Your choice of faction: a "rational" explanation

[Pharnakes]

Just give 'em calawre and then rycalawre

[The Celtic Viking]

I think you're the only one, at least until they stop dying faster than you can keep up with it. Even without the dying, I hate trying to manipulate those awkward chariots around the battlefield, and the generals are really the reason I don't play Casse.

Cheers.

Did I not also say "stats be damned"? I like them for the aura around them - the mere fact that they're chariot just feels... right. It's not because I think they are good in any meaningful way. I guess I'm just a fanboy.

[Landwalker]

Did I not also say "stats be damned"?

Ah, I thought you were referring to the "regular" hero units, rather than the Casse as a whole.

I like the "Hero System". I just wish I could make the generals "dismount" before battle and fight on foot...

Cheers.

[The Celtic Viking]

Ah, I thought you were referring to the "regular" hero units, rather than the Casse as a whole.

Well, actually I was talking about the whole Celtic hero system, that includes those in Gaul too, in that their warriors were not just warriors, they were heroes. Not part-timers like the Romans...

I like the "Hero System". I just wish I could make the generals "dismount" before battle and fight on foot...

I think that's a wish you share with a whole lot of others, me included.

[Jarardo]

I'm pretty fascinated with Alexander, so I like Makedon. I'm also pretty fascinated with Rome, and Carthage. So I like to play as them too. That's pretty much the reason I play any faction.

[Pharnakes]

I like the "Hero System". I just wish I could make the generals "dismount" before battle and fight on foot...

Well, if thats the case, why don't you just make them foot units?

You can always pretend that they rode to battle on chariots, and then dismounted.

[Landwalker]

Well, if thats the case, why don't you just make them foot units?

If I knew how to do something like that, I would. But not everybody on these boards has l33t m0dd1ng sk1llz. Or whatever.

Of course, if a future version of EB... say, 1.1... were to incorporate this, I would be most happy. Were I able to do it myself, I certainly would, but alas, such is not the case.

Cheers.

[Pharnakes]

Were I able to do it myself, I certainly would, but alas, such is not the case.

5 mins in the scriptorium will do it.

I'd give you instructions myself, but I can't be bothered refrasing what others have already written.

[Landwalker]

5 mins in the scriptorium will do it.

The whosiwhat? I am unable to locate this scriptorium of which you speak. I tried looking in the Unofficial Modding Projects subforum to no avail, as well as the "Hosted Mods for RTW" in general. I literally have absolutely no idea what's going on here--I don't frequent (or even passingly glaze over) the vast majority of the forums, I don't know how to edit the EDUs to do... anything. I certainly don't know how to wave the magic modding wand and change the Casse generals from Cidainh to something like Calawre or Rycalawre, let alone how to change them to Calawre in the Time of Freeman and Time of Bondsmen, then Rycalawre (a sort of "late general's bodyguard" in the Time of Soldiers.

If anybody out there would be interested in helping, it would be greatly appreciated. Whether it's through a step-by-step "tutorial" instruction guide, a link to a thread that already address this question, or just by "Here's the proper forum to ask that question, get a good answer, and not get chewed up in the process".

Cheers.

For those who would be willing to help, but would like this thread to get back on track to Rational Reasons for Faction Selection, feel free to PM me. I'll take whatever I can get.

[Tellos Athenaios]

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=77

[konny]

and the generals are really the reason I don't play Casse.

Me too.

I had started one campaign with them and had lost three FM in the first battle against outnumbered rebells. That was it for me and the Casse.

[Parkev]

Watchman did a short tutorial. https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/archi...p/t-81687.html
But copied here for your convenience

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Right, here goes.

1) Backup your original export_descr_unit.txt.

2) Open export_descr_unit.txt.

3) Search for celtic chariot cidainh bodyguards. It should have ";18" above it.

