Hello, nice to meet you all.

I've been playing RTR for aout two months now and I must say, I really like it. Currently I'm very interested in playing the Illyrians. I have done two attempts (one of which a migration to Umbria-> rp-ing as the members of the latin league who defected in the pyrhic war) as yet, but it's a hard faction. are there any good guides on the Illyrians on these forums so I can get some ideas how to handle the originial Illyrian lands?

If there aren't any, I think I'll make one myself! I learned some things about this faction already.

1. Macedon wants your lands
2. the Greek City States want your lands
3. the choices you make in the first couple of turns for construction and recruitment are really, really, really important. My standard tw 1st turn construction is usually the road network and farms or markets. with illyria it could be wise to build roads only in your eastern provinces that will be attacked by the maks and greeks to quickly move troops to threatened spots. Illyria has access to mines, these should be build early to support your military demands.
4. The unit roster of Illyria is a bastard-one of hellenic barbarians (hoplites with warcry ability) who perform admirably when deployed and used in the roman manipular style. with warbands 3 men deep as frontline on guardmode, and the hoplites in the next two lines, supported by the various skirmishers and cavalry, you can beat any foe with minimal losses (and that's what you need!). My Illyrian legions are 1 unit of each armoured hoplites, light hoplites, warbands, thureophoroi, peltastai and slingers. a field army includes several of these legions backed up with 2-3 cavalry and local troops if available. with this setup I am confident that you will not only save men, but you save money too! When used with patience and efficiency you keep this army at good fighting strength so you don't have to spend tons on retraining or replacing. money you can use for infrastructure, naval forces and more legions!*
5. Illyrian slaves give you cheap garrison troops and cannon fodder. I never use them in battle though.
6. despite it being Illyria's historical forte, the naval aspect of the game is something of later concern, after you have subdued makedonian expansionism and greek foolishness. I lost these silver chevroned ships you get at the start in 277 or so to the greeks... and needed all money to reinforce my army, which was still a hodgepodge ad hoc force not even resembling the ideal set-up I described.



* in my "Umbrian League" campaign, I (a family member named Posantio) was besieged by the makedonians in Patavium every other year. each time I made a sortie to slaughter them, for we were matched in numbers. This went on for years on end, with only recently a slight need for a little bit of reinforcements. this was full-stack vs. Full-stack each time, Posantio's numbers only slightly decreasing while the makedonians lost their entire army each time. as Makedonia owns almost all of eastern europe from the balkans to the black sea, they'll not be easy to stop.