Hi all, and congratulations for this amazing mod!!!

I have recently begun a Baktrian campaign and have been really enjoying it so far. I managed to conquer Kapisha, Alexandria Eschates, Chach and Haomavarganu Agu, and after repeatedly breaking the Saka's bones I am ready to begin my independence war against the Seleucids.

I am at turn 50 and the AI is behaving really well. Takashila has not launched any stupid attack against me, they are busy warring against other Indians. Pahlava conquered Zadrakarta, Bukhara and Khwarazm and has not bothered me yet. The Seleucids are busy in the west and conquered Gedrosia.

What really astonishes me, are the Saka. They conquered Chach immediately after I took A. Eschates, and after a couple of turns they attacked me. I repeatedly smashed their armies, killed almost all their family members and generals, took Chach from them, then I asked for peace and they agreed. In the meanwhile they took the two settlements in the steppe between their homeland and the Sauromatae. But they are still really weak. Now, they started another war against me by besieging Chach with an army inferior to my garrison. I destroyed that too, and there's another one approaching, even weaker. Right now I am autoresolving battles with the auto_win cheat, because I am tired of playing horse-shoot and the default autoresolve always makes me lose many more men than I would.

I think Saka really needs a repositioning of their starting armies, one closer to a steppe settlement and another one closer to Haomavarganu Agu to make them conquer it before the Baktrians because this is also the only way into the Kashgar basin. This way they will have also that route for expansion rather than attacking Baktria relentlessly and stupidly. Maybe an army should start the campaign already near Kashgar.

Ground types in the area don't help. Saka are forced to make a huge detour south through the mountains, to Haomavarganu Agu, before being able to reach Kashgar. I think a passage near their starting settlement is needed to make expansion in the Kashgar basin without being forced to fight Baktria. This way the Saka will also be more powerful and field more decent armies rather than 5 horse archers units against my 12-units garrisons.

I understand the ground types and the mountain passages have been done like this for gameplay purposes. But the way that part of the map has been done in EB1 is, in my opinion, the correct one. With an army already near Kashgar and a passage from their starting settlement, it allows Saka expansion options without forcibly being at war with others.