macedonians rule

[ptolemy]

i think that macedonians are one of the best factions to plays as the strong phalanx and companion cavalry make them a force to be reckond with. given at first its a little hard because of poor cavalry choice and the greeks down your neck bt after u deal with them its easy. i was just wondering if anyone had a differant opinion.

[Arrowhead]

The german have all that and more with spear warbands, gothic cavalry and berserkers. Oh and forester warbands.

[ptolemy]

given that the germans do have that they just arent disaplined, bt i must admit they do pose the second biggest threat when i play a campaign second only to egypt.

[Basileus]

germans dont have forrester warband, the gauls do

[ptolemy]

yeah bt the forrester warband can be easily ran over wi sum cavalry. gauls arent warriors its just the size of there armies that pose the threat

[ptolemy]

soz my bad gauls arent great warriors

[Dutch_guy]

Macedonians were not hard to beat, I defeated them with the Brutii and the Greeks easily in the beginning , took Corinth, Larissa and thessalonica without much resistance. then they were beaten, they only had 1 settlement left after that which was in Cyrene ( Libya )never seen them expand towards africa really weird.
as for the Gaul, germania thing. the germans I think are better , because of their cosen axemen and sprear warband and of couse berserkers and gothic cavalry

[Count Belisarius]

Macedon is a fun and challenging faction to play. I guess because they are not meant to be unlocked without a small amount of modding, their tech tree is a little underdeveloped. Their top-end infantry isn't that great, but their cavalry is SO much fun at all levels. Light Lancers are easy to recruit early, cheap to maintain, and FAST. If you are prepared to accept sufficient losses, you can go Lancer-heavy with your army and simply swamp the flanks of your enemy (especially foolish Romans who NEVER have sufficient cavalry or spearmen to deal with you early in the game). Macedonian Cavalry is an excellent unit as well. I exterminated an entire unit of Dacian infantry with ONE charge using a veteran Macedonian Cavalry unit, and I did so without taking a single loss. I simply rode the insolent barbarians down. Most of the time I don't build Companion Cavalry except for home defense because they are very difficult to retrain due to high tech requirements.

That said, the Seleucids are more fun, mainly because their unit selection is better. The Seleucids, being historically an offshoot the Macedonians, quite naturally have almost all the same infantry units as the Macedonians, but the Seleucids have Silver Shield Pikemen and Silver Shield Legionaries (which ROCK, but are difficult to retrain). The Seleucids have Companion Cavalry, just like the Macedonians; and instead of Macedonian Cavalry, the Seleucids have Cataphracts, which are better than Macedonian Cavalry anyway. Plus, the Seleucids have scythed chariots and elephants, if you're into that sort of thing. Overall, the Seleucids have most of the advantages of the Macedonians (strong cavalry, pike phalanxes, lots of denarii), without the drawbacks (no high-end infantry and no chariots/elephants).

[Akka]

The best factions are either the Seleucids (which have the most varied unit selection of the whole game : excellent phalanx, excellent infantry, armoured elephants, good cavalry, they have practically the second best in anything), either the Scipii (best temples, ultimate navy, and the roman units selection, which is devastating).

[Krusader]

Scipii got a good unit roster, although they are the "hardest" Roman faction to play. The Carthaginians arent that much of a threat, but the cities the Scipii take have high cultural penalty and squalor.

But Corvus Quinquireme & Decere are awesome ships.

Seleucids have a good selection of troops, although I would like to mention Pontus too.

They got Eastern Infantry, which I use early as fodder, and then Phalanx Pikemen who when used correctly are devastating. Their elite infantry is the Bronze Shields, who are easily the peers of Silver Shield Pikemen. Otherwise they can also recruit Thracians, Cretan Archers, Sarmatian mercs and Rhodian Slingers.

Their cavalry selection is also impressive. Scythed Chariots and Chariot Archers for instance.
Pontic light cavalry arent that great as they got javelins, and suck at melee. But they are fast, and is perfect for pursuits.
Pontic Heavy Cavalry is also armed with javelins, but they got good enough melee stats, and can rout light infantry.
A large city (12.000) with the tech level stables can train Cappadocian cavalry, who are just as good as Cataphracts.