Britannia

[Pannonian]

You are welcome.

Yeah, the scythes on the lights give them at least one hard "thonk" against any cavalry that chases them down and can really hammer a non-armored infantry unit too. Just remember to get moving again quickly -- they do NOT have the staying power to follow up the initial charge-hit with the scythes.

Which reminds me of a wonderful city battle I once fought against the Pontics. My legionaries cleared the walls, then I sent my Cretans up to do some damage to the mass of enemy below. Among them was a unit of scythed chariots. Fire arrows soon sent them amok, and they then ran through their own ranks. What an enjoyable sight and sound it was as I zoomed in, watched the enemy being cut to pieces by their own chariots (including their general), and the sound of plak! plak! as men's and horses' legs were sent flying into the air. I swear that unit of chariots would have gone from novice to triple gold chevrons if friendlies counted for experience.

[woad&fangs]

LoL!!! can british chariots run Amok? I've never seen them do it but I might just not be very observant.

[Phoenix]

They can't, Scythed Chariots are the only chariots that can run amok.

[woad&fangs]

Thats good, just another example of why brittania is the best faction. Now that I understand how to use Chariots(click behind the enemy and then hit them again before they reform) I Should crush the romans.

[Master Young Phoenix]

I haven't had much debacles playing the Brits. The chariots took some time to get used to, especially manouvring them before they engage 'cause they mess up your own "formations" as well, be it not lethal. (and, silly enough, I thought Chariots needed stables, but it was Blacksmiths! so for about a decade, my only chariots were family members and the light ones from the begining, such ignorance!)

I mostly left the Germans alone, except for the occassional punitive expedition when they were naughty and tried to take Alesia. I Plundered trier and had it rebel.

I did not wait for the Gauls to attack me and made my move first, taking Condate Rendonum and Alesia, and the rest of Gaul soon followed. Use your slingers to draw their cavalry at your line and overwhelm them with warbands, then regroup and deal with their infantry. These should be attacked by warbands in the front and chariots in the rear. the will rout within seconds if you can make such a combined attack.

I haven't done a lot of direct charges with generals bodyguard, but a rear-attack with any type of chariot is usually enough to break the enemy, 'cause the enemy is hit suffering 2 things that damage morale: 1. the chariots themselves, and 2, the fact that it's in their rear (or flank) while engaged to the front by warbands. Most of the time, this rear attack is so effective that it's effect (enemy rout) is immediate, meaning your general can butcher at will without getting damage.

after Gaul I finally got to conquering Hibernia (Ireland), which was quite easy... and then the Romans (Julii) came knocking at my gates.

Using "devide and conquer" tactics, succesfull ambushes and the meagre garrissons of Italia cities to my advantage, I conquered Italy in a few decades. Italy is an important province to conquer for all factions, but especially for the barbarians 'cause Rome is almost full-tech and you'll have the all important chosen swordsmen!

I try to NEVER fight siege assaults if I can manage, especially as barbarian and even more so against the Romans. When I'm the besieger I enjoy it most to have an enemy relief force come and be destroyed, but my main object in such a battle is always the garisson of the besieged city. If you manage to wipe out the garisson troops joining the battle and beat the relief force, the city is yours!

If I really need to assault I use up to 5 rams for wooden walls and pallisades and try to deploy in an area where there are the fewest towers.
Against stone walls, I use only siegetowers and sap points (though, towers mostly). Boiling oil is terrible, I try to stay clear. I usually have 2 towers with elite troops attack the wallsections beside the gate, so I can conquer the gate and have the rest of my army walk in securely, and another tower as a diversion or sneak attack. If the gate is conquered, i do not rush the city square before the towers I will pass heading there are conquered, this prevents casualties on my side, and if the enemy comes to reclaim their gate, will damage the enemy!

[Hound of Ulster]

Head Hurlers and Chariots are a wonderful combo, especially against other barbarians.

