the Royal Kinsmen (the early bodyguard) and the regular kinsmen heavy cavalry are quite good, but again, they don't stack up to the elite cavalry you will facing around you. True cataphracts will eat them in melee, and in general the Hellenic elite cavalry have better morale than them and are just are maneuverable as they are. All I'm saying is that there is a reason why these troops were in decline during EB's time period, they were somewhat archaic. As for chariots, in close battles where you are forced to take some risks with your cavalry, Scythed Chariots become more of a liability than they are helpful. I don't really think that Pontos has bad cavalry overall, but you have to admit that their selection (in their homelands, I'm not counting steppe regionals that many Eastern factions get) is small for an Eastern faction, which hampers their abilities somewhat.