Favourite Successor campaign and why?

[Lord Blackfyre]

As they are my favourite faction group and I just lost a campaign to a glitch, I'm curious as to what the general community think. Who are your favourite Diadokhoi?

Reading a brilliant book "Dividing the Spoils" by Robin Waterfield. Really getting me into the era.

My vote would be Antigonidai, love the start pos

[Butan]

Epirus because starting position is extremely harsh, you get one shot at extending Pyrrhus's life and also elephant mercenary

[♠ Thomas Cochrane ♠]

Antigonids were my first non-roman campaign, and were great. I keep going back to Bactria though, as they're the most exotic, and a fun starting position, with two provinces

[Allexei]

Seleucid, because I love the light eastern flavor and the feeling of a decaying empire you get from the start

[Ygraine]

As Butan wrote, Epirus because their start has to be one of the toughest in the whole game!

And they got Molossian dogs!

[zombieflanders]

I wanted to say Baktria, because they were the second faction that I beat the game with, and they have a pretty good roster (hoplites and horse archers and elephants, oh my!). In the end, however, I'm going to go with the Antigonidai, because you can retrace the steps of Alexander, they have well-rounded rosters, and a challenging start. IMO the Seleukidai and Ptolemaoi rosters seem too cluttered (although admittedly I haven't played more than a couple turns as either) and they have OP starts. I'm in the middle of an Epirus game, and it just feels kind of...weird? I can't comment on Pergamon at all, but I may come back to them if the team improves on them a bit.

EDIT: I also suggest Ghost on the Throne: The Death of Alexander the Great and the Bloody Fight for His Empire, by James Romm. It's a good book on the Diadokhoi, and really delves into all the deal-making, back-stabbing, and rabble-rousing that went on.

[Alexandre Lange]

Epirus. They have EVERYTHING in their roster.

PS: I disband my mercenary elephants at the first sight! Too much cost for little effect. Cool, but not worth. Molossian dogs are cool AND effective!

[spartanbits]

Pergamon is my favorite. Difficult starting position (having a capital with no walls isn't the greatest thing ever). I launched all of Turkey into an epic all out war between about 8 different factions and it was going well until Arche Bosphorus launched a naval invasion from the north and crushed my allies, now im fighting for my last city.

[The Guy With No Imagination]

Baktria. Bring civilization to the untamed steppes, quell the rebellious Persian upstarts, and show the rest of the Hellenic world how a true power arises from the fringes of the earth and claws its way back to the Mediterranean to claim Alexander's legacy.

[Irishmafia2020]

Ptolemoi - I like role playing an empire that tries to influence the world with foreign entanglements and relatively secure borders... For example, I can send 2 armies off to fight in Anatolia while another two armies fight in Crete/Greece and my own empire is mostly secure after I make peace with the Seleucids and Carthage.

[citizen-ychoux]

Epirus.
Great roster, epic challenge, charismatic leader.

Due to their start position, diplomatic relations and faction trait, first 50 turns are a thrilling thrive for survival.

Once you secure Hellas and makedonia, you are at the crossroad of every major civilization, and can expand fighting different types of ennemies (romans, greeks, daco thracians, easterns, even celtics)

I tried different factions, but always come back for more molossian glory

[Linke]

Makedon. I have played half a dozen Makedonian DeI campaigns and it's allways Fresh no matter what. The start is awesome,
king Antiganos Gonatas has returned to power and driven out the celts from Hellas, yet in the south his "allies", Archelaus and Galenos of Sparta plot against him. The defeated King Pyrrhus once Again goes to war, will Gonatas come to the aid of this man he admires or will he join in his ungrateful allies in their war on Pyrrhus? from the West his newly established power is threatend by the Tylians, Hungry for vengence for their defeated brothers, and in the North King Cleitus of Oddrysia amases his forces to become King of all Thrace.

This gives for a good first 30-50 turns with a lot of challenge and roleplay, these turns I would say I am the master of as I have played them many times.

then you will face other strong empires in the mid game, like Rome or the other Diadochi.


