the main reason macedon is OP in campaign are not their units , but their bonus. 20% extra charge to all cav units , means that shock cav for macedon is the most deadly thing on the campaign map , and also a bonus to meele power against barbarian factions , which makes exapnding north against barbarian tribes extremly easy.
+Eduardo Borges the generals shock cav unit breaks literally everything i charge it against. the way to play macedon is get a bunch of hoplites use them to hold the enemy in place then break their morale with archers and shock cav
I got lucky on my first playthrough in Grand Campaign as Egypt. I took over Parthia and Persia who at the time controlled everything east of Greece so by the time I was ready to attack Rome I controlled Turkey, the Middle East, Arabia, and virtually all of North Africa while Rome was busy civil warring itself and fighting its neighbors in Europe. Rome was stronger on a unit by unit basis but I was an industrial juggernaut so i could field multiple armies on my own, fight Rome 1 on 1, then bring a backup army to replace my first army and exterminate Roman stragglers. Then I take my wounded army and combine the surfing units together and reinforce them almost immediately with all mid tier units. I love pikes and the AI has a hard time fighting them, they try to flank but if you have someone strong to guard your flanks you're invincible. I got all mid tier pikes, then used high tier units to guard my flanks, and used peltast to thin out the roman lines and a couple cavalry units to run down any enemy archers. If you're smart or lucky you can even use your pikes to flank the roman lines and envelope roman army while slowly pricking them all to death with your pikes. I mostly disregard cavalry since nothing but elephants can punch through roman infantry, I mostly use them to hit enemy cavalry or run down archers. I like my general to be on elephants since it's the same cost and upkeep in campaign and you get the scare ability which helps their lines to break early.
sparta: They have an almost elite army 3 silver bars in the beginning and a a full gold army after a couple of turns. Once they swipe macedon is a piece of cake
Rome is the best for me. The reason is. They fit in everywhere. Like roman soldiers fit in place in the middle east,Europe, and everywhere. But say Im playing as Egypt. It doeskin fit in that Im fighting barbarians in the north. I dont know about you but for me it basically ruins the whole game for me when its not historically accurate or fits in.
HabboElite s Agreed. They have good armor,Morale,Charge,attack, And they wont run till like they have 10 or 20 men. but they are slow thats the one bad part. Rome also lacks good ships and cav. Since the inf is slow cav is needed but sadly their cav is not the best
The Best Faction: Rome Roman Legion +2 Recruitment Rome City +2 Recruitment 10 Training field/Barracks(In all Region of Italia) + 10 Recruitment 3+2+2+10= 17 Recruitment slot Per Turn
I think the Rome 2 map should of been much larger to include more of the northern steppes, Tibet, India, Arabia and the Horn of Africa. I would loved to see Bactria fighting the Maryuans.
It would be epic but do you remember the turn times back on launch? It was literaly 5minutes... I don't think bloating the game with more factions/provinces would of been a good idea.
Divide et Empera mod adds a bunch of factions, including some in lower Russia, North and central Africa, Arab factions, and an Indian controlled province in the south of Persia (the Taxishilia(sp?))
I love playing the Selucids, for the challenge precisely, I love how much more diplomatic you have to be plus with just how much variation they have with their units.
@Tiny Rick when I play as Macedon, I usually spend 10 turns building armies and resources, then the next thing I always do is invade Athens, then I always subjugate Sparta out of respect. Both are good factions, Athens can make a ton of money and Sparta has very strong troops. But Sparta doesnt tend to invade other territories so I always spare them, that and they are usually just too strong to finish off entirely.
Can't believe noone mentioned Pontus. They could easily be the most underrated. Start off in Bithynia et Pontus, one of the wealthiest provinces in the game with access to the sea and while being close enough to bigger states like the selucids to make the mid game interesting but also just far enough to make for a stable game at the beginning, which you can spend subjugating or conquering states in Asia Minor and around the Black Sea. Great unit and diverse roster with Cappadocian Cav, Thureos Spears and obviously, Scythed Chariots. Great blend of East and West. Diplomatically, very advantageous to have a Hellenic bonus and access to sea allows countless factions to want to trade with you and declare non aggression pacts early on. I'm still doing the Pontic campaign and I've enjoyed every bit of it. Diplomatically, Financially and Militarily.
Epirus in my opinion is the best faction for multi-player battles, cause of the amazing unit roster (Great Cav, Pikes, Spears, Swords and decent missile units!
Genghis Khan Yeah sure. Look at how many times Persians tried to conquer all the roman oriental part and they've failed. Rome never claim the Persian territories as its own except for Mesopotamia and that s funny because Rome sacked Mesopotamia and its capital so many times.
the reason the ai doesn't do well is because Roman units are expensive while there neighbours can just build cheap ass armies and because all auto-resolve games are fought around how many men you have and all Ai battles are auto-resolved they get crushed
Exactly! You have good starting position, lot of allies. Their infantry is great similar to Macedon. They got the best archers in the game( my opinion), Great Cavalry.
I feel you base your ratings too much on the starting position and not enough on the unit roster or faction abilities. For me the Seleucids are the clear winner, they have the most diverse roster including my personal favorite: armored war elephants. They have phalanx and heavy calvary that can rival Macedon's and many types of heavy/light skirmishers from their eastern provinces. Then we have the faction bonuses. They have IMO, some of the best ones. I enjoy anything that helps with public opinion and the Seleucids have -20% resistance to foreign occupation AND -25% public opinion penalty from foreign cultures. Their negative is also one of the best ones to have, as I find diplomatic relations pointless unless you go for that victory condition. And since you seem to favor starting locations, I think the Seleucids have one of the best avalaible. You have a rich, central province with access to the coast and can easily expand in any direction. Yeah it can be more challenging to a new player but any veteran should appreciate the challenges and especially the rewards of playing the Seleucids.
Armenia in my opinion is extremely strong. They start off surrounded by mountains, in a simple war, with a full province, and very good room for expansion. They also have extremely strong cavalry that I find overpowers everyone else. For example, in one fight I nearly lost the battle. But, I had some horse skirmishers laying around. Then I ended up almost winning with two battalions of skirmishers.
