For hundreds of years Hellenic colonists have lived and traded in the cities on the southern coast of the Pontos Euxine, but only a few miles inland their influence stopped and their hardy mountain neighbors kept the hills and passes to themselves. Alexandros brought the Makedonian spear and horse and unified all of Anatolia, but his death and the vastness of his empire have spread his successors too thin. Their attention diverted, a new kingdom has quietly crept along the coasts and mountain edges. Mithridates, descended from a long line of Persian satraps who continued to serve Alexandros and his successors, has seized towns and allied himself with the newly arrived Galatians, and within the last decade has dared to rebel against Alexandros' successors. Though tensions have been eased, the new kingdom of Pontos, ruled by an opportunistic Persian family, in possession of several Hellenic colonies and determined to avail themselves of the benefits the Hellenes have provided them, find themselves trying to secure the mountain regions under their control and expand along the coastline. The Pontos Euxine is there for the taking and the riches that trade brings to them, along with its influence in the Aegean and Mediterranean, will be the source of their power.

Pontos sits on the edge of the wine-dark, cool waters of the Pontos Euxine. And even though you hail from the foothills of the Pontic Alps, it is the destiny of your kingdom to rule the waves. Together with Hellenic ingenuity and your own followers’ natural seamanship, your goal must be to make Pontos a mighty sea-borne power, for it is not by land that you should hope to gain your glory. No, for that, the Seleukids are too powerful, and too wary of your designs as an independent ruler. You must look north, to the waterways that will lead you to the rich granaries of the Tauric Bosporos. Only once your supremacy is established on the waves that have given name to your state, can you hope to begin expanding your influence over the more traditional Hellenistic world. For you to succeed, your enemies must be bled white before you make them bleed red.

A mixture of Hellenic, Anatolian, and old Persian units are available to the rulers of this new kingdom. But choose wisely; peoples with many different methods of war surround you. Persian spear infantry will keep the order in your cities, but it will take Hellenic hoplites to take control of their other Hellenic brothers on the coasts. The inland axemen and more types of spear and javelin will provide you with the power needed to move in from the coasts, and should you equip them properly, the Galatians can provide elite and versatile spearmen as well. Light peltasts and slingers will be recruitable, and for more money Syrian bows will aid your cause. Of course, cavalry will be a great aid in your conquests. Light javelin cavalry can be trained quickly. Heavier steppe cavalry from the north and east can also be recruited and your Persian ancestors will provide elite armored units that may ride into battle alongside exotic scythed chariots if you choose.

With Pontos, inherently, you will look to secure your power first by controlling the sea and nearby coastal regions, a number of whom are other petty kingdoms come together as allies against the Seleukids. But their individual cities are tempting targets, and they will be such to other powers as well. The Armenians are weak, but know their mountain passes well and have horse enough to thwart you. Expansion across the sea is possible, where Thraikians have territories too vast to control effectively, but can strike your trade routes and destroy your power centers there if you do not provide enough support. The Thraikians, and further away the Makedonians, are more Hellenized, but powerful foes. Yet the single largest threats to your fledgling kingdom are those whom you know best: the Seleukids. If you are not cautious, they will send armies over the mountains, take back their lost possessions, and push your armies into your beloved sea. If you handle the situation carefully, alliances through marriage and profit and against common enemies may keep them at bay long enough for you to build your strength. Yours is the newest kingdom of countless ones that have been established on the shorelines that feed into the great ocean at Herakles’ pillars. Heed the failures of those that came before you. It depends on you and no-one else, if your fledgling kingdom will wither and die like any other, or rise to the challenge and follow in the great footsteps of its ancestors.