Barbarian faction opinons

[PureEvil[PIE]]

Not sure in years/seasons, but I did put them down quite early, I was just fighting Lusotann and Romans (towards the most recent of my campaigning with Aedui), I didn't venture far North so I didn't notice the Sweboz getting stronger. How could you sound rude o.o

[Brennus]

Not sure in years/seasons, but I did put them down quite early, I was just fighting Lusotann and Romans (towards the most recent of my campaigning with Aedui), I didn't venture far North so I didn't notice the Sweboz getting stronger. How could you sound rude o.o

I was just worried when you said you were fighting the Lusotanni and Arverni you meant at the same time, either meaning that the Lusotanni had blitzed up to Gaul or you were taking a long time to beat the Arverni. I didn't wan't to cause offence by saying "You should really have the Arverni beat in the first 2 years" and have you say something along the lines of "Serious!?". A little trick for you when playing as the Aedui, once you have beaten the Arverni there is no better time to invade Rome. The Romans are occupied with the Epirots in Tarentum and by hugging the Appenine mountains you can fight your battles defensively, let the legions wear themsevles out climbing to meet you and then smash them with a charge of botroas. This way I managed to sneek into Italy, sack Rome and burn the Capitol. In honour of my namesake I got them to pay me to go away and using a non-agression pact they were more than happy to sign I was able to get back across the Alps with my army in tact.

Venturing north as the Gauls is a very good idea, IMO, it opens up more ports ot trade with the Britons (lots of lovely tin to be had) and gives you access to three of the best troop types available to the Celts: Remi cavalry, Belgic spearmen (impassable) and Belgic swordsmen (unstoppable). It does mean you keep having to watch the Sweboz border but with Belgic troops its possible to break pretty much any German invasion. It's the Romans who you have to be wary of.

[athanaric]

I was just worried when you said you were fighting the Lusotanni and Arverni you meant at the same time, either meaning that the Lusotanni had blitzed up to Gaul or you were taking a long time to beat the Arverni. I didn't wan't to cause offence by saying "You should really have the Arverni beat in the first 2 years" and have you say something along the lines of "Serious!?".

Depends. I like to press the Arverni eastwards (after having taken Viennos and Gergovia) to create a buffer between me and the Suebi. Doesn't always work though. In one campaign (abandoned due to corrupted savegame files) the Arverni just didn't fight the Swêboz. In fact, they surrendered faster than their descendants did in WWII. It was really awful. It works well though when I'm playing the Swêboz, and using the Arverni as a shield to the West and South.

It's the Romans who you have to be wary of.

Especially seeing as you don't have dedicated AP troops. Teceitos are only recruitable in some border provinces and become unavailable after the second reform. Tekastos and Appea Gaedotos are good but only regionally available as well. Not to mention they're not really Gallic (meaning it doesn't feel right to use them in "royal" armies or to spam them like Gaelaiche or Bataroas). Likewise for Illyrian clubmen (with the additional problem that they're useless against other barbarians). Sure, slingers and cavalry have AP attacks, but they aren't too terribly effective vs Romans as main damage dealers. This is what I dislike about the Gallic factions. All other barbarians have some basic anti-armour unit that is widely available in their homeland (Casse - Teceitos; Getai - Drapanai/Kostobok axemen; Lusotannan - Caetrannan; Swêboz - Sloxonez).

[Blxz]

and gives you access to three of the best troop types available to the Celts: Remi cavalry, Belgic spearmen (impassable) and Belgic swordsmen (unstoppable).

I am a little suspicious of bias due to your field of study.

[Brennus]

I am a little suspicious of bias due to your field of study.

lol. for paying attention to my posts. Thank you.

[rickinator9]

I haven't played any barbarian faction as of yet. I like the civilised nations with their heavy armor a lot more. Does any one of you know a nice barbarian faction for a player like me?

[Sylon]

If you're particularly attached to armoured infantry, I would suggest either the Getai or the Lusotanna. All the barbarian factions have armoured units, of course, but the Germans and Britons tend to be poorly armoured (with only a handful of exceptions) while the Gauls are so-so.

[Arjos]

while the Gauls are so-so.

O.o

Arverni and Aedui are the most armoured factions of the barbarian culture slot with their third reform...

Getai and Lusotannan, have huge shields and pectorals at most, except for the Ischyroi Orditon or the Loricati Scutari...

[athanaric]

I haven't played any barbarian faction as of yet. I like the civilised nations with their heavy armor a lot more. Does any one of you know a nice barbarian faction for a player like me?

Gauls. They also have the best economy&infrastructure of all barbarian factions. (Not pictured: more Celtic auxiliaries with medium armour).

[Kleitos]

I haven't played any barbarian faction as of yet. I like the civilised nations with their heavy armor a lot more. Does any one of you know a nice barbarian faction for a player like me?

well me too, i had bias for the barbarian factions and so played mostly greeks, parthians or the hayasdan - but as allways when playin´a new faction, inspired from all the infos you get when you play this awesome game i make researches for them to be able to enjoy roleplayin more.

the celts (continent celts - in game Aedui, Arverni) at this time are considerd a step before high culture ...so i guess you should try them.

and - it´s just real fun - to have an campaign with so much different units available with so much skill ... great skill and very good stamina. ..for me there is nothing much above this ...since playin these factions i dont look much for armour anymore.

these two qualities beat good an expensive armour in my opinion. ..i always play vh/vh so no need to hesitate about lack of armour - of course hit an run tactics are inevitable at least with the slingers and such in the skirmish phase...

