ThisIsAnOddName's Top Ten Factions in Rome: Total War

These are ThisIsAnOddName's Top Ten Factions in Rome: Total War ranked for Ed Bellis's What Would You Do.

==Top 10 Factions in Rome: Total War

My gaming tastes have always been widely varied, but there are a few genres that I favor above others. One of them is RTSes. Their climb up my rankings has been gradual but persistent, and culminated with my introduction to the Total War series. I've always had an interest in history, so the thought of playing through Roman conquests was quite appealing. What I got was one of the single most satisfying gaming experiences I've ever encountered. Now, there are only 11 playable factions in the game, but that doesn't mean I can't rank them!

10. The Brutii

The Brutii are one of the three Roman factions. They start off with two cities in southern Italy, and at the behest of the Senate they usually expand east into Greece and and fight the Greek Cities and Macedon. They have largely the same troops and buildings as the other Romans, and their campaign isn't particularly exciting, as many factions will eventually expand into Greece. They do, however, have one thing that always makes a Brutii campaign fun: they are stupidly, ridiculously wealthy. It tends to make your generals pretty bad, but with the Marian Reforms looming on the horizon, plenty of money is basically a necessity to replace the suddenly outdated army a Roman leader will find himself with.

9. Gaul

Gaul is composed of all the Celtic tribes that existed in France and Northern Italy during this time period. They also have a holding in central Spain, for some reason. Anyway, the Gauls are your standard barbarian faction: hordes of strong light infantry, a few decent cavalry choices, and limited (but adequate) potential for growth. That's kind of the problem I have with Gaul, though: they're the basic barbarian experience and nothing else. They have no special little units, and with a basically guaranteed war against the Romans, your early options tend to be limited. But still, they're not bad, and a good introduction to barbarian factions.

8. The Scipii

Another Roman faction so soon? That's right, my favorite Romans are only this high. I like the Romans well enough, but I'm not crazy about their troop selections, and I prefer it when my entire army ISN'T made obsolete and unable to be retrained halfway through my campaign. That and the Roman Civil War can come at very inopportune moments. Anyway...I like the Scipii because they have such an interesting campaign, and their path isn't as set in stone as some factions. You're definitely going to come into conflict with Carthage first, but once you do, a Scipii leader who moves quickly enough will be able to get the Senate to throw missions to almost any faction they want (provided they have a coastal city). That, and there are few factions who come into conflict with the African factions early on.

7. Egypt

Ah, Egypt. By far the most historically inaccurate faction in the game. Historically, they were much like the other Hellenic factions, comprised mainly of phalanx troops and cavalry. The developers thought there were too many Hellenic factions already, though, and thus we instead get lots of axemen, elite archers, and chariots. Egypt's troop selection is one of the most powerful in the game, with Desert Axemen being strong infantry capable of taking a phalanx in a direct fight, chariots being especially effective at scaring enemy troops, and Pharaoh's Bowmen often decimating entire units before they even reach the infantry. A conflict with the Seleucid Empire early on is inevitable, though I kind of wish it came later when they have better troops and thus something resembling a fighting chance. And that's the main problem I have with the Egyptian campaign: it's too easy. Their armies are strong, their provinces are rich, and once you're done crushing the Seleucids, the only faction that realistically stands a chance against you is Post-Marius Rome. Still, it can be fun to be absolutely dominating sometimes.

6. The Greek Cities

There are two things I love to utilize: strong cavalry and a strong phalanx. The Greeks lack the former but have an abundance of the latter. They start off separate and weakened, with provinces in patches of Greece, Sicily, and Anatolia. Conflict with the Scipii is inevitable within the first few turns, and the Brutii a little later, meaning that a Greek leader interested in survival will usually destroy the Romans pretty early on. Macedon will also be an early conquest, maybe even before the Brutii, but from there you can expand wherever you want. The Greek armies are mainly composed of hoplites (including the elite SPARTANS), and that's just fine with me. The only problem I have is that Greece is pretty much my least favorite place to expand into, and you kind of have to expand there if you're the Greeks. >_>