Baktria takes that spot considering how similar they are, I guess. He is correct when he says Baktria has an entire front they don't have to worry about
Personal favorites: 1. Carthago Carthago has a lot of really good cavalry and legitimate infantry which can hold off against any attacker. Also, proximity ot Rome means you can beat the strongest faction BEFORE they become too powerful. Also, the use of war elephants
2 factions I had the most fun playing as in campaign were Massilia and Cimmeria but most of this top 5 checks out purely for how effortless progressing in campaigns as each one felt
Haha, if you can survive warring against 10 different states - including motherfucking Egypt by the south - for about 50 turns then yes, it's steamrolling. But the mere act of surviving, jesus christ....
But thats not hard at all, I always attack Egypt and Cyprus first to knock them out. If you can do that the campaign is easy. That said thats what makes the Seleucids rewarding is that you have to be strong to survive.
maybe if you play "easy"/ "normal" difficulty. in other cases you only have to fight Egypt, Cyprus, all your ex satrapies(except sardes and media), and most of the eastern factions that don't qualify for previous categories.
I just started playing Rome 2 and not much as changed since Rome 1. In Rome 1, the top tier factions were also Rome, Egypt, and Macedon/Greece. Seleucids had the most unit variety in Rome 1. In Rome 2, I believe this falls on Egypt.
I think the Selucids should rank above all hellenistic factions and quite possibly number 1 overall. Their starting point is excellent, given the fact that u control Syria which is one of the richest province in the game, u get 3 client states and only Egypt as an early threat. Their unit roster is amazing with access to supreme pikes (Silvershield Pikes), elite eastern and hellenistic cavalry (Azats, Cataphracts, Companion Cav) and also eastern skirmishers (Heavy Syrian Archers). The access to eastern skirmishers pretty much makes the Selucids a more complete version of Macedonians. I cant see why no 1 mentions them!
5.Boii oatswprn and other units 4.Carthage exellent infatry missiles elephants and other 3.Egypt chariots,elephants 2.Seleucid i think best roster in game if they boost Thorax swords attack to about 45 it would be great 1.Rome super infatry javelins are ok Evocati cohort are op and armored legionares are op Sorry for my english gys!
I only started playing this game a few days ago, it'sthe newest Total War Game I've played so far. I didn't do well initially as rome as I had to get used to the new building and food system. But switching to Egypt I had a lot more fun. Insane economic potential and amazing unit diversity.
i don't know why i don't prefer to start with a big faction with more than 2 settlements. i rather start with 1 or 2, then make my way up lol. now started a macedon campaign, seems pretty good. but i may have a made a mistake by going east, to tylis and odyrsia (?) and now have sparta declaring war against me
The 20 squad Macedonian meatgrinder in the Divide et Impera campaign: 1 general on horse (150 men!), 6 Aspis companions heavy cavalry, 4 archers (Cretan or Syrian if available), 6 pike phalanx (Thorax pikemen, Foot companions, or both), 1 Hypaspists shield bearers (or Thorax spearmen later), 2 Thorax swordsmen as reserves on the flanks. Optional if available: 1 ballista, 1 or 2 elephants, 1 horse archers, heavier cavalry instead of Aspis companions (Sarmatian cataphracts or else)
I just started my first campaign as the Iceni and gotta say the only challenge I've had is fighting the tribe that spawns in Ireland. They kept repelling my invasions over and over.
I don't know my buddy tried to spam a list of an oath-sworn on me but my elephants easily bested his Swordsmen and I know they have the best Swordsmen in the game
@@slickdickdaddy Elephants and ranged cav are the 2 units that somewhat counter sword infantry (not sure about chariot), so no real surprise there. In an Averni campaign you have to fight very few of both of them in the late game, so that isn't a big issue. Elephants also cost a lot more. If you take enough swords to equal the elephant cost it will be a close fight and that is when base stats are used. Barbarians can get the most upgrades so in campaign their swords should trade well against elephants if you look at the unit cost.
It's been nearly a decade and i still agree with this list, in the same order as well. Honourable mention these days are the kingdom of kush, but since their position is a smaller but more secure version of Egypt than it's basically the same ranking as Egypt. I also think bactria is way better than parthia due to things like having more food and better unit diversity, and you don't start being allied to the dikhead dahae like the parthians. Lastly the fact that the iceni can trade with foreigners much easier than other barbarians is a under rated reason for then being so good. Cultural aversion can only be ignored if your a strong empire.
I played as Rome.When you research legion organisation you become unbeatable.When you have Praetorian guard,Armoured Legionares and Praetorian Cavalry you become superforce.I just finished today of course i won military campaign.Roma Invicta!
How is kush not in this list? They have high armour piercing. Their starting position is insanely good they start of with 2 provinces, and good economy and only border egypt Kush easily takes number 2 the only down fall is that kushite units are expensive but their units can easily get their money's worth. They have great archers decent spears but insanely good cav and swords.
5.Baktria they have elephants likes good slingers and op cav they can capture stteps with slingers. 4.Boii they have sword follovers witch extremly cost effective. 3.Macedon good early cav and in later they have good to not so good skrimishers but they can do the job they have super pikes 2.Rome super infatry good cav gooc skrimishers when build axulary barracks on crete rhodos ... Aoso gooe diplomacy with greeks so they don't get war on multiple front. 1.Egypt super pikes, elephants good swords i'm not shure have they royal peltlast large teritorry hole province plenty of resources not bad diplomacy but war with Seleucid isn't treat for them cause Seleucid will get attacked from every direction Sorry for my English!
