Announcement: Europa Barbarorum II 2.2r released!

[ZSV]

Sorry, but no. I discussed it with the team, and they stipulated 10 units is the most we're happy to allow re-use of. We've been in this situation before, as I said we're happy to share some, not to populate entire rosters for other teams. I'd suggest picking those which might be trickiest for your modellers to do themselves, or will give them the best head-start on any other units they want to make.

Ok, then such units:


italic_cavalry_sabellian
italic_infantry_samnites_spearmen
ligurian_infantry_swordsmen
hellenistic_infantry_akontistai
hellenistic_infantry_toxotai
lithobolos

[wermez]

Playing as Carthage, turn 65, H/M campaign. Relations were good with Rome until their Sicilian adventure. They launched invasion of Corsica with strong army, but with too much equites. Wars are quite rare, but happening. Epirotes and Greeks both launched invasion of Sicily at the same time.

[Lucio Domicio Aureliano]

Playing as Rome VH/VH. I feel the game is already well developed, many interesting features and, some of them, brilliant. The BAI is good, battles are nice, the AI tries to reach high grounds, pursue your skirmishers and their generals run away from senseless charges.
THE CAI is also good, but i feel they are super passive. I understand Rome is one of the easiest, if not the easiest faction to play with, but as it stands the campaign offers almost no challenge at all. Wars are seldom and they end briefly, the AI thoroughly avoids war with me. Perhaps, it would be a nice idea to make the AI more aggressive. I also believe the last remaining factions should be the Belgae and Insubres. That said, the game is great, it will be even better in the future, but it is already great.

Finally, i am experiencing few CTDs, good overall stability. Thx for the best mod i´ve ever played.

[Rad]

Lucio, what turn are you at?

[Lucio Domicio Aureliano]

Lucio, what turn are you at?

Stil at the beginning Rad... around 90.

[Rad]

Worry not then. Ease up with conquest, give the AI a break until turn 150... then things become interesting.
You have to remember that it's faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar more easy to conquer the world in a video game by blitzing, than to actually do it in real life. To try and mimic actual conquest as much as the engine allows, you need to give the ai time to develop into a threat.

[Lucio Domicio Aureliano]

Ty for your reply RAD. I do think something need to be done though. I am in no way criticizing EB II, for it is truly great, but the difficulty of the campaign needs to be addressed. It is true i could easy up with the aggression, although i am already playing it slow, but that would also make extremely rich (sitting on my arse). Something to increase overall difficulty, be it by adding other game mechanics (many of the mechanics implement are awesome), with eyes to make the game more difficult or handicapping the player. I know the team decided against BGR V grim reality for instance, but it would be nice to mimic those features. One thing is for sure, BGR V does leads to a more difficult game.

Again, the Romans are indeed easy, but they and other factions can become at least a bit harder. That said, i do thing EB has whats needed to make the game harder, because they already have whats is hardest to achieve: a good AI, CAI and BI both. Perhaps a more aggressive AI, since the beginning of the game would already solve the issue to some extent (in my view).

Also, if you be so kind, what do you think about the Insubres?

[Rad]

Try your luck with with one of the steppe or celtic factions. Playing with Rome is truly easy. Cash, location, troops. You have it all at the very start.
As a whole, EB2 is challenging. It doesn't need a difficulty boost. The only mod that I can think of that is definitely harder is call of warhammer... because of the billion unexpected spawn armies.

I have no opinion on the Insubres. What would you like me to comment on? Their history or them being a playable faction?

[wermez]

Insubres would fit nicely. I have seen Rome having hard time conquering Gallia Cisalpina, and they succeded taking one city in it after 50 turns. And I gave them much shekels by cheating.

[QuintusSertorius]

The Insubres make little sense when the Boii faction are their cousins.

[Pooploop]

I'd like to add a few thoughts on Lucio Domicio Aureliano's comment on difficulty, and I fully agree - the ai, both CAI and BAI, must be made more exacting towards players. This game of course is free to be played as you will - if you wish to take it slow then do so. However, the Total War series is at heart a Real Time tactics and grand strategy game, and if CHOSEN to be played at the stated most challenging tier, then the game's ai must deliver its utmost. Unless one is playing multiplayer, most Total War fans have only one opponent: the ai. If that one opponent must be coddled, then no matter how beautiful the graphics or impressive the rosters the program has not improved at all. Take for example the ancient pastimes such as chess or Go; despite their singular "map" (one board style), limited "selection of units" (chess has 6 types of pieces while Go has one), and uninspiring "combat animation" (real life inert game tokens don't spring to life after all), the competitiveness of either game has not dimmed for millennia. This is because the strategical and tactical complexity of either game has constantly adapted and risen, thus always making them a challenge to play.

