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Emperor Leo

The Brainstormer
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May 17, 2008
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So, I was looking around the EU3 forum a while ago and noticed that someone had posted a useful guide to choosing which country to play as.

See the original topic here.

I thought I'd start a similar topic to help out players who are new to Rome. Often, I see topics by people asking "what is the best country to start", or sometimes I see people choosing an obscure tribe and becoming disillusioned with EU Rome due to the difficulty. Hopefully, this thread will help newcomers in deciding the best nation for them. Obviously, I can't do this alone, so I'm asking all you good, good people to give your opinions on each country (from any scenario) and I'll update it in this post. Try to include some valid pros and cons, government type, when the faction is playable from and maybe a bit of historical info if you like (keep it short, though! Haha)! This is for vanilla Rome (Rome & VV) v2.32b only. No mod nation info, please. Sorry!

Hopefully, we can get a definitive A-Z of factions for newcomers to browse and inspire Rome veterans to try a new country. :) I'll update the list as soon as possible.

Thank you to King Richard XI for the inspiration for this thread.

Ok, I suppose I should get the ball rolling...

Arverni

Government: Military Tribe
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • Begins game with access to Iron
  • Is surrounded by same Culture and Religion
  • Strong military laws
  • Can be used to unify Gaul
Cons:
  • One-province minor
  • Slow tech progress
  • Low civilisation value
Notes: Fun tribal nation, but under pressure from larger nations at later dates.
Also Try: Any other Celtic tribe.

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Egypt

Government: Despotic Monarchy
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • Strong economy
  • Strong military
  • Excellent resources
  • Great manpower
Cons:
  • No access to horses
  • Begins game at war with Seleucid Empire
  • Best resources are at the edges of the territory
  • Egyptian culture
Notes: Win the initial war and keep a close eye on the Seleucid Empire
Also Try: Seleucid Empire

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Judea

Government: Federal Monarchy
Available: 612 AVC
Pros:
  • The most powerful religion in the game
  • Wealthy home province
Cons:
  • Limited characters
  • Pinned between the Seleucid Empire, Egypt and Nabatea
  • No access to military resources
Notes: Playing as Judea isn't reccommended for beginners due to the late start date and tough starting position.
Also Try: Cyrenaica

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Macedonia

Government: Aristocratic Monarchy
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • Strong starting provinces
  • Excellent resources
  • Strong economy
  • Strong military
  • Powerful ruling family (Ptolemy)
Cons:
  • Northern colonisation blocked by Illyria and Tylis
  • Begins game at war with Tylis
Notes: Reccommended for beginners
Also Try: Pontus, Bosporan Kingdom

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Parthia

Government: Federal Monarchy
Available: 507 AVC
Pros:
  • Elephants and Horses as starting resources
  • Begins with casus belli against the Seleucid Empire
  • Strong (if small) starting army
  • No chance of barbarian invasion
Cons:
  • Begins game in a state of starvation
  • No foreign trade oppertunities
  • Weak economy
  • Weak military
  • Poor foreign relations
  • No room for expansion
Notes: With a weak starting position and inevitable war with the Seleucid Empire, Parthia is a challenging nation for more experienced players.
Also Try: Armenia, Numidia

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Rome

Government: Military Republic
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • Highest Civilisation capital in the game
  • Strong Economy
  • Strong Military
  • Lots of room to expand to the North, North-East and North-West.
  • The titular, familiar nation.
Cons:
  • Poor foreign relations
  • Unique Culture and Religion
  • No access to horses
Notes: Recommended for learning Republics.
Also Try: Carthage

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Seleucid Empire

Government: Despotic Monarchy
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • The largest country in the game
  • Strong economy
  • Access to lots of resources
  • Greek culture
Cons:
  • Poor manpower
  • Mismatched culture / religion in provinces
  • Begins game at war with Egypt
  • Strategic resources too spread out
Notes: Do not lose Damascus (Iron) or Antioch (Manpower) in the first war
Also Try: Egypt

----------

Sparta

Government: Aristocratic Monarchy
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • Begins game with access to Iron
  • Good relations with surrounding Greek nations
  • No threat from barbarians
  • THIS. IS. SPARTA! ;)
Cons:
  • Poor military
  • Poor economy
  • Open to invasion from surrounding nations
  • Begins game with a poor character pool
Notes: A nation for players with an eye to spot weakness in neighbouring factions. A cunning player can take advantage of their surroundings. A good choice for learning how to combat larger nations as a one-province minor.
Also Try: Pergamon, Bithynia

