TVfhilthy Alexis It’s a joke because you can literally use almost any other unit in a charge against them and they will almost immediately start to break and be slaughtered.
Out of all nations that start to the east from Bosphorus, Pontus has the second best starting position after Egypt. Indeed it starts with meager 2 settlements, but can expand very quick and easy, securing Asia Minor and that is a formidable 9 cities, if we take Rhodes as well. Not Greeks nor Seleucids should pose too much of a threat. After getting all Asia Minor under control one can really go to any direction, whether it is the rest of Greece, Caucasus, Palestine and Egypt or maybe a Black Sea coastline which can be very profitable, since Pontus has access to tier 3 port, spice road, tier 5 market and glorious secret police that gives law and therefore roots out corruption, basically paying for itself off in a few turns. Having Aphrodite temple is nice to boost that pop, since they don't have any health buildgs, just as the rest two Eastern factions, so pop growth is an issue. Can't say that Pontic army is a top-notch, since there are bigger fishes around, but what they have definitelly gets job done. Chariots and heavy cav can really turn things around, and Bronze shields are a nice exact copy of Silver shields which are also cheaper, so this is handy. Overall, Pontus is a small faction with lots of potential, but to make that potential bloom one needs to put some work into it.
Tried this, It was a torture to deal with Armenian horse archers without light missile troops with long range. Later become ally with Seleucids and move to Rhodes and to eastern mediterranean shores. Stuck in an endless war with Egypts while my Thracean peninsula regions were being invaded by Macedons. Egypt has better archers than I, that means they just fire arrow my chariots, which they freak out like elephants for some reason and crash to my own frontline
@@febbra2 In Barbarian invasion it is using this method able to piece together more, depending on some short and other longer, as well as the RTW backup map vs the BI backup map. I also have a feeling that the factions order in the menu partially goes in order of creation. Greece is lower because it was once Illyria, Macedon and Pontus are above Armenia &co
Yea they both have their own intro texts which makes me think they were originally planned to be playable. Shame cos they’re two of the most fun campaigns alongside Romans and seleucids
@@NotlostMoon i guess but the spartan hoplites are posibly the best unit in the game but the macedonians do have more flexible unit rosters especially elite cavalry
9:06 Pontus and Thracians were fighting each other quite frequently, so a good explanation is that they were hiring Thracian mercenaries at their wars too (Thracians are known to be warrior mercenaries in general too).
According to ancient writers, there were big population movements from Thrace to Bithynia and Pontus so they were quite related peoples since before Alexander and the Persian Empire. Also because of gameplay needs I guess
I completed a Very Hard Very Hard campaign as pontus this year and it was very fun. I secured turkey, then started securing greece when a stack of Armenians attacked me, then I fought my way east through Armenia and Parthia. Pontic heavy cavalry are amazing, and their generals are really good. They get the best early game pike-men and easy access to scythed chariots which will eviscerate CATAPHRACTS. Scythed chariots = instant cavalry superiority, then you can send javelins into the enemy's back.
I always wanted to believe that playing on hard makes the campaign in fact harder because it lulls you in a false sense of security. Factions should have the time to grow their population and tech up but still the CAI is too stupid to do just that and they attack even if allied. So yeah, house rules apply.
Securing Asia Minor (Turkey) first is a good idea. Unfortunately, I took too long to do that. I made the mistake of going east first, trying to conquer Armenia. My western front is now at a stalemate, because the Thracians and Brutii are too strong for me to conquer.
Sorry I'm late, I think the rule of thumb in RTW1 when playing every factions other than romans is you have to rush to the mediterranian sea in order to get ports because trading there is much more lucrative than black sea, caspian sea, or even english channel/north sea. Let's say you play as Armenia, I strongly suggest you to knock out Pontus immediately (going west), instead of facing Parthia (going east). That way, you'll control anatolia and its rich trading ports (aegean sea). Coz if you going east first, it'll be hard to developing setttlements (you don't get much money/trade there) and growth in the east is pretty low...
kind of ironic Parthia got into the campaign but Pontus didn't considering Pontus roster is quite well built up. Most unplayable factions are unplayable cuz their roster is unpolished and lack-luster, but Pontus is quite nice! I mean, it has more than Parthia which is a faction I would expect should be unplayable (granted, historically speaking Parthia was quite relevant in Roman Empire history so they should be let in, but gameplay wise...)
eastern infantry are very good in loose formation at soaking up enemy missile fire, cheap and recruitable anywhere they can waste ammo that would have been used on better units also a tip for Pontus the chariots are GODLIKE against enemy generals, light cavalry, they're fast enough to chase them down. Watch out though chariots get absolutely demolished against phalanx formations, even cheap ones, don't even risk it since chariot morale plummet if 2-3 of them are killed (due to multiple soldiers riding) so they will break in no time. Chariot archers are 10x better than scythed chariots because they can still tear apart cavalry and have a high missile attack.
I have played as Pontus and tried a lot of different ways of expanding and found the fastest is just to sweep west all the way to Rome conquering every city along the way, then expanding through the middle east, north from Macedonian, and into Gaul all at the same time, the wonder bonuses and wealth from the Roman and Greek settlements are game shattering once gained.
