Hello everyone. It's time to refill the opening moves guide section and i wanted to give Carthage a first class seat.
After several campaigns it seems like there are no clear-cut opening moves that will give you any real and repeatable advantage if you follow them.
But here is what I did conclude:
As a grown-up you should make two cruel decisions-Abandon your friends and sell out your national pride.
Carthage's starting position is very weak and they have arguably the weakest starting units in the game. Their settlements are very spread out and each one rests on a different province. It will take at least 10 turns until you can muster a force that can defeat a full stack while the AI would gladly exploit your weakness.
But Carthage starts with two client states that border it directly. While the income they bring you is negligible and their armies are pathetic they are your closest friends. Attacking them to gain territorial unity will hurt your reputation. They may be you friends but they have to die so that you can have power.
Your position in Iberia is at best temporary. The AI will magically recruit entire hordes of mercenary swordsmen that you have no hope of defeating. I suggest evacuating the area entirely and letting the various barbarians slug it out with your client state. 9 out of 10 your friends will lose, but their sacrifice was not wasted. they will give you the 15 turns you need to tech up on swordsmen,elephants and heavy cavalry that will allow you to reconquer those lands. Should your allies defeat their initial enemy pull an Iraq on them and drag them into a war with more neighbors until they lose, leaving you with a clean reputation when you reconquer them.
getting Libya killed is more challenging but still possible. Usually i declared war on Egypt and the desert dwellers as soon as I could and hoped for the best. Libya will make large groups of slingers and spearmen and send them off to sea to fight with various Romans and Greeks if you let them. Just like their western buddies they must lose so that you gain.
the other hard decision you need to make is to Not have your own army n the first few dozen turns and rely on mercs. The most obvious example is Syracuse- every turn they live gives them hoplites. The kind of hoplites you do not have the "equipment" to defeat. on the very first turn Syracuse and Rome will buy out the entire mercenary pool' leaving them at a massive advantage over you. Which is why you have to beat them to the punch and spend all your first turn money on mercs just to deny the enemy. with support from your navy you can use the to besiege Syracuse on turn 3 and starve them out or face one of the hardest battles in all your campaign. Sooner or later Rome will attack you. Your small should be able to handle them while your main army runs around Sicily killing rebels. eventually you get the swordsmen that can take on hastasi and heavy cavalry than can crush their velites,equtes and over "es" with ease.
Diplomacy-wise ally yourself with the Etruscan. Like your other friends they too shall fall but will buy you the time you need to research and create the army that will conquer Rome itself. Trade with Greece will come at a cost but you will get your money back after 10 turns or so.
On the construction front your main concern is bankrolling the army of mercs that you hired while keeping in mind to develop your own army.
Avoid agents altogether until you're cashing in over 7000 per turn. you just can't spare the money.
In summary: drag your friends into wars they will lose. Rush Syracuse early on and then intercept roman raids until you have the power to push into Italy. Let east and west Africa fall to your enemies. By the time they directly threaten you you will have all you need to defeat their armies one by one.
Would appreciate comments
After several campaigns it seems like there are no clear-cut opening moves that will give you any real and repeatable advantage if you follow them.
But here is what I did conclude:
As a grown-up you should make two cruel decisions-Abandon your friends and sell out your national pride.
Carthage's starting position is very weak and they have arguably the weakest starting units in the game. Their settlements are very spread out and each one rests on a different province. It will take at least 10 turns until you can muster a force that can defeat a full stack while the AI would gladly exploit your weakness.
But Carthage starts with two client states that border it directly. While the income they bring you is negligible and their armies are pathetic they are your closest friends. Attacking them to gain territorial unity will hurt your reputation. They may be you friends but they have to die so that you can have power.
Your position in Iberia is at best temporary. The AI will magically recruit entire hordes of mercenary swordsmen that you have no hope of defeating. I suggest evacuating the area entirely and letting the various barbarians slug it out with your client state. 9 out of 10 your friends will lose, but their sacrifice was not wasted. they will give you the 15 turns you need to tech up on swordsmen,elephants and heavy cavalry that will allow you to reconquer those lands. Should your allies defeat their initial enemy pull an Iraq on them and drag them into a war with more neighbors until they lose, leaving you with a clean reputation when you reconquer them.
getting Libya killed is more challenging but still possible. Usually i declared war on Egypt and the desert dwellers as soon as I could and hoped for the best. Libya will make large groups of slingers and spearmen and send them off to sea to fight with various Romans and Greeks if you let them. Just like their western buddies they must lose so that you gain.
the other hard decision you need to make is to Not have your own army n the first few dozen turns and rely on mercs. The most obvious example is Syracuse- every turn they live gives them hoplites. The kind of hoplites you do not have the "equipment" to defeat. on the very first turn Syracuse and Rome will buy out the entire mercenary pool' leaving them at a massive advantage over you. Which is why you have to beat them to the punch and spend all your first turn money on mercs just to deny the enemy. with support from your navy you can use the to besiege Syracuse on turn 3 and starve them out or face one of the hardest battles in all your campaign. Sooner or later Rome will attack you. Your small should be able to handle them while your main army runs around Sicily killing rebels. eventually you get the swordsmen that can take on hastasi and heavy cavalry than can crush their velites,equtes and over "es" with ease.
Diplomacy-wise ally yourself with the Etruscan. Like your other friends they too shall fall but will buy you the time you need to research and create the army that will conquer Rome itself. Trade with Greece will come at a cost but you will get your money back after 10 turns or so.
On the construction front your main concern is bankrolling the army of mercs that you hired while keeping in mind to develop your own army.
Avoid agents altogether until you're cashing in over 7000 per turn. you just can't spare the money.
In summary: drag your friends into wars they will lose. Rush Syracuse early on and then intercept roman raids until you have the power to push into Italy. Let east and west Africa fall to your enemies. By the time they directly threaten you you will have all you need to defeat their armies one by one.
Would appreciate comments