best opportunity to expand

[Marcus Iunius Nepa I]

hi guys,


in your opinion which faction has the best potential early on?


I think it is Egypt as they can expand south, east or west without really coming into conflict with any of the major factions.

I may be mistaken but the Romans will have to deal with a Greek presence in southern Italy and Carthaginian growing interests early on. the Greek peninsula is crowded and the Seleucid empire borders many including the Persians.


what are your thoughts?

[Dominian]

I would say Carthage, since they have a foothold in sicily, africa, corsica and the iberian peninsula. They are able to expand from all of those points.

I don't understand why it is important if you face a minor or a major faction early on. Some of the major factions can be destroyed just by taking a single province. Just because I can't play a faction, I can't assume that they are weaker in any way.

[Prince Regent George]

In my opinion, especially if you play as a faction located in the Eastern portion of the map (Pontus, Greeks, Macedon), you had better to conquer the wastelands of the Eastern Mediterranean Coast (Syria, Phoenice, Palestine). They are totally backward in what concerns the cultural apect and financially bankrupt, but their lack of efficient soldiers and the prospect of gaining an immense quantity of wealth by sacking and exterminating villages, like Jerusalem, is certainly rather tempting, for the players who desire an easy expansion.

[Dominian]

In my opinion, especially if you play as a faction located in the Eastern portion of the map (Pontus, Greeks, Macedon), you had better to conquer the wastelands of the Eastern Mediterranean Coast (Syria, Phoenice, Palestine). They are totally backward in what concerns the cultural apect and financially bankrupt, but their lack of efficient soldiers and the prospect of gaining an immense quantity of wealth by sacking and exterminating villages, like Jerusalem, is certainly rather tempting, for the players who desire an easy expansion.

This is what I meant by underestimating non-playable factions. In that region you will face the seleucid empire and media. Both are about as big as any major faction is in the beginning and I don't see why facing them is less of a challenge than taking on a major faction. Also Jerusalem is initially owned by Egypt.

[smoke]

Hard to say, but I would think that Iberia has a lot of riches to offer when playing the Carthaginians.

[Marcus Iunius Nepa I]

the Seleucid are a major faction, I was just curious that if you wanted to expand early without facing a large scale war, who'd be the best. I was thinking Carthage to but the Romans will also be expanding their influence in the western Mediterranean.

[PROMETHEUS ts]

Iceni , they have virtuLly no enemies around.

[DogSoldierSPQR]

Iceni , they have virtuLly no enemies around.

Yes. The Iceni do not have any major enemies around them in the near vicinity and have a lot of small tribes which they could just conquer easily.

I'm also thinking that it would be the least troublesome to expand as the Iceni.

[stanley86]

Iceni maybe. It all depends on what their starting army will be, their wealth and recruitable units. But they are an island faction and should be protected by the sea early on. They start at war with Demetae so there's a chance to take that region without diplomatic consequences. Then you should be able to conquer Dumonii and Brigantes respectively. The two factions up north - Ebdani and Caledones are at war with each other, so there should be a chance to attack them at the right time when they are weakened. Having them conquered you control the isles and should have a decent base for developing economy. Not to expect huge income though, that's going to be a rather hard beginning of the campaign, somewhat different from sacking rich middle east. But you have Stonehenge and it's bonuses. I think you should be able to maintain one attacking army and land an invasion on mainland.
However it all depends on Iceni's and other factions' strength at the start of the campaign. You might as well get your butt kicked in the first few turns, and your dreams turned to dust.

[Dude with the Food]

Epirus/Sparta/Athens/Macedon will all have really hard conquests at the very start but as soon as they have it should be very straitforward whereas most other factions have it easier before coming up against a difficult opponent.

[Coleus]

True, the Iceni have no major enemies around but they do face a few minor tribes that could ally in the common cause against them. As the early armies are small, that could prove critical. If the Iceni lose an early battle, they're toast, as I don't see them having the economy to rebuild quickly.

[TuuSaR]

We have no idea what is the strength difference between playable and non-playable factions in Rome 2. Only clear advantage is to be near the map's edge.

[DarrenTotalWar]

Egypt look pretty solid, especially having all those wonders from the start and the Nile covered.