Arche Seleukeia

[locoace3]

While playing Baktria, The Seleucids are the biggest thorn in my side, so far i am just scraping by with 4 of their armies on 4/5 of my cities, most of them are 7+ units stronger then my garrison, but i cannot afford any more, and i can only keep going by having my diplomats permanently by their city requesting peace each turn and they declare war the next. I have one army who is much stronger then anything they've fielded yet, but they can't do much since every army i slaughter is quickly replaced. Is there anything short of using console commands that i can do to deal with them? If not is there any console commands for something along the lines of "destroy faction" or even just "drain treasury"

[Hummer]

There is
auto_win attacker
and
auto_win defender
but that's the extent of my knowledge of cheats

I hate to say it but perhaps you could try an easier campaign difficulty. I've played several different difficulty levels. If you are looking for a more leisurely campaign pace, try Medium campaign. AI gets way more aggressive on H and VH.

Cheers

[athanaric]

Playing on M campaign or lower will stop them from hiring mercenaries (they can still get mercs as starting units or as loyalist rebels, though). Also, at more than three provinces, you should have a decent income as Baktria (if not, have a look at the beginner's thread linked in my sig and the varios Baktria guides that are out there). Try to raise a second army and shorten the border as much as possible, which usually means conquering the SE Iranian provinces (Karmania and anything east of it) and India, while you're at it.

[Glaive]

add_money [amount here] (up to 40,000).

process_cq [name of settlement, case sensitive] (instantly builds everything in that settlements building cue).

[Boriak]

I've tried a Baktrian campaign several times and it always ended up bogged down by lack of funds against a superior enemy. The last time, Baktra got surrounded by Seleucids and Saka at the same time.

Whenever I look at the Baktrian unit roster, I start to drool. Maybe this time I will swallow my pride and play a Medium campaign instead. I only fear that the campaign will become far too easy once I get it started.

[Bladvak]

Have you tried abusing the HA exploit?

Basically, you make stacks of 10 units of Dahae Riders each (2nd level regional barracks). . They have long range missiles and light, ap lances for when the missiles are spent. Attack the enemy before it has a chance of grouping up into big armies, i.e. make expeditionary HA armies roam the AS countryside. Or, you could go with the greek HA, but they lack the power of the secondary weapons.

-build walls to stone level and put garrisons in them (phalanxes are a must). don't be afraid to be besieged. learn to defend yourself in a siege
-make alliances with Pahlava and Saka
-take Kophen, defend it, then expand into India
-don't expand into the Iranian plateau until you've got enough income to defend it
-defend on strategic points : bridges, mountain tiles, chokepoints
-don't autoresolve when having high-tier, non-phalanx units. you could have an entire 10-unit HA army defeated by 2 AS FMs.

basically, you are playing a defensive war against a higher power, where you have or should have shorter lines of communications. make use of guerilla warfare, as well as of the eastern warfare. use diplomats, use spies to revolt nearby AS cities (this way you will relieve some of the pressure from you). you will be besieged often and you will either have to send a relief army, or play the siege battle yourself.

[athanaric]

^This, basically.

Or, you could go with the greek HA, but they lack the power of the secondary weapons.

Baktrian HAs are good against other missile units, as I found out when playing Saka.
Also, if you move on any of the Indian cities (assuming you get there before the other factions do), bring a lot of javelin units to deal with the elephants and the Guild Warriors. Once conquered, the Indian cities will provide an economic power base and their regional units are useful (and more importantly, fun to use) against phalanx based armies.

[Bladvak]

Baktrian HAs are good against other missile units, as I found out when playing Saka.

Baktrian HAs have swords as secondary weapons (0.1 lethality, 9 attack, ap) and have armour which makes them good against missile units. Dahae Riders have light, ap lances as secondary weapons (0.33 lethality, 3 attack, ap) and don't have armour. However, there are lots of mountaineous tiles, so if you position your army correctly, you may take the archers before it's even a duel . Dahae Riders can really punch a hole in armoured oponents, even in bodyguard units if they are 5:1, Baktrian HAs are a bit slower at killing in melee. And the cost is highly in favour of the riders, more than twice.

Options, options. Experiment and see which one suits you.

[ooji]

Don't bother taking on full stacks of rebel forces to the east when you start. Simply grab all the army you have and start conquering Seleucid provinces. AI's are the most vulnerable at the beginning of the game and the sooner you attack, the better. Their main armies will be busy fighting Ptolemies. Best they can bring against you is pandatapoi phalanx supported by archers. With decent micro, you should be more than able to take Selecuid down. I played as Saka and took down Baktria, Pahlava, and conquered all the way til Babylon in less than 20 years. Really, AI's in EB are stupid. You just got to exploit it.