How do you pick your faction?

Howdy all,

I've been having a great time reading through the AARs and the Faction Progression threads (I admit it -- I'm a bit of a luker) and it has struck me that relatively little attention is given to such factions as the Aedui, Arverni, and the Lusotannan while many play the Greek, Successor and steppe factions. This got me thinking:

How do you pick your faction for a campaign? The historical interest of the faction? Are you trying to investigate various "what if" historical scenarios? -- for example, what if Hannibal had been able to fully exploit his victory at Cannae? -- or do you pick a faction because the units look so damn cool??!!

Give us your philosophy!!

By the way, I have gone through both 0.81 and now 1.0 playing the Romani...I know, played to death, but...I am interested in trying to re-create a reasonable progression of the actual advance of the Republic and Empire.

But this brings up another question...look for a separate topic in the main forum...

Thanks!

Well, the first non-roman faction in vanilla rtw that I played were the GCS, because I loved Greek food:laugh4: Just so delicious.... Oh, back to topic.
It was much fun, and my next campaign was as the seleukids. I was totally amazed by their diversive unit roster (for vanilla standards, that is) and they quickly became my favourite faction. In addition to that, I'm an admirer of Megas Alexandros and all the other great greeks like Antiochus Megas or Pyrrhus Aikaides.´On top of that I admire the greek culture for being fairly tolerant, and a supporter of free thinking and most importantly, logic. I love philosophy for the very sake that it was the first use of rational thinking to explain why things are as they are. So, it all added up until Seleukids and all the other Successor (except Ptolemaioi... gotta hate those incestous freaks:laugh4: ) are marked as my favourites, which I play most.
I hope this was the kind of post you were expecting to see:laugh4:

Thanks, Basileus...that's exactly what I was looking for!

Keep 'em coming!

at first i played as the romani, but then i wanted a challenge.. so i chose baktria!
the campaignfor me has to be challenging, but fun to play!

I enjoy exotic factions in far off places that weren't available in the vanilla map.

Baktria was one of my first choices, because controlling India appeals to me for whatever reason.

Hmmm, now that I think of it, I've never controlled India as Baktria (or any other faction for that matter), so that point might be moot.

I also have a hard time choosing factions like AS and Ptolemaioi....too much to do from turn 1 for my tastes....I like to ease into micromanagement. The AS is the worst when it comes to this.

Starting an AS campaign feels like I've just been assigned a huge school project, so it's just not for me.

I also don't really play 'barbarian factions' because the thought of professional, disciplined soldiers is more appealing to me than a bunch of guys with their wangs flopping around.

If I saw a bunch of naked guys running at me full speed, I'd turn tail and run...who knows they're intentions, and my virgin buttocks need not find out! :dizzy2:

I chose the Gertai, since the falx and Rhomphaia are my two most favorite ancient weapons, and the fact that thracians are my favorite "barbarians".

My favorite faction has to be the Getai. I love the Greek way of warfare and i love the way the barbarians came to war so naturally i am really drawn to this faction. You get a flexible pike phalanx with some very nice barbarian type shock infantry. Their calvary is decent but with the mix of barbarian shock troops and the phalanx you can decimate many!

After the Getai i love KH, its the greeks at their best. If i had to pick a complete barbarian faction to play it would be the Sweboz. They were really worked on for 1.0 so they look great and i just love their barbarian units compared to the casse or averni. I really never liked rome in general but there are times when i love to fight with their infantry. Hope this gave some insight!

I think Bootsiuv's "exotic factions in far off places" is at the heart of many a player's choice of campaign faction...good stuff!

How many people really try to roleplay with a faction? Particularly in the East??

I personally only play as the Romani. I know theyre a cliche, but in every Total War game ive played as a faction from italy. its sad i suppose, but for the first round of a game i have to play as italians. makes me feel at home as i learn the game. if i play as anyone else to begin with...i just feel odd.

Fair enough, but why don't you try others once you have got the "feel" of the game?

