Version 3.5
Pontos (H/H), 500 Turns
Philhellene. Any player of Europa Barbarorum II will see this word from Africa to India. A character trait, an administrative approach, an empty declaration. It has many meanings to many peoples, but for none does it have more meaning than it does for the Pharnakides of Pontos. They are defined by the word, whether it's as a regional kingdom or as a grand empire. This makes Pontos a unique faction as the only non-Hellenic faction that can recruit directly from Poleis (you cannot create or upgrade them) and use Hellenic Colonists as Military Garrisons. Yet you are not a Hellenic Basileus of a Hellenic people, you are ruler of many peoples. You must embrace this role, or rest among the vanquished.
Early Game Difficulty: Challenging-Very Challenging
Late Game Difficulty: Easy
Army/Units: As Basileus Pontou, you have unique mechanics and an inclination towards army diversity that will bear fruit later. For the beginning, you have more weaknesses than strengths, and arguably you never truly shake free of some of them.
There's an old saying, "He who tries to defend everything, defends nothing." The same principle can be applied to the armies of Pontos, it tries to be strong in every area. Galatians and Hellenes for infantry, Anatolians for lights and cavalry, with the old Persian elite for a cherry on top. In early practice, you don't start with access to the Galatian Elite Infantry or Hellenic Hoplitai, and your Persian elite are extremely limited. Outside of the Aswar i Kwheshawandan, you don't really have anything that your enemies don't have before you build up, and they will often have superior numbers. Especially in Galatia. In my playthrough this made my main tactic is concentrating my competent infantry to hold on the left, overloading all my cavalry onto the right (these wings are switched if flanking from my right is non-viable,) using the light cavalry to tie down the enemy cavalry, scattering the cavalry with my Aswar, and rolling the enemy from there. This did often come at a cost to my left wing, even if the infantry I left there came out well against repeat charges, they weren't mobile enough to prevent getting flanked.
The best balance between bolstering your forces and conquering manageable land is to go for Sinope and Trapezous along the Black Sea coast. They aren't particularly wealthy, but they can grant you additional heavy infantry that you sorely lack. Conquering Nikaia and Byzantion would make you a target to the Hellenic powers, including Pergamon. Conquering Ani-Kamah and Kappadokia brings you into conflict with Hayastan. You won't upset anybody else by conquering Galatia, but it is a hotbed of rebellion and if the attention of numerous Eleutheroi stacks in the region weren't on you before, they will be once you mobilize against the region. Sinope is the more optimal of the two as you don't even have to build an additional government, you can recruit Hoplitai and Peltastai Logades from the Polis. Expanding along the Caucasus can grant you interesting regionals, but you need the reform governments in order to access the elite Caucasian Axemen and Caucasian Lancers.
Once you begin empire-building in earnest, western Anatolia is a prime target. Mainly because of it's wealth, but your pre-reform governments also get the most valuable regionals to bolster your forces. A Strategiai in Phrygia and Sardis allows you to add 4 units (2 for each province) of Hippomachoi to your army, a valuable addition of heavy cavalry. You also reap extensive benefits from being able to recruit directly from Hellenic Poleis and Military Colonies, not needing to spend a single Mnai to lay additional infrastructure, it also adds extensive amounts of heavy infantry to your forces. If you are particularly skilled with the cheese, you might even want to hold off expanding in certain areas until the Hellenic powers can upgrade the local Polis, as you cannot upgrade or create Poleis yourself. Only at the Metropolis level can some Polis provide the elite Hyperaspistai infantry.
Once you've acquired a decent sized empire including Galatia, Pontos Euxinos, Phrygia, and Lydia you will start to feel the benefits of Pontos' approach to rule. The regionals from these lands provide the units you need to begin shaping the army of Pontos to it's ideal form. And the Thureos reforms also benefit you greatly, in adding to your pool of heavy (if not outstandingly so) infantry. However, you will not be able to reach your full potential without hitting the reforms. By the point where you've conquered these lands, you should have extensive territory and multiple battles with Hellenic powers under your belt. There's only one place left to go, the Bosporos. If you've come this far, the Bosporitai should pose no challenge. Horse archers might throw you for a loop if you don't come with extensive cavalry, but other than that the only thing to watch out for is the formidable Bosporitai Logades. Of course, you can add both to your armies after you've won.
Once you've risen to universal recognition in the greater oikumene, you will receive one hell of a cherry on top of your current establishment. Once you've built Basilike Patris, then you'll receive a convincing imitation-Hellenic roster. You can recruit Agema Phalangitai, Aswar i Kweshawandan as a substitute for Hetairoi and Hippeis Thessalikoi/Klerouchikon Agema (and it's superior as it's a 2 unit pool as opposed to 2 separate pools, meaning the Aswar have faster replenishment,) 1 unit of Hyperaspistai or Thorakitai Epilektoi as a substitute for Hypaspistai, and 1 unit of Bosporitai Logades as a substitute for Peltastai Makedones. Unfortunately the Pontic Basilike Patris does not seem to allow for an extra two Phalangitai recruitment like the mainstream Hellenic version. Your roster still isn't perfect, however. If you examine the elite infantry recruitment, you'll note that you have less elite infantry available than the equivalent Hellenic administration. Also, given your proximity to the East, you'll likely me made aware of your lack of Cataphracts.
