Faction Reveal 6: Suebi

[TinCow]

http://wiki.totalwar.com/w/Total_War..._Suebi_Faction

“Blood, Nobility, Courage.”

The Suebi are an indomitable Germanic culture dwelling to the north east of Gaul. Not a single people, but rather numerous tribes sharing a common language and similar religious beliefs, they frequently raid their Gallic neighbours across the Rhine.

Heavily reliant on infantry and ambush tactics, raiding is their predominant form of conflict. Lightly equipped, most Suebi warriors make use of the framea, a javelin-like spear, as swords are a rarity. Often unarmoured they carried their rounded, oval or long, hexagonal shields into battle and wore little more than simple cloaks or other garments at times.
However, their fighting prowess is legendary and their warriors rightly feared. Even the stoutest centurion would tremble at the sight of a charging band of Berserkers – or feel the icy hand of fear clutching his heart when the sinister, black-painted Night Hunters spring from the forests.

Fairly isolationist, Julius Caesar wrote that there was a paucity of trade outside of the Germanic tribes themselves, occurring only if a surplus of loot or slaves were available. To distinguish themselves from their slaves, freemen and warriors wear a form of topknot that has come to be known as a Suebian knot. Their kings, chiefs and champions sport even more elaborate versions of this same hairstyle.

Given such ostentatious displays, standing out in battle is important. Kings and chiefs, although drawn from elite lineages, are elected, making their continuation of heroic traditions essential in uniting the tribes.

Under the right leadership, The Suebi have the potential to unite to a single purpose, and Britannia, Gaul, and Iberia could easily be swept away under the weight of their numbers…
Like other Germanic factions, the Suebi are masters of forest warfare and plunder. Stemming from a confederation of smaller Germanic tribes, they have a diplomatic edge when dealing with other barbarians and excel at fighting lesser tribes who dare to stand in their way. They feel disdain for outsiders, civilised cultures and other barbarians alike, and must contend with considerable resistance from those whom they conquer.

[johnhughthom]

Ze Germans are coming.

[Barkhorn1x]

Furor Teutonicus!!!!

(well...furor Suebiuicus :))

[Fisherking]

Great!

[The Outsider]

Oh yeah i was waiting and hoping for this :-) which factions you guys think for the last two? I mean i think we have three possible choices; ptolomei, selecuid or parthians. I think that the parthia is almost certain seeing that there is always demand for an eastern faction so i wonder which one they will sacrifice...

[Monk]

A very welcome surprise. I had expected Germania's representative to slip completely into non-playable minor faction status. Great to see they are in as one of the original 8.

Oh yeah i was waiting and hoping for this :-) which factions you guys think for the last two? I mean i think we have three possible choices; ptolomei, selecuid or parthians. I think that the parthia is almost certain seeing that there is always demand for an eastern faction so i wonder which one they will sacrifice...

Hard to say at this point. We may see another Diadochi at least, but I wonder what they will do for the last slot. There's a huge need for an eastern faction as you say, if nothing else than for reasons of starting point variety.

[Oene]

Parthia coming!!!

[Beskar]

oooo Egypt, Selecuids and Parthia, who will get the cut!

[Oene]

Seleucid out, IMO.

[johnhughthom]

These faction reveals are making me more and more wary of how dlc heavy this game is going to be, is pretty much the entire east going to be dlc? We may well see a smaller scale campaign focus than we are used to, with a later expansion to increase the map size.

[The Stranger]

lame... this is so western europe orientated that imo throwing in something east of the bosphorus will be lame/boring/imba (in case of multiplayer). probably they will come up with something like that for dlc/expansion.

[dge1]

I think this is great. The North will be on fire. Given the depth the seem to be going after for each faction there will be many hours of game time ahead.

If the game plays well I don't care what they have as a DLC. I'll get it and go one. Does look though like the East will have some playable factions added later.

I can hardly wait for October.

[The Outsider]

These faction reveals are making me more and more wary of how dlc heavy this game is going to be, is pretty much the entire east going to be dlc? We may well see a smaller scale campaign focus than we are used to, with a later expansion to increase the map size.