I think Egypt is the best faction. Good start with big economy. And all of the best hellenic troops.. And as roman you have in a really late game only strong swords man. The roman cavalry is trash and the havent pike units and the last spear unit is the triarii. Against a cavalary army baf chances
See, but at least until really late game (when it generally no longer matters due to your size) Athens is a really good faction. They don't have the best start, but almost right off the bat they can smash Epirus and make allies of Sparta. Similarly, they get a massive diplomatic boost with the other Greeks except some of the really far-off ones like Cimmeria. As such, while it takes a little while to get your really good units, all you have to face are Macedon and some really weak other factions until you migrate west and decide to tackle Rome or east and face the Seleucids. Similarly, I have found that Egypt and (if you decide not to destroy them) Macedon usually will be fairly effective allies, although you often have to wait for Macedon to get over your decision to cease being their client state. While the Athenians do not have super effective units, if you play smart they can hold their own in any battle, and they have the most powerful navy - which renders those defensive sea boundaries null. Similarly, that lack of any super units also means that they don't have a particular weakness. So, while you will have to work the diplomacy angle to start off with, they work really well - particularly for turtles. In my experience, Athenians are the next least likely after Romans to break.Think of playing Athens as like playing Venice in Medieval 2, albeit without the massive overbearing empire to the east as a mortal enemy. I would argue that they totally beat Macedon, because within a few turns you can get units equal to or better than Macedon, and unlike Macedon there is only one faction that actually hates Athens. Similarly, Athens can relatively easily build some alliances to the north with the barbarians, which acts like a shield for a while. Finally, in every game I have played all of the most conventional Greeks (Sparta, Crete, Sicily, and Pergamon) stay your ally for forever, as long as you build a military alliance with them. They are not the strongest allies, but are more than willing to aid you in battle and always back you up (if only in words) when someone else declares war on you. Similarly, their starting bonus to diplomacy with Athens means that they generally dislike anyone who treats you poorly, unless you have not been a good ally to the other Greeks yourself. Also, while Athens does not start in a great position for conquering, it only has Epirus (one of the weakest factions) as its enemy which does present a good opportunity for expansion, and as long as it doesn't piss Macedon off then it has both Macedon and Sparta nearby to help it in case of invasion. Similarly, if you don't like Sparta then after dealing with Epirus it is rather easy to crush Sparta and gain another territory. Athens itself, while it has a large dock, has an easily defendable single approach to the north, and Sparta (whether controlled or not) has only two approaches, and defends the only other land route to Athens. It is very easy to defend the region, and should Epirus prove stronger than expected then it is easy to use the city to lure one or more of their armies to their doom. While Athens does not beat Baktria, I strongly contest the existence of Macedon on this list. Macedon does have an excellent unit roster, but its position is poor. The Greeks all hate it, and the barbarians to the north and east aren't fans either. Epirus, while not a great faction itself, is another successor kingdom and therefore not particularly friendly. Macedon does have two provincial capitals, but its starting position is weak and can be difficult to start off with. Similarly, a lot of territory that would prove easier to conquer is across the water from Macedon, which doesn't have the greatest navy. Their lack of any diplomatic bonuses, particularly with other nations with good rosters (such as Egypt who hates Macedon and Rome who doesn't care about them) means that they have little chance for support, a useful bonus at any stage in the game except when you are the greatest power in the game. Finally, while Macedon has some strong troops, their most powerful unit is a pikeman unit. Pikemen, while they are highly effective versus cavalry, are not terribly mobile. They are easily flanked by any ai with more than one unit type, and they are vulnerable to artillery and ranged units. Strong cavalry helps make up for this, but this is not as much of a saving grace in fortified sieges. Given that Athens has just as good everything except for the uttermost cavalry and pikemen units, and a much better navy and diplomacy options, I would promote Baktria to 4, removing Macedon, and put Athens or someone else who is more deserving than Macedon at 5.
I just make sure I have a surplus of at least 20 food, that way I get the maximum growth and replenishment bonus and I have some to fall back on if I need to. House of Julia is very good for converting, and I make sure I have at least one level 2/3 Temple of Jupiter and every freshly conquered territory.
I Think That Sparta Is The Strongest Faction In The Game Because I Was Trying To Capture A Settlement And They Only Have 350 Men And I Have 6000 Men And I Still Lose! It Took Me 3 Days To Capture That Settlement!!!!!!!
What do you think guys, about Seleucids? I'm playing with them a relaxing SP campaign, good skirmishers, good pikemen, a lot of very good cavalry (with those wondeful armoured elephants), good auxiliary infantry (Syrian archers and Galatian swordmen), good starting position with easy diplomacy with any Successor faction, some useful satrapies that can make the difference, and an easy target: Egypt! and .. then: Anatolia. I'm making a good amount of money each turn, and I find Seleucids, almost like the Romans: an easy way to final victory.
what about Carthage? I know its starting position sucks but the units a player is able to field early in the game are just amazing, I mean........ come on! powerful Libyan Infantry and Carthaginian Hoplites from just level one barracks! this is simply awesome. wait it gets better. with level two barracks you get an excellent melee cavalry unit, the Carthaginian Cavalry and the African Pikemen! those are serious fellows . and mercenary units! they are so cool!, especially after the player researches that technology that drops their upkeep costs by 45%!. with them you can raise entire armies to defend your cities in no time. It's not better than Rome but I simply love it.
Unpopular opinion, but when I play as Rome, the administration feels more fun than the battles. I hate that they lack archers and good cavalry in the mid game. I've found Selucid to be the most interesting start. You're surrounded by enemies who're trying to beat you from all sides. You've a lot of heavy cavalry (infact, a unique building as well).
Personally, I prefer Egypt over Rome for one reason: Scythed Chariots. One unit of Scythed Chariots can change the tide of a battle and easily rack up over a thousand kills if you can handle the micro. I like to hide my chariots and then release them once the enemy is locked down and distracted.
The sassanids In empire divided campaign Are so op. You get the max troops In 20 turns And you havd good position To attack towards the west where is palmyra And east where is dahae And all the smaller factions
also I had about 10 enemies and 7 or so millitary/defensive alliances, and with their help, minorly, I daughter off the selucids who'd had Egypt and some others conquered
I found Macedon extremely good and its starting position isnt that bad...its preety easy to capture the Balkanian States because early in the game they dont have great armies or settlements..Personally, i have conquered Balkans, Knossos(Crete), Epirus, Athens is still my client state...Also, i got the whole Asia reaching until Baktria..With some luck I managed to have Egypt as a client state and capturing Syracuse and Italy...BTW pikemen
Suebi is far more scarier than iceni the fear effect alone can wreck an entire army, macedon is kinda weak when faced to seleucid as the seleucid is a mixture of eastern and hellenic
Only found you today, but just wanted to say im really enjoying your content! Im a relatively nooby Total war player, so the educational element of your content stands out to me. One minor complaint though, your pronunciation of iron is wrong, its pronounced eye-un not i-run :P Keep up the good work!
Masaesly are also extremely good against the african and spanish factions. They have several legionaire units that slaughter their opponents. I would put them at the #4-5 spot i think
Hey Total War Zone, i played a lot of Shogun 2 and now i'm going to buy either Attila or Rome 2. I'd like to listen to you opinion. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!