----------

Tylis
Government: Military Tribe
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • Strongest tribe in the game
  • Strong military laws
  • Begins the game with a large, diverse army
  • Begins the game with a powerful Chief
  • The nation's captial is in a tactical hotspot (Thrace)
Cons:
  • Begins the game at war with Macedonia
  • Begins the game in a state of anarchy
  • Extremely low manpower
  • A cultural "fish out of water"
  • Strong barbarian threat from the North
Notes: A powerful, yet unstable tribe. Good for players wishing to learn tribal warfare. Strengthen your economy by conquering Bithynia. This will let you control access to the Black Sea and enact an entry toll.
Also Try: Rhoxolani
 
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Well should still be similar to previous versions for these countries so I hope it is still accurate. If Egypt still get Zombie-Ptolemy (by whom I mean Ptolemy I who should be dead at game start as he died before Seleucos) then he should be among the pros for Egypt (and possibly among the cons for Seleucids).


Seleucid Empire

Government: Despotic? Monarchy
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • Many starting provinces
  • Access to many different resources
  • Strong economy
  • Did I mention being the biggest country in the game at 474
  • Greek Culture
Cons:
  • Pitiful manpower
  • Nearly all provinces have wrong culture and religion
  • Begins game at war with an initially stronger nation (Egypt)
  • Strategic resources spread out (iron only in Damascus)
Notes: Do not lose Damascus (iron) or Antioch (manpower) in the first war.
Also Try: Egypt



Egypt

Government: Despotic? Monarchy
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • Strong economy
  • Decent resources
  • Great manpower
  • Large starting armies
Cons:
  • Lack access to horses at start
  • Begins game at war with a strong nation that will just get stronger and stronger (Seleucid Empire)
  • Strategic resources only in the edge of the Empire
  • Egyptian culture (will not get manpower from new provinces within Egypts natural expansion)
Notes: Win the Initial war and keep a watchful eye on the Seleucids at all times
Also Try: Seleucid Empire
 
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Egypt is probably the easiest nation. It's easy to use your massive manpower, your bigger army and more secure position to gradually eat all of the seleucid empire. Once you have, you're the strongest nation in the game without competition.

After that is probably Carthage. With them, if you have a strong enough navy, Rome really is no threat, and you can expand rapidly into iberia. However, egypt can be a problem sometimes although not really, and you may run into Rome in Gaul eventually too.
 
An additional "pro" for Seleucid-474AVC: your biggest threat is about two provinces distant beyond the edge of the map, so you'll never have to worry about your eastern frontier. Quite unlike the historical Seleucids...

Since nobody has written it up yet:

Rome
Government: Military Republic
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • huge capital civilization score, so CB will rarely be needed for DoWs
  • good economy
  • good manpower
  • no starting borders with other major powers
  • lots of room to expand to the north, west, and northeast
  • familiarity :)
Cons:
  • does not start with access to horses
  • expansion will be into wrong-culture, wrong-religion territory
  • could be too easy :)
Notes: Recommended for beginners.
Also try: Carthage

Arverni
Government: Military Tribe
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • starts with iron
  • expansion will be into other Celtic, Druidic provinces
  • tribes have awesome laws for fighting (morale, org)
  • can unify Gaul
Cons:
  • minor power
  • CBs require some effort to acquire, and will not be predictable
  • slow tech progress
  • will eventually run into Rome
Notes: Fun tribal mayhem, but the low population of Gaul means taking on the major powers later on will require skill.
Also try: any other Gallic tribe
 
Sparta (Aristocratic Monarchy) +25% trade Income. 2x military 1x civic idea


Pros:

Starts with iron
Greek Culture
Good relations with surrounding nations
Next to no Barbarian invasion threat.

Cons:

Poor military and financial power (compared to neighbours)
An attractive target to all of the major powers if mismanaged.
Lack of initial Characters to run the country.



The classic waiting game, Without the correct timing Sparta can be easily consumed by any of its neighbours. However thanks to Macedons initial troubles in the north and Archea's rather Chaotic political scene, opportunities should arrive as long as you can keep yourself out of trouble until they do.


