So at some point in making the main guide I realized that it would be best if every faction had its own section. There are 36 playable factions in the Grand Campaign and even more that I want to touch upon from the other Campaigns. It makes more sense to create a separate guide just for the factions instead of cluttering up the main guide with all of them.

If you have no idea what i'm talking about, take a look at the main guide.

Keep in mind the main scope of this guide is large (11700) and ultra (16000) fund field battles. Most factions have vastly different performances depending on the funds and situation. While I will mention some of these that I am aware of there is no way I'm going to be able to get into all the specifics.

Also keep in mind that my opinions of factions and how they are ranked against other factions is just that, my opinion. It might be backed up by my own observations, testing and experience but I have had many, many people give me unpleasant surprises because my assessment of their faction pick vs my own was just plain wrong. So if you want to be successful in multiplayer take everything I say in the following sections as GUIDELINES, not gospel.

The factions themselves will be alphabetized, with the section immediately following this one listing my arbitrary faction groupings that I use to compare them to each other.

"Use Against" and "Counter With" recommendations are usually intended to be fair fights, with moderate advantage for one side or the other depending on which category a faction is placed in. Factions listed in both can be considered equals.

This is my own internal grouping of the factions, that I use when determining what I should pull when countering my opponent's faction.

The Top Four:
Kush, Tylis, Boii and Rome. In that order. These are the strongest factions for most people in the Grand Campaign. As a general rule, to counter the top four factions you will probably do well for yourself if you use another member of the top four.

The Mid Tier Barbarians:
Suebi, Arverni, Iceni, Getae and Galatia. In that order. These factions are usually fair counters to each other and well suited for taking on everything listed below.

The High Tier Hellenics:
Which is really just Egypt and the Selucids. If the user knows what they are about Egypt can take on every faction I have listed above, while the Selucids are better suited to posing a formidable problem for the factions listed below.

The Low Tier Barbarians:
Nervi, Arevaci, and Lusitani. These factions are fair counters to each other, but otherwise tend to be hard to use except against even weaker factions. These three can feasibly take on the Mid Tier Barbarians but on a faction level they are at a disadvantage due to their battle lines consisting of comparatively squishier units.

The Outliers:
Carthage, Masaesyli, Saba, Odrysian Kingdom and Pontus. These are unusual factions that don't fit in anywhere else, and they all have their own weird thing going on. While I think I have them in the right order amongst themselves, the relative strength ranking of these factions varies widely compared to those in the other sections. You could probably still take most of these against each other and call it a fair fight though.

The Mid Tier Hellenics:
Athens, Sparta, Epirus, Macedon, Syracuse and Baktria. In no particular order. As a general rule all of these are fair counters to each other. Most of them follow a basic setup of a mid and high tier sword/spear core backing up a line of pikes. This is further supported by some of the best missile units in the game and various flavors of good shock cavalry. These factions are also good counters to the Horse Factions.

The Horse Factions:
Parthia, Armenia, Royal Scythia, Roxolani and the Massagetae. I would probably rank the ones with infantry over the ones who don't, simply for the sake of versatility. That being said these are all great factions to fight each other with. Somewhat harder to use against the infantry based factions, but if the user knows what they are doing the Horse Factions have a good chance of getting away with fighting whoever they want.

The Weak Factions:
This dubious distinction goes to Massalia, Ardiaei, Colchis, Cimmeria, Nabatea and Pergamon. In no particular order. Only use these factions if you know what you are doing, or you know for sure that your opponent does not. These factions also make for fair counters to each other in many cases.

I'm not going to cover everything, but this section is for some units worth mentioning that are shared between multiple factions. In no particular order.

Celtic Swords are one of the most cost effective units. For 350 funds you get a unit with precursors that can inflict respectable damage to anything, and can outright beat most other cheap infantry units and even some mid tier spear units.

Oathsworn should need no introduction, they are the ubiquitous Gallic elite sword unit and one of the best melee units in the game.

Steppe Horse Archers and their mercenary equivalent are one of the most cost effective units in the game. For just 380 funds you get a 125 range archer platform with the 40 damage bows and heavy shot. Sure they don't have much in the way of survivability but if you know how to use horse archers or just want a mobile arrow platform you can't get better value for your funds.

Thracian Warriors have a hidden bonus vs large and can serve as spear units of a sort, but their real power lies in their high charge. While squishy, for their cost they can do serious damage to more expensive units as long as you get their charge bonus in and keep them away from precursors. In the hands of an expert Thracian warriors are one of the most cost effective units in the game.

Thureos Spears and any unit that has the same type of javelins as they do can be incredibly useful. Instead of precursors they get five javelins at 80 range, just two javelins short of a normal javelin unit but with more men to throw them. There is nothing better for fending off javelin cavalry or shutting down elephants. Cheap enough to be expendable, good enough to beat cav up into the mid tiers, and with enough firepower to mess up swords if they are allowed to get all their javelins off.

Royal Peltasts are not a unit that players should be using except in niche situations. They breed bad habits, namely sitting still and shooting javelins when your elite melee unit should be charging. Its one thing to lose a relatively cheap Thureos Spear to this, it is another thing entirely to see a 1280 fund melee unit lose to a 740 fund melee unit because the 1280 fund unit ate a charge. You also pay for those javelins, by which I mean that Royal Peltasts are noticeably weaker in melee than any other sword unit of a similar cost.

Heavy Horse are solid all around Celtic mid tier melee cav with Frenzied Charge.

Light Horse are also solid if squishy Celtic low tier melee cav with precursor javelins and Frenzied Charge.

Good missile units such as Mercenary Cretan Archers, Mercenary Rhodian Slingers, Baerlic Slingers, Syrian Archers. If you faction has these available might want to bring a few.

Slingers in the 200 fund range are available to many factions and are one of the best things you can bring to a field battle. They all have 150 missile range, they are very cheap, and they can rout the most expensive units in the game if the enemy sits under fire for long enough. Plus their shields makes them relatively resistant to return fire and so they are perfect for forcing a superior enemy missile line to expend their ammo, and you might even get some kills when fighting enemy archers. Perfect filler units for your army when trying to min max, as similarly priced melee units are far less likely to inflict the pain that the cheapo slingers can dish out.

Thorax Swords are available to many Hellenic Factions. Much reviled by my fellow players as being terrible in light of the melee prowess of the Barbarian mid tier units, I see them more as the baseline sword unit that you compare everything else to. And there are plenty of things that they are better than. Just... not a whole lot of things of equal or greater cost.

Hoplites are available to many Hellenic factions. They are tanky but lack killing power, and will lose to most sword units. Their lack of precursor javelins makes them mediocre even against cavalry unless the cav user allows the cav to get stuck in. Best used on Large funds or below where they are more likely to face units weaker than they are.

Citzen Cavalry are available to many Hellenic factions. While rightly regarded as not being very powerful, they are quite tanky for their price tag of 540 and when played defensively can hold most enemy cavalry in place long enough for one of the many varieties of Hellenic spear units to show up and relieve them. They are also more than adequate for running down most foot missile units.

Levy Freemen are cheap spear units with precursor javelins. While any cav units above the 600 fund range will probably knock them flat, they make for a useful screening force for your main lines, or a force multiplier for your own cavalry in their attempts to deal with the enemy mounted units.

