Casse Gameplay Guide, by QwertyMIDX - *SPOILERS INSIDE*

On the end of the world, there is a great people…your people!
Welcome to the Casse gameplay guide.

Your first step upon beginning a campaign, or reloading, should be to activate the background script that will give you the full EB experience, with 4 turns per year and special events. To do this, click on one of your settlements. The advisor will appear. Click on his portrait, and he'll ask you to click the "Show Me How" button (circled in the image below). Click "Show Me How" and the advisor will disappear, activating the script. This is very important!

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As the Casse your first goal is simple, build up your strength in Camulusadae and once you’re prepared unleash your forces and bring the tribes of Southern Britain into your Kingdom. Playing as the Casse you have a unique advantage, at the start of EB you are at peace with the Eleutheroi, and if you don’t provoke them you should have plenty of breathing room to turn Camulusadae into an economic powerhouse to fuel your expansion. Not only does this ceasefire leave you, temporary, immune to Eleutheroi aggression (which in EB, unlike Vanilla, can be very dangerous) it also allows you to engage in trade with their cities, trade that can be very lucrative. Watch out though, as soon as you break the truce you will not only find Eleutheroi armies moving against your lands, but you will also lose quite a bit on income. In the first turn of the game there are three steps you should take to being building up your economy, first send you diplomat across the Channel to gain trade rights with both Gallic factions.

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Next you should disband your fleet (which costs a whopping 1500 Mnai a turn to maintain) and about 2/3’s of your standing army. This should bring you into the black. Then you should begin building some type of economically beneficial building, I prefer roads but the Celtic Farming option is also available. Further you can chose to raise taxes to high or very high levels without seriously undermining the loyalty of Camulusadae, but with its low starting population this might cause problems later when you start to build an army, especially on huge settings.

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After a few years worth of saving and building you should be ready to create an army and expand into the British Isles that are rightly yours. Your militia unit, the Lugoae, are a good value and are tougher in battle than most militias, but it is wise to stiffen their resolve by supporting them with some more professional units. Once you have a battle ready force all that is left is to chose a rebel city and attack, but be careful, once the genie is out of the bottle the Eleutheroi forces across the British isles will be at your throat, and a wise leader will be ready for them.

The Casse in Battle:

Like all Celts the Casse should always make use of the huge number of javelin armed troops have available to them. If you're going to absorb an attack and not charge, let them fire at will. This is surprisingly effective at wearing down a charging enemy; if the enemy is not heavily armored it is quite possible to break an enemy charge before it hits your lines. Even once it hits, the heavy casualties already suffered and the resulting lower morale should cause the enemy to should break quickly.

It is also wise to make use of your missile troops. While Celtic archers and slingers are the best, they are better than many of their western rivals and can play an important role on the battlefield, especially in a defensive posture. They can be used as an effective screen, or even a flanking device. While your melee troops keep the enemy tied down, try to move your archers around to the sides, and fire at the enemy in the rear or the flanks. This should help to avoid hitting your own men, while harassing the enemy and lowering their morale, and causing casualties at the back of the formation, where they will be especially vulnerable to your archers. This is especially useful if you don't have chariots or cavalry ready to hand, but can sometimes be a bit tricky if the melee has devolved too much, since you'll run the risk of hitting your own men.

The truly unique elements of the Casse army though are Chariots and Champions. The Casse can use the morale improving effects of such units to keep their units fighting. Units with low morale, such as Lugoae, can be made much effective when coupled with units like the Cwmyr or the Calawre because they won't break as easily, and will fight much longer. Champions should be spread out in the line if you have more than one unit of them (though they are expensive); having two-three units between them is good. This is the most effective way to use your small, expensive units of Champions, on thier own they will often be defeated by weight of numbers. Using them in combination with lesser units can allow a smaller or seemingly weaker army to overcome larger or more powerful enemies, something which is important for the Casse whose forces are often out-classed on a man for man basis.

The Casse have a pair of chariots, the Cidainh and the Drwmcydau. The Cidainh are heavy chariots and provide the same morale boast that Champions provide. The Drwcydau are lighter and don't function like Champions. Still, both have another important use. It is best to use your chariots to attack dense enemy formations (preferably of heavy infantry; light infantry can be dangerous for chariots). To use them effective it is best not to drive them into the enemy formation but through it, and follow them quickly with infantry or cavalry to exploit the holes created by the chariots.