Makedonia EBII impressions

[IrishHitman]

Hello all, some of you may remember me from the old Hamachi days from the first summer tournaments on EBI.
Anyway, as a longtime EB and Makedonia player, I had a shot at this.

One word: GLORIOUS.

Compared to EBI, it's head and shoulders above.
1. Pikes are done excellently. Gone is the robotic style of phalanxes from EB1, everything is much messier which I like, formations can break up despite the pikewall, and turning a formation in combat is still possible but far less effective and can lead to serious casualties if the enemy reacts. Not sure if this is all inadvertant from having to jury-rig a better phalanx system from the M2TW one (which was horrendous), but well done lads.

2. Goodbye annoying Pyhrros on my doorstep on turn 0, hello cheeky manoeuvring to capture Athens and Sparta. Though Athens is now pretty much compulsory for Makedonia to possess because of its Megapoleis building and large population.

3. Cavalry types are all present and accounted for, and work better in every way bar charging (which I understand is something to be fixed).

4. More interesting things to conquer: Pergamon, Ptols closer to Greece, Pontus not ending up dead quickly or hulking out, Getai building scary armies worthy of attention, and even the Romans dicking around the Adriatic. All very good stuff. The Bosphorus boys are bordering me now on the current campaign as well, looking forward to feeding them their own teeth.

5. The villages: Makes it far more easy to wipe out armies rather than have survivors skulk off, as if you catch an army in one, you can fight it to the death. Beautiful stuff. Though I had it turned on me as well. Plus the added bonus of being able to stick elite units in them for free upkeep as reserves for the homeland defence is excellent. Both of which makes the war for supremacy in Greece both more interesting and less frustrating. The villages are well placed in the region as well.

6. Government system and culture: Very good stuff. Wish I could recruit a few Companions in the capital without having to have a fully developed Hellenic colony + government with that, but the light lancers and generals do the job.

The game is very playable so far.

TLDR: Bravo Team EB, bravo.