Playing as Rome I'm having a tough time against pikes tbh. Especially when fighting Egypt. Since what counters pikes is missile units but Egypts Missile units are superior to Rome's. Forces you to use a bunch of mercenary missile units. Also the Roman cav isn't to great. However the start of the campaign is really easy. When you still have Hastati/Principes/Triarii you beat pretty much everything that's to your North. I just made the mistake of attacking an ally of an ally and now the entire hellenic and arabian world is fighting me :D
I just build 3 ballistae per army and focus fired enemy pikes, forcing them to attack. Then your pila can finish off most of the pikes. Roman tech gets the ammunition advantage for siege and missiles earlier than hellenic tech, so it's best in the mid game.
I don't understand why you put Sparta is the 5th worst when I played campaign as Macedon I mostly just sat back and did nothing I Mainly wanted to see what each AI faction would do after about 200 turns Sparta Egypt and Athens seemed to be the dominate factions rome started out ok constantly going back and forth capturing and loosing city's against ectrucian leauge ( I know I spelled that wrong don't judge) but after a while got conquered as did the ectrucian leauge by Sparta and after 300 turns they were mainly the only 3 factions left
I think Seleukia is the best faction for campaign because they are the richest faction at the start and they have very much allies. To this their troops, like the heavy indian elefants are very strong.
Kush has the strongest infantry units the armoured shotel warriors. They beat every unit in the game. The normal shotel warriors beat romes mid tier units. The kushite slave infantry is cheap in early game and you can use them very well. They have chariots, elephants, good archers. Good positioning.
I'm going to start one, please help me choose between Iceni, Royal Scythia (or Roxolani) and Macedon. I've already played as Rome, Sparta, Suebi, Macedon (didn't get very far in the campaign the time I tried it out), Egypt, Parthia and Seleucid.
I get the starting point for Iceni, but they are not as good as the Boii unit wise. Parthia is #2. The are set up for rapid expansion with every Eastern willing to ally no matter what happens.
The A.I. was really bad at playing against Rome in real life too.
stellar comment!
Except Hannibal, because he's player controlled.
@@nobblkpraetorian5623 good point and Phyrrus
...and Brennus, and Arminius, and Jesus, who, in a stunning upset, won a great Cultural Victory over Rome.
@@samgott8689 but that's more in Civilization 6
the main reason macedon is OP in campaign are not their units , but their bonus. 20% extra charge to all cav units , means that shock cav for macedon is the most deadly thing on the campaign map , and also a bonus to meele power against barbarian factions , which makes exapnding north against barbarian tribes extremly easy.
+Eduardo Borges the generals shock cav unit breaks literally everything i charge it against.
the way to play macedon is get a bunch of hoplites use them to hold the enemy in place then break their morale with archers and shock cav
Romans after 40-50 turns are pretty unbeateable.
every faction after 40-50 turns is unbeatable to be honest
for sure i thought am the only one that experienced that
I got lucky on my first playthrough in Grand Campaign as Egypt. I took over Parthia and Persia who at the time controlled everything east of Greece so by the time I was ready to attack Rome I controlled Turkey, the Middle East, Arabia, and virtually all of North Africa while Rome was busy civil warring itself and fighting its neighbors in Europe. Rome was stronger on a unit by unit basis but I was an industrial juggernaut so i could field multiple armies on my own, fight Rome 1 on 1, then bring a backup army to replace my first army and exterminate Roman stragglers. Then I take my wounded army and combine the surfing units together and reinforce them almost immediately with all mid tier units. I love pikes and the AI has a hard time fighting them, they try to flank but if you have someone strong to guard your flanks you're invincible. I got all mid tier pikes, then used high tier units to guard my flanks, and used peltast to thin out the roman lines and a couple cavalry units to run down any enemy archers. If you're smart or lucky you can even use your pikes to flank the roman lines and envelope roman army while slowly pricking them all to death with your pikes.
I mostly disregard cavalry since nothing but elephants can punch through roman infantry, I mostly use them to hit enemy cavalry or run down archers. I like my general to be on elephants since it's the same cost and upkeep in campaign and you get the scare ability which helps their lines to break early.
But public order goes to hell...
Use chariots and see how romans run lol
sparta: They have an almost elite army 3 silver bars in the beginning and a a full gold army after a couple of turns. Once they swipe macedon is a piece of cake
I won a campaign with Sparta at 150 bc.
For a game thats called Total War Rome ll I find it hard not to expect rome to be the best faction to play as
Rome is the best for me. The reason is. They fit in everywhere. Like roman soldiers fit in place in the middle east,Europe, and everywhere. But say Im playing as Egypt. It doeskin fit in that Im fighting barbarians in the north. I dont know about you but for me it basically ruins the whole game for me when its not historically accurate or fits in.
HabboElite s Agreed. They have good armor,Morale,Charge,attack, And they wont run till like they have 10 or 20 men. but they are slow thats the one bad part. Rome also lacks good ships and cav. Since the inf is slow cav is needed but sadly their cav is not the best
+Leron Benari they slow because the armor.
+Kanishka Kreaper easy to beat anyone as rome as well
You are just like me, i think the same think XD
+Yukio Shinmon Ikr its so weird like that little ocd voice in my brain wont let me go.
The Best Faction: Rome
Roman Legion +2 Recruitment
Rome City +2 Recruitment
10 Training field/Barracks(In all Region of Italia) + 10 Recruitment
3+2+2+10= 17 Recruitment slot Per Turn
I think the Rome 2 map should of been much larger to include more of the northern steppes, Tibet, India, Arabia and the Horn of Africa. I would loved to see Bactria fighting the Maryuans.
Yeah I know that would've have been awesome, but that might have been to much for CA
It would be epic but do you remember the turn times back on launch? It was literaly 5minutes... I don't think bloating the game with more factions/provinces would of been a good idea.
Divide et Empera mod adds a bunch of factions, including some in lower Russia, North and central Africa, Arab factions, and an Indian controlled province in the south of Persia (the Taxishilia(sp?))
Agreed Adam
agreed I would have liked to see the Indians in the game considering there Golden Age was close around that time
I honestly love Parthia, it basically disables AI in single player with the skirmisher kite, multiplayer is fun too but too micro intensive for some.
I love playing the Selucids, for the challenge precisely, I love how much more diplomatic you have to be plus with just how much variation they have with their units.
