Ranking EVERY Rome Total War Faction

[@szekhar7602]

Parthia/Scythia/ Armenia guide: 1. Build stables 2. Recruit stack of horse archers 3. Profit

[@hammer3721]

I see you too are a man of culture !

[@stygian8049]

You still need some pajamas boys to push rams

[@ramonalejandrosuare]

@@stygian8049 I prefer to hire mercenaries for that task.

[@stygian8049]

@@ramonalejandrosuare ah yes, mercenary pajamas boys

[@TribusSuionii]

@@stygian8049 This comment is so gucci it made my day xD

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

Who needs urban cohorts when you can have pink pajamas

[@canadian__ninja]

Urban Cohorts in purple pajamas. Just think about it.

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

@@canadian__ninjaWe know what they wear in battle but nobody knows what they wear in bed, after all.

[@lugotorix6173]

Hahaha at least they look fabulous

[@stygian8049]

@MGTOW is a Good idea! the rainbow warriors

[@robinnetten4941]

@MGTOW is a Good idea! u re not supposed to know this 😜

[@Dreadwaffle7]

"But then, wealth flows through this land." - Eastern intro guy showing Parthian army Me: "Lies."

[@lugotorix6173]

hahahha yeah i think he's a bit biased lol, the Mediterranean is where the cash it at lol

[@JB-xl2jc]

Interestingly enough, historically that was correct. Anatolia was some of the richest territory in that area of the world, by a LARGE margin, to the point that Roman generals would jockey for the ability to wage war there, since much of your spoils depended on where you were looting. Keeping your troops happy was easier if the spoils were greater. Gaul, for instance, of Caesar's conquering fame, was considered an utter backwater compared to the developed riches of modern day Turkey. Granted, that was biased, but still.

[@hishamseddiqee9528]

@@lugotorix6173, the map doesn’t even have the other half of the Parthian empire. Parthian empire was historically the richest and most powerful adversary the Romans ever faced except the Sassanians. Also, some important cities in Mesopotamia weren’t even in the game, like Ctesiphon

[@user-cm6tx7ib4z]

@@hishamseddiqee9528 yea 26:16 ☝️🤔 Germans have druids?! really?!

[@danielboggan2479]

@@JB-xl2jc Anatolia is rich in RTW, but Parthia isn’t in Anatolia. It’s three factions away from Anatolia

[@theluigideathstare8373]

This video is gonna blow up now that Rome Remastered has been announced

[@crusader7659]

All of his are, I like to think that he’s been playing the long game on his videos. Like sure, RTW is the best game ever, but its old enough that it’s weird for someone to make guides and stuff well over a decade later

[@BlazeTheGamer1]

I personally have never played a total war game, but love Roman history. I preordered Rome Remastered and am watching videos like this to help understand the gameplay a little before I jump into it.

[@neolink8197]

@@BlazeTheGamer1 It's a fantsstic game but not super historically accurate sp be prepared for that haha

[@meisterproper8304]

@@BlazeTheGamer1 if your PC isn't to bad i would recommend getting Rome 2 and playing it with the DEI mod. There are many submods that flesh out the Roman Roster to a ridiculous extend

[@paulrasmussen8953]

@@meisterproper8304 absolutely not Rome 2 sucks

[@nimble1111x]

Seleucids had a glitch exploit where their extra long pikes poked through gates which meant they could attack incoming rams causing that unit to drop the ram. Never lost a siege thanks to this :-D

[@NinjaSushi2]

There's a spearman unit in Age of Empires 2 that does the same thing.

[@G30rg31415]

Every phalanx could that

[@Edax_Royeaux]

I prefer the gates being broken, lets the enemy fall onto a wall of pikes while hot oil is poured on them.

[@LordVader1094]

​@@Edax_RoyeauxHot oil was in Med 2 not Rome 1 iirc

[@Edax_Royeaux]

@@LordVader1094 I've not played Med 2, but Rome 1 definitely had hot oil. It's the only Total War game I played that had that gate oil mechanic.

[@Danymok]

It's funny how the Parthian intro clip talks about how much gold and wealth flows through their desert. Seems like none of that wealth stops in Parthia.

[@lugotorix6173]

Hahahaha I know right! They really did Parthia dirty on this game lol

[@lugotorix6173]

Hahahaha I know right! They really did Parthia dirty on this game lol

[@wooshmeifurgay7452]

@@kozakabbc5188 Hahahaha I know right! They really did Parthia dirty on this game lol

[@wooshmeifurgay7452]

Hahahaha I know right! They really did Parthia dirty on this game lol

[@RnRWND73]

@@wooshmeifurgay7452 Hahahaha I know right! They really did Parthia dirty on this game lol

[@MrCr1spy1]

Both the video we wanted and the one we needed, cheers.

[@lugotorix6173]

haha I'm glad you like it!!

[@friendship9904]

@@lugotorix6173 thank U for this show I been playing this game over 15 yrs on and off it's my favourite game in the world I love games like that but there's only some thinks I didn't like is that we couldn't choose all the countries and ur right it's hard to get on country to other but this game helps me relax

[@nickjohnson6368]

Second these sentiments

[@jonathanjacksonn1766]

Nice video but where is SPQR 😂😂😂... Na just kidding, man my favourite faction is the Julii can't beat them. I won on easy and medium difficulty levels now I'm trying hard 👍👍

[@Matteolut]

Lugotorix releases a new RTW video Me : "My satisfaction is immeasurable and my day is saved"

[@lugotorix6173]

hahaha love this meme, glad you enjoy!

[@mredmond8393]

I am playing as Brutii, and I bribed a Germanic faction general to join my faction based on his name alone - Carolaus the Lewd. Haha

[@whatamidoingwithmylife4108]

@@mredmond8393 I would sell my whole economy for that guy ;-;. I would make him the faction heir even.

[@arshianourouzi1157]

2021 and we are still playing this game Best comiunity ever

[@paulrasmussen8953]

It's getting remastered

[@sebastianuchtdorf]

2022 :)

[@Lautaro92000]

2024❤

[@Lautaro92000]

Since 2007

[@NCR_TROOPER_NCR]

2024

[@EfnysYersina]

Germania is also the only barbarian faction with a phalanx unit.

[@julianlipsky2323]

I hate to fight vs them cuz phalanx op and they even have like kinda good morale so often not easy to break on very hard difficulty at least.

[@Agent_Ste]

you can defend your cities so easily with the spears

[@SirHosisofLiver]

@@julianlipsky2323 they're pretty killable by archers though, especially gallic archers, so if you survive long enough against them you'll get a perfect anti~german weapon in the late game

[@justintimeagain2341]

I love doing custom battles as Germania cause the only units I have seen that can beat berserkers are basically super heavy pikeman and elephants. Unfortunately when I tried to play Germania (I was like 12 so I was still not good at the game), I went bankrupt trying to get the berserkers.

[@monkeybaron6412]

@@Agent_Ste Bridges too

[@lucasbernier1263]

I would place Gaul lower, they have a similar start to the Seleucids without the benefit of large cities.

[@wearing_a_golden_facemask_9432]

true, but they do have the largest starting military to make up for it.

[@hammer3721]

@@wearing_a_golden_facemask_9432 And their military is crap, and the Julii shit really hard on it.

[@wearing_a_golden_facemask_9432]

@@hammer3721 true, AI Gaul gets destroyed by the Romans and hides out in Spain for half the game. What I am saying is that Gaul when controlled by the player has a lot of potential to expand very quickly and in a lot of locations due to their strong military beginning.

