The 2 remaining faction slots

[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.

[4th Regiment]

1. Illyrians for reasons already stated by members above and in my previous posts. Apart from distinct culture/nation most important feature will be game play balance as faction there will be good buffer against Roman early expansion into Pannonia (and to leaser extant to Boi and Dacia)

For that reason suggestion for moderns is to make playable their starting position from province non bordering other factions ( Epirus), so it should be either northern coastal province, or inland with Dalminion as capital.


2. For second one Belgea for same balancing reasons (although we have already too much Gealic factions...)

Better use of that slot, as I suggested before, would be making one more rebel "faction" witch will have own strategically dispersed provinces in crucial parts of the map for better game play balance, so we will not have empire like tendencies or it will mess up diplomacy and strategy decisions ( like, it really does not matter if you are playing Pritanoi and in war with Picts, and Galatians in Anatolia in the same time). It can be unplayable and only controlled by AI all together, and make it switchable for player , if you want to play some of those like in Roma Surrectum)

[Mr. Blob]

I though M2TW has the engine limit of 30 factions, which would mean that only 1 faction slot remains (28 + rebels).

[Genava]

I remember this
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...-The-Illirians

[4th Regiment]

I remember this
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...-The-Illirians

Yea Plus that Albanian guy was more than boring hijacking tread with Illyrians-Albanians "theory"...

[Rad]

A lot of things happen in 4-5 years. Besides, no one wants the Illirians, we want the Illyrians

[Cohors_Evocata]

Let's for a moment suppose an Illyrian tribe would be selected as a faction, which one would it be? Not meant as a discouraging question, genuinely curious here, as I don't think a faction called 'the Illyrians' will be included.

[Rad]

Let's for a moment suppose an Illyrian tribe would be selected as a faction, which one would it be? Not meant as a discouraging question, genuinely curious here, as I don't think a faction called 'the Illyrians' will be included.

Good question... but 2 days before a huuuuuge exam, I won't get into it much. I'll leave it to someone, preferably a historian, to find a decent tribe/kingdom. I'll just pitch an idea. Why not a (loose) Confederation of Illyrian tribes? Because basically, that's what the Sweboz currently are in game and I do not see a reason not to do it with these folks.

[pestkop]

Let's for a moment suppose an Illyrian tribe would be selected as a faction, which one would it be? Not meant as a discouraging question, genuinely curious here, as I don't think a faction called 'the Illyrians' will be included.

I'd say the tribe of the Ardiaei, because they play a significant(?) role in Polybius' works, but I'm no expert on the matter so I don't really know what their situation was in the 270's B.C.E. Gameplaywise they might cut off the Epirotes from areas of expansion, but the Ardiaei would have an interesting starting position and could expand towards modern day Croatia (but that's totally up to the player of course).

[Genava]

Two possible illyrian tribes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardiaei
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dardani

The Autariatae lost their hegemony after the settlement of the Scordisci.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autariatae


Pictures:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Abdülmecid I]

I'm a fan of Meroe. It's a truly unique faction and an organised kingdom that deserves the historical accurate representation the EB teams gives to her factions.

[Tactics Mayers]

Mauretania or Garama should be a nice addition as the Main African side of EB2 to go along with Carthage and Numidia. Also, to prevent Carthage from growing way too strong.

[QuintusSertorius]

Carthage growing too strong? It's the unstoppable Numidian hordes that I've seen many a report of, never Carthage overrunning the place.

[Rad]

Carthage growing too strong? It's the unstoppable Numidian hordes that I've seen many a report of, never Carthage overrunning the place.

Yup, Carthage is plagued by high corruption and many battle fronts... I haven't played the campaign too much, but the profit isn't what you'd expect from a mercantile superpower.

[Boogie Knight]

I voted Germanic but specifically I'd like that faction to be the Belgae, who I've always understood to have been Celto-Germanic. The reason I voted Germanic is that they'll focus on fighting their Celtic neighbours, specifically the Aedui and Arverni, who as people have observed tend not to fight. I haven't played much recently; is that large European Celtic culture bloc still in place across Europe? An extra Forest Tribal faction (which, last I played, was just the Sweboz and Lugiones) might put a little more pressure on that. As Forest Tribal seems to be the 'Germanic' culture type (or near as can be achieved) I'd call the particular iteration of the Belgae I'm imagining, to be Germanic.

[Genava]

Well, the Belgae seems to have a LaTène material culture, seems to have celtic names for them and their locations... Then they are celtic.

http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showth...something-else

A fact to add, one of the region of the Belgian during the 5th century was one of the first proof of LaTène material and burial practice (the Champagne region).

Another theory is maybe the Belgae of the Gallic Wars were the descendants of some eastern celtic tribe having migrated among the Gauls like the Volcae:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Volcae-fr.svg

Sources: http://www.arbre-celtique.com/encycl...ectif-4181.htm

[Boogie Knight]

Well, the Belgae seems to have a LaTène material culture, seems to have celtic names for them and their locations... Then they are celtic.

http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showth...something-else

A fact to add, one of the region of the Belgian during the 5th century was one of the first proof of LaTène material and burial practice (the Champagne region).

Another theory is maybe the Belgae of the Gallic Wars were the descendants of some eastern celtic tribe having migrated among the Gauls like the Volcae:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Volcae-fr.svg

Sources: http://www.arbre-celtique.com/encycl...ectif-4181.htm

Well, that put me back in my hole. My sole understanding of the Belgae was basically what Caesar had written about them, but from the links you've provided I see he appears to have changed his mind on the subject at least once. Thanks for the info.

[Genava]

Yes, it's one of the possibilities. The Scordisci were proposed in "a case for a new faction":
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...-a-new-faction

The best strong point of this possible faction is their strong hegemony during the start of the game. The Scordisci are extracting tribute from the most powerful tribes in the Balkans like the Triballi (Thracian), the Dardani (Illyro-Thracian), the Autariatae (Illyrian), the Moesians (Thraco-Dacian) and the Pannonians (celto-venetian? celto-illyrian? Fritzens-Sanzeno culture?).

Two good sources for info:
http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingLi...nScordisci.htm
https://balkancelts.wordpress.com/tag/scordisci/