The Greeks

[LeonidasIsSparta]

Hello, I'm new to the game and to the forum (which is excellent i might add) I am just going to begin with the Greeks as they are my favorite civilization and was just wondering if any of you out there had any advice for a rookie general!

thanks in advance.

[Tim1988]

The Greeks were always a good fun faction to play as and reasonably simple to master as the phalanx is such a potent formation. Basically, in battles just make sure that your flanks are protected (keep a couple of units in reserve to counter any enemy flanking manouvers) and force your opponent to attack you head on. A greek phalanx can stand up to a lot in combat due to the fact that you can keep your enemies at a distance. The macedons could be tricky though, as they use pikes, which are longer than yours.

In sieges as the Greeks, I always found it far easier to defend the streets rather than the walls. There are usually only 2 or 3 entrances to your town square, so just place a phalanx or 2 across each one and watch the enemy impale themselves on your spears.

Hope that helps.

[LeonidasIsSparta]

thanks it really does.
so stay away from the Macedons in the beginning then.

cant wait to see the mighty phalanx impale all before it !

[Sabazios]

Hire all the available mercs on Sicili and attack the Scipii and take Messana. After that take Lilybaeum, watch out for the Carthage stack with elephants though. Take the whole of Sicili as quick as possible, before Scipii and Carthage send reinforcements. In the meanwhile take your fam member from Rhodes with the militia phalanx and sail to Crete, hire some more mercs, take the rebel settlement and transport your forces to Sparta. Now you have Sicili and have almost a full stack ready to take Greece. When Macs havent taken Athens yet, take it asap. Also train some units in Pergamun, so the Selucids wont attack you there.

[Tim1988]

Well you're probably going to have to fight them at some point anyway (from what I remember I used to end up at war with them quite early on, but I haven't played Rome for ages so I might be wrong). They're not unbeatable, you'll just have to adjust your tactics against them. Just remember, their weaknesses are the same as yours: your flanks. If you can attack their phalanxes from the sides you should win, so just try and make sure that your lines are wider than theirs. They also use a lot of cavalry, which you will massacre if they do a frontal charge on you, but they are dangerous if they get behind you, so be aware of that.

[LeonidasIsSparta]

Thanks lads!really appreciate it!

[Genius of the Restoration]

As Greece your cavalry isn't good, so use your General's Bodyguard units for this. Your infantry is some of the best there is with Armoured Hoplites. You can produce heaps of these guys and they should help you win battles fairly easily as they're tough and easy to retrain.

Early campaign strategy-wise, it's probably a good idea to try to secure Greece first, taking out Macedon. By the time Macedon is gone you should be at war with the Brutii, so make sure you're prepared for the war that will land near your western settlement in Greece (Apollonia? Can't remember) on turn two or three I think. Athens has a high population and an Academy, so before you go to take it, you can remove all governors except for the settlements you want to grow and enslave the population for a boost if you want. Spartan Hoplites can only be trained in Sparta (maybe Syracuse too, someone else can verify this). Ports are the best thing you can build for economy, and get control of the Colossus as soon as is viable. I did a Greek Campaign a while ago now, but it's linked in my sig if you want to read it. Not sure if there's much that you'll find helpful, but it's worth a try.

Good luck, and have fun!

[killervomit2]

Spartan Hoplites can only be trained in Sparta (maybe Syracuse too, someone else can verify this).
Good luck, and have fun!

syracuse=spartans

[|Sith| Max]

As Greece your cavalry isn't good, so use your General's Bodyguard units for this. Your infantry is some of the best there is with Armoured Hoplites. You can produce heaps of these guys and they should help you win battles fairly easily as they're tough and easy to retrain.

Early campaign strategy-wise, it's probably a good idea to try to secure Greece first, taking out Macedon. By the time Macedon is gone you should be at war with the Brutii, so make sure you're prepared for the war that will land near your western settlement in Greece (Apollonia? Can't remember) on turn two or three I think. Athens has a high population and an Academy, so before you go to take it, you can remove all governors except for the settlements you want to grow and enslave the population for a boost if you want. Spartan Hoplites can only be trained in Sparta (maybe Syracuse too, someone else can verify this). Ports are the best thing you can build for economy, and get control of the Colossus as soon as is viable. I did a Greek Campaign a while ago now, but it's linked in my sig if you want to read it. Not sure if there's much that you'll find helpful, but it's worth a try.