[@stygian8049]

I mean, seleucid always got slapped by 4-5 factions at the same time, while Gaul will spent their time fighting mostly romans, since brits usually go after germans, and spain prefer to turtling themselves

[@lucasbernier1263]

@@wearing_a_golden_facemask_9432 that is true, Gauls early game is faster paced and has more potential. But their late game is the opposite with the Seleucids being much stronger

[@gustavoguti27]

In my opinion seleucid is the best faction to play with. It could be challenging at first because everyone will try to get you, but that means more fun. If you manage to survive it you will end up with the strongest army and easily win the game

[@paulinasieron9261]

Well sir, good for u, after years i decided i try to go back to play and do qhat i consider to be cheese, scythia, fck me mate literally every pitch battle is like 3000 kills 100 deaths. Fcking absurd

[@duanjack8884]

no challege, you should attack first

[@tonymaloney7096]

surviving the initial challenge is too easy...you can never lose a settlement as Seleucids (or any Hellenistic faction for that matter) because your enemies have no way to fight pikes / hoplites in siege defenses. A full doomstack will literally go hear first and die against a single unit of phalanx

[@johndigiovanni5343]

@@tonymaloney7096until cavalry archers. They hit hard at very hard difficulty

[@Edax_Royeaux]

A strategy I adopted as an experiment was to abandon the starting position. Leave my eastern cities for the enemies and just keep Antioch (and maybe turn Babylon into a lone fortress). I push west as fast as possible and secure rebel anatolia and quickly conquer Greece. This puts me in a position to begin conquering Rome early, without having to deal with Egypt, the Parthians, or Pontus attacking from 3 sides. Athens starts out as a rebel city and should be the first target.

[@paulb3482]

congrats on 10k man you deserve it. It's a shame RTW youtubers don't get as enough attention as they should. Keep at it!

[@lugotorix6173]

Thank you for the support!

[@HoboHunterRik]

"The middle east is a mess in Rome Total War" Man just like in real life

[@beautifulaffliction1742]

Because of your filthy colonialist countries. Middle East is the best region in the world since we are so superior

[@cslantz4020]

@@beautifulaffliction1742 bigotry. the number one reason why everyone is better then everyone else. also i can see that major powers do play a bit in the middle east.

[@christinewestonchandler1]

the desert is just such a bad place to live, in every way lmao. it’s just dumb

[@Abuqital2000]

​@@christinewestonchandler1that's what I would expect a westerner who's never actually lived in the desert to say😂

[@christinewestonchandler1]

@@Abuqital2000 come to the us and you will never want to go back to your hellhole i promise you

[@FifinatorKlon]

IMHO Germania should be place one. Step 1: Select entire army Step 2: Press Berserkerbutton Step 3: Go get a coffee and come back to the victory screen Repeat until Rome has been civilized

[@hannibalburgers477]

you cant hire berserkers in early game if i dont remember wrong

[@ivancolonna7520]

Rome civilized by savages? Wtf???

[@saguntum-iberian-greekkons7014]

*Bikers growls intensifies*

[@thecoolbyzantine24]

numidia is most fun

[@pedrocaetano7193]

There is one faction, supposedly off limits, one can consider: The Rebels. Maybe only available in a cracked version (and you still need to hack one of the game's folders to make them available). Once I tried them and they were both pretty powerful but also a massive challenge. You start with a lot of settlements and a huge army, albeit spread-out across the map. Basically your first two/three turns you have almost a battle per settlement against the odds. It is definitely a lot of fun!

[@BronzetheGolden]

Rebels and the Roman Senate just need file editing regardless if your version is legit or cracked

[@maxmagnus777]

@@BronzetheGolden I never managed to play with them and I edited the file a lot of times to unlock all the factions.

[@TovKafur]

Rebels are piss easy (and very buggy), that's the problem. You can ignore public order and economy since you get free armies anyway. Quite a lot of factions can be strangled in their cradles by starting rebel forces (like Pontus or Dacia or Numidia).

[@Casketkrusher_]

@@TovKafur Duh, they weren't meant to be played. They're there to occupy land and cause devestation to settlements, which lowers your income so you have to hunt them down. That's the whole idea behind them.

[@IDONTGETTHEPOINT]

I would say it is subjective on what the best factions are, but I'm pretty sure we can all agree on the worst ones.

[@lugotorix6173]

hahaa thats true but I also think that any faction can be made powerful if you know what you're doing :)

[@DarkAgeKnight-sd6sg]

@@lugotorix6173 Exactly man, I won the game with Parthia, you can crush anyone if you know how to use the cavalry

[@johnirby8847]

@Tanner Austin Armenia played by a human is unstoppable after cataphract archers.

[@elizagevorgyan3155]

@@johnirby8847 Armenia played by an Armenian is hilarious but awesome

[@lukec1146]

The geography of Spain, making it difficult for communities to travel to others has been a weakness in creating unity throughout history until now.

[@guillegui6487]

Not now, now we can travel to other autonomies perfectly lol

[@iuliusconstantcornelio2018]

It is also an advantage if you are on the defensive.

[@richardlyon6692]

One thing that I think is an important factor to consider (for non-roman factions) is the distance from Italy in their starting position. For example playing as the Greeks, the Romans aren’t really too much of a worry as they haven’t had time to build up yet, and if you rush them, they can be dealt with quite easily. But for someone like Egypt, by the time you get over to the Romans, they’ve built up an empire, many armies, and may have even reached Marian Reforms, so can be quite a difficult foe. Keep up the great work bro, always excited to see you in my sub-box 👍

[@annoyance.2583]

Its very ironic considering Egypt is one faction that doesnt benefit from Marian reforms being triggered, all other factions could use having better bodyguards but Egypt gets a downgrade

[@jakub_qba]

Thats why I invade Alexandria quite early and I dont let Egypt to develop.

[@matthewtyerman1314]

Great stuff as always, really enjoy these videos. Nice to get content for RTW even now

[@lugotorix6173]

Thank you! Glad you enjoy the videos, I love making videos on this game I view it as a classic

[@NotlostMcTwitchyrat]

Wow, never been so early as to get first like, love your content.

[@lugotorix6173]

Thank you glad you enjoy!!

[@fpslevi3812]

Everyone gangsta till the Seleucids literally destroy an entire faction with a few hoplites

[@jonathanvonseydlitz4405]

15 years ago when played the game, i only got world domination with seleucids because i exploited their chariots/war wagons and i murdered all of my grown citys

[@BadNewsRuss]

Dacia seems to me broken that they can recruit Archer units in the main settlement from beginning its so OP on early battle againts other barbaric tribes

[@Vektordeformacio]

Numidia has this luxury as well. Tier 1 archery range archers are awesome. Archers, passable footmen + good cav/ranged cav is a setup for success.

[@boshengjones1778]

Archers and cavalry are so busted in this game. So many units in this game have low amour, range fire mow down troops like no other. Even light Cav charge knock over bodies, so easy to use any Cav to zerg swarm one side wing and cause chain route, anything other than phalanx and good spear have nightmare agasint Cav, and cav have low upkeep

[@BadNewsRuss]

@@boshengjones1778 indeed

[@Casketkrusher_]

They should've made it a mercenary unit that you can recruit from time to time instead of them having them early game. I don't know how good archers are for the auto reslove but Dacia out of all the barbarian factions is the one that conquers the most and usually survives for a long time.

[@pennalty9]

would love to see a ranking of all the medieval 2 factions in this format

[@alcaeus2]

Generally agree. Major factor: the early game units you have to work with. A rtw vet myself, I would switch Carthage with Thrace; play with Carthage on vh and start a war on each front (iberia, africa, sicily) - you will still roll everyone with a combination of light inf+cav. Try do the same with Thrace, you get rolled by everyone.

[@lugotorix6173]

Thank you thats very interesting, I spent a long time deliberating between Carthage, Thrace, and Dacia; and I originally put Carthage ahead but I didn't in the end because you are forced to engage with the Scipii from turn 1. Very interesting take though and I appreciate the feedback ! :)

[@deerhunter2270]

@@lugotorix6173 Now for me one of the big problems with Carthage is their early level infantry. Town Militia, Iberian Infantry & Libyan Spearmen are 3 of the weakest options in the game at each level. You have to reach Large City tier 4 before you can recruit the more decent Poeni Infantry. Thrace and Dacia's infantry options win at each of the first 3 levels comparitively.

