Most powerful faction...

[cambrax]

I'd have to say England, simply because of the starting position. Once you secure the British Isles, you can have (if you want) seven perfectly safe cities that will never be touched. Regardless of unit rosters and the like, that's such a huge advantage, especially as if you gobble up enough rebel provinces in France and Burgundy quick enough, you have a mainland empire the same as any other starting faction, in addition to your island kingdom.

Spain/Portugal are up there as well, for similar reasons. Not as good as England, though.

The AI always seems to do well with Denmark in the early to mid game, and then in my experience they'll be supplanted by a central/eastern european power alongside the spread of whichever Italian state has done the best (normally Milan).

[IPoseTheQuestionYouReturnTheAnswer]

While I don't think there is any single most-powerful faction that's above the rest, there are certainly some factions that are better than others. The Turks, for example, get essentially everything: heavy lancers with an AP attack, the best heavy infantry in the game, the best muskets avaliable to any faction, some of the best archers, and plenty of horse archers. They don't have quite the gunpowder artillery selection of some of the other factions, but they are still exceedingly powerful.

I would probably rank either the HRE or Moors right under the Turks in unit selection. You might be surprised at my choosing the Moors, what with all their unarmored crap units, but once you get to the highest levels of their unit roster you can definately field a strong, modern army that can compete with the best the Catholics and Orthies have to offer. The HRE get those nasty Gothics and Reiters plus lots of unique infantry, which is always a good combo.

In my opinion, the Timurids are as close as it gets to an all-powerful faction. Those Elephant Artillery are war-winning units. I managed to get ONE unit of them hired as mercs while playing the Turks, and the all-cavalry army they are in is holding all of italy single-handedly from a horde of Moors. In each battle I fight, the Elephant Artillery routinely finish with half the total kills I got in the battle, usually more. They don't seem to get EXP ever, though.

Still, the Timurids get no decent infantry at all, so even they have drawbacks.

There are definately some factions that are below the pack. The Scots, Byzantines, and Sicilians come to mind. None of them have any real redeeming qualities. They lack the basic, important units of other factions, and most of their unique units aren't nearly as good as those from other factions. Norman Knights are nice, but will lose to any other Catholic high-late era knight. Kataphraktoi aren't bad, but will lose to any other type of heavy lancers with maces. The Scots rely too much on pikes and infantry, two things that are extremely ineffective in M2.

[Xaziv]

in terms of online MP where units matter the most, I would choose France or the Turks

In campaign, I like Russia, England, Spain/Portugal, Denmark, Milan (best italian one IMO)

france has a lot of fronts to fight, and the turks have to deal with the mongols and timurids.

[Doug-Thompson]

From a strategy point of view, I have to agee with either of the Catholic "Iberians," Portugal or Spain. I'd also point out that the Moors start with similar advantages, although their unit roster isn't great.

I'll cite the same reasons and add some. As mentioned, Spain or Portugal have a non-Catholic victim to expand against in the Moors. Sacking Cordoba and Grenada gives huge cash advantages too. A few thousand florins go a long way in the early moves. Then there are those two rebel provinces in the east, although one is strongly held by El Cid.

Once you make the jump to North Africa, the Egyptians are far too busy fighting off Crusades to give you much trouble. You can go on Crusade too -- and use it to capture Egypt. After that, you're too rich to kill. You can let the Mongol and Timirud waves ride, and scoop up the weakened survivors.

Finally, converting all those Muslim provinces to Catholicism really puts you in great standing with the pope and builds you up in the college of cardinals.

So, the best Catholic faction is either Spain or Portugal, IMHO.

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The best Muslim faction, unit-wise, are the Turks, but you must be a good tactician. You have to fight all the time, so you'd better win.

The best Muslim faction strategy-wise is probably the Moors because of the starting postition already mentioned.

Still, I like Egypt. The opening blitz up the coast brings in much cash. So does sacking Constantinople. The Mongols, frankly, haven't been a problem so far since they are my alllies.

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Best Orthodox faction? Tough call. Byz are like the Turks. Great units, but they have to fight all the time. I enjoyed Russia. Either/or.

[danfda]

I'll add my vote to the Russian contingent. Cossack Musketeers are simply awesome.

[Turpitudo]

I would vote for France, the armour upgraded Voulgiers wipe the floor with every Infantry (yes, even JHI) but for the danish Halberdiers, if you use the spearwall ability without hold positions. They are all-round units and cheap(!), good in offense (if you have the patience for a good ordered but slow attack) and defence. They also have a good starting position and can get rid of England very early in the game. The scottish guard and horse archers add a lot to their ranged abilities and they have some of the best armoured cavalry and pikemen in the game.
Milan is the only disturbing factor to them, but they are normally in war with every of their neighbours.

After all I think every faction is well balanced.

[Varyar]

It's difficult to say because it matters on your criteria. I would completely disregard starting position because it's so easy to pull off a 'barbarian migration' (in my current game as the Turks, I abandoned all starting provinces and took control of Crete, Rhodos and Cyprus. Thanks to the island bug, I had no worry of being attacked and could develop my economy. Best campaign yet). Likewise, comparing only the best units disregards availibility, since you'll likely fight the first 50 or so turns with mostly crappier units.

All italian factions have a super advantage in their militia troops, but despite that I'd pick the Moors. Why?

Infantry: Dismounted Christian Guard is actually better than most dismounted knights. Also the Urban Militia is a great militia unit. However, considering that both of them are somewhat elite units, the overall rating for Moor infantry is average. They have decent spearmen but nothing impressive and until you get the better units, you'd better not rely on infantry to win your battles.

