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

[Lixus]

Even in my childhood i was fascinated by the strategy of ancient military commanders and babarian chieftans. I think i was 5 years old when it began with a picture out of a roman history book. It was a picture of an army with elephants marching in the moutains. At the time i thought this was the powerfull army of rome. But with time i learned my history, of men like Ramses2, Alexandros, Ambiorix of the Belgea, Boudica (and women), Leonidas, Julius Ceasar, Alrik, and many more. But non of them amazed my more then Barca Hannibal even with his defeat at Zama. For a time i thought that Rome won because it was the best army in the world. But when i get more interested in Rome its enemies i started more to think that they won some of there wars more by luck then through military might. Many only remember the victories of rome and with that forget her many defeats.
But i am also a gamer. and i always loved strategy games. although i played many hours on games like cossacks, TWM1, age of empires, Empire earth they lacked realism.
That changed with RTW and especially with EB.
Now i have the opportunity to put Ceasars and Hannibals Tactics into action.

Having said all that, my question is what is your favorite(s) nation(s) in EB and what is your strategy to connquer the EB world (on the campaign map aswell as in real-time battle).

[Atraphoenix]

If you like playing with infantry stick to Romans but if you are mad about cavalry like me you may play Pahlava (Best Cavalry), Saka or Sarmatians.
macedonians also have good cavalry without HAs together with phalanx infantry but as I like Horse Archers in the front line to soften the enemy then strike with heavy cavalry the best choice is Pahlava,

In campaign Map the only option for Pahlava is blitzing, blitzing, blitzing... AS will be your main target. when you have mesopotamia you may get elite cavalry which are very expensive.

but be aware they are not easy especially with alex.exe.

[Fixiwee]

As for the romans, it's very easy to defend the mainland of italies. Early in the game I followed the historical timeline of conquest, built up a strong economy.
Now I am at the beginning of the rp-wise civil wars, I have 4 Millions of Mnai and my juggernaut army tears down every empire in the world. Well at least the could.

In a long run it is wise to try to trigger the marian reforms as soon as possible, since it enables you to have a professional army all over the world in minutes.

I do wonder though why I have so much money.

[Lixus]

I do wonder though why I have so much money.

Easy, Roman units are cheaper. I also started playing as Rome. But during my war against carthage i changed my mind. At first i won many battle's with out any major losses against them. But i was forced to focus my attention on my greek cities because of Epeiros. that gave Carthage the change to grow stronger ( compared to RTW, Finaly a strong Carthage). Plus when i play with rome i try to use around 80 to 90 procent Roman troops unlike the CPU that uses more regional troops. Somtimes i think i am fighting Gaul instead of Rome. So after the Polybian reforms my legions look like this
-1Commander
-1 Velites or regional skirmishers or archers
-4 hastati
-8 Principes
-4 Triarii
-2 Cavalry units
After my wars against Epeiros , Koinon Hellenon, Makedonia and Getai ended i turned my attention back to Carthage. I had allready 12 veteran legions, 6 of them to defend my borders and 6 to attack carthage i send 3 to Spain and 3 to africa. At first it goes well, most their of the armies whore formed out of regional troops. But then came their elite troops, armies of elite pikemen, Liby-Phoenician Infantry, Elite Liby-Phoenician Infantry, and the sacredband Cavelry. In Spain i thought that their Sacredband cavelry was gonna attack my flanks, but instead they choose for a full frontal attack. Defeathing all, No DESTROYING all of my hastati and almost all of my principes. Leaving the rest off my army to be butchered by their infantry. Of the 9000 men i send to Spain(not counthing the local recruited Spanjards) only 1560 returned to be retrained. Although i was victorious Carthage convinced me to stop playing with the Romans and to start a Carthaginian Campaingn. I must say if you move fast and connquer Pavantium and mediolanum before Rome, their armies make an easy target. Plus if you let Rome leave italy you will find them annoying as they almost entirly will use regional units and with tacking away the feeling that you are figthing Rome. Plus like the Ptolemaioi and Eperios they expand to fast leaving you little diversity off enemy factions to connquer. So if i play with carthage my first target is to connquer Italy and Sicily plus destoying Rome, at the same time i Eliminate the Lusotannan. When that's done i put pressior on the Ptolemaioi, that way they send most off their armies my way (to be destoyed) by doing that they do not connquer most off the east as fast as they would if you let them do. And last but not least attack the most dominant faction in Greece, most likley Eprios. mean while connquer all off spain and the cities surrounding the western mediterainian. that will give you income through trade and minning.
And do not forget the year 235 bc will give you Phalanx units that will connquer the east and infantry to wage war in the north.

