early observations

[aln]

Hi all, am new to EB.
I am playing the Casse on m/m and finding the going pretty tough compared to RTW & RTR. Whilst I can reconcile the starting position of a military force that is unsustainable (reflecting your struggle for power) and the need in many cases to cut back and develope infrastructure, I am annoyed to find the rebels have no such worries. 'Huge' stacks from the start with little income. My main worry is that while I wait to build a decent army they will also build more units. It would be better if we could develope at roughly the same pace avoiding an unrealistically hard beginning and an easy time later on as we 'hoover' up the weaker rebel states. Also do the rebels ever fight among themselves?.
Thanks in advance (I hope!)

[paullus]

The rebels do not fight amongst themselves. Could be cool if they did, and more historical. But they'd practically be factions then, and killing each other off it'd be easier to conquer them.

Why would you want to be able to "hoover" up the "rebel" states at some point? Many of them represent powerful tribes and states, and as such should be able to give you a good challenge. The EB peeps certainly made the game more tense (in case you haven't experienced it yet, losing an army to a rebel stack stinnnnnks, but in a rewarding way).

And don't worry, in the late game you'll still be able to smash your way through region after region if you want to, its just not as easy as it once was.

[Avicenna]

Casse is ridiculously difficult though, since as you're sieging one city a full stack comes to their aid. You also don't have enough money to expand your armies much.

[aln]

If the Casse are a difficult choice to play EB for the first time, what faction would you recommend?.

[Pius]

My first faction was the Ptolemaioi (sp?) i.e. the egyptian empire. You start in a pretty quiet corner of the map with the upper Nile as you main source of income, not to mention the naval trade from ports such as Alexandriea. Steady income, take your time to build up your armies, then strike first the petty rebels, then the Arche Seleuikid for supreme control in the middle east! Whahahah!

A great faction for beginners.

[aln]

Thanks for the advice Pius, Your english is waaaaay better than my swedish (non existant!). For "below zero" try "broke".
I thought the Seulicids (sp?) are quick to fight the Ptolemaioi?. And their lands seem extensive at the start.It's not that I don't want to fight early on, but I want to get to grips with the new building and government types.