Factional Unit Strengths and Weaknesses

[Ownager]

Since I have nothing better to do, I wanted to start a strength and weakness guide for EB. I haven't seen one anywhere, and I think it would be a help. Additions are welcome.

Aedui- The Aedui are one of the two Gallic tribes. While they are basically the same as the Arverni, they still have strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths- The Aedui soldiers can whoop enemy infantry. I think Aedui levies can hold against Roman Hastati for a long time. Maybe the duration of the battle. While they will have problems with barbarian factions with similar troops, they should be able to laugh at civilized faction troops. You should use aggressive expansion before the other factions reforms arrive, because Polybian legions are much harder to dispatch. Their reforms are also pretty straightforward.

Weaknesses- Aedui cavalry are very limited in number and quality. While they have Leuce Epos, which are great light cavalry, and companions, which are great heavy cavalry, they lack a role for them. Much like the Sweboz, these barbarians rely on infantry heavily, so straight up melee is usually the way to go. Having cavalry definitely won't hurt, but they have a limited role. Some of their low tier and also some higher tier units are vulnerable to missiles.

Units to look out for- Carnutes Cingetos, Solduros, Neitos.


Arche Seleukeia- The largest successor state, beset on all sides by enemies. AS has its own strengths, and a few weaknesses.

Strengths- They have beautiful Heavy cavalry and Infantry. Their phalanxes are top quality, and their Jewish spearmen are not to be messed with. They have a good mix of Persian cavalry and Successor cavalry, as well as being able to recruit horse archers in the East. Their archers are good too, having good Syrian archers to take up the ranged support role.

Weaknesses- Arche Seleukeia can afford only a few of these at the beginning. Plus,their successor armies are torn to shreds when facing nomads in the east. The only way a player can counter this is by getting many foot archers or their own horse archers.

Units to look out for- Thorakitai Agematos Basileus, Hellenic Cataphracts

That wall I feel like doing for tonight. Might continue tomorrow.

[Entropy Judge]

Since I have nothing better to do, I wanted to start a strength and weakness guide for EB.

Is this going to be 'in general,' from the point of view of antagonist factions, or from the point of view of the faction being discussed? Style and such will change depending on which you're going for, unless you're going to go wholly in-depth on each faction.

Aedui- The Aedui are one of the two Gallic tribes. While they are basically the same as the Arverni, they still have strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths- The Aedui soldiers can whoop enemy infantry. I think Aedui levies can hold against Roman Hastati for a long time. Maybe the duration of the battle. While they will have problems with barbarian factions with similar troops, they should be able to laugh at civilized faction troops. You should use aggressive expansion before the other factions reforms arrive, because Polybian legions are much harder to dispatch. Their reforms are also pretty straightforward.

The Gallic advantage is in having lots of useful Sword-armed units, as well as capable Spear-armed units. Bataroas, while more expensive than P Principes, are quite capable of putting a significant amount of hurt on them, and aren't exactly a high-tier unit you'll only see a couple of. An Aedui player who's expaned into the Belgae territories has access to the Milnaht, which are even more capable units. Once you've achieved the Reforms, the Gauls lose Teceitos, which is a harsh blow, but do gain access to better-quality spearmen in the Gaelaiche. Uirodusios allow the use of lower-Morale units, thanks to the Eagle and Fear Effect, as can the Drwdae (if one is willing to expand into Britain). Cavalry are relatively lacking in number, but thanks to the durability of higher-tier Gallic units like the Solduros and Neitos - which should be coming on-line at much the same time as cavalry start forming a major arm in a stack - allow for a powerful anvil which the Leuce Epos in particular are capable of using to smash foes, particularly with Bonus XP granting them higher base Attack from the start. Brihentin and Remi Mairepos can form a more powerful hammer, but might be better employed hunting down opposing Generals and dispatching enemy cavalry, as their Charge and Lethality are no higher than the Leuce Epos and Spear Attack is only slightly moreso; combined with slower movement and less Stamina, Leuce Epos are more useful for the repeated Charges likely to be necessary against most foes.

Elite units such as Solduros, Neitos, and Gaesatae can form powerful force multipliers, allowing a Gallic leader to disrupt an enemy formation with the elite units while lesser-quality units either reform (in the case of a local rout) or flank the enemy (in the case of an attack). Another unit to take into account is the Pictone Neitos, a single-region unit with Attack stats on par with the Gaesatae, who share the "Frightens Enemy" rule with them; in the case that Gaesatae cannot be recruited, Pictone Neitos can stand in for them quite effectively.