5. Britannia

The Britons are Celts, just like the Gauls, but they live up in Great Britain, and unlike the Gauls, they are bursting with special units. Woad Warriors, Chosen Swordsmen, Head Hurlers, British Chariots...they've got an abundance of interesting and unique soldiers to spice up a campaign. Their expansion options are a little limited (basically either start with the Gauls, or start with the Germans and eventually fight the Gauls when they attack you anyway), but I won't begrudge them that too much. What I will begrudge them is their utter lack of non-chariot cavalry. I like the hordes of light infantry they can field well enough, but I far prefer to command cavalry, and the necessity of hiring cavalry mercenaries is a little frustrating.

4. Carthage

Carthage was, technically speaking, the first faction I played, as I played the demo historical battle that featured them many times before the game came out. They are the only playable African faction, and thus are a bit of fresh air among all the other factions. Their troop selection is highly varied and capable of adapting to different situations, and includes powerful elephants. They are also extremely wealthy, able to train large armies in short amounts of time This is tempered somewhat by the fact that their Sicilian holdings will see them fighting the Roman factions quite early on. There's nothing I particularly dislike about the Carthaginians; I just like the other three factions more.

3. Parthia

As I've said, I love cavalry, and there is no faction as focused on cavalry as Parthia. Their early armies are full of horse archers, and later on they've got powerful cataphracts to charge enemies. Their infantry is pretty lackluster, which can make sieges annoying, but I don't mind that too much. They're located in the far eastern corners of the map, with a few holdings north of the Seleucid Empire. When the campaign starts out, they're in a pretty terrible financial situation, with their cities barely generating enough money to meet the costs of running them. But with the rich cities of the Seleucids and Egyptians not too far away, that is an easily rectified problem. The East is my favorite place to expand into, and thus the Parthians have a pretty fun campaign for me. But their eastern expansion is not as fun as...

2. The Seleucid Empire

I've mentioned them in like three write-ups so far, so some of you may have been wondering when they'd finally show up. Yes sir, I love the Seleucid Empire. They have a wide swath of territory, and they're very rich. But no faction has this tempered by early setbacks as well as the Seleucids: their early units quite honestly suck, and every faction in the East, including the mighty Egyptians, will be trying to get a piece of your lands as soon as possible. The cunning Seleucid leader who manages to survive this onslaught, however, will be rewarded with the single most varied selection of troops in the game: powerful hoplites, great cavalry, their own legions, and even elephants. The Seleucids rarely amount to much in AI hands, but when controlled by a player they are quite possibly the best faction in the game.

1. Germania

The Seleucids may be the best, but they don't give me the sheer delight that playing as the Germans does. They have a bad financial situation, and in my opinion this only improves the campaign. You'll be able to garner enough of an empire to fund your armies, but you'll never be vastly wealthy, and thus your generals will always be great and you'll fight more battles than a faction with access to lots of bribing money will. That, and I simply love their unit selection. Unlike the other barbarian factions, their main infantry are not a horde of undisciplined light infantry, but instead a horde of hoplites in a phalanx formation. The savage Germans utilize this phalanx to great effect against their barbarian neighbors, and the Romans have far more trouble against them than they do with the Gauls. Generals and Barbarian Noble Cavalry make up the bulk of their cavalry forces, and while this is merely decent, it is still more than adequate for the purposed of their campaign. Overall, the Germans may not be the best faction, but they're definitely my favorite.

Rome: Total War is one of my favorite games, and even today I have a near-obsession. The campaign map is a fantastic interface, and the battles are by far the best battle simulators I've ever seen. The Total War series absolutely blows away every other game in the genre, and it is to my deep regret that I only recently found out about Medieval II: Total War. Computer problems have forced me to ignore my desires to play it for some time, but I still occasionally look up information, and I'm certain I will love it. For now, though, I just have Rome, and I'm more than happy with it.