When I finished a campaign (or decided that it wasn't fun anymore) I usually choose a faction that starts far away from the first one because I don't want to fight over the same regions and against the same enemies again and again.

My first 0.8 faction was Baktria because of their unit mix, first 1.0 is Parthia because of their new government system. In general, I prefer 'civilised' factions, my only barbarians were Aedui so far.
I try to roleplay to a certain degree, but not at any cost. AS is too hard to conquer with just 500 guys willing to fight for you and not a single coin in the treasure chests. Furthermore, I get impatient after a while without conquests or major battles.

I'm currently playing as the romani.
Before 1.0, I started a lot of campaigns with a lot of factions, but most of them didn't last long, as I kept thinking "Why bothering playing that faction if it gets a major improvement at the next release ?".

Thing is, EB now really feels like a polished game. I've been playing for years (currently in 229BC) without any single major bug. Sure, there are typos here and there, and sometimes weird trait combos, but other than that, everything looks, sounds and feels so great.

So, since I never ever tried the romans, I thought 1.0 would be the good time to have a look at them. I'm currently trying to figure how to trigger the polybian reforms while slowly conquering Carthago lands in Africa, and I deeply enjoy it :)

If I ever get bored before winning the game (though I'd like to get to the marian reforms), I'll likely have a look at one either the AS or the Ptolemies, because they have great unit rosters, and I somehow want to reunite Alexandros' lands, though I doubt I'll enjoy having huge empire right from start.

And then, either Aedui or Arverni : I want to try out a barbarian faction, and I feel like playing in my own country.

I started my first EB campaign ever with the Romani and therefore did again with the EB 1.0. It has been my favorite faction all the time for several reasons:

It's the EB faction of whom I know the most about, what makes roleplaying them much easyer. I also ilke the concept of the very much limited factional recruitment in the early game, what forces me to stick much more to regional natives than with any of the Hellenic factions. It is also the only faction in which a "conquer most of the map" victory condition is historical. And the Roman voice mods, last but not least!

I also love to play Pontos. I had a very exciting campaing with Pontos in RTW vanilla, but needed six attempts to get a well running campaign with Pontos in EB without cheating money. But that one was much fun, too. The starting position is one of the most interessting of all factions. Armenia is very much alike.

Another faction that I can only recommend is Epiros. That is first of all the choice you have to make from the start: Italy or Greece. And it is the faction with the most action right from the start. Even with Makedonia I didn't had to fight so many battles in the first 20 years of the game. But that is also a faction with that I never play very long. Once Rome, Makedonia and KH are defeated, I feel that I have done all that there is to do.




And there are of course factions that I don't like. Karthago and the Ptolemaians have quite awfull starting positions with lands spread across the map. Even though they are interessting as a faction, I have never played them for than a handfull of turns.

Another one is AS. There is not much left to do. Controlled by a human player, the Ptolemees are not much of a match for AS, leave alone the lesser factions around. On the other hand you have a lot of management to do right from the first turn. But managing an empire that you have not built is no real fun.

Then there are also the factions with which I don't realy know what to do, from the role playing point of view. For example, conquering much more than the homelands around with the Sweboz somehow 'feels wrong'. I love to play them, but only for the first 10 or some years.

The same is with Saba: Very exotic and very attractive to start a campaign with. But then, what? Rise from the desert to start the Arabian Storm 600 years to early?




So, when picking a faction for a campaign I first look for someone with an aim in the game. Next is the starting position inclusive political situation. Third factor would be the possibilties to role play the faction and their characters (BTW, a reason why I never play the Nomads). Factors that I hardly take into account:

Nice units. For house rule reasons, I always have a lot of Gov IV and local units around.

Challange. When the campaign turns out to be to easy, I use house rules to restrict myself to a lesser effective way of playing. When the campaign turns out to become nasty beyond fun I still have forced diplomacy, or if nothing else helps, the cheat console plus mecanery pool to get me out of the worst trouble.

I first played Hayasdan since I'm Armenian, after 20 or so successful years and 250,000g I decided to play something else because M/M was too easy.

