What your favorite nation in EB and what is your strategy?

[Lixus]

Even in my childhood i was fascinated by the strategy of ancient military commanders and babarian chieftans. I think i was 5 years old when it began with a picture out of a roman history book. It was a picture of an army with elephants marching in the moutains. At the time i thought this was the powerfull army of rome. But with time i learned my history, of men like Ramses2, Alexandros, Ambiorix of the Belgea, Boudica (and women), Leonidas, Julius Ceasar, Alrik, and many more. But non of them amazed my more then Barca Hannibal even with his defeat at Zama. For a time i thought that Rome won because it was the best army in the world. But when i get more interested in Rome its enemies i started more to think that they won some of there wars more by luck then through military might. Many only remember the victories of rome and with that forget her many defeats.
But i am also a gamer. and i always loved strategy games. although i played many hours on games like cossacks, TWM1, age of empires, Empire earth they lacked realism.
That changed with RTW and especially with EB.
Now i have the opportunity to put Ceasars and Hannibals Tactics into action.

Having said all that, my question is what is your favorite(s) nation(s) in EB and what is your strategy to connquer the EB world (on the campaign map aswell as in real-time battle).