[@LyricalDJ]

I haven't played as Thracia or Dacia but I would agree, especially if one focuses on cavalry. Cavalry in general is strong in most Total War games and Carthage has pretty good cavalry, especially early on (later on they are more likely to contend with other factions catching up or getting near other cavalry-focused factions, still good units, though). It is also a marked weak point of the Romans. Later on you can roll in the infantry for more diverse armies.

[@joefuller7405]

I was surprised you ranked Spain as the worst faction, They are my favorite barbarian faction to play. No real threats in the beginning , so easy to build up military buildings fast. The iberians infantry are cheap and good fodder for drawing range fire and breaking as a first wave on enemy troops while the scutari and naked fanatics hit second and break formations while thier adequate cavalry flank and rout the remaining troops . It is easy to get them economically viable if you take out the Carthaginians first. If you hit fast and hard early game with the spanish , they are deadly.

[@blasty137]

As someone who has played dozens of campaigns Carthage is definitely my favorite. But from the point of view of a beginner/average player Carthage has possibly THE worst starting position. Especially if you play on VH or even H difficulty as you have to outnumber Roman ships.

[@sushanalone]

You missed Germania's most unique and important asset: Fear causing units that can rout a roman legion with one fearsome charge. First line: Night raiders-Chosen Swordsmenx2-Berserkersx2- Chosen swordsmen x2 Night raiders Second line : Schreeching women-x2-2-4 Chosen Archer warband-Screeching women x2 2 Barbarian cavalry/noble cav on each flank. Warcry charge first line, night raiders go and flank, when the charge ends, turn on screeching women ability .

[@kennethflores-hv7uf]

They’re a good faction but you can go broke quick with them

[@gabefitzmaurice8341]

Lugotorix I love your content so so much I was just wondering if you would ever do a Seleucid empire campaign on the channel anyway keep up the good work bye.

[@lugotorix6173]

Thank you so much! If I was going to do another campaign the Seleucids would be high up my list because its a very interesting faction

[@The_Custos]

Please.

[@danielclark9546]

Great vid! I played a long campaign (10 years or so ago) where the Ai Scythia actually killed Armenia and then took on the Seleucid Empire and then conquered Egypt. Probably one in a thousand chance

[@lugotorix6173]

Thank you! Wow that must be super rare. For me they always just hang out in the north east corner until eventually the Brutii come and take them out

[@classifiedforlife.1466]

yOu DiDn'T pUt My FaVoRiTe As NuMbEr OnE! REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[@yetiproduction5075]

How are my elephant boys losing out on falksmen

[@seangallagher9435]

I was expecting Spain to be last but it still broke my heart.

[@zaatas]

I think you emphasize too much on starting location. You can play the game and let parts of your empire crumble, its okay. You don't have to be a pro player and defeat every army with 10:1 ratios using peasants and militia cavalry. The easiest way to avoid a bad starting location is to simply move, or shift your battle lines. Take the Seleucids. Just let them have Hatra, Secelucia and even Antioch if it's too much trouble for your skill level, some factions start with much less so losing a couple settlements is not going to break you. Pump all your effort into fighting Greece and Pontus. If you get aggressive with them and take advantage of the excellent mercs in Anatolia you can sweep them out just using auto resolves. Then just take a few islands, Rhodes is great for money, and you are pretty much set to turtle or be aggressive. I think you also under estimate their unit roster strength, the only roster that beats it are the marius romans, and that's debatable considering the romans have poor anti cav infantry (read non hoplite) and they lack a real strong defense to an elephant/scyth chariot charge followed by cataphracts. I think something you should pay more attention to in a ranking like this, would be not just their roster, but how quick they get their better units. If your focus is on the early game, then the roman factions should be somewhere in the middle of this ranking. And the greek factions should be like number 1. Within ten turns they can have 4 units of armored hoplites, multiple more normal hoplites, and cretan archers with a couple cav support. Like no other faction can make and support such a strong army so early as the greeks, not even their neighbors. Armored hoplites + cretan archers is a game breaking mechanic against the AI. *edit* Also, you don't mention the different general units, which makes a pretty big difference in the early game. The greek factions have shit tier generals, the eastern ones are the best- start out as strong as a roman general but can also fling javs and turns into a cataphract after the marius reforms. Also egypt, really good early general unit, turns into shittier than greek generals.

[@lugotorix6173]

Thank you for the feedback it’s interesting to see the perspective other people look at it from. Tbh there were so many factors to consider here that it’s very difficult haha, I can certainly say I like the Seleucid army though (and actually recently in a video where I was comparing the Hellenic factions I said they have the best army for that culture). I didn’t really think too much about generals and time it takes to recruit so that’s certainly interesting :)

[@saguntum-iberian-greekkons7014]

Indeed he focus overwhelmingly on the start position, i think he evaluates according to the AI achievements and failures. Of course the Seleucids gonna be viewed badly if we rank it according to miserable AI (the ai autoresolves makes their units weak especially if barely outnumbered)?but yeah the Seleucids have the Best Army, the only counter could be the fire pigs (all Roman factions have them) the Seleucid, like the Macedonians have the best Melee Cavalry in tbe game so they could easily outmaneuver the Romans bevause as you said the Romies don’t really have anti-cavaly (They lose their Triarii)

[@zaatas]

@@saguntum-iberian-greekkons7014 They have counters, just not the best one which is a line of hoplites units with their bristle facing towards the charge. Even the weakest hoplite unit will crush scyth chariots into dust, its like they switch to lava pikes and melt any chariot. Elephants do fare better against hoplites, but not much, and if they get engaged in any prolonged melee they are toast as well. I don't ever build pigs because they seem like a meme unit to me, they don't even have a 100% guarantee to do the one job you bring them for. I think dogs do a similar job, but also have the added benefit of doing actual damage to troops. Their best counter to elephants specifically is a couple artillery pieces like scorpions or ballista. Every shot has a really good chance of forcing the elephants into a panic, or just outright ending them. The problem is they don't have a stable line to protect these pieces. And if its a player vs player scenario, they are generally going to be smart enough to hit your line taking the least amount of accurate shots. And finally, the triari are actually half decent against normal cav in a prolonged melee, I would much prefer them over say a militia hoplite in most situations (not against chariots) the problem is they lack the cohesion a pike unit has and frontal strength that negates charges. They do end up with lesser spearman in the reforms that function similar. But by that time, they have their super cav units, so its just better to build those to counter traditional cav units. I usually make sure to hire every greek hoplite merc I can get when I'm playing the romans. One unit can be spread 2 man thin, and overlapped in front of a 2-3 legion units, to give their frontline that needed bristle effect.

[@Qladstone]

Let's have one for Barbarian Invasion too!

[@tobysullivan3510]

Germania doesn’t have Druids, they have Screeching Women who aren’t as good. Doesn’t matter though because their phalanxes that shouldn’t even exist and their Berserkers make them ridiculous. As a British player I’ve found it is possible to beat German phalanx armies but it requires a lot of tactics and a specific army build (50/50 mix of Light Chariots and Head Hurlers). I find the Romans easier to fight than the Germans in the early game with either Britannia or Gaul, because you can train Swordsmen from your capital right from the start and Swordsmen are a direct counter to Hastati. Germans on the other hand get phalanxes right from the start which can only be beaten with Light Chariots/Head Hurlers for the Britons (who are mid-game units) and Foresters for the Gauls (who are late-game)

[@helikos1]

Yeah ennit, why do the germanic spear warbands have the ability of highly trained disciplined troops. Considering how in RTW they portrayed the barbarians as just savages, more or less.