I also played KH because I wanted a tough professional army. After Conquering the Maks and part of Getai and realizing the recommonded for EB 1 is VH/M and not H/H like I had, I rolled Pontus, but had a bad start. I also just enjoyed a quick game as Saka where I did nothing but pillage and destroy everything while I blitzed south and fell into 50,000g+ debt. Needless to say that campaign is OVER =]

I really like to roleplay, thats what makes this game fun. I am thinking of starting a VH/M campaign as Pontus and take over the Black Sea early on.

I always play factions that have a future (in my mind). Playing as the Romans, you can build an empire. Playing as a successor, you can rebuild Alexander's empire or create a new Alexander style empire. Playing as someone like Arverni, once Gaul is conquered, I can't really play the campaign anymore. So I rarely start one of these factions, since they are doomed to have a short campaign (for me).

Have to agree with Marcus. I did play only 2 games with "barbarian" factions (Luso + Getai), but their victory conditions were too limited. For some reason, fighting the Gallic Civil War does not seem too appealing for me.

Variation is key - it is boring to fight with phalanx based armies, again and again, in succesive campaigns.

I have a similar problem, I love the KH but every time I have beaten the Maks and Epirotes I think to myself "this alliance wouldn't last." I know it's been debated here a lot and there isn't a better way to simulate the greek cities, I still can't stop myself from starting and stopping Greek games...:help:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by d'Arthez

Variation is key - it is boring to fight with phalanx based armies, again and again, in succesive campaigns.

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I thought Phalanx were the coolest thing, after a while it got annoying.

I enjoy playing the Underdog factions, especially ones that start small, and you have to expand quickly or :skull: . Saba have to be favorite, I love their unit Roster + Tactics, which come more natural to me, as opposed to the Barbarian or even Romani. But, I've tried to switch things up, and have been having a blast playing as Pahlavi... a slow game admittedly compared to the Frustrating Quick pace that you have to have as the Saba (expand quickly or die), whereas the Pahlavi you really have to be patient and choose the right time to strike. I'm enjoying the Steppe Factions thoroughly.

Great answers, everyone...As I've said before here and elsewhere I have a history of playing the Romani, largely because of historical interest as well as the unit diversity and the opportunity for role-playing. I've just started a Romani campaign and I think, after regional domination, I'll give one of the steppe factions a go. Gotta give those horse archers and cataphracts a try!!

Thanks again...keep it coming!

It is true, the kontos was the deadliest weapon in the histroy of mankind untill the invention of the steel armed cross bow.

I played the Saka because they're right on the edge of the map, far off from everyone else; basically, I've never heard of then before and hence want to play them to feel what it's like.

I've actually only ever have played as either the KH or the Maks. These two factions by far are my favorites not only in terms of EB but as in the history of these two factions in general. My fascination with the history of the "Greek City State" and Makedon started way before i was lucky enough to find EB. Which is why now EB is by far my favorite mod. There are alot of very good mods out there but for my money no one portrays non Roman factions any better than EB.

I'm romanian so..


After playing with Getai for a long time I will probably just pick a faction that I think is cool. In all truth I like the Sweboz for some reason(probably their infantry) but I'd love to try some of the nomad factions, maybe Casse too. I gave Carthage a try, maybe I should do it again. No nos for me are Seuleucid empire or Ptolemic Empire, because they're too big. (Although I'm sure they also represent their own unique challenges)

I might also have a thing for KH. I hate the fact (even if historical accurate) there's so many successor states and phalanx immitators, I don't like the phalanx. But I've hated it for so long I might give it a try with KH. Or maybe Pontus or something? What's an interesting "greek" faction?

I also prefer the shorter barbarian campaigns because of time constraints. Overall the best part about EB is the very different playstyles & challenges with each faction.

I should also try those guys in Saudi Arabia, I never heard of them and they seem unique enough.

If you dont like Phalanx then you wont like Pontus. They start out with like 4 or 5 units of Phalanx

Well me I just read through the unit roster. and judge which factions have the best and most balanced units then I pick the Getai and crush them ALL!!!

