- Europa Barbarorum (Latin: Europe of the Barbarians), or EB, is a modification of the PC game Rome: Total War (RTW) based on the desire to provide Rome: Total War players with a more historically accurate game experience. The basic gameplay mechanics of the original game remain the same. The player controls an empire with the goal of conquering as much territory as possible and eliminating.
- EB II 2.0 A guide to uninstall EB II 2.0 from your system This info is about EB II 2.0 for Windows. Here you can find details on how to remove it from your PC. It is written by The Europa Barbarorum Team. More info about The Europa Barbarorum Team can be seen here.
Europa Barbarorum is a total conversion for Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms and successor to Europa Barbarorum for Rome: Total War. The aim is to give the player an even better gaming experience compared to EB1 on the RTW engine and a deeper comprehension of the ancient world and its correlations. Greetings Europa Barbarorum fans. You are free to send me anything via email (option in my profile) or via private message if you want (requests, questions, reports, feedback etc you don't want to share here) Today, we have a very special announcement for you.
Early game
Also known as 'when to decide the pace of the battle'. This is the time when most arrow exchanges take place, and also the moment when you probe how your opponent thinks and reacts.
Deployment. First of all, you need to anticipate what you will be facing even when you're still in the deployment phase and you're placing your ranged units. Which faction my opponent is playing with? What are the terrain features? How can I take advantage of my range / ammo / numbers / accuracy?
A correct deployment of missiles can give you an edge over your opponent, since the less you run your men around, the more effective your ranged units are. A unit is most vulnerable to missiles when moving or running, and if your ranged troops are taking casualties when moving they cannot even shoot back in retaliation.
When playing with lots of missile units, as in steppe battles, this can be the difference between dominating or losing the skirmish phase. You need to have a plan, and anticipate what you must do to achieve your goals: think ahead and plan accordingly, nothing is more important.
'You're good, you're very good! But you must always, always be thinking two or three moves ahead: your brother is a master at it.' Professor James Moriarty to Sigerson Holmes, 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother' |
Keep also in mind that running your men is a source of fatigue. 'What can a soldier do who charges when out of breath?' Missile units are no exception: their general performance, especially their speed, can be significantly hindered: not the greatest source of fun when your archers get caught in melee by cavalrymen lusting for blood.
Formation. What have we learnt from the introductory concept of beaten zone? I don't want to have my men packed up in the beaten zone of my opponent's ranged units. There is a simple solution for long-ranged missile duels: use long and thin formation of loosely formed archers, and don't position missile or light troops too closely one to each other. This minimises the amount of men inside the beaten zone, and therefore the casualties. In one of gamegeek2's commentary videos on YouTube this is clearly evident: the power of the formation gives his Toxotai Kretikoi a clear edge in the missile fight against multiple archer units in big squares.
However, since nothing comes for free in life, there is a clear drawback when using this tactic: manoeuvrability. Long lines of loose formation infantry are clumsy and wheel slowly, which is a problem if you have no map control and when playing in Huge scale.
The main reason why everyone likes using square formations for cavalry rather than having shallow lines is because they are a lot easier to manoeuvre. Horse archers are very mobile, but come in low numbers. There are small 'tricks' to achieve a proper micromanagement of their formation, for example placing them in column formation while running on flanks or from one flank to the other. Such expedients pay off really well: according to the beaten zone table, the column is better when receiving flanking fire, so that you can minimize your casualties.
However, even if loose formation is such a powerful tool to get an advantage, close formation can play a role as well. When massing fire on one single target, several units in close formation can be devastating.
Targeting. Choosing the right target for your missile units is another point to be aware of.
Macilrille wrote a guide to archery which contains some good advice.
Now, the Vanilla advisor would repeat 100+ times that you could weaken the enemy centre with missiles and then push through with a charge. I never found or find this to work. What I do instead is to prioritise my targets, what you want to take out with archers is the low-armour-high–lethality units of your enemy. These will often be enemy archers and slingers (especially HAs) that are covered from your cavalry, or elite units with little armour such as Falxmen, Galatian Wild Men, Gallic Swordsmen and German Slagonez and Wargozez. Especially you want to target “Scare” units such as Wargozez, Gaesetae, etc.
