What Faction Next? BC Edition.

[Kennylz]

Ah, well I just had to bail on my Ghorids campaign due to file errors, so I was hoping to find a fresh start elsewhere. I've broken it down so that I don't have to look at every faction.

Until the Russians are added, I can't honestly play

-ERE
-Turks
-Kypchaks

I was just playing as Ghorids, so I don't want to return to that far east position yet. So no,

-Ghorids
-Delhi
-Raj
-Kwar

That leaves the rest of the factions. I know I'm excluding a lot of really great factions but I tend to dedicate myself to fully finishing each campaign I start so I don't want to burn myself out in Anatolia with-out the vital role the Rus play, and I have to get out of the secluded east.

[Samariten]

Personally i would say Ayyubid or Abbasid i love the mix of units in both factions. Playing Abbasid you will get a very central part on the map, alot of merchants, diplomats goes through Baghdad so its busy busy. Also its close to the christian states so picking a fight with them is at hand. Ayyubid faction is great fun since you interfear with KOJ very soon in the game. Kurdish lancers are my favourite unit but there is a large choice of cavalry to pick from which i do enjoy.

[zznɟ ǝɥʇ]

I tend to agree. It's a very challenging campaign and you get the feel Baghdad is the center of the world.

[St Naffatun]

I shut my eyes then opened them and the first numebr I saw - anywhere - I would use to count from the left of factions screen and play that. It was a 5 on a vitamin bottle on my desk. Having a good Armenia campaign.

I recommend going with the flow, "I won't play this or that" = your subconscious probably wants to be doing something else.

[Miraj]

I've been playing a Georgian campaign as of late. Its quite the ball breaker, financially, but once you get Ani and Kutaisi pumping some cash it get's better. And all their units are freaking awsome. It's a pretty solid faction I'd say.

[allenguy007]

Abbasids. You have poor units early on to take over rebel territory, plus you have to be wary of the massive Seijuk monster next to you

But once you get past the early game you're in the clear.

[Kennylz]

With the exception of a couple units, the Abbasids have one of the least inspiring unit rosters for me. They remind me of Vanilla M2TW units the most out of any faction, except maybe the Mongols. They have the robe wearing Beduins and the faces and helmets of the now unforgettable Muslim units that I immediately associate with vanilla, and understandably do not compare with the amazing art this game provides. There faction location, economy, and colors and banners are all top notch. I just look at the units more than anything when picking a faction, and those guys could use a revamping. I might be assuming, but I'd say they were one of the first factions that had units made for them.

The Ayyubids have an 'amazing' unit roster, but I'd rather have Salah Al-din as an enemy than play as him. I think over exposure of their history has kind of burned me out. With so many rare factions around it feels wrong to play as the famous enemies of the crusaders. They also seem eazy peazy.

KoJ - Err, not so big into Crusaders. It doesn't help that they don't have any cavalry with covering for their horses so they all look visually much weaker than their stats. The crazy coloring of the helmets throws me off, but the KoH portraits are a treat. Still... Nah... I might play them in the future, but as it is they have a very plain and underwhelming look to them that would almost be reality breaking to see them kick ass. I know your stance on these guys, but you couldn't give them one unit with -some- sort of decent armour, even if it was their most expensive and late unit?

Armenia - Their roster is a bit meh, except for those gold scale guys, and their elite infantry, but they are a bit too mixed up in Anatolia and I'm waiting for the Rus to be added before I touch that area. Also, they are Crusader suck ups!

Georgia - These guys are tough, but I can never seem to get into them. No idea why. I guess because I know absolutely zero about them. Starting position is a bit sketchy too.

Seljuks - Underwhelming unit roster and I don't much like these guys from what I've read of their history.

Turks - Awesome stuff, but like I said, waiting before I touch Anatolia, and when I do it will be immediately to ERE.

ERE - Waiting on the Rus... I just can't bring myself to play these guys with such an important part of their diplomatic relations missing, but other than that these guys have some of the coolest ****ing units and I'm a big fan of their historic figures...

Makuria - Same deal as with Georgia, also they feel a little unfinished. Those champions are drool worthy though.

Oman - I'm leaning towards these guys, but their starting position sucks, and I'm not too fond of their banners and color. Units seem a little underpowered statistically, if not despite awesome art style.

Bah! The Ghorids and the Kwarz would be perfect, but I just had to prematurely abort a wonderful campaign that I was deeply involved in. I'd hate to jump right back in and start all over. The Raj are great too, but I'm staying out of the far east for a while.

I know it seems like I'm trashing a lot of these factions, but BC has spoiled me, it is sad.

[byzantineklibanophori]

I love the Abbasids to bits, yeah their units are the best looking or most interesting but then again, thats offset by the fact that they can match it with the best. After years of fighting Romans, Mongols, Ghorids and the Ghaznis simultaneously at the same time, the Abbasids have a great underlying strength that belies what may seem like an average units roster.

As the Abbasids, I use cheap native infantry that are decent and able to hold their ground against superior infantry forces. But the cream of my army are the Ghulams and mercenaries I hire from time to time - reflecting Abbasid practice.

Kudos to the BC team for doing a fine job with the Abbies.

P.S can't stand the Romans, I hate em. They dont have to worry much about their western frontiers, they'll just keep stacking and spamming eastwards!! On and on and on and on and on and on and on...haha

[Kennylz]

After fighting a few more battles with them, the Abbies aren't so bad, but still not too exciting. Probably a good thing that I can't decide which faction to play as, what with this being finals week and me having a ton to do.

