What factions have you played 1.0 campaigns as?

[Bellum]

As of now, in order of starting:

Sweboz
Koinon Hellenon
Pontos


This isn't really a good indication of which factions I like the most, though. To be honest, I think they are all interesting. EB does such a good job portraying them. I hope to someday win them all. But at the speed the campaigns go, that will take a very long time. :D

[Mouzafphaerre]

.

Arche Seleukia ~230BC but I must say I haven't enjoyed it nearly as much as most other campaigns I've played.

VAE?
.

[phonicsmonkey]

Aedui - my first campaign is still underway. Wish I had more time to play!

Bactria or Hayasdan up next I think...

[MiniMe]

1.0 Koinon Hellenon - appr. 200 BC abandoned due to my general disapointment in KH (looks like I'm compelete Successors nerd)
1.0 Ptolemaioi - appr. 200 BC complete

now can't wait to start a new 1.1 campaign as my favourite - Epeiros (even though I did that already with 0.80)
Rule Molossons, rule Chaonians, rule Tarentine, rule Siracusans!
rule them all, take them wifez, loot them gold and burn them houses to the ground

This was a "Luv EB" post

in the intermission I'm forced to experiment with MII mods
nothing breathtaking so far
embarassing

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Interesting pattern. Sort of confirms a general thought that folks don't play as much with factions in corners or near the edges of the map. I guess without factions all around you, it's not as exciting as those in the middle. That thought is not working with Epeiros though.

[d'Arthez]

I think people are less interested in the factions deemed powerful, such as the Ptollies and the AS. Traditionally this does not apply to the Romani (just look at previous polls. A lot of people play EB solely for the Romani campaign(s).

It also does not "help" that the Saka and the Sauromaete need totally different playing styles. The same may hold for the Pahlava. Will try a Pahlava campaign soon. I guess that is why they scoring relatively low.

[DeathEmperor]

In chronological order from when I installed 1.0:

Romani
Arche Seleukeia
Makedonia

I roleplayed a lot with my Romani campaign and got up to 196 bc, but got tired of it mainly because I missed my phalanxes, elephants, and heavy cavalry.

Started a VH/M campaign with my beloved Arche Seleukeia, and had one hell of a time. Played a defensive war against the Ptolemaioi while I squashed Pontos and Hayasdan early on. After that I beat the Ptolemaioi down out of Egypt and into Africa proper. Got up to 216 bc and stopped playing it mainly because I wanted to start a new campaign and rebuild Alexander's empire from scratch.

Makedonian campaign is up to 242 bc now, and it's been invigorating rebuilding the kingdom of Philip and starting a new conquest of the East. Rome and Karthage have been going at it in the West, while I've formed an anti-Successor alliance with Pontus, Hayasdan, and Pahlava against the Seleukids and Ptolemaioi. After winning a crushing victory over a large Seleukid army in Anatolia I had a diplomat of mine offer a ceasefire to the Seleukids similar to the ones for the hisorical Peace of Apamea (they had to give me Nikaia, Ipsos, Side, and pay a "war indemnity" of 10,000 mnai). To my astonishment they agreed .

I also had a lot of luck with names in my Seleukid and Makedonia campaign that allowed me great roleplaying. In my Seleukid one I had an 'Antiochos Soter Syriakos' and a 'Seleukos Syriakos. In my current Mak one I have 'Pyrrhos Argeads' and a 'Perseus Argeads' (who's my current faction heir)

[NEver]

After starting a vanilla EB 1.0 Qarthadatism campain and taking all of italy in 20 years on VH/VH I started currently playing a hayadsan campaign on a modded version of 1.0 (sinuhet, TW fanatic, alex.exe, konny's win conditions) VH/M and I must say it is very tough!

I have the Selucids and the Ptolemies both against me trying to make me their protectorate every turn and sending 3 half stacks per year followed by the bi-annual full stack. Sauromatae aren't being all that helpful neither, but I'm hanging in there with two armies while I try and build up some infrastructure. Ocassionaly I get enough time to raid an eleuthori settlement. I think I need only trapezous so I can get my reforms and start raping AS. The biggest threat came when a full AS stack of with elite phalnaxes and a very very good 10 star general started coming up through the southern caucus and I had an army raiding Ani Kamah. This left me with only my Karkithkerta-defend-against-yellow force and I had to march it along another pass through the mountains to try and itnerecept the AS war machine. I tried to time it all so I would get both armies, after I'd dealt with ani kamah to pincer their general. This didn't work as I miscalculated the winter and got attacked. Luckily the previous winter our old valiant AS general froze to death giving my Karkotherka veteran albeit crappy defence force a good chance which they capatlized on.

The trick with hayasdan is lots of family members cause that Armenian Noble cavalry is really really good; especially early on.

I'm also in a very difficult spot right now since pontus started to invade.

[Mouzafphaerre]

Interesting pattern. Sort of confirms a general thought that folks don't play as much with factions in corners or near the edges of the map. I guess without factions all around you, it's not as exciting as those in the middle. That thought is not working with Epeiros though.

