Your favorite unit

What unit do you just smile or feel confident when you see them on the field on your side? They can be your old faithful, the foundation of your formations, really versatile or just plain cool looking!

for me it is the Thrakian Peltast
http://i53.tinypic.com/2a93yu0.gif

To me, personally, they are the coolest looking unit in the entire game. They look rugged, dark armor and cape and a damn scythe! They are incredibly versatile as warriors as they are better peltasts than any other Hellenic Peltast i've used and are very reliable infantry and usually do a great job of holding the line, or better yet, flanking.

As Epeiros playing as Syrakuse migration campaign, i can't yet train these guys myself. But a certain general of mine has always been accompanied by at least 2 Units of these guys, going personally to Helles to handpick any replacements. I always have this cool thought that they are this feared and respected arm of my Syrakusan army, as they are regarded as barbaroi by everyone else but they would never tell them that to their face as they are only kept back by their allegiance to my Agrianne General (i don't know if historically Agriannes and Thrakians got along or what, but ill assume theyll cooperate more with a 'barbarian' than a Molossos or Hellen)

I've always been quite fond of the Germanic Pikemen...and the entire Baktrian roster, especially the Indo-Greek Elites.

Gaizoz Frije (Germanic Levy Spearmen) are my favorite. Reliable, numbers and do most of the hard work for me, holding the line for my other units to attack from rear and flank.

For me, it's Dugundiz (Germanic Spearmen)

http://europabarbarorum.heimstatt.ne...arjoz_INFO.jpg

They are extremely versatile. They can hold a line if need be, they can block flank attacks, they can take a cavalry charge and beat cavalry in melee, and they are mobile enough to flank on their own. Plus, they are quite good in close-quarters melee, they tend to be very difficult to rout, and they have javelins. Their only downside is their lack of armor, which makes them vulnerable to missiles.

In general I find all the mobile spear units like this (Theurophoroi, Hoplitai, Celto-Hellenic Infantry, etc) to be very versatile, I just have a special spot for Dugundiz because they seem nigh-unbreakable in a Sweboz campaign with the amount of experience they get when trained and how great your generals tend to be.

damn the german units must be pretty good for all three of you to love them so. i've only played on barbarian campaign as the Lusotan and i was really disappointed with their small unit roster

the sweboz roster is even smaller yet about all of their units are very usefull, even the skutjans, second worsed archer but really usefull in the early sweboz campaign and thus ultra veteran later on^^

even tho there probably were myriads of these threads already, I'll join the fun:

Illyrian hippeis - second cheapest lance cavalry(aorsi riders afaik) availible as mercenaries in the hottest spot(ie most provinces and factions) of the map. good charge cool secondaries and great stamina. perfect unit to bolster/replace your cavalry on campaign especially for KH and Sweboz(and saba) or to train how to use cavalry in EB :D as they die otherwise^^.

runner up: Hoplitai haploi,Germanic swordsmen, Chatti youthlings, baltic frontiersmen, all horse archers with a lance, Parthian cataphracts, Early baktrian BGs, babylonian heavies, lusotann rastamen, Kinsmen cav several getai units and the utterly useless massilian hoplites(but they look cool and have a nice concept^^)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fomalhaut

damn the german units must be pretty good for all three of you to love them so.

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Part of it is the fact you get lots of nice experience bonuses from buildings in a typical Sweboz campaign, so your units start with 3-4 chevrons when trained and are much better than you would expect. On the other hand, they tend to lack armor so against any missile-heavy faction you will quickly see their weaknesses (or when they take on a phalanx frontally).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ca Putt

Illyrian hippeis - second cheapest lance cavalry(aorsi riders afaik) availible as mercenaries in the hottest spot(ie most provinces and factions) of the map. good charge cool secondaries and great stamina. perfect unit to bolster/replace your cavalry on campaign especially for KH and Sweboz(and saba) or to train how to use cavalry in EB :D as they die otherwise^^.

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I do love these guys, they're so fast and cheap, and they can do a lot of damage if used correctly.

Thirded!

In my Roman campaign, I keep a small a-historical rebel-mopping stack composed of 8 units of Illyrian cavalry and nothing else.

https://europabarbarorum.com/i/units...ioihippeis.gif

Hunting down small rebel stacks can be a boring chore, and I often auto-resolve those battles, but any rebels around the Balkans get attacked by these guys instead. Deploy in two 4-unit wedges, frontal charge, and even half-stacks of rebels break pretty much instantly. Never gets old. Makes for a fun change from my "serious" battles.