The Unique Aedui unit, the Carnute Cingetos, is an improved Drwdae unit that doesn't need to be recruited in Britain. Possessing a stronger melee attack and a Ranged attack, the Cingetos have a slightly smaller Shield but increased Skill, and are fearsome melee warriors, better than Neitos. As they share the Druidic Eagle and can Chant, they can be used to stiffen the Morale of weaker units, a particularly effective tactic if one is waiting for Reinforcements to arrive.

Weaknesses- Aedui cavalry are very limited in number and quality. While they have Leuce Epos, which are great light cavalry, and companions, which are great heavy cavalry, they lack a role for them. Much like the Sweboz, these barbarians rely on infantry heavily, so straight up melee is usually the way to go. Having cavalry definitely won't hurt, but they have a limited role. Some of their low tier and also some higher tier units are vulnerable to missiles.

A major disadvantage of the Gallic Factional rosters is the lack of melee AP units; unlike many factions which have an AP unit at some level, after the Reforms occur the Gauls lose the Teceitos and are forced to rely on either Cavalry or Regional units to serve as AP units, which can prove bothersome against high-Armour enemies. The Celts also have a poor Ranged roster, limited to the weak Sotaroas and moderately-useful Iaosatae; while both can serve as Light Infantry in extremis, and the Iaosatae are a decent Slinger unit, neither unit is particularly noteworthy.

Arche Seleukeia

As I don't play AS, I have only limited insight to offer here.

[Bladvak]

As I don't play AS, I have only limited insight to offer here.

I never play Aedui, but AS is one of my favourite faction. so, I can continue from here.

In terms of units, there is rarely any type of units that AS's roster lacks, maybe regular heavy swords units come into mind.

AS is a big empire, starting with lots of units and lots of options. However, it also starts with a lot of enemies - you can say that all your neighbours are your enemies and won't lie. Some of these neighbours will leave you in peace, for some time.

The biggest strength that AS can have is in its medium-tier units, coupled with the mines scattered all over the empire, from Asia Minor to eastern Persia. For example :
the best cost-effective unit in the game, native phalangitai that have axes as secondary weapon, with a huge AOR. you can recruit this unit as far as Karthage (I did it once in one of my campaigns, boy was that an epic one, still have the savegame for anyone that wants it).
the best heavy foot archers in the game : heavy Persian Archers (3rd? tier regional), Syrian Archers, Kretikoi Archers. heavy as in both the armour and the hitting power. a stack of heavy persian archers is the only stack that can resist 1v1 on any eastern stack, if properly employed and deployed
the best low-tier HA in the game imho, especially against the eastern "neighbours" - Dahae Riders (2nd tier regional), 190 range, 40 arrows, 0.33ap lances as secondary. these are the killers of eastern bodyguards.

2 types of elephants, and close to where it really matters - in Antioch.
also a strength is the size of the empire : you can really afford to lose 5-7 regions without being hurt too much, most of them in the east.
once elites come into play, it becomes a whole lot easier, even downright boring.

weaknesses :
corruption, lack of income and unrest from the size of the empire.
rebels. they spawn and they take out income asap and you will have to fight them as madman if you want to have a positive balance. and no, they're not as kind to stay on open road, you must build watchtowers everywhere in order to spot them and have I told you about the size of this frickin' empire? building watchtowers is a full time job for 5 generals! I have had cities besieged and conquered by rebels and it wasn't some eastern forgotten city either, it was in the center, like Edessa!
no easy pickings. in fact, YOUR LAND is easy picking, at least at start
no immediate heavy counter against the eastern enemies, you get just enough heavy persian archers in 5 years and Kataphracts enter at least 20 years after the start of the game, just as you have just stabilized the situation and no longer need them
most of your lands are very much undeveloped, requiring tens of turns worth of income to build up.
slow recrutment for elite units since there are very few cities that can train them.
long way between fighting zones and recruitment areas (Antioch - Babylonia - Pasargadai)
you must rely heavily on regional units, which means low level of government and their drawbacks
a lack of faction-wide, specialized regular heavy infantry or heavy, ap infantry. you do have access to elite heavy infantry, but it's not the same thing. also, you can use native phalangitai as ap units, but it's not the same
war is guaranteed on at least 3 different zones : in the west against KH Makedon and Epirus, in the south against Ptolemeis (later Saba as well) and in the east against Pahlava, Saka and Baktria. I have not counted the north because you can easily nulify their intervention by attacking Pahlava on the first turn , they will stick with you against Pahlava.

