Best Roman Faction? - Rome Total War (Brutii, Julii, Scipii)

[@Dargesh890]

The Brutii also have another major advantage: all of the wonders of the world are in the direction they are expected to expand

[@CommissarMitch]

Was about to write that. All the Wonders are basically in the area the Brutii are going to want to take.

[@lorenzodemedici6332]

The scipii also get those senate missions as well for Halicarnassus, Alexandria, Rhodes etc.

[@Dargesh890]

@@lorenzodemedici6332 true, however it is more out of their way. The Brutii land next to the Greeks, and naturally move in that direction. The Scipii tend to move towards Carthage

[@Tom-tk4ir]

Exactly, the Brutii are definitely the best

[@lorenzodemedici6332]

Dargesh890 True and I’d argue that that’s more profitable (if you wait to go inland into Africa until the late game). As long as you move along the Mediterranean coast there will be way may more cities to conquer and they will be easier as taking on hoplites in cities like Athens and Sparta is a tall task and takes a lot of money. But all of those smaller cities on the African coast can be highly profitable.

[@MrMeowzers123]

This game came out 14 years ago and we are still discussing this. I love this world.

[@michaelweston409]

One of the best if not best game I’ve ever played.

[@aldo321]

Well said mate!

[@joelhammer3538]

Sixteen years ago, but whos counting

[@S3018146]

Maybe still the best tw ever. Me2 had better mechanics, but lacked unit variety. Twwh2 is amazing, but lost so much cool shit compared to rome. Rome was made with love.

[@raf5319]

I am pretty sure there are people discussing starcraft. If you like history then you will be discussing things from the past.

[@boomblam5738]

Julii because...C'mon mates. Romans in any other colour than red are just not right.

[@grantaum9677]

My thoughts exactly 👍

[@fearan9406]

Praetorian Purple?

[@boshengjones1778]

@Eman Saladbar They dont have good temple for public order. Their work well for greek cities, make them grow fast. For a short campaign they are fantastic, but crap in late game.

[@50shekels]

D Of more like praetorian gay

[@willemverheij3412]

I just wish the secondary of the Brutii and Scipii was black too instead of white. That would have looked better.

[@MrJChristianz]

The Brutii are the best faction because they are the only faction that mercenaries are the right color for!

[@NotlostMoon]

thats actually why i like them cause i like to use mercenaries so it integrates them.

[@dale27488]

Lots of earning power, too. Athens and the rest of the balkan area offer a lot of money

[@MrJChristianz]

@@dale27488 which of course, we spend on our armies of mercanaries!

[@dale27488]

I like the access to samnites, Illyrians, and hoplites. Very good when combined with hastati

[@cinnamongum466]

@@dale27488 i got 300k denarii as brutii and basically annexed a bunch of factions lmao

[@SirMuntelot]

The Scipii are obviously the best faction, the cool wolf icon makes it superior by far.

[@danielbalderrama4137]

I like them for their colour

[@firaselachkar4159]

Ok furry

[@danielbalderrama4137]

@Bunny Bun what does that mean?

[@danielbalderrama4137]

@MUHAMMAD SIDQI BIN SHAFRUL SSS dosen't make sense what the responses and also, whenever i search up furry, it shows a species of dog which are known for their small size yet incredible sense of smell. Their replies make no sense in the manner and also I do think the Blue colour makes the Romans look cooler than all the others.

[@yanan7801]

How is it furry? It’s just a wolf, not a humanoid wolf.

[@anukkariyawasam6597]

The Julii just have a special place in my heart as the first faction I played. Damn Brutii are just evil.

[@lugotorix6173]

yess i think most peoples favourites are their first faction aha

[@jahbama6202]

Gods, I hate Gauls

[@alexanderthegreat1356]

Red>blue>green

[@BobBob-cy9cu]

jahbama my grandfather hated them too

[@NobleKorhedron]

@@jahbama6202 #cracksuplaughing

[@hammer3721]

Best historically accurate faction for the time period: The Scipii ( as it was in the period of 300-147 BC that the House of Cornelia rose to power in Rome ). Best overall campaign and historical accuracy for the creation of the Empire: The House of Julii. Easiest and richest faction: The House of Brutii. Best temples: I would say the Temple of Jupiter for the House of Julii, as it reduces corruption, so you gain more money and happiness. Best naval units: Evidently, the House of Scipii, as their temples to Neptune enable them to buipd unique ships. Best land units: The House of Scipii, as depsite having the same units, their gladiators are still the best ( Mirmillo are the best, then Samnites, the Velites ). Best generals: They are relatively the same ( most roman generals usually get high influence statistics ). Although, I observed that Scipii usually get better managers, Julii get better commanders, and the Brutii get better politicians ( a lot of influence, to be sure ). Easieast beginning: House of Julii, as they mostly fight crappy barbarians and take poorly defended villages. Hardest beginning: House of Scipii, as they have to take out Syracuse as their first mission ( a city WITH WALLS guarded by HOPLITES). Easiest ending: The Brutii, as they own all the rich lands. Hardest ending: Julii, as they own a lot of dumb villages in Gaul, Germany, Britain and Spain ( although, truth be told, relatively better than the Scipii wasteland in the desert, but still, the military might prove problematic ). Best relation with the people: House of Julii. Best relation with the Senate: House of Brutii Mixed relations with the people and the Senate: House of Scipii. Best intro ( I hate to do this ): The House of Julii first, House of Brutii second, House of Scipii last Best ending ( conclusion ' speech ' ) for short campaign: House of Scipii first, House of Julii second, House of Brutii third. Best ending for the long campaign: House of Julii First, House of Scipii Second, House of Brutii third. Best banner: House of Brutii. Most Roman Banner: House of Julii. Favourite colour banner: House of Scipii. Overall, I prefer the Julii the most, I find the Brutii campaign the easiest ( due to the expansion in Greece ) and I find the Scipii campaign the most historically accurate for the time period.

