Defeating the Scythians

[Stilgar CG]

ME: Germans totally ,Iberians to a lesser degree.

Gaul on the otherhand is in the middle of a bloddy civil war and must concentrate on unifying Gaul to start with before they are overwhelmed by the Indie Celts/Germans/Iberians and Romans. They need to blitz the Indie Celts in Gaul as fast as possible and thus need to use the majority of their cash to take the indie settlements as fast as possible and should only ever occupy them - no enslavement of sacking after all this is Gaul and there are no culture penalties.

I see, Unknown. Germans have a bit of time to "wait for grass to grow" I guess. I played germans just for some 20-25 turns (then got CTDs and switched to Greek compaign, which gave no troubles) and I fought mostly rebels to get their cities and once or twice Gaul (on my initiative) just to scare them off. So, the grow-and-conqurer strategy should work indeed.

[The God of War]

I see, Unknown. Germans have a bit of time to "wait for grass to grow" I guess. I played germans just for some 20-25 turns (then got CTDs and switched to Greek compaign, which gave no troubles) and I fought mostly rebels to get their cities and once or twice Gaul (on my initiative) just to scare them off. So, the grow-and-conqurer strategy should work indeed.

i used to get some CTD's too then I understood that all you have to do to avoid them is to restart the game, then save the game again and then only then press the end turn button !!! Although I have no idea why it CTD this seems to solve the problem !!!

In other words save the game always just before you press the end turn button !!! This works for me always !!! I think the problem has to do with the Seleucid empire cause I noticed that the game always crashes when the Seleucis empire symbol comes on the screen wen you press the end turn button !!! :S

[Stilgar CG]

i used to get some CTD's too then I understood that all you have to do to avoid them is to restart the game, then save the game again and then only then press the end turn button !!! Although I have no idea why it CTD this seems to solve the problem !!!

In other words save the game always just before you press the end turn button !!! This works for me always !!! I think the problem has to do with the Seleucid empire cause I noticed that the game always crashes when the Seleucis empire symbol comes on the screen wen you press the end turn button !!! :S

Those bloody Seleucids, I new it was them . I'll remember that piece of advice, God. So, save and conquer, right?

[Unknown Soldier]

Its to do with the recruitment limit of 32 unit roster available per city it is rumoured that the Selucides had 34/37 in some of their barracks/docks combinations.


Or it could have been those damn AI diplomats running riot again.

[The God of War]

yup that basically it save just before you click on the end turn button !!!

[zedestroyer]

I would like to know what would be the best tactics and formations to employ with Macedon against the Scythians.
The Kestros slingers are the best Macedonian weapon against those deadly horse archers? If yes, what would be the ideal number o those slingers to defeat scythian armies? Phalanx units will be needed to protect against heavy cavalry, anyone know the best portion of Phalanx forces in armies formed to attack the scythians?

I'm interested mainly in Macedon, but it would be good to know how how to use Seleucid and Greek Cities forces against those killing machines.

[Stoneface]

I ran a test battle for an upcoming Roman campaign against the Skythians using 10 auxilia and 8 archer auxilia and I was surprised how well it worked. I still took some losses but at least I could win a field battle against a full Skythian stack. From a Macedonian point of view this means thorakitai and either Syrian or Cretian archers. Phalanx units can make an impassable wall against cavalry but they do not defend well against arrows or javelins because of their small shield and not so good armor. Kestros slinger sound nice with their shield,good armor rating and armor piercing ability but they lack range and this can be a problem in a missile duel. If you have access to elephants they might come in handy even if only as a fast batting ram. Use your navy a land a stack near their black sea cities and use onagers to attack them without siege. This should give you a chance to cripple their economy. Most of all test your army composition in a custom battle. This way you can find out what works and what doesn't.

[Scutarii]

Use Thorkitai rather than phalangites, as Stoneface said. Phalangites are fine when facing missiles from the front, but are destroyed worse than most other units from the back due to their incredibly tight formation. You need at least 10 archer/slingers (your preference), and the rest composed of light cav, general, and infantry.