If none of these are around or your cavalry can ride down enemy slingers and archers with no interference from nasty pointy things, what you want to target is enemy infantry and cavalry that you can actually harm. Never waste shots on heavily armoured enemiesexcept in the circumstances I describe below where you want to push their morale over the Breaking Threshold. Medium phalanxes and hoplites are targets, but others are better, you will form an idea by trying. I cannot recall the specific order in which I take down enemies except on the battlefield and it changes with the situation.
Note that I barred some parts of the quotation: they are not relevant in multiplayer, since he is referring to fire arrows which have been removed in online games. Also, instead of unarmoured men you should prioritise the targeting of unshielded men: shield is much more important than armour for missile protection, since its protection value is doubled against missile fire. As you can see in this replay, for example, shooting Kluddargos (which have 11 armour but no shield) is a good idea because of the damage you can dish out in short order.
However, another advice that Macilrille gives in the same guide is clear and gets straight to the point: 'shooting at heavily armoured opponents if other targets are present is a waste and should be punished accordingly by a more difficult battle.'
Europa Barbarorum 2 Guide
Midgame
During midgame the most important thing that usually happens is the ensuing of the melee. The two lines collide and men start pushing, killing and dying. This is when short-ranged missile fire (aka javelins) truly shine.
There are two big differences between arrows and javelins, apart from range. There are a lot more arrows than javelins, but javelins have a significantly higher attack. This means that each javelin volley is much more important than an arrow volley: javelins must be conserved so that they can wipe out entire units at the right moment. This is true also for arrows, of course, but with the less abundant javelins each volley is relevant.
Also, there's something that's not really evident at first glance. In the EDU (export_descr_units.txt, found in EB/Data), the txt file where the stats of all the units in the game are written down, javelins are grouped in a different class than arrows (or sling bullets). In fact, while arrows are 'missile', javelins are 'thrown': javelins are basically considered by the game as thrown spears. This doesn't seem a big deal, until you remember that shields double their protection value against 'missile' weapon type. WOW. Javelin fire does not give shield value doubling to the unit the javelins are shot at! This is something worth remembering: even if big shield units (Roman infantry, Hoplitai…) are impervious to javelins from the front due to their already high shield value, when soldiers with small shield (3 or less) receive a javelin volley in the face they die much more easily than if they get hit by arrows.
Some factions (Sweboz, Getai) have exceptionally good javelin infantry (high attack, high accuracy, lots of javelins); some factions (Romani, Lusotannan) have access to large number of ap javelins (pila, soliferra) extremely dangerous to armoured foes. Play according to your faction strengths.
Some Germanic warriors from 1st Century BC to 1st Century AD. Note the iron-pointed spears, called 'frameae' (singular 'framea'). Those spears are one of the reasons why Germanic cavalry in EB is so effective. |
Of course, when talking about javelins, frontal fire is not that relevant. We're in midgame, armies are sufficiently close to each other and flanking manoeuvres are taking place. As I said before, flanking enemy formations and singling out targets with massed javelin volleys are astonishingly effective ways to cause routs or even chainrouts.
Flanking is easier with javelin cavalry, as they are much more mobile; massing is easier with infantry, because they're more numerous and a lot cheaper. It is also important to remember that flanking your opponent, if not properly done, leaves your units unprotected and vulnerable; in this sense javelin cavalry has an edge over infantry, because its speed allows to quickly unleash a volley or two and then charge to break a wavering unit, while also easily escaping from any retaliation your enemy could prepare.
Unit scale plays a role as well: as I explained in the article concerning differences between Large and Huge, the increase from Large scale to Huge scale increases the killing power of javelin-armed units, especially the ones with lower accuracy. So bear in mind that sometimes more javelins are more important than more accurate javelins.
Lategame
In the lategame missile units somehow lose importance, for the depletion either of the ammunitions or the manpower in the units themselves: one key factor for being effective is unleashing a large amount of projectiles, and this cannot happen when a unit is depleted. However, if you notice some of your melee units still have javelins, it might be worth to expend them in the back of engaged enemies instead of charging immediately. Why? Melee units have generally a high javelin attack; in the lategame units are usually exhausted; exhausted units have fragile morale. All these elements factored together give a much higher probability of insta-routing the targeted unit.
