most powerful faction

[Vincent Butler]

The two hit points of the Bastarnae are really nice. Don't know if they will compare to this.

[edyzmedieval]

Creeshan Arshers man, they always do the damage.

To be fair, it was either Cretan Archers or Barbarian Mercenaries (spearmen/warband) as the most used mercenaries when you were playing as one of the Roman factions. Always good support from both.

[ReluctantSamurai]

As a Roman faction, "Creeshan's" were definitely useful until Uncle Marius showed up and you got Archer Auxillia, but Warbands were nothing more than fodder to throw at the enemy while you flanked them. The only two line units I recruited were merc Hoplites and Thracian/Bastarnae

@ Vincent

You gotta love those 'Zerkers

[Vincent Butler]

As a Roman faction, "Creeshan's" were definitely useful until Uncle Marius showed up and you got Archer Auxillia, but Warbands were nothing more than fodder to throw at the enemy while you flanked them. The only two line units I recruited were merc Hoplites and Thracian/Bastarnae

@ Vincent

You gotta love those 'Zerkers

I would hire those Barbarian Mercs simply to increase the size of an army to avoid a sally out when besieging a fortified city, increase size of my army before autoresolve, or to increase the size of a garrison in an underdeveloped town. Eventually you can disband them and they return to the population.

I was surprised when the Berserkers beat first the War and then Armoured Ellies. I think if I tried it again I would run my Ellies through them. I tried it as the Berserkers, lost one, won two, the one I lost I saw the white routing banner on my Berserkers. Maybe just the captain was left, so he routed? Cataphracts beat Berserkers, but you certainly want to take advantage of the charge bonus, I won with only one charge, but lost more men. Also first time (with extra charge) I used Wedge, and lost my captain right off the bat. I still won. Yeah, Cataphracts are worth what you pay, provided you use them right. It can be expensive if you don't.

I have been trying out different one-on-one scenarios, most of the time the results are as expected, but not always. Usually Berserkers or Screeching Women come into play. Hmm...Berserkers vs Screeching Women... But wait, I can't. They are both Germanic, and so it won't let me fight Germania vs Germania.

[edyzmedieval]

Despite them being used mostly as cannon fodder, the Barbarian Warbands can hold their own ground, particularly when you employ them in a defensive position and especially after they have some experience.

[Vincent Butler]

And when expecting a charge from cavalry, I always put my infantry in guard mode, it seems to help them absorb the shock better. I take them off guard after the impact so they will move around to attack more of the enemy's men. And I don't actually use men as cannon fodder, I don't like squandering men, even from my not so good units. Units like Barb Mercs usually are on my flanks so I can engage engage their cav, my infantry deals with their infantry, and then my units who come free go after whoever the Barb Mercs are fighting, if they need help.

[Mitch the Mace]

Barb mercs are good for soaking up the main punch of the enemies attack while your other units can move to flank. If I don't have a phalanx, I love having the Mercs first in line when defending a bridge. With the warcry, they can hold out for quite a while; in the mean time, my missile troops are unloading into the mass of troops on the bridge.

Scythia is a fun faction to play as. The battles do take a little longer early on as the HA run rings around the slow infantry that the enemy throws at you. Although, militia cav from Thrace seems to tear up my HA in melee combat. I am sure there is some reason for that, but if I remember right, the stats are similar.