ULTRA SEXY DEI POLL THREAD 2020

[Livin La Vida Loca]

What do you guys think are the weakest factions in campaign? I made a poll with some of The Usual Suspects but feel free to answer with whatever one you think.

[Artannis Wolfrunner]

I've always wondered what the deal is with Colchis, they've been playable for years but have almost no units to use. Maybe some day they will get their due like Atropatkan did.

Kartli on the other hand is far from weak. They are one the factions I've played to victory conditions, their roster is small but extremely powerful. Armazis Dacva are one of the best heavy infantry in the game with their massive armor piercing, and no faction with super heavy cataphracts is going to be weak. My only complaint is not being able to use their heavy catas as bodyguards, only the half armored ones. Seems like an oversight.

[PrimoTw]

I dont think Syracuse is weak, just very hard to start with.

[Livin La Vida Loca]

But Syracuse spends so long fighting an uphill battle that it’s very weak in spite of having a mostly okay roster

[Atomic Punk]

if you play with Syracuse, either you ragequit or steamroll, if you dont play with syracuse, they get owned so fast just like epirus and macedon, and that makes me sad

[Dead*Man*Wilson]

What constitutes 'weakest'?

[Fluke]

if you play with Syracuse, either you ragequit or steamroll, if you dont play with syracuse, they get owned so fast just like epirus and macedon, and that makes me sad

I suggest you play with Seleukos' AoH submod. It does a very good job of balancing the various powers of a DEI campaign, especially in the central Mediterranean.

[Jake Armitage]

My penny for Colchis

[Dead*Man*Wilson]

My vote is for the Golden Fleece ad well--but only because they probably shouldn't have been included in the game (at least as a playable faction) to begin with.

[Livin La Vida Loca]

What constitutes 'weakest'?

essentially interchangable with hardest; weakest roster and worst campaign situation, worst faction/culture traits, etc. Hence, I exclude the britannic factions because at least starting on the isles is really easy. Though perhaps the caledones should be on the poll, their start is kind of a pain as well...

[T2av]

i'd like to say sparta, non cav general, all anvil no hammer/ pop problem

[Livin La Vida Loca]

Sparta is much better with current patch. If you have enough money you can field some third class pikes, and the Trophimoi are foreigner hoplites on par with spartan ones, held back by long recruit times. Both have other restrictions on spamming them, but all together sparta isn’t quite as trash as it used to be. The cav issue is also mitigated by mercenary tarantines, as well as Thessalian cav when you take Pella.

[Jake Armitage]

it's always good when different factions allow (and demand) different gameplay style
so, yeah, sparta is what it is but hell... it's sparta

[Filip2000]

I would say that Colchis. They have a poor unit roaster. Kartli would be on the second place.

[NihilNovi_SubSol]

I don't think Syracuse is a contender. Their problem isn't so much that they are weak as that they're a decently strong faction caught between two superpowers. I voted Colchis - they seem to have no standout units other than okay hoplites and they've never been much of a challenge to any faction I've fought them as.

[Livin La Vida Loca]

But that’s kinda the thing, isn’t it. Pontus has a terrible start but a top tier roster and good aor. Syracuse has an even worse start with aor that doesn’t help them that much; maybe if they had Ligurian infantry factional mercenary units (apparently they did use them a lot historically so I think it’d fit, or maybe some other stuff idk.) But they really are just in a terrible situation, that makes them reallllly weak in campaign.

[Dead*Man*Wilson]

I like that idea about Ligurians for Syracuse, though didn't realize that those guys fought as mercs for Syracuse. The western Mediterranean was a small world. Makes me wan to attempt that campaign again.

As has been said, Syracuse's main issue is their location. It's notoriously difficult to maneuver out of the tight spot they find themselves in. Their units are solid, but their proximity to Rome is an issue. This is also the case for the Ardiaei. Having a high chance of Rome declaring war on you within the first 10 turns is a steep challenge. IMO, both of these factions have pretty solid unit rosters. Then again, I'm not a guy who really scrutinizes the unit stats too hard. I really don't pay attention to that until I start getting bad performances from them.

Syracuse and Ardiaei at least have some historical cachet while Colchis and the Karli do not.

[Livin La Vida Loca]

Yeah, I want to look into it more, but apparently Syracuse made extensive use of Ligurian mercenaries into the reign of Agathocles, whose reign ended about ten years prior to the DEI start date. If there’s any information on why, maybe the case can be made for them as part of their roster.

[malachi82]

Syracuse is far from weak, it´s infantry is lethal when used the right way (e.g. overpowering one side) until mid game. If you want to do pitched battles against Rome, you'll need the Extraordinarii supermen from Taras and the excellent syracusian heavy cav, tho.