What's the hardest campaign and faction to play?

[Andrew]

I just beat the Hannibal at the Gates campaign as the Lusitani.

I love to play the underdogs against all odds and try to topple Rome and/or conquer the known world.

When I originally got the game I started as Iceni in the grand campaign, it was hard as balls. You have Scotland being hostile in the North, Rome hating you from the outset for being a barbarian, chariot generals, weak units, an island location meaning you have to ferry troops over to do anything and are isolated from sending reinforcements. Though now I'm more experienced I could probably handle it better.

I want to beat what's regarded as the most punishing way to play. What is it?

[Sprungo]

Download DEI and start as Rome.

[Andrew]

引用自 goochsmasher：

Download DEI and start as Rome.

I have the base game and all the DLC though so may as well exhaust those first.

[Berserk Breton]

I would definitely give Suebi, Carthage and Seleucid a go (although the last of these is easier after your first attempt :) )

[Goose]

The first time I played the game I played as Athens & instantly got cornered because Sparta took over 3 settlements instantly & rome was also OP

[Andrew]

引用自 Berserk Smurf：

I would definitely give Suebi, Carthage and Seleucid a go (although the last of these is easier after your first attempt :) )

Yeah I've heard Carthage a lot but idk, I think it's just a case of letting one settlement fall and commiting to one area or the other to fix yourself being too spread out then they're just as capable as other factions really and some other factions have worse or similar threats/enemies.

[Alwyn]

Have you seen Heir of Carthage's Rome II battle videos? He did a series which he called 'underdog week', demonstrating battles with the factions which he considered underdogs, including the Odrysian Kingdom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPEkUDrKe-4, the Iceni: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qkJ57EIyZg, Ardiaei: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfCma7P905A, Arevaci: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pMo4cXZ4Lo and Pergamon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V0rQ8eLJYE. You might find those videos helpful for choosing an underdog faction to play and to give you ideas about selecting units and using them in battle. I imagine that either the Odrysian Kingdom or the Ardiaei would be the hardest (Odrysian units have great attack scores but are weak on melee defence, Ardiaei have some units with great armour but lack killing power.)

[Syndicake ☠]

You don't get archers as Iceni but that's okay you get chariots instead. The beginning for Iceni is really hard and pretty much everyone hates you though. That said there is no real turn limit so you can just sit there once you conquer the island and build up a nice war chest/research elite units. I recommend reading some steam guides since they really outline some great strategies for Iceni that I learned from.

Chariots are great for chasing down routing enemies and if you can manuever them to the enemy ranged units the battle is pretty much over. I usually just put them behind my heavy infantry since they can fire over them easily - they run out of ammo quick but you can use them to chase down infantry after unlike regular archers. I hope you enjoy getting 700+ captives after every battle.

Be careful about charging them through your own light troops, they can cause mass casualties. They are fine at walking pace though.