Help me start

[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

[Brave Brave Sir Robin]

I remember the first time I started up EB, it was v1.0 I believe, and I decided to play as Arche Seleukia as they were my favorite vanilla faction. Boy, was I in for a surprise. Strange government types, tons of buildings, massive unrest in some cities, two different types of barracks, and also, about 30 regions to start with.

I also suggest starting with Romani or another small but financially secure faction such as Makedon.

[FinnishedBarbarian]

If Lusos is the faction you want to play here are some tips: at beginning either use your elite cavalry in taking rebel settlements or disband them on your capital, they have high upkeep and at start their use is very limited because you will not fighting on open field until about 20 years has passed (depending do you decide to attack carthiginians or attack certain iberian tribe who will kick crap out of your starting army).

Split your forces to two armies attacking turdulia and galaecia (regions south and north lusitania) after you have taken these settlements combine your remaining troops and attack carpetania (region east of turdulia which has one of the richest mines in iberia and also great regional recruitment options).

After taking these settlements and building mines in them you should have enough money to have a standing army, keeping construction in settlements going and even financing military expansion in iberia or sending army to conquer ireland.

Use recruitment viewer to see what goverment types you need for each province to maximise regional unit recruitment, eventhough Lusos can construct almost every factional unit across the iberian peninsula going as far away as southern gaul I tend to roleplay with goverment types trying to simulate each tribe as it own faction with proper family members leading regional armies.