I think the Romans in Europa Barbarorum are somewhat underpowered. Not because their stats are wrong or their enemies statted too strong or anything, but because the total war engine is bad at modelling the advantages the Romans had and good at modelling the advantages their enemies had.
The Romans for example were able to operate in more tactically sophisticated formations than tribal enemies, who due to limitations of command essentially had to deploy in a big block. The Romans could keep large portions of their force in reserve, including veterans like the Triarii. Those highly skilled Gallic nobles on the other hand had to be on the front lines or they'd lose the respect of their followers. Same with generals. A Roman general encouraged his troops from behind the lines, watched for weaknesses, send reserves where they were most needed. A Germanic warlord would be on the front lines hacking and stabbing because that's how he proved his courage. Even Hellenistic generals fought like this in imitation of Alexander the Great. There are plentiful accounts of Hellenistic or tribal armies breaking through the first line of a Roman force only to be checked and routed by reserves.
Another thing would be unit structure. The legion was divided in well-organised sub-units led by junior officers who could take the initiative and respond to developments that no general could be aware of due to lack of communication. Many of Rome's enemies had nothing compared to centurios.
Julianus undoubtedly is correct that even the Romans had far from perfect command over their armies and soldiers. They still had more than the vast majority of their opposition, though, and that I think is a large part of what made their armies so effective.
But in the Total War engine everyone has perfect command over all their units, everybody can deploy in multiple lines and execute complicated flanking manoeuvres. That rather erodes the advantages the Romans had.
(Edit re: Recklessness: especially in the mid-early republic, lots of Roman armies were, far more so than armies led by generals trained in the Hellenistic tradition. And I do count Hannibal here. Hannibal taught the Romans what happens if you don't take care to choose your ground. A lot of the advantages I describe above only developed over time.)
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