Hey there guys, some of you find really hard the Athenian campaign, and i think that its quite normal considering that Athens has the highest difficulty as a fation in the game.
You start scattered around the map and surrounded by many enemies that are willing to grab your provinces. So in our mod its even harder and some people consider it unplayable.
So what you need to know.
Athens has 3 weak points :
1. Samos - if you loose samos you loose almost all your allies
2. Mytilene - the Mytilenians rebel at 428 b.c. if you dont stop the rebellion then it spreads and after that things get really bad.
3. Naupaktos - a crucial but vulnerable city.
So I will explain my strategical plan with Athens after I give you some tips.
1. Use your navy to lure huge armies into the sea by blockading ports. If you blockade the port the AI considers the fleet to small force -autoresolve also does- and attacks in the open sea. In the sea you may destroy the army quite easily along with the garrison army.
PS. I USE RAMMING ALWAYS!!! i will upload some replays with my naval battles if they are asked to. Just to get an idea how to attack.
2. Athens has a unique income, in order for you to fund your conquests you NEED TO RAISE TAXES TO MAXIMUM.
This will cause bad PO, but in our mod the PO increases with victorious battles. So you need desperately victories from your first rounds.
The korinthian fleets and Pronnoi are a good target, and also the Korinthian army near olynthos.
3. ALWAYS recruit first AOR units, as Naxioi Hoplitai and local hoplites in general due to the very low upkeep they have.
4. In the navy mostly recruit archers, they are cheap and they may storm a city and destroy even the heaviest hoplites. They also have long range so you may also kill the javelineers in an easy manner.
So if the strategy is explained with details, it would be like a spoiler for the game. So I will put my detailed answers on spoilers, cause I dont want to affect your gameplay unless if you are stuck , desperate or pissed off ;p . For the rest i will give you hints.
SO WITH CAPITAL LETTERS, DONT PRESS THE SHOW SPOILER BUTTON OR YOU LL GET A SPOIL AND THIS WILL REDUCE THE FUN.
1. In the north you are usually attacked by Thracians. Thracians are treacherous and have no army cap, meaning they may spawn huge armies late game and wont be easily restricted. THE MAIN SUGGESTION :IS WITH EVERY FACTION YOU HAVE WAR GO TILL THE END AND DONT SUBJUGATE OR SIGN A PEACE TREATY UNLESS YOU DONT HAVE ANY OTHER OPTION.
2. Any small nations that seem to pose a real danger in your borders or inside them clean them fast before they recruit a lot of armies. KEEP IN MIND YOU MAY REPLENISH UNITS ONLY IN ATHENS.
3. Find the weak spots of sparta and make them bleed slowly....
4. Get Thermon fast, they are a dangerous faction and you need it to proceed to Ambrakia and remove the Korinthians forever except pelloponese. And as said naupaktos is crucial.
5. War with macedon will occur, conquer them as fast as possible while on the southern front cripple boiotia through raiding and destroy their armies while isolated. Use your mind to destroy their armies... They are big. REMEMBER YOU HAVE A FEW ARMIES USE THEM WISELY.
6. Eventually the war with Persia will come, its better for you to begin it fast before they get unbeatable, its always better to attack... But watch your back, Greece is not a quite place.
7. After having finished with persia return back to Greece and end the conquest of the last enemy cities. The conquest of sardeis gives you a very good diplomacy bonus which you may exchange for 1 capital of a major faction. Thebes preferred or Korinth.
8. Beware of your allies they wont be your allies any more...
Thats the general idea of the campaign. So if you have pressed the spoilers know that they might not work out, after all that was my gameplay...I d love to learn if a different approach succeeds. Feel free to ask me anything, on comments or PM.
Thanks for reading guyz!
Athenian campaign guide and some things you need to know and some you dont
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Same tactic applies in non transport ships