[@koolaidman2702]

Julii is hardest. Scipii just needs like 3 hastati to take out a bunch of militia hoplites. Julii need to expand in every direction to get wealthy while the Scipii and Brutii are next to rich areas in Carthage and Greece.

[@hammer3721]

@@koolaidman2702 As I said. The Julii have an easier beginning, they have a hard end campaign. The Brutii have it easy all the way. The Scipii have it hard in the beginning. No matter if you take Syracuse quickly, the Greek hoplites will still inflict heavy casualties. Also, yes, taking Carthage is easy, but taking Numidia out ? Going through that desert takes ages. Or, if you want to invade Egypt ' faster ' you have to build a strong fleet, which takes ages, with constant threat of pirates spawning out of nowhere. I played as the Julli, and I know how it is expanding in all directions, but expanding into Pontus was relatively easy. I had a general called Augustus Calvia recruit mercenary militia hoplites, then in open field battles I was just going to a corner in the map, and waiting for the exhausted troops of Pontus charge into pikes and hastati. As for Egypt, I was simply sitting on bridges with Vibius Julius with mercenary hoplites or hastati and simply waited for their 2-3 stacks of doom to get alaughtered. That, or I after I took their main cities, I was just using cavalry to flank their phalnx or overwhelm their chariots in numbers. Not that difficult, but they had a slow start, and the final civil war was way harder with them.

[@koolaidman2702]

@@hammer3721 Julii isnt easier at all? Syracuse has just 2 Militia hoplites and a general. The starting army in siciliy could literally take that and then you are rich from having a major city in just 4 turns.

[@hammer3721]

@@koolaidman2702 Two militia hoplites, two hoplites, and archers ( able to use fire ), stone walls ( with boiling oil and balista towers ), plus the FACTION HEIR of the Greek City States... All of them are in Syracuse. Or are you saying that the Julii have a harder time beating Gaul's Spear Warband compared to the Scipii's siege of Syracuse against the greeks, or the numidian javellin cavalry ? At the beginning of the game, the situation is more militarily-focused, so that's why the Julii campaign is easier AT THE BEGINNING, as they face low-quality troops. The end game depends a lot on having enough money to win the arms' race against the other Roman factions, and in that regard, yes, the Julii do have a harder time than the Scipii. One thing is certain: The Brutii are overpowered.

[@chelsblue7370]

best temples are by far the Brutii ones and this is from a diehard Scipii fan

[@publiuslibrarian5023]

the best roman faction is Numidia with there Numidian legionaries no contest

[@Protector1rk]

Armenia have it too.

[@longbow857]

@@Protector1rk why does everybody forget The Selucid Empire? Oh right, because they always die in the early game and never get to that unit xD

[@stygian8049]

@@longbow857 levy pikemen. Take it or leave

[@ladiesgentswegothim]

@@longbow857 Yeah, I think when the AI auto-resolves, it does not account for the devastating phalanx formation. I think it simulates them fighting hand-to-hand. Thus, the AI views phalanxes as weaker than they are, then they get mobbed early, lose all their auto-resolves, and disappear. I didn't unlock them until my first Egypt playthrough back in the day. When I did, I was like WTF????

[@Lolavs]

You forgot to mention the best advantage the Brutii have: The Temple of Mercury. Helps you get even more money from greece.

[@hammer3721]

And the Julii have Jupiter, which reduces corruption.

[@hatforacat3977]

If you focus heavily, you can hear „MAMAAAAAAAAAAA” from that temple.

[@Anaris10]

Brutii get the Temple of Mars, +3 Exp.

[@Lolavs]

@@Anaris10 ...Yes?

[@bremc666]

​@@Anaris10 The Temple of Mercury is OP with trade bonus. Being richest faction is a breeze.

[@alexanderthegreat1356]

Julii - my favourite because they are Red, my first faction I ever played( and played the most), I like taking on barbarians despite their crap settlements, and also the link to Julius Caesar and Augustus etc. Scipii - my second favourite. I like blue and I like how they have the shewolf from Romulus and Remus in their symbol. I like how you can take Africa but also move into southern Greece and the Middle East meaning you can still get the wonders like the brutii (just a bit more challenging. Also they have awesome temples e.g Saturn is great for public order, Vulcan is good for weapon upgrades, and I personally like getting top tier ships with Neptune. Brutii - my least favourite, but I don’t dislike them. It’s mainly because they’re green and that doesn’t suit well with me. Also I do feel like they’re a bit overpowered as the game basically guides you to capture the wonders, but this for sure means they have the most interesting campaign (depends how you play as others). On a side note, down with Brutus, hail caeser! Oh I forgot I do like some of Brutii temples (mars being the main one for troop exp)

[@RocketHarry865]

@Minimalist MGTOW Brutus just another oligarch who was just out for his privileges

[@Sp33dyStallion]

Important thing about the temple of Vulcan: It is in my opinion the best for making better troops, even better than Mars. Despite what the stat card says, having a single upgrade to weapons and armor from the temple of vulcan is miles better than a single uptick in experience. In fact, a single upgrade to both weapons and armor is approximately equivalent to 3 bars of experience. So the scipii with the vulcan pantheon easily beats the brutii regarding troop quality/power (at least as I have seen in my testing).

