The 2 remaining faction slots

[inforc]

Trarco, don't worry. Anyone with basic knowledge of English can understand you. Thanks for your contribution. Have you consulted with EB Team about helping with history for Iberian peninsula?

[CeeJ]

I personally feel that an Illyrian faction (I've never studied the tribes there so can't suggest a particular tribe) and Massalia would be most interesting for me and would add the best balance to the game. I find the Illyrian location and roster quite interesting and Massalia has always been a faction I wanted in the old Rome to play. Mostly Greek but with heavy Celtic influences, the roster potential is so exciting and so is the location game wise! Take on Rome or Carthage or the Gauls or the Iberians! The Illyrians get to go head to head with Rome and whoever emerges on top in Greece while keeping the Getai in check.

I will totally understand if the decision is made to go with another faction for historical purposes (historicity is the best part of this mod) but I feel those two factions would just have so much potential gameplay wise.

[Richard Coeur de Lion]

Belgium is a beautiful idea. =D


Perhaps divide the Greeks in Aetolian League and Achaen League would be cool...


However, I would like a civil war in Rome ... they divided into factions (or SPQR) would be nice.

[Anubis88]

However, I would like a civil war in Rome ... they divided into factions (or SPQR) would be nice.

Yeah that's not going to happen Rome was actually one of the more stable factions during the main period of EB. It would be unfair for Romans to have 2 factions but not the Seleucids or Ptolemies for example who were much more vulnerable to internal strife at the time (pre social war)
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[QuintusSertorius]

I can state that we will absolutely and categorically not use either of the remaining slots for another Roman faction.

[Cohors_Evocata]

Syrakousai anyone?

EDIT: On a more serious note, Elymais has recently caught my interest as an interesting faction, but I don't know what their relation was to the Seleukid kings in the early Hellenistic period. Anyone got information on them? So far I haven't found much beyond Encyclopedia Iranica.

[Rad]

While were at it, let's bring back Faction Lider suicides, ninjas, flaming pigs, wardogs, gladiators, The Mummy Egyptians... Did I miss anything?

[HarkonRules]

Syrakousai would be more than adequate as a faction, certainly when KB and Pergamon are one too.

[alex33]

Yeah sure. But we allready have 7 different hellenistic factions + nabatu is hellenized in the late game. Why waste a faction slot for yet another hellenistic faction with the same roster if you could represent 2 unique new cultures or factions?

[HarkonRules]

If you consider it a "waste", that is your... opinion. Anyway, I was not advocating Syrakousai as a faction, merely answering to the guy above who mentioned Syrakousai with an apparently sarcastic tone as if it wouldn't make sense when there's already factions less relevant than Syrakousai.

[Tactics Mayers]

Why not two "rebel" factions instead? One in the East and one in the west just like what Roma Surrectum did.

[Genghis Skahn]

Why not two "rebel" factions instead? One in the East and one in the west just like what Roma Surrectum did.

I think that would be highly ahistorical is the thing. Eastern and western "rebel" factions don't sound at all like the tribes, states or empires of various cultures that EB strives to depict.

I suppose I would give my support to an Illyrian faction firstly, although there are obvious problems with that(like what tribe of illyrians would be suitable). The remaining slot I'm confused about, but I do find myself leaning towards the kingdom of Kush which lasted from approx. 1070 BCE to 370 CE, as this part of the map is uncrowded(the ptolemies can control all of eastern north Africa unhindered atm), it fits within EB's timeframe and the kingdom must of had some respectable measure of power if it was able to last well past EB's timeframe. I imagine, however, that there are serious problems with my choices unbeknownst to me.

[alex33]

i just said waste because there would be many other interesting cultures and factions which could be represented. Sure it would be cool but in my personal opinion it is more fitting as a rebel faction or if you make a "migration" campaign. cause tbh how many Hellenistic factions do we need? Why should a faction slot be used to make another unplayable faction? What purpose would they serve?

[Vilica]

THRACIAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! illyria is SUCK

[Hummer]

I would like to know more about Kush....

[Shadowwalker]

I would like to know more about Kush....

Well, in that case ..... http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...ighlight=meroe

I highly recommend to "only" read the posts #1 and #2 (the proposal itself) and #14 (Kull commenting about the chances of Meroe being implemented) though, since the topic itself unfortunately derailed into something massively premature very quickly.

