New factions?

[Arjos]

Taksashila is in Gandhara :P

[ziegenpeter]

He mentioned "a Mauryan satrapy" and Gandhara as two seperate entities on his list.

No.

Taksashila is in Gandhara :P

As everybody can already see on the EBI map... Its no rocket science

[Arjos]

As everybody can already see on the EBI map... Its no rocket science

Eh eh eh ^^

Anyway Sir Edward's list is pretty much what I'd like to see, hope Meroe and Illyria make it in aswell though :)

[Ca Putt]

the post is rather old - before bosphorans, Massi... Numidians, Takshila and Boii were revealed.

So he basically suggests: north-indians
with the sidenote:

To represent the Mauryan empire would be out of the question but it would be nice to have a Mauryan northwestern satrap faction in game, taxilla from what i've read was a provincial capital.

with what he's hit the nail on the head, props for that one!

[ziegenpeter]

I figure Sir Edward could be right except for Atropatene, who's place is taken by the Lugiones.
I could live with that list

[fomalhaut]

Media Atropetene sounds so interesting though!

[Brave Brave Sir Robin]

The more I look over this history of the time frame, the more I feel that Cyrene warrants inclusion as a faction. I can't remember where I read this, but to the Mauryans, there were 5 great Hellenistic Kings of the time. The kings of Macedon, Epeiros, Syria, Egypt, and Cyrene. Also, Maga's unsuccessful attempt at invading Egypt proper was very worrisome for the Ptolemies, he reached at least as far as Paraitonion. Cyrene would provide the necessary counterweight to the Ptolemies while also not needing an additional culture slot like Meroe would. It would also stop that silly eastern Carthaginian expansion.

[LusitanianWolf]

Good point!

From the most wisest of the sourses (wiki XD)

In 276 BC Magas crowned himself king and declared de facto independence, marrying the daughter of the Seleucid king and forming with him an alliance in order to invade Egypt. The invasion was unsuccessful and in 250 BC, after Magas' death, the city was reabsorbed into Ptolemaic Egypt. Cyrenaica became part of the Ptolemaic empire controlled from Alexandria, and became Roman territory in 96 BC when Ptolemy Apion bequeathed Cyrenaica to Rome. In 74 BC the territory was formally transformed into a Roman province.

Independence in 276, 3 years before game start! I can already imagine the faction intro =D
How would be their armies, like ptolies but fielding lybian-like regionals?

[Arjos]

Good call, still if they manage something like Taksashila for Meroe, I'd be happier :D

[Pikenier]

The more I look over this history of the time frame, the more I feel that Cyrene warrants inclusion as a faction. I can't remember where I read this, but to the Mauryans, there were 5 great Hellenistic Kings of the time. The kings of Macedon, Epeiros, Syria, Egypt, and Cyrene. Also, Maga's unsuccessful attempt at invading Egypt proper was very worrisome for the Ptolemies, he reached at least as far as Paraitonion. Cyrene would provide the necessary counterweight to the Ptolemies while also not needing an additional culture slot like Meroe would. It would also stop that silly eastern Carthaginian expansion.

Sure Cyrene was important at the games start and you are right about the Mauryans considering Magas as one of the most important hellenistic kings. But the faction was already defeated in 250 bc as it was merely a civil war situation there and the troops would not be any different to the Ptolies. The Kushites reigning from Meroe would be a much more exotic and fresh choice for eastern north africa. I would be much happier when they include them. What I can remember the "only" reason against them is that due to culture slot limits the family members portraits would feature white men. Is this such a great problem, or just nitpicking?

Either way there has to be a faction in this area to rival the heartlands of the Ptolemaic Empire (same as Numidia helping Carthage not to feel so lonely). And Africa has only three factions so far, there has to be more attention to this continent. Ideal case on near the Ptolies and a 2nd faction near Carthage. :-)
And Meroe would have an even better position on the map than Cyrene from a gameplay point of view. It could expand either against Egypt or to Arabia and rival the Sab'yn. Same in the other direction. When playing Seleucids or other factions invading Egypt they would have something extra to the south. Cyrene on the other hand would not feature the same it would only be an earlier "Carthagian" Invasion that would anyway occur when they have defeated Cyrene. When playing Egypt (or invading Seleucids) you would even without Cyrene face a strong enemy on your western border. Meroe on the other hand offers a unique position on the map. ;-)

[Arjos]

Totally agree to the need of factions near Egypt, the Ptoleis have a far too rich power base otherwise...
Nabatu and Meroe would be very cool, only con for Kyrene is yet another hellenistic state :P