Preview : Basileion tou Pontou
Βασίλειον του Πόντου - The kingdom of Pontus
The great Kingdom of Pontus has lost much it's territories after the first Mithridatic war, but your kingdom will still be one of the richest and most prosperous in the game. You'll have a great hold almost around the entire black sea and a good portion of Asia Minor.
Even tough the first war with Rome would suggest Rome was far superior, the second war showed that with good commanders at the helm, Pontos can keep the Romans at bay. Your goals should be to try and secure the lands in Asia Minor. Once that is done, you may start thinking about attacking the Romans in their heartland, like the king tried a few year ago. Of course you may also expand in other directions, but that wouldn't be as wise, since the steppes aren't nearly as rich as the Roman provinces, and attacking your friend, the great king of kings, would probably be a mistake as well. Of course attacking the Romans with them ready, and you unprepared, would be a fools erand. You should try to forge an alliance with the various parties at war with Rome, especially the formidable Roman rebel Quintus Sertorius in Hispania.
Who knows, you might even get a gift from him or two.
The upsides of playing a faction as Pontus are clear; you will probably have the most diverse army in the game, capable to fight wars with multiple enemies. From local light infatry, to greek and Roman influenced units, from the warriors of the steppes to the peoples of the sea, from chariots to local nobles, a Pontic king will be able to summon armies as specific as required for various tasks. Your starting position is very strong, yet it could prove vulnerable, since the holdings of the King are divided by the great Pontus Euxinos, a great sea, which has almost became a Pontic lake.
The downsides are pretty obvious as well. While diverse armies are great on one hand, they can prove to be of very low morale on the other, since there isn't really a true sense of unity amongst the warriors of the Pontic king.
The key will be to hold your starting territories intact, and to try to avoid a full scale with Rome unless either the King becomes stronger the before, or civil turmoil strikes in the Urbs.
Without a shadow of a doubt, Pontos will be one of the most interesting factions in EB NOM.
The Pontic Army
Like it was said before, the Pontic army will probably be the most diverse in game. You should try to use all the various fighting stiles at your disposal, and put together the best of all. The people willing to fight for you cannot be numbered; such is the sheer size of Mithridateses domain. Scythians, Sarmatians, Colchians, Thracians, Cappadocians, Galatians, Greeks are just a small part of the possibilites laying ahead of you.
Further description of these units can be found on www.europabarbarorum.org
Pandas - low tier hellenistic infantry - once a common sight in battles, their role has diminished, but they can still prove usefull from time to time.
Basic hellenistic skirmishers; they should be used... Well... For skirmishing and not much alse.
Basic eastern skirmishers; they should be used... Well... For skirmishing and not much alse.
The basic slingers of the Pontic army.
Eastern type of slinger. A solid ranged unit.
Basic archers.
Pretty decent medium infantry; usefull for skirmishing and melee.
Solid all round cavalry, available in most parts of your kingdom
Karian warriors; nice medium unit, tough very vulnerable to ranged troops.
The nobility of the Galatians; a truly awesome cavalry unit.
Young Galatians trying to prove their worth in their society.
Very strong, almost elite Galatian unit, well able to preform most tasks on the battlefield.
Crazy drugged naked warriors... No further explanation required
Nice medium unit, very valuable against armoured troops.
Nice medium unit, very effective against armoured opposition
A much improved archer unit over the regular toxotai.
light unit with a large shield and very long and pointy spears.
One of the best archers in the game. Once they run out of arrows, they can still be used as solid medium infantry. A very rare combo in the ancient world.
Horse archers with spears. A most powerfull combination
One of the great units available to the Pontic king. Very well armoured, and can deliver a devastating charge.
A variation of a unit intended to fight in the Roman manner, but with a lot of hellenistic influences as well.
The last remaining unit of an era when the phalanx was the most used type of soldier around the known world.
The lighter version of the Thureophoroi is one of the most common units used in the late hellenistic armies. They can prove more then capable of fighting off other light infantry and cavalry, but will suffer once the opposition becomes armoured.
The Machairaphoroi are a very simmilar unit to the Thureophoroi, yet they use swords instead of spears. That gives them an advantage against other infantry, but puts them in a slightly worse position against cavalry. Overall a very usefull unit for it's price.
the Tarantinoi have been used around the mediterranean extensively for the last 200 years. They are an excellent light cavalry, but that's all they are. Light cavalry.
Basically a more armoured version of the Tarantinoi... Not as fast, but stronger in melee then their cousins.
The chariots are still to be found in the Pontic army, even tough they performed poorly against Romans in their preview incounters. They are the reason why Mithridates became strong in the first place, since their charge broke the army of the Bythinian king in the First Mithridatic war.
The Cappadocians have been employed by the Kings of Pontus for a long time, and these Cappadocian Nobles are the elite of the elite from that region. Armoured from head to toe, both horse and man, they are truly awesome sight on the battlefield. We have reports of Romans not attacking Pontic armies in the third Mitrhidatic war once they knew they had Cappadocians at their side.
These warrior hail from the other side of the Pontus Euxinus. Well armoured and disciplined, they can be an excellent medium infantry. They should be used extensively in your northern front.
A heavier version of the Thureophoroi mentioned before, the Thureophoroi Bareis are strong medium infantry, used best as anti-cavalry units.
The Cholchians were, as described by Appian, the most warlike people in the armies of Mithridates. They are very well armoured, but their strenght comes from their warlike traditions and great morale. Put these men where the battle will be thickest, and you will not be sorry. While they may not be the Elite of the Elite, they wil still prove themselves in every battle you will make them fight.
The Spathaphoroi are another version of "immitation legionaries". Fusing what's best from the Galatians, Greeks and Romans, these men can fight against almost all opponents. They should be used whenever it's possible. However, they will not come cheap, so be ready to dig in your pockets to recruit them.
It all comes down to these guys. The are the personal guard of the Pontic Royal family. These men are the best of the best of what can be found in the Kingdom of Pontus. Armoud from head to toe, they are probably the best all round Heavy cavalry in the diadochi states since the Hetairoi of Alexander himself. They were a source of worry for the Romans in their wars with Mithridates, and were fiercly loyal to the king. We have at least 2 reports of these man saving Mithridates from certain death, and of them turning the tide of the battle in the favour of the Pontic king.
I hope you liked the preview. Of course the descripitons are not final, but since i don't have much time right now, i thought it would be better to show you what we have done so far then spend more days to write the descriptions.
A special thank you goes to FinnMacCumhail and LDC who made the new units, and of course to the rest of the EB NOM team for working on the mod.
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Originally Posted by the man, the myth, the legend