[Genghis Skahn]

I would like to know more about Kush....

Ok, so yeah, what Shadowwalker linked you to is what you SHOULD read about Kush, mine is clearly an abridged and less accurate and reliable version, but since I spent an hour or more writing this post, I'm going to freakin' post it anyway, because you, that's why!

Kush, Cush or Nubia as it can be interchangeably called, was an ancient state centered on the meetings of the Blue Nile, White Nile and River Atbara, and corresponds roughly to modern day lower Egypt and Sudan. It came to form after the Bronze age collapse and the decay of the New Kingdom of Egypt. At their height(~727 BCE to 671 BCE) they controlled all of Egypt, the Sinai and some small part of the southern Levant (technically within the Egyptian kingdoms traditional boundaries of control). They actually formed one of her many dynasties until their eventual expulsion by the Neo-Assyrian empire which restricted them largely to their original power center in the lower Nile--though the Kingdom itself would continue to survive for centuries after it's defeat by the Assyrians; outliving the Neo-Assyrians by a mile and a half. The kingdom of Kush is possibly referenced in the bible(the reference might actually be towards somewhere in Iran rather than Kush herself, it's a bit sketchy), were known to the Romans(and fought against Roman Egypt a number of times, until they possibly became a client state under the reign of Augustus, although it is somewhat unclear the extent to which they were controlled by the Romans) and was known as Ethiopia in early Greek geography; hence them being called "Ethiopian Pharaohs" in terms of the 25th dynasty of Egypt.

The Kushites styled themselves as Pharaohs even after they lost control of Egypt. They are believed to have worshipped some of the same gods as the Egyptians such as Ammon and Isis. They were pyramid builders and the Meroitic pyramids survive to this day as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as a testament to the power and wealth of the rulers of Kush.

Around 300BC the Kushite Rulers began to be buried at Meroe instead of at the more northern and traditional capital of Napata, suggesting it's increased importance and prominence, perhaps partially due to the fact that Meroe had enough wood to use as fuel for iron working; possibly due to a decreased reliance on the Nile as a source of trade, as there were Greek traders on the Red Sea coast which could now be used as a means for exporting their goods; in response to a a possible invasion by Egypt; and as well, there have been some sources(like Diodorus Siculus) who have suggested that the move to Meroe was in response by a particular monarch(Ergamenes, possibly the ruler Arqamani) to the growing power of the priesthood at Napata. Regardless of all these possibilities, Meroe would be the seat of Kushite power within EB's timeframe.

By the 1st or 2nd century AD Kush began it's eventual decline, but this is well beyond the end date of EB2, and it certainly was an established nation state well before EB 2's timeframe as well. Even as it began it's decline, it wouldnt be until about 350CE that the state would finally dissolve. Some sources say that it was destroyed by the kingdom of Axum, but this is debatable and is not universally agreed upon. Regardless, Kushite identity and power began to end within this timeframe, though there is some confusion regarding it's final date of demise it seems.

Kush did not really expand beyond her borders during EB's timeframe(significantly, to my limited knowledge), but that is possibly true about a number of nations in EB1 and 2. Regardless, she must have had some measure of geographic influence and military/political power to not be under the dominion of the Ptolemies, to have survived the conquests of Alexander the Great virtually unscathed, and to have resisted the Romans during the height of their power(even if the Romans did sack Napata, Kush continued to survive)

If anyone is feeling the need to correct me, add to what I've said or anything else feel free. Anyone really interested in the subject should check the link in Shadowwalker's post for some truly in depth info about Meroe/Kush

Some simple and unreliable/questionnable sources:

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/...ingdom_of_Kush

http://africanhistory.about.com/od/g...g/def-Kush.htm

*drum roll* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Kush

[Tactics Mayers]

Is this the current world map of EB2?

[Sylon]

A couple of provinces have been shuffled around, Pritanoi is now based in the province to their south, and Hayastan starts with the province to their southwest. Otherwise, it's fairly accurate, I think.

[QuintusSertorius]

Pritanoi are in the wrong place - they're in the settlement on the south coast. Pahlava only have one province - not the one to the north. Hayastan have two - including the one to the southwest.

It's also going to change in the autumn release, but for the current test version the changes above are correct.