What I think the Pontos roster should be representing an excellent blend Hellenic and Eastern culture. Units should have limits to where they can be recruited for instance Hellenic units can only be recruited in areas that have high Hellenic influence (such as Greece, Southern Italy, Crimea, the cost of Anatolia, Mesopotamia and Egypt) *Melee Infantry:* Eastern Levies: These are renamed Eastern Infantry however they have been given a smaller shield which makes them more vunerable to arrow fire. Can be recruited anywhere in the middle east. Eastern Pike Levies: Eastern Levies that replace their spears and shields for pike and an a back up axe. These are the weakest but cheapest pike unit in the game. Can be recruited anywhere in the middle east Milita Hoplites: The weakest hoplite unit in the game. Their morale and combat ability have been slightly have been slighly improved to make up that hoplites are no longer shorter pikemen but actual spearmen. They can form a shield wall which can make them highly resilient against attacks from the front. Pontic Spearmen: This is a light spearman unit that is basically superior versions of the Eastern Levies in every catergory and still very cheap. Can only be recruited around the Pontic region Persian Spearmen: These are other version of the Eastern Infantry but their morale and combat stats have been improved so they can hold the line better. They will still loose to Hellenic and Roman Infantry. These can be recruited almost any where in Mesopotamia, Anatolia and Iran Hillmen: These are fast moving and good stamina infantry. Their spears have been replaced with javelins and axes. These are meant to be flanking infantry with good anti armour capability. However they will lose to heavy infantry in head on engagement. Recruitable in Anatolia, Caucasus and Iran Pontic Hoplites: These are hoplites that lie in between the regular hoplites and the elite hoplites of the Hellenic factions. Like all hoplite they loose their short pikes for normal spears but to make up the lose of the spear wall they gain the shield wall ability. Can only be recruitable around the Pontic region Thureophoroi: This unit is recruitable after the first Hellenic reform. These are highly-flexible multi-role moderately armoured spearmen that can form both the role of a heavy skirmisher and a decent spearmen unit capable of fighting both light infantry and cavalry. They are basically spear armed versions of Roman infantry. However they are less effective against heavy units Thorakitai: This unit is recruitable after the second Hellenic reform. This is basically a more heavily armed and stronger version of the Thureophoroi White Shield Pikemen: This a replacement of the Phalanx Pikemen. They are slightly inferior to the Pezhetairoi pikemen of the Macedonians, Seleucid and the Ptolemaic Kingdom. Bronze Shield Pikemen: They have been rebalanced so that they are now inferior to the Seleucid Silver Shields Pontic Swordsmen: This unit is recruitable after the second Hellenic reform. This is basically an equivanlant the Roman Hastai though they have weaker javelins. Sinopean Guards: This is an elite version of the Pontic Swordsmen almost comparable to the post marian legionaries. Very well armoured and has very good combat ability and morale. Rercruitable after the second Hellenic reform *Missile Infantry* Hellenic Skirmisher: This is one of the low end javelin throwing infantry. They do more damage at throwing than their Eastern counterparts, however they are very weak in melee Eastern Skirmisher: The other low tier javelin throwing infantry. They do less range damage than their Hellenic counterparts but have a spear as a melee weapon allowing themselves to defend against light cavalry Peltast: These are moderately armoured javelin throwers that have decent melee combat Hellenic Slingers: These are deceivingly very good range units being very cheap and yet able to outrange most archers (190) and have armour piercing. Eastern Slingers: These are inferior to their Hellenic counterparts in everyway. However they can be easily recruited anywhere in the middle east Hellenic Archer: This is the worse archer unit in the game. Low damage both at range and melee and low range (100). Persian Archer: They are superior to their Hellenic counterparts due to having far longer range (180).Cheap effective unit, recruitable in Anatolia, Mesopotamia and Persia. Weak in melee Bosphoran Heavy Archer: One of the best archers in the game. Good damage, well armoured, long range and decent melee ability, almost comparable to Cretean Archers *Cavalry* Anatolian Skirmisher Cavalry: A light cavalry unit armed with javelins and a melee spear. They have a decent charge bonus allowing to act as shock cavalry in a pinch but weak in sustained melee Anatolian Nobles Cavalry: This is a medium cavalry unit with decent armour and melee ability. Armed with a spear with a good charge bonus and an armour piercing axe for melee Early Pontic bodyguards: These are an early game bodyguard for pontic generals. Well armored and armed with a lance and armour piercing maces. Strong melee chage and good melee stats Late Pontic bodyguards: These are upgrade of the Earlier bodyguards. They have better armour, better morale and combat ability. These come after the second reform Scythe Chariot: Heavily armoured with a power charge bonus can easily smash through light infantry formation with huge amount of kills and frightens infantry. Weak if it gets bogged down by heavy infantry. Persian Heavy Cavalry: A well armoured heavy cavalry unit that has a very good charge and good melee ability, though weaker than cataphracts Hellenic Lancers: A light cavalry unit with a good charge but weak melee ability Cappadocian Cataphracts: These are the strongest cavalry unit avable for Pontos: Very heavily armoured, very powerful charge and good melee combat Bosphoran Horse Archer: A horse archer recruitable