[byzantineklibanophori]

The Yubbies (Ayyubids) have a great units roster, I've got to try them sometime. Excellent position to fight a fair share of battles and rich provinces too. Must finish my Abbie campaign though.

[Manco]

I know your stance on these guys, but you couldn't give them one unit with -some- sort of decent armour, even if it was their most expensive and late unit?

I've been thinking about tis as well. In a custom battle I had all varieties of HC and they indeed looked very similar.
Maybe the Outremer knights or the Jerusalem knights could get reinforced mail? You know similar to what the Templars wear in Assassin's Creed, mail with some sort of plate reinforcements on the upper and lower arms. Other than that i love KOJ's look, bread and butter troops looking grim and sober, knights flamboyant and colourful.

Besides KOJ, I'm partial to Georgia and Oman, both beautiful units. Especially Oman has a very different playstyle compared to KOJ without resorting to HA armies.
Ghorids and Yubbies are nice as well, bet they already get enough loving.

[Kennylz]

I've decided on Abbasid. They really grew on me quick. I think I'm going to give the Alba Heavy Spearmen the spearwall formation since their desc speaks of hoplites, and then I'll be set for a really fun campaign.

[allenguy007]

I would also suggest using Arabian Cavalry. Their stats might not be impressive, but they cream every single horse archer unit your foes can throw at you and can charge very effectively against foot archers, light infantry and light spearmen while suffering few losses. Plus you can field mass numbers of them. I would say they are the most underestimated cavalry unit in game.

My starting army would simply consist of my general, half Arabian Cavalry, and half Turkoman mercs, and would simply siege rebel settlements and force them to sally. Once that happens, it's basically a bloodbath (for the rebels ).

[Faris ad Din]

Just make sure adding the spearwall formation does not cause a CTD. I tried adding that to the vanilla Middle Eastern Halberd Militia (who did not have it) and ordering them into the formation crashed the game for me (lack of animations)?

Don't hit on the light cavalry - they are outstanding when used right. The basic principles is to protect them from being killed and use them where they can kill the most - simple! In practice, there's maneuvering your light cavalry as bait to isolate units, dodging arrow volleys, charging heavy infantry units from several sides (with precision timing) to maximize impact and minimize combat time, sacrificing some of them to pin down and kill important units. I love light cavalry, give me light cavalry and I can defeat heavy cavalry. Commanding them feels so elegant and romantic.

[Samariten]

I totally agree about light cavalry you got to love them if you are able to use them right in a battle. One strategy i prefer is to lure away the enemies spearmen with youre light cavalry and charge their center with the heavy one works most of the times.

Glad you decided to pick the Abbasid hope you have a fun campign...

[zznɟ ǝɥʇ]

Abbasid campaigns are a lot of fun because your position is so dangerous..there's always a few factions bordering you. Plus you make tons of money so get to throw some massive armies around. They're one of my favorite factions.

[Kennylz]

I allied with with Ayyubids, the Turks, and the Kwars and Ghorids, so I have something of a political defense. The AI doesn't attack you so flippantly when it has diplomatic reprecussions.

I'm soaking up a lot of that rebel land around me, then I'll probably pick the weakest faction close to me and absorb them, and move from there, one by one.

[Kip]

give me light cavalry and I can defeat heavy cavalry.

Example? Or do you mean in conjunction with other units/tactics?

Commanding them feels so elegant and romantic.

Agreed. I used to play marking back for the soccer team; the boys and I never got credit for wins, and always got blamed for losses. (In this analogy, the strikers are heavy cavalry, the defensemen are light cavalry.)

[Faris ad Din]

Just like you can defeat technologically/numerically superior armies with inferior ones, given good command. I am mostly referring to defeating computer AI-controlled heavy cavalry with light cavalry, as the AI is far more prone to making mistakes than just about any human player. And I do mean light cavalry against heavy cavalry alone, a toddler can defeat heavy cavalry with different kinds of units.

But still, how do you defeat heavy cavalry with light cavalry?

Follow the basic principles:
1. Protect them from being killed.
2. Use them where they can kill the most.
Everything follows from those.

So to protect them from being killed - do not allow the enemy cavalry to charge your own, or minimize that. To maximize their impact, use them on as many successful charges as you can.

That said, they are more likely to charge you when you are outmaneuvered, and you are more likely to be outmaneuvered when they come upon you together. Therefore fight them separately (the core strategem for Napoleon: divide and conquer). Get your light weak cavalry to gang up on and destroy isolated units of heavy cavalry when you can - this can be tricky because you may be exploiting differences as small as a few yards or less than a second's delay!!!

Optimally you will charge and destroy that heavy cavalry when they are not charging you - exploit the minimum charge distance and angle of the unit, as well as taking advantage of disordered units. Heavy cavalry are tough, but that armor will not stop charges, and light cavalry in BC are STILL capable of devastating charges. They're like glass swords. But if you are truly unable to outmaneuver your targets, then you may sacrifice one of your own units to receive their charge head on while supporting them with your other units. Strategically, light cavalry are cheap and replaceable. (General Grant realized this: the Union army could replace men and equipment, the Confederates could not, so he considered higher casualty ratios to still be victories.) And when you're fighting with fast units against other fast units, with little distance and time to exploit, time is of the essence - sacrifice that unit before they reorganize and reform to destroy you.

That's just a hint at how to do it. You can come up with different solutions for different situations - we've discussed elsewhere how to defeat heavy cavalry charges without spearmen.