I imagine these Illyrians are like the cavalry in those old western movies, charging in at the last minute to save the day. They even have the right kind of hats.

Im a great fan of the Illyrioi Hippies as well Randal... they just saved my Epeirote campaign...

These fellows, Drapanai:

https://europabarbarorum.com/i/units...i_drapanai.gif

Effective as hell, cheap as dirt, and plain fun to watch when they're chopping up poor blokes with their falces.

If it's just the one favorite, then:
https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...halangitai.gif
Cheap, can retrain almost everywhere, extrmely powerful.

Others I like:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u..._reformata.gif

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...h_hoplitai.gif

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...tindanotae.gif

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...a_shivatir.gif

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...t_elephant.gif

lusos medium for me

for lower tier nothing beats the old haploi

for cavarly the illirians are dirt cheap and 10 times more cost effective then any other cavarly in the mediterranean but for a proper army lusos medium infantry for the win with whatever you can gather of the castrati for the flanking altough the lusos lighter infantry are pretty good also to tire up the enemy and take out a few skirmishers with their javelins (if you play with 3 lines of diferent soldiers you´ll know how usefull they can be particulary when it´s time to take on the celtiberians of numantia)

https://europabarbarorum.com/i/units...ed_asavara.gif

These guys. Effective and versatile, they always get the job done against pretty much anyone. The backbone of my Pahlavan army.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Walle

https://europabarbarorum.com/i/units...ed_asavara.gif

These guys. Effective and versatile, they always get the job done against pretty much anyone. The backbone of my Pahlavan army.

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Although they are more expensive than yours I still prefer these guys.

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...a_shivatir.gif

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Atraphoenix

Although they are more expensive than yours I still prefer these guys.

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...a_shivatir.gif

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I agree, those are fantastic. They form the elite of my army however, so I can't spam them as much :tongue2:

my favorites are the Cantabrian Riders

hoplitai haploi and sphendonetai will crush most of those uber expensive units anyway :grin:

those two are my favourites all time

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cute Wolf

hoplitai haploi and sphendonetai will crush most of those uber expensive units anyway :grin:

those two are my favourites all time

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I can crush those with a couple of Polybian Hastati

Quote:

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Originally Posted by G. Septimus

I can crush those with a couple of Polybian Hastati

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O really, hoplitai haploi in guard mode tying your hastati and sphendonetai bombarding their backs. Face it, the only way to reliably counter them is catass frontal charge

of course, microing with anything will work for that stupid AI, but anyway, Hoplitai-slinger combo always work well in EB against any AI except cataphracts

Having played four campaigns recently in western Europe (Sweboz, Arverni, Romani and koinon) I have found that these guys are extremely versatile. AP-axes (which is a must against the romani who usually spams triariis and elite allied infantry), good stamina and good defense.

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...l_tekastos.gif

Also, these guys are a must if you're playing Sweboz:

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...togermanic.gif

I think Jewish Spearmen might take the spot for one of my favorites now. Just got to Jerusalem and they are a reliable line infantry unlike ANYTHING else the Sabyn have. Yeah I can get Nobles... from across the desert. And Red Sea Hoplites have proven to be absolutely worthless

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fomalhaut

I think Jewish Spearmen might take the spot for one of my favorites now. Just got to Jerusalem and they are a reliable line infantry unlike ANYTHING else the Sabyn have. Yeah I can get Nobles... from across the desert. And Red Sea Hoplites have proven to be absolutely worthless

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Yeah, Ioudai Taxeis are a great line unit in the Levant if you don't want to use phalanxes but need something with decent staying power and good morale.

Yeah the are definitely going to be a mainstay in my army when i can actually build an army again.

Eastern slingers. They're god send when playing as Armenia, dirt cheap and do loads of dmg to the sele spam armies of doom.
I don't really have any heavy cav prefferences, the armenian heavy cav are good, but compared to my lovely insanely high xp'ed slingers? no chance :p (although i do use heavy cav extensively to take out generals and breaking the last elites :D)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by A_Dane

Eastern slingers. They're god send when playing as Armenia, dirt cheap and do loads of dmg to the sele spam armies of doom.
I don't really have any heavy cav prefferences, the armenian heavy cav are good, but compared to my lovely insanely high xp'ed slingers? no chance :p (although i do use heavy cav extensively to take out generals and breaking the last elites :D)

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But they need at least 4-5 points of exp chevron to have a scratch on elites.
ANOTHER REBEL SCUM! HUNT THEM DOWN :laugh4:
You will like ai rebels, no matter which faction I play I always use them as my cannon fodder for my slingers or archers.

