EB 2.X AI Faction Progression Thread

[mr mojo risin]

Started a new campaign as Romani.

Campaign/Battle difficulty:
Hard/Medium
version 2.01
with latest CAI and BAI versions

Turn 50


Turn 100


All factions are still alive.
Made peace with Epeiros after taking Taras.
Took Messana in 264 BC, starting the punic war, but Garthage had his hands full in Africa and didn't attack at all.

Military Rankings:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Top five
1. Seleucids
2. Ptolemy
3. Aruernoi
4. Makedonia
5. Garthage

that looks good ...though carthge have taken a beating....can i ask Poppis ..did you get 15-20 spam diplomats asking for alliance and trade rights at around turn 40-50 ?

[Poppis]

that looks good ...though carthge have taken a beating....can i ask Poppis ..did you get 15-20 spam diplomats asking for alliance and trade rights at around turn 40-50 ?

Nope. I got one alliance request from areuakoi when we were both at war with Carthage and one trade right request from Arverni after they expanded south of the alps.

[mr mojo risin]

Nope. I got one alliance request from areuakoi when we were both at war with Carthage and one trade right request from Arverni after they expanded south of the alps.

cool... i didnt think so ..thanks.

[Poppis]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Started a new campaign as Romani.

Campaign/Battle difficulty:
Hard/Medium
version 2.01
with latest CAI and BAI versions

Turn 50


Turn 100

Turn 150
All factions are still alive.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

So before we get started I just want to say that in the very early phases of the campaign(less than 50 turns in) I decided to auto calc all my battles. This, combined with my incompetence at strategy has lead to some interesting developments to say the least.

So, at the end of last session I had taken Aleria and Messana and my plan was to continue to pressure Carthage and take the rest of Sicily and Sardinia. Well, my Faction Leader died and to quickly boost my new leaders authority I decided to pick a fight with a full stack in Sicily. Alas, auto calc failed me and the army fleed to a nearby PSF. The enemy attacked them next turn and I decided(for the last time in this campaign) to manually play the battle in order to at least do as much damage as possible. And I did, but I also killed my new Faction Leader in the process. The next leader was a 16 year old whelp who has ever since been in Roma, to become a man(and to make sure he won't die). Luckily nobody rebelled.

Next up Aruernoi(who were now my northern neighbours) declared war on me. They took a half stack and besieged Ariminum but suprisingly, after 2 turns left and went to besiege Arretium instead. This allowed me enough time to build a full stack in Rome(all my armies were in Sicily at the time) and defeat the barbarian army. But they had a lot more troops just outside my borders so I stayed on the defensive. Weirdly they didn't attack either of my border provinces again for several years. They did sometimes stay on my side of the border for some time, causing devastation but never sieged(they had about 2 full stacks at the border at all times). They did send two armies at Aleria though. The first time I managed to send my army from Rome to Aleria before they got the town. And on return trip managed to lose the full stack to a rebel fleet. The next time they attacked Aleria(a few turns later) I wasn't fast enough to intercept them(was still building a new army in Rome). They took the town but since they had only brought a half stack it wouldn't be a problem for my new Praetorian army. I managed to avoid pirates on my way to Aleria, but then forgot a key game mechanic and send my fleet back to Rome while I besieged the town. One lost autocalc later and my whole stack was wiped out.

(During all this time I had had 2 full stacks in Sicily trying to outmaneuver the Carthaginians. My greatest victory here was winning a single battle(with my 2 full stacks) against a half stack, killing about half of them. Other than that it was mostly me losing my full stacks one after another due to overconfidence in winning 1v1 battles.)

So once Aleria was lost, I started to despair a little. So I decide to gamble my future and abandoned northern Italy, sending everything I had to Sicily in hopes of ending the war against Carthage quickly so I could then concentrate on Aruernoi. Of course as soon as I did that, the barbarians invaded. They took Ariminum, and Arretium in about 6 turns. I was forced to make a peace deal with them so I wouldn't lose Rome. And immediately they send like 4 diplomats to Carthage and became allies.

