The 2 remaining faction slots

[alex33]

Hello!
As we know there are still 2 faction slots remaining in eb. I know those things dont have top priority and there is to be much research and work done to create a brand new faction for eb but i'd like to know what team members and fans alike would like to see included in the mod.

my personal vote is for an illyrian and a thracian faction as they are quite unique allready have a good roster and live in an area that doesn't have that many factions in them.
If you wanna know smth about the illyrians Arjos has made a great post about them on the org:
http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showth...ardiaeian-case

Before any faction can be included in EB, it must first meet certain pre-approved conditions. These conditions include existence at the start date (272BC), desire/historical precedence for expansion, availability of good sources, uniqueness, and military prowess among others.

This info is taken from the Arabian preview of eb 2 at the org:
http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showth...iew-Arabia-9-8 quite the stunning read for anyone who hasn't allready. Also gives some nice clues about the future late nabatean army!

[Rad]

Illyrians for sure! Their 4 ingame units are awesome, and the team has promised 2 new ones, Thureoporoi and Thorakitai. To that, add a slinger unit, an archer unit, a shock infantry unit, a levy melee unit, a unique tribe specific unit and another cavalry unit and we've got ourselves a full faction (yh I know, I made a big wishlist, but all units seem plausible)! Just get the guy who did the original units to finish the roster, please. He/she did an amazing job. Unique culture as well. Not to mention that they were a seafaring people, and the Adriatic provinces are rich with mines...

Although I am not so sure about Arjos' choice of tribe... they sound too close to Epeiros.

An Illyrian faction would bring something new to the game and could keep Rome's eastward expansion in check. My only worry is that they could get surrounded before they develop properly... but some existing factions are in the same situation, so it matters on balancing mostly.

[Mantaprey]

I remember they were talking about maybe adding a faction that starts as a horde. Who would they be? A faction in Europe?

[Genava]

Odrysian Kingdom (Thracian Union)
http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php?topic=263647.15

A lot of pictures.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Larm]

Nice pictures Genava.
I can not vote (just got a new account). But I would love to see Illyrians in the first place. They can be a treath to many factions: Makedonia, Roma ,Epeiros and even the Getai and the Boii. On the other hand, they are surounded by enemys. Odrysian Kingdom would also be nice, but I fear it is maybe a little to close packed with no space (rebel settlements) to move to.

The other faction I would love to see is a Belga one, Eburones or Nervii, to prevent the Aedui and Averni from sharing Gaul.

[Wulfburk]

Another celtic tribe in gaul (doesnt matter which) and a thracian faction for me would be the best choices.

[Rad]

I'm against a Thracian faction on the basis that the Getai and Thracians are too well connected. They're either close "cousins" or the Getai are a part of the Thracian people. Historians battle on and on about it. Either way, the Getai represent that culture well enough. Gamewise, they'd be too close...

As for the second faction, I am not yet decided, but I am inclined towards a Belgic tribe - different from the mainstream Celts (like the awesome Celtiberi), and in a good position to give Aedui, Arverni, Sweboz and maybe even Pritanoi a run for their money.

[QuintusSertorius]

Of course in some instances it isn't an either/or. The Kingdom of Tylis was Celto-Thracian, some Belgae tribes were Celto-Germanic and the Skordiskoi were Celto-Thraco-Illyrian.

[Genava]

Not really, Rad. In fact the Dacian were at the borders of the Thracians:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

But I agree for a Belgic faction.

[adun12345]

I'd like to see two more Roman factions added!

On a more serious note, I think that a Belgic faction would be a good addition, especially if its AI were given the objective of invading Britain at some point. I also think that a Cisalpine Gallic faction (perhaps the Insubres?) would be useful to help stem Rome's northward expansion. Given the current state of the Celtic rosters, I think these two factions could be implemented very quickly.

Beyond that, an Illyrian or Thracian faction could be cool. I still kind of liked the idea of using an additional faction slot to make an "aggressive rebels" faction to go alongside the default "passive rebels" faction, too.

[Arsaces II]

I'd like to see Cappadocia and Illyria.

[Genava]

I think about something to solve the problem of the big roman expansion toward the North and toward the Balkans. Historically it seems the Romans always tried to control the politic and economic core of each regions, which is easy when the region has an urbanized center. But during a great part of their history, the barbarians lived in rural societies and it was most difficult for an urbanized civilization to control this kind. It's why the Roman conquest of the Gauls started when the Gallic tribes managed to had a lot of small cities and a big economy based on exportation.

