Macedon vs Romans . Which faction is better ?

[Knight of Judgment]

I think Macedon . Light Lancers are better than Equites ( i destroyed the house of brutii ) . But i am only in 250 B.C so you know better than me .

[Xavier Dragnesi]

It really depends on what you are fighting. The AI in RTW Vanilla is quite average, so you can almost beat anyone with anything as long as you're against the AI and the difference between numbers isn't too great. But if you play multiplayer against another person, then that's a different matter. In that, they are pretty equal. Look at it like this:
Macedonian Companions are basically an equal match for the Praetorian Cavalry. Urban Cohorts might take a while to get through the royal pikemen, but once they get between the pikes or on the flanks of them, and have started to envelop the flanks, then the pikes are gone. Likewise, if pikes keep their flanks and backs defended (like in a square/rectangular) position, then the Romans will be hard-pressed to kill them.

[Prince_of_Macedon]

If you're playing online, then Rome is dramatically better than Macedon in every possible department except for archers (where both factions are somewhat equal with their various archers).

As for Campaign, I have no idea (since I only play online).

Macedonian Companions are basically an equal match for the Praetorian Cavalry.

Just a slight correction: Companions are absolutely no match for Praetorians. Not even close.

[Xavier Dragnesi]

Do you think so? I've played twice as Macedon vs Rome (once Julii, once SPQR) and one time I got clear victory, the other time I got average victory. So I thought they were about equal. But maybe the players were just not very good... I'll just go by you because you have a lot more experience online than me. (Ratio of about 10:1 for the number of played games.)

[Eccentric]

If your controlling the companion cavalry and the ai is controlling the praetorian cavalry it's actually a quite even match because the ai almost always just stands there and waits till your charging full speed and then they attack, and often you can hit them in the flank easily, but online praetorian cav is way better.

[Knight of Judgment]

how many people must have a city for training companion cavalry ?

[Xavier Dragnesi]

I think you mean "How many people must a city have to train companion cavalry." Well, it more depends on the buildings not the people. I think it's once you get the Macedonian equivalent of the Roman "Circus Maximus". (I'm not sure because I have never played as Macedon). I just presume this because Circus Maximus is the highest level of cavalry buildings, and Companion Cavalry are the Macedonian's best cavalry, so that's what I thought.

[conquestor]

rome is better, principes and triarii are superior to pikemen

[Xavier Dragnesi]

Who cares about principes and triarii when you can use Praetorian and Urban corhorts?

[Il Duce]

In Vanilla RTW Rome is superior. However, if you use RTR or EB then you will find the Makedonians are extremely stubborn.

[Xavier Dragnesi]

I suppose that's true. Macedonians should have been a pretty powerful force in the real world of the time, even though Alexander was gone. They would have made a good match against the Romans. But after the reforms of Marius, the new troops were a lot better and they managed to conquer Macedon. After that, Macedon was no more a power.

[Eccentric]

About the companion cav, I just did a battle, companion vs praet cav, the ai just walked into my charging companion cav and even after contact they waited a few secs before they started fighting, they were down to 2/3 of their cav by then and the companions won easily, so in campaign don't worry about the enemies cav.

[Xavier Dragnesi]

Can't expect the AI to be clever eh? More like Artificial Stupidness, not Artificial Intelligence.

[Nurhrachi]

Both armies were full on professionals, so training isn't the topic. It matters if use them to their styles or not.

Roman fighting centers around their heavy infantry. Light infantry first, then switch out to heavy infantry, then finally spearmen. Being maneuverable infantry that doesn't need to be in ordered lines to do their damage, they can exploit the smallest mistakes for the best results. Cavalry was mainly for taking care of scrimishers.

Macedonian battle relied on a hammer and anvil tactic. Pikemen to hold the enemy line in place, while Cavalry swung around to the sides or rear to deliver the decisive blows. Pikemen were very slow to maneuver, so they needed more agile units to protect the flanks.

The difference in fighting styles would mean that terrain would also choose who would win. Flat fields would play to the strengths of the Macedonians. Without anything to get in the way, macedonian pikes would hold and cavalry could reach maximum charging speeds. But if there was a forrest or rocks or hills, the adaptable Romans would work great slaughter.

[Selifator]

In a number of historical battles, the terrain decided the winner. And the Romans are very flexible in using terrain. An aggresive hoplite/pikemen army, even with Macedon's strong cavalry, will be outmanouvered by faster forces. And the Romans have good enough infantry to hold their own.
EDIT
And historically speaking, the strongest has already been decided/

[Fox Sterlingworth]

What are the actual stats of Companion Cavalry compared to Praetorians?

[Eccentric]

Companions have 10 attack/17 def, praet cav have 11 attack/22 def, I'm not sure what the secondary attack is, companions have a very high charge bonus that doesn't work.

[piranha45]

companions are GLITCHED?? the developers are never going to correct it?

[Selifator]

There a lot of things that need fixing but haven't been fixed, no surprise that the charge of companions is glitched.

[Eccentric]

Not just companions, all the charge bonuses don't work, thats why greek cavalry have a stronger charge then light lancers.