Most Difficult Faction to play as in Vanilla?

[HERO_331]

Hey guys, I apologize if this topic has been covered before, but what faction is the hardest to play as in the main campaign? I'm coming back to this game after not playing for a few years, and I'm looking for a challenging campaign. I think that the Seleucid Empire was pretty difficult, but I don't remember for sure. Thanks.

[Drachos]

Seleucid Empire mostly because they'll get many enemies from like turn 15..Armenia, Pontius, Parthia, Greek Cities(backstabbers) and ofc Egypt...
Carthage...Romans to worry about, Numidians also, Egyptians later, Gauls and Spania(Hispania).
Gaul, but not so hard though..That's it from me.

[Sharpe]

I always found Thrace quite difficult: Poor starting units, enemies on all sides and forced into a war with Macedon straight away.

[Alexanderos]

Dacia , crappy economy at the start and war with thrace and macedon is a thing you simply can't win.

[Flavius Varus Caesar]

Seleucids or Gauls since all wage war against you in beginning!

[vlad06]

The Seleucid Empire is surrounded by enemies and its settlements stretch narrowly from Babylon to West Asia Minor and is therefore hard to protect and even more difficult to economically maintain.

I used to make as much money as I could up until the 15th or so turn and then I'd position diplomats all over my regions to bribe off any invading armies. It's cheaper than raising armies, at least during the early part of the game.

[Punic Hoplite]

Nobody proposes Numidia? I mean they have great jav cav, but their heavy infantry isn't all that spectacular. And their economy sucks initially, they have to face Egypt in the East, which is basically across the map from their other settlements.

[Feather]

Numidia or Scythia, followed by Dacia.

The Seleucid Empire has one of the roughest starts (If not THE roughest), but eventually it becomes the strongest military faction in-game.

Thrace has a lot going for it too. Phalanx Pikemen and Bastarnae used in conjunction can be devastating in nearly ever situation.
They also have easy access to Greek lands, which are just very rich.

Dacia would be tied for hardest, since they'll dispose of only weak units throughout the game and will just be hammered during the late game BUT they can power through into Rome quickly enough as to keep them from becoming an even more serious threat. The other factions won't be quite as tough as Rome and with a bit of thinking you can manage to take them on easily anyways.

Let's not forget that in Vanilla your whole campaign is going to revolve around Rome and that regardless of the faction that you play you're going to have to take them on at some point. So you'd be better off taking them on early instead of waiting it out, allowing them to become stronger.
This is one of the things that makes the campaign more difficult to the following two factions:

Scythia has horse archers available from the early game, yes. But their starting economy is SO bad and their neighboring regions are so equally poor and so far apart that the early game is gonna be just brutal.
Scythia will suffer from serious economic issues early on and this is going to limit the amount of troops you'll have available to send out into foreign lands. Greece is relatively close, but you'll have to cut through the Thracians first - and again - you'll be working with a very limited army so doing that isn't gonna be too easy.
Since Scythia's settlements are all so far apart you'll have to rely heavily on garrisons or generals to keep your low sources of income from rebelling against you. Your settlements are what keep you from going into the reds so you're going to have to spend if you want them to remain under your control.
This slow start in your expansion is gonna give Rome more time to grow stronger and bigger. Your horse archers are already going to have problems bringing down their armored units and your barbarian melee units won't be of that much help either. If it weren't for those head-hunting maidens lord knows how you'd even tackle Rome.

Numidia also starts out with a poor patch of land. The economical issues Numidia will face aren't going to be as serious as the ones of Scythia, but you will have to fight Egypt which is going to leech the Denarii from your coffers anyhow..
The Egyptians are well known for being a pain. They'll continue to harass you at every chance they get until you're left with no option but to move in to eradicate them. This is going to send you on a long campaign to conquer Egypt, and this is what's going to keep Numidia too busy as to just march towards Rome (Once more just leaving it to build up).
During your march against the Egyptians though you'll be fighting exhaustively and conquering very few settlements. Other factions besides Rome are also each making their own progress and you'll have to go to war with them too if you want to meet your 50 region quota.
Unlike the Scythians you'll have the cavalry to get you past the late game without too much of a hassle, but then again you don't have a cluster of regions (Like Greece) sitting nearby just like they do and you'll have to resort to sea-travel by the time you decide to move into Rome.

