Faction Difficulty

[Remwr]

Well hey I'd been looking through the forums and I didn't see a thread like this so I thought I'd start one. What factions do you think will be the most difficult to succeed at? I personally think that the Suebi and Athens will probably be among the hardest factions. The Suebi will probably have low population in their regions while Athens has little room to expand and a faction that excels at land battles as a neighbor. Any thoughts?

[nrthee2]

Somewhere I read that the Spartans will be very hard. I don't know for sure.

[Lord Tomyris]

Somewhere I read that the Spartans will be very hard. I don't know for sure.

Aye, I've seen CA say this a fair few times now. Most recently on Facebook:

No spoilers, but I will agree that Sparta will be one of the hardest factions to play as in Rome II.

[hanbarc]

Not sure how it will work out, but I'd like CA to balance the difficulties to represent how 'well' each faction did historically.

Rome should be the easiest to play by definition - they were the ones who won out and expanded their empire in this period of history. Parthia same to a lesser extent. Carthage, Egypt and Macedon should start strong but be prone to decline in the midgame through some difficult factor (eg limited ability or availability of top tier military). Everyone else - barbarian factions, Greek states, Pontus should be tough to play.

[Aymer de Valence]

Probably because Sparta won't be able to build walls. Pfft, I never built walls for Sparta in Rome 1 either and it made defending it very fun

[Stath's]

Since Epeiros has 2 provinces and Sparta only 1 border, to the North, it seems Athens to be very difficult to play.

Also, since there are no rebels, even Suebi could start surrounded by small, but equally strong factions.

[Toho]

Since Epeiros has 2 provinces and Sparta only 1 border, to the North, it seems Athens to be very difficult to play.

Also, since there are no rebels, even Suebi could start surrounded by small, but equally strong factions.

I agree, athens looks like a promising faction to play, surrounded by enemies, subjects of Macedon (unless I misread), weaker army but stronger navy with strong cultural and diplomatic advantages.
yea sounds like a campaign that I wont be steam rolling everything within sight if I played as Rome or Parthia.

[SturmChurro]

Since Epeiros has 2 provinces and Sparta only 1 border, to the North, it seems Athens to be very difficult to play.

Also, since there are no rebels, even Suebi could start surrounded by small, but equally strong factions.

True, but those minor factions are probably easy to destroy. I'm thinking all you would have to do as Suebi is conquer to the north and from there you can easily become a naval power and start strong. Albeit, with their central position late game they could get squeezed from all sides.

[[N2]Kami]

I think hardest will be Gaul or Germany cause they are surrounded by all side with other faction.

[IDGAFOS]

I think hardest will be Gaul or Germany cause they are surrounded by all side with other faction.

Agreed, and forest battles are very annoying and makes it more challenging, they be in the thick of it.

[Lockcaps]

Hardest: Macedon, Sparta, Athens, Suebi

Medium: Carthage, Arverni, Egypt, Parthia, Epirus, Pontus

Easiest: Rome, Iceni

[rohirrimelf]

I dont think population will be a factor for the Suebi. Ive heard somewhere that population like in RTW1 will not be in this game. So when u build units it is not draining your population. My guess is that there will be only a few easy ones like Rome and Carthage. And a lot of normal/hard ones. Very few very hard ones. The barbarian tribes of Europa that have been announced will be not that hard ill think. The arverni are a good distance from rome and you just dont know where they will expand to. There is a lot of empty space between them so you could expand quite fast. Im thinking Sparta will be a bit harder to play as Athens. When i play as Athens i would build a few ships to have a superior navy. Capture sparta`s only port (if it has any) and raid the countryside with my ships. Draining his economy while i try to build trade relations to boost my economy. By turn 10 or so im thinking Athens might be strong enough to hurt the Spartans and take his only province. Hopefully Epirus and Macedon will not trouble me until i defeat Sparta.

[Dreagon]

I personally feel like Rome might also be not that easy. You have Gauls to the north, Carthage to the west and south and in the east you have Epirus and Macedon. If you're not careful you might get overrun relatively quickly. I really hope the AI is able to handle it. But I think all the factions with one starting province might be difficult.

[Lord Dakier]

Easy: Egypt, Iceni, Macedon
Medium: Rome, Carthage, Epirus, Parthia, Suebi
Hard: Sparta, Athens, Pontus, Averni

[HusKatten]

The factions starting out strong will probably have a tougher time with their senate and its equivalent. Larger empires might have more than one army, and that army might have an influence with an opposing family. At least I hope that CA will use the internal politics as a counterweight to strong expansive empires - making steam rolling harder.

