Help me start

[Pherion]

I finally got EB to work right and I've been looking at the factions. I wanted to start with Lusotannan because since i'm from portugal those were my ancestors i would like to play with them. But the game says it's very hard and for experienced players only. I played RTW vanilla on H/H and conquered everything. I know EB is much harder then vanilla so i might not be ready for this challenge yet. I would like some of you to recommend some nice starting factions for new comers like me.

Only thing i'm thinking is maybe Romanni. But i would like to hear from you guys. :)

[Arjos]

Romani are by far the easiest faction; Kart-Hadash is well set, but with so many provinces can be puzzling; Lusotannan could be a nice choice as they are isolated, but you'll be facing serious enemies and tough fights...

I say start with the SPQR, just to get acquainted with the game, then choose whether continue or switch to the Luso...

In the end all you need to get used to are the battle balance and the provinces management, after you can move to role playing to get your experience more entertaining ^^

[Taedius]

I agree with Arjos that it can be a good idea to start with the Romani just to get a feel for it. I believe one of the more challenging aspects for the beginner is the economy, with which the Romani has an easy time. You won't be starting by recruiting a lot of troops and building barracks: you should focus on roads and markets. I haven't tried the Lusotannan, but I can imagine them having a tough start, getting easier. Iberia is a very rich region, but you will have to conquer it. Difficulty: M/M. Not so easy as to spoil you, not so hard as to make it ridiculous.

[Sapper]

Good advice from both of Taedius and Arjos. Starting with the Romani will let you find out whats new and also let you get a feel for what level of difficulty you want to use. Then I would suggest you give the Karthadistim a try. They have quite a few regions, which isnt too good for a starter, and they have a big navy (most of which you need to scrap asap), which isnt relevant to the Lusotannen initially BUT they are in Iberia and they will be a major enemy for your Lusotannen. Playing them will let you discover their strengths and weaknesses and give you a feel for the terrain too.

Finally, a word of caution, this can become addictive!!

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

Some good guides for new players:

Casse Gameplay Guide

Lusotann Gameplay Guide

Saka Rauka Gameplay Guide

Carthage: Detailed Starting Guide for new players

(The last guide is my own, the others by other members.)

As mentioned above, recommend starting EB on M/M difficulty.

In H and VH Campaign, the AI factions hate you more and diplomacy becomes very difficult, plus they get additional financial bonuses allowing them to recruit and maintain many full stacks of troops. Also, winnig autoresolved battles becomes harder. In H and VH Battle, the enemy units get large bonuses to most of their stats, making them harder to rout and harder to kill. In VH battle, an ordinary enemy unit can often beat one of your elite units one on one - e.g. levy hoplites become as tough as Spartans.

[lionhard]

Id say start with an easy faction and get to grips with how the game works ... then revert to lustana .. my advice is play a faction that you feel will drive you to continue playing ... theirs nothing worse than playing for months as a faction then finding it boring ... ie.. u may not like where it is located and what main enemies you shall encounter or even the troop selection... i think u may enjoy lustana a lot because they have some nice troops. Try the romans first and get an idea of how things work :) Theirs a lot to learn its nothing like vanilla... it took me over a year to work out all the different goverment types and what advanatges/disadvantages they pose ..... Hell it took me 6 months to realise i had to activate the god damn script lol :D