How do you search for threads? I don't see any links. I'd like to read Yuri's threads.
My first time I tried on H/H I got destroyed pretty quickly. My current campaign is the opposite. Not sure how much different it will be on VH/VH, but probably not much.
I'm currently almost to 50 provinces with over 1.2 million in the bank. I never made alliances with anyone, either.
Here's my overall strategy, for what it's worth:
-Never assault a city. Missile cavalry needs plenty of room, so they get slaughtered in city fighting. Just lay seige until they sally forth. It sucks having to wait sometimes, but it works.
-Avoid battles with Scythia. Horse archers vs horse archers=draw.
-Never use infantry (another reason I never assault- I can't). Plus, an all-cav army has more movement points.
-Never auto resolve.
-In the open field, using missile cavalry feels like cheating. There is no battle line. Form your army into 3 groups (center, far left, far right), charge forward and surround the enemy, even when outnumbered. Remember, you are a lot more mobile than whoever you're fighting.
-Take out archers and cavalry first. Infantry can't catch cavalry.
-When you are outnumbered, go ahead and fight. Use up all your arrows, then withdraw. Yes, it's a loss, but they'll lose a few hundred men and you won't lose many at all. Whittle them down until you can kill all of them.
-You should never lose more than a few men when fighting a Seleucid army. They are cannon fodder. They'd typically have over 1000 casualties to my 15 or so.
-A typical full stack army for me will consist of 1 general, 3 cataphracts, 8 Persian cav, and 8 horse archers. I usually don't even have to use my cataphracts. Different story against the Romans.
In the first couple moves:
-Immediately attack Seleucia from Susa. Lay siege and wait until they sally. Occupy settlement.
-Take Phraaspa immediately from the rebels. Assault is okay here because the rebels are weak.
-Take the rebel city immediately from your northern city (forgot the names). Assault is okay here as well. Exterminate. Don't build anything.
-Get trade rights from Pontus and Armenia, and a few turns later from Egypt.
-An Armenian ary is going to be hanging around Phraaspa. Do not attack. Their army came into my territory but left me alone.
-Build farms. An army of all horse archers is just fine.
-Destroy all the buildings in your two northern cities, which gets you some cash. Abandon both cities and set taxes to high. Get in your boat in the Caspian Sea and float your northern army down to Phaaspa and combine with the army there. Leave those cities to the rebels. They're more trouble than they're worth (Scythia).
-Cease fire and trade rights with Seleucids.
-With your combined army from Phraaspa, attack the Armenian army. It's not an easy battle, but you should win without too many casualties. Then lay siege to their eastern city. I think they only had infantry when they sallied.
-Wait here. Now you have 5 provinces very close to each other. Get your army in the former Armenian city to a full stack. Should take a few turns.
-Move near Armenia's lone remaining city. They keep a sizable army in their city, and another one in the field, which will attack you. Destroy them and lay siege to their city.
-By this time, the Seleucids will be wanting Seleucia back. Move your army in Seleucia out on the road. They never actually attacked me, but if they do it's an easy win.
-Leave the other Seleucid cities be. Let them act as a buffer between you and Egypt. Meanwhile, concentrate everything on Pontus. Once they're destroyed, take the rest of Turkey (including Rhodes, even armored hoplites can't put up with arrows forever). Now your economy is soaring. Take the battle to the Seleucids. Leave Antioch until the Seleucids don't have any territories yet. For some reason, Egypt started to become hostile right after I took Antioch. Now you're big enough to take on Egypt (who was surprisingly easy in battle).
-You're now the richest, most powerful faction. Kill everything that moves.
[This message has been edited by Peleus (edited 04-17-2007 @ 11:17 PM).]