Id recomend Sparta as a nation choice for anyone planning on later playing a nations such as Pontus or Armenia, as it teaches you how to handle a lot of the Difficult situations that arrise from Fighting a much larger Nation.
 
Thanks to whoever stickied this! I will update it a bit later on today! :)
 
Judea:
Available 642 i think
Theocratic Monarchy.

pros:
good charactares
best religion almost garantees good omens
quite wealthy home province

cons:
taugh for beginners.
war ressources are hard to get
pinned betwean 2 giants, Seleucids and Egypt.

If you want to play as jews you have to play EU:Rome! The only game which allows it. (well hoi2 also gave you the chance but there it was pointless)
Really taugh start. You better start butt licking right away as both Egypt and Seleucids hate your ass! Send best diplomats and pray. May need a restart or two until they DONT try to kill you, cuz if they do you'r dead.
But once you are safe you can live happily and collect the good money, annex neighbour Nabatea and even get oversee provinces.
Then the cash starts to really roll in, get a bunch of mercanaries and you can fuck with anyone. I got 100 cohorts and smashed Egypt. TAKE THIS PHARAO. Let my people fucking go! :)
 
Judea:
Available 642 i think
Theocratic Monarchy.

pros:
good charactares
best religion almost garantees good omens
quite wealthy home province

cons:
taugh for beginners.
war ressources are hard to get
pinned betwean 2 giants, Seleucids and Egypt.

If you want to play as jews you have to play EU:Rome! The only game which allows it. (well hoi2 also gave you the chance but there it was pointless)
Really taugh start. You better start butt licking right away as both Egypt and Seleucids hate your ass! Send best diplomats and pray. May need a restart or two until they DONT try to kill you, cuz if they do you'r dead.
But once you are safe you can live happily and collect the good money, annex neighbour Nabatea and even get oversee provinces.
Then the cash starts to really roll in, get a bunch of mercanaries and you can fuck with anyone. I got 100 cohorts and smashed Egypt. TAKE THIS PHARAO. Let my people fucking go! :)

very interesting but... you may want to rephrase some of the profanities to get it stickied:p
 
very interesting but... you may want to rephrase some of the profanities to get it stickied

I'll edit it out in the main post. :p
 
I started as rome but didn't like the fact that I can't do what I want. So I play as Sparta now days and I'm still learning :)
Managed to build myself quite powerful kingdom I may add
 
How can you expand with Sparta? Even Achaean League stronger than me :D

With good luck my friend (and easiest settings :D). Go to war against nations that are already in war I went to war with the light blue (sorry I don't remember the name of the nation) with Macedonia (we were not allies)
 
Have been some time, but still some nations have not made it here, and as it is stickied, why not. Might be mistaken as to the exact type of monarchy for some countries (doesn't really pay attention to that when playing).

Pontus

Government: Despotic Monarchy
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • Fairly good if few provinces
  • Good relations with the local great power
  • Greek Culture
Cons:
  • No strategic resources within your borders
  • The Seleucids are a neighbour
Notes: Available at all starts, strong at later starts (until defeated by Rome, but probably the strongest client state after getting Pontus province back)
Also Try: Bosporan Kingdom, Bithynia


Bosporan Kingdom

Government: Despotic Monarchy
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • Very secure location
  • Greek Culture
Cons:
  • No strategic resources within your borders
  • Poor provinces
  • Bordering the two strongest tribal nations
Notes: Is fairly constant at all starts (except the time it is part of Pontus).
Also Try: Pontus


Rhoxolani

Government: Military Tribe
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • Have horses
  • Extremely secure location
  • Strongest tribe
  • Tribal military laws
Cons:
  • Tribe
  • Low civilization values, tend to lag in tech
  • Unique culture
Notes: Probably the best nation for ones first tribal game, the Bosporans are fairly easily conquered and there are no real threats in the near future
Also Try: Tylis, Colchis


Colchis

Government: Military tribe
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • Three provinces, so one of the bigger tribes
  • Away from most threats
  • Have access to wood
  • Starts fairly civilized for a tribe
Cons:
  • Poor provinces
  • Not necessarily as isolated as one might wish
Notes: Used to be very hard, might be easier now with the stronger Rhoxolani and the fact that Iberia can be completely conquered in one war (and is less likely to be allied with Armenia)
Also Try: Rhoxolani, Iberia