200 fund range melee units such as Egyptian Infantry or Hillmen are generally not good for much. They can make for a useful precursor javelin platform and can be used as a force multiplier or meatshield, but don't expect them to win any fights.

Archers in the 360 fund range usually have the desirable 150 missile range. These are in most cases the cheapest archers you should be using but their general lack of armor will hurt them against anything that shoots back.

Mercenary Samnites are sword units added by the HatG DLC. They are given to Carthage, Syracuse and Epirus and if you have them you should always try to fit in all three of them available into your army.

The Ardiaei lack reliable killing power. While their Hoplites are tanky and pose a problem to the enemy cavalry, they are at a disadvantage when fighting swords. With not even mid tier melee units to their name the Ardiaei are at a disadvantage against almost every other faction.

Your Thureos Spear units are decent, as far as Thureos Spears go. These can do some damage and are great against cavalry due to their counter cavalry tactics ability, but throwing a handful of javelins at the enemy will only get you so far, if your opponent even lets you do that. Meanwhile without good missile units or good cavalry to back up the Hoplites tying down the enemy, most opposing factions can just kill all your units faster than you can kill theirs.

Custom battles does give you some merc Celtic swords and Axe Warriors, so you got that going for you if not much else.

Use Against:
On large funds: Sparta, Cimmeria, Pergamon, Horse Factions

On ultra funds: Very difficult to make even a decent army on ultra funds without spamming or cost inefficient upgrades, stick to lower funds.

Counter With:
On large funds: Sparta and Cimmeria can be considered about as fair a fight as the Ardiaei are going to get. Otherwise use whatever faction you want that doesn't rely on cavalry.

On ultra funds: Same deal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu27vYZfLuM

The Arevaci are hard to use. Most of their roster is lower mass and lacks armor, so enemy counter charges or even missile fire can take an excessive toll on your units. On top of that, Scutarii, the main mid tier sword unit, is only a 620 fund unit expected to compete with 700-800 fund range units. This makes their job very difficult.

The Arevaci spear options are actually decent and cost effective at their job of dealing with the enemy cavalry. They have enough mass not to get knocked about and Scutari Spears even come with counter cav tactics.

Painted Warriors are basically fear causing Scutarii. Intersperse a few in your Scutarii line and the battle might go in your favor.

Noble fighters are good but they are also very expensive and literally the only infantry unit you have that can take a hit. This is problematic because taking said hits also reduces their combat effectiveness so your expensive elite melee unit might end up not getting the kills you need them to.

The Cav roster is decent. Not quite up to the Gallic cavalry roster but close enough, and you get a javelin cav unit with an above average fire rate as well.

Baerlic Slingers are also extremely helpful, with them the Arevaci should never outright lose a missile engagement against equal numbers and you can use your remaining ammo to shoot up the enemy melee units from the flanks later, pushing the battle in your favor.

Use Against:
On large funds: Lusitani, Hellenic Factions
On ultra funds: Mid Tier Barbarians, Hellenic Factions

Counter With:
On large funds: Iceni, Suebi, Arverni, Lusitani, Nervi, Carthage
On ultra funds: Egypt, Rome, Arverni, Carthage

The Arevaci can't take a good charge and chariots will rip right through the lot of them. Be aware of this when fighting or using them.

As a horse faction with an infantry roster, in theory Armenia is a formidable and versatile force. In practice the number of mediocre units that makes up their roster drags them down.

None of your melee or spear infantry are cost effective compared to your Greek and Barbarian rivals. Not a one. Best you can hope for is to break even against units of similar funds. Compared to the 40 damage horse archer rosters of the Nomads your 35 damage missile cavalry lineup is also found to be wanting. You got some good melee and shock cav options but that alone is not going to win you the battle against anyone competent. Armenia really is an entire roster of "this could be better.'"

Despite having weak stats compared to swords and losing to most swords of similar cost, Kartli Axemen and their armor peircing are decent against low killing power armored units like hoplites. Meanwhile your Noble Hoplites will struggle to defeat ordinary Greek Hoplites that cost 200 funds less. Try to avoid using them. If you absolutely need a spear unit as Armenia go for the Persain Hoplites, as at least those have a price tag to match their stats.

If you do not at least possess basic competency with using cavalry do not use this faction. If you are trying to get basic competency with cavalry use something like Baktria, Pontus or the Getae that has a melee roster good enough to back you up while still having shock cav and horse archers to play around with.

Use Against:
On large funds: Cimmeria, Parthia, Colchis, Nomads
On ultra funds: Cimmeria, Parthia, Colchis, Nomads

Counter With:
On large funds: Parthia, Baktria, Selucids, Nomads
On ultra funds: Parthia, Baktria, Selucids, Nomads

The Arverni are much maligned as just being the base barbarian faction that released with the game. While in some ways this is true, and they are certainly outshined in some areas by Tylis and the Boii, the Arverni are far from weak. In fact, as the funds increase and Oathsworn and other elite units start to become more relevant than mid tier swords, the Arverni start to edge out all other barbarians.

So, yeah. Chosen Swordsmen, the basic barbarian mid tier sword unit that will probably let you down if you are used to using Tribal Warriors or Sword Followers. Doesn't mean they are terrible, just means that other units at a similar price range are great while Chosen Swords are just average. You still get Oathsworn and Celtic Swords to play around with, in addition to the full Celtic melee cavalry roster, 150 range stealth archers, and even an elite spear unit. Those last two become huge selling points when choosing a barbarian faction to play on higher funds.

Use Against:
On large funds: Nervii, Getae, Iceni, Galatia, Carthage
On ultra funds: Rome, Tylis, Boii, Masaesyli

Counter With:
On large funds: Rome, Iceni, Suebi, Boii, Tylis
On ultra funds: Rome, Egypt, Suebi, Boii, Tylis

Keep in mind that a significant amount of barbarian attack power is tied up in their charge bonuses. Users should focus on landing their charges and keeping as many of their charge bonuses active as possible, while their opponents should focus on negating or blocking them.

Athens has slightly worse Hoplites and Pikes than rival Sparta but also slightly more versatility, sporting Hippeus Lancers, Thureos Spears, and Thorax Swords. Unfortunately Athens lacks elite melee units, so while they will do just fine against most other Hellenics and Cav heavy factions the sword heavy Barbarians will give them a hard time. Fighting Legions, who have precursors and and can more than match the grind of Hoplites, is just asking for a bad time unless you know what you are doing.

Use Against:
On large funds: Hellenic Factions, Horse Factions, Low Tier Barbarians, Weak Factions, Saba
On ultra funds: Hellenic Factions, Horse Factions, Weak Barbarians and Weak Factions, Saba

Counter With:
On large funds: Hellenic Factions, Illyria, Armenia
On ultra funds: Hellenic Factions, Weak Barbarians

Since Athens lacks cheap cost effective melee units, and as a consequence their best stuff is relatively expensive, I would advise keeping Athens out of Large Funds (11700) or below and stick to using them on Ultra (16000.) I wouldn't take them much above that, other factions have better expensive stuff to spam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_gFtsooTXM

Baktria has the the cav roster of a cav faction, but less cost effective, backed up by the infantry roster of a Hellenic faction, but same deal. Your horse archers will get the job done, but other than the Merc Scythians the Parthian and Nomad ones are better. Same deal with your cavalry, the Parthian and Armenian stuff is slightly better for what you are paying. On the infantry side Thorax Swords are Thorax Swords, while the rest of your foot roster compares slightly unfavorably to similarly priced units from other factions. At least they have the full roster of low to mid tier pike units to back up their melee and spears, and the trio of Mercenary Syrian Archers can at least break even in most missile engagements.