[Arcani 4 Ever]

I'll divide the factions difficulty in 4 types. Easy, Normal, Hard and Very Hard

Easy Factions

Iceni - They start in Britain, room for expansion without meeting powerful foes makes it easy for new players.
Carthage - Carthage starts more powerful than Rome, also they have enough territory that even if you lose your first battles you might not lose entire regions. Carthage is also the trading center of the ancient world, so expect a lot of income early on the game! And the Carthaginian navy is probably the largest navy at the start of the game.
Egypt - They start as the ancient world knowledge center, so we can expect some pretty high level settlements. They have a lot of territory and there aren't any powerful enemies nearby.

Normal Factions

Rome - The base faction, it shouldnt be too hard or too easy. Rome is the perfect place to start. Also getting a buff after the Marian reforms, they have good late infantry.
Arverni - Far from any powerful enemies, the Arverni have enough space to conquer all of France before meeting any powerful foe. The fact they have an edge at fighting barbarians makes their first expansion battles easier to deal with.
Suebi - Far in the forest of Germania, the Suebi will have to unite Germania before expanding. Lots of forest in that area makes the Suebi's ambush bonus very handy.
Macedon - Having Athens and Rhodes as client states, a weakened Sparta and Epirus as close neighbors and having a bonus when fighting barbarians. Macedon, although with a weak army at start, they start with a better advantage than the rest.

Hard Factions

Parthia - With half of the Parthia region under the rule of the Seleucid Empire, getting into an early war against this powerful empire might be a wrong move. Bactria to the east is also a powerful foe. For now, the best idea is attack the tribes of the Dahae and unite all the Iranian tribes.
Epirus - Weakened after the Phyrric Wars but with a lot of experience gained from Phyrrus campaigns. Phyrrus armies are small but they have enough experience to deal with the weakened enemies around.
Pontus - Although starting in an ideal position and having a mix of persian and greek units. Pontus has to deal with the Diadochi Kingdoms. Armenia nearby sounds like the best place to start a conquest, but chances are Pergamom or the Seleucid empire might attack you from behind.

Very Hard Factions

Athens - Although the Athenian navy is still a powerhouse, Athens is now a client state of Macedon. At the beginning you can only fight against the enemies of Macedon. Although Thessaly is rich, half of your profits go to Macedon, leaving you with little money. Relying on expensive mercenaries, and having an average foot army, an early war against Sparta sounds like entering a war already lost. Perhaps expanding to Crete, is Athens only way to survive.

Sparta - Sparta has seen better days. A decadent society, the only thing that keeps Sparta on its feet its it's powerful army. But with Phyrrus highly experienced army looking for conquest nearby, the Spartans might be facing an enemy they may not be ready to face. Bad diplomatic relationships with Athens, makes it the ideal target to attack, but with Athens under the protection of Macedon, Sparta might not be ready to face Antigonus phalanxes. No matter what you choose, the only thing that will assure Sparta's survival is...Total War!

[CptAustus]

Hard: Parthia, Suebi, Carthage, Pontus
Challenges large enemies (Parthia and Pontus), surrounded (Suebi), large borders and many enemies (Carthage)

Medium: Macedon, Arveni, Egypt
Egypt and Macedon only have two fronts, and Macedon should be able to use diplomacy with some greek factions. Arveni should be able to maintain peace with most tribes and just focus on Rome.

Easy: Rome, Iceni
Iceni are isolated in an island. Rome will be the main faction, so it should be the easiest too. Furthermore, a navy can keep Epirus and Carthage at bay, an army can keep the barbaries out of Italy.

I'm not sure how I feel about the Greek Cities

[Lockcaps]

The greek states will very very likely have the same "unifying" mechanic that all of the german factions have, ie. you can combine in 1 big faction if you use diplomacy well. If you manage to do this early then United States of Greece would probably be one of the easier factions to play.

[Remwr]

I think that Rome might be the easiest faction, although I'm probably biased due to the power of the Urban and Praetorian Cohorts from Rome I

[Arcani 4 Ever]

I think that Rome might be the easiest faction, although I'm probably biased due to the power of the Urban and Praetorian Cohorts from Rome I

Well, those two units will not appear in game. Maybe the Urbans will, but they were actually just reservist, so they might not be as powerful as they were in Rome 1