[Ownager]

Ahhhh. So there's the paragraphs of information I stupidly didn't see. I gave up two Aedui campaigns within 6 years, so most of this is from seeing their roster on the EB website.

[Entropy Judge]

Ahhhh. So there's the paragraphs of information I stupidly didn't see. I gave up two Aedui campaigns within 6 years, so most of this is from seeing their roster on the EB website.

I actually don't play the Aedui much, either - about as often as I play Carthage, really. I'm more a Casse or Sweboz player, and they both play pretty differently (the way I play them, I play the Aedui very similarly to the way I play Rome, really). Should I include information on exceptional Regionals and/or Mercenaries to watch for when playing as the faction?

[Ownager]

Is there anyway to make the game more exciting near the End without using elites? I don't want to have to quit due to endless stacks of Boredom. My biggest interest is the challenge of the gameplay. Will it crumple me from all sides? Or will it be easy pickings? (I conquered half the map as Seleukeids in RTW, but that isn't the same.)

[Frtigern]

Umm... don't use elites? Or you could keep your stacks semi historical. Elites are elite because they are rare. Having a whole stack of elites is not very realistic. Its fun for a little bit, especially when outnumbered 2 to 1 and you kill all of them and hardly suffer casualties. I like to play to expect casualties. I try to maintain at least 2 to 1 kill to death ratio for every casualty, and am not adverse to using cannon fodder units like light spearmen, light swordsmen and light cavalry. They can actually be where most of the fun is at, while your elites slog it out with other heavies. So keep elites down to one per type. Heavy infantry, heavy cavalry, skirmisher, archers? I forget which other types elites fill. Some units act like elites but aren't, they are just badass because of their stats.

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

Yes, and avoid VH difficulty level (both campaign and battle) like the plague.

[TWWolfe]

Yes, and avoid VH difficulty level (both campaign and battle) like the plague.

I'd disagree with you partially. Yes, you should avoid VH battes, because the bonuses the AI get throws the carefully worked balance right out the window, but VH campaign is very fun and challenging so long as you leave battl difficulty on medium.

[Ownager]

If you could do that Entropy, you could probably make this a sticky guide. I have heard nightmares about enemies sending constant stacks after you like its 0 turn recruitment. I think I will follow the old Carthaginian proverb. "If a plague comes to you and asks for a coin, give it two and make it go away." I'm going to keep the plague of elites away, if I can.

[seleucid empire]

Saba is probably one of the more interesting factions in terms of unit strengths and weaknesses

Strength: their units are the cheapest to hire and maintain in the game, even their core troops cost at most like like 1.3 k to hire and have unit upkeeps of 100-300. Their units have good morale and supplemented by the morale giving wonders you begin with, they can often hold out against heavier troops when you need them to. You can afford 2 fullstacks of your levies with just 4-5 cities. Their real strength however is their ridiculous speed and stamina. Even your heavy infantry bodyguards can outlast any infantry unit the hellens send at you.

Weaknesses: Lack of Armour on your units, lack of heavy infantry and lack of cavalry choices. You will have to learn a new way to play the game. Even if you get heavy infantry that can stand up to seleucids, they dont fit well into your battle tactics. Also, if you are used to battles where you lose 100 men and kill 3000, that wont happen anymore. Your troops WILL take heavy casualties but you can replace them really easily cause they are so cheap.

I think the Saba Campaign is designed to teach people how to use light infantry, just like how the vanilla carthage campaign taught people to love skirmishers and slingers.

[Ownager]

Anything that doesn't need a heavy infantry line or a horde of horse archers to play seems useless to me, but then I ain't the next Alexander, so it's probably my stupidity over the unit selection.

[Entropy Judge]

Saba should be able to recruit Pantodapoi Phalangitai - among the weakest of Phalanx units, so of lesser use against the experienced Pikemen of Seleukia and the Ptolemies, but still a pike unit - and the Sabaen Nobles, who are quite effective Heavy Infantry.

Anyway ...

