Best faction to start as?

[Manoflooks]

What is the best faction to start as? I just downloaded EB, so im new. Though I have played rtr, rs and xgm.




While your at it, what your favourite faction? Or give me a link to a fave faction thread.

[Carthaginian General]

I'd say the Romans. No explanation needed really.

As for my favorite factions, in no specific order: Pahlava, Carthage and Ptolemaioi.

[Aemilius Paulus]

Depends on what kind of history you like. Most people display an unproportional amount of interest towards the Romans because they are generally more well-known due to the amount of media attention they receive. However, the Romani are the most unique and complete faction in EB. There is just no faction that could compare to it in the voicemod, traits, overall uniqueness, victory conditions, amount of reforms as well as overall strategy.

What factions did you like in RTW and its mods?

Here are some links:
faction the EB fans played first: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=107047
faction the EB fans liked the best: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=105436

Personally, my favorite faction is the Romani, which is made pretty evident by my signature.

[gamegeek2]

For beginners to RTW, I recommend the Romani, Qarthadastim, or Sweboz, as they are the easiest factions, featuring a pinch of everything and familiarity (coupled with good starting position and economy), one of the best economies in the game (tied with Epeiros/Makedonia), or the best starting position in the game (respectively). The Ptolemaioi are also a decent choice here, though you'll have to fight the Gray Death , and the Getai are another good option here.

For war veterans who need to adjust to EB's demands, I highly recommend the Aedui/Arverni (showcases most of EB's new principles, especially high cost and tough foes). If "barbarians" aren't your thing, Baktria is an excellent choice (you fight two completely different enemies at once).

For tough cookies, try the nomads, who are much more prominent than in RTW and have (arguably) changed the most. Their economies are terrible, so you'll need skill with the few troops you can afford unless you don't mind super-deep debt; the Casse offer a similar experience. If those simply aren't right, try playing as the ever-present enemy of all, the Arche Seleukeia.

If you think those sound too easy, and you think you're an expert, try Hayasadan, Pontos, or the Saka Rauka, who all feature endless waves of gray banners, weak starting economies, and high risk-high reward options everywhere. Every battle counts in these, and everything is on the line, at all times.

[chenkai11]

I suggest HAYASDAN, and yes VH/VH.

Learn it from the hard way, General. You will enjoy it.

[bovi]

As the faction descriptions say, Roma or Carthage will make a softer clash with what you'll expect from playing the other games. If you want a somewhat greater challenge and don't mind a big starting empire I suggest Arche Seleukeia or Ptolemaioi.

[Grriffon]

For beginners to RTW, I recommend the Romani, Qarthadastim, or Sweboz, as they are the easiest factions, featuring a pinch of everything and familiarity (coupled with good starting position and economy), one of the best economies in the game (tied with Epeiros/Makedonia), or the best starting position in the game (respectively). The Ptolemaioi are also a decent choice here, though you'll have to fight the Gray Death , and the Getai are another good option here.

For war veterans who need to adjust to EB's demands, I highly recommend the Aedui/Arverni (showcases most of EB's new principles, especially high cost and tough foes). If "barbarians" aren't your thing, Baktria is an excellent choice (you fight two completely different enemies at once).

For tough cookies, try the nomads, who are much more prominent than in RTW and have (arguably) changed the most. Their economies are terrible, so you'll need skill with the few troops you can afford unless you don't mind super-deep debt; the Casse offer a similar experience. If those simply aren't right, try playing as the ever-present enemy of all, the Arche Seleukeia.

If you think those sound too easy, and you think you're an expert, try Hayasadan, Pontos, or the Saka Rauka, who all feature endless waves of gray banners, weak starting economies, and high risk-high reward options everywhere. Every battle counts in these, and everything is on the line, at all times.

this is a really great breakdown of the factions.

like some of the others, i would recommend playing EB for the first time as Romani.

Almost as "easy" as the Romani are the Qarthadastim. They have an amazing economy, and some of my favorite troops in the game. Elite Liby-Phonaecian axemen are human buzzsaws, and a unit of elephants will allow you to steamroll through any wood-walled settlement with ease.

The nice thing about the Sweboz is they are more or less surrounded by Rebels, and you can pick and choose your fights.

I think Arche Seleukia is a little more challenging that the previous 3, but they start with a HUGE amount of land, and are able to recruit some truly terrifying units, like their elite spearmen, armored elephants, and wide array of superb archers.


I guess my favorite thing about EB is how different the battlefield styles are of the different factions. For instance, with Rome you can rely purely on their ever-present, excellent, heavy infantry along with some medium to heavy cavalry to produce routs. With Carthage your elite shock infantry should more or less chew through anything you send them against, and you can provide screens for them with Balaeric slingers, arguably the best missile unit in the game. The Epeiros/Makedonia/AS are the epitome of the hammer/anvil, which can be difficult to set up sometimes, and requires patience, but is a famous tactic for a reason. It works. Thracians just run around killing things with really big swords. There are many more examples, but as you get a feel for each faction, you will find unique battle styles that work for you, and in my opinion, therein lies the fun of the game.

[Hax]

Hayasdan, Saba, Baktria, Pahlava..

It all depends on what you like to play with? Phalangites? Choose Epeiros/Makedonia. They aren't in such a dangerous situation and you are in relative peace once you've taken all of Hellas (which is not that difficult with Epeiros).

For Roman play, choose..well the Romans, of course. Kart-Hadast is also said to be pretty forgiving and easy though I've never played them.