I like the strategy map music of the nomad factions. It is very relaxing.

I have played as:
Romani - possibility of reenactment of "actual history", excellent for role-playing. Rather easy, very good introduction into EB (I have played S.P.Q.R. extensively on RTR Platinum before)
Macedon - recreation of the Empire of Alexander, good starting location, interesting quests (i.e. Tomb of Alexander). After a challenging start, when you have the Balkans Peninsula under your rule as well as Ionian cities, you are basically without peer competitor (AS and Ptolemaios exhausted each other, so none of them posed much of a threat in that particular campaign). Therefore I switched to
Pontus - excellent faction, challenging starting location, its best units are significantly weaker then the elites of Successors, so the challenge lasts throughout the whole campaign. You have clear objective - unify the Asia Minor, make Black Sea a Pontic lake. Diverse enemies (successors phalanxes, Armenian catphracts. sarmatian horse-archers). - If interested see my AAR here: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=93891
That was on EB 0.81v2a with Redmeths balanced money and mercenary script.

Now I play as Pahlava on EB 1.0
- because of its brand new nomadic/pastoralism building tree
- because Arsaces has written a masterful AAR about them (The Waste Land) which brought my attention to EB in the first place
- because my previous campaigns centered on infantry, especially phalanxes, and I want to try something different
- possibility of reenactment of "actual history" (this opportunity, however, is spoiled by the stupid Bactrians who do not understand their own interest and instead of being my allies against the Seleucids, they are allied with them against me :furious3: :laugh4: )

My next campaign would probably be the Hayasdan - because of their incredibly sophisticated reforms set, which surely will give much purpose to th gameplay.

*I have never played as "barbarian faction (for no particular reason, BTW I cannot play my "home" faction, because that would be the rebel Boii - glad to hear that they have been beefed up in EB 1.0:laugh4: ).
*I do not like bordering with the edge of map (pity, Bactria will otherwise be a very interesting faction to play with)
*I do not like to manage empire I have not created myself - that rules out The Seleucids, Ptolemies and Carthage. I like those guys though.:beam:

Well, not very different from most people around here, I guess...:idea2:

Hello there,

well, being used to play either the Vanilla Julii and Brutii, and desperatly wanting to play the AS successfully (still in Vanilla, I was regularelly eaten up by the Ptolemaii), my first choice in EB (0.81v2) was Pontos. It was what is called "love at first sight".

Later, I played the SPQR, Epiros & Baktria, and to a lesser extend KH and Makedonia. As Bootsiuv and V.T. Marvin already pointed out, the AS, Carthage and the Ptolemaii are way too big for a start - at least IMHO. Though, one day, I want to bring the AS to glory and let them SPQR, Parthians, Epirotes, Hellenes, Carthages and them Ptolis pay high for daring to war us ... :beam: :yes:

The "Barbarian" factions do not interest me at all and I, we're not ment for each other, probably as I'm too "indoctrinized" :ballchain: and I want to play with somewhat "organized" military ...

Yours,
Treverer

Quote:

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Originally Posted by V.T. Marvin

Pontus - excellent faction, challenging starting location, its best units are significantly weaker then the elites of Successors, so the challenge lasts throughout the whole campaign. You have clear objective - unify the Asia Minor, make Black Sea a Pontic lake. Diverse enemies (successors phalanxes, Armenian catphracts. sarmatian horse-archers). - If interested see my AAR here: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=93891
That was on EB 0.81v2a with Redmeths balanced money and mercenary script.

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I disagree! At the beginning, yes, your phalangites, shock/auxiliary infantry are at a distinct disadvantage to the successors. Cavalry only is barely equal.

However, any Pontus player who has paid careful attention looking at the recruitment possibilities of the nearby provinces will realize that Pontus has far more potential.

Everybody should set up type 4 gov't in Ancyra and start training galatikoi tindanotae (limited to Pontus and only one other faction, but Ancyra starts off at YOUR doorstep anyway) with 2 free bronze chevrons - ship these off to an armory city for equipping and watch the enemy successor elites get completely outclassed. I THINK you can destroy the type 4 gov't later and build your factional gyms and houses of strength which both give +1 exp...so with the gallic temple, thats +3 exp base...