.
Assuming that there are enough people playing my way to make a pattern, I say it's too early to judge. We (if any! ) start with something then advance to the next and so on. I'm gonna play most EB factions, if not all.
.

[Kromulan]

Started first campaign as Saba, where I got quite a lot of training on how to deal with phalanxes with light infantry. . .
Next campaign was Getai. Using my Saba anti-Phalanx tactics with Getai infantry is AMAZING!!! I sliced through them like they're soft butter.
Saba is a bit more of a challenge, what with having to wade through endless stacks of phalanxes either way you go (and none of those cheap, lethal Dacians), but quite rewarding when you wind up with capitals of both grey and yellow death. . .

[konny]

Interesting pattern. Sort of confirms a general thought that folks don't play as much with factions in corners or near the edges of the map. I guess without factions all around you, it's not as exciting as those in the middle. That thought is not working with Epeiros though.

I think that people in general prefer to play a faction that they know something/a lot/belive to know/ of instead of someone exotic. That's the reason for the Romans having double the votes of Carthago and Epeiros far behind Makedonia and KH. The Barbarians are hardly played at all, save for Getai, with the worst results for the Nomads.

[bovi]

I can understand the lack of people who play nomads, as they're really hard to succeed with. They're a great choice for a grand challenge though.

[Maeran]

Played the Romans through to 169BC. Decided to cheat to get the reforms when my ideal reformator didn't come up with the goods (I suspect that there was some antitrait somewhere, but I don't actually know). Then I felt bad, decided that the RP side of things was shot to hell and restarted with a new Roman campaign, which has now reached 264B.

I have saves of pre-Marian and post-Marian points, so I could go back to it.

I've considered trying something else, but the alien(to me) nature of horse archer armies puts me off the Pahlava, even though I'd quite like to play as them.

I'm tempted to go with the home side and play Casse, but I don't really believe that chariots were that important in battle (everyone except the Chinese, Pontus and Syria seem to have dumped them by this point and I'm sure that cavalry would have been implemented if the Britons had experienced any), plus the sheer amount of turtling involved in playing remotely historically puts me off. I do turtle, but not so much that generations could go by without me doing more than raid neighbours.

[edit]to 169BC, I'm not that impatient you know[/edit]

[Pied Piper]

I guess I have my common allotment of factions that I only play or don't play.
1. Qarthy - my favorites to play as they have a good blend and I just love my Sacred Bands and Elite African Pikemen. Love to see the white cover the map too.

2. KH - of the Hellenic factions, I prefer them even though I they are lacking (IMHO) compared to the others. I just like having my generals in the infanty units and doing the same grunt work side by side with their fellow countrymen. I also like the RP aspect of each polis when playing. In a new campaign, I gave away Athens and Rhodes to Epeiros (let them duke it out with the Maks) while slowly building a Sparta (with financial compensation for the loss of Athens/Rhodes) to one day rule them all.

3. Epeiros - I really like the Hellenic factions the best. But I have never played as or will play as the Maks. Something about too many campaigns as KH or Epeiros against them that I detest them. Epeiros gives me the blend I feel I am lacking as KH.

4. Romani - I always start a campaign and conquer the Qarthies and Greeks and then quit. Dunno why.

5. Pontos/Sauro/Baktria - I group these because I have some interest in these and played them each about 20 years or so but nothing about them really stands out for me. So I tend to resort back to my favorites.

So far, as long as I have played RTW/EB, I have never played as the Ptolies, either Gaul factions, Getai, Sabyn, or Hayasdan. Of course the Maks top that list. None of these interest me culture wise or building wise.

I have tried to like the Casse but cannot get past my dislike of their generals on chariots. Just not my cup of tea as I like my Spartan generals. The barbarians factions just lack the infrastructure I prefer in the more "civilized" factions (I like my paved roads and academies). And AS is just too big for me to start off with as I like to build slowly.

Well, as long as I have my Sacred Bands, Spartans, and Pyrrhos, I'm happy.

[Sarkiss]

Hayastan, Pontos and Carthage - the only faction i actually went trough the whole thing with and won the campaign.
eagerly waiting for 1.1 to start as Macs first, then AS, Pahlava... and of course Pontus and Armenia, yet again
havent ever played as Romans yet, but planning to in 1.1.

[Mouzafphaerre]

I think that people in general prefer to play a faction that they know something/a lot/belive to know/ of instead of someone exotic. That's the reason for the Romans having double the votes of Carthago and Epeiros far behind Makedonia and KH. The Barbarians are hardly played at all, save for Getai, with the worst results for the Nomads.

.
My motivation was partly the exact opposite in choosing Lusotana first. But I'm a weirdo anyway.
.

[phoenixemperor]

Romani
Makedonia
Baktria
Getai

[Narhon]

Romani on vh/vh I restarted the campaign at around year 200 because I read the battles work better on med setting. My present Romani campaign is set to h/m and I am enjoying it I can sometimes convince my enemies to make peace.