[@doubledouble4g379]

19 - I never use the Bull Warriors - too expensive and by that time I've usually got the game won. 18 - They can't build Paved Roads, irks me to no end considering how advanced they are otherwise. 17 - Early Archer recruitment is pretty great and once you get ahold of Carthage, you start snowballing pretty quick. 16 - Damn fine late game units, but starting infantry is quite lacking - Militia Hoplites are basically Pink Pyjama Bois that can form a Phalanx. 15 - I like to block-off the Scythians with forts in the mountains - less I have to deal with them, the better. Parthia and Pontus provide relatively soft early targets as long as you're not reckless. 14 - No cav spam, no archer or phalanx spam. You can't start any further away from the Wonders. With no main strength, you'll have to rely on morale damage to get things done on the battlefield while keeping your squishy generals out of harm's way. This is NOT a noob friendly faction. 13 - This might be a harder start than the Seleucids since you start bordering Rome, but knocking them out early is preferable to dealing with them mid to late game. 12 - ELEPHANTS! WOOOOOO! You essentially have fast-moving siege equipment, one of the best starting settlements, a foothold on Sicily and Numidia is essentially a punching-bag. 11 - The only Barbarian faction that can build siege equipment, making them fairly unique and interesting. Thrace, Scythia and Macedon are fairly weak starting opposition as well. 10 - My fav faction to be honest - decent start on the Black Sea, decent unit roster and I love the color :) 9 - They're my most hated faction and I've never had a start with them that I've found anything other than annoying. I know they have upsides but I've never enjoyed playing as Pontus. 8 - You START with the best Wonder in the game and can quickly take #2 and a couple others very early. You can recruit the best mercenary units in the game right away. You can recruit SPARTAN HOPLITES. Your central location also means you can cripple the Romans and Egypt fairly early before they can really get rolling. Love these guys. 7 - Who doesn't love roleplaying as Alexander? 6 - Perfect campaign for when you're sick and just want to coast through the game. 5 - BERZERKER BOIS! WOOOOOOO! They have my fav unit in the game and I love the way their army evolves as it techs-up - it's more defensive in the beginning and more offensive once you're fully upgraded. It's also the only faction where I use ALL of the different religious buildings instead of just spamming the same one everywhere. 4 - Another evolving faction like Germany, the way you play the army changes as you tech-up. You start with two Wonders and can quickly access the rest. You also start with some of the best settlements in the game. 3 - I'd honestly put them at #2 - Patavium is one of the 10 best settlements in the game and the opposition makes them pretty noob friendly. You can roleplay as Caesar if you want, too. 2 - I'd put them at #3 due to their fragmented starting position, not to mention the 1st settlement the Senate wants you to take is Syracuse - a city with Hoplite bois and proper stone walls. They're the hardest start of the 3 Roman factions. 1- The Senate will tell you to conquer the best region in the game and PAY you to do it, and they come with Juno - the best religion in the game. No question that they're #1.

[@Nonkel_Jef]

Numidia is worse than Spain, in my Opinion. They have comparably terrible economy and units, but as Numidia you'll have to deal with powerful factions like Egypt, Carthage and Scipii early on, while as Spain you should be able to take some easy territory from Gaul.

[@Vektordeformacio]

Yeah, but Numidia has tier 1 archers, better access to the mediterrean, if you sacrifice/Abaddon Siwa you will just have 2 fronts. Sicily and Tingi with the Spanish. Egypt will not go for you as Numidia if there are 2 rebel desert provinces and will do it's own thing in the east. Beating the hastati and wardogs with a mixed army of archers, long shield/Camels and desert Spears is highly possible. All your units that you shall use are fast moving and good morale and stamina. Bringing the fight to the heart of Italy it gets harder, but your navy is the same as Carthage, so pincer movements are possible. You just have to take Carthage for profit, and expand into Sicily. Spain has no other options than to tech up to long shields and bull warriors and mine silver. No grain, weaker naval presence, Gauls to beat. And you can put nothing to beat the British chariots. Numidia has Spears and fire arrows to handle elephants and chariots.

[@martonk]

Q and A question: I have a theory that RTW's simplicity in looks and in mechanisms is why one can easily let his imagination go while playing, much like while playing with legos, the player creates the "story" of the game while doing a campaign. What's your opinion on that?

[@lugotorix6173]

That’s a very interesting question thank you :)

[@niallreid7664]

That's funny I've been having the same thoughts. The clear, simple nature of the unit design makes it really easy and clear to role-play, along with the map being straightforward looking. I was thinking about this when playing med 2 and rome. Med 2 has much more detailed models that look great but the simple nature of the rome models makes them stand out in my head more. If that makes sense. They're more iconic I think is what I'm trying to say. And the remaster fixed the clone problem. Med 2 has some amazing looking stuff too though don't get me wrong.

[@Hyde_Hill]

I love the Seleucids, if you can manage a decent start you can kick ass.

[@kevin06289]

In barbarian invasion, and also in medieval 2 game files, there is the Marián reform and it is off by default, do you know what will happen if it is enabled?

[@lugotorix6173]

I didn't know that to be honest, but I would be very intrigued to investigate it

[@NotlostMcTwitchyrat]

Rome Returns

[@Recruitsoldier]

I would definitely place Britannia much higher up. I think one of, if not the, most significant factors contributing to an easy campaign is having as few early-game fronts to deal with as possible, especially for the average player. Also important is for one's early-game enemies to have other enemies to worry about. In these respects, Britannia is perhaps the best faction in the game. In a sense, they have no fronts at all at the start (except for defending Samarobriva) due to the fact that the AI really doesn't understand how to use fleets. On account of this, you can just chill on your island for as long as you want, until you feel ready to attack Gaul or Germania. And then, even when you do this, you've only got 2 fronts to worry about, although the front you share with Gaul isn't much to worry about, because Gaul just gets absolutely obliterated by the Julii. For this reason, you've really only got to worry about Germania at this point. As you're fighting Germania, you will tend to have the advantage, in pitched battles especially, owing to your chariots. In the video you mentioned that you prefer regular cavalry to chariots, but in my opinion chariots, although perhaps not as versatile as cavalry, are ridiculously strong for two reasons: first, they absolutely shred enemy cavalry, rendering that element of your enemy's army completely useless (especially when fighting the AI, as they will stupidly charge into your chariots), and second, because they scare infantry, meaning that a well-timed chariot charge against your enemy's infantry line will completely break them. Then, the enemy's missile troops can be easily mopped up. This means that in every battle you have a very easy path to victory, due to the inability of the AI to think creatively: charge the enemy's infantry line with your infantry and charge the enemy's cavalry with your chariots, defeating them; then, hammer-and-anvil your enemy's infantry line with your chariots, likely routing them instantly; then, mop up whatever enemy units remain with your entire army. This strategy works especially well against Germania due to their generally poor morale. So, your path to the mid-game as Britannia is really quite easy, as you can conquer Germania and whatever parts of Gaul are up for grabs, setting yourself up perfectly for taking on the Romans. As such, I really think Britannia is one of the easiest factions in the game.

[@duanegreaves2232]

I've played this version since it was released back in 04/05 Lugotorix is pretty spot on here. Brutti have the best position by far. The only folks they need to worry about is Macedon as Julii have to deal with Gaul but I prefer Scipii. I like their position of being on Sicily. You get a naval boost too. You can rule Med seas very quickly with Scippi. I'm quite brazen I will send an army to Kathos straight off the bat and get it settled Kydonia. At that point you have a foothold in Greece without having to initiate a war. Gets some elegancies. I will usually side with Macedon over Greece because you have to take their settlement on Sicily. Love this game I am so surprised but happy its get getting remastered .

[@chelsblue7370]

one province one settlement is so very outdated now, it sucks big time.

[@lugotorix6173]

Please comment your QnA questions below!! I will try and answer as many as possible in the video (which I will record in the next few days), If I can’t for whatever reason I will definitely reply to your comment with an answer 😊 Notes on this video (spoilers!!): I put the Seleucids above a few other factions mainly because they do have some well developed settlements at the start, whereas Parthia, Numidia, and Spain do not. I put Germania above Scythia only because they have a more diverse army suitable for any situation. Although Scythia is better in the open field, Germania is better at taking/defending settlements which makes them marginally better in my opinion.

[@randomname2159]

any plans for rome 2, or attila? good content, keep it up!

[@welwelwel5212]

Keep up the good work👍👍👍👍

[@lugotorix6173]

@@randomname2159 Thank you, I've never played those games before. For now I'm focusing on the older games but maybe I'll expand my content in the future!

[@lugotorix6173]

@@welwelwel5212 Thank you, will do!

[@welwelwel5212]

@@lugotorix6173 not atall. This is the only channel on whick totol var.

