early observations

[aln]

Hi all, am new to EB.
I am playing the Casse on m/m and finding the going pretty tough compared to RTW & RTR.:sweatdrop: Whilst I can reconcile the starting position of a military force that is unsustainable (reflecting your struggle for power) and the need in many cases to cut back and develope infrastructure, I am annoyed to find the rebels have no such worries.:wall: 'Huge' stacks from the start with little income. My main worry is that while I wait to build a decent army they will also build more units. It would be better if we could develope at roughly the same pace avoiding an unrealistically hard beginning and an easy time later on as we 'hoover' up the weaker rebel states. Also do the rebels ever fight among themselves?.
Thanks in advance (I hope!)

[paullus]

The rebels do not fight amongst themselves. Could be cool if they did, and more historical. But they'd practically be factions then, and killing each other off it'd be easier to conquer them.

Why would you want to be able to "hoover" up the "rebel" states at some point? Many of them represent powerful tribes and states, and as such should be able to give you a good challenge. The EB peeps certainly made the game more tense (in case you haven't experienced it yet, losing an army to a rebel stack stinnnnnks, but in a rewarding way).

And don't worry, in the late game you'll still be able to smash your way through region after region if you want to, its just not as easy as it once was.

[Avicenna]

Casse is ridiculously difficult though, since as you're sieging one city a full stack comes to their aid. You also don't have enough money to expand your armies much.

[aln]

If the Casse are a difficult choice to play EB for the first time, what faction would you recommend?.

[Pius]

My first faction was the Ptolemaioi (sp?) i.e. the egyptian empire. You start in a pretty quiet corner of the map with the upper Nile as you main source of income, not to mention the naval trade from ports such as Alexandriea. Steady income, take your time to build up your armies, then strike first the petty rebels, then the Arche Seleuikid for supreme control in the middle east! Whahahah!

A great faction for beginners.

[aln]

Thanks for the advice Pius, Your english is waaaaay better than my swedish (non existant!). For "below zero" try "broke".
I thought the Seulicids (sp?) are quick to fight the Ptolemaioi?. And their lands seem extensive at the start.It's not that I don't want to fight early on, but I want to get to grips with the new building and government types.

[Pius]

Oh yeah... "Broke" is the word. Funny how the brains speechcenter works sometimes.

I actually managed, for the first time ever, to get one of my enemies (in this case the Arche Seleukeia) to agree to become my protectorate. This has never worked for me before. Therefore I actually was able to buy myself a lot of time to build up my armies and deal with the various Rebel settlements in the Upper Nile area and Arabia before turning my attention to the Selekeuids in the Northeast. They never saw it coming...

I'm actually of British ancestry (well, my grandfather's from Manchester). I'm 15, by the way.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Well, the Romans might be your best bet then. They have a fairly small number of provinces, but they have a good economy and only one immediate enemy. You can take time to build up a little and then strike out either south or north.

The one-province factions are pretty challenging. Casse may be the hardest. Pontus may be the easiest right now - well, Baktria probably is easier actually. Baktria may increase to three provinces in the next build though. So try Baktria or Pontus or the Romans. Maybe even the Iberians - though they aren't nearly as ready as Baktria or Romans. Good luck!

[tk-421]

Maybe even the Iberians - though they aren't nearly as ready as Baktria or Romans. Good luck!

I started and Iberia campaign and found it very difficult. They can't train any units in their two starting settlements.

[aln]

Thanks all.
Although I wanted to try a non Roman faction I will restart with them and get to grips with economy and government.Initially though I am very impressed, although I thought EB would have a definite bias towards other factions considering the name. Obviously I am wrong.

[khelvan]

EB gives equal treatment to all factions, except for the fact that we have far more evidence about the arms, equipment, and organization of the Romans than any other. We also give them advantages that they had in history, though other factions have their own advantages.

We try not to be "biased" at all, which means you'll get a realistic representation of, say, the Celts, without them being artificially overpowered.

[nikolai1962]

Casse are ok. take the rebel settlement to the north straight away and just let the two scary initial rebel stacks siege you. No need for cheesy rear-charging general tactics or anything. Your starting units are pretty good and they can hold the narrow roads after they break in with just some cheap guys behind to warcry and the general behind them blowing his horn. Its a pretty close thing when i do it but i usually wipe out the two scary stacks this way and then its no problem.

(edit: it did take quite a few tries before i figured this out though. before that it was nail-biting stuff with those rebel stacks wandering around and no noticeable army)

[Avicenna]

Bactria? Easy? Those horse archer stacks aren't fun IMO when all I've got is a little bit of cavalry, soon-to-be-dead archers and phalangites.. My Bactrian campaign is my first ever to lose a province in (apart from the WRE and ERE, where losing provinces is inevitable).