The Eastern Roman Rebels are a major non-playable emergent Roman faction in Rome: Total War: Barbarian Invasion. They come about when a settlement revolts against the Eastern Roman Empire and becomes independent. They are non-playable.
Tactics[]
The Eastern Roman Rebels are not playable in the campaign without using mods. As such, the Eastern Rebels have no victory conditions and not much aim other than surviving the campaign to the end. Since they are an emergent faction, the date that they appear on and what settlements they start with are also completely random based on the unrest level of settlements in the Eastern Roman Empire. Their starting armies are also random, based on the units in those settlements that revolt which decide to support the rebels.
Of course, the Eastern Rebels will be the biggest pain and threat to the Eastern Roman Empire, as they start off instantly at war with them and will often take a chunk of the army garrisoning the settlement that revolts. However, unlike the Western Roman Empire, the East starts in a better position in terms of an economy with which to keep several armies comfortably. As such, dealing with the rebels is something that can be done far quicker and more efficiently than as the Western Roman Empire.
Thankfully, like the Western Roman Rebels, the Eastern Roman Rebels are generally more defensive than aggressive. Because they are rebels that have overthrown the governor of the settlement, their priorities are on keeping their new country alive in an unstable world rather than trying to expand and take land for themselves. Any army they get will tend to remain either in the settlement they spawn from or in the surrounding territory of that settlement, unlikely to leave into other lands. Also like the other rebels, they are unable to train any agents of any kind, such as diplomats or merchants (if playing Rome Remastered), so any trade deals or alliances they get will come from another faction sending their own diplomat to negotiate with the rebels.
The Rebels can be an unlikely ally to any other factions in the East, such as the Sassanids or Huns, as the rebels start neutral to all other factions, giving an extra trade route for income or an extra ally to help with fighting the Eastern Roman Empire. Alternatively, they can be declared war on and their settlements taken without necessarily angering the Eastern Roman Empire, unless it's one of the settlements they need for their victory condition, so it can allow a faction to take land without upsetting the Romans. Their armies will tend to be weaker and less numerous than the Eastern Empire proper, so fighting them can also give valuable experience for dealing with the actual Empire later down the line.
Speaking of, fighting and defeating the Rebels is like fighting the Eastern Roman Empire. They share the same unit roster and so have the same strengths and weaknesses. They have some strong infantry, such as the Comitatenses, but mostly field heavy cavalry units such as Equites Clibinarii or Equites Catafractarii, which are very strong mounted units. Having a lot of spear and missile infantry is key to defeating Eastern Roman, and therefore Eastern Rebel, armies as no matter the quality of the horsemen, spearmen will still tend to defeat them. The Eastern Rebels are also usually quite spread out and disconnected, so a settlement can be taken without much danger of retribution, as settlements rarely revolt next to each other and so struggle to support each other should they be attacked. The Rebels are also generally weaker, starting out with smaller armies based on what buildings were built in the settlement when it revolted, so armies could be comprised of basic units such as peasants and only be three or four units or they could be a full stack of Equites Catafractarii.
The Rebels can be wiped out, and a message will appear when their last settlement is taken, saying that the faction has been destroyed. However, like the Western Roman Rebels, they can rise up as many times as they want so long as the Eastern Roman Empire still has settlements. Because of this, they can never be truly defeated unless the Eastern Roman Empire is also wiped out, as their fates are sort of intertwined. So long as an Eastern settlement rebels, the Rebels will respawn along with it, making them a constant hazard/annoyance rather than a faction to be wiped out.
Trivia[]
- They, along with the Western Roman Rebels, were the only factions to not be made playable in the Rome Remastered version of Barbarian Invasion.
- This is not the case with skirmish battles, as you can play as both the Western and Eastern Rebels in skirmish battles.
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