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Thread: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

  1. #1

    Default Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    Just downloaded EB, quite like my history thought this would improve RTW for me. I like the historical authenticity however it can be quite off putting for those who don't understand it. Anyone able to tell me who these 'new' factions are.

    I know the Aeudi, Sweboz, Arverni and obvious ones like Makedonia and Romani but there's a lot I don't know and it'd be good to understand who they are.

  2. #2

    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    This link from the main EB page should do it. Click the round faction symbols on the side to learn about them.

    https://europabarbarorum.com/factions.html
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  3. #3

    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    Welcome to EB,

    Aedui - Gauls
    Arche Seleukeia - Seleucid empire
    Arverni - other Gauls
    Baktria - easternmost Hellenic empire, close to "india".
    Casse - British tribe
    Epirus - Western Makedonians, remember Phyrrus of Epirus?
    Getai - Tracians and Dacians along those lines.
    Hayasdan - Armenians
    Karthadastim - Carthage
    Koinon Hellenon - Hellenic League, Sparta, Athens, Rhodos and friends
    Lusotannan - a somewhat celtesque Tribe in Portugal
    Makedonia - Macedonia
    Pahlava - Parthians(tho you start out as their even more nomadic Predecessors, the Parni
    Pontos - mix of Greeks and "persians" living in northern Turky
    Ptolemaioi - Greeks in Egypt^^
    Romani - Romans
    Sab'yn - A people living on the southern tip of Arabia, remember the queen of saba?
    Saka Rauka - nomads also known as Sakans.
    Sauromatae - nomads also known as Sarmatians
    Sweboz - a germanic tribe also known as Suebi

    That's roughly the faction list for starters. I skipped prefixes.
    "Who fights can lose, who doesn't fight has already lost."
    - Pyrrhus of Epirus

    "Durch diese hohle Gasse muss er kommen..."
    - Leonidas of Sparta

    "People called Romanes they go the House"
    - Alaric the Visigoth

  4. #4
    Uergobretos Senior Member Brennus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    Welcome Anndra!



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  5. #5

    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    Thank you very much for that list :D and thanks for the other welcomes. Looking forward to learning a bit about history and having fun in RTW.

  6. #6

    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ca Putt View Post
    Welcome to EB,

    Aedui - Gauls
    Arche Seleukeia - Seleucid empire
    Arverni - other Gauls
    Baktria - easternmost Hellenic empire, close to "india".
    Casse - British tribe
    Epirus - Western Makedonians, remember Phyrrus of Epirus?
    Getai - Tracians and Dacians along those lines.
    Hayasdan - Armenians
    Karthadastim - Carthage
    Koinon Hellenon - Hellenic League, Sparta, Athens, Rhodos and friends
    Lusotannan - a somewhat celtesque Tribe in Portugal
    Makedonia - Macedonia
    Pahlava - Parthians(tho you start out as their even more nomadic Predecessors, the Parni
    Pontos - mix of Greeks and "persians" living in northern Turky
    Ptolemaioi - Greeks in Egypt^^
    Romani - Romans
    Sab'yn - A people living on the southern tip of Arabia, remember the queen of saba?
    Saka Rauka - nomads also known as Sakans.
    Sauromatae - nomads also known as Sarmatians
    Sweboz - a germanic tribe also known as Suebi

    That's roughly the faction list for starters. I skipped prefixes.
    I've just went in game and why are factions names spelt differently :S this doesn't make much sense to me. Ie: epirote = epeiros. On the map they're epirote but elsewhere epeiros.
    Last edited by Anndra; 11-23-2012 at 13:24.

  7. #7

    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    Epirote is the Adjective to Epirus. Epeiros is greek, Epirus is english.

    I don't think it's too confusing, It's not like the faction names were all allike. Marginal changes like k-c and o-u-v and adjectivations(is that a word?) are a trademark of Ancient History related literature :D
    "Who fights can lose, who doesn't fight has already lost."
    - Pyrrhus of Epirus

    "Durch diese hohle Gasse muss er kommen..."
    - Leonidas of Sparta

    "People called Romanes they go the House"
    - Alaric the Visigoth

  8. #8
    Arrogant Ashigaru Moderator Ludens's Avatar
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    Lightbulb Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ca Putt View Post
    Epeiros is greek, Epirus is english.
    Nit-picking: Epeiros is the Greek name transliterated to English, while Epirus is the English name.