[synthesis]

I have to disagree with the spacing of phalangites. DBH actually widened it horizontally, and I don't think they are any more vulnerable to missiles than an identically armored unit from the rear. In fact, that widened spacing makes them unable to really stand against a lot of cataphract units. Thorakitai would indeed be better though.

[rogergargantua]

I am playing as Romans....conquered nearly all of europe and now I'm facing the endless cavalry hordes of Scythia.

Marius Reforms hasnt been triggered yet. So my Hastati's, Principes and other basic units dont stand much of a chance.

Scytthian armies mainly consists of cavalry archers , light cavalry. How to beat these dudes?

[TM Is Back]

Triarii and archers/slingers.

+ Launch an assault at their homeland, which will be less defended.

[rogergargantua]

Okay, thanks!

And if Marius Reforms is triggered? I can best use the Auxilia spearmen?
I know Legionaries can form Testudo....any good use against horse archers?


A screenshot included in this topic. As you can see, there's still a lot superpower countries left:
- Romans ( its me ! ) who controls all of Europe
- Scytthians ( which is now my #1 enemy at the moment )
- Parthia ( being idle...doesnt do harm to anybody )
- Baktria ( same as Parthia --> being idle )
- Seleucids ( but they are losing their force quickly. They are getting attacked from all sides , lol )
- Saba ( not sure what these guys are doing ....i thnk they're just idling too )
- Ptolemaics ( attacking the seleucids big time )
- GREECE ( being an incredible force, their military is numerous! )
- Carthage ( being idle too )
- Armenia ( standing in defensive position, counter-attacking Ptolemaics )

Its very cool to see some countries still standing. They are all evenly matches with Greece as exception....their army is big....really big.

[Deathbypepsi]

My advice would be to not tackle the scythians at all. If you can stand the endless battles, just defend (particularly getting stone walls on the frontier) and attack greece. you said they were numerous but probably easier than scythia, and capturing greek provinces are more worthwhile. If they're too strong, you could go for carthage instead

[rogergargantua]

I think I should wait with Greece until Marius Reforms is triggered. Their units ( hypasists, phalangites, etc. ) are too powerful at the moment. Greece is still busy with other factions.
I can hold off Scytthia for awhile since I made some fortresses on my borders which are fully stacked.

So my only option left is Carthage.......

[CaesarVincens]

Before the Marius reforms, you don't have any really good options against the Scythians, especially with what provinces you have, no good AoR troops. Lots of archers, with spearmen to back them up is your best bet.

After the reforms, I've found an army of four Legionary cohorts, four or five cavalry, Roman or Legionary, and the rest Archer Auxilia. Put your cohorts in testudo spaced out along the line, put the archers in loose formation on defend behind those, and the cavalry on the wings and behind the archers near the gaps in the cohorts. Then let your archers out match the Scythians, while they waste arrows on the cohorts in testudo. If they charge you, counter charge with your cavalry, they will nearly always rout, except for cataphracts, darn cataphracts. That does nicely against the Scythians. I've used armies such as these to drive the Scythians from Aemona on the Adriatic to Olbia on the Black Sea.

So hold off the Scythians 'til you reach Marius, and build up a city in Italy (not Rome though, it won't trigger the reforms); enslaving Carthaginian cities would help.

As a bonus, these armies do well against most enemies in the field, so no need to switch them if they are redirected.

[rogergargantua]

Thanks, useful tip there which I can use in future against Scytthia.

Im now attacking Carthage. Did a naval invasion from italy with 5 ships ( full stacked with armies). I placed them on the right spots...and then did a full-scale attack. Took 5 cities in one round. That really hurted Carthage since they are bit disorientated at the moment. LOL!

btw, bit of a nooby question, but what does AoR mean? I read it a lot in topics but cant make up what it means.

[Smetrios]

AoR - Area Of Recuitment

[cherryfunk]

Edit the EDU to reduce the number of men in their cavalry units

[Unknown Soldier]

Edit the EDU to reduce the number of men in their cavalry units

Thats cheatin' cherryfunk - he may not be upto it.

[rogergargantua]

Thats cheatin' cherryfunk - he may not be upto it.

Yea, I want to beat these guys just the way they are.