That does not mean Baktria is bad, they are just harder to use. Not nearly as hard to use as a full on Horse faction though, and if you want to get into using those factions from using infantry factions Baktria is a good place to start. In fact, when their diverse units work together Baktria can be pretty difficult to deal with, which is probably why the devs didn't give them the best stuff in the first place. Alot of people including myself still try to play Baktria with mostly just their infantry, which is still perfectly viable against the right opponent.

Use Against:
On large funds: Horse Factions, Weak Factions, Outliers
On ultra funds: Horse Factions, Weak Factions, Outliers

Counter With:
On large funds: Hellenic Factions
On ultra funds: Hellenic Factions

It is a good idea to bring a bit of extra 150 range firepower when fighting Baktria, as against a competent opponent you will likely have to deal with a decent missile line, horse archers, ELEPHANTS and pikes all at the same time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95tJf4YGpIk

The Boii get Heavy Horse and some decent spear options, but what makes them strong is their Sword followers. Reasonably tanky, reasonably good at dealing damage, and their price tag of 760 makes them a cost effective main line unit when filling out an army. Back them up with Oathsworn, Heavy Horse and Celtic Swords and you got a meta build to throw around. The only thing holding the Boii back is their lack of versatility, as they lack 150 range archers or javelin cavalry to hard counter problem units like elephants before they reach your line.

Use Against:
On large funds: Rome, Tylis other melee centric factions that are giving you problems
On ultra funds: Rome, Tylis, other melee centric factions that are giving you problems

Counter With:
On large funds: Kush, Tylis, Suebi
On ultra funds: Kush, Tylis, Egypt, Arverni

Charges and cycle charges are essential for barbarians like the Boii to be successful. Get the charges in and you win, fail to do so and you lose.

Carthage is one of the most interesting factions to use, drawing a limited amount of units from Celtic, Iberian, African. Greek and Italian rosters and attaching them to what amounts to a Hellenic base roster. The best of these mercenary units are Mercenary Samnites, Celtic Swords, Iberian Swords, Light Horse, Noble Figthers, Baerlic Slingers, Cretan Archers, and Numidian Noble Cavalry. Mercenary Scutari and Celtiberians are good as well but with only 20 spots in an army and so many good things to fill them with something has to go unused.

Carthage has more cost effective cheap stuff than almost anyone. Aside from their mercenaries Late Libyan Hoplites have a ridiculous amount of armor for a 300 fund unit and an almost unheard of 30 bonus vs large. You will not find a better meatshield anywhere. Their only drawback is that they are slow and lack precursors so any cav user with more than two brain cells will just go around them.

Carthage has two units worth a special mention. Mercenary Iberian Swords have Thureos Spear type javelins and can fill that role in an army. For some reason non-mercenary Iberian Swords have normal precursors and the same cost, which makes the mercenary version exceptional. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the native Noble Cavalry should never be used. They have similar stats to Thessalian cav but cost about 300 funds more. This unfortunately leaves the War Elephants and all their drawbacks as the only good general option.

Other than Noble Cav being a thing the main drawback to Carthage is their complete lack of cheap long ranged missile options, which can make building armies difficult on lower funds.

Use Against:
On large funds: Rome, Kush, Arverni, Lusitani, Arevaci, Selucids, Egypt, Masaesyli
On ultra funds: Selucids, Greek States, Masaesyli

Counter With:
On large funds: Rome, Pontus, Baktria, Egypt, Arverni
On ultra funds: Rome, Kush, Egypt, Selucids, Baktria, Horse Factions

Be careful who you pick a fight with on higher funds, Carthage has a limited elite roster compared to many other factions. Also be careful of factions with horse archers who outrange your javelin cav and can pose an existential threat to your elephants and any of your own units you have standing next to them when said elephants go on a rampage.

On large funds Kush in particular has a hard time dealing with Carthage, as their min-max cheap infantry units will evaporate to the Mercenary Barbarian swords and both their Disciples and their elite cav fare poorly against War Elephants. Kush lacks missile cav and their own foot ranged will be quite occupied with their Carthagenian counterparts and the melee cav trying to kill them, so an Elephant in reserve can easily turn the battle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pOUyo_yaIQ

I really want to like this faction but the general unreliability of it makes it difficult.

In theory Greek infantry backed up by Nomad Horse Archers should be a winning combination. In practice the lack of Swords, Pikes and effective melee cav options really let Cimmeria down.

The Hoplites aren't terrible. In fact this is one of the only cases in the game where a cheap unit given unit upgrades (Scythian Hoplites) will beat the elite unit of the same faction for less cost (Cimmerian Noble Hoplites.) Unfortunately these aren't Spartans we are talking about here, and like most spear units the entire Cimmerian infantry roster will usually lose to swords of similar or slightly lower cost.

Ok, well those 40 missile damage horse archers look nice, just shoot the enemy line in the back while they are stuck on the Hoplites. Against a bad player or one not expecting it this actually works out pretty well. The problem is horse archers are easy to counter in general and even easier to counter when all you have to do to win the battle is prevent them from doing what they want. I don't normally recommend chasing horse archers with melee cavalry, but that is literally all you have to do to shut down Cimmeria. Just wait until the lines make contact to start the chase and by the time the horse archers take out the pursuers the infantry engagement will be decided. Even better, while the horse archers are busy and the hoplites are engaged, there may be nothing left to protect the Cimmerian foot missile line. A single free melee cav can probably wipe the lot of them out in that case. The only interceptor Cimmeria has to counter this is Citizen Cav, which are not going to cut it.

Use Against:
On large funds: Parthia, Nomads, other Weak Factions
On ultra funds: Parthia, Nomads, Carthage and Baktria maybe, other Weak Factions.

Counter With:
On large funds: Armenia, Colchis, other Hellenic Factions
On ultra funds: Armenia, Colchis, other Hellenic Factions

Factions that rely on mid tier axe units, while normally considered weak, will pose significant problems to Cimmeria and their Hoplite lines. Especially since these factions also have horse archers of their own and significantly better melee cav.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMRanCxJqPc&feature=youtu.be

While not quite as weak as Cimmeria these guys still kind of suck.

Kartli Axemen are decent at taking down Hellenic infantry, but when they happen to cost exactly as much as Tribal Warriors from Tylis you realize that their stats and performance are sub par. Colchian Nobles are are an upper mid tier unit that can't compete with the elites it will be expected to fight. Colchis gets horse archers and 150 range foot missiles, but all of those units are not as cost effective as what is given to other factions. This leaves the shock and melee cavalry roster, which can actually be considered good even though it lacks elites.