The Casse

Factional Strengths:
The Casse have fairly useful early-game units, and very powerful late-game units. Starting from the ground up, the Casse never lose their Teceitos, meaning they have a cheap, fairly solid infantry choice for AP use throughout the game. Another option is the hiring of Cladaca swordsmen from Ireland - though armed with poor-quality shortswords and unarmoured, they carry (low-range) AP Spears for throwing, and their high Stamina and ability to hide in long grass lets you field them in a locatin that allows them a good shot at throwing those spears into the backside of an engaged enemy. Cemmeinarn (and later the Gaelaiche can serve as a relatively sturdy Battle Line, and in the early game the Cwmyr unit gives the Casse the first look at a Britonic specialty - solid units with a Morale-boosting effect, allowing the full utilization of weaker troops. While the Gauls also have access to Eagle units in the Drwdae and the Uirodusios, the former requires an invasion of Briton and the latter is fragile - the Cwmyr have 5 more points of Armour than Uirodusios, and they only get better.

Solid mid-game units (although available early on to a determined Casse player) includes the beastly Milnaht swordsmen - actually recruitable in the Casse capital! Those who are willing to cross the Channel early will also find good use of the Batacorii, Belgae Spearmen. Meanwhile, expansion into Wales and Caledonia grants access to the formidable Silurae Warbands and Balroae; the former are solid Spearmen in the Gaelaiche model, with more Javelins to throw, while the latter are Skirmishers that make excellent Light Spearmen. Around this time, if not earlier, the most useful Casse unit should be appearing - the Calawre. The next Champion unit, Calawre are armed with a powerful Longsword (against the Cwmyr's high-quality Shortsword), are better Armoured, and most importantly: Are recruitable throughout Gaul. Although moderately expensive and coming in only a Small unit size (30 Base), the Calawre is very nearly capable of becoming a Casse army's main battle line.

The Late-game Casse Roster is exceptionally devastating, although expensive and comparatively frail. They have access to the Drwdae, of course, and the Eiras of Ireland - despite not having the Eagle their description implies - are lethal infantry with great Morale. Leading the charge of any Casse battle-line, however, are the final two Champion units: the Kluddargos and the Rycalawre. The Rycalawre are, statistically speaking, exactly identical to the Solduros of Gaul, but they have a free Eagle. The Kluddargos are among the most powerful AP units in the game, wielding a massively lethal two-handed Longsword with a brutal 10-point Charge, good Armour, and the Eagle to provide them with useful meatshields bodyguards. Those expanding into Gaul will be able to recruit the Pictone Neitos, a vicious melee combatant with the ability Frighten enemy Infantry.

The Casse Cavalry follows a similar plan. At the bottom are the Myrcharn, basically inferior copies of Leuce Epos; good enough for combat in Britain, but not so much against non-Eleutheroi foes. Next up the ladder are the allied cavalry of Caledonia and Ireland, the Argyn Marca and the Cruvamendica; the former are Heavy Skirmisher Cavalry, but armed with a Longsword, which limits their usefulness against more established cavalry, while the latter are Spear-armed Medium Skirmishers in the vein of Reidonez or Liguriae Epos (complete with incompatible Charge, but with the ability to hide in Long Grass). At the top are the Cidainh, the Celtic Chariots - powerful Skirmishers with a devastating Charge on par with Elephants, Cidainh Frighten enemies and carry an Eagle to boost friendly morale. Cavalry in Gaul is 'limited' to the always-useful Leuce Epos and the powerful but rare Remi Mairepos of the Belgae.

Regional Units and Mercenaries of Note:
If willing to risk the wrath of the Sweboz (or having wiped them out ...), two Mercenaries of note are available in their lands - the AP, Frightening Worgozez and the Germanic Heavy Infantry, powerful but expensive Spear-and-Swordsmen similar to Rycalawre. Those heading to Iberia will gain the powerful Clona Tekonac, an armoured axeman unit, as well as Callacae Roscaithrera to replace the Cladaca, and Scortamareva to provide a powerful, well-armoured Spear unit. Driving deep into Gaul unleashes the powerhouse units of the Alps - Mori Gaesum, Appea Gaedotos, and Tekastos - two powerful Spear units (with Sword and Axe secondaries) and a Large-sized (50-man base) Axe unit with an AP Missile.

