Different factions, different playstyles (and RP)

[Kye]

Hello forum,

I've loaded up Rome 2 and DEI after a very long time. I'm trying to get into the swing of a campaign by trying some factions I've never tried before, but missing the strengths and weaknesses of the factions due to the sheer volume of units. Can anyone give any general tips of how to play some factions? Gaulic, Germanic, Dacian, and Spanish (forgive me I dont know the culture off-hand).

I know the strengths and weaknesses of Greek and Roman but most of the others are a bit of a blur. My first real campaign is with the Nervii, and I am assuming their main strengths looking from the roster is from its range units and ambush ability.

If anyone can shed light on any of their favorite factions, it will help get into that role-play mood that makes a Rome 2 with DEI campaign really good and satisfying.

Lastly, I'm using the all diplomacy option. Does this create imbalances in how units are recruited with AoR? Not sure if I read that or not somewhere on the forum. Also from a balancing perspective, is it worth using it, or is there another RP aspect of not being able to create client states as barbarians?

Kind Regards,

Kye.

[ptagi]

Nice to see you loaded up Rome 2 back again.

I mostly play with Rome, recreating the Roman Empire by using historic armies and lots of Aux troops from the region where the Legion is stationed. My core is Roman troops, but they only consist of 4-5 legionairies and a first cohort. When the legionairies gain a silver chevron, I recruit a veteran legionair (maximum of 2) into the army. When the legion is fighting in Gaul, I recruit the Germanic veteran instead. Also as Rome I only convert the main building and build aux camps where i want to recruit troops. The other buildings I leave them in the state I conquer it. When I fight battles in Gaul I enslave the captives (Julias Ceasar did this in his Gaul campaigns), all the others I release the troops. When fighting Carthage I kill the troops. And I will also raze Carthage to the ground.

When I play Gaulic (Averni) I mostly have armies with heavy infantry and cavs. They are very good. They also have a good agriculture/food production capabilities. Research is the main weakness in them due to lack of research buildings. Roleplaying wise, the averni were known as the most powerful tribal hegimony in Gaul. They had military dominance over their neighbours. I try to maintain good relations with the other celtic tribes and protect their borders as well against the germanic factions and/or the iberian factions (they tend to come north). Because of the military power i do not use ambushes. The goal here is to make a large Celtic Confederation before I head to Rome.

As a Germanic faction (Sweboz/Leugoz) I make use of ambushes (remember Teutoburg forest ). The main things I do with these Germanic tribes is mostly raiding my neighbors. I barely take the settlement if they only have 1 settlement left. If they have more I liberate if possible, otherwise I take it for my self. I tend to use lower tier spear units, bowmen, javelineers. I don't use any sword unit until i fought the Romans (Historically they mostly used swords from fallen Roman soldiers). When attacking, I use a wedge formation with my troops where my general is leading the spearhead. You can try to make only armies that are not more then 1k men strong because that's what they used when raiding. But I guess it's not possible to win battles that way. Most of the other tribes will field a larger army. If my general dies, the army goes with him and I start all over. Also I never use two armies close to each other (rivalry exists here).

As Carthage I use a hoplite heavy army or pikemen heavy army in Magna Gracia to conquer Rome and the Greek factions. I mostly use a sword based army in Iberia (sometimes I play with a hoplite heavy army) and always a sword army in Gaul (when I'm conquering Gaul, most of the times I just raid settlements if I'm in war). I try to maintain as much trades as possible.

I still have to find some good roleplaying ideas with the character traits you get when you recruit a general.

[papaya beast]

Random roleplaying tidbit: I like to cycle my field armies back to the province(s) they were formed in every once in a while to mimic the men getting to go home and see their families. It's probably somewhat realistic, and it halts super fast expansion just from the time delay for moving armies.

Enjoy your campaign!

[Kye]

Nice to see you loaded up Rome 2 back again.

I mostly play with Rome, recreating the Roman Empire by using historic armies and lots of Aux troops from the region where the Legion is stationed. My core is Roman troops, but they only consist of 4-5 legionairies and a first cohort. When the legionairies gain a silver chevron, I recruit a veteran legionair (maximum of 2) into the army. When the legion is fighting in Gaul, I recruit the Germanic veteran instead. Also as Rome I only convert the main building and build aux camps where i want to recruit troops. The other buildings I leave them in the state I conquer it. When I fight battles in Gaul I enslave the captives (Julias Ceasar did this in his Gaul campaigns), all the others I release the troops. When fighting Carthage I kill the troops. And I will also raze Carthage to the ground.