4) Replace the entry with the following:
Code:
type celtic chariot cidainh bodyguards
dictionary celtic_infantry_rycalawre ; Rycalawre
category infantry
class spearmen
voice_type General_1
soldier celtic_infantry_arjos_rycalawre_solduros_kuarothoroi, 30, 0, 1.35
officer officer_celtic_standardbearer
officer officer_celtic_officer
mount_effect horse +1, camel +1, elephant -3
attributes sea_faring, hide_improved_forest, very_hardy, command, general_unit
formation 0.7, 1, 1.8, 2.6, 4, square
stat_health 1, 0
stat_pri 12, 6, no, 0, 0, melee, simple, piercing, sword, 0 ,0.225
stat_pri_attr no
stat_sec 13, 4, no, 0, 0, melee, simple, piercing, spear, 0 ,0.13
stat_sec_attr spear
stat_pri_armour 12, 10, 4, metal
stat_sec_armour 0, 0, flesh
stat_heat 5
stat_ground 0, 0, 0, -1
stat_mental 16, disciplined, highly_trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay 0
stat_food 60, 300
stat_cost 1, 2720, 0, 80, 130, 2720
ownership britons, slave
I incidentally added the non-standardbearer unit officer, just 'cause generals are so cool they want to have one around.

4) Save the changes and exit. Presto. Although you might want to delete map.rwm, just in case.

Unless I got something wrong, the beauty in the above trick is that it changes the content of the celtic chariot cidainh bodyguards entry, and thus should both be savegame compatible and not require any changes to descr_strat.txt or some such malarky.

One possible issue is that the unit cards might still show the chariots - I don't know if the engine looks at the "type" or "dictionary" line for that. Although given that the bodyguard version doesn't have its own cards I'd guess the latter, in which case this shouldn't be a problem.

Currently playing a Casse campaign, I am planning, once I unite Gaul, to make the general cavalry either Brihentin (Gallic Noble Cavalry) or Remi Mairepos (Belgic Heavy Cavalry). I think of it like the catapract reforms, as I have had my chariots and light cavalry mercs mauled by Gallic generals and Germanic merc cav so many times and then lost crucial battles..., that I think the adoption of new tactics influenced by my new conquests is fair enough, especially if my faction leader is a Belgae or Carnute etc.

Word of the day: Malarky

[Landwalker]

Iberius Victor is my new favoritest person. Thanks for the information. The fact that it's save-game compatible makes it even better, since it means you can "update" the generals over the course of the game (although Watchman's justification for Rycalawre instead of Calawre is convincing enough) and roleplay a Cassian parallel to the Seleucid cataphract reforms. Thank you again for the copy/paste and the link.

Malarky is an excellent word. People always look at me strangely when I use it, but I feel it needs more exposure and appreciation.

Cheers.

[mrtwisties]

I'm about to start a Saka campaign. There's something attractive about the purity of the nomad lifestyle. A horse beneath you, the wind at your back, and nothing but rolling plains ahead...

I also feel like going on a migratory rampage, and these guys are going to give it to me:

• Fast-moving nomad generals.
• Fast-moving cavalry armies.
• Ranged troops that can kill without dying, which means I spend more time fighting and less time training new men in a barracks.
• Ability to recruit core troops from anywhere on the map.

I'm thinking we'll establish our new homeland in Thrace and Makedon - a nice, safe distance from the Yuezhi and Xiong Nu. Then we'll pour the resources of the rich Aegean into the efficient Saka military machine and see what happens next.

[mrtwisties]

I'm also planning to use that leap turns mod. I'll be firmly ensconced in my new homeland by 250BCE, so I'll let the computer play on my behalf for a while and take up the cause again in 160BCE.

Let's see how the Yuezhi like their rematch.

(after the rematch, I don't know - maybe I'll see if I can use a hotseat mod and continue playing as a different faction)

[skuzzy]

I truly love Epeiros because of being clammered between Italy and mainland Greece. Not to mention you can go pretty much whatever direction you want with your campaign because Pyrrhus suffered from massive assault ADD. After you go a little crazy with Pyrrhus and he dies you can use his sons to consolidate an empire and then become king of Greece as Alexander did. Although this is the case I have played a Makedonian campaign and am currently undertaking Arche Seleukia which up to this point has been somewhat boring as I am just trying to develop all this scattered land and bouncing around rebels. The only conquering I've done is I blitzed Ptolemai off of Asia minor except for Side which I just took about 10 minutes ago. Despite building mines everywhere I could and 3 very large mines I can barely compensate for the corruption which is realisitc but sad! Also I haven't been partaking in much conquest because I hate marrying and adopting and naturally diluting the family tree so I had to wait about 60 turns to get some generals and governors. God bless EB.