The good thing is I think Sicily is now mine. I won a great victory against their last full stack and am now besiegeing Lilibeo. So far Aruernoi haven't come to their new allies rescue. My plan for now is take Scicily and Sardinia, make peace with Carthage(they got some spanish provinces that I'm not interested) and then turn back north and take back my lands.

The Aruernoi are at war with Areuakoi(my allies), Pritanoi, Lusotannan and Getai.

In the rest of the world, Pergamon is doing pretty well(in my last campaign they were dead before turn 50).

Top 5 Military rankings:

1. Seleucids
2. Aruernoi
3. Ptolemy
4. Massylim
5. Getai

PS. Turn 150, are you kidding me?

[Poppis]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Turn 150
All factions are still alive.

Romani campaign continued
Turn 200
First faction destroyed: Makedonia(turn 191, I was amazed how long it took for somebody to go)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

So, at the end of last time I was holding out in southern Italy. I had just managed to get a ceasefire with Aruernoi before they took Rome and was planning to turn my attention solely on Carthage so I wouldn't have to fight at two fronts at the same time.

So this time I started by finally taking Sicily(well the carthaginian province at least) and went on to take Sardinia as well. By this time Carthage was pretty much out of the game. They still had couple of provinces in Spain but they were also at war with everybody in there. I made a ceasefire as I had no interest in prolonging the war any more than was necessary. I was thinking about taking Syracuse as well before declaring on Aruernoi(I was still kinda scared since they were still second on military ranking) but then my spy noticed that the Getai had started to besiege Patavium. This changed my plans. I checked the diplomacy screen and noticed that the Aruernoi were actually at war with all their neighbours(Areuakoi, Lusotannan, Pritanoi, Aedui and Getai). Despite their high ranking, they probably wouldn't be able to fight on all fronts at the same time. Also, in my previous campaign the Getai became a superpower who smashed the Romans so I started to became worried that they might snag all the other provinces south of the alps before I could take Syracuse. So I changed my plans and decided to attack Aruernoi right away. I had one full stack ready to go in Rome, another just coming ashore from Sardinia ready to go in 1 turn. Both Ariminum and Arretium were only garrisoned by couple of units.

I declared war, moved my master spy(Rome was bombarded with spies after the ceasefire) to Ariminum to open the gates, then moved my full stack in and took the city in the first turn of the war. Next turn, spy goes to Arretium and opens the gates and my second fullstack takes the city. After this the first fullstack is transported to Corsica to take Aleria. No spies this time, but the garisson consisted of about 50 skirmishers so it only took 2 turns.

The Aruernoi did have about 2 fullstacks south of the alps. They were first going for the Getai but when I took their two provinces, they turned around and came towards Ariminum but didn't attack. At turn 200 I got a peace offer from Aruernoi. I declined.

So this was pretty much the opposite from last session.

Some notes at turn 200:
Seems like Aedui will be getting most of the Aruernoi land in France.
I fear Getai will become a super power once again(they are at war with Aruernoi and Epeirotes atm and they got two vassals(Pontos and Bosporos)).
Pergamon have been doing pretty well(although they are at war with Seleucids and Ptolemies atm).

Top 5 Military rankings:

1. Seleucids
2. Getai
3. Ptolemy
4. Aruernoi/Massylia

[mr mojo risin]

Romani campaign continued
Turn 200
First faction destroyed: Makedonia(turn 191, I was amazed how long it took for somebody to go)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

So, at the end of last time I was holding out in southern Italy. I had just managed to get a ceasefire with Aruernoi before they took Rome and was planning to turn my attention solely on Carthage so I wouldn't have to fight at two fronts at the same time.

