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Thread: Strongest factions BI?
orangat 15:04 07-27-2006
Which are the factions that has the strongest troops?

In BI the factions seems to be less balanced (compared to RTW) with factions like ERE/Huns having probably the best selections and factions like Berber which is relatively bad.

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Conqueror 18:31 07-27-2006
Sassanids are very strong if you manage to get a good economy going (their top cavalry units cost a lot to recruit and upkeep, but are worth it.) Unit-for-unit they're probably the best faction for field battles (barbarian hordes may have advantage due to sheer numbers.) Siege battles are their only real weakness, although the Sughdian Warriors unit isn't bad for those battles.

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Dutch_guy 20:30 07-27-2006
ERE is definitely the strongest faction in BI.

It has all the great Roman units, plus all the good units that the east has to offer, so to answer your question the ERE is the strongest faction with the Sassanids as a close second I reckon.

The Franks and the WRE have good units too, however, the Franks lack the cavalry and the WRE don't exactly have a great starting situation...



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orangat 21:23 07-27-2006
Yep all ERE lack is a good spearman unit like the palatinii of WRE and the armored cataphracts of the Sassanids are powerful.

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Cras 15:09 07-28-2006
since the ERE dont have good spearman, an all sassanids cavalry army will whip them to pieces.
for me that makes the Sassanids the strongest army.... they also have an awesome economy

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Cras 15:10 07-28-2006
oh I forgot, the sassanids cavalry is available right from the start. So while all the other countries have reasonably weak units, the sassanids cavalry can is at top strength

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Dutch_guy 15:17 07-28-2006
Well the Romans can simply counter an all cavalry army with an all cav. army themselves you know, as they have access to Clibanarii cav too. Also, the Roman Plumbitarii units could act as a spear unit, deploy them in deep ranks, guard mode and fire at will on. That'll inflict some serious damage to a cav. unit.



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Quillan 15:37 07-28-2006
The roman generals can beat any other cav unit out there easily with their secondary weapon. My first game I had a hell of a time with the Sassanid clibanarii, they seemed almost impossible to kill. Then I read in the Frogbeastegg ERE guide thread the suggestion to use their secondary attack, and when I got back into the game, I used it. They mow the clibs down down. Against Sassanid generals, it takes a bit longer because everybody has 2 hitpoints, but the romans still come out on top. Too big a difference in command stars will still skew things.

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orangat 17:21 07-28-2006
Originally Posted by Quillan:
The roman generals can beat any other cav unit out there easily with their secondary weapon. My first game I had a hell of a time with the Sassanid clibanarii, they seemed almost impossible to kill. Then I read in the Frogbeastegg ERE guide thread the suggestion to use their secondary attack, and when I got back into the game, I used it. They mow the clibs down down. Against Sassanid generals, it takes a bit longer because everybody has 2 hitpoints, but the romans still come out on top. Too big a difference in command stars will still skew things.
Well its not really fair to compare Roman generals with ordinary Sassanid clibs.
Sassanid generals have better armor - 20,10,0 vs 12,10,4 and all Sassanid clibs have long range attack - archery.

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x-dANGEr 19:39 07-28-2006
All of them are uber strong (Unit wise).

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Kekvit Irae 20:53 07-28-2006
Originally Posted by Conqueror:
Sassanids are very strong if you manage to get a good economy going (their top cavalry units cost a lot to recruit and upkeep, but are worth it.) Unit-for-unit they're probably the best faction for field battles (barbarian hordes may have advantage due to sheer numbers.) Siege battles are their only real weakness, although the Sughdian Warriors unit isn't bad for those battles.
Siege battles are actually easy as Sassanids have access to heavy onagers, and they can start building onagers within six turns from starting the game (building a siege range at the capital). Once the walls are down from the onagers, send in the cavalry.

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Philippus Flavius Homovallumus 23:25 07-28-2006
In my opinion Cibs and Kats are badly overrated. In my view the WRE is the best, regardless of their starting position. The Sarmations are cheap, tough and fast, they can give the Eastern heavies the run around strait into the best spearmen in the game.

Added to which they can hold a bridge with just two units.

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Mithras 14:59 07-29-2006
Originally Posted by Wigferth Ironwall:
In my opinion Cibs and Kats are badly overrated. .

I've watched them chew through entire armies almost single handed. In fact I watched a single unit trash around half a low tech army, They are anything but overated.

the most powerful faction has to be the Eastern empire-They have a good lineup, high technology and the cash to back it up. Their only weakness is internal religious and loyalty division which are a moot point for a good player.

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x-dANGEr 15:41 07-29-2006
I think the only unit that ruins BI is the Equite Clibs one.. What! They are like moving tanks.. Nothing can stop them..

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orangat 19:50 07-29-2006
Originally Posted by Wigferth Ironwall:
In my opinion Cibs and Kats are badly overrated. In my view the WRE is the best, regardless of their starting position. The Sarmations are cheap, tough and fast, they can give the Eastern heavies the run around strait into the best spearmen in the game.

Added to which they can hold a bridge with just two units.

What 2 units are you referring to?

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snevets 20:47 07-29-2006
He means the Sarmatians.

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Drusus Magnus 16:20 07-31-2006
The WRE isn't THAT hard. A decent player can get out of the red by turn 3 without losing any territories. Then you only need two good armies, one in Gaul and one in Italy to protect against the hordes. The only reason why you would want more is because of religious uprisings. So the WRE is equal to the ERE.

I agree about the Sarmatians, they're one of my favorite units. I slaughtered many Celts with them.

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Philippus Flavius Homovallumus 17:06 08-01-2006
Originally Posted by Mithras:
I've watched them chew through entire armies almost single handed. In fact I watched a single unit trash around half a low tech army, They are anything but overated.

the most powerful faction has to be the Eastern empire-They have a good lineup, high technology and the cash to back it up. Their only weakness is internal religious and loyalty division which are a moot point for a good player.
Thats only because Cibs are built to kill the stupid AI, they've only once caused me problems and that was in a city where I couldn't manuver and had to meet them head on.

They're so slow they will get mauled by some Horse Archers, then you just need a unit in shieldwall for them to hit and some heavy Cav to ramm up their arse.

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x-dANGEr 20:49 08-02-2006
Mauled by HAs? With their armor of 18? (Not sure.. Maybe 20)

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