[Landwalker]

Hmmm.... I followed Watchman's instructions, and they worked like a charm... until Mowg came of age. Although my starting generals (and the Eleutheroi counterparts) were all Rycalawre, all my generals who come of age are... African Generals...? Given that I didn't change anything (aside from the differences between Watchman's Rycalawre and the 1.0 version), this seems passing strange.

Aside from that, having decent generals, even of the infantry variety, has already made the Casse much more enjoyable.

Cheers.

[Digby Tatham Warter]

Playing KH purely for the Spartan agoge

I just cant wait to get a nice 16 year old spartan sharp/charismatic/vigorous kid in the agoge.

That kid is soo gonna lead my army in the future

Can't any of the Helenic based factions train in the Spartan agoge, or is it all factions?
After 2 turns playing as the Maks, my young family members were in a position to enter it.
I'll find out real soon if AS can have the same honour.

When it comes to which faction I usually play I prefer AS, it's cultural & military diversity between East and West offer more depth.
You face a challenge from so many different enemies and you have perphaps the strongest & best looking troop line up going. I feel like the Persian king Xerces(spelling?) when I can draught troops from all over my provinces to make composite armies for Western invasion.

But it is a difficult campaign in terms of the work involved, particulary, if like me your fussy about detail and every thing has to be reasonably perfect. I rarely stick to just one campaign, I have the AS as my main one, but for a break from the heavy 'turns' a few simple campaigns are fun, like a Parthian, Mak and Baktrian one, and a Samation one beckons I feel.

Overall when it comes down to battles involving armies that are largely infantry based, I try 'free for all' armies(not tight formational) but find I keep coming back to the immaculate ordered battles that pike based armies offer. Where a line is usually held and doesn't bulge fit to burst(at times) and it's only the flanks that have a degree of organised chaos to them.

[konny]

Hmmm.... I followed Watchman's instructions, and they worked like a charm... until Mowg came of age. Although my starting generals (and the Eleutheroi counterparts) were all Rycalawre, all my generals who come of age are... African Generals...? Given that I didn't change anything (aside from the differences between Watchman's Rycalawre and the 1.0 version), this seems passing strange.

It looks like you have moved the entry down the list: FM that come of age always get the first bodyguard that is assigned to their faction, what would be the African General if there is no factional bodyguard assigned before.

I am sorry for bumping this old thread, but I wanted to do it myself and had search for the instruction.

[Morte66]

Mostly, I like:
- A stiff challenge on the strategic/tactical map.
- Variety of opposition.
- Variety of tactics.
- A change from the previous faction I played.

I'm not fond of:
- Great big empires, where you roll into town and your 20 stack army can't keep order.
- Factions with a small factional recruiting zone and/or bad roads, who need 2 years to get troops from the nearest level 3 MIC to the battlefront.
- Fighting Seleucids, because once you've proved you can run rings round them it'll still take a hundred turns to finish them off.

So I tend to play short campaigns, and stop when the happiness/recruitment rules are giving me more trouble than the military opposition. I'd say my favourite factions playing this way are Pontos and the Getai.

In my current Pontos game I rule from the Aegean to Hayasdan and down to Sidon/Damamscus/Palmyra, I've had some fantastic battles and pulled strategic manoeuvres that made me giggle with glee. I've seen the "largest faction" and "most advanced faction" messages. But it strikes me that I now have to conquer the AS and the Ptolies, which will be a real grind through elite spam and ever-increasing distance penalties. So I might start a fresh faction soon.

I think next I want a faction with wide ranging government and recruitment, that neither uses nor faces phalanxes (much), and is a long way from the AS.

[geala]

I play mainly Greek factions because I'm interested in the culture and history.