[antisocialmunky]

I like playing the KH and Roman Faction. I think there's a certain fun to sending huge amoutns of dudes at something til it dies.

[SwebozGaztiz]

i love the ptolies sometimes i get frustrated with the phalanx wars, but i really like all the units they can access, specially the elite phalanxes and the basilikon agema, and the elite cavalry they get is really good as well, and basically i like to beat the seleukids, i think my strategy is try to take the seleukids as soon as possible from asia minor and from them just march forward to babylon, it can take sometime and u always have to be ready to fight those stupid pontos but well its part of ur conquest nevertheless but after ur able to secure ur borders and be able to get attacks from the seleukids from just one side, i stoped my expansion at babylon and seleukeia for over 20 years having a lot bridge battles and raids from half stacks of seleukid rabble, but well i also like baktria, buy my personal favorite has to be the ptolies,

[Ignopotens]

Getai is my fav. faction

Strategically I usually end up conquering Greece, it's a good economic base.

Tactically I use the "wings of death" method: setting up inward facing wings of weaker troops on the outside of my normally pikeman main line and using strong infantry from behind my main line to hit them in the back when they attack the wings. Pretty effective in most cases

[Aemilius Paulus]

But with time i learned my history, of men like Ramses2

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 :)

[Lixus]

i am currently fighting the ptolomaioi with the carthaginians.all the cities in North africa( incl. Eygpt), Greece, italy, spain, the south of gaul, Sicily and the cities of Sidon and Jerusalem are under my control. i have 3 huge armies in region arround Sidon. Each with a backbone off 8 Elite African Pikeman. I easely won against the Ptolemaic Elite Phalanx and the Epeirote Elite Phalanx, I wonder if the Elite African Pikeman is the strongest Makedonia style phalanx in the EB world. I did not jet faced the phalanx units off the Selukid neither thoose off Makedonia. So my question is are their phalanx units stronger and wat may i expect of the factions further to the east. Do i stick with phalanx tactics against them?

[Cyclops]

I'm enjoying the Lusotannan atm, a savage hard bitten faction with great endurance for skirmishing, ambushing warfare (and everyone has a javelin).

My strategy is to call up my peeps (ie recruit a diverse stack), absorb a neighbouring tribe, go home and party, (ie disband the stack) then repeat until I have all of Hispania. At some point my guys have to "evolve" to a regular army (when I can recruit medium spears and keep them from one war to the next) but until then the standing army is FM's and 1 basic skirmisher per city. In particular I disband non-elite slings between shows because I want them to be a useful minor arm, not a machine-gun squad.

I aim to trade with my neighbours and stay allied or neutral, and if they attack me then i kick them off the peninsula. My preferred kind of battle starts with me crouched behind a bush and my enemy strung out in a great long line whistling and gazing at the clouds. In a stand up fight i tend not to stand up, I run backwards towards lines of hidden skirmishers so every dart gets thrown and then I tend to bug out. Once I have medium spears/elite assaulters/super heavies then i'll stand and fight more.

In the future I will take Ireland, and my end game will be an all-elite raid on North Africa, featuring Balearic sligs, assault inf and every available FM.

[gamegeek2]

Check out some AARs, Lixus. They're great stories that follow people playing campaigns, and the EB ones are the best (it's true).

Look below and click on the links.

[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.

[delablake]

Roma invicta!!!
First things first: Kick Epiros out of Italy, conquer Rhegion
and then acxcording to Epiros' homeland power, I either follow them into Greece, or
conquer the Northern Italian rebels
after that, I usually keep to my treaties with Carthage until they "betray" me, after that it hundred years of Punic Wars.
and frankly for all that time I'm happy not to wage a two-front war, e.g. against the Aedui.
Still have to crush the insolent Hellene boy-lovers, and their African and Asian cousins...

