Whats the best roman faction in RTW?

[Myth]

The temples make all the difference. Plus, by the time the civil war starts you should be rich/developed enough to not care what territoris you will gain.

[Talimze]

The temples make all the difference. Plus, by the time the civil war starts you should be rich/developed enough to not care what territoris you will gain.

I'd say that starting position makes a bigger difference than temples. It basically decides who you will fight and when, and what territories you will take first. But, maybe you could enlighten me? Like I said, I don't much bother with temples. I avoid any with health bonuses as a rule, and I alternate between ones for order and ones for armor/morale bonuses, but I really don't see how the game would be that much different for me if I just used the order temple for every city.
Also, I suppose the problem with fighting the Julii is not so much that their lands are crap, but that it's annoying to have to take all of it. By the time I get to fighting them, they usually have Gaul and Germania, and they always take the longest to beat.

[Myth]

Yes starting positions are vital. They are:

1. Brutii: Easy access to the lands of GOLD aka. the Peloponnese peninsula. Sparta, Athens and Corinth are top tier cities so long as you don't slaughter their populace. Thessalonica, Buzantium, Halicarnassus and Rhodes are a stone's throw away and will secure your gold income and troop production permanently.
2. Scipii: They can sail towards the ladns of gold fairly early as well, but they cannot spare the troops, least they loose the battle for Syracusae. However, they can get the nice island towns, Carthage and Cordoba fairly early, and then stomp on the twin Egyptian cities. Sea trade will be chasing down the Brutii though, unless you count the temples. More on that later.
3. Julii: They do get good starting stacks, with both Roman Archers and Triarii. However, their boats can take them only towards the small islands in the Mediterranean and the desolate Gaulish coast. They could try beating the Scipii to Spain, but that will leave their Italian cities exposed to the Gauls early on.

So the Brutii are top dogs as far as starting position is concerned.

Temples:

1. Brutii: They get the overpowered temple to Mars, which grants experience and at the last level, weapon/armour upgrades as well. Experience is very powerful in RTW as it grants not only morale bonuses, but direct stat boosts to your units as well. Combined with a high start general these just skyrocket. The temple to Mercury can make the Brutii so rich they actually end up wondering what to do with their denarii, as a smart player always keeps his treasury below 50k to avoid the nasty corruption traits for the good ol' family. I choose not to make them anymore, simply because i can't spend the money even if i fill all the building ques/recruitment ques. If for some reason, a Brutii player finds himself in need of gold, these trade temples can make their lucrative provinces in to literal goldmines.

2. Scipii: decent equipment temples, one that grants a marginally useful boat (at this point in the game you should own the sea battles simply due to numbers anyway) and the third one is meh.

3. Julii: A fertility temple which is marginally useful early on. A law temple which is OK for making good governors and useless from a military perspective. The third one is a no-no unless you plan to never ever spend the night with a general in that city.

So in both scenarios the Julii are the underdogs. I've never actually played trough the civil war, it's simply too tedious and my laptop is ever so slow. However, once you take the two Julii cities on the Italian peninsula, coupled with Mediolanum and the other large northern town, you can just leave them be IMO. The Scipii hold better settlements anyway.

[yutterh]

I believe the scipii are the easiest. They have the best way to spread out. Brutii is relly slow in getting thermon. In my canmpaign i succesful destroyed carthage, took greece while killing macadonians and thrace (the GCS ran to the islands and went east to destroy the pontiacs) By doing this i made the brutii expand up top with the julii. the julli pretty much is takign over gaul and the brutii is taking over dacia but they really are split liek the first two cities julli are supposed to have got split up. The julii took medilanium and the brutii to patavium they then sprea out seperatly. of course this is also a scenario of really weird events >_> ill try to name them

1) the julii took caralis instead of expanding into gaul. actually in fact they were at peace with the gauls for the longest time before they moved anywhere.

2) Me getting thermon was actually a complete and total accident. After taking syracuse The greeks sent a diplomat to ask for a cease fire. I then changed it and asked for the city for thermon in exchange. They gave it to me O_O So with that i expanded into greece cutting the brutii off from ever getting to it.

3) the greeks are expanding on the pontic pinnensula >_>

[yutterh]

Sorry i was gon fix some stuff up but the scroller got stuck and kept sticking to the center of the message. but both julii and brutii are both in the same area so im sure when the civil war happens ill be able to surround them with praetorians, urban cohorts, and praetorian cavalry.

[Myth]

yuyyerh you do realise that the Brutii can sail to Greece on turn #1 and take Appolonia on turn #2? By turn 5 or 6 they can hold Sparta. If the Scipii dedicate troops and ships early on to beat them to the punch, Carthage and Greece will have a field day back on Sicily.