Archers: A poor selection, definitely the Moor weak spot. However, the basic Desert Archer is decent, with both long range and good stamina. Like their basic infantry, not much to rely on but they get the job done.

Cavalry: A very good selection ranging from the basic Arab Cavalry and the city-recruited Tuareg Camel Spearmen, to the Granadine lancers and the Christian Guard, which is equal to the Templar/Hospitaller Knights. They also have spear-throwing cavalry which is great, the fast-moving Granadine Jinetes is probably the best such unit in the game.

Also, one thing which I consider to be very important about a faction's cavalry selection is the availability of at least one fast-moving unit. The lack of such is IMHO very negative, which is a major reason why I'm not too fond of neither England nor Poland.

Gunpowder:

With the advent of gunpowder, you can produce Cossack musketeers, the second best gunpowder unit in the game. You also have something those Turks who stole first place don't have[...]

Dear Sir, I think what you really meant was third and second Because the best gunpowder unit in the game is the Moor Camel Gunner. Hands down. It's the gunpowder equivalent of the horse archer with all the advantages of the latter combined with the wonders of gunpowder. With long range. And as if that wasn't enough, there's the camels. With the 'freak-out-horsies' bonus. This is the ultimate morale killer, easily able to take out any knights sent after it. It has no equal. There is no army I would rather have than one filled with these guys, backed up by some Christian Guard and Granadine Jinetes. Also there's good artillery(cannons) and better-than-average arquebusiers in the Sudanese Gunners.

All in all, the fantastic later-game units of the Moors more than compensates for their poor earlier units. And that is why, IMHO, the Moors are the most powerful faction in the game. The muslim advantages of Jihad doesn't hurt either.

[KARTLOS]

There are definately some factions that are below the pack. The Scots, Byzantines, and Sicilians come to mind. None of them have any real redeeming qualities. They lack the basic, important units of other factions, and most of their unique units aren't nearly as good as those from other factions. Norman Knights are nice, but will lose to any other Catholic high-late era knight. Kataphraktoi aren't bad, but will lose to any other type of heavy lancers with maces. The Scots rely too much on pikes and infantry, two things that are extremely ineffective in M2.

have you played as the sicilians mate? i would agree their unique units could be a little more outstanding, but they do have a very balanced roster and they certainly have plenty of good basic units. they have your basic and essential spearmen - seargents, armoured seargents and italian spear milita. good missile units - muslim archers and pavise crossbowmen. they have reasonable heavy inf - dismounted normans, sword and bucler men and dismounted broken lances and finally they DO have good cav.
the norman nights might not be quite as good as the late era knights of some factions, but the sicilians do also get chivalric knights which are one of the strongest late knights. besides its rare that you have to rely on head on collision between opposing knights.

[SMZ]

And that is why, IMHO, the Moors are the most powerful faction in the game.

Camel Gunners are nice, a very powerful unit.... but iunno if that alone is a faction saver. Have you seen the Islamic navy?

By the time you get to the later portion of the game, where you're going to be getting those Camel Gunners, it's not too much longer until everybody else gets Carracks and you're left with Baghlahs - giving up 12 points in Attack and 8 in Defense... in other words, you better not get your feet wet.

Secondly, Cannons are ok, but that's all you've got... a weaker version of the Culverin. The mainland Christian powers all get Basiliks, which completely pwn your Cannons. Not to mention, your Camel Gunners are useless in a siege, so you can hardly use them as a war-winning unit... a very useful unit, definantly... but I'd say they save the Moors from being out-classed, rather than give them any sort of edge... just like good archers on foot will beat good archers on a horse... good musketeers on foot will beat good musketeers on a camel.

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EDIT: After just doing some unit testing on VH, grassy field... I can say that Knights of Santiago vs. Camel Gunners is mutually assured destruction, The Knights take casualties before they can close, then take even more because they're scared of the camels - but the huge difference in melee ability allows the Knights to dish out heavy casualties - it's a toss up to who flees the field first, but either way, the winning unit is torn to shreds. Also the Knights can close because the Camels are slow. Secondly, Portugese Arquebusiers beat Camel Gunners with 50% casualties... the difference in range hurts them initially, but the larger unit size makes a bigger difference. Lastly, Janissary Musketeers mop the floor with Camel Gunners with 25% casualties.

They remain, a deadly field unit... but there are counters... even good long range archers could hang with them, I tried Sherwoods, and they gave the Camels a good smacking with 33% casualties.

[Musashi]

There are definately some factions that are below the pack. The Scots, Byzantines, and Sicilians come to mind. None of them have any real redeeming qualities. They lack the basic, important units of other factions, and most of their unique units aren't nearly as good as those from other factions. Norman Knights are nice, but will lose to any other Catholic high-late era knight. Kataphraktoi aren't bad, but will lose to any other type of heavy lancers with maces. The Scots rely too much on pikes and infantry, two things that are extremely ineffective in M2.

I think you haven't played the Byzzies enough. They're one of the greatest factions unit-wise, at least until the late period when they don't get anything new. They're much like the Moors in that you really need to be able to command a pure cavalry army to be successful, but their cavalry is superb. The fact that Kats aren't a match for high-end uber-knights like Lancers and Gothics is irrelevant because you shouldn't be using them much. The Vardaratoi and the Byz Cavalry are what you should be focusing on. If your entire army is mobile missile cavalry it really doesn't matter what the enemy brings to the field, you're going to win.