Good luck, and have fun!

this is good advice.
Armoured Hops, unlike carthaginian Sacred band, take only 1 turn to produce, and like carthaginian sacred bands, they will take out all other phalanxes(with the exception of Spartans and Sacred Band) rather easily. this is because their heavy armour allows them to close to attack range with phalangites. one thing that you must watch out for with phalanx troops is that their secondary sword attack is Five which is drastically lower than their polearm damage. Against Phalangites your AH will be in an advantage(same attack of 5 but drastically higher defence) in hand to hand but if you get into hand to hand with post-reform roman infantry(Legionaries, Urbans, Praetorians(especially urbans)) you are going to die.
Still, the AH is an extremely reliable unit

Furthermore while spamming the AH is good in campaign it is not in MP, so dont do that in MP...

[Genius of the Restoration]

Pleasure. Don't worry about Macedonian infantry too much either. They can't match yours by a long shot, especially at the start when you can pump out Armoured Hoplites and they can only produce Phalanx Pikes. You'll easily win that battle

[|Sith|Galvanized Iron]

Armoured Hoplites will even beat the best Phalanxes Macedon can produce, them having longer pikes makes them better against cavalry, but in a phalanx vs phalanx fight the length of the pikes means nothing. Armoureds got superior stats.

[LeonidasIsSparta]

phalanx and hoplites no better men

and i am reading your previous campaign to see if i can pick your strategic brain yet more!

[Vic Vega]

Try and hold on to sicily and you will find no trouble invading rome. Another bonus is that syracause can produce spartans.

[LeonidasIsSparta]

and as you can see vic.. I love spartans

ok im going to get into it! i will let you know how it is going!

[|Sith|Galvanized Iron]

If you want it correct you should replace Spartan "lore" with Spartan "law" in your signature...


Anyway Spartans are not cost effective and you can't retrain them outside you homeland so you better stick with Armoureds, Armoureds also looks cooler.

[Genius of the Restoration]

It's Greece man, they start in the wealthiest area in the game, they don't really need to be cost-effective!

But agreed, I like the look of the Armoured Hoplites much better too

[LeonidasIsSparta]

to be honest i hadnt even noticed my typo in the sig

we'll see how it pans out and if I really need to be cost effective

[Tay333]

Try and get all the Rebel factions in Greece then go against Macedon.When there gone you could expand up to Italy.A tip phalanxes are very powerful,useful,and flexible,but never let them get attacked from there rear esspecially by cavalry,cause then they rout,run,and die.

[Tay333]

Also you might want to establish colonies in asia minor since it's close by and you already have a foothold in Pergamum.

[Turtle Hammer]

I found myself very rich very quickly. One thing that helps is deciding which settlements do what early on. I made Sparta and Syracuse into my recruitment centers, and had the appropriate temples of Nike. The bigger settlements were geared towards economy, and the smaller ones growth.

I attacked the Scipii very quickly, and also, I think it's best to ignore the rebel Greeks initially and hit Macedon as soon as you can. You can build milita barracks straight away and send a lot of hoplites their way. I also found a lot of settlemetns were close enough to have pure milita garrissons with a fortified elite field army in a fort within a turn or two's march of each of them.

When you take Sicily, don't hesitate before attacking Croton, by doing this you restrict the Brutii economy and thus their ability to expand into Macedon, which is YOUR conquest to make by right. Once you've gotten as far as Thessalonica, Macedon's usually too weak to put up much of a fight, so it's better to concentrate on finishing off the Brutii and Scipii. The senate should follow soon, and Rome is an excellent springboard North into Julii territory, and Sicily is an excellent springboard into Africa and the mediteranean islands. I found myself maintaining peace (and therefore trade) with Pontus and the Selucids for a long time, but eventually, I did attack the Selucids. If you leave it long enough so they're weakened by Parthia, Egypt and Pontus, but still have Sardis, this is the ideal time.

I also found I was making ridiculous money due to the ammount of sea trade and having the collosus. Bribing other hellenic armies usually yields one or two units at least to go along with their general. And it was a Selucid general that conquered Sardis for me in my last Greek campaign.

From this point, the world's at your mercy. The Julii face you to the south, and barbarians to the North. Pontus is very easy to flatten, and Egypt is always vulnerable in it's non-frontline territories leaving them open to seaborne invasion.