The thought and possibility of adding in Epirus, has got my mind thinking. I am concerned with the faction list right now and the good thing is, I still have time to change it. I will go through the current list and analyze each faction historically as of 280 BC and then propose some ideas below.
The Roman Republic - The heart of the entire game, of course they are in!
The Republic of Carthage - You would be stupid to say no to Carthage
The Antigonid Kingdom - Will definitely be in, at this time they were in an interesting position
The Seleucid Empire - Yes, In.
The Ptolemaic Empire - Of course
The Kingdom of Pontus - Brand new Kingdom, but they were there and the future is bright. IN.
The Kingdom of Armenia - Debate whether they are independant, I believe they are. In.
Parthians - Okay they will be in, but I'd like to have them appear later in the game. I will explain below.
Numidians - At this time in history, the Numidians were divided into two tribes. They will be in, representing one of the tribes.
The Greek City States - ahistorical but there is nothing you can really do about it. They will represent the major greek cities. I will explain more below.
Gauls - similar to the Greeks, will explain below
Germans - are in, they will represent a single tribe at the beginning
Dacians - are in
Iberians - are in and will likely represent the Luistani
Sarmatians - are in but it's frustrating because nobody plays as them
Thracians - I want them in but I don't know, they will probably make it
Britons - I would like to have them in, but they do not bring much. They really were irrelevant until Caesar's expeditions.
Illyrians - I believe they should be in, and more than likely they will be
The Bosporan Kingdom - I like them being in as they give people a reason to play as the Sarmatians and they can represent the Scythians as well
The Nabataean Kingom - were around, but did not really do anything. they were more important in the AD's. I want them in though to add some flavor. I don't know about them yet.
Rebels - I need to find ways to make them stronger, more independant and aggressive
Parthia:
So in 247 BC the governor of Parthia proclaimed independance from the Seleucid Empire. In 238 BC the Parni invaded, killed the successor and took over Parthia which began the Parthian Empire.
Would I be able to make Parthia appear in 238 BC as a horde? Also by doing that would I be able to make an alternate campaign so the player could play as the Parthians starting in 238 BC?
Greek City States:
In the Main campain this faction would control Sparta, Athens etc like how they were in vanilla. However, I would like to make some alternate campaigns so the player could play as Sparta, Syracuse, or the Achaean or Aetolian leagues. Also I could use them to play as Pergamum, Cyrene, or Massilia as well. Would this be smart to do? If I did this, then the other city-states would be owned by the Rebels.
Gauls:
Very similar to the Greeks. In the main campaign they can be used as the Celt-Iberians, Galatians, and Gauls, but also have a alternate campaign where the player can take control of the Aedui or Arverni, Insubres, Celt-Iberians or Galatians.
Thracians:
The only reason they would not be in, is if I wanted to include Bactria or something. I could use the Greeks as an alternate campaign for Bactria though. I would rather have Thrace in as a faction because they can represent a Hellenic Kingdom as well as a Native Thracian one.
Britons:
I have done a lot of thinking, and I just feel that they should be in. I would have them start out with Samarobriva as well as a city in Briton. That way the AI can expand. I can use this historically as they could be renamed as the Belgae possibly. I'm leaning towards doing that, but we will see.
Nabataeans:
They might be the odd man out. I like the idea of them, but they would be pretty ahistorical for this mod. Plus they would only control one city surrounded by two empires with a weak army? The future does not look to bright for them right now, and they would end up being Epirus.
Rebels:
I need to find ways to make the Rebels stronger, more aggressive who act like independant nations instead of push overs. Does anyone have any ideas on how I could do this?
I wish all of this could be a lot easier. It would be if there were more faction slots. The faction slots are hard coded right? If I tried adding a 22nd faction the game wouln't work?
It's a dumb question but I might as well ask.
Let's hope everything works for the best. Give me your feedback!