Factions you miss the most

[Bellum]

I see KH criticized a lot, but I think they're important to the game. They represent the very last breath of classical Greece, the very end. One of the main things that makes EB so fun is the ability to re-write history. I would argue that, with the political structure of the poleis, the Greeks loss of independence in this era would be inevitable. So many centralized powers against it, added to the endless internal conflicts, was an insurmountable obstacle.

But this scenario of rebuilding Greece proper in all it's glory and influences and beyond is simply too attractive to ignore.

Generally, I'm against anything blatantly ahistorical in EB (except expansion by the player), but it's only four years off. Surely getting the timing right for every important faction is impossible. Its about as close an approximation as you can get.





If I could add only one faction to the game, I'd really want an Irish faction, but I doubt there is anything to really justify it. Then again, I really don't know that much about Irish history, particularly not in this period.

[marodeur]

Numidians!!!
And also Illyrians, Boii, eventually India

[Pezlu]

My choices:

• An indian faction would be an interesting interesting change
  
• Thrakia? Don't know much about Thrace in this period but they were divided in tribes AFAIK, so one of the thracian tribes would be good... a bit too many factions in that area however :P
  
• Helvetii, they already have a nice list of regional units

Honorable mentions: Galatia; another germanic tribe (but it would be too similar to the sweboz i fear); a greek city somewhere else (like Syracuse or Massalia)

[MerlinusCDXX]

And if Northern Cali wants to seperate from LA, take central cali with you please. Sacramento and just.. everything north of san luis. Its generally just LA nobody wants to deal with... although I have my gripes with SF too. Just... give them[LA] to Mexico.

give LA to Mexico? I thought we already did that, look around you the next time you walk around LA.

[Imperial Fist]

Maybe a faction from north eastern europe. I dont know much about the germanic tribes in this area, but maybe there some guys who know about one.
Would be nice, because there is a lot of nothing between the sweboz in the west and the sauromatae in the east.

[Sarcasm]

The Lusotani were just an Iberian tribe (or group of tribes?) that eventually were conquered by the Romans and quite throughly Romanized.

And how is that different from half the factions in the game?

[caeser44]

what do you mean by jefferson state, there is no jefferson state in all of the united states, there is not even a state close to that name.

[artaxerxes]

The factions I miss the most are

1) Syracusans: firstly, because it would give the Western Greeks the ability to play an active part in the game (in case Carthage & Rome went at each other so quickly as to give them room to expand), and it would diversify the war between those 2 states. Also I think it's historically correct, since both Dionysius & Agathocles had made rather large Syracusan empires before. Even though none were made after 270 BC, I don't think it's unlikely to assume, that had Rome & Carthage exhausted each other to a point, where none of them were capable of ruling the western Mediteranean, and had they done so WITHOUT weakening Syracuse, there is no reason why a strong Syracusan tyrant shouldn't have created a new empire in Sicily & Southern Italy.

2) Pergamese. I don't think they existed as an actual faction (rather than a mere obstacle to other factions) around 270, but they became very important later on. Should they be in the game, they shouldn't be playable and they shouldn't be on the map at the beginning. Like fx the Swiss in Medieval Total War 1, they should rather appear out of nowhere around the date of their actual emergence as an important faction, IN CASE nobody has been able to grasp a firm hold of the Pergamese province until that time (if the province is the centre of a Pontian or Greek empire, their appearance wouldn't make sense )

3) well, I can't choose. EITHER an Indian faction, so that part of the map isn't just empty (an Indian faction would reveal the fact, that these provinces weren't just up for grabs for any half-decent captain, but that there actually was a state to deal with, if you wanted to extend in that direction).
OR a Numidian OR Mauretanian faction (Numidians should, like Pergamese, not appear at the start of the game, but rather appear at a later date, unless Carthage or Rome are capable of holding a firm grasp of the area). The reason for this is already stated: Carthage is too alone in North Africa, the land is too empty of any real resistance towards them. The addition of Syracusans would of course weaken Carthage a bit, but if they chose to abandon their wars for Sicily & Italy, they still have the ability to quickly carve out quiet a kingdom without any real opposition unless there was another North African faction to deal with (one that would carve out its own African empire, dangerous to Carthage, if Carthage ignored them & just concentrated on Rome/Syracuse )

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

what do you mean by jefferson state, there is no jefferson state in all of the united states, there is not even a state close to that name.

Not yet, there isn't.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_State)

[DonAbruzzo72]

Hey everyone!
Here's to seeing if a Stupid Yank can hold his own here eh? (P.S. sorry about ~70% of my countrymen...bloody embarassing...*goes on rant about declining U.S. and rising E.U.*... congratulations to all the Europeans btw, it's about time you guys got some attention from the U.S. peasants)
Anyway, to business.