With 1.0 I started a Ptolemaioi campaign (not so popular, as it seems). Reasons:

1. I'm dreaming of hot sunny country.
2. I like the position, you have enemies but not on every side. When AS, Pontos, Saba and the treacherous Carthaginians attacked me at the same time, I had a difficult time nevertheless.
3. It's a shame to say, but for my armies more or less I only need some Psiloi, Klerouchoi phalangites, Thyreophoroi (or Thorakitai), Cretan Archers (it must be a fault that the Ptolemaioi cannot recruit them, I made them recruitable)and some light and heavy cavalry. So the beloved and very interesting special units of other factions would be wasted.
4 With one exception: Indian Armoured Elephants (all elephants in EB got 4 or 5 Hp from me and the units feel now a little bit like the historical beasts, still too weak perhaps), a very nice feature to fight against elite troops/phalanges; the Ptolemaioi can ship them in from their colony (to be erected) in south India.
5. I wanted to have Ethiopian Cavalry (which should be recruitable by the Ptolemaioi, but are not in EB 1.0, but I made them recruitable)
6. I like the Machimoi units and still use them in my weaker medium quality armies
7. I wished to recruit Garamantine Infantry (but I'm seemingly still not in the regions where it could be done).

For the next campaign I consider Koinon Hellenon or Epeiros. Epeiros is of course much stronger with good cavalry, elite phalangites and Indian elephants (unfortunately unarmoured) at the door. Baktria would be very nice indeed, but I like the Cretan Archers and am a bit addicted to the Mediterranean world. Let's wait and see.

[anubis88]

I almost always play with a succesor state.... they just have the best unit roster for me.... to bad the romani and carthage are so easy... if they were more i probably wouldn't hesitate to try a little different style of combat.

Though i have played Carthage in 0.81

[Narhon]

Rome: As a small child the Roman Empire has represented order and stability and glory. Now I am grown and have read Tacitus, Polybius, Gibbons and many others and I know better. However the seeds planted in childhood are still in my mind and I cannot help but admire the Romans. If one wants to admit it or not the Romans have been a large influence on the world. Also after the Polybian reforms the troops are better and one can start making the world Rome. This may not be the answer one would call rational but that is it

[Renegen]

I'm playing as Saba just because they're very different from any other faction. They're remote and their units are mostly light and they're arabic!

After getting my ass whopped in my first campaign with them I started a second because I like the challenge of being against the 2 biggest empires.

Next campaign I'm thinking KH or Gauls, KH because they have variety and I've almost never played as a Hellenic faction and the Gauls because they're neglected and pose interesting challenges. Maybe even Lusonatia!

[Tiberius Nero]

I like playing factions with historical achievements in that timeframe like the Romans or the Parthians or those I know pretty much nothing about, like the Saka or the Sarmatians, and achieving great conquest with them would look plausible. Factions that were in decline at that time period or did not achieve much in the way of conquest historically, I never touch. Also I wouldn't touch a faction if in order to win as them I would have to destroy Rome, that is an inviolable taboo for me.

[quackingduck]

I think you're the only one, at least until they stop dying faster than you can keep up with it. Even without the dying, I hate trying to manipulate those awkward chariots around the battlefield, and the generals are really the reason I don't play Casse.

Cheers.

i hate charriots too.

it seems carthanage is pretty popular. i think they probably are the easiest fraction with the best units and starting position.

[Thaatu]

My choice for a faction was Aedui. I had to choose quickly because all the factions were to be tested and if I hesitated I would be left with..- ugh... Parthia, so I paniced and chose Aedui. I meant to choose Macedonia, but as I said, I paniced. I've been doing some betatesting for a few months now. I tried reporting the bugs I found in the final internal version, but bovi put me on ignore about a month ago, so no luck there. Nevertheless I won't give up. Eleutheroi Misteret Izrahim Tsorim has no UI card!

[bovi]

Thaatu, UI has always been Somebody Else's Problem. I've tried to fix it now, could you check if it's correct in the internal version (if you haven't updated in a while it will likely not be savegame compatible, but not for this change)?

[Thaatu]

I will never update!

[bovi]

I swear your alignment is Chaotic Neutral.