Barbarian Factions?

[Mastergunner_19k]

Greetings to the readers and the amazing DEI team...Rome II would not be what it is for me without your Mods, essentially it is unplayable without it for me. So thank you for this wonderful experience...
Also a disclaimer: I usually only read posts and do reply to some, but don't post any new threads, so if this is the wrong category please forgive me and move it to where it belongs.

So my question is simple and the title says it in a way...
I did finish Campaigns as Rome, Seleucid, Egypt and am about to finish Carthage...I'm also in the thick of it with Macedonia(boy what a slugfest, but fun). So I have my experiences with those cultures and am considering giving a celtic or germanic faction a go in the future, I dont care for eastern factions much so that is in the far future possibly.
Given that what are some babarian factions people had a good time with and why? I did look at unit rosters (very important to me for flavor) but still can't decide on any specific faction. Any imput would be appreciated, thank you all in advance.

[PietrolEremita]

The Odrysians and the geti have both a top notch roster. The Lusitania are a lot of fun as well.
If you are looking for a completely different playstyle, suebi or lugii.

[Devodians]

I know you said celtic or germanic, but possibly my funnest ever campaign was with the Lusitani. Sturdy, mid tier spearmen can hold your line similar to that of a "civilized" faction, decent cav, plus those masked Ambakaro are probably my favorite non-elite unit of the whole game. Their roster allows the flexibility of playing as an ambush focused/non-civilized faction, as well as your classic hammer and anvil tactics once you have access to the right units.

Your starting position is probably the easiest out of all the Iberian factions imo, because you start with a province capital and in a more isolated position. It's a very straightforward start: the Celtici to the south hate you, so kill them off first to unite Lusitania. Your northern neighbors also don't like you; in my game they declared war almost immediately after I consolidated Lusitania. So I expanded north into Tarraconensis. In essence, your first 20 turns are just to conquer all of the other Iberian factions and unite the peninsula (except for the Carthaginian provinces).

After you establish hegemony over Spain, you will have a good power base of men and material, so you can decide where you want to expand next. At this point, you're probably dealing with empires, as the minor nations will have been mostly taken over by the "power blocks" of major factions. I decided to go after Carthage, because I wanted to completely unify Spain... and I wanted Carthage. It was really fun and interesting, establishing an Iberian kingdom in Africa. My forces there was an unusual mix of an Iberian core, augmented by North African/Libyan AOR units.

If have no idea who you want to play next, I highly recommend the Lusitani. Imo, the easiest and most enjoyable out of all the barbarian "non -civilized" factions.

[Mastergunner_19k]

Thank you both for the replies, I will certainly look very close into those factions and see where to go with it. All of them sounded pretty good.

[Ptolemaios Soter]

I’ll second the Lusitani. They don’t really feel like a barbarian faction though with the exception of ambush battles. Their mainline of heavy spears is only marginally less sturdy than Carthaginian hoplites. They have exceptional shock infantry light and heavy.

Their most distinguishing trait is the quality and plethora of their javelins (or solifera precursors). Their ambushers carry more javelins and have 200 troops compared to most skirmishers. Their light cavalry similarly have the most javilns of any faction and have 120 troops. Lastly almost all of their infantry use the all metal soliferum javelins second only to Roman pila. Add all that together, and the initial volley of an ambush is devastating.

Still, with their quality heavy troops, they feel more like a civilized faction. Likewise the Thracian have quality pikes and so play functionally similar to Macedon. I also play the Galatians as a civilized faction with AOR snd Merc pikes and their own heavy swords. I’ve never played a truest barbarian faction like the Germans or Celts.

[Dead*Man*Wilson]

Lots of great options. I typically the Gauls & Iberians, but all the factions bring a lot to the table--from their starting locations to using their rosters the way that they were designed to be used. The nomad barbarians are also a very fun change of pace from the standard heavy infantry styling of the main Mediterranean powers. Most of the barbarian rosters have been either reworked or touched up with version 1.2, so I'd recommend sampling all, time permitting.

[kapouchet]

I've been on the fringe of committing to an Averni campaign but it seems every single time I struggle with build order. Long term goals would be to secure an economic base to secure a cavalry heavy build with eithet trash infantry anf javelins or elite swords and javelins in order to melt the roman invader.

Im thorn on the allocation of buildings in Nemossos. Im tempted to build military first so I can have this unit superiority over the other Gauls first. But Im tempted to maximize the region gold output. That means sacrificing on food. Do you guys build Aquitania in an economic province or a military one ?

Basically I am clueless to barbarian building setups.

[Dead*Man*Wilson]

I've been on the fringe of committing to an Averni campaign but it seems every single time I struggle with build order. Long term goals would be to secure an economic base to secure a cavalry heavy build with eithet trash infantry anf javelins or elite swords and javelins in order to melt the roman invader.

Im thorn on the allocation of buildings in Nemossos. Im tempted to build military first so I can have this unit superiority over the other Gauls first. But Im tempted to maximize the region gold output. That means sacrificing on food. Do you guys build Aquitania in an economic province or a military one ?

Basically I am clueless to barbarian building setups.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much on the build of your first province. Barbarian building setups aren't going to be vastly different form any other faction.

I usually let the resources in the area influence what I do--so if there is a horse or metal resource, I do military. If its a food or commercial resource, I go in that direction. So, unless I have an immediate concern like food production, I usually build the province around the resource, if you have a resource to build around. If you have a temporary need for something, address it now and you can always demolish and rebuild later.

If it were me, I'd go more economic with Aquitania. As slots open up, you can always opt into other building types--like war horse stables. The early game is initially a slog, so I have no problem filling early armies with levy or near-levy level units, though fielding decent cav goes a long way. Worry about securing the province and your borders first, then you should think more about infrastructure.

[Ptolemaios Soter]

Aquitania is kind of like Syria to me. It’s a great starting location specifically because it doesn’t lend itself well to specialization. I would recommend building the basic military buildings and then the rest economy. Once you take Glalia you can spec that for economy (and move your capital there), and then convert aquitania for military. In he early game, you need both military and money as you say, so take advantage of both in their respective cities. In terms of order, that’s really your call and based on how the game is unfolding. Levies and general units are usually enough at first to win battles, but if you’re facing serious conflict you might need more and rely on looting and sacking for income.

[Chicano]

Lusitani no. 1! Scordisci maybe are the next thing, as soon as u land in Thrace and Macedonia, hell breaks loose. And the supreme celts ... Galatia
P.S. Hounourable mentions Eblani and Suebi