[@tsarchasm1499]

Just a head up, it’s an experience chevron, further more experience gives you greater morale, so it’s up to preference

[@vlads3283]

I'd rather get experience than weapon upgrades. as they allow my troops to fight for longer and that's the biggest problem I ever had with troops. As the romans upgrading your troops is not really required, keeping them from breaking is the best.

[@rsbandbj1]

@@vlads3283 yeah, and as i expand into greece, they usually have armor/weapon upgrade temples that i'll keep, just to get the upgrades. Make troops, send them there, retrain, send to egypt.

[@boshengjones1778]

@@vlads3283 No, weapon/armour upgrade work much better, even accounting the extra morale. Weapon/armour work all the time. Attack and defence from experience, they dont work in all calculations, defence dont work against arrows, dont work against rear attack. Exhaustion work against your fighting techniques, not on quality of your weapon/armour. Extral morale is much better component of the experience upgrade, otherwise, there is no contest.

[@ruukinen]

@@boshengjones1778 Also experience can be gained from fighting while the equipment upgrades can only be gained through training or retraining so basically Scipio gets the best late game armies.

[@bannedcommander2932]

Brutii: Very easy to play, just kill the Greek cavalry, then break their phalanxes with pila and velites, profit, best temples, richest settlements, best at winning the civil war, clear choice for #1 Julii: Gauls are weak, can actually ferry troops to other regions, civil war isn't too bad because you have more cities close to Italy and can stop other factions using your navy, #2 Scipii: Fragmented position, scripted disaster, bad long term prospects because there isn't much beyond Carthage and Thapsus to take, gets sandwiched during civil war. Enemies may be weak but still only #3

[@OceanHedgehog]

Key to Scipii is to race the Brutii to Greece

[@kirklanyoshinaga8953]

Scipii have the best ships. To play scipii, you have to take away the advantages the other factions. If you box in Julii beyond their first two settlements, then they stay within that area of the game for the rest of your run. Same with brutii.

[@JohnDoe-jb6xq]

As brutii just recruit more cavalry, and attack on flanks or back. In my opinion phalanx is totally shit in open plain. They are good only in sieges, but I can just wait several turn to force them attack me.

[@elguerotapatio9258]

@@kirklanyoshinaga8953 that's basically what I did, after taking out Carthage I sailed up and snagged some of the rebel settlements before the Gaul's could take em and then bribed the one in Austria

[@jdoc3118]

Plus as the Scipii you have to exterminate every city of carthage in n.africa . If you are a true Roman you have no other option really.

[@sergeantmajor_gross]

I hate the unit cards in Rome 2, especially compared to this game.

[@danielbalderrama4137]

Referring to what you said earlier, on my first ever campaign as Juli. Somehow the Gauls teched up to their chosen swordsmen. Spain had bull warriors against my paterion cohort and Britaninia had an extrme large number of armies ready to fight.

[@marcelinoishmael9103]

When this video popped up on my recommendations, I immediately felt the nostalgia. I'm surprised that there are still RTW players out there! What I used to do was as the Julii, I take the two cities in Sicily, save, then head towards Thermon in Greece using ship, loading my save file when things get risky. Then I make my way to Sardinia then the rest of Carthage to the south, while also taking Larissa then the rest of Macedonia and Greece to the east.

[@hammer3721]

I did the same.

[@winterguy2513]

Ah yes the Cockblock

[@kristiannicholson5893]

Lol, what I do as Scipii is use my boats to block and steal Appolonia and Salona from the Brutii. Those boats and troops are on a race though, grabbing mercs as they go to block and steal Patavium from the Julii. From there you can take your time consolidating Illyria and all those gold mines. Constant stream of peasants out of Sicily getting disbanded across the adriatic gets them going until Patavium can take over and those Sicilians can settle in Carthage or Capua if you want to rush the reforms.

[@hammer3721]

@@kristiannicholson5893 That is a good strategy !

[@5th_decile]

Same here. Just take everything. Blitz with the generals bodyguard unit, merceneraries (and the shameful pause button lol)

[@ragerancher]

Main difference, you finish with red, blue or green. Mass effect likes this!

[@Calinn86]

I always take Gaul then Egypt when i play the Julii. Don't know why, i just like transporting to a far away land like that.

[@longbow857]

Little did you know that you actually play them historically then ;) Since this game put julius ceasar in the julii faction and ceasar conqurord gaul and egypt before he got assasinated.

[@Calinn86]

@@longbow857 Caesar did not conquer Egypt. He went there in pursuit of Pompey during the civil war and after Pompey's death he supported Cleopatra in her own civil war against her little brother who was de facto the ruler of Egypt, imposing her basically to the throne. Egypt fell to the romans a few years after, when Octavian Augustus, Caesar's nephew and legally adopted son, deposed Cleopatra and annexed Egypt to the empire.

[@ShrimplifyUK]

"Dad, what's this Rome game on your shelf?" "Buckle up Buttercup. It's time you saw a real game!"

