This results in a very strong battleline, especially if you deploy your units in a housebrick formation where the centre of each unit in the second line is at the join of the units in the first line. Now take the remaining half of your hoplites and put them in a long line just behind the first line. I won’t explain it in detail here, but the basic idea behind it is this: deploy about half your hoplites in a straight line that is as long as you can make it. Your towns will take longer to grow a tier, but it’s a much better alternative than loosing them completely.Īn effective tactic to use for your Hoplites in the open is The Long Line in the Sand. For now don’t worry about the negative effect this has on your cities population. If you can’t train militias in a town yet build barracks there on turn 1 and start training militias as soon as it’s finished. On top of that sheer numbers are often enough to keep the AI from attacking you, so an all-front war is less likely to occur. Build enough of them and they will be strong enough to defend your cities. They may not be powerful troops in their own right, but you can train them in all your towns and they have a low upkeep. The best unit to use early on is, surprisingly, one of the worst units in the game: Militia Hoplites. Peltasts are nothing special, and Militia Cavalry can be very powerful if used correctly but you won’t be able to train them in all your cities. Your infantry is limited to Militia and Levy Hoplites for the first two tiers of city development. Preparing the defenceĪt first it might seem impossible to build a strong defence against your neighbours. There are a few towns around you that can be very helpful if you capture them early on. This doesn’t necessarily mean expanding in only one direction, it just means you’re concentrating on taking out one opponent. Eliminate one enemy at a time while only defending against your other foes. The basis of the early-game strategy that I will explain is quite simple. Within striking range, with only the statue of Zeus at Olympia being out of reach for now. You already possess two of them at the start of the game four more are Second, you are in an ideal position to capture the Seven Wonders of the World. You won’t have to worry about improving your economy too much for the first handful of years. First your economy is strong from the word ‘go’. The second problem is that your towns are far away from each other so transporting troops around your empire will take a long time. While the Greeks usually remain relatively calm, it is almost a certainty that the other factions will attack you. The Egyptians to the south, the Pontics to the north-west, the Armenians to the north, Parthians to your nort-east and the Greeks to your west all threaten your empire. First, you are surrounded by enemies on all sides. When playing as the Seleucid Empire you’ll face a number of problems. Ladder Faction strategy: The Seleucid Empire

Seleucid empire total war map