Name the faction

[jerby]

"gah"

[TheTank]

They are Galatian Ninja Elite units.

[khelvan]

They aren't Galatian, but we will have a Galatian unit based on the same model.

[SpawnOfEbil]

They are obviously Bartixian!

[KingOfTheIsles]

Are they Celtic mercenaries?

[Ergion]

They are Arverni??

[Seleukus I Nicator]

They are celtic for Sure!
Are they Germanic?

[saulot333]

A celtiberian unit for the Iberian faction. Am I right or what? ;)

[alman7272]

I'd say they're Caledonian.

[GoreBag]

I'd say they're Caledonian.

Then you'd be wrong.

If they're not Galatian, they're Gauls of some kind..

[Glewas]

Like many of the others have said, definitely Celtic elite/noble unit with more of a continental feel, I think. I would hope that they would be part of the Aedui faction, (personal favorite), but, since the Celts were well known as mercenaries, I could see these guys hiring themselves out to the highest bidder.

All that aside, my gut feeling after seeing the unit was that it is an elite unit of the Nervii, but Gertgregoor said no Belgae...

So, just a guess... elite infantry of the Aquitani?

[PSYCHO V]

lol

[Zero1]

Aedui, right?

[Stormy]

Interesting...

[Zastrow]

Brennus' Celts that traveled to Thrace and Greece, the Galatians diverged from them.

[tk-421]

This is definitely a Gallic unit. There is a sreenshot with the exact same (or at least it looks exactly the same) unit fighting Romans in the Gallic wars action shots in the Roman preview. I have looked at the screenshots so many times that I recognized it instantly. I can't post any attachments for what every reason but here is a link to the preview.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=53849

[Wardo]

We have a winner!

[GoreBag]

Ah, but what unit is it?

[Divinus Arma]

deleted

[GoreBag]

Careful there, DA.

[the_handsome_viking]

they are gauls because they can also be seen in the gaul vs romans gallic wars picture set at the end of the roman preview.

they are a very nice looking unit.

[khelvan]

Aedui, right?

Zero1 wins!

It is Gallic, an Aedui unit on their faction list; the Neitos, to be exact.

No fair looking at our action shots ;)

[Ranika]

I'll point out at this point, it's not an elite unit. It's just a very late game Gallic unit, when mail was more heavily proliferated amongst the Gauls. It'll still be expensive compared to unarmoured Gallic swordsman, but won't be much better in combat, with the exception of their superior armour. However, bare in mind, the late Gallic armies were mainly spent fighting other Gauls, and such soldiers would either be engaged by Gauls, or allies of the Romans, also fighting Gauls. That sounds unnecessarily confusing, but I can't find a way to better word it.

[GoreBag]

Zero1 wins!

It is Gallic, an Aedui unit on their faction list; the Neitos, to be exact.

No fair looking at our action shots ;)

Galatians next time?

[Zero1]

I recognized the Gallic mow/mustache thingy and immediately thought Aedui

[Zero1]

I'll point out at this point, it's not an elite unit. It's just a very late game Gallic unit, when mail was more heavily proliferated amongst the Gauls. It'll still be expensive compared to unarmoured Gallic swordsman, but won't be much better in combat, with the exception of their superior armour. However, bare in mind, the late Gallic armies were mainly spent fighting other Gauls, and such soldiers would either be engaged by Gauls, or allies of the Romans, also fighting Gauls. That sounds unnecessarily confusing, but I can't find a way to better word it.

So, basically what you mean is these particular soldiers where around during the civil war time in Gaul and spent more time fighting eachother then anyone else, right?

[Glewas]

The answer was just Aedui? I was thinking were looking for a tribal specific answer... darn.

Ranika: If this unit is not much better at combat than a bare chested swordsman, is it possible that this unit will only be available after some type of reform? Say around 100 BC or sometime after that?

[PSYCHO V]

So, basically what you mean is these particular soldiers where around during the civil war time in Gaul and spent more time fighting eachother then anyone else, right?

Well, the civil war / wars ebbed and wained for almost the entire period, but if you mean the last major one (1st C BC) then yes.
These guys (Neitos) started turning up very late in the period. Historically, the rivals states were too exhausted to field too many of these units but we've included them to add some versatility to the end game...kinda EB's what-if Gallic unit. So if the human / AI player happens to do better than what the Gauls did historically, they'll no doubt have some of these units included in their forces.

my2bob

[jerby]

sounds very nice!

[khelvan]

The answer was just Aedui? I was thinking were looking for a tribal specific answer... darn.

In some cases, this would be true, but this one happens to be an Aedui faction unit, rather than a non-affiliated tribe.