around the eastern black sea area. They are worse in range and range damage to the horse archers of the steppe nomads and as a result they rely on their good armour and decent melee stats. This unit is comparable to the medieval 2 Byzantine Cavalry horse archer unit. *Mercenaries* Karian Warriors: Comparable to roman hastai. They are lightly armoured and fast moving swordsmen armed with javelins that will charge in after throwing Galatikoi Kuarothoroi: Heavily armoured spearmen/swordman Galatian Wildmen: Near naked very fierce and skilled javelin throwing swordsmen. Have no armour but good melee attack and charge. Small in number, near unbreakable moreale though they will charge without orders. They also cause fear to enemy units. Galatian Chariot: A chariot unit but unlike the Sycthe Chariot, the Galatian chariot are not meant for charging into infantry but for skirmishing. Causes fear Galatian Nobles: A moderately armoured heavy cavalry unit with a good charge with spears and melee attack with swords. Meant to provide a good melee unit until one can recruit Persian Heavy Cavalry Scythian Archer: This archer until has the same range as Persian archers but does more damage and has an axe as a melee weapon allowing to damage armoured infantry in a pinch Scythian Horse Archer: A very fast moving lightly armoured horse archer with good range and missile damage
Love Pontus, 1) cheap garrison- leave 4 eastern spearmen (you know the poor morale ones) and two scythe chariots and they can beat any rebels popping up in their area and any faction army that is around half strength--as long as you "auto resolve" which is good if you get weary constantly fight every rebel that pops every other round in real time. Add a catapult to this force and you can harvest the city it was station in after you let it revolt to manage over population and plague. 2) Quick/Large amount of money from diplomacy - the center position allows you to send diplomats quickly to the surrounding factions, Armenia, Thrace, Greek, Macedonian, Seleucids and Egypt and if you're lucky Brutii and Parthia. Armenia, Thrace, Greek just ask around 250 gold to attack all other factions (get about halfway thru roster), Seleucids (always) and Macedonia (Mostly) can get the whole roster of factions for about 400 gold each. Eygpt get about 80-90% of the factions' roster for 400 gold. Parthia halfway for 250 gold, and Brutii (sometimes) about 1/3 of roster to include its counter parts in Rome for around 400 gold. This must be done within the first 5 rounds after that they just thumb their nose at you if you ask them and also if you ask for more than the stated amounts. So quickly recruit diplomats and try bribe other factions' diplomats to get theirs. 3) Large choice of Mercenaries within reach- Go west you can get hoplites to supplement your forces till you get pikeman and cretan archers/slingers to buff your missile forces; go North/NE and within your starting cities countryside get scythian horse archers to augment your cavalry; and south you get mercenary elephants, desert cavalry to include camels. All these and plus many other mercenary types. 4) Those Eastern spearman may have poor morale but with a good general behind them they will hold their ground in pre Marian era especially against Egypt's chariot spam. Pontus own chariot archers are devastating swing around behind infantry and fill them with arrows then charge them in when they are engaged with units in front, they are also good counters to other factions horse archers chasing them down and shooting back at them and if the enemy cavalry decides to engage in melee they find themselves torn up by the chariots.
Did a custom battle with 2 full stacks of eastern Infantry vs 2 units of berserkers, 4 units of were night raiders, and 1 barbarian cavalry for my general. They got 7 kills before routing I can't quite remember how many my side got. I think around 500 ish.
Do a walkthrough with Pontus! I wanna see how they progress since Pontus is giving me a pain in the a$$ on my Roman Scipii Campaign. They beat Egypt and the Selucids as well as Parthia and their borders are touching mine.
Pontic Phalanx Pikemen may have less unit models, then the Macedonian and Seleucid Phalanx Pikemen, but they have better stats and armour a (5 on their shields.) and cheaper upkeep! I think that The other Phalanx Pikemen cost way to much for what they bring to battle. (250 upkeep per turn is insane in my opinon.)
Generally the regular and Pontic phalangists are fairly evenly matched (indeed VH 1v1s can go either way), Pontus pays a tiny bit extra (per soldier) but the stat boost compensates for that quite nicely. Problem is, with fewer men they cover a smaller area-because the number of units you can have in the battle at the same time is hard capped, that means a narrower front line which is easier to flank. In my opinion that alone justifies the price tag of the regular phalangists.
@@bannedcommander2932 I mean for a tier 3 unit have the same stats like Principles is very nice, have 1 less armor for 1 more defense. The phalax pike only have 13 def ! And not to mention Pontic phalanx have +3 exp from the start from temple so early mid game it is a strongest melee unit . You fast tech to them couple with Pontic Heavy Cav and Chariots will streamroll to the west mid game
I never understood why Pontus phalanx had less soldiers per unit than other factions. Maybe is a bug, or maybe the developers decided to give Pontus a smaller phalanx as historically the faction had less Greek population, forcing you to play as an eastern faction at least in early/mid game
I think that's because they have three more total defense than other faction's phalanx pikemen. They basically have the same defense as hoplites, but still retain their very long spears. They also have one more attack than ordinary hoplite units. So the smaller unit size might be for balancing reasons.