Set up type 3 gov'ts at Ipsos and Sardis and gain access to hellenic medium phalanxes and your phalanxes actually stand a chance. your factional Chalkaspides are also well capable of locking the enemy elite phalanxes.

For cavalry, this is where you are a little short - but you can get excellent galatian hvy cavalry (they carry longswords as secondary with lethality 0.225), and to the east, the noble scythians, who have higher stats than the gauls but no longswords....carry a mixture of these two.

And new to 1.0, set up type 3's in Halikarnassos, Sardis, and Side to get the excellent Karian warband skirmishers/screeners - these guys are well able to handle the enemy skirmishers. Also your factional MIC can get thereuphontes toxotai, HEAVY ARMORED ARCHERS....arguably one of the best, if not the best foot archer unit. Then set up appropriate gov'ts in the thracian region to recruit the killers even more efficient against armor than the tindanotae, the thraikian rhompaphoroi...

So, after a small period in consolidating asia minor, you've got
-The best shock infantry in the game (only beaten by the original gaesatae and the casse longsword users)
-Well competent phalanx/line infantry that you can build gyms to get free experience and make them even better (hellenic medium phalanx, chalkaspides, pontic thorakitai)
-The best cavalry in the game for both charging and melee, second only to those purely cav factions in the east...
-One of the best, if not the best foot archers - and you can get a reasonably competent force of HA's if you really want them...
-very good skirmishers (peltasts or karian warband, just train them at a city with gyms and they are well competent)

What more could you want, assuming you can overcome the challenges to GET to the level and economy required to start making these?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gurakshun

I disagree! At the beginning, yes, your phalangites, shock/auxiliary infantry are at a distinct disadvantage to the successors. Cavalry only is barely equal.

However, any Pontus player who has paid careful attention looking at the recruitment possibilities of the nearby provinces will realize that Pontus has far more potential.
(...)
What more could you want, assuming you can overcome the challenges to GET to the level and economy required to start making these?

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O.K., you are right Gurakshun. Pontus indeed has had a great potential already in 0.81 and has even greater in 1.0. My original statement is made obsolete by the improvement in 1.0 (heavily armoured archers ... oh my GOD:dizzy2: !!!) and stemmed from several reason which are probably more particular to my campaign rather than being of general validity:
- I would never build higher local MIC than appropriate to the government level, EB considers that an exploit and for good reasons;
- My campaign was rather short because EB 1.0 just came out...:beam: and therefore the best phalanx I had were Pantadopoi Phalagitai - brave guys, like them very much, but they suffered greatly against Pezhetairoi, Agyraspydai and the Epirote elite phalanx :skull: ;
- The gallic men are great, so great that I rather limited the presence of Gallatikoi Tindoloton (sp.?) in my armies: historically they would be rather rare and elite unit, I guess, and having several units of these naked butchers would make any battle too easy to be funny.

Anyway, Pontus is really a great faction to play, because it allows you to build an unstoppable war-machine with its own peculiar taste (besides other cool units, do not forget the chariots!) or to role-play a humble kingdom struggling for survival against the giants (AS, Ptolies, Epeiros, you name it...:beam: ). Both ways brings a lot of satisfaction.
~:cheers:

I may get the hatred of a lot of EB players now...but I have to admit: I love to hunt down the Romani.

As Baktria: Try to establish an Eastern Empire, face the AS, reach the Mediterranean Sea & check out how far "The Reds" have expanded...build alliances...attack.

As Quarthardasht: [sp?]Well, try to operate as if the Barkids [Hamilcar, Hannibal Barkas etc.] did not have the stupid government in their times. Get Iberia, try to ally with the Northern/ Gaellic tribes...get Sicily, try to invade the homelands of Reds

But, and this is a big BUT: I actually plan to play as the Romani, as soon as I finished my Invasio Barbarorum campaign & EB 1.? is properly running on my system...but that is a different story. And it may take a little while....Just to get the feel of this faction. I am pretty sure it will be fun to see things from the other side....²god forsake those Parthian horsey riders, refusing to come close and fight like a true man!"...Will be a new experience for General Subedei....

