Favorite phalanx-based faction?

[Julius Augustus]

Makedonia, of course. You get a cool blend of Hellenic and Western units, as well as getting access to Thracian elite rhompheia weilding killers.
Best of all, you be to kill off the Roman swine!
And you can get the satisfaction that can only be attained by debunking myths of Spartan invincibility. Farewell 300!

[J.R.M]

Julius is right. ecxept what he said about spartans, but oh well Maks rock, seriously Thracian peltasts and others plus some phalanxes (god bless Hysterois) is a pretty KICK ASS army. I alomost forget the Cavalry.

[retep219]

Personally, Epeiros is my favorite. Plenty of epic battles and fast expansion at the beginning, Phryrus as your king, elephants of course, and a nice Thracian AOR (Although Makedonia has that too, I think?) as well as an excellent starting location that provides for an interesting campaign. They also have more leeway on where you can go next, especially with regards to going west. (If I recall correctly, Makedonia needs to leave Rome alive so they can get March of Time?)

It's an excellent campaign, especially for one who likes to blitz. Elephants are fun, you can fight a large variety of enemies (Makedonian phalanxes, Konion Hellion's hoplites, Arche Seleukeia's Greco-Persian AI spam, the various "barbarian" units of the Thracian rebels and the Aedui of northern Italy, and of course Rome and its armies.) as you fulfill your reasonable victory conditions. Plenty of room for diplomacy, too, you do not HAVE to kill everyone in your way.

[Kevin]

It seems Epeiros and Macedonia are the favorites so far. Their unit rosters seem really similar except the Epeiros can recruit Elephants, right?

[Megas Methuselah]

Pontus. For the sheer exotic feeling, if nothing else.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Makedonia of course.

[retep219]

I wouldn't exactly call Pontos a phalanx based faction, though. More like a Persian-styled faction that has a couple phalanxes in its roster. Unlike,say Epeiros or Makedonia, one would not think of Pontos as being a faction that has an army that has to rely on phalanxes.

And Pontos really is a challenge, situated as it is on top of Arche Seleukeia. Make sure you are up to that challenge....I certainly found it far, far harder than Romani or Pahlava, don't know a thing about Getai. If you just want a traditional game with a faction that has phalanxes, Epeiros or Makedonia would probably be a better choice. If you want a totally different, very hard game, go with Pontos.

Epeiros and Makedonia are similar enough. Their early game is pretty different, which is due mostly to the famous elephants that allow for one-turn sieges as Epeiros. Makedonia's size doesn't really count for too much; I've looked at the AI Epeiros starting armies, and they look tough. Two elephant units, and plenty of phalanxes, if I recall correctly. Makedonia AI starting armies seem weaker. Especially because they sometimes end up fighting the Konion Hellion. (Not that I'd know how hard AI Epeiros is, I haven't actually played Makedonia). It's your choice when it comes to those two factions.

[A Terribly Harmful Name]

Epeiros, Epirote Heavy Cavalry is GOD: they have the punch of Hetairoi with the speed of Illyrioi Hippeis. More often than not all that super heavy cavalry is too slow and gets tired too quickly, which is lame, but as Epeiros you have probably the most maneuverable shock cavalry in the world. Even if they are still likely to underperform in 1 vs. 1 combat vs. catanks, they can quickly run away and strike at will. And they take forever to get tired too, increasing their longterm battle efficiency.

Otherwise, plenty of Illyrian and Thracian units to use, just like Makedonia. Since you have to conquer Makedonia at the start, your mid-game phalanx roster will probably not be very distinct from them. You can only recruit Pezhetairoi in Makedonian provinces at the start, but at least you get Elephantes Indikoi right off Ambrakia with a better MIC. And from the start, you also have much superior light cavalry forces ranging from Hippeis Tarantinoi to Illyrioi Hippeis, while still having access to the powerful Successor medium cavalry and heavy infantry roster.

Overall, Epeiros is a bit indistinct from Makedonia on the military composition - They have a bit of a local touch to their troops, but the distinctions are less than the similarities. On expansion, you can choose a much wider expansion based on the Mediterranean, and you also don't get much from "March of Time", so you're better off putting the Romaioi scum to death. That's what I plan to follow next in my campaign - with Italia in your hands, you'll be so wealthy that even the Seleukids will pose no problem.

[Kevin]

Epeiros and Makedonia are similar enough. Their early game is pretty different, which is due mostly to the famous elephants that allow for one-turn sieges as Epeiros. Makedonia's size doesn't really count for too much; I've looked at the AI Epeiros starting armies, and they look tough. Two elephant units, and plenty of phalanxes, if I recall correctly. Makedonia AI starting armies seem weaker. Especially because they sometimes end up fighting the Konion Hellion. (Not that I'd know how hard AI Epeiros is, I haven't actually played Makedonia). It's your choice when it comes to those two factions.

]

You're right about the Epeiros starting with stronger armies, especially the elephants and calvary units. What about late game? Which is more fun?

[athanaric]

Unless Baktria is in, I have to say Makedonia. Great units (best phalanxes on average, good cavalry and excellent specialist troops), badass colour theme, plus their position on the map enables them to fight any other faction should the need arise.

[Ludens]

If I recall correctly, Makedonia needs to leave Rome alive so they can get March of Time?

If they want to get the reformed Pezhetairoi, yes. But Macedon's unit roster is excellent even without those.

Just as the Aetolian and Achaean Leagues were when Romans arrived at Greece after the Second Punic War. Still retaining their fighting spirit, unlike the somewhat spoiled Makedonians and thrice more decadent Greeks, who all but abandoned their citizen militias in favour of mercenaries, the Qarthadastim way - which leads to a predictable ending of a loss. Even Hannibal knew this, which is why he chose to rely on regional indigenous recruits, mainly the Iberians, not independent mercenaries.

That's a somewhat simplistic view, although it was shared by many classical writers. Several Greek city states (including Athens and Corinth) still relied partly on citizen militias: they were defeated all the same. The most reliable infantry formations in Carthaginian armies, including those of Hannibal, where the Libyan mercenaries. I am also unsure why Hannibal's Iberians do not qualify as mercenaries. They certainly had no more reason to fight for Carthage than did the Libyans.