Hi, I'm new! Some questions...

Hello,

I'm new to EB. I've played RTR for a couple of years (more or less), and a few days zago I decided that I should try some other mod, and I was getting sort-of fed-up with RTR.

I must say that I appreciate the differences. I also like how the "barbarian" factions are portrayed, so I don't have to make up stories anymore of how a chieftain united the tribes, but rather I get to actually unite them! ;)

I also like how the nomads are made. I.e, the "towns" of nomadic provinces are more like big camps rather that towns, right? At first, I was a bit fend off with the indigenous names on everything, i.e Sweboz instead of Suebi, Ptolemaioi instead of Ptolemy etc, but I started to like it. It also fixed one of my complants with RTR and indeed vanilla RTW, because for instance Arminius is a Latinization of the Germanic name Irmin, Mithridates or a Grecification of some Iranian name etc. It is good to be out of the Greco-Roman centric worldview.

I don't wish to downplay RTR, it is a great mod, but I'm up for some variation.

In any case, which factions are really "complete" in the mod, so I know which ones that are worthy to play? I've read on these forums that some factions are incomplete? Are the Sabeans considered complete in the current version (EB 0.81)? Also, are the Gallic factions complete? They appear to have quite few units available.

Also, the game loads very slow, though it gets better after a while in the game. I've read some guides on how to speed it up. Though I tried a custom battle (Germanians vs Pontians in Hindu Kush! :P ), and it worked fine.

And finally, I have a question regarding the Getai. Where they one tribe (or a tribal confederation) with one king? According to some descriptions, they appear rather to be a bunch of tribes (not united) simply given the same name by Greeks and Romans.

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Originally Posted by Calypze

In any case, which factions are really "complete" in the mod, so I know which ones that are worthy to play? I've read on these forums that some factions are incomplete? Are the Sabeans considered complete in the current version (EB 0.81)? Also, are the Gallic factions complete? They appear to have quite few units available.

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The sabeans, along with the saka, are the two newest factions, and are thus playable, but nowhere near complete. I would recommend the successor states, KH, Rome, Carthage, I think the barbarians are in a decent position. Pontus, and hayasdan maybe, not entirely sure, have spotty recruitment, thus making for quite the challenge. Parthia I don't know, but I know that they are, essentially, the next big release change. I don't think I left anybody out....

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And finally, I have a question regarding the Getai. Where they one tribe (or a tribal confederation) with one king? According to some descriptions, they appear rather to be a bunch of tribes (not united) simply given the same name by Greeks and Romans.

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The getai, I'm pretty sure, are one tribe among many in a culture recognized as Dacians. getai and thracians are just two well known tribes. Not entirely sure, but this is my understanding.

And welcome.

Welcome Calypze,
I think that, based upon this Wikipeida article, you are right, yet Wikipedia isn't the most trustable or reliable source so may I suggest that you wait for a real historian to come along before considering your question totally answered. Enjoy playing EB! Cheers!

As to which factions are complete, probably Rome, Carthage and most Hellenic factions; but really, I've found that even the most incomplete faction (Sabeans) provides an extremely entertaining campaign. So don't let yourself be put off trying some of the less rounded factions, all are playable and fun.

Most Complete, or Complete enough now:
Carthage
Rome
Sweboz
Greece
Macedonia
Epirus
Averni
Aedui
Seleucids
Ptolemy
Saka
Sarmatians
Armenians
Parthians
Baktria
Getai
Casse


Not Fully Complete, but still fun:
Pontus
Saba

As for the Getai, there are many different tribes, you start off controling two, the Kostobok and the Ordes. Other Getai Tribes in game: Agathyros, Predavensos, Tyrios, Bur, Appulos, Albokensos,
Other tribes they can control/have as generals: Trausos, Hellen, Makedon, Triballos, Bessos, Krobyzos, Scordiskos, Teuris, Epigonos Galaton

Thank you for your replies.

Though I got some other historical wonderings... The Parni (Pahlava) have cities when the game starts, but weren't they nomads before they overran Parthia in about 250 B.C.E? I.e shouldn't they start off more like the Sauromatae with nomadism cards in their "settlements"? And another thing I thought of, isn't Arsaces a bit old? His year of birth is so far I know unknown, but considering that he died in 211 B.C.E, it seems very improbable that he was 60 years old in 272 B.C.E.