Factional Weaknesses:
Most glaring of the Casse weaknesses is a lack of a mainline Heavy Armour unit; their most well-armoured 'Common' unit, the Calawre, has 9 Armour and 2 Shield; the Neitos, the Gallic equivalent unavailable to the Casse, has 12 Armour, a 3 Shield, is slightly cheaper, and comes in a larger size. They have poor Cavalry choices, as well (apart from Leuce Epos) - while they are 'allowed' to recruit Brihentin, AFAIK they are actually unable to build the MIC Level required to recruit them, and so remain locked out of that unit choice; and the Cidainh, while exceptionally powerful, requires a certain amount of skill to use properly. The Casse economy is also ill-capable of supporting the Elite Champions required to support a standard Casse army; while a fair number of such units can be recruited and used, losses will be felt, and the need for ships to transport units from Britain to the mainland doesn't help the situation. Finally (and arguably the least), the Casse have two useful units removed from normal access, the Dubosaverlacica and the Ordmalica. (The former is a massive juggernaut of a unit, with 17 Armour, 4 Shield, and 14 Skill, an 18-Attack Spear, and a 7-Attack AP Throwing Spear; the latter are lightly Armoured Shock units with a 10-Attack, 10-Charge, .31 Lethality AP Hammer. Ordmalica can, rarely, be seen in Eleutheroi warbands that appear.)

[seleucid empire]

Saba should be able to recruit Pantodapoi Phalangitai - among the weakest of Phalanx units, so of lesser use against the experienced Pikemen of Seleukia and the Ptolemies, but still a pike unit - and the Sabaen Nobles, who are quite effective Heavy Infantry.

Theres not much point in playing saba like a phalanx faction. For one thing, as you mentioned, their phalanxes are inferior, for another, your heavy cavalry is very expensive and not very good at hammer/anvil tactics

As for Sabaen nobles, they still die like flies if you use them conventionally. The best way to play saba is to use them as foot skirmishers, tiring out their units then surrounding them one by one using the speed of your infantry.

You could probably make an army with levy phalanxes, sabaen noble infantry and cavalry but it isnt that effective and you could afford 3 armies of Arabian levies instead

[seleucid empire]

CARTHAGE

Strengths: They have the most diverse and powerful roster of any nation. Their factional troops include hoplite like infantry, phalanxes, elephants, theuropheori type infantry, heavy cavalry, medium cavalry, light cavalry. They basically have a Hellenistic roster and greek roster combined. They even have their own version of the greeks levy hoplites which are a useful unit. They also have iberian sword an ap units, which AS lacks. Late game, they have african legionarries and iberian assault infantry which just gives them the perfect roster. Their troops have decent armour too i think

Weaknesses: this isnt really a weakness i guess but although they are the jack of all trades, they are master of none. their units are slightly inferior statwise to those factions with similar units. For example, their sacred band cavalry has minus 1 from all stats compared to the seleucid companion cavalry and their elite phalanx has slightly lower stats than the silver shields. Their hoplite (liby phonecians) have 1 less armour and attack than KH hoplites i believe. Also no horse archers? I think that covers their few weaknesses

[athanaric]

I wrote up quite a neat assessment of factional strengths and weaknesses somewhere a couple of months ago, unfortunately it seems it was on another computer. Will look for it.

You could probably make an army with levy phalanxes, sabaen noble infantry and cavalry but it isnt that effective and you could afford 3 armies of Arabian levies instead

They're still strong enough. An army of Panda phalanx, Sabaean Nobles, Arab skirmishers (foot and mounted), Red Sea Axemen, Arab Archer-Spearmen, and Sabaean cavalry plus FM should be able to deal with any threat, barring massively superior enemy numbers (or an all-cav Parthian stack of doom, perhaps).
IMO armies with just one or two unit types feel cheesy.

CARTHAGE

Strengths: They have the most diverse and powerful roster of any nation.

I think we've already established that that title goes to the Seleucids

[seleucid empire]

I wrote up quite a neat assessment of factional strengths and weaknesses somewhere a couple of months ago, unfortunately it seems it was on another computer. Will look for it.


They're still strong enough. An army of Panda phalanx, Sabaean Nobles, Arab skirmishers (foot and mounted), Red Sea Axemen, Arab Archer-Spearmen, and Sabaean cavalry plus FM should be able to deal with any threat, barring massively superior enemy numbers (or an all-cav Parthian stack of doom, perhaps).
IMO armies with just one or two unit types feel cheesy.



I think we've already established that that title goes to the Seleucids

wouldnt you rather have 3 entire armies? And also why play Saba if your gonna play like a Hellenistic faction??

as for he second part. Don't get me wrong I love the Seleucids but their roster is just not as flexible as Carthage. Carthage has basically 2 entire rosters. One Iberian and one African. Pretty much the only unit missing from Carthage roster is the horse archer and I guess their archers aren't as good as the AS one either. On the other hand, AS is missing sword inf as well as hoplites ( you can get them later but it takes a lot of building)

[athanaric]

Casse can recruit Brihentin from leftover Gaul factional MICs (the three Celtic factions share all military structures). Typically AI factions focus on upgrading their barracks, which means that as the Casse player, you'll be able to recruit top tier units at least in Bibracte and in Gergovia once you make it to the mainland.