However, you must also choose wisely which unit to target, since the bigger scarcity of ammunitions imposes a greater care. It's much more important to rout a heavy unit, or a unit that is pinning a lot of your men preventing them to engage in other sectors, than a random unit close to your javelineers.
I think that's all for today. I hope the conclusion of this guide dedicated to missile units gave you some good points to think about. As usual, if you have comments or suggestions please let me know, so I can improve it even further.
Cheers!
Europa Barbarorum II | |
---|---|
Platform | Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms |
Mod Type | Overhaul |
Era | Classical Era |
Mod Leader | jmrc |
Release Status | Version 2.3 |
Forum / Thread | Here |
- 2Features
- 3Official Preview
Europa Barbarorum II is a revised and extended version of its predecessor RTW mod Europa Barbarorum, which has been adapted for Medieval II Total War. This is a full conversion mod (not surprising with M2TW since it’s a different time period).
It features a map spanning (in modern terms) from Ireland and Portugal to Pakistan and Xinjiang, and from mid-Sweden to Ethiopia. This map is twice as big as the original RTW map and features (as of yet) 27 fully playable factions. The team has tried to give each region on the map a number of provinces, so as not to under-represent factions and cultures on the “fringes”. There are fewer regions in the centre than in some Mediterranean-focused mods such as RTR or RS, but more in other parts of the map. This is in accordance with the basic philosophy of the project, which tries to provide the player with a historically accurate depiction of all major factions of the age, and a possibility to experience some factions/cultures that are under- or misrepresented in other media. Among these are not only the European 'barbarian' factions the original project started with, but also factions from Central Asia and the Arabian peninsula. This does not mean though that others have been neglected. The Hellenistic world, Rome, and Carthage are represented in their full might and splendour.The Europa Barbarorum project is uncompromising in its approach, seeking maximum historical accuracy. That said, characters who were born after the start date will not appear in the campaign, because of the unpredictability of the consequences of the player’s and AI’s actions.
This mod has many features unique from most other Medieval II mods. It includes hundreds of completely brand new units with balanced and historical stats, 1144 turns with four turns per year (instead of the standard 2 turns per year for TW) for a total of 286 years of gameplay, two settlement types - cities and nomadic camps (replacing castles from M2), social-political ideology which replaces religion, numerous scripted historical events such as political/military reforms or invasions, a vast wealth of regional historical and geographical information for each province on the map, unique historical landmarks or buildings for many provinces, native provincial buildings which give a region its dominant native culture, a complex trait and ancillary system for in-game characters, the ability to choose your faction heir, piety ranking will be replaced by management, chivalry/dread rank will be replaced by influence, unique political offices for certain factions, brand new animations for units not present in M2 (such as slingers, phalanx, hoplite, and archer bow strings), permanent stone forts which add income to regions and create greater regional diversity (not for first release), a navigable Red Sea-Nile River canal, buildable authority system which dictates the provinces form of government, a totally new and re-textured campaign map which extends slightly further east than EB I, the possibility of re-emergent or hording factions, and a complex area of recruitment (AOR) system that allows some regional as well as factional units to be recruited by several or even all factions. Alongside a completely redone campaign and battle AI for a more immersive and challenging experience.
Extensively researched voicemods (for units on the battlefield; also some agents). May be extended.
- Classical Greek (Will be divided between Western Greek and Eastern Greek)
- Classical Latin
- Parthian
- Phoenician-Punic
- Gaulish
- Proto-Germanic
- Classical Sanskrit
Factions
Faction list (as of yet; there will be additions. Some names may be changed for accuracy).