@@iIiIiTGR777iIiIi yeah, could be that. In my experience it does not compensate the problem. Pontus is one of my favourite factions but the lack of 1/3 of the men does not compensate with that 3 extra defense points. It is a decent unit but I think it is not worth to play as a phalanx faction with Pontus unless you unlock bronze shields.
Pontus suffers from their position. You have the most powerful late game armies on either side. If you let the Romans or Egyptians start to snowball, they’ll be too strong to beat.
Scythed chariots are the best unit to deal with horse archers (Scytians, Armenian or Patria). This is key factor that Pontus is best faction to deal with estern factions. Plying Pontus battles ageinst Scytiians are so easy and enyoyoball. Ponthus Phalanx pikmen has also shield and armor similar to Hoplites. So in addition to pique, means that this unit have advateg ageinst most phalanx units of Seleucits and Egipt, and low tier Greek units. Wery good and flexibal unit roster witch access to good mercenri units (Tracian nad Hoplite mecinaries, Cretan archers, Rodian Silingers). Good technological tree. Pontus is quite good underdog faction, that could create alot mess in the east. Also could fight on even hand with pre Marian Roman units.
Could you explain how to deal with horse archers by using scythed chariots? Horse archers are fast moving, whereas chariots are much slower and are very vulnerable to missiles. Wouldn't horse archers just destroy chariots while those are trying to chase them?
@@iIiIiTGR777iIiIi Chariots are slower, but not so much so that archers can significantly overtake chariots (scythed chariots are the fastest of the RTW chariots). At some point the archers will have to change direction or reach the border of the map. At that point, even a few chariots will do the job. The secret to chariots is a few hitpoints. Horse archers do not fire salvos like other archer units. So the damage dealt to chariots is not as effective (especially on the move) as that dealt by other archers. If you are playing against a human, with good archer micromanagement, they should be able to handle it (not always). However, if you are playing against AI (e.g. a campaign), it is safe to say that a conversion rate of one unit of chariots to one unit of horse archers will win any battle in which the opponent relies on cavalry. Unless, for some reason, the Parthians or Scythians have phalanxes or slingers (possibly Numidian or other cavalry that throw javelins). It will also be difficult if the opposing nation bases itself on infantry and adds from two units of mounted archers to its army. However, in large battles the importance of horse archers decreases anyway. Tested from autopsy on Parthian and Scythian armies. In a campaign, defeating them becomes trivial with Pont and Seleucids. Precisely because of the scythed chariots (then this unit stops being an expensive toy and becomes a useful tool).
Eastern Inf is bad but not that bad with Potus . Because you can easily givie it +2 exp early game with the temple , which means +2 morale and becomes a 5/12 which hold much longer
honestly I think just taking the boat with some toops to crimea firstly is a pretty good strategy since its a quite wealthy city. Although pray that the scythians won't attack you lol
Pontus is just annoying as a foe. But they are quite enjoyable to play. Strategy wise you have a lot of options because you are the natural aggressor in the game setup. You have such a diverse roster you can play deep into the game and has strong chance of victory no matter what you conquered first.
Too bad that heavy pontiacs have loe charge bonus. Yet I like to use them to pepper first and charge then. Also Eastern infantry is okay on guard mode faving enemy general they beat it and numerous enough to break formation and surround. Pesants usually lose that. It is funny how you can siege and take cities with only one army of eastern infantry and take parthian cities with just the governor. Pontiac lights are good enough to take on the selecuds and then have their cities with heavy pontiacs to take on the eggys. Use scythed chariots to reap pharao bowmen. After that helping the numidians take the seat on west africa will establish a good trade. By the time you will have quite strong bronze shield armies with capadocians and heavy pontiacs. Thracians can have east karpathians. Stable alliance. Kinda same with Armenia. With greece and italy on your hand you can knock off all the european powers tho.
![PASULOL รามเกียรติ์ ตอนที่ 4 นนทกพบรัก [Ramakien Ep.4: Nonthok in love]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tMUQgmZzf_A/mqdefault.jpg)
Not many people know this but Easter Infantry has a special abillity, its called white flag a d it is always used
And what do that do?
TVfhilthy Alexis It’s a joke because you can literally use almost any other unit in a charge against them and they will almost immediately start to break and be slaughtered.
yes, they tire down anyone who wanna give them chase.
What's better spreading out the army or not spreading out the army
Legends tell that the Eastern Infantryman lost his job when the 1940 French Infantryman appeared
That's so cool someone still did a RTW Campaign guide despite how old this game is
Agreed
It's new on android and the best game available there.
This game is still one of the best in total war series
Wish they just bloody make mediaeval tw2 or shogun2 Attila or other old TW games from 2007 09 2010 ect
Rome Total War will never be old enough for us enthusiasts to quit playing it. Same thing for Medieval II and Shogun I, personally.
Do you want to be Roman Eastern or Macedonian?