    @ Anndra

    The names used in EB are, as far as we can ascertain, the names that were historically used by the factions themselves. The difference between "Epirus" and "Epeiros" is indeed trivial, but, for example, the Carthaginians never referred to themselves as "Punic" or "Phoenicians". Those are the names given to them by the Greeks and Romans (IIRC it means "purple" and refers to the fact that only Phoenicians knew how to make purple dye - which was worth a fortune in those days). Their city wasn't called Carthage, but Kart-Hadast ("New City"). Hence, the EB team decided to call them the "Karthadastim".
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  9. #9

    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    ah, my bad. Offcourse Ancient Greeks did not use the modern Latin alphabet.
    "Who fights can lose, who doesn't fight has already lost."
    - Pyrrhus of Epirus

    "Durch diese hohle Gasse muss er kommen..."
    - Leonidas of Sparta

    "People called Romanes they go the House"
    - Alaric the Visigoth

  10. #10

    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ca Putt View Post
    Epirote is the Adjective to Epirus. Epeiros is greek, Epirus is english.

    I don't think it's too confusing, It's not like the faction names were all allike. Marginal changes like k-c and o-u-v and adjectivations(is that a word?) are a trademark of Ancient History related literature :D
    Quote Originally Posted by Ludens View Post
    Nit-picking: Epeiros is the Greek name transliterated to English, while Epirus is the English name.

    @ Anndra

    The names used in EB are, as far as we can ascertain, the names that were historically used by the factions themselves. The difference between "Epirus" and "Epeiros" is indeed trivial, but, for example, the Carthaginians never referred to themselves as "Punic" or "Phoenicians". Those are the names given to them by the Greeks and Romans (IIRC it means "purple" and refers to the fact that only Phoenicians knew how to make purple dye - which was worth a fortune in those days). Their city wasn't called Carthage, but Kart-Hadast ("New City"). Hence, the EB team decided to call them the "Karthadastim".
    It's not confusing, just trying to get to grips with the game :) though I must admit the use of ancient names like in the "this year in history" or even some building descriptions is a little overwhelming. I'm interested in this part of history but despite the many documentaries I've watched none of them go into this detail of history.

    Does anyone know of good documentaries that would make me more familiar with the actual history of these peoples and cultures during this era? (understand this is semi-off topic, but it came to mind)

  11. #11
    COYATOYPIKC Senior Member Flatout Minigame Champion Arjos's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    If you really want to know actual history, these books are far better than any documentary :)
    Think you can find a good portion of them, online and free to read ^^

    EB itself, as you found out, gives a good amount of informations...
    It is definitely a game to explore and discover!

  12. #12
    iudex thervingiorum Member athanaric's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    If it helps, you can group the factions by linguistic and cultural affiliation:

    Aedui, Arverni, Casse - some important Celtic tribes. Casse being somewhat anachronistic as they appeared later.
    Epeiros, Koinon Hellenon, Makedonia; Baktria, Arche Seleukeia, Ptolemaioi - Greeks (more or less). Koinon Hellenon literally means Greek Federation, being a (historically short-lived) alliance of three traditional Greek states and also representing various Greek koina that formed at the time. The other five Hellenic factions are naturally more influenced by related peoples or even their non-Greek subject peoples (e.g. Iranians, Semites, Tharcians, Egyptians, Anatolian peoples etc.). Baktria in particular is a crazy mix of several different cultures, united under Makedonian rule. Epeiros is actually the name of a landscape in NW Greece (nice place BTW), Makedonia is a landscape in N Greece (but you probably know that) and Seleukids and Ptolemaioi are dynastic names. Baktria is a geographical name, again.
    Qarthadastim, As Sab'yn wal Jau - Semitic factions, one obviously being the Republic of Carthage and the other a South Arabian kingdom AKA Saba. I believe EB is the only game where you can play as Saba, BTW.
    Pahlava, Sauromatae, Saka - some of the more powerful Iranian tribes, from a time when half of Asia spoke Iranian languages. "Pahlava" being the one that became known as the "Parthians" later on.


    Quote Originally Posted by Anndra View Post
    Does anyone know of good documentaries that would make me more familiar with the actual history of these peoples and cultures during this era? (understand this is semi-off topic, but it came to mind)
    The thing about documentaries is, they're always edited so as to sound more dramatic. Often, when a serious historian appears in them, he has to "read" from a script that's been approved by the filmmakers, and his words are taken out of context. So it's difficult to find the ones that are really trying to be historically accurate.
    Last edited by athanaric; 11-23-2012 at 20:03.