So this time I started by finally taking Sicily(well the carthaginian province at least) and went on to take Sardinia as well. By this time Carthage was pretty much out of the game. They still had couple of provinces in Spain but they were also at war with everybody in there. I made a ceasefire as I had no interest in prolonging the war any more than was necessary. I was thinking about taking Syracuse as well before declaring on Aruernoi(I was still kinda scared since they were still second on military ranking) but then my spy noticed that the Getai had started to besiege Patavium. This changed my plans. I checked the diplomacy screen and noticed that the Aruernoi were actually at war with all their neighbours(Areuakoi, Lusotannan, Pritanoi, Aedui and Getai). Despite their high ranking, they probably wouldn't be able to fight on all fronts at the same time. Also, in my previous campaign the Getai became a superpower who smashed the Romans so I started to became worried that they might snag all the other provinces south of the alps before I could take Syracuse. So I changed my plans and decided to attack Aruernoi right away. I had one full stack ready to go in Rome, another just coming ashore from Sardinia ready to go in 1 turn. Both Ariminum and Arretium were only garrisoned by couple of units.

I declared war, moved my master spy(Rome was bombarded with spies after the ceasefire) to Ariminum to open the gates, then moved my full stack in and took the city in the first turn of the war. Next turn, spy goes to Arretium and opens the gates and my second fullstack takes the city. After this the first fullstack is transported to Corsica to take Aleria. No spies this time, but the garisson consisted of about 50 skirmishers so it only took 2 turns.

The Aruernoi did have about 2 fullstacks south of the alps. They were first going for the Getai but when I took their two provinces, they turned around and came towards Ariminum but didn't attack. At turn 200 I got a peace offer from Aruernoi. I declined.

So this was pretty much the opposite from last session.

Some notes at turn 200:
Seems like Aedui will be getting most of the Aruernoi land in France.
I fear Getai will become a super power once again(they are at war with Aruernoi and Epeirotes atm and they got two vassals(Pontos and Bosporos)).
Pergamon have been doing pretty well(although they are at war with Seleucids and Ptolemies atm).

Top 5 Military rankings:

1. Seleucids
2. Getai
3. Ptolemy
4. Aruernoi/Massylia

cool , nice map in a lot of ways.

[Poppis]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Romani campaign continued
Turn 200
First faction destroyed: Makedonia(turn 191, I was amazed how long it took for somebody to go)

Romani campaign continued
Turn 250
Factions destroyed: Makedonia(turn 191), Epeiros(turn 250)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Pretty quiet session. Took Syracuse and the last province south of the Alps. I was planning on going for Greece next but then noticed that it had been overrun by the Getai already(I'm still allied with Getai and Areuakoi). Carthage managed to take one African province but lost it almost immediately.

Top 5 military rankings:

1. Seleucids
2. Getai
3. Aedui
4. Massylim
5. Taksashila

[Poppis]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Romani campaign continued
Turn 250
Factions destroyed: Makedonia(turn 191), Epeiros(turn 250)

Romani campaign continued - Last update
Turn 300
Factions destroyed: Makedonia(turn 191), Epeiros(turn 250), Aruernoi(turn 280), Pontos(turn 289)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I am allied to Getai and Areuakoi. I am at war with Carthage(due to a bug).
I was quite surprised that Carthage managed to stay alive this whole time. They have been stuck to one iberian province for ages and are at war with Lusotannan, Areuakoi and Massylia. They still kept invading africa(several times) and taking one province, which they then lose as soon as Massylian stacks come in. At turn 300 they are besieging the little Areuakoi island province with a full stack. Areuakoi and Lusotannan are at war with each other which has probably helped Carthage a lot.

Getai took all of Greece except Sparta. They are currently at war with Aedui and Sauromatae.

Massylia has been extremely passive. After taking all of Africa from Carthage, they have done nothing. They are in no wars(apart from Carthage) and they got no Allies(haven't seen any ships either).

Pritanoi are still missing one of the provinces in Britain(though they did have a full stack in the mainland back when they were at war with the Aruernoi).

Pergamon is doing pretty well even though they are at war with Seleucids and Ptolemaioi:

Most of the Seleucid stacks seem to be nowhere near the pergamon border.


Top 5 Military Rankings:

1. Seleucids
2. Getai
3. Aedui
4. Massylia
5. Rome

[QuintusSertorius]

Turn 70 of my Epeiros-as-Syrakousai game (M/M with CAI v3a):

[mr mojo risin]

Turn 70 of my Epeiros-as-Syrakousai game (M/M with CAI v3a):

tell us more! ....wooh bosph are on the march...how have rome been towards you still ?

