Pontus (Rome: Total War)

Who played for the bluff? Your impression of the game for this faction?

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http://www.twcenter.net/articles/link.php?id=92

Pont ... is the most obscure faction of RTW? All really know its history? Interested? Who cares, here is my path to the glory of the Pontic.
The campaign had passed me at a normal level, so I apologize to those who like a challenge, but I'm sure that part of nizhenapisannoe also applies to levels difficult/very difficult.

The first necessary action Pontic States clash with Armenia. If Armenians rapidly, not to deter or to destroy, they will be a thorn in your ass... ALL the TIME. Here are the reasons why Armenians have to hold back, and not to destroy: 1) You have no army to kill them at first, and later they are just not worth it 2) they are - tiring great nation for their 2 cities, destroying them involves trekking across vast mountainous areas on the edge of the world, especially if they go East to the Parthian Kingdom 3) You have MUCH bigger fish to fry almost from the beginning 4) one well-equipped Fort is all that is required to keep them for the full game.
Build a Fort and stock(share) it with Eastern infantry/baltistani. 3-4 squad should do. If Armenians let, they go home and then begin to attack the Seleucid Empire instead of you. Immeadiately offer them good things for the Union, trading rights and plot information should provide You with a case that they would not break(to break).
You need high taxes to raise the funds quickly, and the money raise through the trading rights with Greece and Seleucia first, to Fund (to consolidate) some expansion in Turkey. The Bosphorus should be drawn (taken). Bribe Nicomedia and the then move
there a few troops to ensure order, and this will grow massive economic power. Send diplomat+units combo Byzantium and repeat. These two cities have to be transformed(converted), and their Greek culture helps. If so happens, You find Thracians or Macedonians to the siege of Byzantium, attack or bribe them, because Istanbul is a key to success.
Army and strong protection is required because Macedonians - always at the forefront with a classic Hitler, who will ignore any agreements that You have, and Thrace a little better, but will hope to have the barbarians on the Northern borders. Then, turn your attention to Turkey. Ancyra needs a military solution, as it is puzzlingly barbaric and civilized island in the Greek sea ... never quite got it. Then take a diplomat, and army (You'll never go far wrong with that combination) in Harlicanassus, and to bribe and win(to win). It's not urgent, as for some reason(the mind), nor Seleucia, nor Greece will not touch the place.
You'll now have a solid Foundation to prepare your conquest. The main point(dot) must remember that You need to trade to survive. Always build ports/roads/markets if possible, and send diplomats to obtain trade rights from Egypt, Thrace and Macedon. If You can still see the road between the wagons of an ox, You still have more to make (well, neary). You can really torment cash fast at this point(the point). I personally got to about 600,000 d to about 320BC. Then, its time to control Turkey. If Seleucia already betrayed You, which they will if You leave it long enough, You should do it now (when You have a budget of 200 000 +). Keep a couple of diplomats and a substantial military presence ready Trying to convince Egypt and Ala to help You, if they have not gone to war, and when Seleucia is multiarena war steel coil(sheet) in Sardis. Bribe any units around the city and siege it. It often has a full banner units when You could let your siege to destroy their time, but to attack the city as soon as possible and take it. Leave adequate force protection in the city and then let the heart Seleucids with 2 or 3 armies. Grab as many land as You can from Empire which will disintegrate completely if You enter enough many enemies against it. Grab Antioch and Tarsus (2 more massive trade port) before Egypt gets a chance at them. Avoid irritating Egypt, leave them for later.
The conquest of the great ports for trade Seleucid - everything You need from them, so You can turn your attention back West. With Bluff, You need a Carthaginian perspective on foreign Affairs: no long held(supported) competition or endless war - unless it gets a profit, not ruined it. You now have the modern state of Turkey in your Empire, if not the Greek band Ionia. The Greeks are in a terrible position(position) from the beginning. They may have a strong Navy, which is irritating, because the bluff almost always goes without any naval presence that saves(saves) a huge expense, but their army is land poor, and can be defeated using a digger to consider phalanx and chariots to tear them apart from behind. Destroy Ionia, grab Pergamum and then get the army to Rhodes, the sweetest prize of all. 40 percent bonus to trade, the primacy of small, as well as a useful Outpost for trade. Give it the same treatment(treatment) as other port cities - trade and economy(save) completely, and a good Governor, and it should be 3000+d year now (hopefully) booming Pontic economy(savings).
Now is the time to expand in the Balkans. Macedon and Greece are always in an endless war with each other with Thrace, Rome and the Dacians, also becoming involved. All You have to do is take diplomats, and a strong army (mercenaries are a major help here - hire them) and MOP that I leave. Thessalonica - the city of the first class, and will not promote your cause no end if You take it quickly. Now You have a choice. You can complete the Greece to take the modern country of Greece, and finish in a massive war with the post-Marius Brutii army, or face the Catholics of the front part(right), to avoid inappropriate Greeks and to conduct(carry) Brutii back to Italy. Macedonians, unfortunately, must be killed appropriately, or managed in the city of Greek culture in Africa, which sometimes joins them as they will NEVER leave, so the case fairly with them, which can involve the cultivation of the Greek revival, so that they did the dirty work, while You concentrate on Rome. Don't be drawn into an attack on Italy. By the time You get there, Scipii and Julii will have significant powers and they will always return to help their cousins in significant numbers(rooms). The Italian campaign often results in the ill-fated Frank exchange of views 2 or 3 well-commanded armies outside of Rome, where your phalanxes are surrounded and pulped, and your chariots do not fall apart for no reason(mind).
Achieve balance between the blocking of the Adriatic, thus obstruction Brutii, or the deployment of strong forces and diplomats on the coast of Thermon to push the Catholics back in the sea when they land.
Made it back to the East. Egypt will eventually go for You, so their level of ambition and betrayal, so that trick should just betray them first. This will require at least 3 diplomats and 4-5 high level armies. The movement(step) down the coastal region - bribe army to enslave the city until You reach the borders of Egypt. Have a strong Foundation here, and then move inside(inside) of the country in an easterly direction. Remove what's left of the Seleucids, in Seleucia itself, so taking the only successful left Asian region. Ignore Arabia, but take all the land around it, or Egyptian or rebel. If You need a reference(recommendation) for your Asian Empire should hope in its optimal cash ability(capacity), find a map of the Ottoman Empire c. 1900 (man(man) I'm sad!!!) . That still leaves Egypt Egypt. In my experience, these areas are rich, but almost impossible to manage. Visible(reasonable) way to rid yourself of them is to capture cities and to destroy people. If they still complained, which always leads to a negative income withdraw. You leave a buffer state between You rebel Numidia and the Scipii or, depending on who prevailed in West Africa. Egyptians still not dead? Cyprus.
From here, You have a lot(of course) the greatest, most powerful, and best of all the richest Empire on the map, and there will be no factions, who can stand before You for a long time. The next step will be to take Rome and the North-Eastern Eastern kingdoms (Armenia, Parthia, etc.), but for now, You can safely say that You have, doing the most obscure of the obscure factions. Congratulations.