Why were certain factions included over others?

I'm curious as to why some seemingly unimportant factions of the time were chosen over some that arguably had a larger influence.

Koinon Hellenon:I simply love this faction, but I don't understand why it was chosen. After 260 BC, they never really did much. On the other hand, other Greek city-states/kingdoms outlasted them and did much more. Syracuse was a naval power on par with Carthage and at it's height, controlled most of Sicily and Magna Graecia. Pergamon would also be another canidate. They have a unique mix of Greek, Successor, and Roman troops and were the last of the Diadochi and they carved a sizable kingdom out of Asia Minor.

Saba:This is a very unique faction and I'm not criticizing it's inclusion, but it doesn't seem very complete or well researched (or there is not enough information to justify a faction). I see their game play role of opposing Egypt in the late game, I just don't think they are very complete.

Casse:This is a faction I truly don't understand. Briton was never united and it can be represented by large rebel stacks. Yes, the Romans did invade Briton, but that was awhile after the start date. I can think of a few "barbarian" factions that deserve to be included. The Boii were a powerful Germanic tribe in Central Europe, maybe the most power full in the area. The Belgae were also a powerful Celtic tribe that was described as the fiercest of the Celts by the Romans. While they may be smaller than say the Averni and the Adeui, they would certainly be better than the Casse.

Epeiros:Yes, I realized that Epieros was powerful and had potential at the start date, but if the start date was two years later, they would be nothing. They were simply a pawn to the Romans and the Macedonians. Other factionst hat may deserve slots would be the Mauryans or maybe the Bosphorans. The Bosphoran Kingdom lasted until the Hunnic invasion before it's collapse and may have been the last of the traditional Hellenic states.

The magic 8-ball says 'Ask again later'... i say eb2. or was it 2be?

unique barbarian cultures do not equate to 'pawns' or pwnage

technically, the well known Empires are the very few who should be represented as such, but that would be a boring challenge to play forcefully scattered and weak states as opponents, imo. thus, theory of 'what if' combined with evidence of ample powerbase/military/political organization is used to produce map coverage with 'factions' of various cultures and amalgamated peoples who could pose considerable threat during the timeline, even if some of their cultures did not encourage domination and were more oriented to ritual warfare, raiding, sacking and reaping booty, going home happy rather than enslaving or becoming enthralled as part of their conquests.

There are gameplay considerations to be taken into account as well; I don't think it would be good for gameplay adding another two factions (Belgae+Boii) in northern Europe for example, the place is too crowded already.

I understand the point and was wondering this also for some time.
I do not agree with northern europe being to crowded. And for belgae: why not give them a region and let them control that. I don't know if that is possible script-wise but if it could, make them strong in that area so it is a challenge to overcome those tribes. Most tribes were not interested in expanding anyway. The larger ofcourse did but that's what made them large ;-)
Being dutch I would like to see the Batavs in the game but they are of a far later period. They kicked roman ass along with the canefatus.

Brings me to missing a mod of the period 14 ad till IB(410 AD)
:idea2:

Just my thoughts on this...

Everybody has an opinion. We researched many many factions and had long debates on them, judging them on a set of points and then finally voting as a team on it, and there really were not many close votes that I can recall. We are very happy with the ones we have and we have actually answered these questions before too in different threads here.

Saba is a late inclusion and they have been without a faction coordinator for some time, so yes, they are unfinished, and will probably stay so. However, they were not included to oppose Egypt. They were included because the team wanted a faction creator for Arabia, and Saba was one important contenders there. They also dominated sea trade between India and the western Mediterranean.

The Casse came actually quite close to uniting modern England and Wales. They also dominated tin trade with Carthage and the Atlantic seaboard. They were an important regional power. Just because we know little about them doesn't mean they were unimportant. The Boii were also powerful, but IIRC in this era they were mostly on the defensive and can thus be simulated by rebels. I don't think the Belgae managed any serious expansion either.

Epeiros was going downhill in 272BC, but if Phyrros had stuck to conquering Macedonia, they would have recovered. In fact, if he had acted sanely people would now be asking why Macedon was included since it was on its last legs anyway.

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Originally Posted by Ludens

The Casse came actually quite close to uniting modern England and Wales. They also dominated tin trade with Carthage and the Atlantic seaboard. They were an important regional power. Just because we know little about them doesn't mean they were unimportant.

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On the other hand, it doesn't mean they were important either! There's no evidence whatsoever that the Casse/Cassi were anything but a small tribe, or even just a sept, in the South of England at the time of Caesar.

Which is for to the player to change. ~;)

I think the choices were pretty good all around. I've enjoyed every faction that I've played and each one has taught me a great deal; some more than others. I couldn't argue against any of them, frankly. It gives the player an opportunity to change some history.

Jese, what a dull thread. Even EBII won't have every faction we could include. How about we just say that the EB team chose the factions we wanted to include and leave it at that.

Foot

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Originally Posted by Fish-got-a-Sniper

Epeiros:Yes, I realized that Epieros was powerful and had potential at the start date, but if the start date was two years later, they would be nothing. They were simply a pawn to the Romans and the Macedonians. Other factionst hat may deserve slots would be the Mauryans or maybe the Bosphorans. The Bosphoran Kingdom lasted until the Hunnic invasion before it's collapse and may have been the last of the traditional Hellenic states.

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Yes, but if the game was set 10 years ago the Romans would be easily represented by a rebel stack :) And the Bosophoran Kingdom was conquered by the Romans, but I think that was after the Dacian wars.

Also, the Koinion can be easily manipulated basically any city state, if you want Bosophoros ask for it in the Savegame thread or migrate there.