My army is a full stack of 5 or 6 Poeni infantry with 2 long shield cavalry. I have a couple of Sacred Band infantry and one SB heavy cavalry, plus my general, and 2 or 3 Carthaginian skirmishers. These guys are all at full strength. My other 5 or 6 units are mercenary peltasts at about 2/3 strength each.
If I sally to attack them, the game gives me odds of 2:1 against, and if I autoresolve the battle, the result is a draw with me losing about 300 to their 200, i.e. I end up worse off.
My city surrenders in 5 turns. I could just about assemble a relief force in northern Italy and march it there within those 5 turns, I guess, but it wouldn't be a full stack. It would be 3 or 4 Libyan spears and 3 or 4 Poeni, though also 4 SB cavalry.
Usually I outnumber the other guy in cavalry, so my cavalry rout his cavalry first then wipe out any archers or ballistae. If there aren't any, they break a few infantry units. My skirmishers break one or two more, and by this time my infantry outnumber his surviving infantry. They defeat them and that's it.
This won't work here. I'm outnumbered 7 to 4 in cavalry, 9 to 8 in heavy infantry and his archers are going to outrange, outnumber and probably outperform my crappy skirmishers.
How do I fight this army with my Bylazora army?