Sarmatia

[Gray Fox]

In my Sarmatian campaign, I united all of the tribes of the steppes as client states under my Confederation. In the screen shot, green is Sarmatia and blue are my many CS. These no longer raided my regions and acted as a buffer against rebel regions. This also allowed me to focus on one front (West or South) at a time.

I honestly did not expect to win the game with Sarmatia. The regions are very poor and undeveloped. I used it as a test case for the methods I developed in the Grand Strategy AAR. Since it took a very long time to get the regions up and running, the CDR sank to last place. It was not until after turn 100 that I slowly got the citizens finally shifted to culture. Then Sarmatia actually rose to first place in CDR. I got my first Golden Age on turn 245 and hit first place in Legacy on turn 294. So, Sarmatia is slow going, but worth the ride.

I could only afford one army for a very long time. However, I was able to use a sort of exploit of diplomacy to get a great army. Skythia and Bosphorus were transitioned into Client States to be an eastern buffer. I was able to trade for their provincial units, Sarmatian armored cavalry and Phenagerian Horse archers, which are some of the best units in the game. The units were also of 3 star experience right from the start. This allowed my one army to crush any other.

I continued to add CS factions, the Alani, Saka and eventually Dacia and Getae. Their armies were augmented by my provincial units in trades I arranged. At least twice, allied armies saved the day in my wars. Macedonia was crushed and I was able to expand to the borders of Rome.

The AI played really well. Antigonids had vanished and Lycia had taken its place. I tried to improved relations with Lycia and the next turn Lycia became a CS of Rome. Shortly thereafter, Rome absorbed Lycia! Fortunately, I was far ahead of Rome in Legacy. I chose to out develop the Romans and this worked. My CS Getae lost many regions to a huge number of rebels, so I defeated them and returned the regions to Getae. During this campaign, I finally got a "Double Deuce" General (2-2), and then another! Both died fighting these rebels. The last hundred turns were confined to fighting rebels.

I had challenged Rome in my Carthage AAR, so I wanted to do something different this time around. I spent a fortune making them like me up to Amiable (51) and then traded for Italia Superior province...and got it! This effectively crushed their faction. Two of the regions are Roman Objectives, so they received two aging tokens for losing them. Economic warfare among two friendly factions is almost an exploit. So, I reloaded and just beat Rome with Legacy.

[Surt]

It would be nice to see some beginner, mid and late region building overviews to get a feeling of how you develop, thank in advance.

[Gray Fox]

https://we.tl/t-YaEFHDxocr

Here you go. Just DL the file and unzip the seven save game files into your Save folder. You may want to rename them before you move them. Good luck!

[kronenblatt]

... I spent a fortune making them like me up to Amiable (51) and then traded for Italia Superior province...and got it! This effectively crushed their faction. Two of the regions are Roman Objectives, so they received two aging tokens for losing them. Economic warfare among two friendly factions is almost an exploit....

Should the AI really be willing to sell regions in which the faction has objectives? I mean, if that crushes them. As you say, is economic warfare among two friendly factions in fact an exploit?

[Gray Fox]

I don't make the rules. People wanted diplomacy and it was added to the game. This is one way to use diplomacy. I win 90% of the battles. Is it an exploit to have a well-led army of trained units with the right frontage and support? When I was a Beta tester, the devs would do something and I would give them feedback. Here's some feedback. Pocus said they would consider making this harder.

As a note, what is this strategy? I give a dissident group inside an ancient despot's empire resources and troops to take over. They give me land in return. The basic weakness in a totally autocratic police state, is that it's a totally autocratic police state.

[kronenblatt]

I don't make the rules. People wanted diplomacy and it was added to the game. This is one way to use diplomacy. I win 90% of the battles. Is it an exploit to have a well-led army of trained units with the right frontage and support? When I was a Beta tester, the devs would do something and I would give them feedback. Here's some feedback. Pocus said they would consider making this harder.

As a note, what is this strategy? I give a dissident group inside an ancient despot's empire resources and troops to take over. They give me land in return. The basic weakness in a totally autocratic police state, is that it's a totally autocratic police state.

Ok, I see your point: This is actual feedback as a formal beta tester. Didn't get that. Sorry.