New Player, some questions.

[OneoftheLost]

Ok. I'm actually lying, I've played EB before, but I couldn't stick with it due to several reasons. Upon reinstalling I had some very general questions that a quick browsing of the FAQ didn't solve.

Please excuse any questions that may have already been answered, as I am quite tired after work.


Ok, lets begin.

1. The main reason I never stuck with EB was the sheer complexity. It adds a rediculous amount of new features and rules to the game, that I personally feel arn't very well documented. That isn't to say that the documentation isn't there, its more that I couldn't find the answers I needed within said documentation. Is there some sort of newbie guide detailing the building trees and what to build? The govt. types confuse the ever-living crud out of me. The documentation just confuses me even more, in that I'm not sure what to build, to maximize the effectiveness in various situations. A newbie guide detailing the new building types, as well as build orders, and extensive documentation on the new features would be very helpful. Does such a thing exist, or should I just research harder?

2. Videos. For EB to work on my computer, I had to disable all the intro videos, am I missing out? Does EB use any custom videos? Like for the factions and the main intro? If so, is there anyway I can watch them outside of the game?

3. Minor issue, but something that has escaped me. I like to play with the custom battle option to test units and learn various armies' effectiveness on the battlefield. EB has such a massive amount of mercenary units, that I can't select any faction's standard units. Is there a way to scroll down? The scrolling stops with the cav merc units.

4. Bigger issue, the main menu screen takes a good 30 sec - 2 minutes just to appear. I see the flash screen for roughly two minutes. Any way to get around this? I have intro's disabled, but when it takes longer for my computer to pull up the EB menu then Shogun 2's menu, I become a bit sad. Also, loading is... a bit much. Is this simply EB's massive amount of ..stuff?

SPECS: Windows 7, Nvidia Geforce GTS 360M (1 gig videoram) 4 gig ram, 2.27 i5 proccessor.

5. Lastly, any recommendations for a good beginner 'Hellenistic' faction? KH seems rather complex, but I could be looking at them in the wrong fashion. Romani may be a great starter faction, but I have a hoplite fetish at the moment.

Thanks for reading, and any help you can provide!

[Entropy Judge]

Ok. I'm actually lying,

Tsk, tsk. Lying's bad for your health.

1. The main reason I never stuck with EB was the sheer complexity. It adds a rediculous amount of new features and rules to the game, that I personally feel arn't very well documented. That isn't to say that the documentation isn't there, its more that I couldn't find the answers I needed within said documentation. Is there some sort of newbie guide detailing the building trees and what to build?

Not that I know of. However, generally speaking, the "higher" the Government level, the more structures you can build. So a Type I government nets you the most buildable structures, while a Type IV gives you the fewest. There is the Building Tree in the documentation file, which I figured out fairly easily, but there isn't a "newbie guide" that I know of. Of course, for most factions, you don't need to worry about building requirements.

The govt. types confuse the ever-living crud out of me. The documentation just confuses me even more, in that I'm not sure what to build, to maximize the effectiveness in various situations. A newbie guide detailing the new building types, as well as build orders, and extensive documentation on the new features would be very helpful. Does such a thing exist, or should I just research harder?

Most of these don't exist because they aren't really needed, and because it'd be a fairly large effort to do so. Specifically regarding the building "types" ... if you're saying what I think you're saying, simply looking at the description should give you all the information you'd need.

In general, I'd say that if you're confused on something, just ask here. It might not be as fast as looking through a guide would be, but you would probably get a more comprehensive answer than most guides.

2. Videos. For EB to work on my computer, I had to disable all the intro videos, am I missing out? Does EB use any custom videos? Like for the factions and the main intro? If so, is there anyway I can watch them outside of the game?

I don't think you're missing out on much, but I skip most videos anyway. I believe a couple people made some intro videos; if the first link is correct, the only custom intros EB naturally has are Epeiros, Saka, and Pahlava. A quick check of YouTube ("EB Faction Intro") led to a few videos that claimed to be the Intros for those factions (and one for Getai, and a couple different Romani ones), but I don't know if any of them are the official videos.

3. Minor issue, but something that has escaped me. I like to play with the custom battle option to test units and learn various armies' effectiveness on the battlefield. EB has such a massive amount of mercenary units, that I can't select any faction's standard units. Is there a way to scroll down? The scrolling stops with the cav merc units.

If this is the issue I think it is, you need to make sure you open up the Multiplayer EB instead of using the Single Player version. IIRC, there's some sort of conflict with something, but the SP Custom Games only give merc/Regional units. You need to open it up in MP mode to access Factional units.