Pontus: yes
That's selucid
Out of all nations that start to the east from Bosphorus, Pontus has the second best starting position after Egypt. Indeed it starts with meager 2 settlements, but can expand very quick and easy, securing Asia Minor and that is a formidable 9 cities, if we take Rhodes as well. Not Greeks nor Seleucids should pose too much of a threat. After getting all Asia Minor under control one can really go to any direction, whether it is the rest of Greece, Caucasus, Palestine and Egypt or maybe a Black Sea coastline which can be very profitable, since Pontus has access to tier 3 port, spice road, tier 5 market and glorious secret police that gives law and therefore roots out corruption, basically paying for itself off in a few turns. Having Aphrodite temple is nice to boost that pop, since they don't have any health buildgs, just as the rest two Eastern factions, so pop growth is an issue. Can't say that Pontic army is a top-notch, since there are bigger fishes around, but what they have definitelly gets job done. Chariots and heavy cav can really turn things around, and Bronze shields are a nice exact copy of Silver shields which are also cheaper, so this is handy. Overall, Pontus is a small faction with lots of potential, but to make that potential bloom one needs to put some work into it.
Tried this, It was a torture to deal with Armenian horse archers without light missile troops with long range.
Later become ally with Seleucids and move to Rhodes and to eastern mediterranean shores. Stuck in an endless war with Egypts while my Thracean peninsula regions were being invaded by Macedons.
Egypt has better archers than I, that means they just fire arrow my chariots, which they freak out like elephants for some reason and crash to my own frontline
@@hannibalburgers477 how long did you wait to attack Armenia and Egypt?
Palestine has never existed as a nation
Pontus and macadon were probably meant to be playable at one point but were cut
I believe so too, but that could be said for all the factions really, I guess they had too tie a knot on the game and release it.
@@febbra2 In Barbarian invasion it is using this method able to piece together more, depending on some short and other longer, as well as the RTW backup map vs the BI backup map. I also have a feeling that the factions order in the menu partially goes in order of creation. Greece is lower because it was once Illyria, Macedon and Pontus are above Armenia &co
Yea they both have their own intro texts which makes me think they were originally planned to be playable. Shame cos they’re two of the most fun campaigns alongside Romans and seleucids
Yeah i find Macedon to be better generally than Greece.
@@NotlostMoon i guess but the spartan hoplites are posibly the best unit in the game but the macedonians do have more flexible unit rosters especially elite cavalry
9:06 Pontus and Thracians were fighting each other quite frequently, so a good explanation is that they were hiring Thracian mercenaries at their wars too (Thracians are known to be warrior mercenaries in general too).
According to ancient writers, there were big population movements from Thrace to Bithynia and Pontus so they were quite related peoples since before Alexander and the Persian Empire. Also because of gameplay needs I guess
I completed a Very Hard Very Hard campaign as pontus this year and it was very fun. I secured turkey, then started securing greece when a stack of Armenians attacked me, then I fought my way east through Armenia and Parthia. Pontic heavy cavalry are amazing, and their generals are really good. They get the best early game pike-men and easy access to scythed chariots which will eviscerate CATAPHRACTS. Scythed chariots = instant cavalry superiority, then you can send javelins into the enemy's back.
I always wanted to believe that playing on hard makes the campaign in fact harder because it lulls you in a false sense of security. Factions should have the time to grow their population and tech up but still the CAI is too stupid to do just that and they attack even if allied. So yeah, house rules apply.
Turkey didn't exist back then, you may mean Anatolia or Asia minor though.
Securing Asia Minor (Turkey) first is a good idea. Unfortunately, I took too long to do that. I made the mistake of going east first, trying to conquer Armenia. My western front is now at a stalemate, because the Thracians and Brutii are too strong for me to conquer.
The solution lies in the open field.
Sorry I'm late, I think the rule of thumb in RTW1 when playing every factions other than romans is you have to rush to the mediterranian sea in order to get ports because trading there is much more lucrative than black sea, caspian sea, or even english channel/north sea. Let's say you play as Armenia, I strongly suggest you to knock out Pontus immediately (going west), instead of facing Parthia (going east). That way, you'll control anatolia and its rich trading ports (aegean sea). Coz if you going east first, it'll be hard to developing setttlements (you don't get much money/trade there) and growth in the east is pretty low...
the best strategy game;)
kind of ironic Parthia got into the campaign but Pontus didn't considering Pontus roster is quite well built up. Most unplayable factions are unplayable cuz their roster is unpolished and lack-luster, but Pontus is quite nice! I mean, it has more than Parthia which is a faction I would expect should be unplayable (granted, historically speaking Parthia was quite relevant in Roman Empire history so they should be let in, but gameplay wise...)
eastern infantry are very good in loose formation at soaking up enemy missile fire, cheap and recruitable anywhere they can waste ammo that would have been used on better units also a tip for Pontus the chariots are GODLIKE against enemy generals, light cavalry, they're fast enough to chase them down. Watch out though chariots get absolutely demolished against phalanx formations, even cheap ones, don't even risk it since chariot morale plummet if 2-3 of them are killed (due to multiple soldiers riding) so they will break in no time. Chariot archers are 10x better than scythed chariots because they can still tear apart cavalry and have a high missile attack.
I've never understood why sythed chariots go beserk when no others do.
@@NotlostMoon Yeah it's weird, could be for balance even though ranged is better lol.
Fond memories of the AI general rushing into my phalanx pikeman and losing like 3 horses while murdering everyone multiple times.
I have played as Pontus and tried a lot of different ways of expanding and found the fastest is just to sweep west all the way to Rome conquering every city along the way, then expanding through the middle east, north from Macedonian, and into Gaul all at the same time, the wonder bonuses and wealth from the Roman and Greek settlements are game shattering once gained.
