Slitherine

I like the Early Gauls because of their chariots, which let me bully opponents skirmishers.

I also really like the later Greek lists which have a limited number of pikes and Theuroper.... Medium foot offensive spears - I put the pikes up front and let the Theur... whatever fill in the gaps and hold terrain once the battle has started.

I also really like the Seleucids, because they seem to have every type of creature, except covered in armour and given a sharp pointy stick.

What are your favourite armies and why?

Ptolemaic or Pyrrhic .....cant but love the Phalanx mixed with Elephants/Camels/Cav and decent skirmishers.

Ligurian. I love how simple and uncluttered the army list is. I also enjoy how hard it is to win with Ligurians due to the almost complete lack of reliable units.

Cumandante wrote:Ligurian. I love how simple and uncluttered the army list is. I also enjoy how hard it is to win with Ligurians due to the almost complete lack of reliable units.

I am playing in an MP campaign (hand-moderated map movement) as Armenian (non-Tigranes version) - someone had to volunteer - and it is really hard. And that is despite the fact that my first battle is against an Arab army, which has even less proper troops than my army.

rbodleyscott wrote:

Cumandante wrote:Ligurian. I love how simple and uncluttered the army list is. I also enjoy how hard it is to win with Ligurians due to the almost complete lack of reliable units.

I am playing in an MP campaign (hand-moderated map movement) as Armenian (non-Tigranes version) - someone had to volunteer - and it is really hard. And that is despite the fact that my first battle is against an Arab army, which has even less proper troops than my army.

Well, some of us enjoy being the underdog.

Cumandante wrote:

rbodleyscott wrote:

Cumandante wrote:Ligurian. I love how simple and uncluttered the army list is. I also enjoy how hard it is to win with Ligurians due to the almost complete lack of reliable units.

I am playing in an MP campaign (hand-moderated map movement) as Armenian (non-Tigranes version) - someone had to volunteer - and it is really hard. And that is despite the fact that my first battle is against an Arab army, which has even less proper troops than my army.

Well, some of us enjoy being the underdog.

Yep, and so long as we have got the points system right, it should be possible to win with such armies - though not, of course, by marching straight forwards.

I am finding the light/medium troop swarm lists to be some of the craziest strong armies in the game.

My contender for the army im doing best with are the indians in most variants.
Archers are amazing, its one of the few list where artillery is actually useful.
the main weakness? cavalry. Oh wait we not only have archers to shoot these to pieces, if they get through we got elephants to countercharge.
They outshoot skirmisher heavy armies as well. The indo greek list can get a few phalanxes and thureoporoi as backup as well. Indian cavalry is basically what id call superlights. Its a tough list.

It can be a bit hard to maneuver offensively with indians and you spend a lot of time sitting in your mapcorner, so they dont make for the most fun games, but they are strong.

fun wise i really enjoy playing greeks, they are an objectively bad list in almost every regard, which makes clutching a win with them that much more statisfying.

Thracian, of course! Though I think there should be a better way to simulate peltasts, such as allowing them to shoot like light javelinmen and being inclined to bounce off enemy foot if they charge them. Shameless plug...
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Roman, 219-200 nice balance of units, Hastati/Principes supported by Velites going for an assault make it an army with a solid strategy.

Can't say I have a favorite, but Roxolani are great; their standard unit is cavalry with Light Spear, Sword, 50% Bow. So they can shoot down enemy horsemen and charge effectively.

I have a soft spot for declining empires so the Seleukid army of Antiochos IV always appeals (partly as we actually have quite a good idea what it contained from his Daphnae parade unlike many declining armies ).

SnuggleBunnies wrote:Can't say I have a favorite, but Roxolani are great; their standard unit is cavalry with Light Spear, Sword, 50% Bow. So they can shoot down enemy horsemen and charge effectively.

Pity their shooting is so dismal though.

vakarr wrote:Thracian, of course! Though I think there should be a better way to simulate peltasts, such as allowing them to shoot like light javelinmen and being inclined to bounce off enemy foot if they charge them.

You are of course right Chris, but certain old tabletop rules allowed that - the effect was that such armies were dreadfully OP.

The 50% bow is effective enough at disrupting cavalry though, even if it doesn't do much to infantry.

I think of armies in historical matched pairs rather than one-off armies. Perhaps that is because I painted miniatures armies that way. My favourite pair is Carthage vs. Rome, so my favourite army is either Carthage (Hannibal in Italy) 218 BC - 217 BC or Roman 219 BC - 200 BC.