[woad&fangs]

How would y'all go about beating Ellies with the Brits. I tried a Brits vs. Carthy Custom Battle and I was on a rampage until the Ellies joined the fray.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

How would y'all go about beating Ellies with the Brits. I tried a Brits vs. Carthy Custom Battle and I was on a rampage until the Ellies joined the fray.

Chosen sword to pin the Ellies in one spot. Head Hurlers on directed fire for as many rounds as possible -- apologies to the sworder widows, but eggs and omelettes -- swarm with all available foot troops thereafter. No pretty way to take out ellies with Brits unless you somehow rent Cretans.

[Svarun]

Chariots and head hurlers are of almost no use, expecially againts factions better than some retarded barbarians. Head hurlers can't cope even with velites because of their tiny range. Chariots can do well in flanking but when they are charged (and againts a decent army they will be) just don't stand a chance.
Becuse of lack of lack of any cavalry at all, Britons have to rely on barbarian merceneries which are really expensive for a faction as poor as Britons.
Choosing among barbarians, I would rather go for Gauls or expecially Germans.

[edward13]

wel i played as brits b4my present camp, and al was going GuD until i met wit e carthys n their ellies! had2gt sm cretans al e wy fr greece to counter them in iberia!! ma ploy's always a protracted battle, A defensive ATTACK! Take a full stack army n invade n lt e enemy wear off by attacking:-)usu use ma missile troops2e fullest!!once i was able to gt merc phalanx NO one cud gt thru a bridge to attack me:-)Nw ma brits hav e map al e wy2e steppes!

[edward13]

for garrison duty usu use e peasant militias! field army consists of heavy n choosen swords, slingers n head hurlers/cretan arc. warband,heavy chariots! i don't use light chariots in a standing army only in field garrison troops to counter rebels in e province,i use them Lk HA's quite handy to shoot Dwn rebels and nt take damage! thank God4e romans they had already built highways&high end tech struct by e tm invaded ITALY N NW & NE alps!CooliO

[Monsieur Alphonse]

wel i played as brits b4my present camp, and al was going GuD until i met wit e carthys n their ellies! had2gt sm cretans al e wy fr greece to counter them in iberia!! ma ploy's always a protracted battle, A defensive ATTACK! Take a full stack army n invade n lt e enemy wear off by attacking:-)usu use ma missile troops2e fullest!!once i was able to gt merc phalanx NO one cud gt thru a bridge to attack me:-)Nw ma brits hav e map al e wy2e steppes!

Can someone translate this please. I have absolutely no idea what is talking about. I hope he did win his battles.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Alphie:

wel i played as brits b4my present camp, and al was going GuD until i met wit e carthys n their ellies! had2gt sm cretans al e wy fr greece to counter them in iberia!! ma ploy's always a protracted battle, A defensive ATTACK! Take a full stack army n invade n lt e enemy wear off by attacking:-)usu use ma missile troops2e fullest!!once i was able to gt merc phalanx NO one cud gt thru a bridge to attack me:-)Nw ma brits hav e map al e wy2e steppes!

Reads as:

Well, I played as the Britons before my current campaign, and all was going well until I met with Carthage and their elephants. Had to get some Cretans all the way from Greece to counter them in Iberia. My ploy is always a protracted battle -- a defensive ATTACK. Take a full-stack army and invade, then let the enemy wear themselves out by attacking you. I use my missile troops to the fullest!! Once I was able to get merc phalanx, NO one could get across a bridge against me. Now my Britons own everything on the map all the way to the Steppes!

He's using the classic approach advocated by Von Moltke of the defensive offensive. On the strategic level, you move quickly to put yourself somewhere vital to the enemy (preferably with high defensive force multipliers), somewhere from which they must dislodge you, and then take the tactical defensive with all its advantages to maximize your tactical success. One of my favorites as well, and probably the best option for anyone who does not wish to "blitzkrieg."

[Good Ship Chuckle]

If it weren't for the Gauls being so enjoyable, I would have to choose the Brits as the most favorable faction. Sure. No straight up cav, but deal with like a man, and play to your strengths.