[Mediteran]

carthage :) and this is the most fun ive ever had in any game :)

[The Wicked]

Makedonia

[sgsandor]

SPQR - what can I say I love these guys and they make the game for me (I love the othe factions too, but hey these guys kick butt hardcore)

Epiores (sp)? - Like my football team (the NY Jets) Gang Green has an allure that makes me want to turn the whole of Greece and MiddleEast green

As for the the other factions....I like the way the look dead on the battlefield jk

[Hooahguy]

are yuo a new yorker?

[NEver]

Quick question

Campaign map difficulty: What is the actual difference between VH/H/M?

If its just the AI being unreasonable dickheads diplomaticaly, I'll start a new one soon on H/M.

[Hooahguy]

i tried all 3- H is the best, IMO, since the enemy doesnt bliz you as they do in VH, or try to at least, but they dont wait around and wait to be conquered like in M. dont even try E. its more like "sandbox" than anything else. my friend tried his first campain on E, but quit b/c it was too easy.
so my best bet, is if you want a challenge, do VH, but if you want to RP or are doing an AAR, do H.

[Lysander13]

Quick question

Campaign map difficulty: What is the actual difference between VH/H/M?

If its just the AI being unreasonable dickheads diplomaticaly, I'll start a new one soon on H/M.

On harder settings the AI is suppose to be more aggressive, specifically the Eleutheroi. However, the AI, shall we say is less diplomatically inclined on harder levels. Not that it's anything special on easier levels but i guess they don't call this series Total War for nothing heh?

[skuzzy]

Despite not playing a long campaign as Epeiros in 1.0 I started one. I did not like it as much as 0.81 because there is no forced conflict with Rome and if there was one with the new financial system it would be impossible to maintain two fronts. Also Pyhrrus sitting right in front of Pella makes the previous statement even more prevalent. So basically with 0.81 I was able to overcome the constant struggle of Makedonia, KH, and Rome all together fighting wars over two fronts for constant fun.

[Parallel Pain]

Yay my good Saka got over 10!!^^

[sanitarium]

I've played the following factions 10+ years:

Casse - 25 years, locked down the United Kingdom, but I didn't stick with the campaign
Aedui - 15 years, spread around Gaul and waged a short two front war with the Sweboz and Romans
Arverni - 30 years, (not including the time I spent doing a mass migration to Asia Minor to role play them as the Galatians)
Sweboz - 35 years, got caught up in a double blitzkrieg south towards Greece and Italy
Getai - 15 years, very fun using falxmen to smash through Greek lines
Romani - I've played several, at an average of 50 years per campaign. The longest was about 150 years, which is unheard of for me.
Makedonia - 80 years or so, locked down the Balkans and knifed my way through Asia Minor, Persia, and Egypt, Alexander style.
Epeiros - 130 years, and another at about 80 years. Epeiros has since become my favorite faction to play as.
Koinon Hellenon - Just about 10 years, I don't know why, but I couldn't really get into the KH, even though they used to be one of my favorite factions.
Arche Seleukeia - 20 years, they're very difficult to play. The starting empire is so large, it's hard to get everything under control.
Ptolemaioi - 25 years, decided to spread west and take on Carthage
Baktria - 50 years, they've become my second favorite faction. I love their unit selection. Elephants, horse archers, and hoplites all within the same area? It's almost like cheating.
Saka Rauka - 80 years. Horse archer armies are just plain fun, the kill-death ratio I can get is just staggering. Had one battle where I killed 4000+ Seleucids and took only a handful of casualties.

It's funny, for the longest time I was almost strictly a Roman-only player, with the occasional KH campaign, but now it's hard to enjoy either of them. Now I spend most of my time playing as either Epeiros or Baktria.

[V.T. Marvin]

I have a weak spot for eastern factions - In 0.81 I have a very nice campaign as Pontus (VH/M, not in the poll) until about 210 BC. Than EB1.0 came out.

I played as Pahlava (VH,M) until some 230 BC when I finally dealt with Bactria - so far most challenging campaign I played. I stopped because of modding and because of huge number of repetitive battles. However, the mix of nomadic horse-archers and various eastern native units plus some hellenic troopers makes for diverse and very iteresting unit roster. The unique government systems is another advantage.

I switched to Haysdan (H/H) currently in about 190 BC - this is an amazing faction and I recommend it to everyone. The reforms make it ideal for role-playing.

Now I am about to start a new campaign as Pahlava again - I just love their lovely painted building pictures (migration/pastoralism/nomadism)
I will try to fight AS first and Bactria (apparently the more dangerous of the two) later, just for even more fun. I will most probably stick with H/H difficulty as it seems to me most ballanced (in that sense that AI combat bonuses somewhat compensate for AI tactical dumbness) in the long run.

However, EB is great with any faction, I am sure of it. If only one have more to time to play...