What your favorite nation in EB and what is your strategy?

[Lixus]

Sorry to be such a pedant, but he was a lousy fake. Tuthmosis III was the real Egyptian pharaonic hero. He was the greatest conqueror Aiguptos, or Ta-Kem, as Egyptians called it themselves, has ever known. Rameses II was an arrogant, lustful fool with incredibly large ego. He carved his name on every monument in Egypt, and exaggerated his performance in Kadesh, his only real battle, and a huge blunder, which is why his name is so loud. I guess his plan worked perfectly from what I can see...

Just a bit of Egyptian history so you will not be embarrassed when you happen to meet a Egyptologist :)

i said i learned about him, i did not make a statement about him.
Plus this is not the point off this Topic. So Aemilius Paulus what is your faction and strategy in EB?

[The Fuzz]

Baktria is my love. I always go east and south, and try to get as firm a hold on India as possible before challenging the Seleukids. Which hardly ever happens...

What I love about Baktria is that you have to change your fighting style so much. You've got HA up the wazoo to the north, Greeks to the east (occasionally even more HA via Pahlava), and a ridiculous amount of elephants to the east.

My armies tend to become HA heavy regardless though, as I love those silly, speedy buggers. I submit there is no greater thing than watching a Seleukid phalangite getting torn to bits by HA , only to get run over by the coolest general unit in the game.

[satalexton]

The Maks =D. And to quell the endless phalanx wars, one easy way is to raid (enslave, destroy all building, let rebel) all of Syria down to Levlant(sp). You'll find yourself slaughtering jews and pantodapoi instead of those nasty TABs and Klerochon Agema before long...Just rinse and repeat until you finally have the means to hold the place for good.

[navarro951]

Im definitely a Rome guy. Aside from the fact that i love legions there just so cool to watch in battle, i also love the history of Rome seeing the eras change and what not its just great fun. Check out my Roman RPG by the way, were always recruiting! Beyond the Seven Hills

[Tiberius Claudius Marcellus]

I am first and foremost a lover of Rome. But, once you beat the campaign, you must move on.

When I'm not playing Rome I like to stick to the phalanx-based factions because they are almost impossible to beat. My strategy when playing any of the above factions is to have 1 archer (not peltast/slinger) per 2 units of infantry. I always use fire arrows to frighten the enemy and let them come to my spear points. There's no sense in moving phalanx-type units because they break formation and drop their spear for a sword. I don't bother flanking, unless it's possible because my massive line of infantry just happens to be bigger than theirs. I battle through attrition. Cavalry, with these factions is a complete waste of time. I use my General (when mounted) to chase down and slaughter fleeing enemy units so as to prevent the army for staying on the map after the battle.

For those who rely on horse archers, etc, I simply avoid battles with those types of units, hide inside my towns since cavalry can't take walls, or throw full stack armies at them and let the AI control my other armies in a "hammer and anvil" maneuver.

Additionally, when my tech gets up to the required level, siege engines become a mainstay of my armies. When going on the offensive, I keep 5 units of anti-personnel artillery pieces, with 10 units of my best infantry, 4 units of archers, and my general. When taking cities, I substitue all anti-personnel artillery for anti-wall artillery. The chaos and utter destruction caused by these engines is absolutely undeniably awesome and also can eliminate 1/4 to 1/2 of the enemy before my archers weaken them even more. Again, I'm all about attrition. For fun, I'll send in the elephants if I have them (only when I've got tons of money to spare) to start the battle. If they're killed, oh well. If they run amok amongst the enemy, awesome. And, well, they'll always slaughter hundreds of them regardless.

Just to break it up, I play the barbaroi from time to time. When fighting against another tribe, infantry attrition to the death is just fine with me. Archers when available can always sway the tide of battle quite heavily. When fighting professional armies of the game's powerhouses requires a change in tactics. I like to use lots of ambushing and heroes to turn the tide. Flanking is a must, as surrounded units will almost always rout and be killed to a man. Chariots can be useful if you "cheat" and just drive them through an enemy unit instead of engaging in melee. Usually, however, to win with barbaroi, you are required to blitz and overwhelm through shear numbers.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Just to break it up, I play the barbaroi from time to time. When fighting against another tribe, infantry attrition to the death is just fine with me. Archers when available can always sway the tide of battle quite heavily. When fighting professional armies of the game's powerhouses requires a change in tactics. I like to use lots of ambushing and heroes to turn the tide. Flanking is a must, as surrounded units will almost always rout and be killed to a man.

This is truth.

Chariots can be useful if you "cheat" and just drive them through an enemy unit instead of engaging in melee.

Casse chariots are utterly useless, sorry but it is true. I mean in historical context they werent even used as shock unit. They were basically Britonic troops transports. I read in a book once that when Caesar invaded Briton, the natives would ride about in chariots, with footmen leaping off into combat. Either leaping back on when they were tired or done with the enemy. The RTW engine cant represent this however, so we are left with this unit. They only "good" chariots are those spiked one the AS uses and even then it takes TONS of micromanagement and skill to use they effectivley.

Usually, however, to win with barbaroi, you are required to blitz and overwhelm through shear numbers.

This one inst nessisarly true. Read Churigeon's Lusotannan AAR and you will see what i mean.


OK anyways . The faction that i play by far the most is the Sweboz. I mean its not hard to use them. They have powerful infantry, good foot archers, and an EXCELLENT starting position. I mean i can usually conquer 5-6 Gawjams before the initial armies give out or are spread way too thin. As for battlefield tactics, the BEST thing about most Barbarian factions is that almost EVERYONE has something to shoot, throw, or at the least fling at the enemy. Typically this a a harsh blow RIGHT before the main engagement. After the main lines meet, the flanks get hot fast. While the enemy cavalry tries to flank you you have solid infantry to block them/crush them. After that its like eating baby food.

[Ludens]

Casse chariots are utterly useless, sorry but it is true. I mean in historical context they werent even used as shock unit. They were basically Britonic troops transports. I read in a book once that when Caesar invaded Briton, the natives would ride about in chariots, with footmen leaping off into combat. Either leaping back on when they were tired or done with the enemy. The RTW engine cant represent this however, so we are left with this unit. They only "good" chariots are those spiked one the AS uses and even then it takes TONS of micromanagement and skill to use they effectivley.

They aren't useless, not historically and not in game, although you are right that their in-game use differs from the historical one. Chariots cause a big morale penalty, especially when running through enemy formations, and can be very effective at routing heavy infantry formations. Try the playing the Telamon historical battle to see how this works. They are also bad news for enemy cavalry, as long as they don't stick in the melee. So chariots are a sort of budget-elephants that double as skirmisher cavalry. They do require more micromanagement than most units, though.