most powerful faction

[Vincent Butler]

You get no decent infantry until Numidian Legionnaires (which become your staple), but Desert Infantry is serviceable...barely.

If you choose to stick it out with Egypt, DI are not bad. They do well against chariots, especially in a town where the chariots can't maneuver as well. The legionaries are only equivalent to Principes. That said, Principes (and therefore Numidian/Armenian legionaries) are decent, and will hold their own against most other infantry units in the game. Until you encounter Cohort. But if you mod out the unrealistic cohort, the unit Marius came up with (that we know as ELC) was based on the Principe, so you could manage there too. As a history point for those who don't know, the LC are only unrealistic for the time period, they came later, and PC was only a palace guard.

[ReluctantSamurai]

If you choose to stick it out with Egypt, DI are not bad.

Tried that. Unfortunately, the AI acts like a rabid dog and will suspend its' conflict with Seleucia to come after you. Siwa stands no chance being so close to the Nile Delta, and Numidia can't compete that early with the endless stacks of desert gold winding its' way through Libya. Better to let sleeping giants sleep....at least for awhile

As a history point for those who don't know, the LC are only unrealistic for the time period, they came later, and PC was only a palace guard.

Precisely.

[Vincent Butler]

Tried that. Unfortunately, the AI acts like a rabid dog and will suspend its' conflict with Seleucia to come after you.

That's for sure. That is the AI with anybody. If you are Parthia, Egypt, Armenia, and Seleucia will all ally to attack you, whereas normally everybody there gangs up on Seleucia.

When I am say, Brutii, Greece, Thrace, and Dacia all gang up on Macedon, with Thrace or Germania taking out Dacia, but they are not that friendly towards each other, one of them ends up in trouble and wanting an alliance with me. When I was Macedon, Greece, Thrace, Dacia, and the Gauls all allied together to fight me. It didn't work out so well for them. I let them against Bylazora while I took Byzantium and then Tylis (I was already dealing with Greece), I was lethargic in that campaign anyway. Thankfully, the AI doesn't realize they would be better off allying with me, because with the exception of attacking the Senate, I honour my alliances. But hey, then who would I fight?