4. Bigger issue, the main menu screen takes a good 30 sec - 2 minutes just to appear. I see the flash screen for roughly two minutes. Any way to get around this? I have intro's disabled, but when it takes longer for my computer to pull up the EB menu then Shogun 2's menu, I become a bit sad. Also, loading is... a bit much. Is this simply EB's massive amount of ..stuff?
SPECS: Windows 7, Nvidia Geforce GTS 360M (1 gig videoram) 4 gig ram, 2.27 i5 proccessor.

Part of it's how big EB is, part of it's probably got something to do with the Rome Engine. I have NVIDIA GEForce 9100 with 8 GB RAM and a dual-core 2.5 GHz processor; it usually takes ~2 minutes to get to the main menu.

5. Lastly, any recommendations for a good beginner 'Hellenistic' faction? KH seems rather complex, but I could be looking at them in the wrong fashion. Romani may be a great starter faction, but I have a hoplite fetish at the moment.
Thanks for reading, and any help you can provide!

Well, pretty much everyone can recruit Hoplitai (and Haploi) as Regionals, but only KH has a multitude of different Hoplite-class units. The other Hellenics (Makedonia, AS, Ptolemies, Epeiros) are actually Phalanx-based factions. KH is actually not that bad, it's just dealing with Makedonia before you get good infantry can be ... painful ... if you're not careful.

[Mediolanicus]

Be sure to read the info on the EB website and in the FAQ here on the forums.

Also make use of the building browsers, recruitment viewer and unit information that came along with your EB installation.

[Rinan]

According to the factions' descriptions the Ptolemies should be the easiest hellenic faction to play. I think that may be quite true. You start big, have cities that have potential to become lucrative trade centres... And basically only one direct enemy to worry about in the beginning: The Seleucids. The Seleucids are bigger, but have many more fronts.

3. Minor issue, but something that has escaped me. I like to play with the custom battle option to test units and learn various armies' effectiveness on the battlefield. EB has such a massive amount of mercenary units, that I can't select any faction's standard units. Is there a way to scroll down? The scrolling stops with the cav merc units.

This in the FAQ I believe. If you want to play custom battles you need to start the game with another launcher. The one that is called "EB multiplayer" or something. You can use that one to play single player custom battles as well, with only your factional units.

[OneoftheLost]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

+rep for all!

My bad for not reading the documentation properly. I completely missed the multi stuff. >.<

but only KH has a multitude of different Hoplite-class units. The other Hellenics (Makedonia, AS, Ptolemies, Epeiros) are actually Phalanx-based factions

Wait, now you've lost me. I thought hoplites fought WITHIN a phalanx formation. Am I missing something? Im not exactly an expert on greek warefare, so now I'm genuinely curious.

[Entropy Judge]

Wait, now you've lost me. I thought hoplites fought WITHIN a phalanx formation. Am I missing something? Im not exactly an expert on greek warefare, so now I'm genuinely curious.

Holdfast explained it pretty well. The word itself is ambiguous, because all "Phalanx" means is "cohesive body of men." In game terms, though, "phalanx" refers specifically to Macedonian-style Sarissa-armed Pike formations. Hoplites tend to be well-equipped, very close-order Spearmen (which would fit in the original "phalanx" definition).

[Holdfast]

It is a little confusing, but just like me you are learning something about ancient warfare through EB. Hoplites did indeed fight in a phalanx; a dense, closely packed and deep formation, but they used a relatively short spear held overhand above the shoulder and one handed, along with a large circular shield (aspis).
What is losely termed a phalanx in game however are phalangites armed with a sarissa, an extremely long spear maybe up to 18 ft (5.5m) long. A Makadonian innovation that, like other Hellenic troops, fought in a phalanx but with the first 5 ranks of men able to use their sarissa as it was so long. The men had to use both hands so that only a small shield strapped to the left arm could be carried. Because the first four ranks had numbers of other mens' sarissas, from the ranks behind, passing through them the phalangite phalanx was a much more unwieldy formation, unable to turn quickly or cope easily with rough ground. They were very vulnerable from the flanks as a result, but absolutely deadly from the front, particularly when defending.
Hope this helps!

[Bull3pr00f de Bodemloze]

It's seen in ancient sources that certain writers also use the term phalanx to describe, for example, the Roman manipular formations. The term in its widest sense just means "densely packed formation of infantry".
The Ancient Sumerians were described as using a phalanx too, iirc.

[Boriak]

Personally, I always thought the first line of the Makedonian phalanx should be without pikes and be packing a shortsword or just be holding larger shields, possibly with both hands. The sarissas of the second to fifth line are long enough to extend past them and protect them so they don't need their pike. The greatest threat to the first line are light troops that could dance through or beneath the pike forest and come to close quarters.

I've been thinking of using such a modified phalanx in a fantasy story. Any opinions?

[Entropy Judge]

So along the lines of the Spanish tercio (perhaps with integrated crossbowmen or archers as well)? No reason it couldn't be adopted at an earlier point, really.