Pontus Faction Guide for RTW:Darthmod 9.0.1

[Stray]

Moved from the Third Age Total War forum

PONTUS - FACTION GUIDE

First of all, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Darth Vader and all DarthMod 9.0.1 creators.
My name is Stray and I’m here to make my contribution to the RTW DarthMod community: a comprehensive guide to factions that soo far I haven’t seen covered by other players. Before I begin, I also would like to inform that English is not my native language, so some mistakes here and there are to be expected. Even then, I think (or I hope) it shall not much of a problem to the reader to understand what I mean.

That said, let’s get started with the campaign guide for the Kingdom of Pontus. I played the game on VH/VH and rarely auto-decide my battles, so I believe I can be of help when giving advice about units, formations, tactics, and so on. The informations here are based on a long campaign played on the standard RTW campaign map.

CAMPAIGN


I. MILITARY


In the battlefield, Pontus can be described as a “jack of all trades, master of none”, showing good diversity of units even though only a few are remarkable on their own. Their roster includes passable light infantry troops, average quality phalanxes, low tier missile units, pretty good chariots and outstanding cavalry (both light and heavy). Every unit will be discussed at depth below, but by now it’s worth mentioning that they completely lack heavy infantry, so don’t even think about defending the walls during a siege (or taking them, if you are the attacker). Overall, the best thing about the pontic unit roster is their cost-effectiveness: Pontus can field a respectable army cheaply (since they have a good economy and no expensive elite units) and quickly (considering that every unit on their roster -besides the chariots- can be build in only one turn).
In my experience, the way to exceed in battle when commanding Pontus is:

1. Never trust your units’ sheer power. You must always use your strategic wits to turn the tide in your favour, since your units tend to be outclassed by their other factions’ counterparts.
2. Master the use of cavalry to flank, harass and charge the enemy from the back. This may be a good advice when playing any Total War game, but for Pontus it’s the only way to go. It feels like the whole pontic roster was tailored specifically for that and boy, they deliver! Most of the cavalry –including your generals- can throw javelins, which makes them very versatile and deadly. Don’t use them to counter other heavy cavalry though (remember rule no.1). For this you have chariots that, when micromanaged correctly, can cut even through generals and cataphracts with ease.

- Unit Roster

1. Light Infantry:

Eastern Spearmen – Maybe the worst spearmen in the game. This fodder unit is good only to garrison you settlements, since they are cheap and plenty. Other than that, use them only if you have nothing better.
Hillmen – Better than Eastern Spearmen but only barely. They are pretty cheap and, despite their low stats, have decent moral and stamina. I usually field 2 units of Hillmen just to close my phalanx line from the sides and prevent flanking (since they are very mobile).

1. Spearmen:

Phalanx Pikemen – Below average phalanx unit. Nothing exceptional. They are the first phalanx you get and will be your bread and butter for most of the game. They are pretty much useless against other phalanxes, but can hold their ground decently against anything else and buy time for your cavalry to flank and rout your adversaries.
Bronze Shield Pikemen – These guys are the elite of the pontic army and pretty good looking as well. That being said, they are only slightly better than Phalanx Pikemen and average at best, when comparing with other factions.
Antigonus Foot Guard – The last unit to become available to you in the game and the most expensive one in all roster. Don’t be fooled though, since they are no real improvement over the Bronze Shields. Their defense stats are just a little bit higher, but their attack is weaker and they cost twice as much. They are so overpriced, that even a unit of Scythed Chariots that takes 2 turns to make is cheaper.

1. Missile Infantry:

Peltasts – They throw javelins and that’s pretty much it. Use their mobility to flank and harass the back of your enemies or to pursue routing heavy infantry. Whenever possible, I try to substitute them with Mercenary Peltasts and Illyrians because they occupy less space, are stronger and can be used in melee when necessary. I usually field 2-4 units of them in my armies.
Archers – Nothing special here also. Pretty basic unit. If at any time, you have the possibility to hire Cretan/Sirian Archers, or even Rhodian/Balearic slingers instead, do it.

1. Light Cavalry:

Pontic Light Cavalry – A fast moving, versatile, skirmishing capable cavalry that is useful troughout your whole campaign. Use them to charge at enemy skirmishers or to flank and snipe enemy units from behind.

1. Heavy Cavalry

Pontic Heavy Cavalry – Just like the light one, but trades stamina and speed for attack and armour. Can be very effective at charges, when you run out of ammo.
Cappadocian Cavalry – A poor man’s cataphract. Not as nearly as good, but can decently hold their ground in battle against other heavy cavalry. I don’t use them very much, since they come up kinda late in campaign and are not as versatile and agile as other pontic cavalry. The best looking cavalry unit in the game in my opinion.
Eastern General – Basically, a stronger Pontic Heavy Cavalry. They are nimble, can shoot fast and with good accuracy, and pack quite a punch. A very good general unit, overall.
Scythed Chariots – A must have unit in all your armies. These guys can simply mow through rows of skirmishers, light infantry and cavalry as if they were nothing. There’s nothing better than dispatching a single unit of them at full stacks of rebels and getting the easiest heroic victories or sending them at the enemy general right at the beginning of the battle and seeing how easily they cut off the snake’s head before their soldiers can even get to your lines.

1. Missile Cavalry:

Chariot Archers – A lighter version of the Scythed Chariot that can also fire arrows. Not being as effective in melee, they are nonetheless particularly good at chasing missile cavalry or enemy units running away and can double as your horse archers when necessary.