When I play Gaulic (Averni) I mostly have armies with heavy infantry and cavs. They are very good. They also have a good agriculture/food production capabilities. Research is the main weakness in them due to lack of research buildings. Roleplaying wise, the averni were known as the most powerful tribal hegimony in Gaul. They had military dominance over their neighbours. I try to maintain good relations with the other celtic tribes and protect their borders as well against the germanic factions and/or the iberian factions (they tend to come north). Because of the military power i do not use ambushes. The goal here is to make a large Celtic Confederation before I head to Rome.

As a Germanic faction (Sweboz/Leugoz) I make use of ambushes (remember Teutoburg forest ). The main things I do with these Germanic tribes is mostly raiding my neighbors. I barely take the settlement if they only have 1 settlement left. If they have more I liberate if possible, otherwise I take it for my self. I tend to use lower tier spear units, bowmen, javelineers. I don't use any sword unit until i fought the Romans (Historically they mostly used swords from fallen Roman soldiers). When attacking, I use a wedge formation with my troops where my general is leading the spearhead. You can try to make only armies that are not more then 1k men strong because that's what they used when raiding. But I guess it's not possible to win battles that way. Most of the other tribes will field a larger army. If my general dies, the army goes with him and I start all over. Also I never use two armies close to each other (rivalry exists here).

As Carthage I use a hoplite heavy army or pikemen heavy army in Magna Gracia to conquer Rome and the Greek factions. I mostly use a sword based army in Iberia (sometimes I play with a hoplite heavy army) and always a sword army in Gaul (when I'm conquering Gaul, most of the times I just raid settlements if I'm in war). I try to maintain as much trades as possible.

I still have to find some good roleplaying ideas with the character traits you get when you recruit a general.

That's awesome, thanks for that

[FlashHeart07]

I have spent some time playing as the Suebi and the Boii. I might be able to give a tip or two.

Suebi:

Usually you will have plenty of time to build up your capital. As the nordic regions dont produce any supplies during winter, it is important for you to have a farm in your capital to help build up the supplies for when you wage war. Or you can use bagage trains for when you are on a campaign.
With a level 2 barrack you get acces to Germanic Sword Masters. These melee infantry units are awesome for breaking through the enemy lines. They, unlike many of the other barbaric units, wear armor making them more resiliant towards missiles and strong against other unarmored enemies.
The germanic archers with their snipe ability and ability to remain hidden at all times is pretty damn nice especially since your enemies, which are mostly unarmored, fall like flies and they wont even see them coming.
You can also make use of their heavy javelin throwing unit. Besides firing javelins they are somewhat usefull in melee aswell, at least for catching enemy missile troops (if you dont have any cav).

To spice up battles you can try and use different battle formations. I have had good results using the Boar's Tusk... LINK
Or the Boar's Head (wedge), where you position your heavy offensive infantry at the front of the wedge (The Germanic Sword masters have wedge formation) to break through the enemy line. Further back in the wedge you will have some heavy defensive infantry to help protect the flanks of your sword masters and also to counter any enemy cav. In the middle and furtherst back you will have your missile troops.

Using other battle formations than the usual line or double line is a nice way to spice up the battles.

Boii:

I havent played much with the Boii, but so some of the same tactics are useable with these as with the Suebi. More will come when I progress with my current Boii campaign.

[gornoviceanu]

My RP is to try to stick true to the culture of my faction. If I play a celtic, germanic, thracian or nomad culture then I try to unite the historic land of my people and then raid and pillage the world. After I set up my seat of power I start sacking powerful nations and hit major cities like Rome, Carthage, Pella, Athens, you get the idea


As "civilized" nations I try to forge an empire while also sticking true to their historical background.. so as Carthage I try to create a powerful trade empire by controlling major ports. As Rome I try to expand and declare wars to nations that are rich in natural resources such as gold, iron, slaves, wine, marble etc.. as Pontus I will try to secure the whole Black Sea coast and so on.

[Samir]

As a Roman I put them into slavery and to the sword based on their illiteracy and stubborn refusal to shower
As a Greek I send them off as rowing slaves and put them to the sword for ... not being greek
As Barbarian I take the gold, women and warhorses and the rest is put to the sword and I also dont care if they ever get running water again so burn baby burn

[ThatWhichThinks]

My biggest role-play tip is to not just take over every town. Sure, take over your immediate neighbors, but the further you go afield you should establish client states/satrapies, liberate provinces to be allies. Maintain at least one client state or ally on every frontier.

If you are a "barbarian", of course, this is not really an option. In that case, I make allies where I can and try to only take over cities in provinces where my culture is already dominant. Otherwise, I raid or sack.