AS and Baktrias use of elephants?

[seienchin]

Okay here is my question:

Has Annybody here ever faced elephants in the Campain trained by an AI faction and not been there from the start? I havent. This is why I cut all the elephant prices and bingo. Carthago was defended by two units of war elephants (Besides 10 other units^^) and my spies told me that bactria had an army with the armoured war elephants.

[The Celtic Viking]

Okay here is my question:

Has Annybody here ever faced elephants in the Campain trained by an AI faction and not been there from the start? I havent. This is why I cut all the elephant prices and bingo. Carthago was defended by two units of war elephants (Besides 10 other units^^) and my spies told me that bactria had an army with the armoured war elephants.

I have. In my Arverni campaign, Carthage didn't exactly have any shortage of the big, grey beasts. All their armies had at least 2 elephant units in them. They were pretty damn rich, though, owning all of western Africa, Sicily and Italy...

I've never seen anyone out east do it though, but then again I'm usually not in that area when I play, so I really couldn't say.

[Pobs]

Just to confirm the Celtic Vikings comments above, I am at 71bc in a Ptolemaic campaign and the Carthaginians are still bringing over armies with elephants that I cant believe are still left-over from the game-start.


cheers,


Pobs

[anubis88]

I have faced many times the Ptolemaic Empire, when their armies had Elephants... In my Seleucid campaign, they almost always fielded them when they wanted to conquer syria

[lionhard]

Yes we know god damn cathage always has elephants, and ptolemaio but my question issss...... baktria and AS iv never seen them use elephants in the 2 years iv played EB any 1 seen them use elephants !!!! ?

[tarem]

i play EB fo 1 and 1/2 years or so, always in the east (as Pontus, Makedonia or Baktria) and i have never seen AS (my constant enemies) have as much as a single elephant in their stacks.

[NikosMaximilian]

I've played campaigns with AS and Saka, and Baktria only trains Elephants if they expand from their initial position all the way to Patala, which means that they have a well established trade network that supports the price of the Elephants.

If the Baktrians are attacked early by Saka or Pahlava, they won't expand and their armies will be composed of weaker troops rather than their elites, which is a logical economic choice I guess.

Playing as Saka and Baktria, I've never seen the AS train Elephants, my guess is that they're in a really complicated situation to do so.

[tarem]

maybe Elepahnts should be made available as mercenary trops in some asian proinces like Syria and Mesoptomia, or why not, even Bactria. with variable prices as well. i find it a bit odd i can't recruit them if they are not in my faction roster.

[anubis88]

Yes we know god damn

You shouldn't curse, young man.

As to answer your last question;
My longes campaings have been with Pontos and Pahlava. And i must say that the AS is very unoriginal with their armies.

I rarely see any thureophoroi, lonchoporoi, podromoi, Hetairoi Aspissth, Elephants, Cretan archers, chariots,....

They do enjoy TAB in my campaigns though. But they definetly overuse the Phalanxes. The only battle i had with them as Pahlava worth really mentioning, was near eddesa, where i won a huge victory indeed, (i was outnumbered 5:1 in numbers) and lost 70% of my army. Their king fell, and his army had about 6 phalangites, 2 Somatophylakes, 1 Cataphratc, 2 units of ATB, a few pandaptoi, slingers, glatian swordsmen, thorakitai and some machimoi auxilia from Egypt.

[Andy1984]

Maybe if the AI can be forced to train a unit in their capital province first, we might see more AS elephants? Right now, the Seleukids simply spend all their coins on medium to light units all over their empire, which drains their funds too effectively.