[SwissBarbar]

The Arverni *touting my AAR, where you can see my strategy*

[Megalos Danielos Psychopatos]

1)AS - at glance: first KILL Pahlava, in cities near them build better barracks and start spamming archer-spearmen, then phalanxes and heavy persian archers; don't give them any single city (except this one where they have strong army at the beggining) if dont want to meet big hordes of armored HAS. At same time gather armies near Antiochia and Ipsos and start blitzing Ptolemies, dont give them a breath. If this two tasks U will accomplish succesfully-world will be Yours.

2) Epeiros- at glance: forget about Taras, leave there one cheap unit, raise taxes on max, and when Rome start siege, in second turn destroy all buildings; Rome often after conquering leave there only small garrison, and city rebel to U- with nice stack of troops. In Greece and Macedonia blitzkrieg is the key; gather all troops in two big armies, recruit sth u want in que (dont build anything, u will be in huge debt always), recruit Cretan archers for "Pyrrhos Army Group" and begin the Avalanche: take Pella, and move south-conquer everything U can. Next steps are up to U.

[Lysimachos]

If this two tasks U will accomplish succesfully-world will be Yours.

Yes, and it is exactly the reason why I didn't do that in my AAR

[Megalos Danielos Psychopatos]

I haven't meant to kill Ptolies-I always let them leave and fight with quarthadast and Saba. And "world will be yours" is a metaphor, I dont advice to steamroll everyone; never do that. But I still say, paraphrasing Cato's words: " Pahlava must be destroyed!"

[artaxerxes]

AS.

Then phalanxes and cavalry - hammer & anvil. In the east I use archers, but maybe that's because they can be hired anywhere. cannae remember. strategy= 1) take all Asian holdings of the Ptollies, make Bostra/Jerusalem the southern border & let it stay there for a long time. 2) take Byzantium, to make sure European factions don't spill into Asia Minor a dime a dozen, 3) mop up a few eleutheroi settlements - the one above Ecbatana, Palmyra, the two non-Indian ones east of Prophtasia and Karmania, the two to the south of the Persian Gulf, 4) take rest of Asia Minor, beginning with Pergamum and Halicarnassus so as not to tempt Makedonia & KH. Depending on whether Makedonia or KH are winning in Greece, fortify appropriate cities. 5) Deal with Pontus and take all of Asia Minor. 6) Deal with the east, where either Parthia and/or Baktria are now tearing you to shreds. 7) start excursions into Hayasdan territory to prevent offenses from here. 8) Defeat Pahlva. 9) Defeat Hayasdan, 10) Defeat Baktria. 11) Solidify Central Asian border, 12) Solidify Caucasus, 13) deal with an invasions in Ioudaia, Asia Minor or from Arabia, 14) have a few quiet years with lots of building, 15) take Alexandria and Memphis. 16) Take either Greece, India or Egypt

the weak points of my strategy are numerous, but who cares... usually Baktria and Pahlava get left alone for too long and become a pain to deal with, but well, with AS there's always some of your enemies who get left alone for too long. I just choose badly

[Maion Maroneios]

OK first of all, my favorite nation are the Hellenes. That is, the Makedones to be more specific.

My golden rules are, in a nutshell, as follows:
1) Roleplay your characters and their decisions
2) Be diplomatic. Diplomacy first, then comes war.
3) Divide and conquer.
4) Constantly beat the living hell out of the Romaioi, then retreat from their lands after bringing them to near death. Repeat until pleased enough (which is like, never).

Maion

[satalexton]

OK first of all, my favorite nation are the Hellenes. That is, the Makedones to be more specific.

My golden rules are, in a nutshell, as follows:
1) Roleplay your characters and their decisions
2) Be diplomatic. Diplomacy first, then comes war.
3) Divide and conquer.

Maion

and kill the romaoi, don't finish them off though, so you can always come back for a second helping.

[Maion Maroneios]

Edited previous post. Thanks for reminding, satalextos.

Maion

[Prussian to the Iron]

i like epiros and konon hellenon, mainly for the good archers and hoplites. for epiros, i defeat the larger makedonian armies, then expand and take the settlements aruond pella to the north. after that i move down through pella and take over makedonia. after defeating them, i begin attacking italy, then greece. after that i just wipe out the last of the romans and greeks for a few years.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Damn thats angry. lol

[Antinous]

I love using the Ptolemy for their phalanx.