In my opinion they have the toughest campaign
@@ParallelComparison honestly it's not hard once you get your trade set up and peace out most of your satraps, rush Alexandria and you're unbeatable
@@guilty_mulburry5903 Yes I already completed. You have to be quick in the early turns to conquered Egypt
@@ParallelComparison not really, unless you get into really late game, your Phalanx will beat their infantry and spear spam 99% of the time
@@guilty_mulburry5903 During my early turns I conquered Egypt as quick as possibly, then I started attacking east all the way through
ill always be a huge Macedon fan. nice list
+mahalodst6 For Makedon!
How high would you rate sparta or athens?
@Tiny Rick when I play as Macedon, I usually spend 10 turns building armies and resources, then the next thing I always do is invade Athens, then I always subjugate Sparta out of respect. Both are good factions, Athens can make a ton of money and Sparta has very strong troops. But Sparta doesnt tend to invade other territories so I always spare them, that and they are usually just too strong to finish off entirely.
Glory to Macedon!!!
Macedon is beast and the best
Can't believe noone mentioned Pontus. They could easily be the most underrated.
Start off in Bithynia et Pontus, one of the wealthiest provinces in the game with access to the sea and while being close enough to bigger states like the selucids to make the mid game interesting but also just far enough to make for a stable game at the beginning, which you can spend subjugating or conquering states in Asia Minor and around the Black Sea.
Great unit and diverse roster with Cappadocian Cav, Thureos Spears and obviously, Scythed Chariots. Great blend of East and West.
Diplomatically, very advantageous to have a Hellenic bonus and access to sea allows countless factions to want to trade with you and declare non aggression pacts early on.
I'm still doing the Pontic campaign and I've enjoyed every bit of it. Diplomatically, Financially and Militarily.
Which factions should be picked for the next list?
"Top 5 BEST FACTIONS in Total War: Rome 2 (BATTLES)"
Odrysian kingdoms... Great cav and missle units, and if thier thracian units get a good charge, it can kill almost every unit in the game..
Maybe the Seleucid Empire, they habe a great unit Roadster
P.S: great Video, good Glück Form Germany :)
Lior Palatnik Interesting, thanks.
Philipp Shamis Danke! :)
Epirus in my opinion is the best faction for multi-player battles, cause of the amazing unit roster (Great Cav, Pikes, Spears, Swords and decent missile units!
(before watching) if Rome is not on the top spot, you surely have been worshipping Bacchus too hard
Iceni is my absolute favorite faction ever, once you control the whole island you start out at is going to get you some serious income.
ROME will conquered the world, it's her Destiny!
*ROMA INVICTA !!!*
Chris Griffin shut up chris!
from peter
Genghis Khan Yeah sure. Look at how many times Persians tried to conquer all the roman oriental part and they've failed. Rome never claim the Persian territories as its own except for Mesopotamia and that s funny because Rome sacked Mesopotamia and its capital so many times.
Pacch Any What?
Hellenistic Ruler not in my campaigns in my campaigns they crush whoever (if they declare war of course)
Genghis Kahn The Romans pushed the Persian pretty far in real history actually
Roma Invicta!!
Jakob Schöning Sons of Mars!
Batman if he would have appeared in my rome two campaingn i would have said it, be shure of that :D
+Knives Millions Attila's head will fall under my Gladius
the reason the ai doesn't do well is because Roman units are expensive while there neighbours can just build cheap ass armies and because all auto-resolve games are fought around how many men you have and all Ai battles are auto-resolved they get crushed
Seleucid Empire is the best if you're an experienced player
+Job Vermeeren It was the first faction i ever played as in rome II
boy was i dumb in my choice...
i got rekt
the same, Seleucid are awesome, but there is too many enemys, and is really hard to defend the cities and conquer at same time.
not only that but also Cartage and Parthia are strong and very challenging as well
Vitor Gregorio I conquered the entire map with relative ease in a short amount of time.
Exactly! You have good starting position, lot of allies. Their infantry is great similar to Macedon. They got the best archers in the game( my opinion), Great Cavalry.
I feel you base your ratings too much on the starting position and not enough on the unit roster or faction abilities.
For me the Seleucids are the clear winner, they have the most diverse roster including my personal favorite: armored war elephants. They have phalanx and heavy calvary that can rival Macedon's and many types of heavy/light skirmishers from their eastern provinces.
Then we have the faction bonuses. They have IMO, some of the best ones. I enjoy anything that helps with public opinion and the Seleucids have -20% resistance to foreign occupation AND -25% public opinion penalty from foreign cultures. Their negative is also one of the best ones to have, as I find diplomatic relations pointless unless you go for that victory condition.
And since you seem to favor starting locations, I think the Seleucids have one of the best avalaible. You have a rich, central province with access to the coast and can easily expand in any direction.
Yeah it can be more challenging to a new player but any veteran should appreciate the challenges and especially the rewards of playing the Seleucids.
I absolutely agree! What do you think of Carthage?
Armenia in my opinion is extremely strong. They start off surrounded by mountains, in a simple war, with a full province, and very good room for expansion. They also have extremely strong cavalry that I find overpowers everyone else. For example, in one fight I nearly lost the battle. But, I had some horse skirmishers laying around. Then I ended up almost winning with two battalions of skirmishers.
When you play as Macedon:
a) I surrender
b) I am cold
c) Please feed me
Or: d) kill everybody with spears
Seleucids? they deserve to be in this top 5
Baktria takes that spot considering how similar they are, I guess. He is correct when he says Baktria has an entire front they don't have to worry about
KingSlayer 77 Seleucids also start with a bunch of wars
Seleucid is for veteran players
I prefer Baktria if your new
The seleucids start out with a lot of wars and it’s satrapies end up rebelling, so yeah, difficult faction
Personal favorites:
1. Carthago
Carthago has a lot of really good cavalry and legitimate infantry which can hold off against any attacker. Also, proximity ot Rome means you can beat the strongest faction BEFORE they become too powerful. Also, the use of war elephants
what about Boii
Or Pontus
Sparta was nerfed in Rome 2. Spartan Pikemen are very average and they lack good Cav/Archers and a deep roster.
2 factions I had the most fun playing as in campaign were Massilia and Cimmeria but most of this top 5 checks out purely for how effortless progressing in campaigns as each one felt
I agree selucids should have been on this list as well due to their great army and challenge but they are really fun to play
Seleucids should have been #1.