[@bradynewbold3763]

The Brurii I were the first ones I ever played as but the Seleucids are my favorite.

[@overboss9599]

My first campaign was as the Julii, then I tried as sparta and unlocked selucia. Boy, the combo of silver Legionaries and heavy cataphracts is a beautiful hammer and anvil which breaks enemy formations and then runs them down, basically ruining an army in a single engagement. While the phaylx and archer combo makes street to street fighting almost easy.

[@bradynewbold3763]

@@overboss9599 I agree the main problem I ran into was when I got around to the Romans occasionally I want it to be lazy and auto resolve but that’s just not an option with the Romans I could never trust auto resolve to go in my favor. I think part of the reason I like the Seleucids is because of the challenge though you can very easily end up fighting wars on all fronts and turning that around it’s just so satisfying.

[@albbb96]

Ah, finally, the best RTW youtuber returned! As for the question: would you like to try some mods? Not necessary the big and scary one but something like Mundus Magnus that only changes the map by adding tons of rebel settlements and moving some starting positions a bit (Parthia finally makes sense!). Also some versions of it add new small units making weak factions stronger.

[@lugotorix6173]

Thank you for the question!

[@vukasinvlajic152]

Thank you for your effort mate, especially for a game that's 17 years old. We appreciate it sir, RTW still has an amazing fanbase.

[@eduardosousa9106]

hey! Would you be interested in trying a mod that adds three different campaigns to the game (with new factions, units, cities, maps, etc) without overhauling it?

[@boarfaceswinejaw4516]

what is this mod?

[@Blooticus]

@@boarfaceswinejaw4516 it's called 'Greek mod' Melkor features it on his channel. Don't think it adds any new factions, though

[@eduardosousa9106]

@@boarfaceswinejaw4516 its a mod i've created (not greek mod as the other guy said)

[@eduardosousa9106]

@@Blooticus its not that tho

[@gabbo7101]

@@eduardosousa9106 is it vanilla enhancement?

[@oditeomnes]

I found Romans to be powerful in terms of versatility and tough basic infantry. Hastati with their shield can deal with early game cav or infantry charges very well. Deadlocking enemy with them makes for brutally efficient tactics without too much micro. Other factions are so specialized, that someone is bound to counter them easily.

[@crazyhercules9442]

Lugotorix.... the ‘Son of Vercingetorix’😤🔥Keep up the good content you magnificent bastard❤️

[@lugotorix6173]

Haha thank you so much man, plenty more to come!

[@zira9827]

Hello, nice video, I would really apricciate the same Medieval 2 list.

[@lars9925]

I disagree with two of your points: - Britannia is too low on the list. They have the safest starting position in the game and their chariots rule the other barbarians. - Julii should be #2. Scipii have way more trouble in the early game and after they conquered Carthage they have a lot of empty desert around them. And if they are slow (we are talking about average players here) other factions do actually steel parts of their desired territory.

[@robertwood9572]

What’s weird is that while I recognize that Roman units can steamroll Briton and other barbarian factions, the only time I’ve beaten the grand campaign on harder difficulties is with the Britons.

[@darklex5150]

Chariots?

[@porocoal5559]

I have been playing the game for 5 hours and tried the Macedonian faction and i got 5 enemies already😢

[@thattimestampguy]

2:19 Spain, The Weakest Faction 4:03 Parthia 6:25 Numidia 7:36 Selucid 9:27 Armenia 10:28 Britannia 12:32 Gaul 14:54 Carthage 16:44 Dacia 18:46 Thrace 20:17 Pontus 21:47 Greek Cities 23:23 Macedon 24:20 Scythia 26:12 Germania 27:32 Egypt 29:11 Julii, Scipii, Bruti 31:50 Overall

[@hughgpauwels]

For an expert player, Parthia, The Seleucids and Armenia move up significantly. Expert Rankings by campaign difficulty/late game potential: 1. Roman Julii (I pity the Barbarians against them...yeah, easiest opponents and best quick expansion opportunity of the three Roman factions) 2. Egypt (Easiest starting position in the game + have a better roster than Greece in a lot of ways with better chariots and better cavalry- their phalanxes are a bit weaker but they have a good roster) 3. Macedon (most centralized starting position in the game and has a great roster from early to late game- your a bit surrounded but that's not the end of the world for you because your army can deal with that better than the Seleucids could) 4. Roman Brutii (Less easy than the three above, but still rather easy and you are pointed towards all 7 wonders early on, but your enemies are definitely tougher) 5. The Greeks (They go this high because their infantry is so good to the point they almost don't need cavalry. But they are the only faction that can boast that, plus of the "split" factions, they have the most manageable situation) 6. Carthage (this is the first moderate difficulty campaign because your situation is not nearly as good as Greece to start with units that can't stand up to anything but Numidia and Spain, and they are the least of your concerns. Although Elephants are your great equalizer) 7. Seleucids (They go all the way up here because they are not dogged by Armenia's economic woes at the beginning, and they arguably have the most diverse unit roster in the game of good solid troops) 8. Roman Scipii (Unfortunately the Scipii are the most likely to struggle the most in the Roman Civil War, and aren't pointed towards the most chance to expand, so winning as the Greeks, Carthage, and even the Seleucids is easier for an expert player) 9. Britannia (Safest starting location in the game, but their unwieldy unit roster can trip up expert players and chariots are overrated) 10. Armenia (I put them this high because they have the best late game of any faction in the game, but getting out of the blocks could even trip up the most experienced players for this faction) 11. Pontus (I put Pontus lower than Armenia because their late game is just not quite as good, and expert players know to get there) 12. Germania (Unfortunately the barbarian factions really suffer in this one, regardless of player skill. Britannia was placed higher because of their unique starting position, that's it) 13. Scythia (Struggle with Infantry but the best players can thrive with this faction given they have one of the best Cavalry rosters in the game, plus for one unit, Axemen aren't bad as an infantry unit) 14. Parthia (Quite an improvement from an average player's ranking, but their infantry woes still count against them, and because their infantry is worse than Scythia, they go here. However once they can get a few level 3-5 settlements, they become quite a bit easier for an expert.) 15. Gaul (You are in a worse position than the Seleucids to start and you lack the same late game army the Seleucids and Armenians have and are held back by a Barbarian faction limitations. Cavalry gets unevenly balanced in these ratings, and Gaul just doesn't have the same stuff) 16. Thrace (Weak early game, less than impressive late game+ they can only reach a tier 4 settlement, or tier 4 improvements in most huge cities (I forget exactly. Early borders are a problem. Dacia is kinda weak but you have no answer for Horse Archers of Scythia to start) 17. Spain (Terrible split up empire with no infrastructure, terrible early game, although their unit roster is quite interesting and has some good in the late game, especially with Infantry. Also your generals bodyguards are Carthaginian, I believe. The only advantage is that you don't have any powerful neighbors) 18. Numidia (Worst Starting economy, but that can change early on because you have a profitable neighbor in Carthage. Also a rather weak unit roster. Not much that most players can do with it, besides Legend) 19. Dacia (Worst starting position in the game and not good economically. They have some good techs early on that help to a degree, but their cavalry are outclassed by Scythia, Infantry by Thrace and Macedon, and those are your neighbors. Too many powerful neighbors and a rather limited roster make them the hardest for an expert)

[@jonsnow7092]

