Brutii or Scipii?

[Thijs de Bruijn]

Salve fratres,

I just completed a The House of Julii Long Campaign and I loved it. Yet, I yearn for another Roman adventure! I am thinking about doing a The House of Brutii OR The House of Scipii Long Campaign. Sadly, I am at a crossroads at which one to pick.

Which Roman House do you recommend and why?

Gratias amicis!

[Iceni Total War]

Going into Greece ( as Brutii ) has benefits and negatives, Greece super rich, well built up settlements and 1 of the Wonders ( 2 if you go as far as Rhodes ) . The negative, you'll be outmatched at the start i think by hoplites and armoured hoplites.
Scipii has it a bit easier in the start i think going into Greece, still good settlements but hard for Carthage to reinforce also Senate missions help Scipii more, once you get into N. Africa you'll have to make sure you can resupply but your units are better than most Carthage early/mid tier.

[Jambie Lionheart]

Depends what you want out of the next campaign. My personal favourite is Scipii, but purely because they get the extra naval units. But they have by far the easiest campaign in the game. It's pretty relaxed compared to just about every other faction.

Scipii tends to expand into North Africa first and then either swoop east, towards Egypt or north into Spain. Which can be quite fun if Spain manages to recruit some bull warriors. Those things are no joke. There's pretty much no pressure at the start though other than to maybe take Carthage before Carthage can start recruiting War Elephants. This is also one of... I think three or 4 factions in the game that can naturally equip their troops with gold armour and/or weaponary. You don't get any real challenge until Egypt creates their own gold standard units.

Brutii faction starts tend to have an inclination to spread east and north, into the pikemen factions and Barbarians if heading Northeast. By far the harder campaign. You have to be a little more tactical if ya wanna spread out at a decent pace. But Brutii also have a direct, straight shot at the natural wonders of the world before pretty much any one else. I'd highly recommend this faction if you're out for blood and want at least a little bit of resistance.

[Thijs de Bruijn]

Thank you for the advice. I have decided to go for a The House of Scipii Long Campaign because it will help me learn more about the game. If I have enough experience I will do a The House of Brutii Campaign.

[wombat93]

There's other subtle differences in the Roman factions other than Scipii getting unique ships.

Brutii get access to Temple of Mars for +XP for your units. Mercury for Trade, which is very nice considering the faction starts with Tarentum and the rich trade of the Greek Peninsula (once you conquer it) are perfect for it. More proficient troops and better trade? This is a hard combo to beat. IMO the best temple selection out of the Roman factions.

Scipii get their special ships, temples for upgrading unit equipment. Gold Plate your soldiers with the best upgrades! Master the Mediterranean Sea with unique and powerful warships.

The Julii temples seem the most dull out of the 3 Roman factions to play but have their uses. They access Ceres for faster settlement growth. Useful if you want to get to the Marian Reforms more quickly (conquer nearby Patavium and plop in a Ceres temple is I believe, the fastest track to Huge City for the Reforms). Some settlements are harder to raise to higher tiers. So Ceres temples can help in that. Also, the Julii are the only ones that can recruit Arcani, which are basically Roman Ninjas.

As for ease of Short Campaign, Julii are the easiest. Gaul is the target and they're easy to outlast. Between the Julii, Germans, Britons, and Spanish, the Gauls tend to get mauled from every direction.

Brutii have a bit more work as they need to outlast Macedon and Greek Cities. While Macedon is easier because they're concentrated in one region, Greek Cities are spread out. Be sure to get ships soon enough to conquer Rhodes. The Greek Cities tend to collapse everywhere but Rhodes usually hold onto last and for a long time if left to do so. If you get lax in this you may lose Short Campaign to someone else.

Scipii tend to deal with Carthage. IMO it's a great idea to subdue Sicily ASAP and take Carthage early on. Their Short Campaign requirements need them to outlast Carthage and Numidia. Your troops will have to cover some huge distances in Northwestern Africa. Numidia can be annoying in how they have armies pop up all around in NW Africa, so be very focused on conquering those settlements of theirs.

For fast tracking to the Marian Reforms, Patavium is the fasted growing city in Italy for you to have. It counts to trigger the Reforms even though it starts out in Gallic hands. While any of the 3 factions can send troops and take it, the Julii are the closest to it. The Julii got growth temple access to make Patavium a Huge City even faster than the other Roman factions. In my Scipii campaign I still diverted an army to conquer Patavium before the Julii do. Even if it came at the cost of a quicker conquest of Sicily and Carthage.

While the Greek Peninsula and Carthage have some magnificent cities with fantastic growth, they aren't on the Italian Peninsula and do not count for the Marian Reforms to trigger.

For Julii Ceres / Growth temples, while it's fine to make them to promote faster settlement tiers, I don't recommend keeping them once you got Huge City. It makes the population larger and harder to control. What I usually do is after I hit Huge City for the settlement, I tear down the Ceres temple and build a Jupiter for happiness / law benefits.
Be careful with Julii Bacchus / Happiness temples. If you maintain a governor there, they may become raging alcoholics.