- Aedui (Gallic faction of northeastern Gaul)
- Arche Seleukeia (Seleucid Empire - Persian Hellenic successor empire)
- Areuakoi (Celtic Iberian faction, northern Spain)
- Arverni (Gallic faction of central Gaul)
- Baktria (Central Asian Hellenic successor faction, modern Afghanistan and Tajikistan)
- Boii (Eastern Celtic faction, modern Austria and Hungary)
- Bosphoran Kingdom (Hellenic faction in modern Crimea and the steppes)
- Epeiros (Kingdom of Epirus - Hellenic successor faction on the Illyrian frontier)
- Getai (Thraco-Dacian faction of modern Romania)
- Hayasdan (Kingdom of Armenia)
- Koinon Hellenon (Chremonidean League of the Greek city-states of Athens, Sparta, and Rhodes)
- Lugiones (Slavic-Germanic faction in modern Poland)
- Lusotannan (Iberian faction of modern Portugal and southern Spain)
- Makedonia (Kingdom of Macedonia)
- Malkûtâ Nabâta (Nabataean Kingdom, Arabian faction in modern day Jordan)
- Mamla'ha biMassylim (Numidian Kingdom in North Africa)
- Pahlava (Parthian Dahae Kingdom)
- Pergamon (Hellenic successor rump faction in western Asia Minor)
- Pontos (Persian-Hellenic successor faction in northern Asia Minor)
- Pritanoi (Briton faction in southern Britannia - replacing the Casse from EB I)
- Ptolemaioi (Ptolemaic Empire - Egyptian Hellenic successor faction)
- Safot Softim biQarthadast (Republic of Carthage)
- Sb' w-gwm (Sabaean Commonwealth, Arabian faction of modern Yemen)
- Saka Rauka (Eastern Scythian nomadic faction of Central Asia)
- Sauromatae (Western Scythian nomadic faction of the Pontic steppe)
- Senatus Populusque Romanus (Republic of Rome)
- Swêboz (Germanic faction of northern Germania)
- Taksashila (Satrapy of the Mauryan Empire, modern Pakistan)
You can view all of the official previews in this thread.
See also
External links
Europa Barbarorum was started to more accurately represent the barbarian factions in Rome - Total War as more than unwashed hordes but quickly expanded into accurate representations of all of the factions. Over the X years that EB has existed, EB has completely remade the Rome - Total War game with the goal of historical accuracy and fair representations of all factions. With the completion of Europa Barbarorum Version 1.1 (now 1.2), the team has moved on to the M2TW engine to recreate the Roman Era with the new features available therein.As of yet, several previews have been released (https://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=194571), in addition to some leaks on twitter etc. The Gaza Campaign has been announced to be the first release. No release date given.
_EUROPA BARBARORUM II
_I. ADMNISTRATION
_COUNCIL MEMBERS
Tux (Alin Loghin)|paullusV.T. Marvin (Vladimir Abrham)|Arjosnazgool (Rafal Borowski)
_COUNCIL ALTERNATES
QuintusSertorius|Brennus (Andrew William Lamb)
_FORMER TEAM COORDINATORS
Foot|JMRC
_LEAD HISTORIAN
paullus
_LEAD MODDERS
Kull|V.T. Marvin (Vladimir Abrham)QuintusSertorius|z3n (Jonathan Hermans)
_TOOLS LEAD
Tellos Athenaios
_GRAPHICS LEAD
Tux (Alin Loghin)
_EDITING
I Am Herenow
_LINGUISTICS
'Abdalqaum|Bel matinaBlitzkrieg80 |BRKMSEdorix|gamegeek2Power2the1|Tellos Athenaios
_II. HISTORICAL FACTION WORKGROUPS
_AEDUI
Brennus (Andrew William Lamb - FC)|Power2the1Anthony
_ARCHE SELEUKIA
abou (FC)|paulluskrusader|Arjos (Federico Raffa)