Use Against:
On large funds: Cimmeria, Armenia, Parthia, Mid Teir Hellenics
On ultra funds: Cimmeria, Armenia, Parthia, Mid Tier Hellenics

Counter With:
On large funds: Mid Tier Hellenics, Pontus, Pergamon
On ultra funds: Mid Tier Hellenics, Odrysian Kingdom

Colchis is almost entirely devoid of good cheap units, so I would suggest sticking to ultra funds (16000.) Since they also lack elite units I wouldn't go higher than that.

In the right hands Egypt can be unstoppable. Especially on higher funds, as with all their elite units the more money that is involved the stronger Egypt becomes.

Egypt has an elite option in every category that matters. Those units might not be the best of the best, but they are certainly good enough, and when these units are used together few factions can match Egypt's power and versatility.

Galatian Royals are a Barbarian elite sword unit and almost as good as Oathsworn. While they are also more expensive, the fact that they have the backing of a Hellenic roster makes them stronger on a tactical level. Unlike Oathsworn most opponents can't just focus down the murderous elite swords when they also have pikes and elephants and the most cost effective missile line in the game to deal with.

Egypt also gets some cost effective cheap units for min maxing their Galatian Royals. Aside from their 270 fund slingers, Levy Thureos Spears and Egyptian Pikes can cause outsized problems for your opponent compared to their cost.

Egypt also has some units that should not be used. Galatian Swordsmen are decent in a fight but they cost 90 funds more than they should, as the actual Galatian faction has a unit of almost identical stats but cheaper. Otherwise the entire Egyptian spear roster, other than units with 'Thureos' in their name, is mediocre and should be avoided in most cases.

Royal Thorax Swords and Royal Peltasts are not Galatian Royal Guards. Only use them if forced to by the funds or by the fact that they happen to be available as generals.

Egypt also has some options for fielding a fear based army. This works better on lower funds where units tend to have less morale in general, and against factions with lots of chaff units like Kush.

Use Against:
On large funds: Rome, Carthage, Selucids, Kush, Weak Barbarians

On ultra funds: If you know what you are doing, whatever you want. I have three different Ultra fund Egypt builds for fighting everything from The Top Four to the Horse Factions.

Counter With:
On large funds: Kush, Rome, Carthage, Mid Tier Barbarians, Horse Factions
On ultra funds: Rome, Kush, Tylis Boii, Horse Factions

Pike Tactics backed up by Galatian Royals enable a particularly brutal playstyle that can take on almost any melee line short of Kushite Disciple spam. This makes Egypt the strongest pike faction by a wide margin.

Epirus is fun to use but their general lack of good melee units lets them down. The Mercenaries added by HatG makes for a decent enough main line but on higher funds they are capped at just 6 of such mid tiers and that will be insufficient by themselves. Royal Peltasts and standard Hoplites are not ideal replacements.

Agrianian Axemen are an unusually high mass missile unit that can withstand a cavalry charge. This makes them excellent bait to lure in and obliterate the enemy cav.

Since there is usually nothing better to bring Hellenic Royal Guards can be an interesting elite pick when combined with Advanced Pike Tactics.

Use Against:
On large funds: Mid Tier Hellenic Factions, Weak Factions, Pontus
On ultra funds: Mid Tier Hellenic Factions, Weak Factions

Counter With:
On large funds: Mid Tier Hellenic Factions, Pontus
On ultra funds: Mid Tier Hellenic Factions

Avoid fighting factions with strong sword rosters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S29xEEvi1tc

Galatia is the only Celtic faction to lack an elite sword unit. This noticeably limits their potential on higher funds compared to Oathsworn factions.

Galatian Legionaries and Galatian Swords are your main get things done units, and they are good at their job. The elite spears are weaker against other infantry, but their precursor javelins and Counter Cavalry Tactics ability makes them one of the worst possible things in the game to engage with cavalry. This makes Galatia perfect against factions with decent melee lines that also rely on their cavalry.

Galatian Riders are javelin cavalry with Light Horse melee stats. At 550 funds this makes them quite the problem when used well.

Use Against:
On large funds: Masaesyli, Horse Factions, Getae
On ultra funds: Masaesyli, Horse Factions, Getae

Counter With:
On large funds: Mid Teir Barbarians, Low Tier Barbarians
On ultra funds: Mid Tier Barbarians, Low Tier Barbarians

I can't think of a worse faction for the Masaesyli to fight than Galatia. On the surface it looks like a fair enough fight, so little reason to justify a switch to a different faction. Once the battle is joined however, the Masaesyli player finds their Knockoff Legionaires outmatched, their cavalry shut down or negated, and their javelins unable to make up the difference. Galatia is a good counter for the Getae as well, but the Noble Swords can pose a problem for the Galatian Legions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W90g6XJx4A

The Getae are an unusual Barbarian faction. They lack any good mid tier units whatsoever, and rely entirely on low tier mediocre units and their decent elites.

The entire spear roster isn't good for much other than being a meatshield, Don't expect them to win any fights. They don't even get precursors.

Falxmen are squishy but might get a few kills if they get their charge in. Mercenary Axe warriors are not the most cost effective unit but they are the best Getae has as far as their funds go. Bow horsemen are a bit overpriced compared to their Nomad counterparts but a horse archer is a horse archer. Heavy archers are decent, all the other missile options kind of suck or are overpriced for how a typical multiplayer field battle will play out. The elite shock cav are also nothing special for their cost.

In spite of the aforementioned limitations the Getae can be a difficult opponent. A line of elite swords backed up by horse archers and shock cav is often too much for the weaker factions to deal with, while pulling a strong faction against the Getae is overkill and just plain mean.

Use Against:
On large funds: Low Tier Barbarians, Selucids, Saba
On ultra funds: Low Tier Barbarians, Selucids, Saba

Counter With:
On large funds: Galatia, Saba, Low Tier Bararians, Odrysian Kingdom, Masaesyli
On ultra funds: Selucids, Egypt, Horse Factions, Saba

The Iceni are often maligned as being bad, but that is not the case. True, their units across the board have slightly weaker stats for their cost than units from their peers, but to make up for it the Iceni have Chariots. Many people also say that Iceni Chariots suck, to which I say that those people clearly have no idea how to use Chariots properly.

So, the Iceni get an elite, mid tier and low tier sword. They are all decent enough but nothing special. Scout Riders and Veteran Riders are also weaker than their Light and Heavy Horse equivalents, but the Iceni cav units also cost less so you get what you pay for. Painted ones are a 610 fund fear causing unit but their lack of armor really lets them down. Spear Bands are a bit of a hidden gem though. Higher mass than levy freemen so cav can't just flatten what is supposed to be your cav deterrence.

Ok, so back to Chariots. The Iceni are heavily reliant on these things to pull a win. Iceni Chariots do not have scythes, like the namesake Scythed Chariots, so they cant just mow down whatever with wheel blades. However, Iceni Chariots are alot cheaper, have more entities, and have a higher morale. Plus they throw javelins. The main difference in performance between the two units is that Scythed Chariots are better suited for taking out heavy infantry while Iceni Chariots are more likely to get bogged down and die. So when using the Iceni Chariots you need to go after lighter units. In fact I suggest only using the Iceni against factions with lighter units so your chariots can be effective.

