RTW Faction Discussion - Britannia

[Calisthenis of Dyrrachium]

Hello.

This is a thread for discussing the RTW faction Britannia. Talk about anything, the chariots, the unit roster, your experience playing as them, your favorite unit, even how many custom battles you've won or lost as them!

I'll start,
I haven't played as them much in anything really but I think that they need some cavalry of their own. The only cavalry that's available to them are mercenaries.
I also think they should have archers.

Enjoy

[|Sith|Galvanized Iron]

I haven't played as them much in anything really but I think that they need some cavalry of their own. The only cavalry that's available to them are mercenaries.
I also think they should have archers.

Why would they need cavalry when they got chariots that kills all kinds of cavalry? Why would they need archers when they got slingers that are more durable, got more ammunition, cost less and can take down Chariot Archers and as if that wasn't enough they got Chariot Archers of their own. So there's no need to add anything the Brits got one of the most complete rosters in the game.

[Wavemanmav]

I did not thing Britannia was playable in vanilla. Are we talking about a mod?

[Slendav]

I just accidentally saved over my Roman Julii campaign which was my first. I had around 30 provinces so i did not feel like playing them again so i did the thing to unlock all the factions and i chose Britannia. I find there are pretty sweet, there starting area is great, the light chariots are awesome and the generals are usually military inclined. Am only about 15 years or so in (30 turns or so) and i have almost wiped out the Gauls. I made a alliance with the Germans so i could concentrate on eradicating the Gauls. Am finding it rather easy, a lot easier then the Romans. It could be because i learned a lot from the incomplete Roman Julii campaign. Like expanding timidly is not a good plan so i went balls out with the Brittannia which is paying off well .

[Megas Methuselah]

I did not thing Britannia was playable in vanilla. Are we talking about a mod?

They're all playable if you edit a few lines in the descr_strat. In my last semi-vanilla game, I was playing as Thrace.

[Genius of the Restoration]

See here to edit your file to make them available, thought they can be unlocked by campaign without editing.

Britannia is great fun. Your generals are mounted on chariots with 5 hitpoints. Unless the enemy manages to stop you moving, these guys shouldn't go down. Chariot archers are good and all but immune to the cavalry that can chase them down. The lack of cavalry is problematic sometimes when trying to chase down routers after a battle, but you can always move your chariots in front of the enemy so that they will stop running in that direction and change direction allowing your infantry to catch up and kill some more.

Infantry-wise, Chosen Swords and Warbands are solid and their Woads are fairly strong for an infantry that can attempt to act as a cavalry-replacement. They're a bit weak in defence though, so probably best suited to flanking work. Druids are handy, especially if you've got no general for your army, but I don't use them often.

Ranged units are interesting. Slingers are okay, though the units they fare best against, chariots, aren't to be seen in any nearby faction. Slinger attack isn't likely to cause many casualties in most cases, though as always ranged units are useful for drawing the enemy in to traps etc. The best unit in the roster IMO are the Head Hurlers. 17 attack armour-piercing missiles. Sucks for the Romans. A couple of volleys from these fellas and the hardest Urban Cohort will be reduced to half its size and take a hefty morale hit too.

Warhounds are good for chasing those annoying Scythian horse archer units, though you could just as easily use chariots, but in their absence the dogs do a good job too.

Their position is terrific in campaign. The tiny sea trade routes generate good money and the enemies they take on in the early game are Gaul (a pushover with your chariots because they can't deal with them at all) and Germania (a bit harder because of their spears). Germania is in general very weak against missiles though, so if you get them early enough they wont have access to archers (because they have to wait until their top tier for Chosen Archers) to be able to deal with your chariot archers so you can have some of these units circle the enemy without worrying about cav retaliation as they will rip them up easily. By the time Britannia reaches the Romans you should be able to have plenty of Head Hurlers in your armies to ruin all the enemy legions before your units engage and rout them.