Haha, if you can survive warring against 10 different states - including motherfucking Egypt by the south - for about 50 turns then yes, it's steamrolling. But the mere act of surviving, jesus christ....
But thats not hard at all, I always attack Egypt and Cyprus first to knock them out. If you can do that the campaign is easy. That said thats what makes the Seleucids rewarding is that you have to be strong to survive.
It's easy, you only need to fight egypt and cyprus really, you have the defences of a few loyal satrapies that will keep you safe.
but as you progress you have to face these fucking parthians and their cowardly tactics
god i hate them so much
maybe if you play "easy"/ "normal" difficulty. in other cases you only have to fight Egypt, Cyprus, all your ex satrapies(except sardes and media), and most of the eastern factions that don't qualify for previous categories.
I just started playing Rome 2 and not much as changed since Rome 1. In Rome 1, the top tier factions were also Rome, Egypt, and Macedon/Greece. Seleucids had the most unit variety in Rome 1. In Rome 2, I believe this falls on Egypt.
I think the Selucids should rank above all hellenistic factions and quite possibly number 1 overall. Their starting point is excellent, given the fact that u control Syria which is one of the richest province in the game, u get 3 client states and only Egypt as an early threat. Their unit roster is amazing with access to supreme pikes (Silvershield Pikes), elite eastern and hellenistic cavalry (Azats, Cataphracts, Companion Cav) and also eastern skirmishers (Heavy Syrian Archers). The access to eastern skirmishers pretty much makes the Selucids a more complete version of Macedonians. I cant see why no 1 mentions them!
Macedon was my favorite faction in rome 1 and 2
I prefer Armenia and Parthia, good position, the best cavalry and archers
I play Rome 2 after warhhamer 1,2,3 and it is a super easy game. I am a god on map no matter what difficulty.
imo the best defence for Singleplayer is Egypt/ Seluicid/ Sparta
5.Boii oatswprn and other units
4.Carthage exellent infatry missiles elephants and other
3.Egypt chariots,elephants
2.Seleucid i think best roster in game if they boost Thorax swords attack to about 45 it would be great
1.Rome super infatry javelins are ok
Evocati cohort are op and armored legionares are op
Sorry for my english gys!
i like Boii
I like Pontus
I only started playing this game a few days ago, it'sthe newest Total War Game I've played so far. I didn't do well initially as rome as I had to get used to the new building and food system. But switching to Egypt I had a lot more fun. Insane economic potential and amazing unit diversity.
How about Seleucid empire?
i don't know why i don't prefer to start with a big faction with more than 2 settlements. i rather start with 1 or 2, then make my way up lol. now started a macedon campaign, seems pretty good. but i may have a made a mistake by going east, to tylis and odyrsia (?) and now have sparta declaring war against me
lol
The 20 squad Macedonian meatgrinder in the Divide et Impera campaign:
1 general on horse (150 men!), 6 Aspis companions heavy cavalry, 4 archers (Cretan or Syrian if available), 6 pike phalanx (Thorax pikemen, Foot companions, or both), 1 Hypaspists shield bearers (or Thorax spearmen later), 2 Thorax swordsmen as reserves on the flanks.
Optional if available: 1 ballista, 1 or 2 elephants, 1 horse archers, heavier cavalry instead of Aspis companions (Sarmatian cataphracts or else)
I just started my first campaign as the Iceni and gotta say the only challenge I've had is fighting the tribe that spawns in Ireland. They kept repelling my invasions over and over.
Best multy faction: Arverni (best melee units, and best rush bonus, they throw javelins)
Andrea Eusebi Thanks for the suggestion!
I don't know my buddy tried to spam a list of an oath-sworn on me but my elephants easily bested his Swordsmen and I know they have the best Swordsmen in the game
@@slickdickdaddy Elephants and ranged cav are the 2 units that somewhat counter sword infantry (not sure about chariot), so no real surprise there. In an Averni campaign you have to fight very few of both of them in the late game, so that isn't a big issue. Elephants also cost a lot more. If you take enough swords to equal the elephant cost it will be a close fight and that is when base stats are used. Barbarians can get the most upgrades so in campaign their swords should trade well against elephants if you look at the unit cost.
1 rome
2 rome
3 rome
4 rome
5 rome
roma invicta and you cant escape glory to mars and burn the carthage to the ground
It's been nearly a decade and i still agree with this list, in the same order as well.
Honourable mention these days are the kingdom of kush, but since their position is a smaller but more secure version of Egypt than it's basically the same ranking as Egypt. I also think bactria is way better than parthia due to things like having more food and better unit diversity, and you don't start being allied to the dikhead dahae like the parthians. Lastly the fact that the iceni can trade with foreigners much easier than other barbarians is a under rated reason for then being so good. Cultural aversion can only be ignored if your a strong empire.
I played as Rome.When you research legion organisation you become unbeatable.When you have Praetorian guard,Armoured Legionares and Praetorian Cavalry you become superforce.I just finished today of course i won military campaign.Roma Invicta!
How is kush not in this list? They have high armour piercing. Their starting position is insanely good they start of with 2 provinces, and good economy and only border egypt Kush easily takes number 2 the only down fall is that kushite units are expensive but their units can easily get their money's worth. They have great archers decent spears but insanely good cav and swords.
The video is older than the Desert factions DLC
5.Baktria they have elephants likes good slingers and op cav they can capture stteps with slingers.
4.Boii they have sword follovers witch extremly cost effective.
3.Macedon good early cav and in later they have good to not so good skrimishers but they can do the job
they have super pikes
2.Rome super infatry good cav gooc skrimishers when build axulary barracks on crete rhodos ... Aoso gooe diplomacy with greeks so they don't get war on multiple front.
1.Egypt super pikes, elephants good swords i'm not shure have they royal peltlast large teritorry hole province plenty of resources not bad diplomacy but war with Seleucid isn't treat for them cause Seleucid will get attacked from every direction
Sorry for my English!
