Carthage

[Gray Fox]

I decided to abandon the western regions and concentrate on Sicilia and then Rome. So far the Empire of Carthage is doing okay.

[Graymane]

Looks like you are well on your way

[Gray Fox]

Thanks! I made it a goal to conquer the Byzacene province to get access to their provincial cavalry. These were superior to what the Romans had. I was able to hold the line against their Legions and then the cavalry crushed their flanks for the win every time, like Hannibal at Cannae. Peace is won along with a third of Rome, to include Latium. Sopater did what Hannibal could not.

[Gray Fox]

During the peace with Rome, I added Numidia to my empire. So that's 17 regions conquered in the first 61 turns. The peace treaty has just expired with Rome, so it's time to finish them off.

[Gray Fox]

Rome is crushed as an Usurper takes what is left.

[Graymane]

How did abandon your initial regions in the West?

[Gray Fox]

I just set the population to produce money and let the other factions gobble them up. I still have one. I have not decided on whether to invade Greece or just take over north Africa, so maybe I'll rescue them after all.

[Gray Fox]

Crushed it!

[Gray Fox]

Added Hispania.

[Gray Fox]

https://we.tl/t-31rEICPlit

Here's a link to the turn 200 saved game file. I just purchased Rhodus and my army is conquering a new region in west Africa.

[Saqquara]

I am reading your AAR with great interest and use them as learning tools.
Uploading save files is a bright idea and after your Rhodus example I downloaded the Carthage 200 file.
Could you please upload also some earlier ones such as turns 50, 100 or any others you will consider relevant.
Thank you very much.

[Gray Fox]

Welcome to the board!

https://we.tl/t-kPfqeQghjl

Here you go.

It was my hope that the saved games would be a sort of tutorial. They contain much more info than I could ever type out. Good luck!

[Saqquara]

Perfect. If easily available turn 20 should also be quite helpful for a beginner. Many thanks.

[Gray Fox]

Here you go:

https://we.tl/t-SFYYzJhAxB

I was finishing the conquest of Sicilia and then it's off to crush a minor invasion in Africa.

Many "you're welcomes".

[Gray Fox]

Macedonia is my only rival. I am building up my forces for a showdown. As a preliminary, I have sent out 10 light ships to scout the enemy. I can't stress enough how important a good recon is.

[Gray Fox]

The Macedonian military.

[Gray Fox]

So 7 out of 11 leaders are in their 60's or older. I also have better medium cavalry and a better portion of it. Their skirmishers are also deficient. I will need to double my fleet size. I hope the Macedonians can swim.

[Gray Fox]

A few turns into the war with Macedonia, Rome joined with the Macedonians. Fortunately, I had hired several mostly mercenary armies to guard my borders while the Carthagenians fought the main campaign. I was able to make peace with Macedon and keep all the regions I had conquered because I had severely mauled their armies and navy. Now it's time to finish off Rome. I had previously made the Roman Usurper an ally, but upon his death, that faction reverted to Rome. I allied with Epirus, who were also at war with Rome. So I can finish off Rome for good and then Epirus can aid in the future war with Macedonia.

[Gray Fox]

Here's turn 250.

https://we.tl/t-teh87Lcixl

I took Cisalpina from Rome. The rest of her regions were not useful strategically, so I made peace. Nassomones had 3 of my objectives, so I conquered it and made an alliance with Egypt. This secured my southern and northern flanks, so it was time to deal with Macedonia. However, as soon as I went to war, my economy went into -3000+ per turn. I assume this is some kind of game feature. I was able to mostly undo this by switching every region in Hispania from culture to commerce. I quickly occupied 7 regions from Macedon and crushed their navy...again. I had planned to hold in Greece and conquer all of Asia Minor. This was working well. I had 2 Generals with 0-2 stats holding off about 300 Macedonian units. The Macedonians offered peace, which gave me the 7 regions I had taken. So, I took the offer. I'm going to store up a ton of money in case the game tries to bankrupt me again and thus be prepared to finish them off next time.

[Gray Fox]

I was able to defeat the Macedonians and take all of Asia Minor. However, you can only ask for 12 regions in a peace deal, so they got one area back. However, Macedonia is now an Old Empire and I should win the game in 80 turns by having three times their Legacy total.

Here's turn 300.

https://we.tl/t-fFwhDsvQNs