Use Against:
On large funds: Other Mid Tier Barbarian factions. Stuff like Celtic swords will get trampled into the ground, while even the mid tier units of the Low Tier Barbarian factions are also vulnerable. Suebi and their lighter mass across the board also make for tempting targets.

On ultra funds: More expensive units tend to also have higher mass. I would recommend keeping the Iceni relegated to lower fund games.

Counter With:
On large funds: Rome, Arverni, Boii, Tylis
On ultra funds: Anything with heavy infantry that you trust to take on Barbarian Swords.

Kush is flipping overpowered. You got a great elite melee unit, another great elite melee unit with crazy melee stats and fear, a good mid tier melee unit, pikes, elephants, chariots, some of the best archers in the game, and great melee cav. And you get a bunch of cheapo fodder units so you can min-max your way to bringing the toys listed above. Kush is formidable in almost every category.

Use Against:
Pretty much whatever you want! Your opponents need to counter you, not the other way around.

Counter With:
On large funds: Rome, Tylis, Carthage
On ultra funds: Rome, Egypt, Suebi

Disciples of Applejack are about the last thing you want to engage with other infantry because they will rout most anything in short order, but they lack armor and precursor javelins. Elephants are the best counter to Disciples, but shooting them with everything you have and cycle charges from good cav can hurt them badly. Since Kush also has the full gauntlet of special units you need to be able to stop Elephants and Chariots as well, perhaps even both at the same time. Bring some javelin units or Thureos Spears.

The main problem is still the melee infantry. Armored and standard Shotel Warriors are pretty damn good in their own right. Rome can grind their way to a win, the Barbarians can come out on top through repeated charges and Egypt and Carthage have solid enough infantry of their own to back up their War Elephants, but if you try to fight Kush on their terms the battle can easily go against you and you either need superior skill or some kind of gimmick to assure a win, because otherwise the advantage lies with Kush.

Since one of the only weaknesses of Kush is their lack of good spear units, and the fact that Disiples are anti infantry, you might have luck using a Nomad faction against Kush as well.

The Lusitani roster has a general squishiness that makes them difficult to use. Guerilla deployment on infantry is essentially useless when it doesn't backfire disastrously, so what is supposed to be the main draw of the faction is actually something that the user should go out of their way to avoid. This leaves a remaining set of units that is only good against lower tier factions. While the Lusitani are about equal to the Arverni on large funds I wouldn't take them against anything better than that, and with lighter units in general beware chariots.

Use Against:
On large funds: Arverni, Arevaci, Nervi, Carthage, Hellenic Factions
On ultra funds: Arevaci, Carthage, Hellenic Factions

Counter With:
On large funds: Iceni, Nervi, Arevaci, Arverni, Carthage
On ultra funds: Arevaci, Arverni, Carthage, Selucids

Made famous in real life by Alexander the Great, noobish Macedonian pike formations are a favorite among players new to Rome 2 multiplayer. Unfortunately pikes are difficult to use effectively against other players even when taking full advantage of the game mechanics, and the rest of the Macedonian roster is only average.

They do have access to the good Mercenary ranged units and Mercenary Thracian Warriors. With those backing up the pikes along with mainstay Thorax Swords and hard hitting Thessalian shock cav Macedon can hold their own against most other Hellenics. On higher funds they also can start bringing in the elite Companion Cavalry and their elite infantry units. While Macedon doesn't have the best elites, they are much better off than the factions with no elites.

Use Against:
On large funds: Mid Tier Hellenic Factions, Weak Factions, Carthage, Pontus
On ultra funds: Mid Tier Hellenic Factions, Weak Factions, Carthage

Counter With:
On large funds: Mid Tier Hellenic Factions, Weak Factions, Carthage, Pontus
On ultra funds: Mid Tier Hellenic Factions, Weak Factions, Carthage, Selucids

Macedon makes for a great Detachment army for wrecking cavalry factions. It has all the tools needed to do it, but most players are expecting some kind of easy to deal with noob pike spam from Macedon, not an almost pikeless skirmisher build using a novel formation.

Like the Getae this faction can be exceptionally difficult to deal with if you are trying to fight them fairly. Those javelins HURT. A good Maseasyli player can shred the opposition right up until they run out of ammo, after which the alarmingly good melee prowess of units their opponents thought were just stick throwers comes into play.

As if the some of the best javelin units in the game were not enough, Maseasyli also get legion knockoffs. Luckily not the most cost effective of the legion units, but still. Those shock cavalry can rack up kills as well.

But wait, there's more! The Maseasyli get guerilla deployment on a javelin cav unit. This is one of the only instances in the game where this ability is useful. Unlike easy to catch infantry, a bunch of missile cavalry showing up from the rear can run in and gank an important unit before even an attentive enemy can stop them, and get away to do it again.

Fortunately the faction lacks good long range units, and a clever opponent can force them to eat a few volleys before the Maseasyli get to fire back. Though, even just a line of cheap Desert Slingers can be enough to negate stronger missile units between casualties and ammo expenditure.

Use Against:
On large funds: Getae, Carthage, Nabatea, Pontus, Rome?
On ultra funds: Getae, Carthage

Counter With:
On large funds: Galatia, Galatia, Galatia!
On ultra funds: Arverni, Galatia

Note: See guide section on Galatia.

As a Nomad faction, the Massagetae have an all cavalry roster. This forces them into a hard to use and predictable playstyle. It also pisses off most people who have to fight it since they don't know how and are forced to box or camp. It can take 40 minutes or more to properly pick apart such a formation with just cavalry, which just pisses people off even more. I've had more than a few "opponents" see my Nomad army and just up and leave. Only pull a Nomad faction if your opponent is also using a horse based faction or you ask first and get permission.

When using Nomads, it is usually best to only use a small portion of your army at one time while keeping the rest safely out of the way. There is a limit to human micro and using 20 cav units over a wide area to full potential at once exceeds it.

When fighting infantry based factions, Nomad armies should focus heavily on firepower. Waves of horse archers, using their mobility to gain local superiority over the enemy ranged and to line up flank and rear shots on the enemy melee units, will usually win the day. Keeping some missile units in reserve is essential, a competent boxer will save their best units while the rest of their army forces you to expend their ammo on them. Riding up with a few fresh missile cav right when your opponent thinks you are out of ammo and relaxes their guard has won me several battles.

When fighting infantry, use melee and shock cav for taking out things that it would be a waste to shoot at. Light infantry or pursuing enemy cavalry make good targets, but another good tactic is to suicide your melee cav into the enemy lines with the intention of pushing through the knocked down infantry to get at their missile units standing behind them. If you succeed, you will have significantly more ammo to spare for their melee units and if you are quick you might even get a few of your cav units back out again.

When fighting other horse factions it is still a good idea to go missile heavy, but bring enough melee/shock units to stop any attempt to push your ranged units to the edge of the map and pin them there.

Nomad armored missile units and above are usually decent in melee. There are many weaker enemy units, especially ranged enemy units, that can be safely removed by charging them instead of wasting ammo shooting them. Some players do not expect this at all and I suggest punishing them severely for their lapse by wiping out in detail whatever they left out where you could get it.

Some Nomad melee cavalry get an ability called Draco. This is a special ability only available to Nomads that cancels out the anti large bonus of nearby enemy units for a short time. This can turn the tide of battle against a spear faction, but note that if you pop the ability and charge into something like a Royal Spartan they will still be hard to remove and inflict serious casualties on you. It's often not fun charging into the best elite sword units either and they get no bonus vs large regardless. Also note that most other melee/shock cav units get a bonus vs large and Draco works on them too.

The Massagetae's schtick is Cataphacts. Their elite units across the board sport a high armor rating, though the other two Nomads also get an elite of their own that matches or exceeds that .

Use Against:
On large funds: Other Horse Factions, Any other faction really
On ultra funds: Other Horse Factions, Any other faction really

Counter With:
On large funds: Other Horse Factions, Spear based factions
On ultra funds: Other Horse Factions, Spear based factions

Massalia is a hybrid of Celtic and Hellenic units. While in theory this should make them awesome, in practice they lack most of the best Celtic units and they are also missing the good Hellenic stuff. This has given Massalia a well deserved reputation for being weak.

While outside the scope of this guide, Massalia and their plethora of cost effective cheap units are formidable on lower funds. So, 7800 funds or less Massalia is a powerhouse.

On higher funds the lack of good mid tier and elite units takes its toll. Good 500 fund cavalry and cheapo barbarian units will only get you so far and the more money you get the less of them you can fit in your army without leaving funds on the table. Thorax Swords and Massalian Hoplites will lose to the better and more cost effective peer units that other factions get. Hippeus lancers are decent but a single expensive cav unit will not win many battles.

Use Against:
On large funds: Other Weak Factions, Greek States

Do not use Massalia on ultra funds.

Counter With:
On large funds: Weak Factions, Greek Sates
On ultra funds: Pretty much anything, Massalia sucks on these funds.

Nabatea kind of looks like Sparta but with better cav and worse ranged. Unfortunately they play like a weaker Sparta but with cav that don't really make a difference and massively worse ranged.

Armored Desert Hoplites are highly cost effective. Armored Desert cav are reasonably cost effective. Unfortunately, two cost effective units that aren't even killing power units will not win battles.

The cheapo slingers will lose to everything, the archers are overpriced, most of the cavalry is either too expensive or bad, most of the infantry is either bad or compares unfavorably to similarly priced units from other factions, and.. well at least Nabatea gets Scythed Chariots.

Let me put it this way, I have never struggled to get consistent viable results with a faction as much as I have with this one. I have used Odrysia, Illyria and Cimmeria extensively as mainline factions and I am saying that about this faction.

Use Against:
On large funds: Hellenic Factions, Weak Factions
On ultra funds: Hellenic Factions, Weak Factions

Counter With:
On large funds: Hellenic Factions, Horse Factions, Saba
On ultra funds:Hellenic Factions, Horse Factions, Saba

If you are a masochist I found a good faction for you to try...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t579sPKP_9A

Nervi are defined by their squishy mid tier units. While they will rip apart most Hellenics with ease, other barbarians can pose a problem.

Guerilla and naked units are bad, which hurts the Nervi more than most. Otherwise they get most of the standard Celtic units. Fierce Swords and Mighty horse noticeably underperform analogues from their barbarian peers but that is what you got to work with.

Use Against:
On large funds: Iberian Factions, Carthage, anyone dumb enough to fight a Barb faction with a Greek faction...

On ultra funds: Same deal.

Counter With:
On large funds: Iceni, Arverni, Suebi, Lusitani, Carthage
On ultra funds: Iceni, Arverni, Suebi, Lusitani, Carthage

Never fight Rome with the Nervi unless you have the funds to ignore your mid tiers in favor of elite spam.

Odrysia is one of the hardest to use factions in the game. They have a very limited roster of squishy shock infantry backed up by mercenary hoplites and some decentish cavalry, though they lack a mid tier cav unit. The falx units are very vulnerable to missile fire but all Odrysia gets to counter it is a cheapo slinger unit. The infantry also lack precursors, and thus a main counter to pikes and enemy large units.

That being said if you can land your falx charges right Odrysia can rip apart Rome, Boii or Tylis. Or you can get hit by enemy precursors and charges and disintegrate yourself to a weak faction. Honestly, while I like the faction until I started using Nabatea I have never seen a faction that produces more unreliable results.

Falxes have a hidden bonus vs large, and so falx units can stand in for spear units when countering cavalry. Just make sure to charge with them, as bracing with your non existent melee defense and relatively low armor will do you no favors.

Use Against:
On large funds: Any infantry based faction that lacks pikes or especially horse archers
On ultra funds: Any infantry based faction that lacks pikes or especially horse archers

Counter With:
On large funds: Any faction that has pikes/horse archers or even just lots of shooty units. You need to shoot the Falx units and avoid them in melee to win. Do NOT let them land clean charges on your important units.

On ultra funds: Same deal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKPBdGX3Qcg

Parthia was the first horse faction in the game, and while the later additions have overshadowed them in individual areas, a well designed Parthian army comp used by someone who knows how is still a force to be reckoned with.

Eastern Cataphracts are highly cost effective, most of the tankiness and killing power of the elite Cataphracts but with a more reasonable price tag.

Parthian armored Horse archers have lower missile damage and melee stats than their Nomadic counterparts. Doesn't make them bad, just means that you have to rely on the infantry a bit to get the job done.

Parthian infantry are not going to win any fights against anything good. They can, however, pin down the enemy long enough for your cav to do their job and they can also intercept and destroy most enemy spear units that would otherwise cause problems for the cav.

Parthian foot archers deal 40 missile damage. While a bit pricey for an unarmored archer unit, they hurt.

Elite Persian archers are overpriced. They have no armor and while they carry spears, they are not any better against cav than an Eastern Spear unit. Do you really trust Eastern Spears to survive fighting anything above the weakest of cav units? I didn't think so. Use standard Persian Archers or Parthian archers instead and put the saved funds into something more useful that can prevent your archers from having to melee enemy cav in the first place.

Use Against:
On large funds: Horse factions, Hellenics
On ultra funds: Horse factions, Hellenics

Counter With:
On large funds: Horse factions, Hellenics
On ultra funds: Horse factions, Hellenics

Like all horse factions, Parthia requires open space to be effective. Do not use on maps with crazy terrain or anything more crowded than a 2v2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUWs92wVPoA

I call this faction Derpamon for a reason, but after using them for a few years I have to say they are deceptively capable for weak faction.

Agema Spears are Thureos Spears with Hoplite melee stats and expert charge defense and are the "best" Thureos Spears in the game. I like to put them off on the flanks by themselves as a screening force, and if I do this with my general especially my opponent likes to oblige me by sending their cavalry in to try to gank them. This results in the enemy javelin cav losing the engagement and any melee or shock cav taking heavy losses.

Pergamese Noble Cavalry are overpriced and just a sidegrade from Hippeus Lancers, so use the Hippeus instead and spend the extra funds elsewhere.

Galatian Swords single handedly make this faction viable, use them.