Anyways: as far as I can tell: EB has the most balanced out & interesting faction choice there is out there....from the Eastern highly flexible, undisciplined, fast moving, arrow shooting, long haired, unshaved, gold addicted, horse riding Tribes...
to the Phalanx pimping, constantly disputing, backside vulnerable Greeks......
all the way to the highly disciplined, empire building, tunica wearing, Eagle adoring, horse despising Romans and all those in between...:smash: Gotta love 'em all.....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by V.T. Marvin

O.K., you are right Gurakshun. Pontus indeed has had a great potential already in 0.81 and has even greater in 1.0. My original statement is made obsolete by the improvement in 1.0 (heavily armoured archers ... oh my GOD:dizzy2: !!!) and stemmed from several reason which are probably more particular to my campaign rather than being of general validity:
- I would never build higher local MIC than appropriate to the government level, EB considers that an exploit and for good reasons;
- My campaign was rather short because EB 1.0 just came out...:beam: and therefore the best phalanx I had were Pantadopoi Phalagitai - brave guys, like them very much, but they suffered greatly against Pezhetairoi, Agyraspydai and the Epirote elite phalanx :skull: ;
- The gallic men are great, so great that I rather limited the presence of Gallatikoi Tindoloton (sp.?) in my armies: historically they would be rather rare and elite unit, I guess, and having several units of these naked butchers would make any battle too easy to be funny.

Anyway, Pontus is really a great faction to play, because it allows you to build an unstoppable war-machine with its own peculiar taste (besides other cool units, do not forget the chariots!) or to role-play a humble kingdom struggling for survival against the giants (AS, Ptolies, Epeiros, you name it...:beam: ). Both ways brings a lot of satisfaction.
~:cheers:

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haha yeah, you will love to try the thereuphontes toxotai. plus the conqueror gets a special trait/script for freeing the bosporus from those dirty central asianers! in response to the things you marked:
-yeah i agree, i even made a topic in the general EB forum about it. I guess ancyra will always be a type 4 government and sardis, byzantion, and halikarnassos will always be type 3, it just doesnt feel right to be able to recruit the regional troops and have all the benefits at the same time. plus its a fun idea/experience to have kind of a protectorate gallic kingdom to draw on strong warriors, and to keep ionia (W. Asia minor) in mostly greek hands like it was in history.
-yeah the pantadapoi phalangitai are very brave, but unfortunately it does not count against the heavily armored veterans of the grey and yellow deaths! :laugh4: i try to get the hellenic medium phalanx as fast as possible because anything with pantadapoi in its name usually doesnt cut it :skull:
-yes, i limit those tindanotae too. i only keep maximum of 2 units of them in my armies. not to mention having several units of them would murder your economy!

you are right that pontus is a great faction to play. i love the fact that its units are mostly superpower status. as far as role playing a humble kingdom though, i recall that quote that i see when my battles are loading "Great empires are not maintained by timidity":yes: Have fun!

I love to play the ones that almost broke Romes spine early in history begining with Carthage and Epirus. Then I get thrilled with the possibilities of KH. Carthage still is the beloved one!

GAH! People complaining about 'disorganised Barbarians' need to actually try playing them :whip:

One of the main goals of EB is to help people get past the idea that the 'barbarians' were uncivilised :wall:

Aedui/Arverni have very nice, well organised units & a bunch of buildings in their build tree that the 'civilised' cultures could do with having.
They get good flexible troops that can really kick ass.
There are very strong, well armoured line infantry.
The cavalry doesn't quite have the power of successor cav but its still quite powerful.
With their shorter spears, they can be thrown around much more flexibly as they don't necessarily need to line up to get the charge to work.
Now with Oppida, you even get a nice strong city defense too :)

Getai have so many awesome phalanx killer units its insane.
So much fun beating up on the more 'civilised' types :juggle2:

Lusotannan get lovely flexible & powerful units.
Dunno about their build tree, not having played them yet.
Its worth noting that both the 'civilised & organised' Romans & Carthaginians learnt a lot about war from fighting them.