Maybe it's possible to add a script giving malus to urbanized cultures when they tried to control rural and barbarians regions. But when the barbarians factions managed to centralize their political and economic power with market center, fortified hills, oppida etc. this malus disappeared.

(sorry for my bad english)

Edit: I suggest this because it's not the best solution to rely exclusively on new factions to prevent the roman expansion

[Rad]

Not really, Rad. In fact the Dacian were at the borders of the Thracians:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

But I agree for a Belgic faction.

Like I said, historians are fighting about it. Getae/Dacians are either a branch of Thracians or very closely related to them.

[alex33]

Tbh the argument that thracians and getai a too connected is pretty weak. If we go with that we don't need a new celtic faction or a new hellenic one cause the others are to similar! even if they are to close culturally wise the Odrysian kingdom still was its own thing. i think they would put some great flavour in the mod. we already have 4 celtic factions 2 germanic factions and so on. smth new like illyrian and thracian would be really awesome. Not that i'm against a new celtic/hellenic/other faction.

[Genava]

Personally I think a Belgian faction (maybe the Suessiones for their big expansion mentioned by Caesar) will be a good choice because the Boii keep pushing mainly in the East and only a bit in the Alps. Aedui and Arverni are never in war each other and they split the region in two parts. Plus Pritanoi are always alone and tried nothing.

The second choice can be the Illyrians or the Thracians, even if a prefer the Odrysian kingdom for his richness. Illyrians are mainly strong in their mountains with their guerrila tactics.

[HarkonRules]

Belgian and Illyrian would make the most sense. Belgians just need to happen to really complete the european barbarian world, and Illyrian are a lot more unique and distinct from Getai in every way than Thracians.

[Rad]

Tbh the argument that thracians and getai a too connected is pretty weak. If we go with that we don't need a new celtic faction or a new hellenic one cause the others are to similar! even if they are to close culturally wise the Odrysian kingdom still was its own thing. i think they would put some great flavour in the mod. we already have 4 celtic factions 2 germanic factions and so on. smth new like illyrian and thracian would be really awesome. Not that i'm against a new celtic/hellenic/other faction.

The argument is about an Illyrian tribe vs a Thracian tribe/kingdom. Who is better suited for that faction slot? Putting both factions would use up both remaining faction slots and crowd that area of the map. I voted for Illyrian because they are unique, already have a promising roster, can spice things up in the Adriatic and have a viable economy (mines). Thracians are already represented with the Getai.

[Cohors_Evocata]

I'd really like to see a faction added on the eastern sides of the map, but I can't really think of any good candidates at the moment. Cappadocia would start hemmed in between Pontos and the AS, Media Atropatene would be entirely surrounded by the AS and Meroë is hemmed in by the Ptolemaioi to the edge of the map. Had the mod started about a century later I would've supported the Yuezhi as a faction.

I'm honestly not entirely sure whether the Odrysian Kingdom would be a viable faction at the current starting date, as the Celtic catastrophe had really hit them (and the rest of the region) pretty hard. As much as I like them, they really weren't in any shape to form a strong faction at that point (heck, they might not even have been independent), nor was the rest of Thrace AFAIK. IIRC it wasn't really until the 2nd century B.C. that the Thracians began to become major players on the historical stage again. Given the current map the mod uses the Odrysians would also start of hemmed in between the Getai and Makedonia, which I don't really see going too well for them to be honest (, unless the map has been changed for the 2.1 update in that area as well).

An Illyrian faction on the other hand I can see happening though, especially since the recent map restructuring would give them more room to expand and it would make for some interesting interactions with the Hellenes to the south and the Romans across the Adriatic.

[alex33]

weren't the getai also hit by the celtic migration? i think it would make them even more interesting trying to rebuild and becoming a major player. i think the eastern side of the map is already quite crowded. there are like 11 factions there (not counting the bosporan kingdom, sabeans & sauromatae^^). i think the Illyrians and Thracians would be interesting bc they both have quite unique rosters while another celtic faction would have about the same units as the others. oh and it would be awesome for those guys who voted for other to explain what they mean by it

[Rad]

Could be that they voted for the Klingons.