The Byzantine, how refreshing.

[Seth Infinite]

You read all of the faction descriptions and the Byzantines are one of the easier factions to play. Who wants that? I normally play the Spanish, Aragonites or Danes with an occassional Muslim thrown in. Well, I played the Byz this weekend and really enjoyed it. A few of the things I noted:

No excommunications like a Catholic faction and no loyalty problems like the Muslims. Great
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-2thumbsup.gif

The graphics on the construction pop-ups was completely new and unexpected. Actually sat back and studied a few they were so nice.

The Royal Familly was unbelievable. Princes coming of age with 6 stars and 6 feathers just blew me away. Later these guys made great Kings and Governors.

The Byzantine Infantry, so tough and durable and to get them so early. The Varagan Guards (sp?)are another bunch of mean guys that you can get fairly early. And the horses they breed for war, they're expensive but worth every florin. It was a whole new crew to work with.

Antioch, Tripoli and Constantinople are the favorite targets for Crusades. Might as well own all 3 and just stop the Crusades at your borders.

Most of the game I had 4-6 enemies so trading in the Med was tough and the northern seas are a long ways off. A serious economics challenge.

[Accounting Troll]

When I want a challenge I always pick the Byzantines in High or Late because they don't have any heavy spear units to stop Chivalric Knights.

But it is fun not having to worry about the fact that your best general has a low piety rating and the Spanish have started sending out grand inquisitors...

[Xiphias]

I prefer Novogrod to the Byzantines since they have a better position. You can easily control the north of the map and if you take Kiev/Crimea/Khazar you don't have to move your ships as far.

The Byzantines and the hoard can sometimes be a problem but you usually end up with a decent general early on and if you start building units around 1180 then the hoard doesn't stand a chance and you can wipe out whoever you want with the remnents.

[garion]

ups and downs of the byzantines (and I'm talking early age here)

Plus; a lot of good heirs and princesses
Constantinopel, the most advanced city in the game at this point

[garion]

ooops, that didn't go as planned

but anyway

they have a large empire to start with, and their western troops are no match against theirs, only the muslims can put up a fight. Clearly the fact that they can't be excomd gives them an early edge against Sicilly and Hungaria

downsides are; It's very hard to keep naples, and if you focus to much on the defence of it, you'll loose other important lands in Turkey. their troops wil come obsolete and will loose against western troops in the latter stages of the game. Furthermore, constantinopel is the favorite province to call a crusade against, and the Turkish, who have nowhere to go, can be very agressive. Last but not least, generated income on you're three islands is very low

if I play another clan and leve the byzantines to the computer, they always make the same mistake. They form a ring around the black sea, but forget to defedn their capitol. in the end they are driven all the way to the north, exept for the remaining troops in rhodos, cyprus and crete. A pathetic way to loose an empire

[katank]

yep.

to prevent that mistake.

rush Turks ASAP.

hit Rum with troops from Anatolia.

your naptha and emperor can take care of entire force themselves.

naptha the spears and your katank emperor can take anything else.

your spear is only for back up.

pump byz inf and send em on the attack.

use trebizond inn to get some mercs.

kill Turks and if fast enough, you may stil be able to corner eggy sultan in Antioch in kidnap the sultan opening I described in Turk guide section.

then establish border at egypt.

meanwhile, you should be putting down rebellions in Naples and hangin onto that.

leaving a single byz inf to guard greece and bulgaria before forts come online is enough.

spare a byz inf from going east and instead send himt o replace the guard and use the guard to grab moldavia early on.

this is important in giving another slav warrior province which adds cheap and effective bulk to your armies while also being good garrisons.

also, it allows for avar noble which are no less powerful than your own katanks and have far less build reqs.

grabbing the black sea rim can then generate great income and you only need to hold onto that to prosper and just brace for the mongols when they arrive.

[ichi]

Clearly the Byz are the most unique faction - maybe the Golden Horde comes close - but the units and position make for a very enjoyable game.

Pronoiai, Kataphraktoi, Byz Cav, Byz Lancers.
Byz Inf and VG (arguably the single best 60 men unit)
Trebizonds and Napthas
Mercs, Avars, Steppe Heavies can fill in any perceived gaps.

The Royals come out high valor, no Pope to cope with.

Sure you get lotsa Crusades, and the horde can be a challenge, but these make the game more interesting.

The secret is to make alliances and wage war selectively. Take out the Turks and Hungarios, their cav archers can be a threat to your slow Katas. Get the eastern Mediterranean islands. Build a good navy and dont upset trading partners and you can soon have the whole eastern half of the map.

For some reason a lot of folks dislike the Byz Barneys. Too bad, a great aspect of the game, IMHO.

ichi

[katank]

yep, people may call it a newbie faction but I argue that it's anything but if you are playing either High or Late with them.

also, their ancestry as descendants of the Romans is cool.

you have an excuse to go conquer the world for reuniting the empire. yeah http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-yes.gif

[octavian]

not that you need one katank, rush the turks, rush the french, rush is the most used word in any of your posts http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[katank]

ummm, yeah.

all tremble before my might muahaha.

must rush now...

[Robert the Bruce16]

The Byz are my favorite faction, and the only faction that I've beaten the game with (not because of skill, but because I get bored with other factions and keep going back to the Byzantines). I like the Byzantines because their extensive unit roster allows for virtually any strategy. Pronoiai and Katanks if you like smashing people with heavy cav, Byz infantry and Varangians if you like heavy infantry, Byz cavalry and HA's if you like the Turkish/Golden Horde approach, or my favorite, a little bit of each making for a versatlie and unstoppable war machine.

[katank]

treb archers are also amazing hybrids types that fight well as light inf.

you can't get that unless Turks who don't have as much in heavy inf. or heavy cav department to offer.

[Robert the Bruce16]

Bulgarian Brigands are great hybrids too. I also like slav javs. I'll put them behind my infantry and they'll ruin anything. They're especially good for bridge battles.

[Monk]

There is nothing like the satisfaction of rebuilding the Roman Empire as the Byzantines, showing those upstarts in the West what true power is. They face a variety of enemies early on, with Catholics on one flank and the Turks and Egyptians on the other. Then there's always the threat from the dominating Horde who storm through the steppes hell bent on destroying you. A wide range of Cavalry forces plus some of the finest infantry in the Early game Byzantium can be unbeatable for the first two hundred years (if lead by an Emperor who can make a difference on the field of battle).

[Robert the Bruce16]

The only problem I have with the Byzantines is their ships. Dromons are only useful when deployed in large numbers and galleys just plain suck. Firegalleys would be a godsend if they were only a little bit faster. Wargalleys and Gungalleys are only really useful in defence.

[gaijinalways]

I just started a BYZ campaign (early, expert, GA) and so far so good. Actually I am opting toward the peaceful development GA route. I only was dragged into two wars, one with the Italians and the other with the Sicilians. Both times I wasted their navies.

I now have been attacked by the Alomos who were wasted in a nice Cordoba battle (I took over two provinces in this area with spy rushes followed by bribes). Rum I have been instigating trouble but the Turks always manage to come in and restore order though it is taking a lot of their resources besides that they are dealing with crusades and other rebellions as they pull troops to calm Rum's nervous population.

The BYZ have great troops (BYZ infantry, Treb archers, Kat cav) and great generals, often princes. As to the defs of their navy, well, not everything is perfect, even roses have thorns

And of course, pretty excellent starting position with some good income producing provinces to start.