[@timothyernst8812]

I think the case of different Roman factions having easier or harder games is pretty moot if you're willing to deviate from what the designers probably intended you to do. Any Roman faction can expand in any direction. They occupy Italy, so they're pretty centrally located on the map, and beating the other Roman families to their early expansion options cripples them and makes them much less of a threat during the civil war. For example, as the Julii, I tend to take Cisalpine Gaul, and then pivot south to take Carthage and North Africa. Controlling the west Mediterranean coast in Europe and North Africa solves many of the Julii's income problems plus it ham-strings the Scipii. If I play the Scipii, I take Syracuse first and then split up to send one army to Greece and the other to consolidate Sicily and move on to North Africa. Syracuse grows like crazy, particularly if you enslave Carthage and all those mid sized Greek cities. I also think some of the Brutii advantages are overrated. Brutii end up paying huge amounts of corruption that the other two Roman factions do not, and the Mars temple bonuses are most noticeable on low tier units. You won't see a huge impact from even three xp on Marian units. If you're getting three xp from Mars, it probably won't be long before you get the Marian Reforms anyway.

[@chelsblue7370]

Brutii - the easiest campaign, best temples, have the entire Balkans nearby then hop on to Asia Minor but.... there's hardly any challenge, you know you're going to be uber powerful by te time the civil war is triggered. Scipii were my favourites by far, because they are blue and because it's a big challenge to conquer the Hellenic world ahead of the Brutii. Their temples were good, not as fine as the Brutii temples, but still very useful.

[@doublem1975x]

The good thing about the Julia is if you’re quick you can get a foothold in Gaul, Greece and Carthage before the other families can get a foothold so you’re in a very strong position heading into the civil war. The AI will freak out and just do nothing while you expand. It’s doable even on very hard but you have to start quick and have some luck go your way.

[@DutchGuyMike]

Very Hard is bugged in Rome Total War vanilla (and some mods) and is easier than Hard as due to how the engine works you will be getting the same bonuses as the AI does (there's a lot of threads/posts on it to verify this issue).

[@doublem1975x]

@@DutchGuyMikeInteresting I wasn’t aware of that bug. However I’ve used this strat successfully on Hard mode too. As long as you take caralis, lilibaeum, Corinth, Athens and Sparta before the Scipii and Brutii the AI will stagnate and not expand.

[@StarlMarshmo]

My tactics too, although in my last Julii campaign I nabbed Carthage and Thapsus before the Scipii could, however they almost managed to deny me Greece by recalibrating toward getting Corinth, Athens and Sparta, leaving me with only Thermon. Safe to say it was an interesting civil war, the Scipii managed to get as far as Antioch and Hatra before I wpied em out😂 ​@doublem1975x

[@tyhy1]

your point of the scipii starting out in two different places is normally valid. but in the starting position not so much. from mesanna to get to lybaeum takes two turns. the rest of the forces can get there by boat, that are allready built and present, can arive there in two turns as well. second option is to go to syracuse. but they have walls, which requires one turn to get there. then another turn to build whatever siegeworks you want. and on the second turn you can attack. getting there from capua by boat also takes two turns. long story short, nomally a fragmented empire sucks. but in this specific ocasion, it realy doesnt matter.

[@fearan9406]

Julii colour, scipii logo(wolf) Brutii start saw a vid before where he migrated pop by disbanding peasant milita in a dif province and had 5 large towns really quickly and did an eco boom from there

[@thecrazytophatman7304]

SPQR are the best, You just bum around whilst the others do the rest then when your ready you just take all their cities with the huge army’s you are given, easy

[@tastycookiechip]

You can't be SPQR

[@basileusbasil4041]

@@tastycookiechip I think there is a mod for it.

[@ivanmitchel6372]

You can change game's script to play for SPQR

[@timtipton4538]

my girlfriend wants me to build a pantheon to mars so that my unit will stay up for longer

[@lugotorix6173]

hahahaha maybe a temple to Aphrodite would help too...

[@timtipton4538]

Good one! :D

[@alfredchojnicki3598]

lol xd lol

[@aidanfionncastralleva5424]

Scipii is my favorite as well because I find it easy to encircle the other Roman factions with them. The Roman AI is programmed to not overlap beyond your settlements so by surrounding the others, you'll have the easiest run late in the game

[@All41135]

Trying this rn

[@MrTonybonez]

Awesome to see that people still play this (I do from time to time also)

[@lugotorix6173]

yess there is still a thriving community!

[@devrenfreestone1272]

Others have also mentioned, but the Julii temple of Jupiter with the law bonus is huge in the late game and not having to give up huge amounts of money to corruption. I usually switch them over. And the Brutii have Juno with its health bonus to help with the plague.

[@noybusiness6434]

Awesome to see Rome total war content, only some know it’s real value :3

[@lugotorix6173]

yess its an all time great game

[@bigbake132]

The Greek monuments are a huge advantage as well the Brutii have when they take out the Greek factions.

[@lugotorix6173]

yess that is very true

[@andredulac4456]

The zeus statue is my favorite since the worst enemy of the game is your own population 😋

[@Sharnoy1]

But the real question is... which faction has the best intro? I'd go 1. Julii 2. Brutii 3. Scipii

[@mustafah.dundar8731]

I used to tweak game files and give every roman faction's temples to each other including SPQR. I don't remember the temples' name but i was creating full stacks of urban cohort, preotarian cavarly and archer auxilia with 3 experience, max armour and weapon and wiping floor with my enemies jus the heck of it

[@garretteales1607]

Julii-Easy campaign. Low rewards. Scipi-Medium campaign. Med rewards. Brutii-Hard campaign. High rewards.