Use Against:
On large funds: Hellenic Factions, Weak Factions, Horse Factions, Carthage

Do not use on ultra funds, with that much money it is difficult to make competitive armies out of the roster.

Counter With:
On large funds: Hellenic Factions, Weak Factions, Horse Factions, Carthage
On ultra funds: Hellenic Factions, Weak Factions, Horse Factions, Carthage

Pontus is fun and has a kitchen sink full of cheap stuff to throw at the enemy. No other faction has as many cheap cost effective units as Pontus, to the point where you can't even fit them all into a 20 fund army at 11700 funds. Unfortunately their elite units and mid tiers are either lacking or completely nonexistent.

Bronze shield pikes are fun but standard pikes can do their job and the cheaper Thorax Pikes can do their job just as well. With Bronze Shields you are really just paying extra for the encourage, but since they are your only infantry with encourage you probably want to bring at least one of them.

Pontic Swords are actually cost effective but as a 620 fund unit they are outclassed by so many other units that cost more. Dont expect them to be able to hold the line alone.

Mercenary Naked Swords cost 100 funds less than their non mercenary version. Does this make a naked unit actually worth using, especially when Merc Celtic Swords are also available? You decide.

Chariots, Horse Archers and Shock cavalry are usually needed to win battles, use at least one of them.

Pontus is one of those factions that does better the less money is involved, so at 7800 funds or below they are scary. Pontus also does well on large armies since with 40 unit slots they get to bring all their toys.

Use Against:
On large funds: Hellenic Factions, Carthage, Odrysia, Weak Factions
Do not use Pontus on 16000 or above, you lack enough elite units with which to build a competitive army out of.

Counter With:
On large funds: Hellenic Factions, Carthage
On ultra funds: Weak Factions?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJe5WNzvBXw

The namesake of the game gets a ridiculous amount of cost effective strong melee units to choose from. They also have some of the most anemic charge bonuses in the game, but while that rewards good micro less than other factions it also punishes bad micro less as well, so Rome is a great faction for new players. You also get some of the better ranged units in the game and some decent enough cavalry, though none of your spear units carry pilla and that hurts their effectiveness at taking out cav.

Use Against:
On large funds: Pretty much anyone, Rome is strong and it will usually be your opponent trying to counter you rather than the other way around.

On ultra funds: Here it gets a little dicey. The pike factions really start to shine with the extra money and some of them become formidable enough to out grind Rome. Barbarians who can afford lots of Oathsworn are also a serious threat. Rome can still take on pretty much anyone, but the list of factions who can take on Rome in turn grows with the funds.

Counter With:
On large funds: Tylis, Boii, Kush, Carthage, Egypt if you know what you are doing...
On ultra funds: Arverni, Sparta, Egypt, Kush

Rome focuses heavily on grinding out melee engagements, and as long as the enemy obliges they will usually come out on top in the end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTZ4vyA1WF8

The Roxolani are distinguished by having nothing special about them. Their stuff works just fine but nothing stands out like their two Nomadic counterparts. The Mercenary Amazons are nice but you might as well use Scythia if you want to go that route.

I already went on a long spiel about the Nomads in the Massagetae section and I'm not going to repeat myself. Go read it if you have not already.

Use Against:
On large funds: Other Horse Factions, Whatever you want
On ultra funds: Other Horse Factions, Whatever you want

Counter With:
On large funds: Other Horse Factions, Spear Factions
On ultra funds: Other Horse Factions, Spear Factions

Scythia is my favorite Nomad Faction and my go to for all things cavalry spam. Aside from the basic Nomad roster of horse archers and melee/shock cav of varying quality and costs Scythia gets two very special things.

Amazon units are the only 150 range horse archers in the game. This is huge, as at 125 range all other horse archers are out ranged by foot missiles and must advance and withdraw with perfect timing to get a volley off without taking return fire. Amazons have much more leeway and can even sit and shoot at the outer ring of melee units in a box without taking return fire from inside it. On top of that their advantage against other missile cav cannot be overstated. Being hard to catch and out ranging every other missile unit is an overwhelming advantage unless the Amazon user has a fatal lapse in micromanagement.

Royal Skirmishers are almost as good as the popular Numidian Nobles unit. A hard hitting javelin cav unit with mid tier melee cav stats, a few of these guys saved in reserve can clutch almost any battle.

I already went on a long spiel about the Nomads in the Massagetae section and I'm not going to repeat myself. Go read it if you have not already.

Use Against:
On large funds: Other Horse Factions, Whatever You Want
On ultra funds: Other Horse Factions, Whatever You Want

Counter With:
On large funds: Other Horse Factions, Spear Factions
On ultra funds: Other Horse Factions, Spear Factions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fayfXMpjLhQ

Saba is decent. Their roster is defined by their camel units, and when used well they can cause complete havoc to the enemy. Camels have something weird going on with their mass, and "clever" players occasionally use the heavily armored ones Saba gets to push through lighter enemy units like impromptu chariots. Whether you hate push through or use it yourself, this is something that must be taken into account when Saba is involved in a battle.

Mercenary Maas Gats and your two Marib spear units are your most cost effective infantry, try to stick to using just those as much as possible. Noble Swordsmen are BAD, never use them for any desert tribe faction.

Camel Archers usually suck but if you throw some armor on them they can actually pose a meaningful threat. Unfortunately without being able to fire behind them they are still not as good as Horse Archers.

Use Against:
On large funds: Horse Factions, Weak Factions, Hellenic Factions, Outliers
On ultra funds: Horse Factions, Weak Factions, Hellenic Factions, Outliers

Counter With:
On large funds: Carthage, Galatia, Hellenic Factions, Odrysia
On ultra funds: Carthage, Galatia, Hellenic Factions, Odrysia

Horse factions are particularly susceptible to the Camel/Spear/Axemen combo. Other than that factions with low mas units like the Suebi might get quite the shock from camel push through.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc8Gvf0hTtY

Selucids have an elite unit in almost every category. Are they the best elite units? No, but versatility brings its own value to a battle.

While the Selucids can't quite match the grinding power of Rome, or the killing power of many of the Barbarians, they are more than capable of putting up a good fight against most factions regardless.

Syrian archers are good, but they are at the low end of the good missile units. Don't expect them to defeat mercenary Greek ranged units or even Baerlics in a fair fight.

Building armies with the Selucids can be difficult, since nothing really stands out other than the extremely expensive units. Just try to avoid elite spam in favor of a balanced build supporting your killing units and you should do fine.

Use Against:
On large funds: Galatia, Pontus, Carthage
On ultra funds: Galatia, Carthage, Hellenics

Counter With:
On large funds: Galatia, Pontus, Carthage, Egypt
On ultra funds: Galatia, Carthage, Hellenics

Sparta is only used by noobs or experts. Noobs use it because Sparta is cool, but when they do it is without fully understanding the major limitations of the faction. Experts also use the faction because it is cool, but they only do so because they think they have found a way around said limitations.

Sparta has spears, pikes and ranged. No swords at all, and effectively no cav worth anything. In a game dominated by swords this can make trying to use the faction an uphill battle.