And I'm a little curious about the Germanic peoples (I'm a Swede living in the Scandza penninsula you know! :P ). If they elected their kings (Kuningaz), how did they do it? Did all the people (men and women) participate in the election, or was it just the males, or was it just the nobles (Eriloz)? Were the Harjanaz elected in the same fashion as the Kuningaz? And how did they go about to count all the votes in a big confederation like the Sweboz which covered a relatively large area?

Hi again Calypze,

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Originally Posted by Calypze

Though I got some other historical wonderings... The Parni (Pahlava) have cities when the game starts, but weren't they nomads before they overran Parthia in about 250 B.C.E? I.e shouldn't they start off more like the Sauromatae with nomadism cards in their "settlements"?

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I'm not sure, you will have to wait for the techo-people before you can know for sure, but I think that if that was to occur then a script would be activated destroying the buildings instantly due to the limits of the scripting language and the game engine.

We are still working on some big changes for the Pahlava, but that's all we will say right now.

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Originally Posted by Fondor_Yards

Most Complete, or Complete enough now:
Carthage
Rome
Sweboz
Greece
Macedonia
Epirus
Averni
Aedui
Seleucids
Ptolemy
Saka
Sarmatians
Armenians
Parthians
Baktria
Getai
Casse


Not Fully Complete, but still fun:
Pontus
Saba

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One missing there, Lusotannan (the Lusitanians, literally).

hey Fondor, do you know whats incomplete about the pontics? I thought the recruitment was fixed, but as my MICs advance in asia minor and around the pontos im not getting access to too many units. Can i train bronze shields and galatian throkotai?

bronze shields should be more accessible now than they were before for sure. They were almost impossible to get before, especially for the AI. And in the next patch two galatian units will be available in Kappadokia Pontika as well, as our Celtic man tells us there were a few villages within the province's boundaries.

cool, thanks for the info...i didnt wanna have to wait until i maxed out the MICS to find any problems, and i guess there arent any major ones.

back on topic:
Ive got a pretty good pontic campaign going in 0.81 and it doesnt feel at all incomplete

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Originally Posted by Elthore

cool, thanks for the info...i didnt wanna have to wait until i maxed out the MICS to find any problems, and i guess there arent any major ones.

back on topic:
Ive got a pretty good pontic campaign going in 0.81 and it doesnt feel at all incomplete

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In my opinion the mod is sooo immersive and detailed that even playing the most incomplete faction...you will still get a hell of a ride. :charge:

Yea, especially as the saba were every fight with (at least in my experiances) even your best troups against the Selukids you will be be outclassed, I ended up quiting my saba campaign cause My full stack Saba army couldn't stand up to a half stack of selukids (forgive my spelling)

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Originally Posted by Calypze

Hello,

I'm new to EB. I've played RTR for a couple of years (more or less), and a few days zago I decided that I should try some other mod, and I was getting sort-of fed-up with RTR.

I must say that I appreciate the differences. I also like how the "barbarian" factions are portrayed, so I don't have to make up stories anymore of how a chieftain united the tribes, but rather I get to actually unite them! ;)..

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Glad you enjoy them.

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Originally Posted by Calypze

Also, are the Gallic factions complete? They appear to have quite few units available..

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No, they're not complete, but enough so for the player to have a great time nonetheless. Most of the essential stuff has been completed.

There still remains several 'regionals' / tribal units to be completed and a number of errors fixed / things polished up.. but all in all, they appear to be in a slightly better shape than other factions

...so they are well worth a whirl.


my2bob

And another question:help: . Is there an opportunity to recruit Samnites or Lucanians or anyone else in the central Italy provinces (Rome, Capua, Apri, Arretium, Ariminum) for the cartagenians? I read the description of both types of available level 1 barracks by right clicking on them and niether provides the opportunity to recruit ANYONE at all:wall: Is it normal or I should build level 2 or 3 barracks to recruit someone?
Thanks.

you should build more regional barrackses. at level one hardly ANY regional troops are availible, they are mostly avalible around 2-5, like i think peltastai (heavy skirmishers of greeks) isnt able to be recruited as a native unit in saracuyse (Spelling) in sicily until around mic 3 regional.

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Originally Posted by Empty

And another question:help: . Is there an opportunity to recruit Samnites or Lucanians or anyone else in the central Italy provinces (Rome, Capua, Apri, Arretium, Ariminum) for the cartagenians? I read the description of both types of available level 1 barracks by right clicking on them and niether provides the opportunity to recruit ANYONE at all:wall: Is it normal or I should build level 2 or 3 barracks to recruit someone?
Thanks.