[leseras]

See here to edit your file to make them available, thought they can be unlocked by campaign without editing.

Britannia is great fun. Your generals are mounted on chariots with 5 hitpoints. Unless the enemy manages to stop you moving, these guys shouldn't go down. Chariot archers are good and all but immune to the cavalry that can chase them down. The lack of cavalry is problematic sometimes when trying to chase down routers after a battle, but you can always move your chariots in front of the enemy so that they will stop running in that direction and change direction allowing your infantry to catch up and kill some more.

Infantry-wise, Chosen Swords and Warbands are solid and their Woads are fairly strong for an infantry that can attempt to act as a cavalry-replacement. They're a bit weak in defence though, so probably best suited to flanking work. Druids are handy, especially if you've got no general for your army, but I don't use them often.

Ranged units are interesting. Slingers are okay, though the units they fare best against, chariots, aren't to be seen in any nearby faction. Slinger attack isn't likely to cause many casualties in most cases, though as always ranged units are useful for drawing the enemy in to traps etc. The best unit in the roster IMO are the Head Hurlers. 17 attack armour-piercing missiles. Sucks for the Romans. A couple of volleys from these fellas and the hardest Urban Cohort will be reduced to half its size and take a hefty morale hit too.

Warhounds are good for chasing those annoying Scythian horse archer units, though you could just as easily use chariots, but in their absence the dogs do a good job too.

Their position is terrific in campaign. The tiny sea trade routes generate good money and the enemies they take on in the early game are Gaul (a pushover with your chariots because they can't deal with them at all) and Germania (a bit harder because of their spears). Germania is in general very weak against missiles though, so if you get them early enough they wont have access to archers (because they have to wait until their top tier for Chosen Archers) to be able to deal with your chariot archers so you can have some of these units circle the enemy without worrying about cav retaliation as they will rip them up easily. By the time Britannia reaches the Romans you should be able to have plenty of Head Hurlers in your armies to ruin all the enemy legions before your units engage and rout them.

I beg to differ. When I reached Rome, I was only about 26 turns in, meaning I do not have head hurlers yet. At that point of time I was fighting Carthage, Spain and Germania. This is just with my experience, because I don't usually wait for a big army, just attacking with whatever I have each turn.

[Genius of the Restoration]

I beg to differ. When I reached Rome, I was only about 26 turns in, meaning I do not have head hurlers yet. At that point of time I was fighting Carthage, Spain and Germania. This is just with my experience, because I don't usually wait for a big army, just attacking with whatever I have each turn.

I agree with you that it's better to attack with small armies as early as possible, but advising which units to pick for a battle specifically against Rome is a helpful thing IMHO. I would have found it useful when I was learning the game anyway. Head Hurlers are practically designed for killing Romans.

Did you choose not to have them? They're available at second tier, so Londinium could have built them after building the necessary buildings (3 turns in) if you wanted.

One of my favourite things about the barbarian factions is that you can get your best units at 6000 pop, which is really easy once you get into civilised areas like Greece, Italy and Egypt.

[{GrailKnight}]

Hello.

This is a thread for discussing the RTW faction Britannia. Talk about anything, the chariots, the unit roster, your experience playing as them, your favorite unit, even how many custom battles you've won or lost as them!

I'll start,
I haven't played as them much in anything really but I think that they need some cavalry of their own. The only cavalry that's available to them are mercenaries.
I also think they should have archers.

Enjoy

They are an extremely powerful faction, as Galvanized Iron said, they don't need anything more added, they are even considered OP by many MP players lol

[leseras]

I do try to get them as soon as possible, but I advance so fast that the Romans start attacking me quite early in game. Yes head hurlers are great, I'm not advising against them, simply implying that i reach so quickly that I may or may not have a chance to get them.