What I think the Pontos roster should be representing an excellent blend Hellenic and Eastern culture. Units should have limits to where they can be recruited for instance Hellenic units can only be recruited in areas that have high Hellenic influence (such as Greece, Southern Italy, Crimea, the cost of Anatolia, Mesopotamia and Egypt)
*Melee Infantry:*
Eastern Levies: These are renamed Eastern Infantry however they have been given a smaller shield which makes them more vunerable to arrow fire. Can be recruited anywhere in the middle east.
Eastern Pike Levies: Eastern Levies that replace their spears and shields for pike and an a back up axe. These are the weakest but cheapest pike unit in the game. Can be recruited anywhere in the middle east
Milita Hoplites: The weakest hoplite unit in the game. Their morale and combat ability have been slightly have been slighly improved to make up that hoplites are no longer shorter pikemen but actual spearmen. They can form a shield wall which can make them highly resilient against attacks from the front.
Pontic Spearmen: This is a light spearman unit that is basically superior versions of the Eastern Levies in every catergory and still very cheap. Can only be recruited around the Pontic region
Persian Spearmen: These are other version of the Eastern Infantry but their morale and combat stats have been improved so they can hold the line better. They will still loose to Hellenic and Roman Infantry. These can be recruited almost any where in Mesopotamia, Anatolia and Iran
Hillmen: These are fast moving and good stamina infantry. Their spears have been replaced with javelins and axes. These are meant to be flanking infantry with good anti armour capability. However they will lose to heavy infantry in head on engagement. Recruitable in Anatolia, Caucasus and Iran
Pontic Hoplites: These are hoplites that lie in between the regular hoplites and the elite hoplites of the Hellenic factions. Like all hoplite they loose their short pikes for normal spears but to make up the lose of the spear wall they gain the shield wall ability. Can only be recruitable around the Pontic region
Thureophoroi: This unit is recruitable after the first Hellenic reform. These are highly-flexible multi-role moderately armoured spearmen that can form both the role of a heavy skirmisher and a decent spearmen unit capable of fighting both light infantry and cavalry. They are basically spear armed versions of Roman infantry. However they are less effective against heavy units
Thorakitai: This unit is recruitable after the second Hellenic reform. This is basically a more heavily armed and stronger version of the Thureophoroi
White Shield Pikemen: This a replacement of the Phalanx Pikemen. They are slightly inferior to the Pezhetairoi pikemen of the Macedonians, Seleucid and the Ptolemaic Kingdom.
Bronze Shield Pikemen: They have been rebalanced so that they are now inferior to the Seleucid Silver Shields
Pontic Swordsmen: This unit is recruitable after the second Hellenic reform. This is basically an equivanlant the Roman Hastai though they have weaker javelins.
Sinopean Guards: This is an elite version of the Pontic Swordsmen almost comparable to the post marian legionaries. Very well armoured and has very good combat ability and morale. Rercruitable after the second Hellenic reform
*Missile Infantry*
Hellenic Skirmisher: This is one of the low end javelin throwing infantry. They do more damage at throwing than their Eastern counterparts, however they are very weak in melee
Eastern Skirmisher: The other low tier javelin throwing infantry. They do less range damage than their Hellenic counterparts but have a spear as a melee weapon allowing themselves to defend against light cavalry
Peltast: These are moderately armoured javelin throwers that have decent melee combat
Hellenic Slingers: These are deceivingly very good range units being very cheap and yet able to outrange most archers (190) and have armour piercing.
Eastern Slingers: These are inferior to their Hellenic counterparts in everyway. However they can be easily recruited anywhere in the middle east
Hellenic Archer: This is the worse archer unit in the game. Low damage both at range and melee and low range (100).
Persian Archer: They are superior to their Hellenic counterparts due to having far longer range (180).Cheap effective unit, recruitable in Anatolia, Mesopotamia and Persia. Weak in melee
Bosphoran Heavy Archer: One of the best archers in the game. Good damage, well armoured, long range and decent melee ability, almost comparable to Cretean Archers
*Cavalry*
Anatolian Skirmisher Cavalry: A light cavalry unit armed with javelins and a melee spear. They have a decent charge bonus allowing to act as shock cavalry in a pinch but weak in sustained melee
Anatolian Nobles Cavalry: This is a medium cavalry unit with decent armour and melee ability. Armed with a spear with a good charge bonus and an armour piercing axe for melee
Early Pontic bodyguards: These are an early game bodyguard for pontic generals. Well armored and armed with a lance and armour piercing maces. Strong melee chage and good melee stats
Late Pontic bodyguards: These are upgrade of the Earlier bodyguards. They have better armour, better morale and combat ability. These come after the second reform
Scythe Chariot: Heavily armoured with a power charge bonus can easily smash through light infantry formation with huge amount of kills and frightens infantry. Weak if it gets bogged down by heavy infantry.