[Ownager]

Pahlava
The Pahlavan army is focused almost exclusively on horse archers and elite heavy cavalry. This sets them apart from the Sauromatae, who use horse archers with very little heavy cavalry. They are closely identical to the Saka in the early game, both having many horse archers and strongly armored generals for heavy cavalry. Later on, the Saka move towards an infantry heavy army once the Indo-Saka reforms hit. Until then, these two factions are pretty close.


The Pahlavans first class of units is completely horse archers. The Pahlav have absolutely no light cavalry that fight exclusively as melee fighters. Instead, they have many different types of horse archer, ranging from light horse archers, to medium horse archers to heavy horse archers. The light horse archers are expert cavalrymen, able to destroy armies much larger than them. Even though Pahlav has no light melee cavalry, the horse archers can be used as light cavalry to hunt down routers or to deliver flanking support or serve as distractions. A Pahlav player must always watch his men, for many casualties happen due to friendly fire. With so many archers, some of yours are bound to hit Pahlavan flesh. Leaving fire at will off can help solve that problem. The medium horse archers are the Dehbeds. These guys are strong shock cavalry, although they also function as horse archers. They can be used as the main shock force of early Parthian armies, and were used like that in history. The heavily armored horse archers are not worth it in my opinion. They are good at archery, and wield a lance for melee. Since your bodyguards can do that for you, you don't necessarily need these guys. They can be useful in the late game though.


The second class is made of the Cataphracts, which Parthia is famous for. While these guys aren't as great as the beastly Grivpanvar or the RTW Cataphracts, they can get the job done with interest. These guys form the second part of Parthian warfare, the hammer charge. They make sure the infantry stay in their ranks, unless they wish to be trampled by Horsemen. They are essential to fighting larger armies, ones which cannot be weakened by only horse archers, but need an extreme oomph. They are the Cataphracts, the Noble Cataphracts, and the Late Elite Cataphracts. The Cataphracts are well dressed, carry large lances, and can deal with almost any other heavy cavalry. These guys are usually the first heavy cavalry you get besides your general, and are the first only melee cavalry you get, if you advance regularly through the MICs. They will add a much heavier and permanent addition to your armies, since they don't run away from enemies when they come near. The second group are the Azad nobles, the noble cataphracts. These guys are barely worth their price. They have one more melee point, and use a higher lethality sword than the regular Cataphracts. The reason why I feel they are not worth it, is because they have two points less morale. This means that putting them in prolonged melee might be fateful if they are outnumbered. They will rout faster than the other Cataphracts, but their high lethality swords make them worth it. These Cataphracts are better equipped for melee than the regular ones. The final Cataphracts are the Grivpanavar, the elite Cataphracts. These guys are gods. They look really cool, and have a devastating charge. To top it off, they can flatten most other heavy cavalry. Even companions will have a tough time trying to dispatch these armored guys. They only come from a reformed Parthian government, so they don't just appear.

Regional Units and Mercenaries of Note:
There are a few good men in the area. Dahae riders and Dahae noble cavalry are good soldiers, the first being extremely worthy for their price. The archer spearmen mercenaries can take the role of garrison duty to free up your more expensive horse archers. While early on you will need mercenaries, later on you can recruit them directly. I suggest having a stack of them on campaign to garrison cities and let your horse archers go free.

Factional Weaknesses
Stone walled cities are the bane of your armies. Since you can recruit only a few different types of infantry, these battles will be hard. Tempting the enemy to sally out by using fewer men will work. Also, the Pahlav lack of infantry can up hurt the average EB player. While I have experience both as the Huns and the Sarmatians in BI, those who have never used horse archers will find this a problem. Horse archer tactics are completely different from infantry tactics. If you do not like the idea of horse archers, but want to try it, I recommend you to play as the Saka. You can use horse archers until the reforms, when you can use a successor hammer and anvil. However, you will not have access to Phalangites in India.

I wasn't aware that Casse couldn't recruit Ordmalica. They were so cool that they were the only reason I felt like playing Casse.

[Ownager]

Now, now children, we all know Carthage is better. Just wait till I get my hands on my iPad instead of this phone, and I will give you all a schooling.