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Thread: Armenia strategies?

  1. #1

    Icon12 Armenia strategies?

    Ok so Ive just playing around with a campaign as Hayk(Armenia)

    opening turns building up economy and public order whilst getting away with one cheap stack of slingers/archers/spears and one cataphract general followed by another general with a small stack of 3 units. (just for patrolling and helping with the public order)

    trade with most of my neighbours is on the go (except media atropetene)

    alliances wise I managed to get a deal with Selucia and Pontus. 2 solid factions positioned perfectly to buffer me against attacks from Egypt and the neighbours to the west and northwest of Armenia

    I'm also at war with Parthia and Colchis.

    I managed to get about 80 turns into it but I made the mistake of allowing Media Atropetene to grow too powerful by choosing to ignore it earlier on! I learned the hard way when I had to face stack after stack those damn sparabara ...
    HATE those! grrrrrr (such a hated unit to fight against) that said though, great unit eh? they get alot of bang for their buck nice defence, nice melee and that superior eastern bow power.whats not to like?

    Anyway with all my wily ways and a the stops pulled out, I couldnt manage to save the kingdom and was ground down by that nasty and numerous range/spear spam
    with the odd enemy general with some persian median or heavy cav/cataphracts thrown in to the mix just to see your all of your skirmishers/ archers off!

    I know that Armenia has some of the best armoured units in the game, and are no slouch in the Cataphract dept. I even had a stack of those lovely Heavy armoured horse archers but they eventually dwindled down and lost the battle of attrition and couldnt reinforce quick enough vs my plight with neverending forests of persian and median spears there to greet me!


    but... BUT what is your strategy? do you get cheap stacks and try and play the archer/spear game? or do you have a more Hellenic or "romanised" approach and wait for the expensive legions and try and turtle as much as possible and then play the hammer anvil style?

    whats the best way to fight the Eastern foe? tips for stack compositions vs them?

    and also general economics what buildings etc would you prioritise first and why?


    Thanks in advance
    Last edited by Lord Oakenthrone; September 12, 2019 at 02:05 PM.

  2. #2

    Default Re: Armenia strategies?

    I don't play much as Armenia, but I do play around 90% of my games as Hellenic factions. My strategy with Eastern armies is to rely heavily on slingers (out-range your enemy), have a few trash spearman to charge the sparabara and get them engaged so they can't use all their ammo, then move your armored spears (hoplites/phalangites in my case) up to engage and do the cavalry dance on the wings. Critically, I try to use slingers to melt enemy cav in the first few minutes of the engagement, and then I'll use all 5 or 6 slinger units to focus fire on individual enemy ranged units.

    It might not be the perfect strat but it seems to work well for me, and keeps citizen casualties to a minimum. I mostly use crap mercenary spears for my trash expendable rush force, and once they've taken too many casualties I just disband them and replace with more locals.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Armenia strategies?

    Thanks!

    yeah, luckily, I saved my game every 10 turns or so, so I can backpeddle a little and rework the plan with some more slingers and cheap spears instead of trying to push for those heavy horse archers as soon as I did..

  4. #4

    Default Re: Armenia strategies?

    Good luck, let me know how it works out!

  5. #5

    Default Re: Armenia strategies?

    The sparabaras are real pain in the ass. I met them during my parthian campaign and they were a real struggle for my horse archer/cata armies. Imagine melting my armorless horse atchers, however cata archers could survive but I dont recommend any HA to shoot head to head with them. Your best bet against these pesky persians as Armenia is your decent armored infantry with big shields to soak up their limited ammo (6 iirc). Once they have no ammo left they are just an average spear unit. Armenia is so versatile they got so many nice units, use them. [emoji4]
    Historia est magistra vitae. - Cicero

  6. #6
    RollingWave's Avatar Praepositus
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    Default Re: Armenia strategies?

    Sparabara are nice units especially early on and/or against very cavalry heavy armies. However if you play around with Atrophan yourself you realize that these guys are pretty iffy actual infantry units, meaning the way to deal with them is simply to just forget about a shootout and attack their lines immediately, this reduce their ability to shoot you and in melee they're at best below average and the faction's better melee infantry are all limited in one way or another (either having poor shielding and requring nobles to recruit and/or being run of the mill hoplits that is just a lot more expensive.)

    Early on for Armenia the key is probably to at least make sure you get one port settlement so trading won't be a issue, then it's really a matter of who to fight which may differ from game to game for a faction positioned in the middle of everything like Hayk, it seems to me that usually the Georgia area is the most natural geographic extension where you both get the ports and isn't overly extended with just 1 or 2 stacks, after that it's probably Atrophakan Media, and by that point you have 3 province which is quite strong, usually you should take Parthia region if only to get the horse resource which goes better for your Armenia than anyone else, and once there you're basically already committed westerward anyway so might as well secure that side of the map first.
    1180, an unprecedented period of peace and prosperity in East Asia, it's technology and wealth is the envy of the world. But soon conflict will engulf the entire region with great consequences and lasting effects for centuries to come, not just for this region, but the entire known world, when one man, one people, unites.....

