Mild Rant about Atropatkan/Media Atropatene
So I'm currently doing a campaign as Atropatkan, seeking to re-form the glorious Persian Empire. Nothing I haven't done before, but this time I've realised something that I consider to be a significant problem... Why are my naval units so sh*t?
The Persian Navy before the conquests of Alexander the Great was one of if not the most powerful military forces in the eastern Mediterranean. The fact it got beaten at Salamis is remembered for exactly this reason - it was a David vs Goliath situation. The Greeks were genuinely fearful of the Persian Navy - it also played an important role in the later years of the Peloponnesian War, as Sparta looked to Persia for financial and military aid to defeat Athens.
I have taken everything in the East. I am knocking on the doors of Egypt, advancing into the steppes and pushing deep into Asia Minor. I have finally reached the sea, at Antioch and Trapezos respectively.
Now, obviously, by the start date of the campaign in-game, those glory days are past. But the technology wasn't forgotten, nor the expertise lost. If anything, ship-building had actually improved since the days of Xerxes and Darius. In which case, why, when I finally reconquer the coastal regions of Syria and Asia Minor, are my available military ports so weak? Why is my naval roster so sh*t? I'm looking at my options in Antioch and the largest ship I can recruit is a tetreres. Do I have to rely only on the specialised ports at Rhodes and Alexandria to recruit better ships, assuming that's even possible? (I haven't taken them yet to find out)... This feels like a major mistake to gatekeep strong naval units from one of the historically strongest naval factions in the game.
Dear DEI mods, where are my penteres, my hexeres, my artillery ships? Why have you forsaken the glorious Persians and denied them their rightful return to naval dominance?