Be my war council (Epiros)

[Carpathian Wolf]

So far I took Pyrrhus and destroyed the Agread Dynasty leaving behind his sons to rule the shaky settlements. Just returned back to Greece to find KH is attacking me. The Ptolemies dropped their alliance with me so I dropped my war with AS as well as Rome asking for trade rights and boosting my economic. I actually kept my elephants unlike most suggestions I hear and it helped me be able to blitz the enemy settlements faster this way. So here is where you guys come into play and we'll have some fun with it. Right now I am heading to Sparta to besiege it and afterward i'm considering this to be my plan.

1. Destroy KH hidding Sparta, Athens and then whatever else is left (I think they may have gotten Crete. Maybe just stop after Athens and Sparta.

2. Pyrrhus is in his early 50s now and i'd like him to play a sort of Philip II role in that he establishes a good platform. I want him to at least get Taras back if not cause some more problems in southern Italy and get a favorable treaty with both Rome and Carthage before he dies.

3. Use his sons to establish power in the north against the Illyrians and Thracians, perhaps even get the Dacians in an allied tribe situation so that I can recruit falxmen and have somewhere to retrain them.

4. Form up a grand army and pretty much take Alexander's route to the east all the way to India.


Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions?

[Carpathian Wolf]

Oh a few questions. Should I just make Settlement I/II types everywhere in Greece? Is there a point to any other right now? I was thinking of doing settlement 4 type in Sparta and maybe get their hoplites?

[torongill]

I think Spartan Hoplites are available to KH only. I wouldn't reccommend going East. Pyrrus went west. If you go East, you will have to face AS or Egypt. You will be facing a lot of problems due to your distant capital. What I suggest is you conquer Sicily eventually, but first create a Balkan Empire. Take everything south of the Danube river, especially the Ilyrian settlements and Thrace. That would give you the mines of the Balkans and will provide an enormous boost to your economy. Crete is good, because it gives you an island with trade routes that are quite close. What you're doing is creating the base, because sooner or later the Eastern Powerhouses(AS/Egypt) will look towards Europe and you will need to stop them. In my Romani campaign, I've been fighting the silver fever for maybe 20 years now(the reason for the war was me taking thrace); I've celebrated 3 Triumphs and waiting for a fourth, I've had 6 Heroic victories and maybe 20 more mere clear victories(full stack action only) and they still keep coming. IF it's not AS, it will be Egypt, so you need the strong economy If you decide to meddle in the Italy, I can assure you that you will be facing the Romans and the Carthagenians sooner or later(like Pyrrus did ), ensuring lots of interesting gaming. But create your Balkan empire and you can defend it against almost anything, when you have the mines. Seaborn invasions are the exception rather than the rule, so from the east you would need maybe two armies at the Galipoli and the Bosphorus straits. To defend from the north rivers will help you, as well as the mountains.

[Siegfriedfr]

Good job keeping the dumbos, they are keys to rout enemies with minimal losses thus allowing to last longer with your initial units.

Don't forget Italy is one of your objectives, its also easier to conquer than anatolia. Myself I conquered Italy first,my elephants were reduced to 3 but had 2 golden chevron! Then I expanded into anatolia only after subduing Greece Macedonia and getai.

Regarding gov types there is no reform for epirus so outside of Greek culture cities better build type 4 to get good units, although its easier to hire mercenaries one your economy is booming.

Bring elephants!

[Scipio Africanus Maximus]

As torongil said, focus on creating your Balkan empire first. Once that's finished and you're rolling in the denarii I would conquer Illyria, then gift it to the Getai, assuming you have good relations with them. This gives you a buffer against the Romans in the north. Grab a couple full stacks and invade Sicily. The AI rarely uses naval invasions so that will give you a safe and powerful base against the Romans. Expect stiff resistance from the Romans as you head north, one army on the left of the Apennines and one on the east, perhaps another attacking their Cisalpine territories if you can afford it. With everything south of the Alps under your control, the world is your oyster.

[Faramir D'Andunie]

Spartan hoplites are only available to KH but one can always make em recruitable for other factions by a few changes in edb and edu files.

. I actually kept my elephants unlike most suggestions I hear

People are suggesting to disband the Elephants you start with as Epeiros? They may seem costly on paper but they are worth every mnai you pay for em on the early turns. They make short work of Makedonian bodyguards and thessalian cavalry, they allow you to assault cities without stone walls, and they are an incredible morale weapon.
Do what Pyrrhus did and throw them once the battle is hot, they will do wonders routing all the infantry you have pinned with cheap phalangitai deuteroi and hoplitai haploi. Make sure they even get hit a few times by javelins to ease their upkeep cost.

Don't destroy the KH completely as a faction, you can use em in the future as an allied buffer state. If you force em only on island holdings AI will agree to a ceasfire and in a few turns maybe an alliance.

Personally the last time I played an Epeiros campaign (which was during Christmas vacation period ) I captured Sicily as a western base while fighting in Asia. Sure focusing in one front is wise and prudent, but I wanted to try something that could overwhelm me.