Iberia

Government: Aristocratic Monarchy
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • Have iron
  • Reasonably isolated from the major powers
Cons:
  • Fewer provinces then all your neighbours (only 2 so you can be annexed in one war if it goes badly)
  • Hard to find reliable allies you can trust
Notes: Not easy.
Also Try: Colchis, Armenia


Armenia

Government: Federal Monarchy
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • Have iron
  • Fairly big
  • Reasonably wealthy
Cons:
  • Seleucids tend to want you dead and they are slightly stronger to say the least
  • Unlikely to find allies
Notes: Fairly powerful at some later starts, especially during Tigranes (will hold Syria during some of his reign)
Also Try: Numidia


Numidia

Government: Despotic Monarchy
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • Have horses
  • Not too weak
Cons:
  • Pays tribute to Carthage
  • No room for expansion except through Carthage
  • Carthage is run by untrustworthy unreliable scumbags that will happily invade whenever they feel like it
Notes: Can be difficult as Carthage more often than not attacks before you can really prepare. Becomes very strong after the Second Punic war so is worth checking out at that time
Also Try: Armenia


Pergamon

Government: Aristocratic Monarchy
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • Reasonably good province
  • Greek culture
Cons:
  • One province minor neighbouring the Seleucids
  • Seleucids have a core on your province
Notes: Start after the 493 (no more Seleucid core) or better yet after the Syrian War (will have large parts of Asia Minor then). Only pick the earliest possible start if you want a real challenge
Also Try: Bithynia


Bithynia

Government: Aristocratic Monarchy
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • Fairly good province
  • Greek culture
Cons:
  • One province minor
Notes: Pontus is not too strong at start so can be dealt with, just make sure you have expanded somewhere before the Seleucids decide to show interest in the area.
Also Try: Pergamon, Pontus


Magna Graecia

Government: Oligarchic Republic
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • Good provinces
  • Greek culture
Cons:
  • Mismatched culture in your capital province so less manpower than might be expected
  • Starts at war with Rome
  • Pyrrhus likes going to Massilia rather then be in any way helpful
Notes: Very hard. You are outnumbered and the Roman army is of better quality.
Also Try: Epirus


Epirus

Government: Federal Monarchy
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • Strong provinces
  • Have fairly high civilization
  • Good king at start
  • Greek culture
Cons:
  • Lacking in strategic resources
  • Starts at war with Rome
Notes: War with Rome can be quite a challenge, but unlike Magna Graeca you can at least hope to survive it. One of the strongest greek minors, so uniting Greece is certainly possible
Also Try: Other Greek minors


Carthage

Government: Oligarchic Republic
Available: 474 AVC
Pros:
  • Wealthy
  • Fairly secure position
  • One of the Major Powers
  • Have access to Elephants
Cons:
  • Only major power not having immediate access to iron
  • Diplomatically isolated
Notes: Keep an eye on Egypt. Maintain a strong navy. Do not mindlessly expand (it is easy to expand too quickly and slow down your research by a significant margin), focus on securing some access to the strategic resources you are lacking in.
Also Try: Rome
 
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How can you expand with Sparta? Even Achaean League stronger than me :D

Playing on Normal difficulty (with the Epigoni mod), I started off by recruiting as many soldiers as my meager treasury could afford and blitzing the Cassandrans. Then I took on the Macedonians and held the whole Peloponnesus. I traded a lot of stability for expansion (I was at -3 for a good while, which I slowly negated by using all the cash I generated for about a decade to get back to 0) but it was worth it. To speed up the process, I minimized army maintenance at all times except when a rebellion occurred and didn't build any fleets. When I was back to 0 stability, I invaded Boatia, consolidated, and started on the Acria(something) League (the guys next to the Aetolians). I consolidated for a few years and sacrificed to regain stability. By that time, my income was about 2.0, which was halfway decent. Then, the big move. I recruited an army of about 25,000 and took on Epirus, which I conquered pretty quickly. All the while, I tried keeping alliances with the Aegeads and one of at least Egypt or Seleucids. With all of the Peloponnesus, Boetia, and Epirus securely in my grip, I'm the dominant power in the Balkans and am preparing to take over the rest of Greece.

I found that an agressive expansion strategy in the Peloponnesus, regardless of stability cost, was the key to survival. If you're too cautious, you'll remain poor and with only one province, and will prove easy meat.