Babylon/Strategic Overview

Faction Overview	Strategic Overview	History

• Strengths: Good research capabilities, resulting in better units
• Weaknesses: Mediocre navy, high dependence on Wealth for mercenary units.

The power of Babylon as a faction lies in several areas - its highly advanced culture as well as its variegated army, particularly its mercenary hosts.

Babylon as a faction is geared towards one thing: out-teching your enemy, and getting in better units before he can do so. This is especially since Babylon has what is possibly the second most powerful army right after Assur's. In fact, it could well be a better faction, given its ability to raise about almost any unit type in the game - chariots, spearmen, archers, as well as javelineers and cavalry. Of these, the last ought to be writ large, given how powerful cavalry is in Warbirth. The only problem is that in general, many of the best units available to Babylon are mercenaries and thus costly and with glaring weaknesses, while in some areas such as chariotry, Babylon is somewhat deficient, meaning that as a faction it could be rather weak in the early game.

Still, the ability to gather Influence long before any other faction can do so usually means that Babylon as a faction can enjoy a very brief early game before booming in the mid-game and finally coming to dominate all and sundry at the end. This is a faction that is built not to rush, but to instead percolate and then boom — and quicker than others at that. By all accounts, Wealth is important for the Babylonian empire to flourish — once the Wealth dries up, then you won't be able to recruit any of your awesome Greek, Cimmerian or Scythian auxiliaries for war.

Clearly, survivng the early game when rushes take place is key. So the wise Babylonian player would seek diplomacy first in all games. Working with a more combat-minded player like the Thracians, Assur or Celts (or the Phoenicians on water maps) helps out greatly in the early game so that you can capitalise on your cheaper research ability in order to out-tech and out-produce your opponent. By the end of the mid-game, you should then have a sufficiently strong economy based on trade and higher production owing to your increased Commerce Caps, which can then be used either to fuel the growth of your army, or be directed towards the construction of Wonders.

Best age(s):

Axial.

Strategic Overview
Basic gameplay	Bronze Dawn	Blood and Iron