So those are my thoughts. Playing a certain faction goes beyond the early game, so I think it's also worth it to consider the difficulties they'll meet as you progress through the campaign.

[Willowran]

Most difficult Factions to Play With (based on my experience with VH/VH campaigns):

1:Rebels. gods, this is insanely hard, even for a veteren. You have to rely on free spawning armies and tempermental recruitment with an abominable economy and without the option of retreating ANY battle. And you have to conquer the entire map.
2: Dacia. Enemies on all sides, a terrrrrible economy, and no unique units to boost their roster. Their only advantage is being the only barbarian faction with seige weapons.
3: Numidia. Jav cav loses a LOT of it's effectiveness mid game, let alone late. Numidia has no late-game options that equal nearly any other faction. They're not HORRIBLE, but they definitely need a LOT of micro-managing.And i would like to point out that you do not need to conquer the east...in my game i abandoned siwa first turn, and invaded rome via the sea. Easier than dacia, i would say, simply because if you take the carthage area you have a nearly impregnable base of operations which you can always fall back on.

Thrace is not too hard, as you have pikes, which make defending in times of stress considerably easier.

I am not sure why so many people say seluicid. It was the second campaign i beat... Yes, their early territory is fragile, but they have argueably the most powerful roster in the entire game. Early game just requires some micromanaged battlemap battles. And again, pikes.

I wouldnt say scythia either. Horse archers. You don't need many, and their upkeep is ridiculously low. So long as you fight geurilla style, you can fight ridiculously far without losing a single unit--you are the only HA power in greece, and (personally, in my campaign) i never really had to fight anywhere else but dacia/thrace, and south into greece... Parthia, Armenia, and Germania never became an issue until mid game, at least...

[vlad06]

Most difficult Factions to Play With (based on my experience with VH/VH campaigns):

1:Rebels. gods, this is insanely hard, even for a veteren. You have to rely on free spawning armies and tempermental recruitment with an abominable economy and without the option of retreating ANY battle. And you have to conquer the entire map.
2: Dacia. Enemies on all sides, a terrrrrible economy, and no unique units to boost their roster. Their only advantage is being the only barbarian faction with seige weapons.
3: Numidia. Jav cav loses a LOT of it's effectiveness mid game, let alone late. Numidia has no late-game options that equal nearly any other faction. They're not HORRIBLE, but they definitely need a LOT of micro-managing.And i would like to point out that you do not need to conquer the east...in my game i abandoned siwa first turn, and invaded rome via the sea. Easier than dacia, i would say, simply because if you take the carthage area you have a nearly impregnable base of operations which you can always fall back on.

Thrace is not too hard, as you have pikes, which make defending in times of stress considerably easier.

I am not sure why so many people say seluicid. It was the second campaign i beat... Yes, their early territory is fragile, but they have argueably the most powerful roster in the entire game. Early game just requires some micromanaged battlemap battles. And again, pikes.

I wouldnt say scythia either. Horse archers. You don't need many, and their upkeep is ridiculously low. So long as you fight geurilla style, you can fight ridiculously far without losing a single unit--you are the only HA power in greece, and (personally, in my campaign) i never really had to fight anywhere else but dacia/thrace, and south into greece... Parthia, Armenia, and Germania never became an issue until mid game, at least...

Wait a sec, playing as rebels???