From my latest Makedon campaign

Spoiler for example of how fun a Makedon campaign can be: 

And thus in the Summer of 272 bc the King Antiganos Gonatas marched with his loyal general, Kosmas the Thracian and the
Stratos Thrakia and Stratos Makedonia on the Kingdom of Tylis. South in Greece his "allies" the Spartans and Athenians went to war with the weakend King Pyrrhus to get control of his (from Makedon) newly controlled Thessalia. Antiganos remained
nominally allies to Sparta and with Athens as a De Jure Vassal, yet he supported Pyrrhus in his war in secret with gold.
Seing that the war in Greece would make it impossible for any state to the south to threaten him he made plans to extend his Border to the Danube.
The opportunity came when the Triballi were attacked by King Cleitus of Odrysia and appealen to Antiganos for help in exchange for gold, so Antiganos marched north and together with his younger brother Demetrius Kalos (named after their father, the son of Alexanders general) and with the warriors from the Triballj tribe, Cleitus fell and with him his Odrysian Kingdom.
It seemed as if Antiganos borders now were safe. Yet the following 15 years in the Balkan would consist of war and anarchy rather, these wars that Antiganos faced were later called "the Gonautic wars" after him.
In his absence Pyrrhus and his Kingdom had fallen to the power of Athens and Sparta and the Ambitious King of Sparta,
Archelaus now marched with an army into the undefended heart of Makedon, Antiganos was still besieging Cleitus in Odessos when he heard of this and now hurredly marched on the city, after a bloody battle his army was given no rest as he marched immedietly back to Pella, his tanks were diminished after the battle, and he was running out of funds, yet he had no intention of that stoppning him. Before he could arrive the Spartans after half a year of siege assaulted Pella wich was defended by
Demetrius Kalos, he led his men to a great victory against the Spartans who in the proces lost about half their total Manpower, the survivors fled West but were hunted down by Antiganos.
After this he marched directly on Sparta itself, defeating first their other army and then the new generals they mustered one by one, he proceded to besiege the city itself.

Yet he would not rule the Peleponesse yet. In Thrace there was a slave uprising wich was crushed together with the Triballians at great cost, and this was immedietly followed by a large invasion from the north, the Dacians had Raider the land earlier with small armies but now they came in greater Numbers than ever, besieging General Simonides in Pulpudeva, at the same time the Scythian Catiaroi Invaded and liberaled a third great foe, the Odrysians.
Surely Antiganos and Makedons faith was decided.
In Pulpudeva Simonides made a Failed and costly Sally against the Thracians and was forced to retreat back to the city.
The siege of Sparta was broken and Antiganos marched north, hoping that the Spartans Would not be able to rebuild their military very fast. Levies were raised in Thrace wich had a great impact on the Makedonian economy.
Yet as before the Victor was Antiganos, he first broke the siege of Pulpudeva forcing the Dacians back to their homeland.
The Catiaroi retreated their main force to defend their home against Bosporus. Though the forces that remained at Odessos together with the Thracian forces made it impossible for Antiganos to march on Thrace.
yet has he was a very skilled tactician he did, he made a surprise attack on undefended Odessos in the might and made the Odrysians his clients without having to fight their main army and the Catiaroi were defeated at heavy cost.

Then the march went south Again as Antiganos now Desired to subjugate the Greeks, he took Larrisa and crushed all the Athenian yarmies and together with the Ardiei liberated Epirus. Then he marched on Sparta once more, Spartas powe must have been beaten very decisiviely in the last war becuase they hadnt rebuilt their army, Sparta fell and only the city of Athens itself, and its navy under Herodotus opposed him now, and Athens to fell to Makedon Aided by the Ardieai.
Now the Gonatic wars ended, after one and a half decade. Antiganos Gonatas had become by now one of the most experienced generals in the world, having spent close to half his life in the field and the few troops that remained were veterans too. Just like his father Demetrius and his Grandfather Antiganous who was Alexanders general he dreamed of reuniting the Alexandrian world. He now preparered a strong force to go east, his father had done the same with unconsolidated borders and no friends and he never came back, Antiganos intended to be very much more wellprepared.

