I play the Ptolemaics fairly well. Two third of my infantry is pikes, the other third is Thureos spears. Two third of my ranged are peltasts, the other third is archers. I use lots of melee cav, with some archer and sometimes jav cav backup. I use elephants.
Now, the Seleucids have the exact same units, and for substantially cheaper.....but try as I might, I dont do as well as the Seleucids! Isjrhsksnfbfjsn! Why?