Easiest Faction for Campaign?

[shinderhizzle84]

Hello everyone! So, the other day I got bored of Rome Total War, and decided to download this mod for it (I have version 1.1). My only problem is that I'm really not the best of players and am having a lot of trouble winning in both battles and on the campaign map.

What would be, in all of your opinion, the easiest faction for me to start out with, just to get myself much more associated with this entirely new game??! To give you an idea, when I fight my battles I tend to utilize heavy infantry and/or phalanx units over cavalry...I mainly use cavalry to flank and run over my enemy's infantry...

any thoughts/suggestions?! Thanks!! :D :)

[Duguntz]

quart 'adast (cartage) and romani... those are the easiest! Oh, play your battle on Medium, and campain, on hard ()there's not very much different between hard and medium) if you play battlwe on VH, your elite troops will get hacked by some random militia... so it's a big no - no ;)

[shinderhizzle84]

quart 'adast (cartage) and romani... those are the easiest! Oh, play your battle on Medium, and campain, on hard ()there's not very much different between hard and medium) if you play battlwe on VH, your elite troops will get hacked by some random militia... so it's a big no - no ;)

Hey, thanks for the speedy reply, man!

I was losing like almost every battle and was in the red like CRAZY on easy/medium with the Macedonians, so somehow I don't think I'll be able to pull off medium/hard...but I think that with practice, I'll be able to get a lot better. Thanks a bunch, man! :D :P

[Duguntz]

no problem! the medium battle makes your opponants stats the same than yours... they get insane bonus when you go on hard of very hard. It's normal to go deep in red at the beginning. one big challenge of EB is the finances. you'll get used, and find strategy to get out of it faster and faster! then, when you'll want a real challenge, try sweboz! (with Saka Rauka, they get the hardest go at it on the financial point of view!)

Good conquering!

[siegfriedfr]

Hello everyone! So, the other day I got bored of Rome Total War, and decided to download this mod for it (I have version 1.1). My only problem is that I'm really not the best of players and am having a lot of trouble winning in both battles and on the campaign map.

What would be, in all of your opinion, the easiest faction for me to start out with, just to get myself much more associated with this entirely new game??! To give you an idea, when I fight my battles I tend to utilize heavy infantry and/or phalanx units over cavalry...I mainly use cavalry to flank and run over my enemy's infantry...

any thoughts/suggestions?! Thanks!! :D :)

First, just play on medium/medium.

The "easiest" campaigns with a secure starting position, positive economy, and powerful units:
- Romani, Carthago, Ptolemaio

The campaigns where you start with a negative economy but can recover very quickly trough early conquests, and then it becomes easy:
- Makedonia, Koinon Hellenion, Epeiros

Very rocky start but easy once everything is under control (requires a medium experience of EB):
- Arche seleukia, Lusitanian, Baktria

Then you have the barbarians and nomadic factions, who suffer from poor economies and a difficult starting position, with the nomadic factions being the hardest.
Ranking the "barbarians" from easy to hardest: Sweboz/Getai/Arverni/Aedui/Casse
All nomads faction are very (very) hard.

if you want any success in the early stage of the game, you need to master your real time battles to save your manpower.

Basic suggestions for turn 1:
- build roads/farms/market
- set your cities with low population on "growth" automanagement (or low tax rate)
- disband your fleets on turn one (except if you play carthage, you'll need it)
- disband cavalry units if you think you can win your battles without it ( i personally keep them, they are unvaluable)
- if you play Eipeiros, keep your elephants for the first few battles... expensive but an unvaluable tool to root entire armies early on and ensure easy conquests

[Ca Putt]

as siegfriedfr already pointed out Carthage and the ptolemies are the easiest factions whereas Romans are maybe even easier from a battle and finance Point of view, they are a bit confusing concerning recruitment and reforms. reading the FAQ and some guids on this board will help you with that.

and I'd like to say that bactria is far more threatend than Lusotania in the early game but when the worst is over probably one of the most potent factions.

furthermore the "barbarian" starting postitions also differ a lot in dificulty:
Casse cannot/will not be conquered by anyone on m/m no matter how stupid you manage your troops ;)
Sweboz and Getai get slightly off statring positions thus have some time to develop until they are attacked.
Aedui and Areveni get attacked from the beginning
that said Sweboz have the worst economy, getai the widest troop selection and Casse have "funny" (because chariot mounted) generals-> worthless for many players the secret weapon for those who are able to control them.

ps:

- build roads/farms/market

and sewers and low level temples

- disband your fleets on turn one (except if you play carthage, you'll need it)

and for Epeiros and Koinon Hellenon It can be profitable to first transfer some troops and THEN disband the last navy(eg the KH army on Kreta)

[athanaric]

and I'd like to say that bactria is far more threatend than Lusotania in the early game but when the worst is over probably one of the most potent factions.