[@iwanegerstrom4564]

Imperial Purple for me: SPQR Just edit the descr_strat file so that SPQR is playable and voila!

[@resileaf9501]

The main advantage of playing Julii is that by capturing Patavium and focusing as much growth as you can on it, you can reach the Marian reforms ridiculously quickly since that city counts as part of the Italian peninsula. Once that's done, you'll overpower anything in your region of the world much quicker than the other Roman factions can and could have the opportunity to expand early into Dacia or even Macedonia and block the Brutii expansion into eastern Europe.

[@5th_decile]

Is the Marian reform triggered by population threshold? And the other Roman factions don't get it at the same time?

[@resileaf9501]

@@5th_decile The Marian reforms are triggered by the first city on the Italian peninsula to reach huge city status. The other Roman factions do get it at the same time, but the player faction is naturally much quicker to upgrade and use the better units than the AI.

[@5th_decile]

@@resileaf9501 Hmm... kinda gives me the idea to replay the game and spam peasants outside of Patavium, move them to Patavium and disband them.

[@Ravenhouse23]

One extra strategic advantage of the brutii: other factions aren’t likely to mess with your plans in the beginning, but you have ample opportunity to take important settlements before they can (mediolanum with your starting army and fleet, Syracuse after the idiotic Scipii fail to take it twice) which become big centers of power in the other factions’ spheres of influence.

[@InfinitumPueri]

the julii are easily the best faction and heres why: 1 - theyre red 2 - theyre perfectly located to seize nothern italy less than 10 turns into the campaign, you have the means to send ships and troops to illyria and sicily, cutting off the other factions from expanding but this must be done quickly and know what youre doing 3 - money is no issue if you know how to work your economy, no need for temples to boost trade so you can focus on temples of jupiter so you can get the arcanii 4 - juliis main opponents are weaker barbarian factions compared to the greeks and persians or carthage, allowing late game territory grabs in the east and south while you hold domain over most of europe 5 - the julii bred one of the greatest, most iconic and influential leaders in human history

[@a.spellman5481]

Don’t forget the Brutii have almost all the wonders in the initial direction of their expansion

[@masterexploder9668]

Scipii: coolest names like Scipio Africanus, great color, cool wolf icon, kinda fragmented because they will spread all over the place. Julii: historical winners, red color is beast on Romans, easy expansion into Gaul and from there to Spain and Britain. Brutii: very profitable expansion, because Greek provinces are rich and have many wonders to capture for bonuses, also Senate will pay you for capturing them (missions), green color nice with mercenary units lol. Going strictly by numbers they are the best, but I like all of them.

[@matthiuskoenig3378]

Fun fact, the brutii are the historical winners. Octvian while julius caesar's nefew, he was from the brutii tribe.

[@BobBob-cy9cu]

I like the Julii because the civil war is the hardest for them so late game isn’t as pathetically easy

[@Michiganmayor420]

You can..... take all your generals. Load them up on a gallery. Then head over to England, skip a few turns. Land in England, colonize it. Move your capital, and Now you have and island hq

[@Protector1rk]

For why? Those cities take a long time to develop.

[@alfredchojnicki3598]

Focken genious

[@HippasosofMetapontum]

this is what i did with seleucids xD it was the best decision, before i modded some stats ...

[@quno5174]

Julii - best for newcomers. Brutii - best overall if you have a bit of experience in the game. Scipii- ew.

[@lugotorix6173]

Yess i think a lot of people play Julii first time, but Brutii are the strongest when you're good at the game

[@camerong3818]

Scippi has best navy and temples though. Plus you have a prime position to take out both brutii and julii

[@lostvayne3977]

Cameron G very true, scipii like julii are op against all roman factions late game

[@J4R0D]

@@camerong3818 also murmillo gladiators look the best of all the gladiators

[@camerong3818]

@@J4R0D indeed. They also have the advantage of getting Carthage and Egypt (if you know what your doing)

[@michaelfallon5663]

Julii-legionnaires/crusaders Brutii-defenders of The Senate/owners of the world wonders Scipii-some sailor bois

[@KingMswatiIII]

I remember when I first got Rome Total War and I played on easy. Under the control of the AI, the Scipii would have a hard time expanding past Sicily and the Brutii would maybe take one or two settlements. The Julii were the best at expanding while under AI control.

[@s4098429]

Even on VH/VH the AI still struggles.

[@richardg4117]

I just found your channel and it is my new favorite love this game you sir are awesome

[@Powerofriend]

Patavium is so good with it's fast pop growth that I like to go for it even when playing the Brutii!

[@mariosoto2588]

I think at least on the early game the way u fight with each is also a bit different, with julii u usually end up with just astati because there r so many towns and the barbarian factions have so many foot troops. The brutii usually end up with a bunch if mercenaries for obvious reasons and against the Greeks and Egyptian is useful to have your own velites as well. And for the scipii u will have to get yourself more cavalry than brutii and arguably julii as just because cartage and numidia use a good amount of cavalry or at least it seems that was the intention of the developers

[@LyricalDJ]

I really like the Scipii, with one condition - I like to take Appollonia first thing, so I shut out the Brutii from getting to Greece. After that there's no real need to rush, take Sicily, Crete, Sardinia, Carthage, Greece, Palma, Rhodes, Salamis, Massilia even.. they all expand your hold on the Mare Nostrum. Of course the Scipio AI is stunted by their lack of easy early expansion but as a player you aren't.

[@chelsblue7370]

Stopping the Brutii expansion is absolutely imperative for the Scipii but It's no big deal if the Brutii take Apolonia, it's not as rich as Greece proper, Thessalonika, Larissa, Athens are all rich cities, I can't remember whether Sparta was rich as well.

[@thelewisridout]

I always loved the Scipii when I played this as a kid. I always felt it was the best at taking the territory from the other Roman Factions, i loved the naval plays and they had one of the best temples. You could send an army to deal with Sicily and Carthage and march it towards Spain. Another could go North through France and the last one could take out Sparta and head towards Turkey. When the Civil War came around I had surrounded all the Roman Faction in Italy most of the time with maybe some odd enemy Roman outposts dotted around the edges of the Empire.

[@seawind930]

Brutii, Julii, Scipii and Ow! my Eye!

[@R-H-B]

Ex dee

[@pyroparagon8945]

GODS. I HATE GAULS.

[@johnirby8847]

If you're a pro, Scipii is the best Roman faction. You can beat Julii to Patavium for the food and Caralis, completely cut them off with one city captured. You can beat Brutii to Illyria and Greece and completely surround them and cut them off with one city captured. You can do the same thing with Brutii and Julii, but it's more difficult to surround and cut off like you can with Scipii! Scipii AI will also more readily attack random port settlements in Carthage, Spain, even Cyrene and Crete.

[@danletko]

The Scipii are my favorite, they get to recreate the Punic Wars with Carthage right off the bat. They can also quickly scoop up the best parts of Greece before the Brutii, forcing Brutii north into less valuable lands while Scipii go south into Egypt

[@Timrath]

Total War fails at Latin grammar. It should be "Bruti" (with a single i) and "Scipiones". "Julii" is correct, though.

[@chorkesdonevan9847]

I was so proud of conquering Carthage and Numbia as the Julii but then a stacked Gaul army came steam rolling me cause all my troops were in North Africa

[@FullMetalXV]

you're pretty spot on with your description of the three Roman factions. In the descr.strat file at the top of each factions section Julii has Comfortable Caesar, Brutii has Balanced Stalin, and Scipii has Bureaucrat Napoleon. Every faction has a mix of some 2 words that I'm assuming dictate how the AI treats you, or how the AI faction plays itself, or maybe both lol. So like Carthage has Balanced Smith and Egypt has Religious Caesar. Lots of cool stuff you can find/ mess with in those files up to Medieval 2. Can't speak on Empire and Napoleon but I'm pretty sure thats when the 32-bit engine started so the console command and file edits were gone, idk could be way wrong on that particular part but the first part still holds true!

[@FullMetalXV]

Also why the Julii attack the Carthage real fast, they start of Hostile to them, the only Roman faction to start the game Hostile to anyone. And in your Macedon guide you mentioned that the Brutii will pretty much always declare war, they start of really close to the suspicious diplomacy state, but Macedon has no inherent hostilities so its kind of moving you in that direction I suppose. Gonna do a Macedon campaign and was thinking about lowering that initial hostility a little bit to get some more time to settle the Greek States.

[@CrimsonCavalierGaming]

My first faction ever was the Brutii. It was a tough campaign, but I had fun. They do hold a special place in my heart for that reason.

[@JL-uq6dq]

Experienced players can hamstring the other roman factions quickly- Just race to the other factions expected powerhouses: Patavium to hamstring the julii, and Carthage to Hamstring the Scipii or take the nearest greek teritories to slow down the brutii. by the civil war you only have to take on a few large armies of wandering principes and hastati as they don't go much further.

[@gamerk316]

Based on my most recent playthrough: Julii: Pros: Easiest initial expansion, can chunk the north of the map Cons: Horrid settlements, can run into mid-game trouble if the Britons knock out the Germans (Heavy-Calvary *sucks* to face, and I almost never invest in Triarii) Brutii: Pros: Greek settlements are generally good, most wonders are in their expansion path, can expand either north or east. Cons: Macedon can be an early game roadblock Scipii: Pros: Africa generally easy to conquer, Carthage is a *very* good city Cons: Hardest initial expansion (Syracuse has *walls*), poor initial settlements outside Sicaly & Carthage, must invest in an early navy, eastward expansion can get blocked by Brutii All things considered, the Julii are probably the best "Beginner" faction, but I do find the campaign can get difficult as mid-game Britons are low-key hard to deal with. The Brutii have the hardest initial expansion, but can paint the majority of the map the easiest if they get through Macedon. The Scipii are the slowest to get momentum, but if they can take Africa and expand through Egypt they can take the South and East basically uncontested.

[@andenfighter0078]

Personally i prefer the seleucids with their legionaries, and their access to literally the best units in all categories (legionaries, phalanx, cataphracs, siege equipment, war elephants,...)

[@commanderroddi7742]

I Agree. I Really like playing the Scipii. out of the Roman Factions. I did start with Julii, and it was easy at first, but then got harder, where as, with the Scipii, I found it is hard to take on Syracuse at first, but then its a bit easier until you get to Egypt. Brutii its interesting faction as well, bu Scipii is my favorite of the three.

[@lugotorix6173]

yess i totally agree, Scipii are very interesting

[@basedimperialism]

Just a top on pronunciations-- The Latin conjugation "ii" is pronounced as two seperate hard "e"s. It should be "Scip-ee-ee," "Jul-ee-ee," "Brut-ee-ee."

[@timothyernst8812]

And "Caesar" should be pronounced "KAI-sar" and "Cicero" Kee-KAY-row." That isn't how they're they're generally pronounced by English speakers, though, and Lugo is pronouncing them as they are pronounced in-game.

[@haha-pw7nv]

a note about julii. i love sending in barbarian mercenaries to distract enemies while my hastati cast pila. ive gotten so many barbarian mercenaries killed

[@roberttaylor8906]

i'm playing a scipii campaign where, in addition to moves in sicily, i built up my army a bit at my capital and sent it to patavium and took it before the julii even knew what was up...after i was established in sicily and carthage, i used that block of cities to create an invasion force that i sent to athens. now i'm trying to cockblock the brutii at thermon. they already got the settlements along the coast across from their capital but i should be able to sweep larissa and thessalonica before the brutii can adjust. from there the turkish coast.

[@shorewall]

It doesn't matter which faction I play, I always go for Greece. :D I usually play as Scipii, and I can take Syracuse easily by cheesing the wall defenses. I send my other initial army to snipe Caralis before the Julii can get to it, and then meet up at Lilybaem to push the Carthaginians out of Sicily. Then I send my combined forces to Sparta to start cutting off the Brutii, while I build up another army to assault Carthage itself. I did do an experimental run with the Brutii, where I took my two initial armies, and raced to cut off the other factions, taking Patavium before the Julii, and Syracuse to Carthage before the Scipii. That way you have the best cities that the other factions get access to, and then you can leisurely steamroll Greece to the Levant.

[@thespanishinquisition4078]

>Start with the faction that gets the best cities to conquer. >Take the best cities the other factions can take first anyway. You, sir, display a new level of cruelty. And I salute you for it.

[@bluey_fan968]

After completing 2 campaigns with each faction Brutii is the best. As you get the riches lands. After you take Greece you should max out the ports and roads. The Scipii were also pretty good but you are told to attack Carthage and most of the time they're stronger.

[@matugenustheconqueror9388]

In my opinion, Scipii is the best Roman faction in the game. On my Scipii VH/VH campaign, I captured Lillybaeum and Syracuse ASAP. Then I took Carthage and Thapsus. After that I sent my 1 group of soldiers to Spain and another group to modern day Turkey (Pergamum, Sardis, Halicarnassus). I started expand from these places and both Julii and Brutii weren't able to do anything. It is now 190 BC on my campaign. I am controlling all Africa, Middle East, Turkey, Spain, France and England (I destroyed Carthage, Greek cities, Numidia, Egypt, Gaul, Spain, Britons). Julii have only Arretium, Ariminum, Mediolanium and Patavium. Brutii have only Apollonia, Salona, Croton and Tarentum. Surprisingly Macedon became a superior and they are controlling from Sparta in south and Thracian, Dacian cities in north. Me as Scipii, Macedon and Germany are the strongest right now. If you play as Scipii, i recommend my strategy for you :)

[@redpanda7967]

Yeah, but if you play as the game wants you, it kinda goes to shit later game because Egypt is so strong.

[@DutchGuyMike]

Very Hard is bugged in Rome Total War vanilla (and some mods) and is easier than Hard as due to how the engine works you will be getting the same bonuses as the AI does (there's a lot of threads/posts on it to verify this issue).

[@khomypigeon]

It’s nice how this game is still alive. Regardless, I believe the Julii would be the best since they’re mostly fighting barbarians which isn’t too hard to deal with

[@SacredDaturaa]

The Brutii are really easy if you rely on auto-resolve, because the game consistently underrates phalanx troops and just looks at their stats, which by and large are poor compared to even hastati and principes. And once they have Greece and build some of the trade temples they are basically (a) extremely rich (b) have access to XP+3 buff from their other temple. The Egyptians can be tough if you don't deal with them early enough, but other than that the Brutii are a breeze. I would say they're slightly less straightforward than the Julii, but actually easier.

[@АлександрЗибик-ь5с]

Their start is trickier, but then they become incredibly powerful. It's the one faction I had the most trouble to fight against during Civil War.

[@totalwartimelapses6359]

About Sicily what you forgot to mention is that the AI is not properly programmes to do naval invasions and you can see how I fixed that on my channel Only Carthage is programmed to invade Sicily meaning once you destroy them, it's almost permanently safe from invasions

[@CaptainCsaba]

I think the differences are so small gameplay wise that this is mostly just min-maxing.

[@brodaviing6617]

My first campaign was Scipio, it was brutal and it was great.

[@ChocoMilk.o_o]

The first campaign I ever did was Skipii but I still beat it ! But after playing for a while I just stuck to Julii.

[@quintus5180]

Hey Lugotorix, do you remember me (Quictius Cincinnatus)? Very nice to see your still playing the best game of all time!

[@lugotorix6173]

yes i do! Thank you for the kind comment im glad you enjoy!

[@rangerminsc3152]

very well done! for me its the Brutii all the way!

[@tajulek]

Discussing Rome: Total War in 2020? I did not expect that

[@stevepirie8130]

Remaster in 2021? Certainly didn’t see that either!

[@wesleywyndam-pryce4081]

Brutii I love defeating the greece and all the factions around there then sailing to egypt the economy becomes god tier almost instantly 😂 I will always love the jullii really like your creating the roman empire from scratch disadvante is the economy takes a while to build up a lot of investment as all the settlements are low pop, scipii is a cool faction and you fight carthage but once thats over it gets a little like what now and the distance between each settlement is crazy a good navy is key

[@PwnZombie]

13:00 lol just take one turn to move your men to Sicily

[@CB-lw7ty]

For me the reason the Brutii are the best is that they can cut the other 2 factions off massively if you're smart about how you expand. You need to push into Greece for the extra revenue, then start sending forces up through Dacia and Germania to the North as well as sending a naval fleet across to Egypt. that way you cut half the map off to yourself limiting what the Julii and Scipii can do without having to travel miles. Makes the civil war alot easier too as you're only pushing on 1 massive front across the entire map that generally gives you strongholds as your front line.

[@Snotlingfondler]

I kinda love the blue colour scheme of the Scipii plus based on Scipio Africanus. Julii just feels like the right faction to pick though purely because red and, Y'know, Julius Caesar.

[@AAAaaaaaeeeeeeeee]

Great stuff as always

[@lugotorix6173]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@Moredakkamus]

Trick question, the answer is Germania

[@R08R]

Played a couple of years as "The Dutchman" Best game ever for me!

[@stellarsynth2007]

I believe for most of us Julii have special place in our hearts, yet the easiest campaign for me was Scipii, I was rich as Bill Gates, whereas, with Julii, I am always a poor peasant. Before I played it on my PC, now playing at my phone. Feral Interactive did a great job!

[@Spicecarius]

Augustus had all the problems of romes peace (Julii).. Antony had all the wealthy yet disconnected regions (brutii).. and lepidus was just there in the worst regions (scipii)

[@blackace5744]

thank you for making these vids

[@lugotorix6173]

Glad you like them!

[@alxawr9479]

I have not played Rome TW for over 10 years and this evening I will

[@skelo9033]

Brutii are the best. They take Greece first,collecting most of the wonders. Then,they can expand north or east,opening the world to your will.

[@Forjanes12]

I'm happy that someone plays this game and gets +30k views on some new videos.

[@giuliano1933]

I’d say the julii are the worst, they have enemies who can be hard and the barbaric areas are poor. The brutii have enemies who can be hard but the areas their in are rich mostly. The Scipii have weaker enemies and a mildly rich area of conquest. I’d say #1 Scipii, #2 Brutii, #3 Julii.

[@robbyg1232]

brutii just for all the bonuses from taking athens and the wonders.

[@lugotorix6173]

yess that is a good point

[@robbyg1232]

@@lugotorix6173 great videos btw dude keep them coming not many rome 1 YT left :(

[@lawrencelobdelliii2626]

I went to the game files and changed the requirements for the Corvus Quinquereme and Decere so any Roman faction can build them with regular docks, and I added a +3 experience boost to the Jupiter pantheon for the Julii so no matter what faction I play as the Romans are extra OP. 😂 Side note--I also went to the stat cost for ALL factions and changed the build time for every unit to only 1 turn. The AI (vanilla) actually builds a few more exotic late game units with those changes.

[@brainwashingdetergent4128]

Excellent advice that's exactly how I play Egypt except one thing I fight them in the fields instead of cities because Egypt is complete trash in the fields. They always split up and a light bronze age unit all by itself in a field is just asking for a calvary charge. Easy pickings. In the city they all pile into a uncontrollable mob then their chariots take off running over everyone mostly other Egyptians it just a train wreck. But in the field you can slaughter them with very few losses.

[@ondank]

LUGOTORIX VICTOR - EMPEROR OF ROME! At least, thats what I would always do.

[@MrDeflador]

Julii for an easy begginng a very easy lategame. But the mid game can be hard, because if you push to fast (what is easy) you are quickly sorrounded by enemies and definding against spain, galles, brittan and germany can be hard until you got your lategame units. Brutii: "Hardest" early game for a roman city, but you do get most of the wonders and pretty strong econmic citys very fast, so that after the harder early game you can easily steamroll trough the map with masiives armys. Scipii: A mix between the two. Stongest sea nation aand can easily control the whole sea. Because all of their first city will be on island the enemy (beside naval blockades) never going to attack your citys, so as sonn as you take control of the sea no nation (beside rom later on) is really a treath to you.

[@Herosquadnation]

Thanks for the video. Any plans on a "let's play"?

[@lugotorix6173]

No worries! I'm not sure yet, my current focus is on guides and experimental videos, but maybe in a bit!

[@MrMirkic]

i played all 3 and its blast i still remember this game foundly game of my childhood

[@nfwrambo]

I think the brutii might be best, but if my romans are any color other than red I’m going to have a god damn aneurism, so I’m stuck with Julii

[@ΘοδωρήςΠαρθιμος]

The great thing about a phone it shows you the ads best thing about a chromebook it dosen't show the ads

[@s4098429]

All factions can conquer in any direction, the senate even encourages it. As Julii I got missions to conquer Greece. First it stated as blockade port missions. The AI Brutii/Scipii can be very slow.

[@Saphintosh]

The Julii because their ennemies are the Gauls and as a french i mythified the war between the romans and the gauls bc of the asterix the gaul comics