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Yes they are. Just because the level 1 doesn't give you stuff doesn't mean the rest won't. IIRC you need a lvl 3 or 4 regional MIC for the Samnite Heavy Infantry, and a level 2 or 3 regional MIC for the Lucanians as Carthage. But don't bother with a factional MIC there, they don't give you anything till north italy at least.

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Originally Posted by Sarcasm

One missing there, Lusotannan (the Lusitanians, literally).

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Ahh knew I was forgetting someone.

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Originally Posted by Elthore

hey Fondor, do you know whats incomplete about the pontics? I thought the recruitment was fixed, but as my MICs advance in asia minor and around the pontos im not getting access to too many units. Can i train bronze shields and galatian throkotai?

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I thought there are still a number of new units for them and recruitment holes to fix, even with the chalks fixed.

Sad...I totally missed a question about the Getai. Fondor's already done a pretty good job answering your question, but I'll give you some historical background for what we're representing:

Dromichaites was the king of the Getai up to about 279, when he was probably killed in battle against the Galatians, after having defeated king Lysimakhos in the decade or so preceding. Dromichaites ruled from Helis, a site SE of the faction's starting capital at Buridava. Helis was probably destroyed by the Galatians, who stuck mainly to the southern side of the Danube. After the Galatian onslaught, and with the capital burned and the king dead, it seems that the leading Getic tribe (the Ordes) moved north, across the river, where they built up the site of Argedava, which at the game start was still probably considerably smaller than the nearby city of Buridava, the seat of power, it would seem, of the Bur tribe.

Before his death, Dromichaites exerted control over a rather large area, corresponding roughly to the regions controlled by Naissos, Kallatis, Buridava, and probably Sarmiszegethusa, though the lack of clear historical sources makes this last one more difficult. If he did not control the area politically, the economic and cultural ties were still very, very significant. Probably after his death, though perhaps before, many of the Hellene cities on the Pontos Euxeinos (the Black Sea), of which Kallatis was one of the larger, fell out of their symmachia (allied) state with the Getai. We then find the family members available at the start date in inscriptions re-exerting Getic power in the Pontic region. We have placed Zalmodegikos as a descendent of some sort of Dromichaites, because his rise seems to correspond nicely with the rise of Argedava, and his power projection seems to move in the direction Dromichaites had gone.

The political organization we are representing is a sort of tribal confederation. The various tribes scattered over Getic lands probably only occasionally considered themselves as part of a unified whole, doing so most often in cases of strong leaders and/or significant outside threats. To some extent, making conquests into other Getic, or partly Getic lands represents "uniting the tribes." If it weren't for the fact that the Getic AI has a really hard time expanding, I would like to add a few more rebel armies at the start, to represent the most powerful of the tribes not ruled by the starting family members (the Appuloi, the Karp, and the Tyrioi especially, once for each province to the north and east). What we do know is that by the 1st c. BC, the Getic king Burebista had united all of the tribes, though whether he was the first to do so is unclear, as he's best known for expanding Getic control in outlying areas, so he may have inherited a pretty expansive tribal confederation from his father (though the capital is still located at Argedava, which we should take as a sign of pretty significant continuity during the Hellenistic period).

The Getai are a moderately complete faction. If you check out the unit illustrations you'll see one of several new units heading their way: I can think of 4 currently in the works at various stages of production, and 3 more well on their way. There's also a good bit of work with traits that hasn't quite made it in yet. Even so, they're a lot of fun to play.

Might I add we are very very lucky to have someone like paullus who can explain all of this to you nice folks. :grin: I hope this additional research and experience pays off for you in the long run also mate - you've been simply superb.

MastaSpoofa, Fondor_Yards, thanks for the exhaustive explanation.

Ok, thank you for your answers.

Here is another question I have, guys. Example: after several harsh fights with the enemy I have, let's say 2 units of the same type with let's say golden chevrons, but they kept running out of soldiers and one day were automatically united to ONE unit. So instead of having 2 experienced units that can be retrained later I have 1. I do understand that it has it's roots in RTW but is there anything that can be done about it?

not really, just retrain them sooner :laugh4:

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Originally Posted by Empty

Here is another question I have, guys. Example: after several harsh fights with the enemy I have, let's say 2 units of the same type with let's say golden chevrons, but they kept running out of soldiers and one day were automatically united to ONE unit. So instead of having 2 experienced units that can be retrained later I have 1. I do understand that it has it's roots in RTW but is there anything that can be done about it?

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Yes that's a RTW thing, nothing you can really do about it other then removing them from the army and retraining them.