[Lucius Verus]

I think Scipii is the best roman faction, their gladiators are the best unit when fight against cavalry

[Morgoth101]

Personally, I like the Scipii, although they don't have the greatest position of settlements to start with. The Brutii have an amazing income, which you can increase with their temples of Mercury. The Julii are kinda OK in my opinion. They don't have properly developed settlements to capture in the north, unlike for the Scipii, who have Carthage and Thaspus, and the Brutii, who have Athens, Sparta and Larissa, even though they often get plagues.

[Morgoth101]

On the whole, the best faction would depend on how you want to play. All factions have the same units, obviously. The Brutii is quite easy. You have a cool income, and cities with a cool income as well ahead of you. The Julii is kinda easy too. The Gauls don't have the ability to train units that are tough to deal with early in the game, so you can quickly eliminate them before they can. The Scipii are kinda challenging, as your starting units are not that good. But if you can capture Carthage early on, you can get pretty decent units. Ususally, when I capture Carthage, I can train Triarii (its usually before Pre-Marius reforms). I played S.P.Q.R once, which was kinda fun. All I had to remember to do was to keep Rome gaurded with a strong garrison, as the other romans would attack in the future!
For non-roman factions, the Seleucids are quite challenging. Your starting units are bad compared to what your neighbours can bring(who will all most likely attack in the first few turns!). But if you survive the initial attacks, you could capture the entire map. Their Scythed Chariots are godlike! For Carthage, you CANNOT lose Carthage, Lilybaeum, or Caralis, as it would mean those who took it (usually the romans) can eventually take all your cities and destroy you.

[Morgoth101]

yuyyerh you do realise that the Brutii can sail to Greece on turn #1 and take Appolonia on turn #2? By turn 5 or 6 they can hold Sparta. If the Scipii dedicate troops and ships early on to beat them to the punch, Carthage and Greece will have a field day back on Sicily.

The Brutii do capture Appolonia in 2 turns, but once they didn't for some reason. There were more rebels than there normally are - about 6-7 units. They were too strong for the Brutii, who just hung back and captured it around 10 - 15 turns later. I was the Scipii. I controlled all of Sicily and Carthage was mine by this time and I had Thermon, Sparta and Athens. I just sent a force of 10 units to take Appolonia. By the time I was ready to fight Rome, the Brutii had only Tarentum and Croton :-D. But they had full 20 -unit garrisons.

[Morgoth101]

The Brutii do capture Appolonia in 2 turns, but once they didn't for some reason. There were more rebels than there normally are - about 6-7 units. They were too strong for the Brutii, who just hung back and captured it around 10 - 15 turns later. I was the Scipii. I controlled all of Sicily and Carthage was mine by this time and I had Thermon, Sparta and Athens. I just sent a force of 10 units to take Appolonia. By the time I was ready to fight Rome, the Brutii had only Tarentum and Croton :-D. But they had full 20 -unit garrisons.

This happened quite a few times in my games.

[Myth]

That's because the AI is inferior to human commanders. When I play the Brutii I can take Appolonia and then head south with my initial stacks and grab everything, starting by landing next to Sparta and luring the Spartan Hoplites out. If cooperative campaign play was possible I'd bet money you can't beat me to Greece with the Scipii. More likely than not I can beat YOU to one of the two settlements in Siciliy.

[ReluctantSamurai]

More likely than not I can beat YOU to one of the two settlements in Siciliy.

That'd be a fun bet to take

Seriously, the game mechanics are truly abysmal concerning sieges (which is the only way to get walled cities like Syracuse and Corinth). If you were in command of a Roman army with a handful of light Hastati infantry and Velites skirmishers, I dare say you'd get your head handed to you, literally, if you tried to siege cities of that size.

Another area where the designers chose to ignore some basic rules of engagement...here, concerning the size an army needs to be to siege a city. [end of rant].

[Ibn-Khaldun]

Another area where the designers chose to ignore some basic rules of engagement...here, concerning the size an army needs to be to siege a city.

That is an interesting idea! It would be nice if it takes at least 4-5 units to siege a city and even more if the city is large/huge.

[ReluctantSamurai]

I know it's still a bit off-topic but....

I've always thought it laughable in RTW to view a siege on-map being depicted by a ring of stakes around a city. A little common sense (and a grade school level of math) should tell you that it would take more than a few hundred soldiers to lay siege (read as: nothing gets in---nothing gets out) to a walled city consisting of thousands of inhabitants and a standing garrison.

So yes, every size of city, town, or village should have needed a minimum size to a force attempting to siege. And if the settlement has port facilities, the port would need to be blockaded to cause manpower losses to the garrison.