As for selecting factions, as many have said, I tend to go for a faction physically distant & with different unit types to what I've been playing lately.
eg after my Getai campaign, I'll probably be going for Ptolomies, Lusotannan or maybe Carthage.

First campaign in RTW was with Scipii. The Julii felt like the 'typical' choice and the Brutii sounded like Brutus, the traitor so I figured I'll go with the bad-ass Scipii who BTW had a cool blue insignia. By the end it was Brutii vs. me and that fight was never resolved. Then I tested the German side, in vanilla RTW it wasnt really that good. Although I did like the introduction clip with the end "...there can be only WAR!" That really set the mood.

In BI it was mainly with the Sarmatians, partly because I like eastern sides but also because they had a good balance and weren't a 'total' horde side. I also like the good cavalry from start.

Now with EB its Sweboz, mostly because they have that teutonic feel. I like the northern and also eastern sides.

Ptolemaioi 'cos good starting location, can fight factions one at a time and its not in debt at the start

Here are the factions I like to play and the reasons...

Casse.......as my 'home faction' are a non-playable rebel group (Hibernian Celts) and I gotta represent the :ireland: ancestors, I go with the Casse. They are also quite challenging as well

Pahlavi.......I have always been fascinated by Persia/Iran for numerous reasons, so all of the Persian-based factions are my favorites. Who doesn't like Cataphracts and swarms of horse archers?

Rome.........Something of a no-brainer. Plus, stepping into the shoes of some of the greatest generals in history is always fun. S.P.Q.R!!!!!!!

Koinon Hellanon(?)....Democracy, logic, and bad-ass hoplities!

Sweboz......Even though I am not playing them now because of time constraints, playing as my Germanic ancsetors is always fun, especially when I can crack open a few Roman skulls:jumping:

Sabya a.k.a Sheba.....Since always play in Medieval 1 and Med1 XL as the Fatimids, thier ancestors in Yemen are always a safe bet. Like Persia/Iran, Arab history and culture as always been :book: for me.

Samourtae....Cavalry is just fun. My tactics in TW always revolve around armies with lots of Cavalry (mobility in the Campaign map, hitting power and speed in battle), and the Samuortae are cavalry distilled.

So its Celts, Romans, Greeks, Germans, Arabs, and Persians for me.

I don't know how I pick a faction... let me think.
Well, I chose KH because I like Hoplites but I hate Pike Phalanxes.

I pick it based on how fun it appears it might be. This "fun" factor is derived from badassery, my personal interest and the faction's difficulty. I want awesome units that aren't pikes (I've no idea how you're supposed to hold a line with a phalanx army, as I always get flanked and my line falls apart; it's too damned slow and rigid), badassery, something I'm interested in and a faction that's in a position that isn't massively difficult from the beginning. I picked Getai for my first play on 1.0, because my previous experience brought me great joy. Their unit roster is one of the most badass around (Thraikioi peltastai are by far one of the most useful and awesome units in the game, and they also have rhomphaoai, Scythian archers, axemen, falxmen, pikemen, those elite guys...the list goes on); I don't know much about them, and so I play to learn, in a sense; they are difficult, but it isn't straight rape from the top; they have plenty of people to beat up on in the area; and they are mildly isolated, so you have some eleutheroi meatshields but you don't have to hack your way through an endless briarpatch of independants to get to a faction, like the Sweboz (who have a special place in my heart).

In .81x I chose the Sweboz, because they were iolated, badass, not the most difficult, and interesting to me.

I chose at one point Kart-Hadast, because they already had a nice standing in the world, a massively varied unit roster, at least three clear-cut choices of direction to go with its empire and also historical fame.

I choose based on how I feel at the time, basically...