1. Siege units:

Onager – The only siege weapon you have, and the only one you need. Bring one with you in your sieges and save yourself some turns.

1. Navy

The Pontic navy is the standard for most civilized factions: biremes, triremes and quinquiremes. A decent navy overall, with ships better than the barbarian ones and capable to rival any others from civilized factions.

For a balanced Pontic army, I recommend the following unit composition and placement:

1 Eastern General - At the center, behind the pike line to prevent routing
2 Chariots (One of them may be a Chariot Archer) – At the flanks of the entire army
3-4 Cavalry (Mostly Pontic Heavy Cavalry, but I also may bring a Pontic Light or Cappadocian Cavalry depending on the occasion) – At both flanks of the whole infantry formation
4-5 Phalanxes (5 rows deep) - Holding the center
2 Hillmen (Or any other light/heavy inf. mercenaries) – At the flanks of the pike line
2 Peltasts (Or other skirmisher mercenaries) - Behind the Hillmen, ready to flank when the opportunity presents itself
2-3 Archers (Preferably mercenary archers) - Stretched right behind the pike line
1 Onager (for sieges and epicness) - Behind the pike line at the center

II. Economy

The Kingdom of Pontus is a well developed civilization and it’s located on a reasonably good place in the map, that allow for good trade income both from the sea (ports in the Back Sea) and land (Besides markets, you can also create and develop trade caravans on your settlements and even mines in some of them). From the very beginning of the campaign, money shouldn’t be a problem, since Pontus start with enough, the income is adequate and the units are cheap. In my case, there was not a single turn when I wasn’t building something in every settlement (which is totally diferent than when you play barbaric factions, for instance). You can also maximize your gains if you need or want to, by controlling the taxes of each settlement. As you play, a good advice would be to specialize some settlements to economy or military development, but at the beginning, all of your territories lie pretty close to your untrustworthy neighbors, so it’s better to focus primarily on achieving good units and then on growing economically. Send diplomats everywhere you can and try to get trade rights from all of them. As always, your map information can be a good bargaining chip here. By the middle/end of the game, your income can grow so much that you may pass the 100.000 denari mark and start getting a lot of corruption (and bad traits along with it), so try to stay bellow that mark: get rid of your gold by giving it to your allies, hiring the best mercenary troops available, buying out settlements and rebel generals and also bribing enemy agents.

II. Diplomacy and expansion

Pontus from the very start is at war with its most dangerous neighbor, the Seleucid Empire, who controls most of the settlements in south Anatolia, leaving you in a situation of constant threat. What make the Seleucids so dangerous are their phalanxes. They start with armies full of them, and even get 1-2 units of the elite Silver Shield Pikemen. It’s worth mentioning that Pontus also has access to phalanxes, but you’ll have to wait for many turns to get even their lowest tier Phalanx Pikemen. At the same time, their highest tier phalanxes (Bronze Shield Pikemen and Antigonus Foot Guard) while good against most units, are no match to their greek and macedonian counterparts. This means, that when fighting the Seleucids, you have to rely solely on the mobility of your troops, and here is where Pontus shines the most: Pontic Light and Heavy Cavalry and also your generals can be used very effectively to flank their pikemen and pepper them with javelins before moving to a deadly charge from the back, all while cheap Eastern Spearmen and Hillmen hold them in place. The same strategy works wonderfully against the Greeks (that start with Pergamom and the island of Rhodes in west Anatolia) that sooner or latter will turn against you, and against the Ptolemaic Egypt, that will attack you as you expand south. It goes without saying that this strategy only works in wide open grounds. Against these factions is unwise to battle inside settlements, be it on defensive or offensive as you none of your units can hold the walls and, on the streets, your pikemen will be severely outclassed.
Besides them, your other neighbors don’t represent a serious threat to your advances: Armenia is far on the mountains and don’t tend to act aggressively towards you (They may even be your ally for the most part). Even if they do attack you, you should already by then have your phalanxes and, most importantly, Scythed Charriots that simply negates any potential harm that can their Cataphracts can cause. On the other side, their Horse Archers can be quite effective, especially in mountain areas, so try to fight them only in settlements to deny them mobility. If you must battle in the open, make sure that the terrain is favorable and that you have enough Archers to counter them properly. Other than Elite Heavy Cavalry their roster is pretty limited and can’t stand for long against an organized invasion.
Further east, you’ll find the Partians. In my play, I could ally myself with them against the Seleucids so as to make the latter fight in two fronts simultaneously and Parthia remained an ally for the most part of the game (until they were almost destroyed by the Seleucids and, with only one settlement left, decided to betray me). Besides their Horse Archers and Persian Cavalry, none of their units are something to worry about. The same strategy for Armenia works here.
At the other side of the Black Sea, you can find the Scythians. They may or may not ally with you. Either way they pose no threat to you. On the other side, most of their settlements are not worth the hastle to invade, so you may as well let them be where they are.
And at last, we have Thracia on the other side of the Agean. Usually, they don’t attack you on their own (at least, during most of the campaign) but you’ll have to fight them sooner or latter as they control Byzantium, a city you must conquest in order to achieve victory. Their Bastarnae can be a problem, but by pinning them with your pikes and flanking them with your missile cavalry, much can be achieved. The same goes to their phalanx pikemen. The real headache can be when Thracia expands a lot before you attack them (which they tend to do) and end up prolongating the war for several turns.


So that’s it. I hope this guide will help you, if you want to play as the Kingdom of Pontus. Be sure to post if you have any feedback on my DarthMod Pontus Guide!

Stray