Persian Heavy Cavalry: A well armoured heavy cavalry unit that has a very good charge and good melee ability, though weaker than cataphracts
Hellenic Lancers: A light cavalry unit with a good charge but weak melee ability
Cappadocian Cataphracts: These are the strongest cavalry unit avable for Pontos: Very heavily armoured, very powerful charge and good melee combat
Bosphoran Horse Archer: A horse archer recruitable around the eastern black sea area. They are worse in range and range damage to the horse archers of the steppe nomads and as a result they rely on their good armour and decent melee stats. This unit is comparable to the medieval 2 Byzantine Cavalry horse archer unit.
*Mercenaries*
Karian Warriors: Comparable to roman hastai. They are lightly armoured and fast moving swordsmen armed with javelins that will charge in after throwing
Galatikoi Kuarothoroi: Heavily armoured spearmen/swordman
Galatian Wildmen: Near naked very fierce and skilled javelin throwing swordsmen. Have no armour but good melee attack and charge. Small in number, near unbreakable moreale though they will charge without orders. They also cause fear to enemy units.
Galatian Chariot: A chariot unit but unlike the Sycthe Chariot, the Galatian chariot are not meant for charging into infantry but for skirmishing. Causes fear
Galatian Nobles: A moderately armoured heavy cavalry unit with a good charge with spears and melee attack with swords. Meant to provide a good melee unit until one can recruit Persian Heavy Cavalry
Scythian Archer: This archer until has the same range as Persian archers but does more damage and has an axe as a melee weapon allowing to damage armoured infantry in a pinch
Scythian Horse Archer: A very fast moving lightly armoured horse archer with good range and missile damage
Is this in reference to something or is this all you?
@@NotlostMoon it borrows from two mods europa barabourum and the ancient battles mod
Love Pontus, 1) cheap garrison- leave 4 eastern spearmen (you know the poor morale ones) and two scythe chariots and they can beat any rebels popping up in their area and any faction army that is around half strength--as long as you "auto resolve" which is good if you get weary constantly fight every rebel that pops every other round in real time. Add a catapult to this force and you can harvest the city it was station in after you let it revolt to manage over population and plague.
2) Quick/Large amount of money from diplomacy - the center position allows you to send diplomats quickly to the surrounding factions, Armenia, Thrace, Greek, Macedonian, Seleucids and Egypt and if you're lucky Brutii and Parthia. Armenia, Thrace, Greek just ask around 250 gold to attack all other factions (get about halfway thru roster), Seleucids (always) and Macedonia (Mostly) can get the whole roster of factions for about 400 gold each. Eygpt get about 80-90% of the factions' roster for 400 gold. Parthia halfway for 250 gold, and Brutii (sometimes) about 1/3 of roster to include its counter parts in Rome for around 400 gold.
This must be done within the first 5 rounds after that they just thumb their nose at you if you ask them and also if you ask for more than the stated amounts. So quickly recruit diplomats and try bribe other factions' diplomats to get theirs.
3) Large choice of Mercenaries within reach- Go west you can get hoplites to supplement your forces till you get pikeman and cretan archers/slingers to buff your missile forces; go North/NE and within your starting cities countryside get scythian horse archers to augment your cavalry; and south you get mercenary elephants, desert cavalry to include camels. All these and plus many other mercenary types.
4) Those Eastern spearman may have poor morale but with a good general behind them they will hold their ground in pre Marian era especially against Egypt's chariot spam. Pontus own chariot archers are devastating swing around behind infantry and fill them with arrows then charge them in when they are engaged with units in front, they are also good counters to other factions horse archers chasing them down and shooting back at them and if the enemy cavalry decides to engage in melee they find themselves torn up by the chariots.
I remember having a great time with this faction in campaign and online.
Did a custom battle with 2 full stacks of eastern Infantry vs 2 units of berserkers, 4 units of were night raiders, and 1 barbarian cavalry for my general. They got 7 kills before routing I can't quite remember how many my side got. I think around 500 ish.
Do a walkthrough with Pontus! I wanna see how they progress since Pontus is giving me a pain in the a$$ on my Roman Scipii Campaign. They beat Egypt and the Selucids as well as Parthia and their borders are touching mine.
Pontic Phalanx Pikemen may have less unit models, then the Macedonian and Seleucid Phalanx Pikemen, but they have better stats and armour a (5 on their shields.) and cheaper upkeep! I think that The other Phalanx Pikemen cost way to much for what they bring to battle. (250 upkeep per turn is insane in my opinon.)
Generally the regular and Pontic phalangists are fairly evenly matched (indeed VH 1v1s can go either way), Pontus pays a tiny bit extra (per soldier) but the stat boost compensates for that quite nicely. Problem is, with fewer men they cover a smaller area-because the number of units you can have in the battle at the same time is hard capped, that means a narrower front line which is easier to flank. In my opinion that alone justifies the price tag of the regular phalangists.
@@bannedcommander2932 I mean for a tier 3 unit have the same stats like Principles is very nice, have 1 less armor for 1 more defense. The phalax pike only have 13 def !
And not to mention Pontic phalanx have +3 exp from the start from temple so early mid game it is a strongest melee unit . You fast tech to them couple with Pontic Heavy Cav and Chariots will streamroll to the west mid game
I never understood why Pontus phalanx had less soldiers per unit than other factions. Maybe is a bug, or maybe the developers decided to give Pontus a smaller phalanx as historically the faction had less Greek population, forcing you to play as an eastern faction at least in early/mid game
I think that's because they have three more total defense than other faction's phalanx pikemen. They basically have the same defense as hoplites, but still retain their very long spears. They also have one more attack than ordinary hoplite units. So the smaller unit size might be for balancing reasons.
