Rome 2 Factions revealed so far:

[semperpietas]

Originally Posted by Johnny_Reb

Back then barbarian meant anyone who was not as advanced as the Romans for example. So it is okay and not derogatory.

To the Greeks, even the Romans and the Carthaginians were considered "Barbarians".

[semperpietas]

Announced Today:

The Parthians
“Tolerance, justice, profit”

A confederation of tribes, Parthia is famed for its horses, nomadic horse-archers and heavy cavalry, the latter developing distinctive bronze or iron scaled armour which covers both horse and rider. For its infantry it relies on ethnic Persian/Iranian hillmen, spear and skirmisher units and sometimes mercenaries, armed and drilled in the Seleucid fashion.

[Blakdust]

1. Recruit Parthia's heavy cavalry

2. charge enemy

3. ????????

4. PROFIT

[semperpietas]

And the final faction:

Ptolemaic Egypt:
“Legacy, independence, power.”

The intermingling of Greek and Egyptian fighting styles provides the Ptolemaic Pharaohs with a military that is both advanced and balanced, yet still honours the role of the champion commander. Making great use of spear and pike, their forces are further diversified with skilled swordsmen, scythed chariots, and more exotic units such as African war elephants. Egypt's position on the Mediterranean Sea also requires a substantial navy to protect its colonial and trade interests.

[semperpietas]

With the last of the eight playable factions annouced for Rome 2 Total War annouced, what faction will you play first?

For me, the answer is Carthage.

[Frtigern]

For me, the Suebi! I will be blitzing in four directions. East to the steppe. North as far as the map allows. West as far as Southwest France. Then south as far as Sicily.

[Lucky 6]

Definitely going to be the Romans. I will pave the world!

[Blakdust]

The Romans 1st for the easy expansion due to infantry power being cheap an good at sieges

Then The Parthians for the unbeatable tactical power in field battles

[calger14]

Have to play Rome first! Then probably Carthage second.

[Kahless]

Definitely the Romans.

[semperpietas]

Pontus revealed as a ninth faction - free day one dlc.

http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/04/26/to...e-day-one-dlc/

[Frtigern]

I'm loving that there will be 117 different factions present in the campaign. Also 500 unit types and 183 map regions!

[globetrotter]

I just hope the battle animations aren't all "300" and that sort of crap-ola; eye candy for the 5-second-attention-span masses. If I see Roman legionaries dancing about and swinging their swords around like they're Brad Pitt in Troy, I am going to be a little pi$$ed off. Judging from the promo video, I believe that there will be female assassins like there was in Shogun TW. That would be annoying in the extreme.

I expect lots of ahistorical nonsense from CA, but I will keep my peace until I see the reviews from the gaming peeps. The modders have always made the good CA games great. I held off on getting Shogun 2 until I saw what great mods were being released for it. I'll probably do the same here.

That being said, I will be playing as Rome.

[semperpietas]

First DLC announced, free with pre-orders:

Greek Pack, which includes three factions: Athens, Epirus, and Sparta

[Frtigern]

I'm adamantly disgusted with the whole DLC gaming era. Just another gimmick so that game companies can suck more money out of its players, and the big ones assuredly don't need the money. But here is a great game play tutorial of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest: