Best Barbarian Faction? - Rome Total War

[@yniekac8851]

This game is around 16 years old. And people are still talking about it. That says something how great the game is

[@lugotorix6173]

yess I definitely agree, such a great game

[@Randomstuffs261]

@@lugotorix6173 We need a true remaster because within the next 5 years it probably won't run on modern computers anymore.

[@ultimoguerreiro82]

True that my fellow citizen. Roma Invicta.

[@RecklessInternetting]

This video is like 2-3 years old and comments are rolling in. Thats testament to the content. (It helps that Lugo doesn't have an annoying voice)

[@Randomstuffs261]

@@RecklessInternetting Pretty sure the video was uploaded a few days ago

[@countravid3768]

I like how France is Gaul and England is Britannia but Iberia is called Spain

[@iguy6571]

Good point

[@realtalunkarku]

It should be hispania

[@Randomstuffs261]

We will not forget this #DaciaGang

[@lugotorix6173]

hahaha blame Creative assembly not me!!

[@nuraby_9228]

Dacia got shafted in Rome 2 with how weak their lone falxmen unit is

[@NotlostMoon]

I'll stand with you against this injustice. #SpainGang

[@WTFisDrifting]

John Turner Spain only has one good unit. That’s it and gets gang banged quick.

[@nuke999170]

In total war arena (canceled game by wargaming) dacians were at tier6-8/9 at barbarian army tree.

[@Mario46er]

this would have been useful back when i was in elementary school

[@lugotorix6173]

hahaha yess im a bit late to the party

[@Mario46er]

@@lugotorix6173 better late than never I guess lol

[@danielbalderrama4137]

@@lugotorix6173 trade isn't that useful because while i was playing as Egypt, i had quite a lot of trade treaties but it was only profiteering me around 1200 denarii which by my stage in the game, that was nothing and i would rather declare war on them.

[@PwnZombie]

Daniel Balderrama the trade would generally only happen if their cities were close. E.g. britons aren’t going to trade with Egypt even with a treaty

[@epictnt]

This game has unlimited replay value tho.

[@PwnZombie]

I guess the real barbarians were the friends we made along the way

[@andoniarmentia1024]

If you call the slaves "friends"...

[@stygian8049]

@@andoniarmentia1024 you mean, kamerad?

[@DzinkyDzink]

Dacia suffers from a low displacement. A car its size should have at very least a modern 1.6L engine with ~100hp.

[@kraatarin8226]

c'mon man, you made me spit my drink!

[@mrgreatauk]

Yeah, Lada has the same problem. At least Seat starts with a greater displacement, of 4 settlements. Peugeot and Jaguar are pretty solid factions too, but Volkswagen definitely wins the top spot because of how it puts the power down.

[@-Minuano-]

Dacia Sandero: best car.

[@Morgothik]

Playing as Germania now and watching Berserkers go full Sauron on Roman soldiers is some of the most fun I've had since Parthia spamming horse archers.

[@alexandremarinov7966]

but in hard or very hard having your towns getting To the level To get the berserkers is long af

[@Morgothik]

@@alexandremarinov7966 My biggest issue is the late game civil unrest since I can't tech up past level 3.

[@Morgothik]

@Palace4Life EagleArmy negative

[@Morgothik]

@Palace4Life EagleArmy Germania has an answer for all of Britannia's forces. I've only struggled with Scythia so far in this play through.

[@epictnt]

Berserkers are so OP. you need that against rome

[@alexkerr5804]

1. Germania. Beserkers can take on anyone, chosen axemen can beat legionary cohorts, best spear warbands cos of phalanx, best heavy cavalry for barbarians with Gothic cavalry. Also have chosen archers. 2. Scythia. Great horse archers (arguably best), good heavy cavalry with noble lancers who have good charge bonus, head hunting maidens are armor piercing. Despite weak infantry they have chosen archers who can hold their ground in melee (just about) 3.Gaul. Could possibly be second, but they are limited. You just need an army filled with chosen swordsmen, barbarian noble cavalry and Forester warband (arguably best archer unit in the game) who can also hold their ground in melee. 4. Dacia. I wasn't sure at first but they have similar units to the above but also have falxmen. I only placed Gaul above because of forester war band. 5. Britain. Didn't place higher because they have no archers or good cavalry. Chariots aren't bad but in prolonged melee will suck. If this was based on auto resolve they would likely be number one. 6. Spain. scutarii are ok, Bull warriors are really good and long shield cavalry are ok. No archers though. Just meh overall.

[@lugotorix6173]

Very interesting list and I understand your logic. Mine was slightly different and in retrospect I may have ranked Britain too high, but I certainly agree with Germania and I like the fact that you have respected Scythia

[@alexkerr5804]

@@lugotorix6173 Britain do probably have the most secure position, quite like egypt which is why they both usually do well (also chariot auto resolve). I wish the devs hadn't given them so much starting territory so they had a more interesting beginning e.g uniting Britain and then moving into samarobriva etc etc.

[@Vektordeformacio]

I must agree on that. Germania is really strong with chosens. If you like better archers earler and weaker infantry early, and stronger armored units later, Dacia is better. It is the same deal with Numidia and Carthage. Numidia have archers on tier1 practice range and have good but not armored melee. Carthage have better heavy infantry that is armored, but the range is getting to work later (yeah, slingers, woo)

[@britts9215]

Britain light chariot is an extremely powerful unit, with very long range and very large ammunition they can produce huge casualties in the open field, and they can shoot over low city walls. Hugely powerful unit only needing a blacksmith to recruit. I would be interested to know any units nearly so powerful only requiring a blacksmith? Gaul or Germania can tech up to more formidable armies, but needing much more development for the units.

[@bannedcommander2932]

@@britts9215 Exactly. Anyone who merely says "Chariots are not bad" isn't using them properly. Light Chariots are absolutely bonkers. Shoot until you're out of ammo, then pick off weakened or wavering units. Don't stay in melee, just charge-retreat-charge and you're golden. They cause a lot of morale damage and straight up murder enemy cavalry, general's bodyguards included.

[@Vektordeformacio]

In my opinion Dacia's redeemeing qualities are that they get archers pretty early on (no spear throwing unit) and they get falxmen pretty quickly too, also they get good mercs early, as Scythian Horse Archers are available, Merc hoplites and Cretans are close also to the starting position. Good natural borders at Aquincum, Iuvavum, Segestica, Campus Gatea, and closing off with Greece. Also they have a farming temple.

[@damjan4435]

Britain is easiest to play, Spain is most fun, Germania has the best strenght/fun ratio.... Gaul is basic and begginer friendly

[@animemusic4113]

Britania has great economy, territory, anti-phalanx / armor units, and killing machines under wheels

[@yniekac8851]

Yup and Dacia just sucks. Synthia is fun but takes too long to become anywhere near actual enemies

[@animemusic4113]

@@yniekac8851 Scythia IA usually floods Horser Achers and moves them around their territory using and abusing their "movement points" to intercept or weaken the enemy. I believe this is the basic and KEY strategy of scythia

[@khaluu2000]

I mean you start out on a freaking island and invade Ireland and never get invaded. Those 4 settlements are super secure. Then the the settlement on the other side needs immediate settlements invasion to control ports. Then bam instantly controls any opportunity to of any aggression. And their general is a horse chariot, guarantee early unit that can 100% beat any army via timeout system~

[@EricTheActor805]

@@yniekac8851 Dacia doesnt suck Dacia is closest to Greece and Turkey...where the money is

[@willemverheij3412]

Really selling Dacia short here. They are the only barbarian faction with both chosen archers and chosen infantry, and also have siege equipment which most barbarian factions don't have at all. They also have noble cavalry. While their army might lack flashy units save for the falx men, it's pretty descent.

[@davidderr8705]

GERMANIA HANDS DOWN. MY CHILDHOOD FRIENDS LEARNED WHAT FEAR WAS WHEN WE HAD OUR LAN PARTIES AND THEY ENTERED THE FORESTS

[@allewis4008]

Everyone fears the spear warband!

[@fuxihutterer8088]

@@allewis4008 BERSERKERS

[@deuxpomme9777]

Its crazy how a total war game from 2004 beats any other modern total war games

[@lugotorix6173]

yess ikr, goes to show graphics aren't everything

[@julianlipsky2323]

Nope at all lol, rome 1 really has bad bugs (pathfinding) and the fighting is too fast and the single units running around is annoying too. I mean its a great game for that time, but many new total war games are far better and im not talking about the graphics.

[@hammer3721]

@@julianlipsky2323 Bullshit.

[@16thdemon]

I really like Dacia because they have more down-to-earth colors and approach. You get both the best barbarian swordsmen and second best reliable heavy bowmen. Light shock infantry in the form of falxmen and actual siege equipment is also nice. My favorite one is the Germania tho. Gothic cavalry is absolutely insane and you also get phalanxes and berserkers.

[@randomweeb6997]

> Dacia > Need to tech up roster > Poor starting position Storm Macedon first, take over the Greece, and you get cities that can pump out Chosens, and economy that allows you to never stop.

[@shorewall]

Yeah, Dacia is basically a migration campaign. Anyone who is close to Greece has a great chance to get ahead.

[@Ugh718]

"Dacia need to tech up roster" Dude they're literally THE ONLY BARBARIAN FACTION THAT HAS TECH IN ITS ROSTER lol(aka catapults)

[@tzardnickolasthelitromanov]

Fun Fact about the *Brythonic* Head Hurlers: The reason why they do so much damage, is because they coat the heads in quicklime. (A leftover chemical substance, taken out of finished limestone kilns) which then is applied to an object and adhesively sticks To it. It is severely corrosive when contact is made with the skin. (The use of Quicklime in *British* warfare again, also resurfaced and reappeared around: The Age of Absolutism/Enlightenment to the Napoleonic Era. As a certain type of round for the Coehorn-Mortar here) (Its also briefly stated/talked about it in the units info page, at 9:53)

[@chilldude42001]

Came to say this. 👌

[@wobbles3217]

Funny thing, if you give falxman armor piercing (which historically makes sense and i have no clue why they don't have it in the first place) they become really, really good. Thrace and Dacia suddenly become actual players in their region

[@jonsnow7092]

I believe that early in the beginning of the original game, both falxmen and archer warband had that. traces of that even persisted in the base game for a long time, in unit cards. they've nerfed these units long time ago since they were simply overpowered.

[@Casketkrusher_]

I also find it very weird why the Naked Fanatics don't have the scare nearby troops ability, they are very weak, low troop count, no armor just decent attack and they take 2 turns to train.

[@epictnt]

One of the greatest games ever made in the history of gaming. I still lose hours of my life every week to this game.... I play mostly mods now which keeps it fresh. This and medieval kingdoms will stay my favorite games. (Empire is amazing for the map but isn't nearly as fun to play.)

[@lexitar3315]

This game is so good that even now, years later, we're still talking about it. Incredible. There really will never be a game like Total War.

[@lugotorix6173]

Yess I agree its a classic that will last forever

[@Ugh718]

I think u meant *_DECADES LATER_* lol

[@allewis4008]

It seems only Crusader Kings 2 and 3 understand the appeal of a nice, clean map that TW used to have.

[@thehulkster9434]

Scythia is amazing in the open field, but it's a struggle in sieges, and I'd never want to fight against proper stone walls with them. Thankfully, the AI likes to attack you in the open field rather than sallying forth. Germania is my favorite. A berserker spam can slaughter pretty much anything, even an urban cohort can be torn to pieces by unleashing berserkers on them (although berserkers are often a one-use unit since you can't pull them back and they won't retreat). They don't have great mobility, and I'd hate to go up against horse archers with Germania, but if you can manage to avoid fighting Scythia in the open field, their isn't much that they can't take on.

[@misaka3468]

I would say Dacia due to the fact that they can recruit artillery, have falxes and are close to Greece allowing them recruit mercenary cretan archers and hoplites which can demolish the german berserkers who are overrated in my opinion due to most people ignoring their very low armour

[@danielbalderrama4137]

Well if bezurkas get into close combat, they will absolutely destroy but i rarely see it happen because thier always focused down but defending, you can eliminate enemy archers with your archers and then your bezurkas are unstoppable.

[@niallreid7664]

I have seen berserkers rip apart Spartans so I'm not so sure about them being overcome by hoplites. But yes to the armour thing. Just shoot them. Just. Shoot. Them. I feel like people do forget that despite the low armour being common knowledge.

[@timberwolfe1645]

Great! Now I have to Play my Germanic Campaign!!! Thanks for reinspiring me to play the campaigns on Very Hard. I always played on Normal and it was decent, now it's time to up my game.

[@allewis4008]

Excellent review. One thing I'd mention is Germany has resources everywhere, especially those amber fields in the north. A little bit of development and they are rolling in money.

[@Elbuarto]

Chariots are great but sometimes their pathfinding makes me want to rip my hair out. For this reason alone I prefer using cavalry.

[@Ugh718]

My chariots who can't find their way around a goddamn rock: *_ARE WE A JOKE TO U!?_*

[@raphael7688]

In my Gaulish campaign(one the most fun and interesting to play) Lugotorix become my heir of faction and I sent him conquering Italia kinda hard at the start but once you got swordsman this is the end lugotorix became a god among man literally... 8 in commander 6 in gestion 8 in influence he’s name was Lugotorix the conqueror... what a man.... (he has fertility problem lmao)

[@Edzter]

1. Germans - good unit variety, decent starting position, very good at defending with their spears, and good against late-game romans. By far the best barbarian faction. 3. Britain - good unit variety, safe starting position, head hurlers are insane. Chariots can be good, but i wish the general wasn't a chariot because it sucks at siege fights and they work a bit derpy and can sometimes die instantly for seemingly no reason. 3. Spain - decent starting position, weak but scale well and got a good mix of decent cavalry. Bull warriors can fight against late-game romans. No archers but slingers can be a good early replacement, and bull warrior and scuttari javelins help. Weak early game but their starting position is good enough for it. 4. Dacia - IMO they are strictly a gaul upgrade. Falxmen are better at offense than swordsmen but worse in defense, but they have the standard warband to be a wall to hold for falxmen to shred from behind. Getting basic archers early in the game is amazing. Terrible starting position though, if not for that they would be higher than spain. 5. Gaul - basic trash barbarians. If not for druids (which britains also have, and germans if you count screechers), and foresters, this will be the worst overall faction. Good starting settlements, but if you don't take care of the romans early, you're done, and you don't generally have the tools to resist after that point. 6. Scythia - kinda a joke, horse archers are OP but that's all you got. Also terrible starting position. TL'DR. Dacia is not bad.

[@Cervando]

I think Spain was nerfed, considering it took Rome longer to fully conquer Spain than France and they copied some of their equipment from the Celtiberian and other tribes. Both the pilum and gladius were based on Spanish designs. The Celtiberians even used javelins dipped in pitch and set on fire which flared into a huge flame as they flew. Hannibal used the Spanish light infantry to great effect, as they could stand toe to toe with Rome's best, let alone the heavy infantry and both Hannibal and Rome valued the slingers from the Balearic islands, who could hurl projectiles of over 400g with great accuracy. The Iberian steel was also of extremely good quality and the swords were excellent. As I mentioned earlier, the gladius was based on Iberian designs and the falcata was a beastly sword that could chop a head off a horse. They also had good cavalry, light ones, who like the Numerians used javelins, albeit not quite as good and heavy cavalry similar to the Celtic tribes in Gaul.

[@Seth9809]

I think their troops suck, because they're not spears and they're light infantry..... The game just makes light infantry trash.

[@smal750]

spaniard spotted rome was far stronger when they invaded gaul compared to when they invaded hispania lol hispania was conquered by nonprofesionnal soldiers while the gauls had to fight against profesional legions also france >>>>>> spain

[@Cervando]

@@smal750 You are so wrong on so many levels. I was born in the UK, but despite that, I know about the history of other countries. The Romans conquered Spain AFTER the Gallic Wars, and after France fell and became part of the Republic. Before 19BC Spain was mainly independent. Thus, not only did Rome take longer to conquer Spain than France, France fell first.

[@godemperorofmankind3.091]

Germania is the most powerful Brittania has best start position and potential fun factor. Scythia is meant for hit and run tactics and speed. played right they can be as powerful as the Germans Gaul is closest to the main action and probably the hardest of the factions due to that

[@grimdog7651]

Bro how dare you disrespect us dacian boys like that, we are by far the the highest iq barbarian faction. We get archers super early (only needing a practice range to get them) and we are the only barbarians that even thought of making artillery. So all we need to do is sweep through Greece with our archers whilst they fuck around with there peltasts and militia hoplites and then voila, we are the richest country in the game plus we have thessalonica that has all the buildings to give us our powerful units: chosen swordsmen, chosen archers, and onagers. With this newfound power we get to plunge rome into 10,000 years of darkness. So in conclusion, yes we may not have the best army BUT that is because we have the highest IQ of all barbarian factions and we get access to our full roster in like 8 years putting us far ahead of all other factions in tech therefore making us the best faction in the game really it's not even close Also how dare you disrespect the dacian dark orange that all brave warriors of dacia have proudly worn into battle?

[@hammer3721]

True!

[@itsjustdewieman]

YES FINALLY SOMONE REALISE HOW FAST THEY TECH UP (also brown is buetiful)

[@rareslight8166]

YES FINALLY SOMEONE WITH IQ

[@itsjustdewieman]

@@rareslight8166 they start with a minor city anda large town like bruh im making my death stack turn 10

[@xbox_cheeto5338]

Yes but Gauls could just as easily hyper focus on the Romans and get all the same units they need, plus better ones. The only thing they lack is artillery, but really artillery rather sucks in this game anyways other than large sieges. But even then you can do without them if need be.

[@tomaszzalewski4541]

You forgot to mention that head hurlers also do damage to morale, every time I used them after one or two salvos of heads enemy units break

[@andy313131313136]

Lugotorix you made me nice line about, "never heard of him before." You only named you KZbin channel after him lol.

[@matthewdavis3014]

Germania was ridiculous. Good, cheap pikemen, great cavalry, great melee axe and board infantry, accessibility to Greece and Cretan archers, and Berserkers were ridiculous. I once fought a bridge battle with two Berserkers and one light cavalry against a full stack of early Romans and wiped them out.

[@buttemountain]

Personally, I'm partial to horse archers, just wish scythia had at least one more decent infantry unit or Parthia one more mounted archer unit

[@alikuzyaka2152]

Scythia suffers from lacking infantry when assaulting settlements but they bring out the most fun someone can have when skirmishing your enemies to oblivion in multiplayer, using both foot and mounted archers

[@ozgunmengun8499]

Germania has very powerful unit roster. Warband is great defensive unit. They have excellent cavalry, excellent archer, excellent charger unit and terrified berserkers. Their only weakness is siege technology, i think.

[@j.c.9616]

Also leader management skills

[@stonferen584]

If you read the discription of the head hurler unit in the campaign it says the heads tehy throw haev quicklime on them which is a higly corrosive substance which is why they deal so much damage

[@frostyharlequin3472]

Small amount of history on the head hurlers. Whilst Creative Assembly took a few liberties the historical sources make references to the heads being bags of flesh filled with an ancient version of quicklime which caused severe burns when it came into contact with enemy combatants. It was mentioned on a time team episode at one point so should be sources around somewhere.

[@Angel24Marin]

You won't be able to do the guerrilla warfare that Romans suffered in Hispania if you can hop from settlement to settlement easily I guess.

[@Shpongle64]

One of the most fun games for its simplicity and yet complex nature. Population is by far one of the greatest mechanics.

[@Garynator94]

Imo Gaul easily have the best campaign starting position amongst the barbarian factions. They can buy one settlement each from Spain, Carthage, Britons and Germania while also taking Segesta instead of leaving it to the Julii. They're essentially starting with 12 settlements which is way more than any other faction except for the Slaves. Their start is still quite difficult, but they have the necessary tools to drive Britons back to their island asap (and keep them there, as they won't attack your 1 ship with their 1 ship) and conquer Spain while still defending against Julii and Germania. Once Britons and Spain are sufficiently dealt with, the campaign becomes quite easy.

[@AntigonusTheGreat]

I was just wondering what is the best and who to play and this video comes out

[@lugotorix6173]

haha perfect timing

[@kaanjel]

Yes, playing as scythia, you have easy access to Themskyra, but how are you going to hold on to that city? I get nightmares from years ago when I think about it🤣

[@maxmagnus777]

I love the video. What it lacks are shrines. Getting +3 infantry is a huge boost. Also huge boost would be how they affect your general.

[@thatwolfensteinguy8954]

I count the Thracians as a barbarian faction, as even tho they are far more Helenic then the Dacians, they still use similar weapons, the Falx is very similar to the Rhomphaia. Anyways, I find Thrace to be better then Dacia as it has a mix of both deadly shock Falxmen and Phalangite pikemen, also great vid!

[@PlanetZoidstar]

I have 1000 hours in Rome Total War. I put it down because I worried that was too much time to devote to any game. Every time I see a video like this I am tempted to start a new Grand Campaign and get back into it.

[@nelotharen741]

Thanks for your videoes on this game. I am new to it. I took my selucids to britania within the first few turns. I didn't like their position so I moved them. I played as bruiti and Egypt (my favourite faction) but wanted a "migration campaign". Have you tried a "migration campaign"? Would be a good topic.

[@aulternator8614]

Head Hurlers chuck severed heads "coated in quick lime" is where the damage comes from. Great videos. Really enjoy the content. Lessthanthree.

[@tymoteusz7255]

It's true, I played Britannia to maybe 20 A.C. I didn't conquer anything because I wanted to check how game will be go. And Brutii conquered whole europe but they never went to Britannia. Noone for over 300 years had come to Britannia

[@DraconimLt]

'Britain has no Archers' - true, very true, but this is why you mod in some numidian or other blue coloured archers, problem solved - same with cavalry. After all, this thing called 'learning from new ideas when you saw them' happend in history lol. If the lands you are taking is already AU to history, might as well change the units to fit as well... It's the Chariot General I hate, he is almost always the first to die when the unit charges. What is the point of HAVING a heavy/shock unit if over half the time you have to sacrifice a general to USE it?!?! In the end I gave up on them and found a guide to replace them with Cav Generals!

[@pastorofmuppets9346]

Germania and scythia, op close combat vs op horsearchers

[@blakeprocter5818]

Surely it's got to be Scythia? In the hands of a player who knows how to use missile cav, they are almost unbeatable, especially by other barbarian factions. The AI has no clue of course, but that's true of everything. The only way I can think of another barbarian faction beating Scythia is if Gaul rocks up with like 6 or 7 units of Forester Warband in their army, and they essentially use focused massed volleys on single Scythian horse archer units, essentially 'assassinating' units one by one. Other than that, I just can't see it. Edit: I should mention I'm talking strictly army composition. Not factoring in campaign map placement or such. Then I'd say Dacia.

[@lugotorix6173]

Scythia is a tricky one to rank because it very much depends on how much you like using cav, but i agree with the right person controlling them they can be seriously OP

[@carl-os4603]

Ah Forester Warband, the only archers that can destroy cavalry in meele...

[@blakeprocter5818]

@@carl-os4603 Yeah I forget they have spears. In the Rise of Persia mod there's also a Persian unit that are archer-spearmen. It's a really cool unit style that you very rarely see.

[@gabork5055]

Yeah, Scythia's real weakness is the low public order, low income, low settlement development at start iirc. (maybe even low population at start, i played Scythia a long time ago, don't quite remember it) The horse archers are great, few units can even counter them. Their position on the map is great imo., the rebel settlements are mostly easy to capture, the only faction from the East, Parthia has only two settlements at start, so that's a steamroll, the rest are usually small factions too. But the starting resources and poor settlements make it hard to take benefit of all that. Good if you like to play more defensively, i guess, thry can only attack from a few directions so you can focus on taking the time on development and amassing resources instead.

[@hernanreipp6983]

Well done Lugo. I was specting to see Scythia in place number 2 or 3. But I agree Germania and Briton are really OP. Specially because both armies have something in common: Cause Fear in the enemy. Yes the have units that scared and took out the moral quickly. Britons have Chariots, Dogs, Woad Warriors and Head Hurlers when Germania have the Screatching Womens, the Night Riders, the Naked Fanatics , the Dogs, the Berserkers and the Chosen Archers with flaming arrows. Make an army with all that units and the enemy will be wavering before get close.

[@lugotorix6173]

Thank you! Yess i was tempted to put scythia high but for me the British and defiintely the Germania armies are stronger overall, although those damn horse arches are OP haha

[@Ugh718]

"Night riders"lol.This isn't lotr u know XD

[@hernanreipp6983]

@@Ugh718 I know but they have an axe warrior called Night Rider that can hide in grass and give fear to the enemy. Also later the german states of the 17th century have a cavalry unit called Reiter who armor and horses whore black armor and were called Night/Black Riders by their enemies and allies.

[@MithridatesVI32]

Is something very important to note about the Gaul archers Is that they fight with spears, Which have a bonus against cavalry. This is a hidden detail

[@nuke999170]

You're underestimating the power of light cavalry. I played on hard with gaul and wiped a roman reinforcement army using only 3 units of light cavalary (I sent them to reinforce one of my armies that i sent to break a siege but they stumbled on a ambush of infantry and archers with 1-2 units of spearman. Exhaust them. Spread them across the map so they cannot stay in group. Pick them off. Last units that I had to fight were spearman that went on the middle of the map. Had them charged from 3 sides at the same time and withdrawn the units that were charging in the spears. Charge-Withdraw-Charge-Withdraw-Charge till none left)

[@tylermcneeley3136]

Human heads are fairly heavy. Imagine being smacked in the face by what is essentially a medicine ball that looks like your neighbor.

[@TomatoFettuccini]

About Head Hurlers: now, I don't know how effective heads would be in real life, but hypothetically, it's a 15-lb/6.5 kg projectile coated with quicklime (a highly corrosive substance - see the chemical burn scene in Fight Club). Throwing a 15-lb object is honestly pretty tough, but if you can manage it, and if it's covered with something that instantly starts burning you, chances are it'd be pretty effective as a weapon.

[@nicsamazingpinballchannel7688]

Excellent overview and totally agreed! Next we need to see a best Eastern factions roundup. :)

[@JoostFRotterdam]

Selects the army with lugotorix in Italy: You have this fella, never heard of him before. This had me laughing so hard

[@istvangaluska]

Hm. Strange. I would take the dacians over the spanish and scythians any day. They are not the best in everything, but are good enough in all fields. Especially considering their early enemies: you can go cavalry on thracians, and archer warband on macedonians. They work better than they look. Also, start position: I would go for Thrace first, second Macedon, plus rebel Byzantium. Greece is the richest part of the map, and you have perfect counters to the home factions. Also: gaul is one of my favorite positions. The spread out nature makes it easy to Blitz. Even if you lose Alesia, Rome provides better income. This is similar to my other favorite starts, greeks and Carthage.

[@reginaldscot165]

Ok, where do I start? 😂 I'm going to have to disagree on most of your reasoning. Sorry no hard feelings it's just opinion. 🙂 Firstly let's reorganise the list. Units 1 Scythia 2 Dacia 3 Germaina 4 Gaul (I will give you that one) 5 Spain 6 Britannia Position (This is more difficult) 1 Spain + Britannia (for different reasons) 2 Dacia 3 Sycthia 4 Gaul 5 Germania Ok, so let's begin. Scythia has the best army for 4 reasons. 1) their basic horse archers will beat almost any unit in the game and if they can't beat it they are cheaper by far so you can just spam the enemy to death! For example, they can pepper a unit of chosen Warriors with arrows and run them ragged until they are exhausted then charge in and make them run and cut every one of them down without taking a single casualty. Vs say Armoured elephants they can't win... but they cost significantly less. When you invade Greeks cities you end up getting gold level arrow technology and your Temples give you + 3 experience. At that point you are totally unstoppable! Imagine a full enemy army, you may have 3 to 4 units of cavalry, 2 units of artillery 2-3 units of missiles and the rest infantry. The Scythia army is say full horse archers. . The enemy infantry are no threat to you at all, you can out run them until they are completely demoralised. . The archers and artillery are not a significant threat as you can out manoeuvre and charge them down or shoot them to hell before they can hurt you significantly. . The enemy cavalry however heavy it is can be lead into a trap, surrounded and overwhelmed. . Once the cavalry is gone the infantry is yours to play with. It works every time. And if for whatever reason you can't win you can always retreat because a full horse army will out run any other army on the map. If an enemy is strong I like to go in one turn use all my arrows, retreat, then Attack again the next turn. Normally they don't put up much resistance after you shot them up. With 800 strong army of Scythian horse archers you can completely destroy army's of 2-4,000 enemies. 2) the war dogs are bigger units! Fantastic for taking cities, open a gate and let the dogs rush in, if you have enough they will do all the work for you without any losses to your men. 3) 2 army system. You have field armies of horse archers that do the main work and a follow up army for taking cities after the enemy is crushed. The city armies consist of ax men, heavy archers, artillery and lost of war dogs. Job done. 4) importantly Scythia has war Machines! Most barbarians don't have them and that makes Scythia very powerful. Try taking a high level city with Germans to find out why it sucks not having catapults! Next Dacia 1) they are the only other barbarian race to have catapults and the only one to have Balistas. This is extremely useful in taking cities or demoralising or completely obliterating enemies before you have to use swords. 2) they have some of the best arches in the game so why worry they only have one unit of arches. Long-range bows and good protection and can fight hand to hand if needed. 3) falxmen are fantastic shock infantry that are fast moving. Combined with the chosen swordsmen they make for a formidable force. 4) Cavalry, equal to, or better than all but the Germans. More than good enough. 5) the lack of choice is an advantage, for example, when I play Germans or Gaul I never use Druids or women because I'd rather have an extra unit of cavalry or full size infantry unit! Having more choice slows production, complicates your battle strategy and means you need more production Centers. Dacia doesn't have this problem. It's streamlined. Germania Yes I agree on this one, very powerful infantry and good cavalry. But no war Machines and that makes taking cities without losses hard. And the spear warband are actually slow and hard to use in many situations. They can easily be outflanked. Gaul Yes I agree with you, and the Forrester warband are extremely good, that's the only reason for me they get the No4 spot. That thing has got incredible stats and strengths. Just amazing all round unit. Spain It's like playing as early Romans, but without archers... so just like playing as early Romans! Ha Ha. But the fact their infantry have a strong missile Attack makes them very useful. British ... nothing special, yes head hurlers have a strong missile Attack, but poor range and weak Defence is not great. And chariots? Rubbish, hard to use in formation, a disaster if you try to use them on mass like horse archers it just goes wrong. They get trapped and killed. They die so easily that your family members always get killed. So frustrating. And they have no archers and no artillery. Just terrible. Position! Spain and Britannia are good, Britannia for the reasons you gave but Spain is good because if you take only 2 city's you have all of Spain to yourself! From there you can proceed to Attack the mediterranean, Italy or Africa. And with only 1 way into Spain you are very defensible. You also have (I think) 4 cities in Spain that have mines! Lots of lovely money! Dacia, good position? What am I smoking? But hear me out. Yes you are in some ways surrounded, but normally only Germania Attacks you in the beginning and their cities are so far away they aren't Normally a big threat early on. You are also surrounded by defensible mountains! You forgot they have Gold mines? How did you miss that? And they are next door to the richest most "wonder full" land in the game! Greece! Flood down into there and you will have money and power in no time. Also having no need to build ships is in some way an advantage, it doesn't take money away from your armies and barbarians are rubbish at ships anyway. Scythia Quite safe, plenty of space, plenty of rebel places to take and the fact you use mostly horses means you can travel fast, also water access from the Crimea helps. Gaul Difficult at the beginning because you are Attacked from all sides, your basically set up. But if you can crush the British early on that's good, and you get to kill the Romans very early. It's a hard position but it has benefits for a God player. Germania It's sucks, you get Attack on 3 sides by 4 different civs and it's a big empire that needs every city to make troops! So really expensive! And all your early battles are in dark forest and that's not fun when you can't see anything. Phew! That was hard work ha ha 😂

[@GrafVladan]

+++

[@lorenzomariani1111]

Scythian's campaign was the most fun experience i've ever had with RTW.

[@majormarketing6552]

Ranking is tough because how the cpu uses them is different than how we can use them. Britain seems to sweep europe easily while gaul, dacia, and scythia are usually pathetic in campaign.

[@dwolfel19]

Ok, regarding Head Hurlers. The reason they do some much damage is because the heads are coated in quicklime, which then splashes onto the target. It's caustic, which results in burns, ontop of the blunt trauma of being struck by a human head. As for the Gauls only having ok cavalry, seems strange to me since the Gallic cavalry was frequently described as being so skilled and effective in historical records, being drafted as auxiliary troops to bolster or outright replace Roman cavalry which was considered less effective

[@Caligula_]

the only thing peasants are good is the public order: cheap to recruit and to pay their maintance, but effective because of their high troop number in their unit

[@gabork5055]

Also ok for flanking for their price if there are no better alternatives. Two units should be effective enough against something already engaged with a heavier unit or spearmen. Wouldn't use them past early game though.

[@pavolp.6527]

Dacia was the first faction I conquered whole map with

[@matugenustheconqueror9388]

When I play with Spain campaign on VH/ VH mode, Julii immediately attack to my city Osca which is very annoying. Because if you choose another faction you may know that Julii do not attack to Spain immediately. They usually take Caralis and deal with Gauls in Padavium and Mediolanium at the first. Due to that, I do not play with Spain.

[@danielbalderrama4137]

It's a challenge because of the difficulty, i had the same thing happen to me but i managed to repel them

[@carl-os4603]

Just use ambushing tactic and dont forget, Scutarii are better than Hastati while worse than Principes.

[@danielbalderrama4137]

@@carl-os4603 not on VH/VH, on that difficulty, they can only beat pesants and town militia with extensive causalities. Also hastati are better than scutrii on an even playing field.

[@carl-os4603]

@@danielbalderrama4137 I dont play VH/VH anymore, only VH/M, because I just hate "enemy peasants are better than your light inf" And dont compare mercenary and native scutarii, their stats are different.

[@danielbalderrama4137]

@@carl-os4603 i know, i played the game for 8 years. I know the matchups of every unit on an even playing field.

[@danielolsson7134]

Getting Night Raiders in a Germania campaign mean that Family members get drunk as shit.

[@kevin06289]

just realized you named your KZbin channel after a Gual general lol

[@PwnZombie]

But he said he’d never heard of the bloke. He wouldn’t lie; would he??

[@kevin06289]

@@PwnZombie I think he's joking. If you don;t believe me, just go back and listen to his tone 🤣

[@MinecraftLively]

I wish the servers werent dead :( i was online yesterday and only 2 other people online

[@defrigerat0r]

The servers arent dead actually. Just check online in late evening or during weekends. (online sometimes goes up to 30 players)

[@xbox_cheeto5338]

@@defrigerat0r that depends on time zone, but true

[@defrigerat0r]

@@xbox_cheeto5338 I live in european part of Russia, so i believe thats true for all countries in Europe (obviously not true if you live in America, Asia or Australia)

[@xbox_cheeto5338]

@@defrigerat0r Do you think more Europeans or Americans play RTW?

[@defrigerat0r]

@@xbox_cheeto5338Imho there is 2 to 1 proportion between European and American people

[@matugenustheconqueror9388]

Hey Lugotorix, can you make a video about "How to beat Romans?"

[@matthewdavis3014]

Make em run, use the weight of their armor against them with fatigue. Have more heavy cavalry. Use an armor piercing infantry unit if you have them against engaged Roman general. Cavalry is always key against Rome.

[@Vektordeformacio]

Flank them? Take them early on just like the Egyptians?

[@CT--ox2iu]

I know I haven't been around in a while, glad to see your still going good (congrats on 8k holy moly)

[@spinspir1741]

Correct, Black Sea is North of the Mediterranean while the Caspian Sea is that long lake across the edge of the map

[@iaindoherty9155]

Just saw this, and for reference the Head Hurlers were likely based on the use of Quicklime soaked projectiles by tribesmen as missile weapons at times. Quicklime itself will burn any exposed skin, and will get into armour and the like.

[@andreykuzmin4355]

Gréta video as always, Lugotorix. What barbarian faction would you advice for Galatian migration campaign?

[@deerhunter2270]

Hmm... I guess Dacia is the closest based on the position the celts migrated from. You could go with Gaul though for the true 'celt' experience.

[@chumplestiltskin7927]

Berserkers on settlement walls are truly a sight to behold.

[@windsorhanish1771]

I still dont understand why everyone hates on Spain......once you get Bull Warriors no one wins. Name another faction outside Rome that doesn't copy Rome's legions and has a decent morale infantry....that throws spears....oh wait.....Spain rule. If you dont think so you're probably the guy who loses Carthage early game because you don't know how to use cavalry....Spain next to Britain are by far the best Barbarian faction in the game. I would say best, but its hard to beat 2 chariot types, Chosen, AND Head Hurlers.

[@henkvisser9741]

scythian noble woman. 0 losses battles full stack. the end.

[@samcole5198]

Love a 2020 rtw video

[@scroggin92]

Dacia being able to produce archers from a tier 1 range is actually quite an advantage. Not saying they are a great faction, but I tend to prefer archers over skirms/javelinmen.

[@JustAnotherMutant]

LOL... did you miss the "coated in quicklime" part? They're hurling caustic spheres at the enemy. I'd have gone with lower damage and a morale debuff, but their damage comes from chemical warfare, not from 10 pound soft missiles.

[@timothyernst8812]

I played a Gaul campaign a while back. I was aggressive as hell and completed the long campaign objective before my first faction leader died. I lost one general the entire time. The general? Lugotorix. I think he died from from RNG due to plague or a storm or something. I had a lot of fun with it. Underrated faction, though the Germans are my favorite barbarian faction.

[@mitchelrowe6915]

"I don't know how dead bodies work" I've studied a lot of biology.. They don't work.. Anyways in a custom battle I'd take dacia over gaul or scythia any day, personally but I'm a sucker for falxmen

[@himshie2368]

Great video mate, very entertaining

[@TheBentonDodd]

I think you’re sleeping on Sythia slightly. They are in a great spot on the map where they don’t have to worry about attacks from the East, and as long as you quickly take out Thrace, you pretty much only have Germania and the Brutii to worry about. Dacia is almost always very weak or destroyed by the mid game, so it’s a fairly straightforward path to taking all of Russia and the Balkans. The horse archer units can’t really be countered by any of the barbarian or Roman factions, and you can just spam them to destroy any opposing army in the field. Sieges aren’t as big of a problem because you can force them to sally forth. Plus they have some artillery. Ultimately, if you take advantage of the cheese of the game, they can’t really be beaten. Oftentimes you can eliminate half of the enemy forces before they’ve even killed any of yours. Although I get that not everybody wants to play like this. I think I’d put them at No 3 behind Germania and Britannia, and ahead of Gaul just because Gaul always gets wiped out by the Julii.

[@connorbiddle4703]

I agree Spain is tough especially at the beginning. Once you get your temples upgraded and you’ve recruited balaeric slinger though, Spain can be quite powerful Scythia is cool because you can take time to build up your settlements and the horse archers can mess up most units. Scythia is one of my favorite factions to play as because you’re left alone by the bigger factions until you’re ready and if you have the highest shrine of teutatis your axmen and archers can easily win most encounters

[@Clowyd]

I also like how they have the higher pop Warhounds, best dogs alongside Germania. Feels lame having less in other factions, especially considering they take two turns to produce

[@pooyakhalaji4261]

Glad your back love your videos

[@lugotorix6173]

Thank you! More to come

[@Pitmidget]

Also Scythia is my favourite of the Barbarian factions. Cavalry is king

[@doodok443]

I would personally put spain last even though their late game infantery can be very powerfull, their early and even midgame infantery and cavalary cant compete against the other barbarians (ibirian swordsman usually lose to ordenairy warband deu to differance in stats and entity numbers.)beyond that i would rate scythia higher. beiing able to recruit horse archers from a musterfield means you dont even need to tech up at all to be able to dominate the map, once you learn how to use them

[@carlosdanger7499]

I just remember having so much fighting the Gauls as Rome or British Celts and then going East and for some reason I’m suddenly fight phalanxes and axe men who can massacre legionaries. Kind of took me out of the Barbarian feel

[@dekytay4803]

Iberia peninsula has a lot of gold mines

[@kaanjel]

19:17 How'd you know? Learned something new today 🤣

[@lawrencelobdelliii2626]

Spear warband, chosen archers, and berserkers for the win. Never underestimate upgraded and experienced war dogs either. The short campaign always wants Germania to expand to the east but I always take out Britannia and then Gaul so I minimize the number of fronts I'm fighting on. Expanding to the eastern steppes takes forever as barbarians because you only have dirt roads and the cities are so far apart and don't generate a lot of profit initially.

[@littlekuribohimposte]

I personally sit Britannia at 1 because their light chariots are pretty much horse archers. Also, chariots have double hit points, and since British generals are in chariots, they're pretty much gods. You can use your general a lot more liberally than with other factions. And on the campaign ma, having their own private island and a foothold make them easily the best situated.

[@aeeee10]

Dacia is like Gaul but with better ranged (2x archers instead of javelins+archers and has siege). No clue how You got Gaul units over Dacians, especially considering how good falxmen are. Must've been the colour really.

[@Vektordeformacio]

I think he did not took into account that foresters are built in 2 turns. As in RTW money is not an issue when you can build such units, more units are better, than a slightly better unit with poor defense capabilities (they are good when attacking and ambushing but nothing else, taking stonewalled cities ia pretty crap)

[@jonsnow7092]

@@Vektordeformacio not sure about the "nothing else" part. they are the best archers in the game, having the highest base damage, and on top of that, you have temples for gold weapons as well as +3 xp. this nets to 17 ranged attack right of the gate. they obliterate everything in this game, including elephants. only pharoh's bowmen have (slightly) higher base overall stats while being far more expensive to upkeep, though, the extra stats are mainly on defense, thus, they perform worse in the pure archer role.

[@Vektordeformacio]

@@jonsnow7092 Sure, if you fight field battles, they are good. In sieges, they are not that good. They take a long time to train, and in my opinion they are not really worth it. 2 turn units have to be extremely powerful, like Cata Archers.

[@jonsnow7092]

@@Vektordeformacio 2 turn recruitment time does not matter when you can recruit them everywhere, you can get as much of them as you can upkeep. with the temple boosts, they have 17 ranged damage. with some extra XP (that they will easily get as they are the killers in your Gaul army), as well as a high star general, you get something like 25-30 ranged damage. get 10 of these units in an army, the vast majority of the troops in this game will melt before they make contact with your army, including most cavalry. only extremely well armored units will not die instantly by default, but you can always focus fire things like cataphracts or elephants. and they are disgusting in sieges. defensively, they are absolute gods, nothing gets close to your walls. offensively, they outrange anything that's not elite archers so enemies will have nothing on the walls. if there's some weird roman archer unit on the walls, you get all 10 of them in range at the same time and those roman archers are dead in a matter of seconds. After that, taking walls with 1 tower is easy. Get 1 unit on the walls and walk it through all the towers and gates. Now the enemy can't get close to your walls. Get the Chosen swordsmen in, the foresters behind them and massacre anything that's in that city.

[@MrAdamMcFarlan]

I tried Spain. After i waited 16+ turns to gather army close to the Spain-France boarders to defend from the Gauls and Romans who were allies with each other,the moment the remaining of what was left from my army has turncoated twice. Fastest quit I've ever done in my whole RTW career.

[@Clowyd]

Frustrating to see after 16 turns I began a Western Roman campaign in Barbarian Invasion and very carefully tuned every settlement to be good at the start and at the end of my turn the Eastern Romans betrayed me and besieged multiple cities. Fastest ragequit ever,

[@animemusic4113]

I agree to almost all of your ranking of strength and territory, but I disagree about what you said about Spain, their position is great, well protected and generates a lot of money (I believe that Spain is a faction more focused on defense / economy). Spain cheap troops allow you to flood units to defend your own territory, along with this "numerical advantage" and a good strategy, you are able to defeat almost any faction in the early game.

[@caffeinatedbuffalosauce883]

The aesthetics of this game will never fade

[@kgius7434]

In the Early game spain is much easier than gaul and skythia , you just have to attack gaul and cartaghe . After 3 rounds you just have one front to gaul left , carthage wont come with ships. Only annoying thing is that the july sometimes suddenly attack oscar and dont go against the gauls 🤦‍♂️

[@Owlr4ider]

When it comes to starting positions. Again I'm going to have to agree with Dacia being the worst, for basically the same reasons you mentioned. At number 5 however I strongly disagree with you on Iberia and actually put Scythia in its place. Scythian territory is poor and they're pretty far from the super rich territories of Greece, Italy and Asia Minor. By the time Scythia will typically reach Asia Minor or Greece the other factions in those areas should have already consolidated a bit to be able to mount a hefty opposition to you. Especially if the refuse to give you open field battles and instead rely on hoplites/pikemen defending their cities, which as Scythia you don't have a good answer for at all. Axemen are decent enough against the lower quality hoplites/pikemen but if you focus on those than you're not focusing on your cavalry which is what wins you all the open field battles... So being far from basically everyone else(thus giving everyone else time to get their act together) and starting in the poorest region in the map simply makes their starting position awful. It's only better than Dacia's because they start with more settlements and can more easily expand around the Black Sea to at least have some trade income early on which is better than what Dacia can get. At number 4 again I'm strongly disagreeing with you, I'm actually putting Britannia. I do agree with you that it's the most easily defensible position of all factions in the game. However defense doesn't win you the campaign, offense does. And when it comes to offense Britannia is in a pretty poor position to expand. Its starting territory is pretty poor and northern Europe isn't much better. So even though they can absolutely expand into Gaul/Germania early on those provinces aren't going to be particularly wealthy. By the time you can make it to the rich lands around the Mediterranean the Julii would have already conquered all those regions from Gaul and have become pretty powerful. Than you have the same issue as Scythia regarding siege battles, though to a lesser extent. So safe start but actually not that easy when it comes to actually winning. I'm actually quite torn about how to rank the top 3. Gaul is clearly the hardest start, having to face the Julii right from the get-go. However similarly to the Seleucids, if you can manage to survive those early turns it's hands down the easiest Barbarian start because by successfully defending Cisalpine Gaul(northern Italy) you're preventing the Julii from becoming powerful which in turn makes it much easier for you to conquer them. Also, correct me if I'm wrong here but since the Julii declared war on you than you're only at war with them rather than with all 3(well 4 with SPQR) Roman factions, which means you can eliminate them very early on without having to fight all of the Roman factions. But I haven't played Gaul in a very long time so I might be wrong here. Iberia is in a pretty safe location actually, almost as safe as Britannia. The Gaelic settlement in the middle of Iberia shouldn't pose you any trouble as the Gauls are going to be busy elsewhere so it's basically a free city for you when you're ready to take it. Similarly Cordoba(the Carthaginian city) is also pretty easy to take as Carthage's early game roster is arguably the weakest among all the major factions, and actually quite similar to yours. Moreover they'll very quickly be busy defending against both the Scipii and Julii to bother you too much after you take Cordoba from them. So I strongly disagree with you on how their so called 'fragmented' lands make their start bad. Also Iberia is actually a decently wealthy regions with access to several mines. It's not the wealthiest region or anything but it does have some trade resources and ports on the Mediterranean for easy trade access. It's about as rich as Gaul's starting territory but way easier to defend. Also you're relatively close to Italy so you can pounce on the Julii pretty quickly. Conveniently they're clearing out the Gauls for you while you unite Iberia so that both of you are going to be slightly weakened by the time you meet in Southern France, but since your best units come online way faster than theirs. Scutarii will give Hastatis and Principes a run for their money and once you get Bull Warriors online, well that's curtains for the Julii and the rest of the Romans. Germania's starting region is significantly poorer than both Gaul and Iberia but it's also very defensible, not because it's tucked in a nice corner like Britannia or Iberia but rather because nobody really wants your lands as they're poor and out of the way. That means that you have full freedom on who to go after. Your starting units are strong enough to immediately head towards the Alps and fight the Julii right after they conquer Cisalpine Gaul from well, Gaul, but you can also decide to wait a bit until the Julii push deeper into Rome and you get your best units online. Personally I'd go after the Romans ASAP because expanding in any other direction(Denmark, Northern France, god forbid eastwards) is just more poor territory which isn't worth all that much and of course the sooner you fight the Romans the easier it is to defeat them. Thus determining which of those starts is the strongest is pretty difficult. In terms of difficulty it has to be Germania>Iberia>Gaul but all 3 have pretty much the same expansion potential, fighting the Romans pretty early on with vastly superior troops(with proper province management that is which you as the player will do while the AI fails at). So personally I'd say Iberia>Germania>Gaul overall but it's really interchangeable.

[@VonKrauzer]

Dude, are you ok? Did you really just put Skythia behind Spain and Gauls? They get horse archers from basic barracks! Parthians and Armenians have to be at least large town and build stable before training their own HA, which are also worse in terms of stats. HA is the most broken unit in the game and you can train it en masse from turn 1! And even if we don't take that into consideration, Skythia has some kick ass cavalry plus temples that give exp to your troops. In RTW cav is King and as long as a faction has good cav it's a good faction in my book. This is exactly why other barbarian factions apart from Germania are jokers. They don't have a lot of good cav options. That's why in terms of army comp Skythia is number 1 for me.

[@davidcotronese6269]

Good list, but it's always been for me what tactics I'm willing to play. Your logic is spot on though👍

[@lugotorix6173]

Thank you, yes it is also very much to do with the individuals tactics