After you complete the Pontic reform, you'll receive an interesting toy to play with from your Hypobasileia and Basilike Patris, the Scythed Chariot. While the Seleukids receive this item as well, it seems like Pontos is the faction with the most affinity for this tool. It is an interesting substitute for the Cataphract. On an individual basis it is more durable than even those horsemen, but they suffer several drawbacks in terms of maneuverability and raw damage output. Though Scythed Chariots can disrupt formations better than any other unit save for Elephants, they are far less maneuverable and quick than any cavalry, including Cataphracts. In case the enemy decides to redeploy and you want to catch them in motion, it's unlikely that Scythed Chariots will be able to attack from an optimal angle or even catch them properly. High ground also takes the proverbial wind out of the Scythed Chariot's sails.
It's a bit of a shame that at the point you unlock the Pontos reform, you will likely have gotten a solid grasp on Pontic tactics and the new additions are essentially a cherry on top, even if they are an effective cherry. Few armies at this point will pose a real threat to you, as you'd have a large amount of Hellenic heavy infantry from Poleis and colonies (including the famous Spartans, if you choose to hold on to Sparte) combined a wide range of cavalry from Asia Minor and the Bosporos.
Campaign: Of all the Anatolian Triumvirate, Pergamon, Pontos, and Hayastan, our middle child here has the most difficult starting position and has the greatest struggle to hit their reform. Both Pergamon and Hayastan have superior income thanks to positioning. The Anatolian coast along the Ionian Sea is a much richer area than the Black Sea coast, thus Pergamon can get richer faster. Hayastan proper rakes in good income before you invest in mines, and their lack of a need to defend from multiple fronts makes for extensive military savings. The other two are even better off on a military basis, Pergamon has access to elites from the word go and Hayastan's Cataphracts give them a massive edge against Eleutheroi. To make this a trio of misfortune, the other two are also better off on an administrative basis as well. Pergamon starts off with their highest level government, and can probably develop Pergamon itself to the highest level without hitting reforms. Hayastan's reforms are easier to hit as they don't have to bother creating a navy to conquer the prerequisite territory (or take a ridiculous detour,) and at an early stage can build Caucasian Tribal Kingdoms that provide both good recruitment and public order bonuses. A government that can do both of these isn't available for Pontos at all until their reform.
With all this in mind, I decided to take my approach to the Pontic campaign slowly. I didn't take too many risks. I built up my treasury over time, stayed away from the borders of rival powers, and left my fresh recruits as healthy garrisons in my current territories to keep secure. It probably took me over two hundred turns to get the Pontos reform. I do think some measure of luck happened to me in my Pontos playthrough, without it I'd label my campaign as closer to Very Challenging as opposed to Challenging. My caution was rooted in my previous experience with Hard difficulty campaigns. In those AI factions could expand quite rapidly, much faster than they would in Medium difficulty. Yet I was largely left in peace until I had a hundred or so turns to develop, so I did not face much challenge from the AI factions compared to my battles with Eleutheroi. Hayastan in particular was rather passive, letting me have Kappadokia and two thirds of the Caucasus mountain range. After an initial war they seemed to expand east into Parthia instead.
One of the greatest accomplishments of EBII is making reading about ancient administration fun. And pre-reform Pontos is quite interesting with a variety of governments that each various benefits and drawbacks, though it is disappointing that your core administration starts with the basic Strategiai. These governments are generally split into two paths, military governments that provide recruitment of quality soldiers at the expense of public order, and governments that promote public order but only allow you to recruit mediocre units from them. Also keeping in mind your mediocre income that will suffer from raiding armies from nearby provinces, and Galatia especially, you will need to craft a careful, long term strategy in order to prosper.
The Philhellenism of the Pontos faction extends beyond it's armies. There is also a series of scripts where Pontos funds and undertakes several diplomatic missions to Hellas. After several dozen turns, and a dozen thousand Mnai spent, you have a grand prize of...an Alliance with Koinon Hellenon. That in my playthrough they ended up betraying me anyway. At least one of my Pontic kings ended up being my first and only Olympic winner.
As said before, you can also create Hellenistic Military Colonies. Be careful that the resulting increase in Hellenistic Culture doesn't jeopardize the stability of your provinces.
Once you've finished consuming the independent cities of Anatolia and have beaten down your rival powers, the fun really begins. The reform gives you the Satrapeia and Hypobasileia governments that are just an improvement in every way over your previous governments. Well, they might be more expensive. They provide extensive recruitment, improved possibilities for construction, and public order bonuses. You ought to be careful with the placement of Hypobasileia however, only Pharnakid governors are allowed to rule in provinces with this option installed. It at this point that you can hit your peak on an administrative and military basis.