@@iIiIiTGR777iIiIi yeah, could be that. In my experience it does not compensate the problem. Pontus is one of my favourite factions but the lack of 1/3 of the men does not compensate with that 3 extra defense points. It is a decent unit but I think it is not worth to play as a phalanx faction with Pontus unless you unlock bronze shields.
This has to be playable by vanilla folder editing. I have to get my PC hooked back up and updated and unlock these factions.
Pontus suffers from their position. You have the most powerful late game armies on either side. If you let the Romans or Egyptians start to snowball, they’ll be too strong to beat.
Pontus my favorite faction to play as.
Scythed chariots are the best unit to deal with horse archers (Scytians, Armenian or Patria). This is key factor that Pontus is best faction to deal with estern factions. Plying Pontus battles ageinst Scytiians are so easy and enyoyoball.
Ponthus Phalanx pikmen has also shield and armor similar to Hoplites. So in addition to pique, means that this unit have advateg ageinst most phalanx units of Seleucits and Egipt, and low tier Greek units. Wery good and flexibal unit roster witch access to good mercenri units (Tracian nad Hoplite mecinaries, Cretan archers, Rodian Silingers). Good technological tree.
Pontus is quite good underdog faction, that could create alot mess in the east. Also could fight on even hand with pre Marian Roman units.
Could you explain how to deal with horse archers by using scythed chariots? Horse archers are fast moving, whereas chariots are much slower and are very vulnerable to missiles. Wouldn't horse archers just destroy chariots while those are trying to chase them?
@@iIiIiTGR777iIiIi Chariots are slower, but not so much so that archers can significantly overtake chariots (scythed chariots are the fastest of the RTW chariots). At some point the archers will have to change direction or reach the border of the map. At that point, even a few chariots will do the job. The secret to chariots is a few hitpoints. Horse archers do not fire salvos like other archer units. So the damage dealt to chariots is not as effective (especially on the move) as that dealt by other archers.
If you are playing against a human, with good archer micromanagement, they should be able to handle it (not always). However, if you are playing against AI (e.g. a campaign), it is safe to say that a conversion rate of one unit of chariots to one unit of horse archers will win any battle in which the opponent relies on cavalry. Unless, for some reason, the Parthians or Scythians have phalanxes or slingers (possibly Numidian or other cavalry that throw javelins). It will also be difficult if the opposing nation bases itself on infantry and adds from two units of mounted archers to its army. However, in large battles the importance of horse archers decreases anyway.
Tested from autopsy on Parthian and Scythian armies. In a campaign, defeating them becomes trivial with Pont and Seleucids. Precisely because of the scythed chariots (then this unit stops being an expensive toy and becomes a useful tool).
@@grzegorzrutkowski1733 well Pontus also have Chariots archer to play the HA game
But chariots are ridiculously squishy.
You should do a numidia one, arguably the most difficult faction.
Eastern Inf is bad but not that bad with Potus . Because you can easily givie it +2 exp early game with the temple , which means +2 morale and becomes a 5/12 which hold much longer
Pontic temples are dedicated to Greek gods.
honestly I think just taking the boat with some toops to crimea firstly is a pretty good strategy since its a quite wealthy city. Although pray that the scythians won't attack you lol
Pontus are my guilty pleasure
I've tried them, they dont have paved roads which sux
Never understood why the pontus only gets 40 per unit...puts then at a disadvantage against just about all other phalanx civs
Pontus is just annoying as a foe. But they are quite enjoyable to play. Strategy wise you have a lot of options because you are the natural aggressor in the game setup. You have such a diverse roster you can play deep into the game and has strong chance of victory no matter what you conquered first.
Too bad that heavy pontiacs have loe charge bonus. Yet I like to use them to pepper first and charge then. Also Eastern infantry is okay on guard mode faving enemy general they beat it and numerous enough to break formation and surround. Pesants usually lose that. It is funny how you can siege and take cities with only one army of eastern infantry and take parthian cities with just the governor.
Pontiac lights are good enough to take on the selecuds and then have their cities with heavy pontiacs to take on the eggys. Use scythed chariots to reap pharao bowmen. After that helping the numidians take the seat on west africa will establish a good trade. By the time you will have quite strong bronze shield armies with capadocians and heavy pontiacs. Thracians can have east karpathians. Stable alliance. Kinda same with Armenia. With greece and italy on your hand you can knock off all the european powers tho.
Chariots seem to be the best unit to deal with General's Bodyguard in my experience. Not much other use though.
Try using them in a flanking charge. It would even break post marian legionaries.
Pikemen are pikemen not spearmen
But I don't want to play as pontus
I like your videos, but you should lower the game sound.
Yeah sorry it should be better in the more recent videos :)
Do dawn of war.
Pontus is a playable faction you just need to unblock them by beating them in the main campaign.
Not in the original release of the game, or in the current version on Steam. I think it is playable in the version that was remade for mobile.