Worgozez. DEFINITLY! If we're speaking ONLY about main units, I'd have to say... Gosh, the whole Sweboz roster! Even their levy kick asses when the temples Deiwoz temple is upgraded to the max! you train silver chevron units, fresh out of teh factory! but I've a special hit for teh slogonez. Those club units will hack through anything wearing armour!

Tough call. For infantry it's either

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...e_hoplitai.gif

Or

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...ureophoroi.gif

Or

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u..._peltastai.gif

For cavalry, it's definitely

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...ui_curepos.gif

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...dirag_baex.gif

Steppe Riders. As Hayasdan online I abuse these guys extensively. Cheap light cav to harass with and close in for the kill. No need for armour. Speed, arrows and a lance are all I need to get the job done.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Atraphoenix

But they need at least 4-5 points of exp chevron to have a scratch on elites.
ANOTHER REBEL SCUM! HUNT THEM DOWN :laugh4:
You will like ai rebels, no matter which faction I play I always use them as my cannon fodder for my slingers or archers.

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By the time the seles are throwing elites at me i usually have 3-4 slingers with 1 gold chevron, they're escorted around the battlefield by a fam member while the rest hunt down the enemy cavalry/ archers, once the latter is done, i simply move my inf slowly back so my slingers can shoot the seleucids to pieces :D

Later game i do however switch them out with some AP meele units, too much of a hazzle to micro manage them when i got income enough to actually replace lost untis :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by A_Dane

Later game i do however switch them out with some AP meele units, too much of a hazzle to micro manage them when i got income enough to actually replace lost untis :p

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and once you start mindless swamping with mass units in melee, your generals start to earn less command stars as well....

I don't see tbh. I usually lose more units early game, because i don't have the money to get phalangites, or any decent AP. Once i get decent meele ap units, the seleucids will break faster as they'll not only be outflanked by cavalry, but also infantry. My leading generals usually get the same ammount of command stars through the game, not that it really matters...

Command stars are largely irrelevant as the human player, unless you auto-calc a lot.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by QuintusSertorius

Command stars are largely irrelevant as the human player, unless you auto-calc a lot.

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it's still nice to have your own generals displaying 10 command stars that towers beside him

and well, morale boost generals will did hold longer

but command stars will make your units kill the enemy quicker

I don't quite know the reasons why, but I love the Roxolani Rider unit. They seem like the perfect medium between very stylized and raw, strict historical accuracy...and I suppose that my pathetic, slobbering-fanboy love for nearly all things related to the nomadic tribes from the steppes, particularly the mounted archers and lancers, could very well be a factor.

Even still, of all the nomadic cavalry units (all of which look amazing and are fun to use), there is something unique about their overall balance with regard to game play. I love that they don't wear a lot of armor, since it places so much more emphasis on their posture and grip during a charge with the kontos (kudos to those who designed that animation), and the fact that you really have to be careful about pulling them away from the enemy once their charge is through really accurately represents (IMO) how the ancient lancers fought.

I am really finding myself liking the Illyrians now, their whole roster. Their light theuroporoi form a decent line while the pirates run around with their AP clubs. Their horsemen are really really good, all those that said they were their favorite really have a good reason for that.

I love the simple Hellenes with clothes and a wide hat, they look really cool.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fomalhaut

I am really finding myself liking the Illyrians now, their whole roster. Their light theuroporoi form a decent line while the pirates run around with their AP clubs. Their horsemen are really really good, all those that said they were their favorite really have a good reason for that.

I love the simple Hellenes with clothes and a wide hat, they look really cool.

