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

[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.