First equation of the day:
Strengths=Light Chariots.
Simple as that. One chariot can pick off a few men with its archers, but when you horde multiple units together, they become a whirlwind of death, shooting anything that calls itself a roman to bits.

Second equation of the day:
Light Chariots=Whirlwind of Death.
Thus by using the transitive property (a=b, b=c, then a=c), we can infer:
Strengths=Whirlwind of Death.

By my mathematical postulate, you can easily see that the best way to play the Brits is by using the light chariots to cut down you enemies from a distance, like a Whirlwind of Death. This effect is greatly magnified by the fact that each unit can fire a whopping 60 volleys.Check it under BRITONS That's more arrows than I know what to do with.

Again, today's lesson has been about the faction known as Brittania, and how one should use the Light Chariots to become a 'Whirlwind of Death', and thus most effectively acquire victory. Any questions should be made into posts that follow this one, and should be written in a pompus and uptight manner. (British accent would work well here)
Thank you for your time.

[woad&fangs]

Light chariots are indeed the best unit available to you as Brittania. They're also very good at mowing down enemy cavalry and chasing enemy archers.

[Hannibalbarc]

Chariots and head hurlers are of almost no use, expecially againts factions better than some retarded barbarians. Head hurlers can't cope even with velites because of their tiny range. Chariots can do well in flanking but when they are charged (and againts a decent army they will be) just don't stand a chance.
Becuse of lack of lack of any cavalry at all, Britons have to rely on barbarian merceneries which are really expensive for a faction as poor as Britons.
Choosing among barbarians, I would rather go for Gauls or expecially Germans.

The britons light chariot and head hurler combo will destroy any phalanx army and head hurlers and heavy chariots can easily take care of the romans, add some chosen swordsmen and a few druids for good balance and almost any enemy army will fall, also headhurlers aren't meant to fight against missile units, they decimate heavy inf though, and heavy chariots are really good against nonphalanx inf, the only real problem are eles but the romans usually take care of the carthaginians for you.

[Good Ship Chuckle]

I agree with Hannibalbarc. Anyone who smacks around the Britons should be smacked around as well. The Britons are a more than capable faction, as long as they are in the hands of a good leader.

[gaiusmarius8]

Hello Im quite new but am a very good player of Rome: TW and BI. I beat the game with Britannians. So lemme tell you how it is done.

When starting the game, I took 3 warbands and held them towards Tara on the Britain Side. I left them to also clean up rebellions until I got a navy. I concentrated on building the Temple for Woadies first and getting Light and Heavy Chariots. Gaul was rash in sending armies after armies to Samarobriva, my idea. Sneak behind with 1 chariot unit, while they readjust, I took another unit and cut up their generals then they would always rout ane leave. I concentrated on Germania because they had more cavalry per army than gaul and Rome. I took them out simple by concentrating warbands as a trap so Woads can cut at flanks in often fought in forests of the Germanic tribe Area. Gaul was still repelled by my chariots and now Head Hurlers. Rome though got into war with Gaul and eased my annoyence of these Barbarians. I then took sight in rebuilding my defenses. Bad Time! My economy was awry, Rome took Alesia and now I just received word of an attack on Lemonum which was the only Gaul town I was wanting to take. Rebel Pirates arised from Spain and attacked my ships worsening my situation. I decided to take Sun Tzu's proverb into consideration "You will only be victorious if you know yourself and the enemy". I sent spies to sniff out the game plan and received each attack defensively and kept going good. Now Spain was getting washed up and Thrace had gone to the west fighting Dacia. I decided to go east once again and took out the Cavalry stressing Dacians and Scythians. Now I had 2 enemies. Thrace and Julii were boring in so I decided to send assassin's to kill their people and I took out Thrace with the help of Macedon (weak though) and Brutii. Carthage was still in trying to resist Julii power which they pressed on them. I took this chance to steal Masillia, Arretium, Ariminum, and Segesta. They repelled on me and Carthage took southern tip of Spain. I set out for the biggest siege for me, to take Narbo Martius! Triarii and Principes versus Slingers, Woads, Warbands, and Chariots. I won luckily. My chariots were wiped out by Triarii but I managed to break the main line with my Woads and infected them to chaos with my Slingers and Woads. I killed their general (8 star) with my (3 star) chariot general. I took Narbo Martius soon after with little resistance and their cities started to defect and I eventually killed them. Carthage was also out by Scipii. So I had Spain to Lovosice avoiding Scipii (dealing with Numidia and Egypt) and Brutii (Dealing with Greeks and Pontus ) I then took on a harsh enemy... Armenia!