For campagin
2:06 look at the skirmishers looking at the screen
Parthia , they are good for battle , especially its heavy cav , imo
I think Egypt is the best faction. Good start with big economy. And all of the best hellenic troops.. And as roman you have in a really late game only strong swords man. The roman cavalry is trash and the havent pike units and the last spear unit is the triarii. Against a cavalary army baf chances
See, but at least until really late game (when it generally no longer matters due to your size) Athens is a really good faction. They don't have the best start, but almost right off the bat they can smash Epirus and make allies of Sparta. Similarly, they get a massive diplomatic boost with the other Greeks except some of the really far-off ones like Cimmeria. As such, while it takes a little while to get your really good units, all you have to face are Macedon and some really weak other factions until you migrate west and decide to tackle Rome or east and face the Seleucids. Similarly, I have found that Egypt and (if you decide not to destroy them) Macedon usually will be fairly effective allies, although you often have to wait for Macedon to get over your decision to cease being their client state. While the Athenians do not have super effective units, if you play smart they can hold their own in any battle, and they have the most powerful navy - which renders those defensive sea boundaries null. Similarly, that lack of any super units also means that they don't have a particular weakness. So, while you will have to work the diplomacy angle to start off with, they work really well - particularly for turtles. In my experience, Athenians are the next least likely after Romans to break.Think of playing Athens as like playing Venice in Medieval 2, albeit without the massive overbearing empire to the east as a mortal enemy. I would argue that they totally beat Macedon, because within a few turns you can get units equal to or better than Macedon, and unlike Macedon there is only one faction that actually hates Athens. Similarly, Athens can relatively easily build some alliances to the north with the barbarians, which acts like a shield for a while. Finally, in every game I have played all of the most conventional Greeks (Sparta, Crete, Sicily, and Pergamon) stay your ally for forever, as long as you build a military alliance with them. They are not the strongest allies, but are more than willing to aid you in battle and always back you up (if only in words) when someone else declares war on you. Similarly, their starting bonus to diplomacy with Athens means that they generally dislike anyone who treats you poorly, unless you have not been a good ally to the other Greeks yourself. Also, while Athens does not start in a great position for conquering, it only has Epirus (one of the weakest factions) as its enemy which does present a good opportunity for expansion, and as long as it doesn't piss Macedon off then it has both Macedon and Sparta nearby to help it in case of invasion. Similarly, if you don't like Sparta then after dealing with Epirus it is rather easy to crush Sparta and gain another territory. Athens itself, while it has a large dock, has an easily defendable single approach to the north, and Sparta (whether controlled or not) has only two approaches, and defends the only other land route to Athens. It is very easy to defend the region, and should Epirus prove stronger than expected then it is easy to use the city to lure one or more of their armies to their doom.
While Athens does not beat Baktria, I strongly contest the existence of Macedon on this list. Macedon does have an excellent unit roster, but its position is poor. The Greeks all hate it, and the barbarians to the north and east aren't fans either. Epirus, while not a great faction itself, is another successor kingdom and therefore not particularly friendly. Macedon does have two provincial capitals, but its starting position is weak and can be difficult to start off with. Similarly, a lot of territory that would prove easier to conquer is across the water from Macedon, which doesn't have the greatest navy. Their lack of any diplomatic bonuses, particularly with other nations with good rosters (such as Egypt who hates Macedon and Rome who doesn't care about them) means that they have little chance for support, a useful bonus at any stage in the game except when you are the greatest power in the game. Finally, while Macedon has some strong troops, their most powerful unit is a pikeman unit. Pikemen, while they are highly effective versus cavalry, are not terribly mobile. They are easily flanked by any ai with more than one unit type, and they are vulnerable to artillery and ranged units. Strong cavalry helps make up for this, but this is not as much of a saving grace in fortified sieges. Given that Athens has just as good everything except for the uttermost cavalry and pikemen units, and a much better navy and diplomacy options, I would promote Baktria to 4, removing Macedon, and put Athens or someone else who is more deserving than Macedon at 5.
Especially if you consider that Rome can get a whole load of auxiliary troops to improve their unit roster
My problem during play Rome.1.Always running out of food and 2.Culture Penalty is so big and too many unhappiness
Ignatius Rivaldo Lie because u must build building that prodoic foods 2 : you must check whats making unhappines
I just make sure I have a surplus of at least 20 food, that way I get the maximum growth and replenishment bonus and I have some to fall back on if I need to. House of Julia is very good for converting, and I make sure I have at least one level 2/3 Temple of Jupiter and every freshly conquered territory.
I Think That Sparta Is The Strongest Faction In The Game Because I Was Trying To Capture A Settlement And They Only Have 350 Men And I Have 6000 Men And I Still Lose! It Took Me 3 Days To Capture That Settlement!!!!!!!
I choose sparta and when i attack Suebi and click the auto thing it says i will lose and when i attack the suebi i win even though i am outnumbered
What do you think guys, about Seleucids?
I'm playing with them a relaxing SP campaign, good skirmishers, good pikemen, a lot of very good cavalry (with those wondeful armoured elephants), good auxiliary infantry (Syrian archers and Galatian swordmen), good starting position with easy diplomacy with any Successor faction, some useful satrapies that can make the difference, and an easy target: Egypt! and .. then: Anatolia. I'm making a good amount of money each turn, and I find Seleucids, almost like the Romans: an easy way to final victory.
How important are skirmishers in your opinion? I rarely have any in my army
The best is Sparta !
ROMA !!!
Invicta!
what about Carthage? I know its starting position sucks but the units a player is able to field early in the game are just amazing, I mean........ come on! powerful Libyan Infantry and Carthaginian Hoplites from just level one barracks! this is simply awesome. wait it gets better. with level two barracks you get an excellent melee cavalry unit, the Carthaginian Cavalry and the African Pikemen! those are serious fellows . and mercenary units! they are so cool!, especially after the player researches that technology that drops their upkeep costs by 45%!. with them you can raise entire armies to defend your cities in no time. It's not better than Rome but I simply love it.
Unpopular opinion, but when I play as Rome, the administration feels more fun than the battles.
I hate that they lack archers and good cavalry in the mid game.
I've found Selucid to be the most interesting start. You're surrounded by enemies who're trying to beat you from all sides. You've a lot of heavy cavalry (infact, a unique building as well).
There's Baktria, Macedon and Egypt but no Seleucids? What?
+patrick82895 the unit variety makes them quite good.
5. Rome in atilla
4. Rome in rome ii
3. Brutii in rome
2. Scipii in rome
1. Julii in rome
Top 5 Factions
5. Seleucid Empire
4. Seleucid Empire
3. Seleucid Empire
2. Seleucid Empire
1. Seleucid Empire
nuff said
Personally, I prefer Egypt over Rome for one reason: Scythed Chariots. One unit of Scythed Chariots can change the tide of a battle and easily rack up over a thousand kills if you can handle the micro. I like to hide my chariots and then release them once the enemy is locked down and distracted.