I couldnt agree more, every since this dlc madness started, we see more and more content left out of the original game. No matter what the companies claim, i think that this content should have been in the game. I far as i can see what they are doing is they rush the games for a quick release date (preferably at holidays like xmass) than they start dishing out dlc which were supposed to be the part of the original game. Than as if this was not enough, after they are finished with all the dlc, they put everything together (like it should be to begin with) and they call it gold or game of the year edition and they sell it again. I mean this is truely unfair and annoying, if you wait around one year you get the game that you were supposed to get in the beginning and if you are a loyal fan and purchase the game at release than you will have to pay for the base game which is sometimes (e.g empire) quite buggy and for the additional dlc. I love expansion packs but every day we are moving away from expansions to dlc's which is really disturbing. As if that was not enough, we are also loosing the mod support by each game, i mean it is the modding community that holds total war on its feet, if people are still playing rome total war and others, it is because of our great modders and i think that they really deserve CA's support... None the less, i still hope that the game would be better than we have expected and all my complaints would go up in smoke, i hope...

[Zarobien]

Suebians are good choise over Germans.

Id say the next ones are going to be Seleuds and Ptolemai.

Still, this is very poor display. I was missing scynthians, thracians, spanish, numidians, kushians... Well, simply more than what we had in RTW. Not less like we are going to have now.

[Myth]

Berserkers. Heh, the guys over at the EB forum will be frothing at the mouth

[Ca Putt]

I'm really beginning to wonder how far east the map is going to expand, with only two slots left I don't think playing there will be much fun.

Suebi are a good choice for a germanic tribe, I'm sure all TWlers from Dresden will be happy to see the Suebi capital ^^

[Goontrooper]

For those concerned about the East being empty, or something, just remember how Empire and especially Shogun were setup. Yes, there were a limited number of main starting factions...but every region was occupied by a unique faction. It wasn't how earlier games were designed, with non-faction territories just being 'rebels' or 'independents.'

I imagine that every territory and major nation / tribe will be in the game, from the start. You won't have Parthia as just 'Rebels' or something. Instead, you will need to buy a DLC to make the faction fully playable and fleshed out.

I too am wary of DLC taking out parts of the game, such as factions, that should have been included from the start. However, if the DLC is truly different and unique, I think it is ok because it is actually expanding the game with gameplay, not just a reskin or something weak like that. So, if the Parthia faction is DLC only, it should play very differently from the Rome faction. Since each faction is supposed to have differing internal mechanics, such as families and varied governments, I'm really hoping that they take the time to make each one play differently. So playing Republican Rome should be very different from playing a tribal power or Parthia. Not just in unit selection or global bonuses, but in all of gameplay, from unique events and choices to internal mechanics.

I'd be perfectly happy paying for another faction if that faction was different and fully developed. Paying for another faction that is just different units and global bonuses would feel like a rip-off. That is why I didn't pay for most of the Shogun faction DLC. I felt like you were paying for a different start pos and some slightly different colored units and global bonuses. The actual gameplay was fundamentally the same, and thus the DLC seemed like a cheap money grab. If the Rome DLC does more than that and actually offers up really detailed factions with different gameplay, I will be ok with paying for it.

[Cvetko]

A NICE VIDEO ABOU THE SUEBI:

[The Outsider]

Are you sure that it is getting announced today mate? I have been checking their web page but no new factions yet. Good video by the way. I had more than a few laughs last night. What is your accent supposed to be? Sounds like a mix of greek and persian :-)

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Maybe Egypt with some khopesh swords and bronze age chariots.....sorry, I couldn't resist.

[andrewt]

Maybe Egypt with some khopesh swords and bronze age chariots.....sorry, I couldn't resist.

Don't forget about the half-naked warriors whose armor rating are higher than even the most well armored Roman legions, proving that it's not just chicks in RPGs who benefit from that.

[andrewt]

Double posted, please delete.

[Myth]

Are you sure that it is getting announced today mate? I have been checking their web page but no new factions yet. Good video by the way. I had more than a few laughs last night. What is your accent supposed to be? Sounds like a mix of greek and persian :-)

Judging by his nickname his accent is Bulgarian, but greatly exaggerated for comic effect

[Oene]

sounds greek to me.

[Myth]

If he is Greek and is named Cvetko I'll eat my shoes. At most he could be Macedonian or Serbian.