_AREUAKOI
Brennus (Andrew William Lamb - FC)|Power2the1Sarcasm|oudysseos
_ARUERNOI
Brennus (Andrew William Lamb - FC)|Power2the1Anthony
_BAKTRIA
DeathFinger (Antoine Simonin - FC)|paulluskeravnos|Arjos (Federico Raffa)
_BOII
Brennus (Andrew William Lamb - FC)|Power2the1Anthony
_KIMMERIOS BOSPOROS
Gaius Scribonius Curio (FC)
_ELEUTHEROI
paullus (FC)|KullTanit|redmeth
_EPEIROS
paullus (FC)|KeravnosArjos (Federico Raffa)
_GETAI
paullus (FC)|Cronos impera
_HAYASDAN
Foot
_KOINON HELLENON
paullus (FC)|KeravnosArjos (Federico Raffa)
_LOUGIONES
cmacq (FC)
Europa Barbarorum 2 Romani Guide
_LUSOTANNAN
sirtim (FC)|Brennus (Andrew William Lamb)Sarcasm
_MAKEDONIA
paullus (FC)|Arjos (Federico Raffa)
_MALKUTA NABATA
Moros (Gert Jan Gregoor - FC)|gamegeek2
_MAMLA'HA biMASSLYIM
Tanit (co-FC)|Gaius Scribonius Curio (co-FC)Eduorius
_PAHLAVA
tobymoby (FC)|paullusMithridates VI Eupator (Eric Skoog)|AtraphoenixThe Persian Cataphract
_PERGAMON
abou (FC)|paulluskrusader|Arjos (Federico Raffa)
_PONTOS
paullus (FC)|krusaderArjos (Federico Raffa)
_PRITANOI
Brennus (Andrew William Lamb - FC)|Power2the1oudysseos|Anthony
_PTOLEMAIOI
paullus (FC)|Arjos (Federico Raffa)
_SAFOT SOFTIM biQARTHADAST
Tanit (co-FC)|Gaius Scribonius Curio (co-FC)paullus|EduoriusZarax
_SENATVS POPVLVSQVE ROMANVS
Gaius Scribonius Curio (FC)|Philipvs Vallindervs CalicvlaZaknafien|Atilius
_SB' W-GWM
Moros (Gert Jan Gregoor - FC)|'Abdalqaum
_SAKA RAUKA
Mithridates VI Eupator (Eric Skoog) (FC)|paullus
_SAUROMATAE
Arjos (Federico Raffa - FC)|Mithridates VI Eupator (Eric Skoog)paullus|Steppe Merc
_SWEBOZ
TheTank (FC)|cmacqHarjaz
_TAKSASHILA
Mithridates VI Eupator (Eric Skoog) (FC)|The Persian Cataphract
_III. CAMPAIGN GRAPHICS
_CHARACTER MODELS
JMRC|nazgool (Rafal Borowski)Trve Leveller|Tux (Alin Loghin)
_CHARACTER SKINS
JMRC|nazgool (Rafal Borowski)Trve Leveller|Gustave (Dorian Hu)Tux (Alin Loghin)
_PROPS
Aba[]|General GrievousMaeran|SalinocTux (Alin Loghin)
_VEGETATION & TERRAIN
DannyX|NevadaTux (Alin Loghin)
_MAP DESIGN
-Praetor-|fightermedicGigantus|KullMoros (Gert Jan Gregoor)|StormyTux (Alin Loghin)
_IV. BATTLEMAP GRAPHICS
_UNIT 3D MODELS
Haedar|JMRCMartelus Flavius|nazgool (Rafal Borowski)Huene|Tux (Alin Loghin)
_UNIT SKINS
Blank|bobbincmlax999|Gustave (Dorian Hu)Haedar|HaithabasHuene|j0kerJarvgrimr|JMRCleif_erikson|Marcello1Martelus Flavius|Megalosnazgool (Rafal Borowski)|PaccoRJFC|SalinocTux (Alin Loghin)|VladSMegalos
_SIEGE UNITS
CanOmer|JMRCTux (Alin Loghin)
_VEGETATION & TERRAIN
Tux (Alin Loghin)|Nightfall
_SPECIAL EFFECTS
Goth47|Tux (Alin Loghin)
_ANIMATIONS
-Praetor-|JMRCTux (Alin Loghin)
_BUILDINGS
Haithabas|JMRCKull|Red_DevilxHolyCrusader
_V. ART
_LOADING SCREENS
Caratacos|Florianusnazgool (Rafal Borowski)
_UNIT CARDS
Europa Barbarorum 2 Guide Build
bobbin|JMRCnazgool (Rafal Borowski)|Tux (Alin Loghin)
_ICONS
Haithabas|j0kerJMRC|oudysseosTsar|Tux (Alin Loghin)
_EVENTPICS
Kull|Skyn0s
_USER INTERFACE
oudysseos|Skyn0sTeleklos Archelau|TsarTux (Alin Loghin)
_CONCEPT ART
Caratacos|FlorianusManhenhamanhenha
_FONTS
Tellos Athenaios
_FACTION BANNERS, SYMBOLS AND OTHER
Elhior|KullSkyn0s|Tux (Alin Loghin)
_VI. CINEMATICS
MaxMazi|xHolyCrusader
_VII. AUDIO
_MUSIC
Beiss|The Persian Cataphract
_UNIT VOICEMOD
Beiss|bovi (Brigt Olav Vik)BKRMS|Shigawire
_VIII. GAMEPLAY MECHANICS