[Willowran]

It is doable, yes. just edit the descr_strat file. Er-

my computer>c drive>program files>the creative assembly>rome: total war>data>world>maps>campaign>imperial campaign>descr_strat.txt

Move all factions you WANT to play as into the "playable" area. all but one, at any rate, as all factions cannot fit. to play as rebels, move the "slave" into "playeable".

You can also play as the slaves in custom battle. rome: total war>data>descr_sm_factions.txt

find the "slaves", and change "custom_battle_availability" to "yes".

For campaign they're bloody DIFFICULT to play as. Fair warning. There are a couple guides floating around, if you need one. Genius of the Restoration started one, i know...

[vlad06]

It is doable, yes. just edit the descr_strat file. Er-

my computer>c drive>program files>the creative assembly>rome: total war>data>world>maps>campaign>imperial campaign>descr_strat.txt

Move all factions you WANT to play as into the "playable" area. all but one, at any rate, as all factions cannot fit. to play as rebels, move the "slave" into "playeable".

You can also play as the slaves in custom battle. rome: total war>data>descr_sm_factions.txt

find the "slaves", and change "custom_battle_availability" to "yes".

For campaign they're bloody DIFFICULT to play as. Fair warning. There are a couple guides floating around, if you need one.

Thanks a lot for that man.

[trustno1(2)]

Pontus and The Selucid Empire are hard to play as

[Genius of the Restoration]

TSE, Numidia and Pontus can all be difficult.

There's a rebel guide in my sig too btw.

[Alexanderos]

Just tried the Greek Cities , too hard even on easy/easy attacked from everywhere , i am one to two settlements , Pergamun wich is under siege by Pontus , and Rhodes. Everything else is taken by Brutii or Macedon , and they are fighting hard for my ex lands =D

[tudor93]

Just tried the Greek Cities , too hard even on easy/easy attacked from everywhere , i am one to two settlements , Pergamun wich is under siege by Pontus , and Rhodes. Everything else is taken by Brutii or Macedon , and they are fighting hard for my ex lands =D

lol no, GCS are in fact one of the easiest factions in RTW; you just need to practise more

[Apollyon]

Dacia isn't as bad as everyone's making them out to be.

TSE are only difficult at the start, after that they are almost unstoppable.

Parthia isn't easy. Not a hard start, but by the time you've conqured Asia, Rome's on the rampage in Europe. Cataphracts or not, its hard work with poor infrastructure.

Numidia has my vote. Very difficult start, with a mid-game clash against Rome.

[NobleNick]

Hmmm...

Way too much unbelief regarding Gaul: Use all-cav half-stacks to keep Germania at bay. Gaul is unstoppable once you get (properly temple-engineered) Forresters; assuming you press your advantage and wipe out the Romans before they can see the reforms.

I hope no one believes the rich Greek Cities are hard after reading this thread on a VH/VH swap game, which ended in a long campaign win (IIRC) somewhere around turn 40.

Haven't played the Seleucids (IIRC). Would like to try.

Parthia is the one faction I tried (on VH/VH, IIRC) and got my hinterparts handed to me on a platter. Egypt was the culprit. I stopped the Parthia campaign to play as Egypt (so as to learn how to defeat them with Partha). Thoroughly enjoyed the VH/VH Egyptian long campaign, but never got back to poor Parthia.

Parthia gets my vote as a runner in the "toughest faction to play." Numidia would be another contender (never played them). Don't know enough about Dacia to say; but given that it is a small fish in that Eastern Factions fishpond, I could believe that is a hard one, too.

[Vercingetorix The Great]

I will say the Gauls. Whenever I play as them I have 3 strong factions attack me at the same time.
1.Julii
2.Britons
3.Germania

If I attack one then the others come knocking at my doorstep, I also only get a couple good units.
Why did the developer team underestimate Gaul?!?

[Genius of the Restoration]

Gaul can be pretty strong. I'd go further than you NobleNick and say the Greeks are actually one of the easiest factions to play. They're certainly the best to speed run. Welcome back btw