Disclaimer: I am saying this not because EB2 is considered a pretty Total war mod, but because among the other MTW2 mods, and even the more recent TW titles, this fan creation has actually taken concrete steps into make the game strategically and tactically harder without resorting to cheat buffing the AI. Examples include the lower damage across the board, focuses on flanking and maneuver, the descaling of the performance of cavalry, the importance of routs and prevention of routs...the list goes on and on. I always love seeing new units come to the fore - when the Spartan hoplites came out with the newer Greek cataphracts, I was elated by the skinners' attention to accurate detail. However, what I wish to express is that if I were to see on twitter not a picture but only a worded statement like: "We were able to make the BAI employ flanking or ambushing reserves" or "AI generals now know how to conduct an orderly fighting retreat" or "AI allied armies now know how to fight better, bar just joining up into one big mass before attacking", then EB2 truly would take top spot of mods forever, even against newer CA titles.

EB2 is a mod first and foremost and the dev team is in no way obligated to do whatever I suggest, as their creation is already very good (I also don't own anything). I hope however, that the team will spend some time focusing on improving the BAI and CAI for better future games.

P.S. Honestly, this comment should be directed towards Creative Assembly itself, but its recent games (Warhammer, etc.) have shown greater focus towards aesthetics and ease of play rather than strategical or tactical complexity.

[parthian8]

I have a few rules which work very well in making the game more challenging. Don't reload the game when you lose a battle, when a stack rebels unexpectedly, when an assassin gets through, when you get ambushed or taken out by an earthquake; when your convenient ceasefire is rejected, when your come-of-age princeling is a duffer. If you hold 20 new territories after 75 turns your argument basically boils down to "I was kicking them so hard they hadn't a hope of being aggressive back."

[f0ndiE^]

Totally agree with parthian8. Lucio and poop - wtf? One talking about making the game harder, yet he plays as Rome, which got everything - newb. And about poops post - yea sure, wouldnt that be nice? Such a shame it CANT be done due hardcoded limits. The current BAI and CAI is the best AI I have ever played againts, and trust me, I have played a lot. SO shut the up and go try Saba VH/VH, then talk.

Also Lucio, when ur at turn 90, I can imagine you have all the Italy and some neighbours cities - WOW very GJ maaan. Now wait turn 100, when AIs go berserk. Oh and also, pls post a screen when you will own France / Greece / Africa / Spain - or w/e the you want to take. I bet that you wont make winning conditions until turn 300.

[Colos1987]

Actually, AI is on a leash until turn 100. Upon turn 101 diplomacy screen will explode with wars

Also, try one of the factions in the meat grinder zones of Asia Minor or Hellas proper... it will be far from easy, trust me ;-)

[Lucio Domicio Aureliano]

The Insubres make little sense when the Boii faction are their cousins.

Gameplay wise i feel the Insubres would be a cool addition. It is possible, though, that they do not meet EBII criteria.They could spice things up in Italy and around the Alps. Regardless, i am pretty sure the last two pics will be great.

[net_boy]

Dear EB II team, I'm lost, because I want to start new campaing in this great mod, but I heard, that 2.2g will coming soon, better to wait a little bit, and start in the newest version, or it's will be no so soon as we expect?

[Sarkiss]

Insubres would fit nicely. I have seen Rome having hard time conquering Gallia Cisalpina, and they succeded taking one city in it after 50 turns. And I gave them much shekels by cheating.

on top of what QS stated, Insubres would only drive Romans north exacerbating their obsession with moving in that direction.

Imho, Syracuse are the best placed to be playable. unlike raiding barbarians with a fleeting staying power, Syracuse enjoyed great renowned throughout Hellenistic world, had a massive economic and cultural clout. militarily too, they once landed in Africa threatening Carthage on its own soil. their natural expansion would be firstly to unify Sicily as Pyrrhus has almost done once, then bring Magna Graecia under control and the rest of the Hellenes in Western Mediterranean, of which there are quite a few. so Tyrrhenian Sea must be made Syracusan lake. then Greece proper is a natural choice, followed by Cyrene as well as wresting much of north African trading coastal settlements from Carthage. and of course there are more Hellenes in Eastern Mediterranean that would gravitate to such rising power. so plenty to do, plus a fascinating history and plenty of 'what ifs'.

[SxBerserk]

why celtiberians and greeks look like arabs?

[wermez]

Swarthy people were common in europe.

[QuintusSertorius]

why celtiberians and greeks look like arabs?

From one of our historians:

Arab is a broad ethnonym, covering a wide variety of cultures stretching from the Oman to populations to Mauretania. Indeed the term has only become widely employed as an emic identifier in the last millenium; before that a variety of local ethnonyms were more widely employed. As such the term Arab covers a wide variety of peoples whose genetic lineages split after the end of the last Ice Age, albeit with subsequent intermixing over the years due to human mobility (as is also the case among Europeans). Features present in European Mediterranean populations are present in "Arab" populations both as a result of a common genetic heritage, but also due to the fact that they occupy similar environments. The faces and skin tones employed by EBII for our units are based on modern populations from these respective regions.