[QuintusSertorius]

tell us more! ....wooh bosph are on the march...how have rome been towards you still ?

The Romans were initially aggressive, but after I beat them several times they seem to have given up on trying to fight me. Now they're going north instead, but they gave it a good go first. My last stroke of the most recent war I took Segesta off them and let it revolt, which is why it's now Arverni. I'm hoping it revolts again. They're also at war with the Karthadastim, which is occupying their attention.

I've done a lot less tinkering with the AI factions in this game; besides adding units to garrisons in a number of places, that's all I've done. I haven't even been moving other people's armies around.

[Dom Pedro II]

Sadly i've never seen the eastern factions i.e parthia, baktria invading the seleucids.

[mr mojo risin]

Sadly i've never seen the eastern factions i.e parthia, baktria invading the seleucids.

be patient , were working towards that, when i made them attack AS near the start parthia and baktria got wiped out by AS , we are just shaping things for now in these early tests.

[V.T. Marvin]

Awesome campaign! Auto-calc campaigns are so much fun - I did play a Roman one on EB1 few years ago after growing tired of endless battless against clueless AI and it was one very best campaign I ever had!

Now I wish you a lot of luck!

BTW - how are you coping with manpower limitations? I guess that the losses from auto-calc must be putting a lot of strain on your recruitment pools. I need to know because the AI operates under the same rules and your campaign is a good test how manageable current replenishment values are. Thanks!

[Poppis]

BTW - how are you coping with manpower limitations? I guess that the losses from auto-calc must be putting a lot of strain on your recruitment pools. I need to know because the AI operates under the same rules and your campaign is a good test how manageable current replenishment values are. Thanks!

No problems on that front so far. Although with the loss of the two Italian provinces, my ability to train factional troops has diminished significantly. I guess I'll have to start using a lot more allied units, which seem to have little slower replenishment rates. I'll have to see how this will effect my campaign. The increased winter turn troop slots have been very useful. I like them a lot. Also at the moment a bigger concern is my money. I'm down to 30k from around 150k at my peak. And my income is hovering around 0.

[Darkan]

Are those the Getai in the province above Pontus?

[Poppis]

Are those the Getai in the province above Pontus?

Yep.

[Mantaprey]

Taksashila M battles/ H Campaign, CAI v.3a, BAI v.1, Moros faster battles,
Short Campaign- 20 regions, Baktria and Saka Rauka destroyed


Turn 60 to Turn 300



100 = 248BC
200 = 223BC
300 = 198BC


0 to 170
I started securing independent provinces. Then i gained Independence from the Mauryan empire

55 - Ptolemy asks for alliance i accept
60 - Seleukeia relations continually sour from here on
120 - KH destroyed
135 - Pergamon destroyed


170 to 240
After independence i invaded Baktria. Luckily most of their armies are in Siberia fighting the Saka so i take advantage of them and take all their settled cities. This leaves them as Hellenic nomads. Seleukeia gets nervous and sends assassins.

175 - Massilyi destroyed
177 - Seleukeia blockades port, i tell them to stop, they say OK
210 - I invade Baktria
220 - As i take Baktra a shadow war begins with Seleukeia
240 - Baktria agrees to a cease fire


240 to 300
Relations are terrible with Seleukeia and Baktria they both refuse trade rights even though it is their priority.After i establish my culture in Baktria, my plan is to invade the nothern steppe to wipe out Baktria and Saka. Then trade those provinces for an alliance with Pahlava. All that will be left for a Short Campaign victory is to take the remaining settlements probably in Seleukeia. However if Seleukeia attacks before my northern invasion then it will be a different story, they are tied up in several wars.

240 - Start conversion of baktria to establish a new and greater kingdom
275 - Bosphoros destroyed
276 - Lusotannan destroyed


Political Maps

WMWMWMWM - Red Zigzag mean hostile border or invasion (at war)

OOOOOOOOOO - Green circles mean allied border

R - Single letter means alliance over borders or sea. First letter and colour of the faction indicate who they are allied to. I only choose one side of the alliance to reduce clutter.

