Anyone help me understand the EB factions?

[Anndra]

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.

[mlc82]

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

[Ca Putt]

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.

[Brennus]

Welcome Anndra!

[Anndra]

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.

[Anndra]

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.

[Ca Putt]

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

[Ludens]

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".

[Ca Putt]

ah, my bad. Offcourse Ancient Greeks did not use the modern Latin alphabet.

[Anndra]

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


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)

[Arjos]

If you really want to know actual history, these (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?70698-Europa-Barbarorum-Bibliography) 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!

[athanaric]

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.



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.

[Brennus]

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!

[Brennus]

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 :shame:

[V.T. Marvin]

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. :thumbsup:

[athanaric]

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.

[Cambyses]

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

[Genktarov]

I can Skype you if you like and bore the pants off you :shame:

As a classical history nerd, this sounds kind of like the best offer ever.

[V.T. Marvin]

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.~:):idea2:

[Shigawire]

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.~:):idea2:

Great idea! :D I'd be interested to listen.

[Brennus]

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?

[V.T. Marvin]

Please do, I would like it very much! :jumping:

[Shigawire]

Yes please Brennus! :)

[d'Arthez]

I would greatly appreciate that.