[Quintus.JC]

Never fancied Briton, chariots just weren't my cup of tea. plus the lack of cavalry was really a pain in the rare-end.

[The Wandering Scholar]

Hello Im quite new but am a very good player of Rome: TW and BI. I beat the game with Britannians. So lemme tell you how it is done.

a little bit cocky

my idea. Sneak behind with 1 chariot unit, while they readjust, I took another unit and cut up their generals then they would always rout ane leave.

Is it?

[gaiusmarius8]

WanderingScholar, I didnt mean to be "cocky" and try my idea, it works 80% of the time.

[The Wandering Scholar]

[gaiusmarius8]

That wasn't even necessary.

[Good Ship Chuckle]

The generals chariots are really only good for one thing (besides dying unexpectedly)>>>
Chewing up the mounted generals of other factions.

[Quintus.JC]

I do not like chariots. They are weird.

[Xipe Totec]

Whilst I have found a group of two or three briton generals to be a wonderful way of quickly mincing up Gaul or Roman general cav and other cav on the flanks, they are too fragile and unwieldy to be bodyguards for your glorious leaders. Caught in a town they are incapable of manoevering and are just death traps for the hapless general. Against phalanxes including the basic infantry of neighbours Germania they die on contact anywhere. Being so spread out it's hard to avoid getting tangled up with infantry, especially on huge.

Light chariots are devastating archers, can usually escape from pursuit and can tear fleeing armies to shreds at lightning speed before they can escape. For Britannia against German phalanxes they are majestic out in the open but atrocious if confined by impassable battlefield terrain or trapped in a town.

Loads of fun to play with but not authentic. Creating an empire across Europe with the Britons in this era is a shocking anachronism anyway but I suppose that could equally be said of Dacia, Thrace, Scythia, Spain, Numidia and even the Greeks, but it is fun to recreate a wildly different version of history where someone other than the Romans gets a look in for a change.

For us 'Britunculi' especially the arrogant Romans need to be taught a lesson. The shamed daughters of Boudicca must be avenged! Let's throw some limey heads at them, and chant them into submission!

[Hannibalbarc]

I do not like chariots. They are weird.

I don't like to use them on the battle field either, they always run into phalanxes or places you don't want them to go, but they are totally awesome when you autoresolve, I used 4 scythed chariot against a fullstack of Seleucids general included, and won killing 3/4 of their army losing 1/4 of my chariots, and 2 of my chariots got 4 exp and the other 2 each got 2 exp, the odds were 5:1 in their favor and I still won, but it was on medium.

[The Wandering Scholar]

Chariotsare so annoying, they should not even be included in the game due to their historical letdowns.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

No more ahistorical than screeching women, units of roman wardogs, or devastating legionary cavalry.

You want hyper realism, play EB.

[Brave]

Brittania

Britannia are an interesting faction. I like to call them the power house of the north. To the novice TWer they could be a challenge as their units such as the chariots are not the easiest unit to control.

Temples provide the Britains with much needed units such as Woad Warriors and Head Hurlers. The basic battle tactic against other barbarians is to charge with upgraded infantry after the head hurlers have used up their ammo while you have them under a constant barrage of chariot fire and finally a charge to completely rout them.

Depending on how offensive you are you should have at least half of Gaul and east to Dacian lands before you come into contact with the Romans. This is where the fun starts. You will need to recruit, no, SPAM, elite infantry to duke it out with them. A hard slog will now be played out, the Romans are rich and have high quality units. Hopefully you can become victorious, and reap the rewards.