_BATTLEMAP AI
z3n (Jonathan Hermans)GRANTO|JMRC
_CAMPAIGN MAP AI
z3n (Jonathan Hermans)JMRC|KullRAWROMNOM
_AI PATHFINDING
z3n (Jonathan Hermans)
_TRAITS & ANCILLARIES
V.T. Marvin (Vladimir Abrham)Foot|JMRCMalrubius|Saldunzb0gia|z3n (Jonathan Hermans)
_BUILDING TREES
Foot|V.T. Marvin (Vladimir Abrham)
_UNIT INTEGRATION
bovi (Brigt Olav Vik)|JMRCKull|Spendios
_UNIT STATS
QuintusSertorius|IbrahimAradan|fightermedicKull|KAM 2150
_BATTLE & UNIT PHYSICS
QuintusSertorius|Ibrahimz3n (Jonathan Hermans)
_NAVAL SYSTEM
Kull|V.T. Marvin (Vladimir Abrham)
_SCRIPTING
Gigantus|V.T. Marvin (Vladimir Abrham)Bozoslivehere|fightermedicHaithabas|joshmahurin (Joshua Mahurin)The Mark|Arandir Tur-Anion|Atiliusb0gia|QuintusSertoriusz3n (Jonathan Hermans)
_RESOURCES
-Praetor-
_UNIT RECRUITMENT
fightermedic|V.T. Marvin (Vladimir Abrham)QuintusSertorius
_FACTION ECONOMY
bovi (Brigt Olav Vik)|GigantusV.T. Marvin (Vladimir Abrham)b0gia
_IX. TECHNICAL SUPPORT
_TOOLS
bovi (Brigt Olav Vik)|GigantusTellos Athenaios|joshmahurin (Joshua Mahurin)
_SVN COORDINATORS
Tellos Athenaios|therother
_SERVER ADMIN
therother
_WEB DESIGN
abou|Tellos Athenaioswudang-clown
_X. TESTERS
Ailfertes|Ba'al-MelqartBrave Brave Sir Robin|HaxStath's|The Celtic VikingYu3zhi
_XI. A NOTE ON IMAGE SOURCES
Europa Barbarorum II uses images from a wide variety of sources, either to inspire our own derivative work or the original images themselves, modified or altered to some degree. Should image owners recognize their work, we will either credit it specifically or remove it at your request.
_XII. SPECIAL THANKS TO
AngelStudios|Arkayedikm1|Germanicu5Medievalworlds|Monty Pythonresprog|Hereje
Yughues aka Nobiax(at shareCg) for some his wonderfull vegetation models.
the 0AD Team for allowing the use of some of their soundtracks.
the De Bello Mundi mod team for graciously allowing us to use their settlement models.
Jarlaxe from the Hegemonia City States mod team for allowing us to use his settlement models.
johnwhile for his tools and support offered, they were crucial in our modeling and animation phases.
wilddog and makanyane for their help with terrain, vegetation, porting of settlement models, and solving settlement-related bugs and CTDs.
Voice of Treason for his change to the map ground types file which helped the CAI navy use.
the Org staff for their help and hosting our internal fora.
the Total War Center staff for their support with our fora.
Ludens for moderating our fora, having graciously accepted our request to do so.
the always supportive Tosa Inu, who sadly did not live to see the day of our release.
EB2 has had a lot of contributors come and go over a long time, and the current team has probably forgotten about some of those along the way. If your own contribution has been forgotten (and you want to be listed in the credits), please contact us in the forum and we will sort it out.
And a very special thank you to the people who this modification was created for: the keyboard consuls, screen watching strategoi, philosophising players and mouse clicking chieftains. Thank you to every fan of Europa Barbarorum, whoever you are and wherever you are. Thank you for sharing in our passion, thank you for supporting us and above all, we hope you have fun.
Thank you from the Europa Barbarorum II Team