Bactria-Asking for Advice in Campaign

[Megris Vernin]

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[Mikail Mengsk]

Gather an elite army: use only cheap troops to defend your motherland taking advantage of hills and mountains. Take the elite army and find a way to Babylon. You better avoid any fighting unless you arrive in the rich lands near Babylon.

Then, steamroll throughout their lands, sacking every city you can take, exterminate everything! Usually the AI leaves its cities with weak garrison: take advantage of this and burn them to the ground!

When you conquer a city, destroy every building to earn more cash.

Keep marching and sacking throughout the entire Seleucid empire. Replenish losses with mercenaries. Doing that, you will destroy Seleucid's economy and gain thousands of denarii at the same time.

[Jamey]

I really enjoy Bactria. The wall of Pezoi supported by Cataphracts and archers is virtually unstoppable. This is fortunate, because I often faced two similar sized Seleucid armies during my march to the Mediterranean.

My advice is to push hard into enemy territory. As the weaker power, you don't win with a strategic defense, you win by aggressive strategic attacks.

After my first experience with Bactria, I hit a wall like you have. I wound up restarting my campaign and attacking aggressively into Parthia and Seleucia early. That strategy paid off as I did most of my real fighting in Mesopotamia rather than Bactria.

[Lord Romanus III]

Take advantage of those AOR Horse Archers. You have Kataphracts so you can use those defensively to obliterate your enemies. With about 6 Horse Archers and 1-2 Kataphracts per army, you can defend your lands with about 4 of those. Build one decent attack stack and then do as they said, move into Mesopotamia and burn everything.

[LeoDowner]

I just started a Bactrian Campaign for the first time. I've always been reluctant before because I don't know any of the area in the far east and I'm not used to the Greek style warfare. I'm surprised at the invisible barrier to the north of the Bactrian lands, I only thought there was one in Africa. Means it's easier to defend though I suppose ? I'm used to getting attacked from all sides.

[pannonian]

It's there to push the AI Bactria to expand into Seleucid territory instead of wasting its efforts in the north. Similarly the one in Africa is to stop the interminable sand wars between the Ptolemies and Carthage, and to get the Ptolies going east instead. Without those barriers. the factions on the periphery of the Seleucid empire give it a relatively free ride, resulting in the Big Blue syndrome.

[Megris Vernin]

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[fourganger]

The Selucids have oblitered the Pheonican Empire and absorbed all of their lands.

Pheonician? You mean Phoenician right? The only Phoenicians left at this period were the Carthaginians. Are you thinking of the Ptolomies? Or is it a mod you are using?

[Mikail Mengsk]

Once again: try to send an army through a gap in their lines and burn their main cities to take down their economy.

And build horsemen, they are really useful against the slow phalanxes

[Jamey]

And build horsemen, they are really useful against the slow phalanxes

I'll second that. I rarely build an offensive army with less than 4 cavalry (including generals) once I can afford it. This is especially true as Bactria; Cataphracts are one of the best units in the game and they will rip apart pike units if you hit them in the flanks.

That said, using cavalry is an art form. There is a really good post around these forums somewhere (I can't find it) which describes better than I could how to use them. Someone else can probably point you to it.

You may also want to try the ExRM. Unit costs and maintenance are higher, so fewer stacks are generated. Also, the AI tends to build more balanced armies because of the rebalancing of the unit costs. It's always nice to fight an army with pikes, skirmishers, slingers, and cavalry.

[Megris Vernin]

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[Mikail Mengsk]

why no Kataphraktoi?

[Jamey]

why no Kataphraktoi?

I'm with you on the Kataphraktoi. They steamroll over a great many things. The only thing better are Elephant Kataphraktoi.

[Megris Vernin]

I find the cost of them prohibitive...although I will admit with my recent conquerings in the former Seluceid and Ptolemic Empires I should have the economic base to support them At the moment I'm supporting 5 & a half full offensive armies...two in Egypt, with 2 poised to invade Pontiac near Armenia and 1 to damage the Seluceids in Asia Minor. The other "half army" I am retreating to repair.

[Jamey]

I find the cost of them prohibitive...although I will admit with my recent conquerings in the former Seluceid and Ptolemic Empires I should have the economic base to support them At the moment I'm supporting 5 & a half full offensive armies...two in Egypt, with 2 poised to invade Pontiac near Armenia and 1 to damage the Seluceids in Asia Minor. The other "half army" I am retreating to repair.

Kataphractoi are roughly 3 Pezoi in maintenance in RTR-PE. Sure, the number looks big, but it isn't elephantine.

Put some Kataphractoi in one of your armies and see how you like them. You can afford to experiment with things at this stage. I recommend paired cavalry units in general because the impact of two is much more effective at routing tough units than the impact of one.

[Mikail Mengsk]

Well, train full stacks of them! You have the money, with them, you'll have THE WORLD! XD

[Dengero]

zomg...you have let the macedonian plague spread...enjoying taking them down haha.

[LeoDowner]

I think it would be hard to stop them from Bactrias starting position.

[horatius]

I'm pretty sure he meant the Ptolemies, since they fit in the context of what he was saying. Plus, Ptolemies is way too hard to spell.

[Jamey]

I'm pretty sure he meant the Ptolemies, since they fit in the context of what he was saying. Plus, Ptolemies is way too hard to spell.

I don't think so. I could probably have spelled it by the time I was 7 or so. Then again, my dad is a history teacher, so I'm not typical.