Pontos: The hardest campaign on earth!

**Satyratron** · December 24, 2009, 03:12 AM

Has anyone managed to bet this campaign? i tried disbanding every unit to reduce upkeep so i can build up my economy. that left me so weak that the seleukids attacked me. im having a hard time balancing my econ while having a large enough army to expand my territory. im playing on H/H. i really want to make this campaign work. If you have any advice, besides the picking of another faction

, please post it here.

**Satyratron** · December 24, 2009, 03:14 AM

i would also like to put it out there that this is now my favorite total war game!

**athanaric** · December 24, 2009, 06:37 AM

1) Play on H/M for the most realistic (or rather, least unrealistic) scenario.
2) Don't disband your army, use it up for blitzing instead. Here is a helpful thread with some suggestions where to go first:
http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showth...09#post2401809
3) The AS will attack you no matter what you do.
4) If you can only afford few and cheap units, consider these:
Pantodapoi Phalangitai (pike+axe) to hold the line,
Katpatuka Zanteush (javelins+axe) as assault force,
Shubân-î Fradâkhshânâ as missile troops,
Gund-î Paltâ as garrison forces and phalanx killer.
Your FMs will provide the necessary shock cavalry.
Cappadoccian Cavalry are good but quite expensive at the start.
5) Build a trade port ASAP.
6) Galatia offers you an excellent array of Celtic units. Celts love javelins, which means they are good vs. phalanx.

**Foot** · December 24, 2009, 09:14 AM

I find that a small sum of 100 per turn to the seleukids will keep them off your back for a good while. This will allow you to take the profitable black sea settlements (sinope and trapezous) for some good trade income (get trade rights with Maks and KH). You've got a few choices with Pontos. You can consolidate your position in asia minor, which means getting into a war with some hard factions, or try for a black sea empire (get the northern greek cities on the north coast = lots of money) and hope the Seleukids don't get hungry for blood.

Foot

**Satyratron** · December 24, 2009, 01:34 PM

Attacking the Seleukids sounds like a good idea. I didn't realize there was a mine in mazaka. i was hesitant at first, but i might as well use my units instead of disbanding them. however i am concerned that after the attack i will still be too poor to defend against AS, and too poor to expand further. i will try it though and see what happens.

**Satyratron** · December 25, 2009, 05:48 PM

Ok heres the current situation:

**Satyratron** · December 25, 2009, 07:51 PM

as you can see i used the blitz strategy and attacked the Seleukids as suggested in the above link. The key is to get to Sardis asap, you desperately need the income. By the time i was in Sardis i was at -11000 mnai. I used alot of spies to keep tabs on the Ptolemaioi and Arche Seleukeia. I choose to invest in intelligence since i had too many settlements and too little income to protect them all through mere force of arms. i ambushed any attacking army, both protecting my new conquests and training my main general.

Having expanded enough to support a positive economy, i choose/was forced to wait for more mnai. This was the most difficult part, trying to protect mazaka with very few units. I used alot of skirmishers while flanking with my general. i also found that unit of slingers you start with very helpful with dealing with enemy skirmishers.

As soon as i had the funds, i started building more skirmishers and slingers. I also recruited the odd unit of Celts or hoplites to supplement my forces and provide a strong core for my ranged based army.

From here i could have:
1. pushed west to Pergamon, Halikarnassos, and the other Eleutheroi settlements that way.

2. do as the advisor suggests and head to Chersonesos and start crafting a black sea empire.

3. pushed east and wasted a bunch of turns jacking around in the mountains.

However i didn't want the Seleukids or Ptolemaioi at my flank while i expand north. So i decided to kick them out of Anatolia. As you can see it worked, and im at the gates of the Seleukid Capital, and the Ptolemaioi are back in egypt where they belong. It was pretty cool how they were at war with each other for awhile, but once i started taking there cities they made peace and are now allied against me

So cool to see the ai actually do something smart.

Im now in a position to really start thinking about the future of Pontos. Ignoring the Eleutheroi in the west has allowed Makedonia to start encroaching on Anatolian lands, which could be a problem.

Again i have several options. I could...

1. hold in Tarsos and finish conquering Anatolia (Halikarnassos, Ankyra and other Eleutheroi settlements)

1.5. Same as above but take Antiocheia then hold.

2. Blitz south to Eygpt. This could be very profitable but a very troop intensive strategy, i.e. it wil be annoying to secure all those big cities.

3. Do as the advisor suggests and head north to Chersonesos and secure the black sea area.

4. Jack around in the mountains to the east. Not very appealing since those regions are very poor AND a pain to get too.

Now the real game begins!

**Satyratron** · December 25, 2009, 07:55 PM

FM's? Option 1.5 seems the way to go then.

oh i get it family members

**Satyratron** · December 25, 2009, 11:37 PM

**Satyratron** · December 25, 2009, 11:57 PM

Ok stopping in Tarsos made no sense with a rich city like Antiocheia so close and so undefended. Im really disappointed that the ai only kept 1, repeat one, unit in their richest city while my half stack army was so close.

As stated earlier, i choose to invest heavily in my intelligence gathering and subterfuge operations. This has paid off very well. Every Ptolemaioi city, and neighboring Seleukid cities have a spy and assassin slowing them down. I have started to undermine Makedonia in this way as well.

I will now consolidate my position in Anatolia and try to make it to Chersonesos before Sauromatae can take it.

**charlesonmission** · July 10, 2010, 01:53 AM

Can you clarify how the spy and assassin slow them down? I've never used spys and assassins so much. That is an interesting idea. I'm in 210 BC and am at war with AS, Ptolamie, the Makedocians, and the Hai, down to 3 cities from 8 and surrounded in all of them. Maybe it's time to start over and give it a go again. Do you play on M/M? By the way, where is Chersonesos on the map? Historically, did Pontus have an interest there? Do you auto resolve battles or play them out? I I've always foudn the auto resolve seems to favor the AI so much that it is necessary to do so many battles, which really slows the game down.

Thanks, great post.

Charles