An Occultus Faction possibly worked out?

[Brennus]

One thing I keep coming back to in my mind is (I am sorry for sounding like a borken record) if there were a Belgic faction, which tribe would it be? The Bellovaci and the Nervi were the most powerful of the Belgic tribes but neither of them were particularly expansive. According to Caesar the Suessiones did rule substantial parts of Gaul and Britain during the reign of Diviciacus whilst the archaeological and other historical evidence suggests the Ambiani and Atrebates settled in Britain. However, none of these tribes held a hegemony over all of Belgica in the same way the Averni and Aedui controlled large alliances in Gallia Comata.

[Arjos]

Those you mentioned are the "top 5", the thing is that Gallia Belgica would need at least 3-5 regions XD
Than one of them could be choose ^^

[Cyclops]

...if there were a Belgic faction, which tribe would it be? ...

Well we have the Prytanoi, representing a complex of tribes in Britain, so we may well end up with the Belgae representing a complex of tribes in Belgia-land.

Given the lack of documentation or persistance of tribal names, a more general approach may be the best one. Either way I have a feeling some sort of Belgic faction a lock.

[Brennus]

Well we have the Prytanoi, representing a complex of tribes in Britain, so we may well end up with the Belgae representing a complex of tribes in Belgia-land.

Given the lack of documentation or persistance of tribal names, a more general approach may be the best one. Either way I have a feeling some sort of Belgic faction a lock.

That would certainly be feasible. If the Belgae united to form a confederacy to oppose both Caesar and the Cimbri-Tuetones then who's to say such alliances werne't a common feature of Belgic inter-tribal politics?

[NoHelmet]

God damn it, i think that the sig is there to cloud our thinking. Best clue that i could see was a positive hint that "it's way off geographicaly" from nabatea, so we can exclude north-eastern africa, fertile crescent and arabia. Then, i think it should be a faction that was, at least to some extent, expansionistic and ifluental. Also, there is IMHO need to balance some factions without much enemies in their neighborhood, such as Sweboz and Sauromatae.
As for history, damn. Not nearly educated enough to make wild-guesses, but some of mine were: 1. Xiongnu, right next to Sakae, at 209bc aready had a solid nomad state, and were aggresive to in some hipotetical way expand to the west, but, they didn't, so i don't think they have a good case. 2. & 3. Proto-slavs & Proto-balts. Way beyond EB timeframe, but certainly were in central-eastern europe in that time, and they surely were numerous enough to be distinct factions, nor did their technology undergo any serious revolution to the time of our first knowledge of them. Also, good way to bring more fun to european steppe scene. But still, their case is on a hear-say basis, and doesn't have a bright EB future as far as i can tell. 4. Central asian nomads, massagetae or someone like them (historians, feel free to unleash your anger if something is blatantly ignorant on my side) 5. Balkan factions: Scordisci, Illyrioi, Bastarnae are all fine, and might be a great way to slow down Getae and Epeiros, with a good historic ground IMO.

[Brave Brave Sir Robin]

I really don't think 1-3 are a possibility. Xiongnu are way to far to the east. In fact, the team already cut the Yuezhi because they were too far out of the timeframe mapwise and they were in fact being pushed west by a series of population shifts potentially started by the Xiongnu expanding westwards.

[NoHelmet]

I know, it was a far fetched guess... Listed them because i've seen a map with their state being in EB map area, a little part of the state, though. Without paying huge attention to the notorious sig, my best guesses would be central Europe, Balkans, and the Steppes, just for the lack of factions there... And as for the sig, damn, it looked like a dragon to me most... Most realistic, IMO, would be a second german faction and some balkan tribe, illyrians perhaps.

[Ludens]

I doubt the Xiognu were on the current EB map because it's debatable whether even the Yuezhi were, and the latter were further west. The Yuezhi were actually a faction back in EB 0.7, but were cut partly because they probably weren't on the map and partly because, even if they were, their main activity would have been on the eastern side, fending off the Xiognu. Because of this I doubt they will be returning in EB2. Another one or two central Asian steppe factions have been mentioned as a candidate factions for the final faction slot of EB1, but the Xiognu are definitely out.

Proto-Balts I think unlikely, but hasn't been positively denied. Proto-Slavs are out. The exact origin of the Slavs is anybody's guess, but they can't be identified properly until well after EB's time-frame.