Here's what I did on my second attempt: I crushed the Aetolian league first, but liberated Larissa instead of annexing it so that the Aetolian Nobles can serve as the buffer to ward off the petulant Greeks, faced down Pyrrhos because, for some transfixing reason, he decided to return to Appolonia with his beautifully assembled army (I like to think that I was more intimidating than the Romans), and after a costly showdown and the subsequent Epirote expulsion from Makedonia, I turned northeast, to the tempting forested wastes of Thrace. I reverted to a save from about ten turns earlier, before everything was hopeless and desperate. I just started one as Macedon today and was utterly crushed by turn 23, which was in part due to some strenuous house rules but mostly the fact that everyone was out for my head by the tenth turn. In your early armies, bronze-shield pikes are an awesome core, Iphicratean peltasts are surprisingly good at holding off almost anything with their spears, and your generals are of course some of the best early-game shock cavalry. With all of Makedonia and most of Hellas, and friends to your west and north, you now have a secure and profitable base to expand from. Bonus points if you send your spy far enough to make contact with Roma before then, so that you can offer to join their war on Epeiros in return for all-important trade and non-aggression.
While you're conquering Athenai and Sparta, send your spy over to Apollonia, so that as soon as Pyrrhos sails for Italy you can swoop in and capture Apollonia for yourself. Be prepared to either kill every enemy general, or have to spend to recruit all the awesome mercenaries in Hellas so that they aren't used against you. You can bait out the AI armies using a single general, positioned so that an army which comes out to attack him cannot get back to their city afterwards. Fastest route is to blitz the Aetolian League, then keep your army in the south and wait for Sparta and Athenai to declare war, while using your money to get non-aggression and trade with the Triballi and Ardiaei (be prepared to do this in any order - they might refuse trade for 2000, then offer non-aggression for 1500, and then pay YOU 2000 for trade.).
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