His dreams were crushed by a new war, the Pontic war fought in the black Sea (Pontos in Greek).
Before he could Invade the east Pontos and Bosporos declared war on him. Pontos had together with Pergam risen to power by kicking the Seleucids out of Asia Minor, they were allies with Bosporus wich had subjugated the Catiaroi, the Royal Scythians and at war with the Dacians.
I wont go into great detail here but Bosporus and Pontos launched a great invasion of Thrace wich was beaten back with much loss, after a few years came another Pontic Invasion and then another Bosporan Force came across the Sea.
This force was destroyed in the Sea and now both kingdoms had to rebuild their army, Antiganos did not intend to let them launch more invasions,Bosporus had lost further territory against the Dacians and Antiganos decided to with a small force and
navy Invade Crimea, this is where in my campaign I am now

[TEUTknight]

Seleucid because of the initial challenge if you are new to playing the faction. I also like the position they hold and type of troops they field since it is a mix of hard hitting soldiers and light but agile skirmishers.

I also like them because on the rare occasion you have to put some faith in some of your allies and satrapies to secure your borders (one campaign I faced a three front war and my allies were very helpful in the north) which can be a blessing and your very downfall.

[ThatWhichThinks]

This is a really tough choice for me, since, like OP, this is my favorite faction group (though I have never really played as Baktria).

Ultimately, though, I have to go with the Sleukids.
While they may seem to be a bit OP at the start (lots of wealth, provinces, and satraps), things can go very sour very fast if you are not careful in managing your satrapies and diplomacy. Seleukid seems to be one of the few campaigns where diplomacy can really make or break you, which I really like.

The Seleukids are mighty, but they can't fight everyone (especially now that the Arabian factions actually have some teeth!), and I love the feel of sending expeditionary forces to help (or put down) my satrapies in the East while fighting Pontus, the Arabs, or the Ptolomies (or all three) in the west, all while maintaining diplomacy and trade with the western Mediterranean.

Plus, the Seleukids get the coolest roster combinations: heavy hoplites/phalangites, light Eastern cannon fodder/archers, flexible light cavalry, companions/kataphracts, and (my personal favorite) Kataphract Elephants!

[Faldor]

The Antigonids, because of their interesting starting position, their grand but at the same time tragic history, and the overall feel of the campaign with Macedon (played 3 campaigns with them already)

[Lord Blackfyre]

@Linke that was really cool, you should make an AAR thread, i would be interested to see how that campaign plays out.

I think the reason I like them so much is because if things had played out slightly differently and had they united then rome would never have taken the east, they were global superpowers when rome hadn't even taken all italy yet.

I would love a faction overhall of pergamun, i think they are a little too close in character to a greek state with not enough asiatic/macedonian influence

[loony]

I voted Pergamon.
A very hard start, very tough location, nasty Galatians and Bithnia nearby.
Need luck to take off and skill to survive.
However, once you have taken over at least 2 of the 3 available 4-region provinces, you'll feel your strength.

A very nice campaign.
Battles, yes, they are somewhat repetitive, as hoplites are the best unit you will field, plays similar to any greek faction.

[Ygraine]

Just tried Ptolemai on VH/N and it's way too easy on campaign map! You start with 4000 gold in your treasury and before I built anything on my first turn, I managed to accumulate 25200 gold just by selling trade rights - ha!

[TehGonk]

Just started my first Epirus campaign and I'm really enjoying it. Those dogs you get are absolutely beastly, and starting with a unit of elephants was pretty much the only reason I think I survived the very early game.

Actually speaking of elephants, where can I can I get more of them? Do I have to go all the way to africa or asia?

[RollingWave]

Just started my first Epirus campaign and I'm really enjoying it. Those dogs you get are absolutely beastly, and starting with a unit of elephants was pretty much the only reason I think I survived the very early game.

Actually speaking of elephants, where can I can I get more of them? Do I have to go all the way to africa or asia?

In short, yes, Syria, Ethiopia, Persia and I think Carthage area have them.