However, the 700 fund Spartan Hoplites and the other expensive units can stand up to swords. This means that on higher funds Sparta can actually be competitive. A formidable missile line makes up for a lack of killing power from other sources, but they are vulnerable to enemy cav. Unfortunately, while Hoplites are highly resilient to cav themselves their lack of precursors make protecting other units difficult. This problem can be solved on a formation level by using a compact formation with misisle units spread throughout so that a single cav unit can't possibly catch all of them, and by the time they finish routing the one or two they did catch they are surrounded on three sides by angry spear units and will be lost themselves. Detachments are also recommended.

Noobs will usually be using some kind of static pike or elite spam hoplite wall formation, which will be easy for any non noob to deal with. Just don't engage it from just the front and you win. 300 style tactics don't work so well in an open field when being flanked form three sides and under heavy missile fire.

Experts using Sparta are rare, and they will be using the advantages of the faction to the fullest while mitigating the weaknesses as much as they can. Average players figure out pretty quickly that Sparta probably isn't a viable choice for multiplayer field battles, so you don't see too many of them. This means that if you are fighting a Spartan opponent who seems to know how to move their units coherently, then watch out cause it's probably a really good player.

As to units, Spartan Hoplites, Royal Spartans, and Spartan Pikes are your go to units. For missile units feel free to cobble together a kitchen sink of a ranged line to balance out the funds. As to Heroes of Sparta, they are literally 3/4 of a Royal Spartan unit at 3/4 the cost. Use them if that is how the funds add up but don't seek them out.

Use Against:
Avoid using Sparta on large funds, with a general lack of cheap cost effective melee units you will be gimping yourself. There are many other factions that play similarly to Sparta but are more viable. Even Illyria can beat Sparta on large funds and Illyria sucks!

On ultra funds: Rome, Hellenics, Horse Factions

Counter With:
On large funds: Illyria, Hellenics
On ultra funds: Rome, Hellenics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adkE9mBivTo

The Suebi are probably helped more by DLC than any other faction. Beasts of war gives them Wolf Warrios, a 700 fund fear unit. Daughters of Mars gives them Cimbri Bows, a 380 fund 150 range archer unit and several mediocre female melee units. Most importantly, Caesar in Gaul gives the Suebi the Arovistorus general abilities, which gives the Suebi a single use massive charge bonus and armor piercing damage buff. Without the DLC adding stuff to them the Suebi are just another average Barbarian faction. With the DLCs they can take on any of the top four.

The Suebi have many good and cost effective units. Sword Masters are a solid elite melee unit, Wodnaz spears are amazing for a spear unit, Bloodsworn are one of the most cost effective units in the game, and Germanic Scout Riders are cheap javelin cavalry with decent melee prowess. Even the cheapo slingers have above average surivability for what they are.

Suebi units also tend to be lighter than units of other factions. This both hurts and helps them. On the one hand lower mass makes it easier for cavalry units and chariots to knock everybody flat, but on the other hand lighter units tire more slowly and run faster. Something to take into account when both using and fighting against them.

Arovistorus charges are amazing and will rip apart most things but some heavily armored factions like Rome can withstand it, and you still need to take the time to avoid and go around most pike walls. Any faction is also capable of deploying the basic counter of running in the opposite direction when they see a Suebi player pop off an ability on everyone near their general. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. Depends on how skilled the players are and how good their timing is. Horse factions are even harder to catch and have the added bonus of not being susceptible to the anti infantry bonuses for some of the Suebi melee units.

Use Against:
On large funds: Other Barbarians
On ultra funds: Other Barbarians

Counter With:
On large funds: Horse Factions, Rome, Kush
On ultra funds: Horse Factions, Rome, Egypt, Kush

Syracuse has a similar roster to Athens, but with different mercenaries. While Athens gets Mercenary Thracians and the Hellenic ranged mercs, Syracuse instead gets Samnite Warriors and Baerlic Slingers. Otherwise they play much the same with a heavy infantry core backed up by pikes, good ranged units, and expensive shock cavalry. Stereotypical Hellenic faction through and through.

Italian Noble Cavalry are not very good for what you pay for them, due to their low melee defense and lack of both reach and a bonus vs large due to not using spears. The do have precursor javelins at least.

Use Against:
On large funds: Hellenic Factions
On ultra funds: Hellenic Factions

Counter With:
On large funds: Hellenic Factions
On ultra funds: Hellenic Factions

Do not use against Rome.

Tylis is powerful because their Tribal Warriors are ridiculously cost effective. The killing power of a barbarian sword unit merged with the tanking potential of a Hoplite. They also get access to Oathsworn, Thracian Warriors, and Celtic Swords.

Tylis also gets some good melee capable javelin cav, but their limitation to cheap Celtic Slingers as their only 150 range melee option and their lack of Heavy horse can cause problems.

Gallo-Thracian infantry and Celtic tribesmen are completely pointless compared to the rest of the roster and I don't know why they are in the game. In fact I find it insulting that Gallo-Thracians are given to Tylis, who do not need them, and are not given the the Odrysian Kingdom, who desperately do.

Use Against:
On large funds: Rome, Boii, other melee centric factions that are giving you problems
On ultra funds: Rome, Boii, other melee centric factions that are giving you problems

Counter With:
On large funds: Kush, Boii, Suebi
On ultra funds: Kush, Boii, Egypt, Arverni

Like all barbarians, Tylis lives or dies on their charges. Interfere with their charges or get them in a grind fest and the barbarians lose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlkiXHy4bqs

Overpowered DLC campaign factions include Gallic Rome, Empire Divided Macromani, Caesar in Gaul Rome, Sassanids and Rise of the Republic Rome. In about that order, though due to how completely different these factions are they can't really be directly ordered in such a fashion. There are many others, but these are the most used.

Gallic Rome is the most ridiculously overpowered faction in the game. When their roster is abused, few other factions have the capability to stand against them, to the point where there are no hard counters to this faction.

Macromani Berserkers have twice the men of Grand Campaign Berserkers, but cost the same. While Berserkers have some easily exploitable weaknesses this is still technically a 1600 fund unit to be had for 820. Oh, and they get pikes.

CiG Rome has significantly cheaper Veteran Legionaries and access to the most cost effective cheap barbarian units in the game, along with Heavy Horse and Iceni Chariots. On Large funds (11700) or below they are more than most factions can handle. And their icon is the exact same as normal Rome so unless you have previous knowledge of your opponent you have no idea that CiG Rome has been pulled.

Sassanids have no cap on their elephants. Enough said.

RotR Roman Triarii are literally the strongest melee unit in the game. At just 1200 funds you have an anti-large spear unit with precursors and square able to beat 1340 fund Oathsworn in a fight. Unfortunately (or fortunately) as a RotR faction their roster has some glaring, exploitable holes in it.

Loading up these factions in a Grand Campaign game is generally considered highly unethical, unless an opponent did so first. The majority of the players I've seen that pull these factions are also straight up ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, so don't be surprised if you encounter cheese tactics or even outright cheating on the battlefield or suffer abuse in chat. These are exactly the players I'm out to get and I take great pleasure in doing so.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rklJ0xgKo-0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1_blQrIMko

Thank you for reading through all that, if you didn't that's OK too.

If you think I missed something important please let me know so I can consider adding it.

Here is another link to the main guide for your convenience.