/////// - Crosshatches mean vassal


Turn 130

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Turn 200

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Turn 300

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[mr mojo risin]

Taksashila M battles/ H Campaign, CAI v.3a, BAI v.1, Moros faster battles,
Short Campaign- 20 regions, Baktria and Saka Rauka destroyed


Turn 60 to Turn 300



100 = 248BC
200 = 223BC
300 = 198BC


0 to 170
I started securing independent provinces. Then i gained Independence from the Mauryan empire

55 - Ptolemy asks for alliance i accept
60 - Seleukeia relations continually sour from here on
120 - KH destroyed
135 - Pergamon destroyed


170 to 240
After independence i invaded Baktria. Luckily most of their armies are in Siberia fighting the Saka so i take advantage of them and take all their settled cities. This leaves them as Hellenic nomads. Seleukeia gets nervous and sends assassins.

175 - Massilyi destroyed
177 - Seleukeia blockades port, i tell them to stop, they say OK
210 - I invade Baktria
220 - As i take Baktra a shadow war begins with Seleukeia
240 - Baktria agrees to a cease fire


240 to 300
Relations are terrible with Seleukeia and Baktria they both refuse trade rights even though it is their priority.After i establish my culture in Baktria, my plan is to invade the nothern steppe to wipe out Baktria and Saka. Then trade those provinces for an alliance with Pahlava. All that will be left for a Short Campaign victory is to take the remaining settlements probably in Seleukeia. However if Seleukeia attacks before my northern invasion then it will be a different story, they are tied up in several wars.

240 - Start conversion of baktria to establish a new and greater kingdom
275 - Bosphoros destroyed
276 - Lusotannan destroyed


Political Maps

WMWMWMWM - Red Zigzag mean hostile border or invasion (at war)

OOOOOOOOOO - Green circles mean allied border

R - Single letter means alliance over borders or sea. First letter and colour of the faction indicate who they are allied to. I only choose one side of the alliance to reduce clutter.

/////// - Crosshatches mean vassal


Turn 130

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Turn 200

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Turn 300

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

nice ..cheers

[Mantaprey]

Taksashila M battles/ H Campaign, CAI v.3a, BAI v.1, Moros faster battles,
Short Campaign- 20 regions, Baktria and Saka Rauka destroyed

Turn 300 - 430



300 = 198BC
400 = 173BC



After turn 300

when my faction leader died my new shaka faction leader gathered a cavalry army and headed north into the steppes. With the help of elephant generals i easily defeated both Baktrian nomads and Saka Rauka. I gave the nomad provinces to Pahlava for an alliance.

A unique experience was hunting down a nomadic tribe on the move i needed to defeat them for victory conditions. The Saka rushed west toward the Saromatae and assaulted one of their camps then turned back and slowly wandered south. As my armies were shadowing them i could see the tribe fall apart. Nearly every turn full stacks lead by captains would rebel and join the native province rebels. The native rebels did not move or attack at all.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

After i dealt with them i created 6 armies to assault Seleukia and gain the 20 regions for VC. i simultaneously attacked the 5 cities adjacent to my regions while the sixth army would repel any counterattacks. It seems they did not see the threat on their border as i lined up my armies they had few garrisons in their cities so i just auto resolved. The difficult part of this plan was finding loyal generals. One loyal general lost heart as i did Alexanders march though the desert, lucky my faction leader is a God Incarnate.

Because of their multiple wars the Seleukid response was weak. The 2 nearby full armies were defeated by my counter attack army then they would send small armies from inside the empire, to hover around the region too scared to attack anything. I even got some Noble Gallic cavalry marching around Karmania. Strangely i asked for a cease fire and they happily accepted. Looks like i became the most powerful faction. Soon after Getia asked for an alliance.

Short Victory Achieved! the message works but their is no picture. The music is the same as a battle victory.

Turn 400

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

WMWMWMWM - Red Zigzag mean hostile border or invasion (at war)

OOOOOOOOOO - Green circles mean allied border

R - Single letter means alliance over borders or sea. First letter and colour of the faction indicate who they are allied to. I only choose one side of the alliance to reduce clutter.

/////// - Crosshatches mean vassal