Fully disagree with Dacia being the hardest. Their roster is one of the simplest but it is extremely effective. Chosen swordsmen +chosen archers has to be one of the most cost effective combos in the game and it stands its ground all the way up to the most elite units. Even on VH/VH, it takes a while for AI to get to the elite units doom stacks and by that time, your empire should be large enough to simply steamroll everything. On lower difficulties you can play as you want but on VH/VH, the early game is indeed tricky. As long as you don't fall into the trap of expanding to the very poor regions in the west or worse, turtle; you are fine. Scythians will never attack you unless you leave settlements undefended and Thrace will be friendly towards you early game (like any faction, they will not resist the temptation of a free settlement so always have some garrison). Germany and Macedon will be very aggressive towards you from the start. You can abandon the crap settlement in the top right and delay the fight with Germans for a bit, but Macedon, despite being surrounded by Romans and Greeks, will make their life mission to take you out first in every single campaign. The way to play Dacia correctly is pretty straight forward. Use the stupidly immense advantage you have early on: ARCHERS from turn 1. Literally all your neighbors have units that are extremely vulnerable to archers; and your warbands are more than enough to counter cavalry heavy comps of Macedon. You literally queue a bunch of archers and a few buildings with starting money (you will go negative anyway), take everything you have turn 1 and go straight for Macedon, reinforcing with the archers. Play the battles smart, abuse the extreme levels of damage archers do early on, and protect them with your warbands. After you take the first 2 Macedonian cities, they will not be able to throw those full stacks at you every couple turns. At this point, you consolidate your economy (the 2 settlements will get your economy rolling) and get some garrisons everywhere, in order to avoid surprise attacks. Next, you either finish off Macedon or go murder Thrace real quick (Thrace is even more vulnerable to arrow fire than Macedon). Afterwards, you take the whole Greece before Romans get strong and at this point the game is over, nothing stands in your way, as you start spamming chosen/chosen full stacks and you can easily invade Italy.

[@hughgpauwels]

That's a good counter argument. Knowing that Numidians need to take Rome to win the game and most of their troops suffer outside of the desert- I think there can be a case that Dacia is actually easier than Numidia overall. Maybe the early game is tougher, but overall you might be right. Good argument!@@jonsnow7092

[@hughgpauwels]

Plus chosen swordsmen are probably second or third or fourth best on walls (depending on your playstyle) behind Roman Cohorts and maybe Spartan Hoplites and maybe Sacred Band. They might be better than Hoplites. @@jonsnow7092

[@hughgpauwels]

In fact you can make a case that anyone of my bottom 5 is the toughest. I can see the argument for Gaul (no early archers). I can see the argument for Spain (no great troops until you get level 3 settlements). Thrace has units that are vulnerable to archers and cavalry, and your neighbors have a mix of that or both. Numidia just has IMO the weakest unit roster in the game but not the worst starting position. Dacia competes with Armenia for worst starting position, and doesn't have the same late game as Armenia for a player. There's really a case for all 5 of those. The ones above the bottom 5 have something that clearly stands out about them- Parthia has excellent cavalry, for instance, and doesn't have the strongest or most aggressive neighbors, at least initially.@@jonsnow7092

[@hughgpauwels]

Your playstyle seems very similar to mine with Armenia. I bum rush the Seleucids, spam Horse Archers, and try to take Antioch in the first ten turns. At most points the Seleucids will have built a cavalry stable and you can start spamming the beautifully magnificent Cat Archers. Amass 10-15 in each stack and even the best Roman armies will melt because they are broken in melee combat as well.@@jonsnow7092

[@PhlilipeAlves]

Carthage 12? Seriously! They are awesome. I love their infantry, cavalry and their elephants. And they have great buildings to evolve in the game.

[@ajavierb2078]

How can you put dacia above the sleucids!

[@EricStPierre]

Better Campaign settings I guess. Selucids are one of my best factions to play as in custom battles. Having silver legions & silver shield pikes really makes for an over powered combo.

[@danielboggan2479]

He said it’s for the average level player. The average player will probably lose a Seleucid campaign if it’s not on easy.

[@lugotorix6173]

For an average level player the Seleucids is arguably the toughest campaign

[@ajavierb2078]

@@lugotorix6173 i agree that it is not high in the list but if you are fighting the roman factions you have a better time with seleucids than with dacia. And the roman factions can be pretty tough. (Sorry for my englisch)

[@danielboggan2479]

@@ajavierb2078 the average player will wipe with the Seleucids before Rome ever arrives

[@chivalryisdead6440]

Hi! The maintenance of the egyptian units is rather high. I also hated the fact that early game the generals are part of chariot units and had a tendency to die because of it. Other than that it's a really nice faction to plan for both beginners as well as more experienced players. Great units and lots of temples to pick from and also the academy to create good governors. Back in the day I mostly liked playing the gauls and carthage. Gauls are fun because early game you have to play barbarian cavalry a lot but you have to switch to foresters later on. Not easy and really cool! And carthage because you have to focus on economy early on with units that are not the greatest. Later on there are far better units but they are expensive in maintenance. It's really difficult to pick a favorite faction and in my opinion that's what makes this game great. The units from different factions are really quite different and force you into playing the factions differently. Later total war games had more different units but those units all to often were mainly different in name. Without a doubt the most hilarious and fun unit to play were the germanian beserkers. It's difficult to play with them but if you do it right these guys are ultimate killers. Nostalgia. TY!

[@toeray5864]

*furiously takes notes before the remaster releases*

[@lunanova723]

Seleucid Empire once stabilized they are Virtually Unstoppable

[@Disaster_Effect]

Some notes for avg player like me: Parthia is very hard indeed. Imagine your only strength is cavalry, and you are surrounded by factions with anti-cavalry units 😅And you still need to make progress ASAP, otherwise egypt will get too strong or even Rome will get there to take cities from Pontus side. Numidia has weak economy, but with your starting army you can just take Carthage in a few turns and the problem will be completely solved. Seleucids and Britannia - not agree with their place here, they are strongest for avg player from my exp. Britannia can just make no-brain attacks and win every fight, Germannia included. You can complete campaign (50 cities) by 242 BC just rolling over. Seleucids might be hard for your first try, but for 2nd and all others it is very easy, when you know what to expect. Basically yes - cities are spread out, so you need to consider that and make cities self-sustain with training units every turn. And Seleucids have the best economy early game, which will allow this to work. In about ~10 turns you can just attack all neighbors with 3-4 different armies. So in the end Seleucids are not so hard - just train units and press attack, it is not rocket-science, and do not expect other factions to be peaceful 😄 Carthage - your initial army on the island with greeks and Rome is enough to take all cities there. Then it is all about having better ships than Rome - you can destroy their armies in see. Don't be in rush with counter-attack after that, because if you'll take, for example, capital of Scipii, then you will have to defend it there in place instead of see-battles, so go for it only when you are really ready (e.g. you have 2 full armies for Rome side). Scythia is kinda ok, but for avg player it should be placed below Pontus for sure.

[@jonnyo1999]

Seleucid Empire: "Very difficult starting position" Me: *laughs and points to my Seleucid Empire campaign*

[@Klubargutan]

I will definitely put Scipii at 1, Julii at 2 and Brutii at 3. It doesn't matter where senate sends you. Brutii have the WORST temples - no UU or good bonuses at all. Julii have growth + Arcani, and Scipii have deceres and lvl 3 weapons. Easy choice

[@PiperTMTotalWar]

Nice video- great to see people are still putting a lot of effort and thought into this classic game! The strengths of the factions really depends on the unit size. Rome is always going to be strong on any size, however the skirmish factions eg Egypt/Britannia/Parthia etc become very powerful on normal settings. With the campaign included, I'd definitely rank the Rome factions as the strongest in terms of playability. Julii probably as the overall most powerful, just on the basis of the weak factions Gaul/Germania/Spain to the North. Keep up the great work looking forward to your future videos!

[@jimmythebusdriver]

Agree mostly, but I don't believe Scythians or Dacians should be this high up, especially considering you were looking at this from the perspective of an average player. I believe horsearchers need a lot of micro and understanding when and where to attack, and the Dacians only have like 2 good units on their roster, which need a lot of time to build up to in order to be able to recruit them. Parthia on the other hand I believe is a bit easier for an average player (despite the lack of infantry and reliance on horsearchers), because their starting position right on the edge of the map is easily defendable as you only have to focus towards one direction - west.