just some hint - use the recruitment viewer and the EB Units list http://europabarbarorum.heimstatt.net/index.php? to plan which units you will definitely use and therefore maybe where to move first.
forget about units with only good stamina when you can have the ones with very good. ..so i guess - owning the belgae provinces therefore is a very good thing - the Belgians just rock!

o.k. teceitos with AP attributes (but "only" good stamina) are very useful and cost effective ...used them largely in my first Arverni campaign ...until i noticed in late campaign that in Cantabria and Asturia (northern spanish Atlantic-coast) are Axefighters available with very good stamina and more skill, the "Clona Tekonac" - also they are available after the time of soldiers reform.
now in my Aedui Campaign i moved quickly after subdue the Arverni to Cantabria ..it takes some time anyway until the level 4 MIC is build.

but i wonder if it only happen to me? : i never got time to unite all of Gaul in early game like Brennus did - after destroying the rival Gaul faction - i was quickly at war with the Romaioi (even when i abstained from taking Massalia) ...so i had to concentrate to conquer them ..in the end (since the Romaioi never give up) it was necessary to take all off italy ...then in both campaigns the Sweboz attacked me to - so same thing.. the culture diversity is not so big - so pacifying the population is easier as with Rome.
my expansion always lead me into the east in early or midgame. ..uniting the rest of Gaul was only possible for me after that in a consolidation phase when not at war with any Faction.

[The Stranger]

you play VH/VH that makes a big difference undoubtly.

[Blxz]

lol. for paying attention to my posts. Thank you.

Much appreciated; they tend to be interesting posts. My first balloon also.

can build nifty paved roads

Hit the nail on the head here. I lately have been sticking with paved roads factions just because building up infrastructure is fun.

[Brennus]

Does anyone have any tips on just how to get the Gallic economy moving?

[athanaric]

Does anyone have any tips on just how to get the Gallic economy moving?

The problem with the Gauls is, as you know, that they have a difficult start. I tend to get into huge debt with the Aedui at the start, much worse than with Swêboz. Of course you know the relevant stuff, like disband your fleet, use up your armies to defeat the rival faction, and take one or two Eleutheroi settlements. Once you've got to the point where you're in the plus, you should focus on getting paved roads. They're the most cost-efficient building in EB and also help with public order issues. Apart from that (and in first place in those settlements that aren't cities yet), sea ports, healers, and tier 2 farms are important. After these, look to markets and river ports. Of course you'll need to keep a tight regimen, which means taxes at max, small armies with only a few swordsmen and cavalry units, and so on.

If you can take Helvetis, it will provide you with two silver mines (apart from the obvious kickass auxiliaries).
Tolosa has a mine and a pre-built tier 1 (which you can upgrade to tier 2) sea port (and a few goodies).
Same for Burdigala, except the mine of course. Tolosa can also have a tier 2 military port.
Darioritum can be taken easily and comes with a pre-built tier 2 port, which can be upgraded to tier 3.
Massilia has a pre-built tier 1 port which can be upgraded to tier 3 with a Type I or II government. Unfortunately, Aedui can only have a Type III government in Massilia, which only allows for tier 2. Also, the Romans love Massilia, so you'll need to develop your MICs there (native one first, since it has Botroas and other choppy blokes) and possibly crank out some Sphendonetai.

[konny]

I am a little suspicious of bias due to your field of study.

That, but indeed I too find the Belgic Swordsmen one of the best units the Barbarians can get their hands on. I don't know what makes them so special because their stats are not that exceptional, but I find them regulary cutting through everything that comes popping up along the Channel. They even can give Rycalawre (what I had made the Casse bodyguard instead of chariots) a serious headache toe to toe, for example in a town square.

The spearmen are not that dramatically good, but they are level 1(!) where you otherwise get just Lugoae.

[Brave Brave Sir Robin]

That, but indeed I too find the Belgic Swordsmen one of the best units the Barbarians can get their hands on. I don't know what makes them so special because their stats are not that exceptional, but I find them regulary cutting through everything that comes popping up along the Channel. They even can give Rycalawre (what I had made the Casse bodyguard instead of chariots) a serious headache toe to toe, for example in a town square.

The spearmen are not that dramatically good, but they are level 1(!) where you otherwise get just Lugoae.

Belgic Swordsmen are so good because of their spacing. Line them up next to Bataroas or Botroas and look at the difference. Every one of their opponents is facing two Milnaht basically, although they will be more easily flanked because of this. Spacing gives them a lot of pushing power as well so they generally have their opponents moving backwards. Also the big shield helps against javelins.

I too would advise Gauls for someone who prefers civilized factions. They have more armor than other barbarian factions and (a huge plus in my book) can build nifty paved roads.

[athanaric]

Belgic Swordsmen are so good because of their spacing. Line them up next to Bataroas or Botroas and look at the difference. Every one of their opponents is facing two Milnaht basically, although they will be more easily flanked because of this. Spacing gives them a lot of pushing power as well so they generally have their opponents moving backwards. Also the big shield helps against javelins.

That's the same reason why Swêboz units are astonishingly powerful. Even their skirmishers have relatively tight spacing. Don't forget the morale and discipline of the Belgian troops though, which is what makes them so reliable.

[Frtigern]

I look for high morale (16+), highly trained, and impetuous. Also like to make sure I have axemen or falxmen in my armies so I can send them specifically against armored infantry. I like the Iberian troops because of their armor piercing swords and their real effective javelins. Never underestimate superior numbers of alpine shortswordsmen against lesser numbers of heavier armored swordsmen. I always try to make the heavy infantry tired with skirmishers and cavalry with slingers firing on their flanks first and then charge them with my mass of crazed wildmen!