Pontus getting owned every time?

**Syrian Archer** · January 23, 2008, 09:07 PM

Well Pontus has always been a favorite faction of mine and I happy to say they got a great make over in this mod. Unfortunatly it seems that I always get hopelessly invaded by TSE even when they are allied. I have tried being nice, invasion, and just defense but everytime I eventually get spammed by their neverending armies of Thorakatai, Doryphoroi, Theuropoi, and Siliver Shield Pikemen. (Forgot their XGM name) so my question is has anyone had a sucessful Pontic campaign and can they tell what they did.

Thanks!

**Zarax** · January 24, 2008, 01:39 AM

With Pontus the key of success is mobility.
You cannot realistically hope to stand directly against TSE so what you have to do is:

- snatch the closest rebel/indy greek cities

- take pergamum from GCS

- build a few ships

- invade the islands around greece and anatolia (so crete, rhodes, cyprus and mitylene IIRC).

From there you got a reliable money supply, a good position to strike at the seleucids and a relatively safe base.

**HeroSK** · January 24, 2008, 02:18 AM

In my last campaign with pontus, after capturing near rebel towns,
I decleared war on IGCS and took trebizond. Then attacked to city at Crimean Peninsula (forgot the name) and captured it but unrest was pain..after 2 turn city rebelled with even larger garnison than previous one..

Then I move my army to Bizantium and took it. Same here city rebelled to IGCS and I quit campaign..

The point here, pontus has eastern culture but near cities has western culture. This causes great unrest and soon cities rebels.

Maybe my approach was not correct, try to expand into armenia, they are also eastern culture thus cultural conflict will not occur.

To stop Seleucids make some forts to block pass near tarsus that will give you some time to make equal armies and try to capture western part of their empire.

As a battle strategy, I used hillmen and peltast in front line and at the back I had pikemen..when enemy march to you, shomer them with javelins and retreat back to pikemen...I observed if you have enough javelins, enemy soon start to rout..

Good luck ..

**Deiphobos** · January 24, 2008, 05:06 AM

HeroSk, you are raising an interesting point. I've always wondered why Pontus is having the Eastern Culture attribute. Even though the first King of Pontus is supposed to be a direct descendant of Darius, I've always thought of the Kingdom of Pontus as a rather Hellenistic one. Or was Mithridates Eupator the only one to so strongly pursue a connection with the Greek world?

PS: I am not an expert in the Kingdom of Pontus. These are just my impressions. Please do correct me if I am wrong.

**Zarax** · January 24, 2008, 05:32 AM

The pontic kings were an iranian dynasty (eastern) that was quite open towards the greek settlers in its territories.
Historically the eastern culture is right as Pontus wouldn't become truly hellenistic until much later.

On the other side they should get a somewhat lessened penalty from greek colonies to represent their populistic attitude towards them.
If I will get the time I think I'm gonna research to obtain for pontus something similar to what has been done for Carthage...

**chazap** · January 24, 2008, 11:29 AM

Well Pontus has always been a favorite faction of mine and I happy to say they got a great make over in this mod. Unfortunatly it seems that I always get hopelessly invaded by TSE even when they are allied. I have tried being nice, invasion, and just defense but everytime .......

are you referring to just players playing as Pontus? In my current campaign, 100 years in (200 turns) Pontus ows a good chunk of Asia Minor and has given me fits....

**brandbll** · January 24, 2008, 03:43 PM

Same here. In my GCS campaign Pontus is kicking some serious ass. I've held out in Pergamum using lots of slingers and archers for the past 100 years(Been fighting off the romans), and they send a stack at me about once every other turn.

Also, something wierd to note while we're on the subject. In my new Carthage campaign their is a lone Pontus group of troops that has somehow made their way all the way over to the northwestern part of Spain. It's really wierd. I'm about to approach them next turn with a diplomat and see just what the hell is going on here.

**Randal** · January 24, 2008, 04:18 PM

in all my campaign pontus does very well, usually beating back tse. the only time ive seen them get whooped was in my last campaign when the gcs took all of pontus and armenian lands and not fighting tse.

**Syrian Archer** · January 24, 2008, 06:42 PM

Thanks for all the input everybody. I'll try with what you guys said. It will be be cutting it really thin troop wise, but I think I might be able to do it.

**Scutarii** · January 24, 2008, 06:48 PM

Well, when I play Pontus, first I take the nearby Rebel/Indy Greek (ie: Mazaka, Sesamus, Trapezus, Nicomedia, and that other one I forget the name of that's right near Pergamum). Then, if the GCS is getting killed in Greece be Macedon, I just slide right on to Pergamaum and take that, too, but if the GCS has shipped their forces over to Anatolia, I build up/retrain, than launch an attack when I think I can beat them quickly. By this time, TSE has probably delared war, so its just a slugfest to take Asia Minor. With all those cities, I usually have no problem taking Halicarnassus, Side (if TSE has it) Tarsus and Antioch.

That's all I played up to, because then the new version came out and I can't play that campaign anymore. But I also like Zarax's idea of taking the islands, they're awesome revenue if you have the time before TSE declares. After Antioch is taken, I had planned to invade Egypt, but I had also been considering Armenia. It all really depends on whose more powerful/threatening you more. Also, taking Armenia means you're closer to those nasty Scythians. I hate fighting HA's.

**Syrian Archer** · January 24, 2008, 06:51 PM

So far I have been able to keep good realations with the Armenians since they have their own problems (TSE).

**brandbll** · January 24, 2008, 07:43 PM

I can't beieve it! Somehow two units from Pontus managed to make it all the way to Tyse, the capital of Iberia. I have no idea what they are doing there, because they have no territories even on the same continent! Wierd...