[@lugotorix6173]

Yeahh I’ll admit possible Dacia is a bit too high. For me Scythia is good for an early player because of the factions that are around, barbarian factions with slow moving heavy infantry troops means that the horse archers don’t need to be micromanaged that much. For example if you face germania and their phalanxes, you can take out a huge army by just setting your horse archers to skirmish mode and sitting back, you don’t even have to press any buttons to wipe out a full army haha. Parthia I’ll admit I may have been a bit harsh on, but although they are completely safe from the east, I still think that to the west is a mess. Egypt is strong, seleucids have a good army, and Armenia can be annoying if thy catch you out when you’ve moves your armies out

[@danielrojasruiz884]

Hearing you say that Egypt is the most powerful non-roman faction makes me feel useless because my Egypt campaign was a failure jajaja Congratulations on the 10k suscribers Lugotorix, here's a question for the Q&A: When was the first time you played rtw and which faction did you played first?

[@lugotorix6173]

Hahaha it’s okay, any campaign can go wrong sometimes it’s just down to bad luck. Thank you for the question and the support!

[@johnirby8847]

Armenia, you have to abandon your original cities, get on boats, and take Thessalonika and Greece. Pro tip.

[@name-os8kl]

I recently started to watch your videos, now I subscribed with joy. Amazing content, and I do appreciate your oratory. I noticed how you always spend some minutes in all your faction guide videos saying how bad the peasants are 🤣. My question is: will the Armenia campaign continue? Blesses to you.

[@jamesflynn4951]

Peasants have one use. Population migration

[@Owlr4ider]

Spain worse faction? What...? Even for the average player you have Scutarii early on before Bull Warriors so your early game armies aren't terrible. Gaul is rarely aggressive against you because they're too busy with Britannia, Germania and of course the Julii. Likewise Carthage isn't really a threat to you because they're busy with the Scipii and often Numidia too, so even if you're an average level player you can take your time and slowly but surely unite Iberia and from there go into either Africa or Gaul and eventually fight the Romans(after you have Bull Warriors who wipe the floor with pre-Marian Romans). Also Iberia is actually quite rich, especially once you get a port or 2 and some trade agreements, which is very easy to get very early on. Not nearly as rich as Egypt, Greece, Anatolia or Italy but it's not a poor region either. Also if you rank Parthia at 18 than Scythia should be 17 for basically the same reasons as Parthia, just with slightly better infantry and foot archers. Similarly the Seleucids at 16? What...? Even if you're an average player you can afford to lose a few cities and focus all your efforts on say Antioch and Tarsus, giving up the rest initially, build up a strong foundation from there than begin using your amazing roster to dominate your neighbors. I mean sure it's a pretty challenging start for a new player, an average player however should at least be able to survive(whereas an experienced player can absolutely thrive) long enough for your high quality roster to come online and help you out. I'd actually say Gaul is pretty close to the Seleucids in terms of difficulty for new and possibly average players because just like the Seleucids as the Gauls you'll be attacked from all sides. The Julii from Italy, Britannia from Normandy, Germania from Alsace-Lorraine and Iberia from well, Iberia. Of course once you hold off the initial onslaught you're golden, and for an experienced player Gaul is actually a very powerful start, but since you're talking average(or arguably even beginner) players than I'd have to say Gaul is pretty difficult, arguably even more so than the Seleucids as you'll be fighting all the Roman factions right off the bat and they aren't likely to ever sign a peace treaty with you even after losing say Cisalpine Gaul, unlike the Seleucids who might be able to peace out Pontus for example after losing Hatra to them. Also Seleucid late game roster>>>Gaul late game roster. When it comes to Dacia and similar factions, there's a big difference between a short and long campaign. I agree with you that when it comes to a short campaign those factions are easy enough for a new/average player, however if going for a long campaign things change drastically. The long campaign requires you take more provinces which forces you to fight against the powerhouse factions. This is made worst if as you say you're taking it slow and steady, expanding into the weak rebel settlements first rather than rushing down towards Greece for example(which is what an experienced Dacian player would do) so by the time you do get to say Greece it's likely the Brutii have already conquered it or you take it from Macedon only to have the Brutii immediately attack you for it. Same scenario on other fronts against other civs, it was just an example for nations with a similar starting position to Dacia. Also Egypt weaker than the Roman factions for a new/average player? Why...?

[@Mojo2996]

This ranking will blow up with views when the remastered version is released!

[@blakelester1776]

Armenia gets no respect. Granted their start position isn’t ideal but if you focus on Anatolia taking Sinope then breaking out towards Egypt and Greece their Cataphract archers are one of the best units in the game. Plus if you don’t want to cheese every siege their legionnaires are good enough to get your cav in the city. I mean Roman factions are going to dominate especially after the Marian reforms. A stack of Catphract archers can rough up the best infantry armies with volleys then tactical charges.

[@wearing_a_golden_facemask_9432]

Although I love playing as the Britains, as they are my favorite faction in the game, I would definitely have to say that the Egyptians have a much better roster. I remember when I was playing as the Britains in a campaign where I was trying to take over the entire map. I had crushed the Romans very early on so other factions had the ability to actually grow and set up infrastructure. I had taken over the entire map apart from modern day Russia and Asia. The Egyptians had taken over the entirety of Asia apart from some regions in modern day turkey, which still belong to the Greeks. By the time I had declared war on them they had several full stack armies that they threw at me every turn. Now, prior to facing the Egyptians I had a winning strategy that I never needed to change up until then. The strategy was simple, I would send my light chariots to harass their infantry and cavalry and get them to break off from their formation, where then my heavy chariots would completely route them and decimate them with ease. Anything that remained after my light chariots ran out of ammunition I would send my chosen swordsmen to instantly route. This worked against everyone except for the Egyptians. I very quickly found out that my winning strategy was very ineffective against them. The Egyptian chariots could very easily out shoot my British light chariots and chariot on chariot melees are very indecisive and wipe out both units, so I couldn’t simply rush my chariots against their Calvary and expect an easy win. Their bowmen are arguably the best in the game and without the ability to effectively match it in a skirmish due to a lack of foot bowmen means that I cannot play defensively and need to be on the offensive even if I am at a disadvantage in numbers or quality.

[@longbow857]

The brittons were my first faction where I took the whole map with. Phalanx civs are a tough nut to crack with them.

[@robertmiller3529]

Best playthroughs I've had in order 1.Greeks 2.Brutii 3.Julii I haven't really tried with the rest, but I may try them after seeing this

[@123loeser]

I've tried a Armenia campaign because of this video and i love them. There army works amazing and is diverse enough to work in almost all cases. Horse archer catas will win you the game.

[@johnirby8847]

Armenia when played by a human is unstoppable with 4 cataphracts...12 cataphract archers..3 heavy pikemen. Temple to Vahagan and you have 3 experience gold/gold pikemen and gold/silver cataphracts. The only way to stop a late game Armenia is camels...if you've made it to late game...Parthia should be gone. You absolutely destroy Greek/Roman/Barbarian infantry and cavalry. Even Scythia has a hard time against stacks of cataphracts with heavy pikemen because the AI doesn't build enough head hunting maidens. If you can survive the early game as Armenia you will have no problem taking the map. It's just so hard to survive the beginning on VH.

[@hammer3721]

I like the Spanish because the geography of Spain is amazing: Full of mountains and rivers. Defence battles are incredibly easy.

[@scintillam_dei]

@Sufian Hashashin If you love Spain, why not recreate the Spanish Empire in my realistic map of the world for Age of Empires 2 like I have? Also, the other day I conquered China from Luzón, the Spanish dream, after Japan offered an alliance if I gave some tribute. That was in my Far East map.

[@scintillam_dei]

@Sufian Hashashin I refer to files of my maps i have videos on.

[@heresit]

Spain actually can be pretty awesome, you have a good starting position, navy can solve most of the distance problem. You have amongst the best temple in the game, scrutaii with both temple upg can beat any Roman unit pre marian

[@DIY_Miracle]

Cavalry are incredibly over powered in RTW with some basic maneveuring. Any cavalry with decent early game cavalry automatically are top tier imo. You can win most battles with a handful of equites. You really don't even need to be that decent, just pick off skirmishers, then gang up on anything with your back turned. You can use incredibly small armies too and therefore have a lot more armies despite them costing more.

