I've played Mediterranean-based factions and steppe factions. I'm up for a change. I want to fight a superpower from the beginning! Which of these two factions do you find is more fun from the get-go? Which is easier? Which has cooler units?

Which one will mean I can ignore Rome, Carthage, and Makedonia/Epirus/KH the most? (I group the last 3 together because one of them always kills all the others and takes over Greece proper. Its just a matter of time.)