[Morgoth101]

The AI makes sieges look weird in my game because of this- in my Julii games, the Gauls usually send in 1 general- only 1, and no other troops - to attack Segesta after I take Mediolanum from them. By this time I usually have 1000-1500 men defending the garrison. It seems weird that 10-12 men stop around 3000 citizens and 1500 soldiers from moving out of the town.

[ReluctantSamurai]

It seems weird that 10-12 men stop around 3000 citizens and 1500 soldiers from moving out of the town.

Exactly what I'm referring to about RTW sieges being, often times, nonsensical. With a minimum unit and/or size requirement for the besieger, such scenes would not be possible. But...as it's a hard-coded thing, nothing can ever be done about it. Let's just hope they get it right when the time comes for a RTW sequel......

[Motep]

Exactly what I'm referring to about RTW sieges being, often times, nonsensical. With a minimum unit and/or size requirement for the besieger, such scenes would not be possible. But...as it's a hard-coded thing, nothing can ever be done about it. Let's just hope they get it right when the time comes for a RTW sequel......

Or really any other total war game. I dont think this an issue that has ever been resolved, but I cannot say for sure as I have not played anything more recent that Medieval II.

[Myth]

That'd be a fun bet to take

Seriously, the game mechanics are truly abysmal concerning sieges (which is the only way to get walled cities like Syracuse and Corinth). If you were in command of a Roman army with a handful of light Hastati infantry and Velites skirmishers, I dare say you'd get your head handed to you, literally, if you tried to siege cities of that size.

Another area where the designers chose to ignore some basic rules of engagement...here, concerning the size an army needs to be to siege a city. [end of rant].

True true. If I was commanding Sparta and it's garrison no way would some Veities and Hastati take the city from me. Two units of Spartan Hoplites in the crammed space inside would murderize the whole attacking army.

[Spartan]

Julii, because of their temple that gives bonus population

[dakar97BG]

I think the best one is Brutii but its alot more fun and interesting to play with the Julii and the Scipii is kinda them both in one

[Napoleon The Emperor Of Europe]

I think the best one is Brutii but its alot more fun and interesting to play with the Julii and the Scipii is kinda them both in one

I say the Juli is the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!For I will be Emperor!!!!!

[Myth]

Really is there a need for 30 exclamation marks? What are you, twelve?

[Galvanized Iron]

The Brutii knows what is best for Rome, what more can you ask?

[gollum]

Brutti have the best position for expansion into the richest area of the map and the best bonuses. Scipii kind of run ut of steam if you go only for Carthage and neglect take from the Greece turf. Julii by far the most interesting from gameplay. Overall, Romans way to easy, as is the whole game of course.

[ReluctantSamurai]

As always, the best Roman faction is the one you have the most fun playing....

[Myth]

Purely mechanically speaking there can be no argument against the Brutii. The Julii are red though and we've been spoon fed that Roman=Red, despite red dye being very costly and scarce at the time.

I should say though, that Carthage's roster is formidable. Their Sacred Band Hoplites are superrior to any other phalanx unit apart from perhaps armoured Hoplites or Spartans. The Sacred Band Cav is decent, although no Cataprhact, and they get elephants. Ultimately the Seleucids will have a slightly better roster but if Carthage manages to take Sicily for itself it can become much stronger much faster.

[gollum]

If you rush with them Carthage is one of the easiest factions, even easier than the Romans perhaps. The trick is to take Tingi and then Numidia proper while allying with the Greek Cities and attack the Scipii stack that besieges Syracuse and crash them in battle over and over. Just crush the Romans outside Syracuse a few times so they don;t get Syracuse till you get your Spanish armies on Tingi and the Numidian capital (about 10 tunrs max), after which you can take Messana and Syracuse and you are set for world domination with huge trade profits from the Spain/Balearics/north africa/carthage/Sardinia/Sicily trade routes. Invade Italy from the South and crush the Romans before they reach the reforms while finishing off the Numidians - which is pretty easily accomplished. By the time you reach Arretium you can begin a second campaign either in Spain aiming for Gaul to get rid of the pesky barbarians or over to Egypt, but can leave Egypt for later too.

I refrain from training Elephants as the battles are a fiasco with them on. The only time i did (very hard /very hard) i had 2 units of armored elephants and a bunch of round and long shield cavs. The elephants charged and the cavs game behind to mop up - every battle took something like less than 6 minutes against full Roman and Gaulish and Spanish stacks. Since then, i've never trained elephants again.

[Napoleon The Emperor Of Europe]

I say the Juli are the best.

The Juli ares ones that you would make a empire with.

for one day,I will be Emperor.

[G. Septimus]

I say the Juli are the best.

The Juli ares ones that you would make a empire with.

for one day,I will be Emperor.

Kid

I favour the Scipii, since they will concetrate their power on Blacks Carthaginians