[@jaronzennaiter]

I wish the remastered would add more units to every faction. Just imagine, the flavor that would bring to an already awesome game. Each faction has at least 2-3 of one of the following. Light, medium and heavy sword, spear, pike, axe, cavalry, archer, chariot, horse archer and elephant. I guy can dream, can't he?

[@toggid]

I think it is only remastered version not a remake. But it will support modding tools and workshop on steam, so what You wish for will happen, later than sooner, but still.

[@darkglobe406]

nah vanilla game is childs play even on VH difficulty with the worst factions available . you can steamroll the AI once you know couple of tricks and how the in game economy works , and how to win battles in the most effective way (low casualty and max. damage to enemy army) . the original game is too old now , but if by chance you want a true challenge in the original rome TW try europa barbarorum (sadly the developer team of the original mod will not be converting it for the remastered version) - to this day i consider europa barbarorum to be THE BEST mod ever made for any TW game ( best presets: VH campaign diff. , medium battle diff ) .

[@nickierstead4171]

When did you start playing RTW? and do you think you will ever do videos on Empire? and dont forget to keep up the killer work I absolutely love your channel and I hope you keep it up

[@lugotorix6173]

Thank you!! More content to come :)

[@windblownleaf6450]

I somewhat disagree with your list. For me, the most powerful factions are, in no particular order. Greece. Hoplites are best early game phalanx unit, no competition. Spread out, but because of that can expand in many directions and hit powerful factions early while they are still weak. Sick money making potential. Very soon you will be pocketing 10k+ per turn. Carthage. Great economy. Good unit roster, can tech up past iberian infantry very early. Can supplement lack of ranged with rhodean slingers and cretan archers. Elephants are op. Carthage population grows insanely fast - tech up early. Can expand in multiple directions. Egypt. For obvious reasons. Gaul. I prefer them to germania. Dont like the germanic infantry - poor armor and shield make them vulnerable to missle fire. Berserkers are awesome but cannot be retrained in conquered settlements. Starting position and economy is bad. Gaul has much better start. Can hit the romans right away before they get strong. Can take spain easily, although spain isnt that great honestly. Chosen warband are great, good defense to hold the line for a cavalry charge or archer flank. Archer warband are super strong, best out of any barbarian faction. My opinion, but I think gaul is better. Julii, Brutii. For obvious reasons as well. The other factions would be below these guys.

[@luciumtotalwarofficial]

*The Lucium Mod team stans Lugotorix* :)

[@lugotorix6173]

Thank you!! I always have a lot of respect for mod teams, it takes a lot of hard work and expertise to create a mod and it's an important part of the community :)

[@kurtlovef150]

Just now started total war Rome. And I'm in love with it. Been wanting to play total war games for years but never had a platform. Until they allowed it on Android. I play on a S10+ and it's smooth and super fun

[@nightvvisher7713]

before watching, i expect Brutii wins

[@lugotorix6173]

Good prediction!

[@whatamidoingwithmylife4108]

I like Macedon wayyyyy more than Brutii, although I have more playthroughs with Brutii than Macedon.

[@emrystelvanni]

Like you said, for the average player this list makes total sense. If it were for a more pro player, any faction with horse archers or phalanx's are true god status. Can't tell you how many greek playthroughs I have won with basically just phalanx by using the underhanded method of backing them into a corner or having them plug breeches in walls.

[@weisthor0815]

well, looks like we all will have a lot of fun on april 29th! ;-)

[@PELLIOTIS]

Julia should really be switched with macedon.... I would even dare put macedon in no2 spot. .... No7 is very unfair especially when you are talking about average players. Scythian is not an easy faction or Germans to just have them higher than them

[@LyricalDJ]

They're definitely a powerful faction. I think it mainly has to do with having to contend with the Brutii early on. That and IMHO the Germanians are one of the factions best equipped to deal with the Romans (the other contenders are probably cavalry-focused factions). Not that the Macedonians can't do so, of course.

[@jonathanparr1304]

I do love this kind of videos

[@lugotorix6173]

Glad you enjoy, more will be coming soon!

[@gaborrajnai6213]

Greeks by far, they have the best hoplites, and literally NOTHING can crack a phalanx if its not surrounded.

[@lachlanshaw2907]

I now know others still play play this game! 😁

[@lugotorix6173]

Yess actually there’s still quite a big community considering how old the game ism really good to see!

[@MrAdamMcFarlan]

How is Dacia not the worst faction? They are bad in everything. No economy. No good army. No good spot.

[@paxromana7756]

Nice to see upcoming videos on the game released in 2004. Thanks Lugo, appreciate your work!

[@lugotorix6173]

Thank you man, this game is a timeless classic so I think it's important to still be making videos on it!

[@paxromana7756]

@@lugotorix6173 Indeed!

[@martinez4205]

Im started at iPhone

[@inhtrunguc7375]

Seleucids are number 1, you have to play 100 procent agressive to egypt en kill it as fast as possible. I normal put al my Armys on egypt an leave al my settlements and if you beat egypt you have won the game because there units ar stupid OP

[@henkgast234]

Weakness of Egypt: Cities grow too fast. You"ll get insane squalor at the begin of the game.

[@hernanreipp6983]

True. Even with very high taxes the population and the squalor are a nightmare. I have to bring an army from a siege to bring order in my mainland.

[@lugotorix6173]

Yeahh I agree, holding onto the Pyramids is a must if you’ll have super public order issues

[@helikos1]

@@hernanreipp6983 Why not just recruit cheap town watch? I can't recall the name of the Egyptian counterparts.

[@marciusnhasty]

@@helikos1 Town watch and any equivalents are having a hard cap on how much they can add to the public order. Something like 80%. I have seen squalor hitting 110%.

[@helikos1]

@@marciusnhasty That's news to me, having said that why pull a front line army just for public order issues? This is in reference to "Hernan Reipp's" comment.

[@zabaleta66]

For me, I prefer to play as Rome.....probably as the Brutii because the wonders are generally worth getting.....Scipii ships though! Macedonia is my favourite other faction. Strong reasonably balanced infantry with good enough cavalry and ranged units supplemented with mercenary/Illyrian peltasts (whom I find better than other factions skirmishers, particularly as make-do melee troops). Surprised you put Spain at the bottom.....I've worked them pretty well and Bull warriors are underrated.

[@Xander77Ru]

I pity anyone who actually decided to "watch" this podcast instead of listening to it while doing something else. Come on, at least illustrate the roster and map sections with relevant images, it would help people recall what you're talking about.

[@lugotorix6173]

Tbh I never intended for this video to be so long, it ended up being about double the length that I wanted haha. But you’re right next time I’ll try add more background details :)

[@filipelouro4565]

Carthage op like hell only faction i dont have problem whit economy i just defend top map until i destroy Egyptian after that begin to be easy conquer top their defensive units are overpower and elephants are op, but if you want abuse of the game mechanics go house of julii and make dogs you can win map easy whit dogs cheap and op Shame i stop playing after medieval total war 2 game lose in my opinion much fun, i love see a game whit game play during batle like rome total war and economy and settlement management like medieval total war 2

[@scottamery4448]

Selucids are a top 3 for me, strong phalanx, strong legionaries, fields archers and some of the best cavalry in the game. Rating some of these factions higher than them makes minimal sense to me even with the starting position to consider

[@thomasvrielink299]

In the right hands Seleucids are top 3. But in the hands of a beginner, their start can be so brutal you die before ever getting to those options (which happened to me the first time I played them, the only campaign I ever died). And because a player has to survive with their shitty early game units, I fully understand why the Seleucids would be ranked quite low.

[@johnirby8847]

Seleucids are the best if you are a good player. You have a roster that has a hard counter for everything.

[@startfloppin]

Numidia is by far the worst faction in the game imo. As far as economy, units, starting position and near by factions. It’s tough.

[@redjacc7581]

surely dacia should be 19th, a worse unit roster and worst starting position. Armenia need to roll Pontus right off the bat. Thraces settlement are far far better than dacia's. The only challenge to Pontus will be Egypt that rush to take antioch. Egypt should be number 1