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I love Illyrians, i have a small strike force just consisting of Illyrians (4xThureopoi/2xPirates/2xCavalry) and a family member if they are supposed to harass the remainders of the Getai or the Epeirotes who have betrayed me recently but get slaughtered by my newfound favourite unit:

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...l_drapanai.gif

Without them, i would pretty much get annihalted by the massive phalanx armies Epeiros puts into the field.

even better are the Elite Thracians who are heavily armored versions of those guys. I almost have my very first non general *earned* gold star on a unit of them. they really are a god send against heavy armor, especially triarii, principes and phalanxes

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fomalhaut

even better are the Elite Thracians who are heavily armored versions of those guys. I almost have my very first non general *earned* gold star on a unit of them. they really are a god send against heavy armor, especially triarii, principes and phalanxes

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Pretty much, I fought off an Epeirote siege with basically just two units of those fending off elite unit after elite unit. Granted the Epeirotes had to use ladders since I luckily set their ram on fire but it was still impressive. But I have a knack for lower-tier units and see how they work in a variety of situations - that's why I love my Illyrians and the Drapanai so much :)

yep i know exactly what you mean, plus i feel heavily armed professionals like that would be a lot less common than the equivalent of low-tier units.

The Thracian medium cavalry are cool as hell too, i just read an ancient warfare magazine with an article on thracian mercenaries and it had a picture of an artifact of the exact style of face helmet in the game. i freaked out and thought how cool that was, that EB really is the real deal when it comes to authenticity like that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fomalhaut

i freaked out and thought how cool that was, that EB really is the real deal when it comes to authenticity like that.

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My elite RTW army begs to differ:

http://rtw.heavengames.com/albums/al...t_HH.thumb.jpg

http://rtw.heavengames.com/rtw/info/...armen_info.jpg

http://rtw.heavengames.com/albums/al...r_SW.thumb.jpg

http://rtw.heavengames.com/albums/al...acon.thumb.jpg

My favorite three:

Yancai Uaezdaettae
https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...aezdaettae.gif
good ammo, good ranged damage, good charge, good morale, good armor, good speed and CANTABRIAN CIRCLE all in one awesome unit.


Medjinikos
https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...medininkas.gif
Best archer-spearman in the game, easily accessible for the Sweboz player, will obliterate almost any barbarian army.

Cidainh
https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...ot_cidainh.gif
Often disdained and misused, but actually the most devastating force in the game. A battle-winning, game-winning, heart-winning force of fun and awesomeness.

If you're into chariots, I'd think the pontic ones are even more devastating? (I have no i idea personally, I'm an infantry guy by heart, and although I do appreciate a good heavy cavalry unit, Chariots were definiatly never my thing ;))

Cidainh have a superior morale of 16, are 'very hardy' and don't run amok, which is crucial to pull off the most beautiful chariot stunts.
Pontic & Seleucid scythed chariots, assorted elephants, they all share the "can_run_amok" attribute and seriously low morale, which makes them unreliable. They depend on supporting troops and are a danger to their own supporters.

Ah explains it then, not that's gonna make much of a difference, don't think i have the skills/patience to use chariots correctly ;)

tried scythed chariots the other day, will never use them again. their drivers look freaking AWESOME though

I do understand that "can run amok" feature, but i don´t get the sence of their low morale...?
Couple of hours ago i was fighting Pontic army, and two full volleys of javelins against their chariots, while they were in a pitch melee against greek hoplites, made them rout - lmao. I´ve only once seen them beeing really dangerous: i was outnumbered, with only one slinger, one levy hoplite and BG unit under siege; i sallied and have managed to rout all of enemy troops, except those chariots, which have routed my foot units at least twice, and almost had my Pontic general killed, but.... eastern cavalry charge can even bring down elephants, so i´ve won. But iirc, that unit was the captain of the besiegers, therefore once he was dead, the battle was over.

Well not one but.... Heres the dream army..

Line Infantry :

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...avy_spears.gif

The Flank Demolition Crew:

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...iai_pellek.gif

The Long Range Artillery Support:

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...an_archers.gif

Now the "Light" Cavalry

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...ssianagema.gif

And the Main Firepower:

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...grivpanvar.gif

Now thats what I call a royal army...


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Now for a more reasonable and cost effective version:

The cannon fodder:

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...ni_milnaht.gif

The gay folk:

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...i_gaesatae.gif

The Auxillary compliment (Do not be mistaken these guys are unbreakable and can fight till the last man):

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...ortamavera.gif

The Light Cavalry (Pretty much the only cavalry needed):

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...ht_curisii.gif

And last but not least :

https://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/u...ic_slinger.gif

i want so bad to be able to recruit heavy spearmen, but Epeiros is doing a number on Rome right now :(
and the agriannes are on hell of a unit, they are as cool as i imagined them in Arrian.