Crusiminator
Legionary
posted 23 October 2007 21:28 EDT (US)
I read somewhere that people are sucessfully using them so i thought hey lets try them. I started like 3 attempts
1. Armenians took my attention and Egypts killed my capitol
2. Parthians destroyed all my armies
3. Egypts kept me busy and Pontus took out my cities next to capitol
I really like seleucids having a very good early game economy but its just not enough. Especially the parthians are incredible, i tried them myself and i have beaten 5 armies of seleucids without loosing a single unit - all you have to do is make cavalry archers - they either outrange crappy skirmishers and about slow hoplites i dont need to say anything. If im lucky and parthians stay in peace with me i get destroyed cause i cant mass units everyhwere but i usually get attacked from everywhere - armenians, pontus and egypt - at least 2 of those attack me
I really have no clue how to survive in the beginning(most difficult level at least)
Smackus Maximus
Legionary
posted 24 October 2007 03:45
EDT (US)
3 / 12
Unless your playing on very hard its an easy start, but you do have to play to your strengths.
With the Seleucids all money should first go into the development of temples (Hephausteaus), barracks and the building of spearmen. I go with militia hoplites until phalanx pikemen are available (levies are dreadful). Remaining money should be put into roads (to get troops to reinforce when under siege), Blacksmith (for chariots), stables (for militia cavalry support), markets and ports. This will give you a sound financial income and the ability to field decent offensive troops after 10 turns or so.
As its a wealthy faction, it is worth considering low tax rates for some cities in order to get them up to a population level capable of producing decent barracks/walls. Look at putting walls around Damascus and Seleucia as soon as you can they typically get attacked the most.
Then its simply a case of making sure you have enough militia hoplites, and mass them at key points in the city streets. You will murder cavalry and chariots, and inflict massive damage on the Egyptians and the Parthians in particular. Try to ally with some of the non-Egyptian factions in the area
Smackus Maximus
Legionary
posted 24 October 2007 07:31
EDT (US)
5 / 12
Just be careful with Parthia though - make sure you have a lot of spearmen around Seleucia, as they have a couple of units of Cataphracts. These pack a huge punch, especially early game.
Egypt are not usually a big problem for the Seleucids, mainly as their generals get killed almost instantly by any phalanx. Egyptian generals tend to get sacrificed very early by the AI, after that you should be able to achieve a chain rout easily enough. Any militia cavalry you happen to have will then have a field day slaughtering all in sight.
Smackus Maximus
Legionary
posted 24 October 2007 10:46
EDT (US)
8 / 12
That's a high risk strategy loose_the_arrows, if you get caught in the open vs the Parthians you will get in a lot of trouble early game, especially if you come up against those 2 units of cataphracts. Parthia will cause you almost no trouble if your in your cities, as long as you have lots of spearmen, as their cavalry will get slaughtered.
That being said if you have a surplus of troops it is definitely wise to take out Susa, as it practically removes the threat of another Parthia attack. I tend to take out Susa when I have a large army already in place in Seleucia.
cjones87
Legionary
posted 24 October 2007 10:49
EDT (US)
9 / 12
I gathered a large force and swept into Egypt with blazing results. Lost some of the outer cities to Parthia and Armenia, but getting rid of Egypt then turning around to take care of the others worked for me.
Seleucia Reborn
Legionary
posted 24 October 2007 12:33
EDT (US)
10 / 12
Whenever I play as the Seleucids This is what I do early game. I reinforce Seleucia, Tarsus, and Hatra. The city in Asia Minor (forgot the name)I usually just abandon as it's just a pain in the *** to keep. Instead take the army and sail them to Cyprus and take that. Then move a small-medium sized force and attack Susa. The number one rule to survival is to take out Egypt early. If you let Egypt survive too long they will come out you with massive numbers of quality troops. Once that is done you can then focus on your 3 smaller enemies to the north.
LloydBrown
Legionary
posted 25 October 2007 10:27
EDT (US)
12 / 12
Yeah, I think everyone agrees you need to beat down Egypt before they explode. The other neighbors--Scythia, Armenia, Parthia, and even Greece--never gain ground in AI-vs.-AI action. I've seen Pontus expand into the Aegean and even start establishing African colonies. That was a strange game.