Best Campaign Faction?

[Principe]

My question is simple. What is the faction that has the best troop recruiting zones, wide ranges of troops, a strong economy and a good position. My opinion is Karthadastim. Equites Lancearii, Balearic slingers, Balearic light infantry, Gaesatae, Samnite heavy infantry, campanian cavalry, Numidian archers, Sacred band, elite African infantry, elite African pikemen, they group up into one killer faction. Plus the economic powerhouse Carthage generally is. Is there anything I'm missing? A better faction? Please give me your opinions.

[Ca Putt]

I'd say Romani. Marian Legionaries can be recruited nearly everywhere, they have acces to most important regional troops, their Economy is fierce and they can build high Level roads + sanitation which helps with a prolonged campaign. Their native troop selection is a bit boring and their not my personal favorites, but they probably are the best for a Long campaign. It's more fun with other factions tho.

Carthage surely is strong, however it's native troops have a limited AOR.

Other candidates would the the Arche seleukeia, or basically all other hellenic factions.
The AS does have some of the largest AORs and among the best troops and complete rosters. Also Keep in mind that classical hoplites can be retrained in various provinces throughout the mediterranean, making a prolonged campaign in Gaul or Iberia, not all that complicated.

While disqualified in the categories: "Economy", "diversity", "completeness" ... the Sauromatae and Saka can technically Train their lesser nobles(aka noble medium horsearchers*) really** everywhere, tho they might run into some ... Govermental problems^^

*best unit type imho
**I think These are among the few Units that do not have an aor but can be trained everywhere.

[Principe]

However, if a campaign gets boring, Its not going to last long. Meanwhile, Carthage can recruit a larger variety of local units than Rome. Plus the Marian reforms are extremely tough to get, from what I've heard. The classical hoplites are great, but let me just give a quick example.

My Carthaginian empire is about 7 years in. I have Sicily, and am beginning a conquest of Iberia. I can recruit strong medium and heavy cavalry there, as well as good barbarian mercenaries. And while Classical Hoplites all the way isn't a bad idea, it definitely lacks character. Arche Seleukeia is definitely my second option, but it has no real way to expand. Pahlava or Ptolemoi? Greece or Scythia? I love their roster though.

Thank you for taking the time to write such a long opinion, it really helps me.

[Ca Putt]

However, if a campaign gets boring,

true dat!
tho I think many People like romes playstyle. and the reforms do entertain a bit. Carthage has a good regional roster for their immediate area of Expansion, but further away it's just as good as everyone else's. one Bonus rome has compared to several other civs is that they can train regional elephants. That's really great when you're not carthage.^^

and as said, outside of pretty much their starting territory carthage runns out of factional troops to retrain.

Carthage is more fun and I personally prefer them but Rome just has more "conquer the world" potential. mainly because EB is so historically accurate, and they actually did^^.

I was reffering to classical hopites as good Basic Units for hellenic factions, for carthage and rome it definately is rather off. This also makes KH sort of a candidate, as if you don't want to rely on those dreadfull Reformed hoplites classicals are the way to go, or thureophoroi, but that's to modern for my taste^^ the downsides for the KH are that they lack high Level garrisions and their roster *whispers* suuuuucks, not because they don't have great Units, they do!. but because they lack too many troop types.

AS, yeah, they sort of already expanded^^. an Option would be to subdue all hellens, that's quite some land to conquer. apart from india and Baktria the territories to the east are mostly worthless. conquering the Ptolemaioi and pontians is of greater interest. After that(and the east is secured) you may want to "return" to pella and reunite alexanders empire. expand it to where alexander stopped and spread your rule to the People of India. Or stand up to the upstart Empires in the western mediterranean.

[sleep_well]

This is my first post but I've played EB since 1.2 release and I only play AS because I just love their history and yes their roster.

I would say AS and Romani are the only 2 factions that have the potential for map domination because of their victory condition; think of it as 2 superpowers east and west, all other factions don't need to expand that much. With them, you go big or you go home.

With AS, expand everywhere because that's what they tried to do, Anatolia, Greece, Armenia, Parthia, India... everywhere is a potential.

The good thing with AS military is they have every unit type in the game as factional troops, and the awesome version of it too (except horse archers though, shame). Their basic troops are very competitive and can destroy elites if used right. Better yet, you can build them nearly everywhere. I can be wrong but AS can recruit phalanx around Gaul. Also, you won't do it wrong if you mix in some regional troops because that's what they did back then, it would just add to the character.

Campaign wise, AS civil constructions are massive and their economy is strong, and they stayed true to Alexander's dream. You may find it boring at first though because it's mostly internal control and defense. You will loose territory very early (turn 1) and can't hope to expand for a few years. The play style will be more conservative but very challenging because you have to be very careful from the start, all your neighbours hate you and will look to shish kebab you really early if you don't court them, their early economy is miserable which is dangerous for that big stretched empire.

[kdrakak]

This might be a bad title to associate with the questions put forward in the actual first post. In my opinion the conditions described, with the exception of a strong economy, do not necessarily make for a good campaign. I have found that maintaining interest after initial major success (Carthage taking Rome or Macedon consolidating mainland Greece, for example) is the key to an enjoyable campaign. Doing so with limited elite roster availability actually adds to the mix. If reforms are available, then there is this extra bit of something to be waiting/going for. In this respect Hayasdan is probably the best campaign to play even though it is a bit more challenging than most in the beginning. But the Caucasus and Orontid reforms are really worth the trouble you go through (plus they make political/strategic sense). But to be honest most of the campaigns in EB were very interesting and enjoyable. If anything it is the exceptions that stick out, i.e. when you play a campaign and you find you didn't really enjoy doing so. For me those exceptions were probably the Sweboz, the Getai, the Sarmatians and the Saba. All others were somewhere between good and excellent.