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  13. #13
    Uergobretos Senior Member Brennus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    The name Casse is also likely inaccurate. The original EB historians who put together the British faction appear to have got their information from a book by a guy called Daith oHaigan. In it he proposes the idea that the tribes the Catuvellauni, Caleti and Catalauni all descended from a group of Belgic tribes who went by the name of Casse (handsome ones). This is not born out in the archaeological record nor is it substantiated linguistically. The Casse should really be the Catuuellaunoi or Caduuellanoi, although there is limited evidence for the emergence of tribal groups in Iron Age Britain in the Casse starting region at the start date of EB (you need to wait till c. 100 BC).

    ....Hence in EBII the British faction became the Pritanoi and their starting position was moved to south central England, where there is sufficient evidence of tribal groups emerging as early as c. 400 BC!



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  14. #14
    Uergobretos Senior Member Brennus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    Quote Originally Posted by athanaric View Post
    The thing about documentaries is, they're always edited so as to sound more dramatic. Often, when a serious historian appears in them, he has to "read" from a script that's been approved by the filmmakers, and his words are taken out of context. So it's difficult to find the ones that are really trying to be historically accurate.
    I can Skype you if you like and bore the pants off you



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  15. #15
    EBII Bricklayer Member V.T. Marvin's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    Quote Originally Posted by Anndra View Post
    Does anyone know of good documentaries that would make me more familiar with the actual history of these peoples and cultures during this era? (understand this is semi-off topic, but it came to mind)
    As it was already stated, good books are way better in order to actually learn anything than TV shows and the EB Bibliography thread is particularly useful starting point for finding them. But I would not completely scorn all "historical documentary" TV shows - for instance The Barbarians by Terry Jones are quite good (despite, or perhaps because, their particular anti-Roman spin) and also fun to watch and also some are in full on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl96VLPCAqw, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLM06LKUqiw, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtxSeGkeyKk

    And of course, the game itself! Read the huge amount of text descriptions for buildings, units, faction info, even ancillaries and traits - it is a treasure-trove of knowledge. It is also a way to show respect for the hard work done by the Team that was put into collecting it.
    Last edited by V.T. Marvin; 11-24-2012 at 01:30.

  16. #16
    iudex thervingiorum Member athanaric's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    For an introduction, there are also "companion books" that offer a good overview over a given topic, typically called something like "The Cambridge Companion to [blah]". If you speak German, there's the "Beck Wissen" series, which is even more concise.




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    Tips and Tricks for New Players
    from Hannibal Khan the Great, Brennus, Tellos Athenaios, and Winsington III.

  17. #17

    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    Just play the game, easiest and most effective way to learn anything. Wait until you are EXTREMELY enthusiastic before reading any books.

  18. #18

    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    Quote Originally Posted by Brennus View Post
    I can Skype you if you like and bore the pants off you
    As a classical history nerd, this sounds kind of like the best offer ever.

  19. #19
    EBII Bricklayer Member V.T. Marvin's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    Quote Originally Posted by Genktarov View Post
    As a classical history nerd, this sounds kind of like the best offer ever.
    Agreed! Perhaps Brennus could record his lecture-ranting and post it on youtube or we could set a Google hangout so that he can "skype" to all of us.

  20. #20
    VOXIFEX MAXIMVS Member Shigawire's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    Quote Originally Posted by V.T. Marvin View Post
    Agreed! Perhaps Brennus could record his lecture-ranting and post it on youtube or we could set a Google hangout so that he can "skype" to all of us.
    Great idea! :D I'd be interested to listen.


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  21. #21
    Uergobretos Senior Member Brennus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    I have been thinking about it to be honest. I am not sure if I will have time before I start my Christmas migrations around the British Isles, but in the new year I could post a lecture on the EB YouTube channel if people like?



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  22. #22
    EBII Bricklayer Member V.T. Marvin's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    Please do, I would like it very much!

  23. #23
    VOXIFEX MAXIMVS Member Shigawire's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    Yes please Brennus! :)


    "To know a thing well, know its limits. Only when pushed beyond its tolerances will its true nature be seen." -The Amtal Rule, DUNE

  24. #24

    Default Re: Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

    I would greatly appreciate that.

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