[Calisthenis of Dyrrachium]

Why would they need cavalry when they got chariots that kills all kinds of cavalry? Why would they need archers when they got slingers that are more durable, got more ammunition, cost less and can take down Chariot Archers and as if that wasn't enough they got Chariot Archers of their own.

Can they fire flaming arrows? No. Flaming arrows are a million times more effective than regular arrows & they make soldiers panic more.
As for the chariots, they run amok when panicked. Regular cavalry don't do that.

[{GrailKnight}]

Can they fire flaming arrows? No. Flaming arrows are a million times more effective than regular arrows & they make soldiers panic more.
As for the chariots, they run amok when panicked. Regular cavalry don't do that.

play the game.

[empr guy]

Can they fire flaming arrows? No. Flaming arrows are a million times more effective than regular arrows & they make soldiers panic more.
As for the chariots, they run amok when panicked. Regular cavalry don't do that.

lol wut? anyway, i agree that brittania is a very good faction. i think if they had more super hevy calvary or too many more archers they would probably be way too over-powered for online or something.

[Magic_8_Ball]

Can they fire flaming arrows? No. Flaming arrows are a million times more effective than regular arrows & they make soldiers panic more.
As for the chariots, they run amok when panicked. Regular cavalry don't do that.

Hate to be mean, but...

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

lol wut? anyway, i agree that brittania is a very good faction. i think if they had more super hevy calvary or too many more archers they would probably be way too over-powered for online or something.

Yeah, that'd make them an uber Egypt.

[empr guy]

Yeah, that'd make them an uber Egypt.

i think someone said in 1.0 vanilla they were uber Egypt, and they were banned from MP or something, what was different then?

[Genius of the Restoration]

British chariots don't actually run amok, only the Scythed Chariot unit does that. The chariots of the Egyptians, the Pontic Chariot Archers and all British chariots do not. Flaming arrows also fire more slowly than normal arrows IIRC and it's usually better to use normal ones unless you've got enough morale penalties against the targetted unit to rout them or if they're a unit that suffers from fire. They do make soldiers panic more though, you're right.

[leseras]

British chariots don't actually run amok, only the Scythed Chariot unit does that. The chariots of the Egyptians, the Pontic Chariot Archers and all British chariots do not. Flaming arrows also fire more slowly than normal arrows IIRC and it's usually better to use normal ones unless you've got enough morale penalties against the targetted unit to rout them or if they're a unit that suffers from fire. They do make soldiers panic more though, you're right.

Yeah agreed on the flaming arrow concept. Its ridiculous to use it all the time. Only three scenarios.
1) The enemy is on the verge of routing.
2) The enemy is using siege equipment
3) Its a night battle and I like the cool visual effects.

[Axl]

In my opinion, Brits are very enjoyable to play. I mean you can get chariot archers almost from when you start the game, and they are good for everything - harrassing infantry, charging, against cavalry.

The head hurlers are also pretty interesting, like the Awesome version of wimpy peltasts of other factions.

[Punic Hoplite]

I just finished a campaign with the Britons recently. I conquered Germania, Gaul, Iberia, North Africa to Lepcis Magna, Italy, the islands of the Med, and Greece before I got bored (and didn't want to face the chariots of the Egyptians lol). I only used Warlords, light chariots, Warbands and Head hurlers.

Massive family charge into center of enemy line with the light chariots before hand wearing them down never failed me :p I used the infantry to regroup behind in case the enemy didn't rout and my chariots stopped.

[Turtle Hammer]

I think making the Brittania faction more powerful than it already is is slightly obscene! Chariots, especially the generals, are devestating. And head hurlers have a ranged attack that'll even go through Pratorions like a knife through butter. Add to that the generally cheap warbands and woad warriors, the seriously serious chosen swordsmen, and spooky druids, and you have a faction that certainly does not need any help in killing it's foes. Hey, why not give Carthage Armoured Elephant Chariots while we're at it?

As for chariots, only scythed chariots of Pontus and Selucia run amok, the rest are quite safe to use.