Baktria and Casse both have a very difficult start but become very easy once you've managed to beat the nearest enemy field armies and take one or two provinces. With Lusotannan, you have to either disband many of your troops after the first conquest or blitz like crazy.

that said Sweboz have the worst economy, getai the widest troop selection

Nomad economy is even weaker. They can't even build proper ports in normal situations.
Getai have failsafe troops and a good starting position, which is why they are the easiest barbarian faction, right from the start.

[XSamatan]

I would advise not to play with 1.1
The up-to-date version is 1.2+fixes, see this for information about installation: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=80270

XSamatan

EDIT:
you can't continue 1.1 campaigns under 1.2, it is not save-game compatible

[Ca Putt]

sorry I meant of the barbarian factions, the nomads sometimes een seem to not have an economy apart from looting^^

[xypherx]

Hi ya ....

Default Re: Easiest Faction for Campaign?

quart 'adast (cartage) and romani... those are the easiest! Oh, play your battle on Medium, and campain, on hard ()there's not very much different between hard and medium) if you play battlwe on VH, your elite troops will get hacked by some random militia... so it's a big no - no ;)

I agree with the factions but the bonusses the ai gets are ok when playin on VH - it forces you to learn how to use your troops in an effective way - and if you've learnt it you will have an easy going campaign no matter what faction you play.
EB forces you to use your troops rather wisely, if you don't and taking too much losses especially in the beginning you will be unable to expand fast or at all which means that you will go bankrupt faster than being able to start a new campaign.
If you have difficulties during the battle try to fight some custom battles. In the beginning it's often necessary to concentrate on simple tactics like flanking - combined attacks with the right timing for charges, and using your bodyguards exessively - charge, charge, charge.... ^^ simply to crush the enemies or their morale, so that there will be no unecessary melees which usually cost many lives.

If you manage to expand really fast and are into horse archery/ heavy cavalry Pahlava is quite nice and not too difficult as long as you are able win battles with nearly no losses besides some bodyguards.

[Paltmull]

that said Sweboz have the worst economy,

My Sweboz experience (which is quite limited) shows otherwise. If you conquer the settlements around the baltic sea, you will get a pretty decent trade income. And when you've built mines in a few provinces your income will actually be quite good.

Edit: And don't forget that you can cheat a bit and use several generals in your army, which means elite infantry for a small upkeep cost.

[Cute Wolf]

Edit: And don't forget that you can cheat a bit and use several generals in your army, which means elite infantry for a small upkeep cost.

Seconded, my early Sweboz, Saby'n and KH battleline's central part are mostly moron FM, suitors and adoptee that didn't have their own worth except to provide elite frontline troops

[Paltmull]

Seconded, my early Sweboz, Saby'n and KH battleline's central part are mostly moron FM, suitors and adoptee that didn't have their own worth except to provide elite frontline troops

Gotta love putting the king's stupid cousin in the frontline.

[Cute Wolf]

Gotta love putting the king's stupid cousin in the frontline.

ssh, even the king now won't dare to call em moron, as they often got large contingents of gold chevroned bodyguards, while the king (excpt when they are Sweboz, king always on the frontline) only had 2 or 3 bronze

[Paltmull]

ssh, even the king now won't dare to call em moron, as they often got large contingents of gold chevroned bodyguards, while the king (excpt when they are Sweboz, king always on the frontline) only had 2 or 3 bronze

Well, you could always put him on a fishing boat and send him away on an "anti-pirate expedition" if things become uncomfortable. ;)

edit: (the king's cousin, not the king, of course :P)

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

Hi:

If you're interested in trying Carthage, and are new to EB, may I shamelessly plug my Carthage guide - which will walk you through the first few turns of the game and get you used to using ships to deploy troops.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...or-new-players

[Skullheadhq]

Hayasdan and Pontos are the easiest, good luck!

[Cute Wolf]

Hayasdan and Pontos are the easiest, good luck!

with 1 things need to be true, M campaign, and you follow everyone backstabbing the Arche... ^^

[Scutarii]

I disagree.

I had to play a Hayasdan campaign 9 times before I was able to get past the first 15 turns. Backstabbing AS or remaining allied...whatever I did I would always end up n the situation where I had taken Kotais, Mtskheta and somewhere else while only just recovering financially when a random wandering full stack or a few half stacks of AS would turn up and take most of my territory.

This happened without fail every single time and, aside from cheating, I could not be bothered to spend the dozens of turns building a functioning economy from one recently taken city and about 10k of debt.

My final try on the otherhand I asked for peace form the AS and asked them to give me Karkhatiokerta..and they did, then they left me alone...

[Duguntz]

hum... Do I really have to point you out that he was being sarcastic?

[Cambyses]

Its got to be Carthage. They have a really secure homeland and great income. Plus they have some easy and natural early expansion.

Ptolemies are also pretty easy due again to a secure homeland, but they do start at war with AS, which i imagine could be challenging for someone new to EB.

Also, the Casse, surely they are a great idea for a new player, its a very isolated position and you can take all the time you want to conquer Britain from the rebels while you get used to teh game. Sure the chariots can take some getting used to, but that's all.