1- Keep Baktria ideally, I have been Baktrion Hellenon by blood all my life...and we need love too.
2-Syracusai might be cool...but I don't know much about them (in particular... aside from other Hellenes)
3- Most importantly: I would think that there would be some sort of Italic faction, no? As a Samnito-Vestini (i'm just full of under-represented ethnicities ), I am very proud that the injustice that was Vanilla's POS "Samnite Mercenary in Neon Green Tunics"tm was replaced with a handful of historically sound Samnitici...but there are several Italics that hadn't given up yet if I am not mistaken...I know that the majority of the Etruscans were already beaten by Roma...but (other than the already included Celts, Samnites, Lucanians, and Greeks,) There were as follows:
The Vestini- Spartan Exiles in Abruzzo, kept agoge and king-led military, added Latin and Republicanism, the most resilient of the Sabines (Greek oucasts/colonists who adopted Italian culture)
Samnitici- Obvious
Umbrianos- Semi-barbaric religious fanatics... what's not to love?
I'm sure that there are others...but unfortunately I don't know every Italic tribe around in 272BC fighting a war has kept me quite busy

These Italic tribes shouldn't be represented individually of course, but I think they would make a nice addition, and one should keep in mind that they almost won their wars with the Romani, and that they would not be pleased to see them expand further.
P.S. to any EB guys, wasn't Phyrrus aiding the Etruscans in Italy (or at least wasn't that his excuse?)

In my humble opinion...the Italics might add a breath of fresh air to the Hellenic/ Romani/ Barbarian/ Carthaginian deal.
I am so sorry to take up so much room w/ my post, but I do think this is a useful addition that no one has brought up.
Semper Fi,
Don

[Bouketsu]

My number one choice, a Bosphoran faction for sure. I hate having to migrate or conquer my way all the way over to Crimea in order to use those amazing archers. Plus the options of an army could be amazing. Hellenic/sarmatian, Hellenic/Germanic, Germanic/Sarmation, if you add Thracian units into the mix it could call for an army as diverse as Baktria or Rome, if not more.
Secondly, an Irish faction. I love the British barbarian era, but Britain is just so easy to conquer without any competition on the isles. If one were to spice it up a little with a Caledonian or Irish faction things would be much more interesting.
The north just seems much too empty to ignore these options.
Finally, a Numidian/Mauryan faction would be nice. I can't really decide which because the East is extremely full and the Indian faction may just be gobbled up by Baktria or Seleukia as in many of my campaigns they seem to focus on the Indian rebel states before tearing up the rest of the East if they're not being massacred by the steppe peoples or the Ptolemies. However, an Indian faction with a Buddhist/Hindu, whichever seems more appropriate, religion would surely add to the cultural diversity and make things a bit interesting.
Numidia would be better for game play values because I see Carthage swallow up all of Western Europe if the Romans can't manage to keep them on their toes. Rome is really their only threat, the Lusitania's can't be expected to fend them off for long and by the time Carthage holds Africa, Spain and the Italian peninsula, it's become another super nation like Seleukia and the Ptolemies. If you're going to add an Indian faction instead, I guess my only suggestion is try having scripted rebels in Africa, or try adding more tension between Carthage and the Ptolemies.

As for the other suggestions, the lands around the Aegean are already full of competition with Maks, Greeks, Romans, Seleukids, Ptolemies, Pontus and any other I forget to mention, I see no need for more action in this region. Gaul is pretty chaotic with the two Gallic factions warring it out with eachother so I don't think that would be necessary. MAYBE a far northern faction but I think a Bosphoran faction could equalize the power so I'm not sure if that would be necessary. The far East is crazy enough as I already mentioned. Spain might use a little more action but I really don't care much for the region so that's up for debate I suppose.

And if Sab'yn is made into scripted rebels I'ma call Chuck Norris and Samuel Jackson on yo ass. D< They're one of my favorite factions.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

I think we can safely say that we have no desire to get rid of any of our current EB1 factions.

[zooeyglass]

I think we can safely say that we have no desire to get rid of any of our current EB1 factions.

to be honest, the amount of work and detail that's gone into each faction certainly suggests they are worth keeping. if only there were a way to keep adding factions, until every eleutheroi city were a new faction.....

[Parallel Pain]

1) Numidians
2) A third Barbarian tribe, ether Gallic or Germanic, in northeast
Gaul/Belgium region.
3) Someone between the Getai, Sauromatae, and Swebos

And if there are more faction slots and province slots, Yuezhi, then India, then Hun, then China.