  7. #7

    Default Re: Armenia strategies?

    Great! ok so I tried some different tactics..

    grabbing the port settlement of Trapezos ASAP proved to be a turning point in pushing that trade income and I managed to secure the area with a small patrol of ships and 3 man stack on land, managed to keep that area consolidated against those smaller opportunistic attacks from the likes of Bithnyia, Colchis and those folks around the black sea.

    totally allied with Seleucids, am trying to keep those Successor/Hellenic type factions at bay for now, acting as buffers in the west whilst working my attentions to the south and East (Media/Persia/Georgia

    Turning now my attention back to those Atropatkan!! I managed to subjugate their nearest province to my border to become a satrapy thus giving me access to those Sparabara as Satrapy levies! (but that felt a bit "cheesy") and I didnt want to use the same troops as my enemy....but rather find the scissors,paper stone element and choose the right troops that my own faction presented

    Yes , cheap spears rushing forward with a few axemen on the flanks make quick work of the sparabara boys but make sure that you see to the enemy Cavalry first! then sweep up on their ranged units. a few of those heavy Armenian Catas/Nakhar should see to most enemy cavalry opposition (but of course..maybe not armoured elephants tho)

    I stuck around with that previous stack I had of armoured horse archers and found them to be very fun and useful...

    ok, Yes, I whined about how versatile the enemy Sparabara was to face up to..(in a good way of course)BUT the Armenian Heavy Horse Archer is totally unique also, and is one of the most useful units ive come across.. theyre great, horse archer and kataphractoi in one.

    *longe range bows with good damage.

    *great morale

    *great armour oh yes!

    *ability to switch from bows then charge with shock from the lances/spears then after the clash switch to their melee and get stuck into the fray as regular kataphractoi

    *can dismount and fight like armoured infantry.

    atlhough you need to micromanage a fair bit..and do not get lazy around Sparabra (we mentioned that earlier :p)

    I faced a full enemy Pontic stack of nothing but spears and hoplites and me with just 14 Armoured HA and a general unit..

    Take your HA and run around the map trying to stay on the right hand side of your enemys flank as to maximise Arrow dmg vs the unshielded side of the spearmen. by the time i ran out of arrows I accumulated tons of kills, then? I dismounted them and formed a line to face the rest of the weakened spears whilst my general unit remainded mounted and smashed into the backs of the enemy with the Royal Cats ... sometimes if your slick enough you dont even need to dismount just order the heavy armoured HA to charge into any exposed flanks and keeping your horses moving about will break the enemy lines into chaos and confusion and the mass rout usually ensues and you can sweep up the rest.

    Ive managed to do great with one stack of Armoured HAx15 + 1x general and 4 slots free for some cheapish spear mercs to do skirmishing, raiding and harrasment of troops. These will be backed up with a cheap patroling stack nearby of cheap armenian/caucasian spearmen x10 units 4x slingers 4xaxemen 1x archer (for fire arrows morale debuff) and of course a royal cata general x1

    this combination has dealt with most of my foes..although attrition, supplies and food have to be working out for you or eventually you get desertion/disease/attrition and then worn down to a stump by the constant pressure. securing that port of Trapezos is a MUST, as well as getting your farmland/grain slots and public order buildings on the go ASAP.


    Anyways... Im having a blast with this GREAT mod

    huge thanks to the DEI team!
    Last edited by Lord Oakenthrone; September 12, 2019 at 02:13 PM.

  8. #8

    Default Re: Armenia strategies?

    Entire Camel-archer armies are hilarious and effective.

  9. #9

    Default Re: Armenia strategies?

    So my current after several starts is going well.

    The northern neighbors are an unsettled lot and will cause trouble for you no matter what. I take all three in the first 30 turns while building my economy.

    Make friends with Bosporus as you have just eliminated their main irritant, Kolkhis, let them form the norther barrier against the nomads. They will run wild on th other side of the mountains.

    Next to befriend are the Galatians. If the are friends and strong, they will tie up other factions instead of attacking. Trade and a non-aggression pact will secure the West for a while so I can prepare for the attack on Media.
    I will plan for Media first while keeping a close eye on the Galatians and Seleucids.

    Neither Greek nor Persian, I try to make only trade agreements so as to not get entangled too deep in the troubles of others. My new conquests will stabilize by turn 40 or so and the cash will be flowing. I have left Trapezos alive, but I fear they may attract violence. We will see.

    The best part of this campaign is yet to come, AOR supplements to the Heavy horse that I will soon be recruiting. They will blend nicely with each other for the main stacks which will be supported with a stack of cheap trash. I love that Armenia starts with 6 recruitment slots. You can whip up a cheap support army quickly.
    Last edited by struckat; April 07, 2020 at 10:50 AM.

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