Hyrum Diesen everyone can kill Chariots using archers
The sassanids In empire divided campaign Are so op. You get the max troops In 20 turns And you havd good position To attack towards the west where is palmyra And east where is dahae And all the smaller factions
my first campaign I played as macadon and in about 100 or 150 turns I killed rome
also I had about 10 enemies and 7 or so millitary/defensive alliances, and with their help, minorly, I daughter off the selucids who'd had Egypt and some others conquered
I found Macedon extremely good and its starting position isnt that bad...its preety easy to capture the Balkanian States because early in the game they dont have great armies or settlements..Personally, i have conquered Balkans, Knossos(Crete), Epirus, Athens is still my client state...Also, i got the whole Asia reaching until Baktria..With some luck I managed to have Egypt as a client state and capturing Syracuse and Italy...BTW pikemen
Suebi is far more scarier than iceni the fear effect alone can wreck an entire army, macedon is kinda weak when faced to seleucid as the seleucid is a mixture of eastern and hellenic
Only found you today, but just wanted to say im really enjoying your content! Im a relatively nooby Total war player, so the educational element of your content stands out to me. One minor complaint though, your pronunciation of iron is wrong, its pronounced eye-un not i-run :P Keep up the good work!
Masaesly are also extremely good against the african and spanish factions. They have several legionaire units that slaughter their opponents. I would put them at the #4-5 spot i think
Rome, Macedon are my favorites
Hey Total War Zone, i played a lot of Shogun 2 and now i'm going to buy either Attila or Rome 2. I'd like to listen to you opinion. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!
I suggest a top 5 total war games video which rank the games based on gameplay and features such as modes and roster.
Jesper Gerdin Who knows, maybe in the future.
Playing as Rome I'm having a tough time against pikes tbh. Especially when fighting Egypt. Since what counters pikes is missile units but Egypts Missile units are superior to Rome's. Forces you to use a bunch of mercenary missile units. Also the Roman cav isn't to great.
However the start of the campaign is really easy. When you still have Hastati/Principes/Triarii you beat pretty much everything that's to your North.
I just made the mistake of attacking an ally of an ally and now the entire hellenic and arabian world is fighting me :D
Early cavarly yes. Late cavarly after reforms is good too,
I just build 3 ballistae per army and focus fired enemy pikes, forcing them to attack. Then your pila can finish off most of the pikes. Roman tech gets the ammunition advantage for siege and missiles earlier than hellenic tech, so it's best in the mid game.
I love playing as Rome cuz i love the legionaries because they are very good though
My Favorit are ägypt sparta pontos rome
ROME hastati is the best when it coms to the price end efektiv work and legenaris is cost more but can kill aneting in its path
+lucas larsen what are english?
+Chris Robinson i got speling problems
Do top 5 for Attila
+amir mansor I think I'll do that!
4:34 Thats how we live in Holland
Athens-hoplites, pikes, Cretan archers, shock cav
Saris Pax Thanks!
i think seleucids is the best faction,they got everything,and very good,the romans got the strongest infantry with unreal stats,that's it. My opinion.
ICENI FACTION is fantastic totally recommended
I don't understand why you put Sparta is the 5th worst when I played campaign as Macedon I mostly just sat back and did nothing I Mainly wanted to see what each AI faction would do after about 200 turns Sparta Egypt and Athens seemed to be the dominate factions rome started out ok constantly going back and forth capturing and loosing city's against ectrucian leauge ( I know I spelled that wrong don't judge) but after a while got conquered as did the ectrucian leauge by Sparta and after 300 turns they were mainly the only 3 factions left
The music is so intense, I can barely hear you
For me macedon. I play the hardest setting in the campaign. To be more challenging.
Macedonia is so sick. Love their late game units.
Dacia is tough but a lot of fun if you like it to be tough
5. Baktria
4. Macedon
3. Iceni
2. Egypt
1. Rome
I think Seleukia is the best faction for campaign because they are the richest faction at the start and they have very much allies. To this their troops, like the heavy indian elefants are very strong.
They are at war with many factions, and ur satrapy states will begin to abandon u really quickly
It's just a little harder to manage
This vid was made a really long time ago but, Bactria is very good against nomadic factions due to their pikemen.
As someone else mentioned, can't this be affected by changing the difficulty of the AI? If on Hard mode I don't think this would happen right?
What do you think wouldnt happen on hard mode?
you should consider sparta with great diplomacy and public order start their only downside is variation
Hey total war zone! Can you do a video for the factions on third age mod from worst to best?
SteveTheDruid Maybe, will see what I can do! :)
I think the Arveni are quite a good faction in multiplayer as they have decent units and are good for rushing
Mr Dolla Dolla Thanks for the suggestion.
No problem man keep up the good content thanks for all you've done on you tube as its really good
Mr Dolla Dolla That's great to hear, thanks. :)
Wait how do you view the city from above? Like see all the buildings etc.
Shoutout to bacteria, human, and egypt for still being around to this day...
Kush has the strongest infantry units the armoured shotel warriors. They beat every unit in the game. The normal shotel warriors beat romes mid tier units. The kushite slave infantry is cheap in early game and you can use them very well. They have chariots, elephants, good archers. Good positioning.
I forgot to mention. They have pikes.
Nope the ardaei are best
Socialphobia howwwww
nasamones
Daorsi
Illyrians are the most OP faction in the game
Lol they cant even beat colchis
I'm going to start one, please help me choose between Iceni, Royal Scythia (or Roxolani) and Macedon.
I've already played as Rome, Sparta, Suebi, Macedon (didn't get very far in the campaign the time I tried it out), Egypt, Parthia and Seleucid.
do the iceni it is very easy
Massalia anyone?
Alan Forman why?
massalia is a fun one to play as
I get the starting point for Iceni, but they are not as good as the Boii unit wise.
Parthia is #2. The are set up for rapid expansion with every Eastern willing to ally no matter what happens.
Mine is:
1. Pontus
2. Pontus
3. Pontus
4. Pontus
5. Pontus
But why ?
Seleucids defiantly beat iceni and macedon should be higher up because they have the best starter troops because they can form a phalanx straight away
I think rome is very good!I agree with you!Roma invicta!
Any way to see the same thing (campaign + battles) for Attila?