Hello Everyone,

This is a Germania Campaign guide based off my own experiences playing on VH/VH. Germania is probably my favourite barbarian faction. They might not have the most interesting barbarian unit roster (that accolade probably goes to Britannia) but Germania feels like a classic barbarian faction. Brute force and cunning will be your path to victory. There is no room for sentimentality if you want to have the strength to dominate the known world.

Please leave your comments as to what your own experiences are, what I might have got wrong and how I can further improve the guide. Please remember that this is simply anecdotal, everyone's experiences may be different and don't take the rough time frames I give for goals too seriously. They are simply there for people to have a rough idea of when they should be doing what if that is information they want.

Enjoy and may Woden, Donar and Freyja guide you to victory!

As with all factions, understanding how to best utilise the settlements and military given to you at the beginning of the game will pave the road to success.

Settlements

Germania begins the game with five settlements: Damme, Mogontiacum, Trier, Batavodurum and Vicus Marcomannii. The first four of these are situated together, centrally. Vicus Marcomannii lies futher east. Although five settlements is nothing to scoff at they all have rather low incomes due to the low population levels in most of them. They can produce enough for a quite profitable start, if managed correctly. Due to its position, Vicus Marcomannii will be the idea stronghold for expansion into Scythia and Dacia whereas Mogontiacum will focusing on the west. Damme can reinforce either.

Geopolitical Situation

Germania's geopolitical situation can be deceiving. Although they feel isolated they can be at war with multiple factions in a very short amount of time. Germania has only one direct neighbour at the campaign start and that is Britannia.

Melee Infantry

Germania has a fantastic selection of melee infantry. This results in the bulk of your armies being infantry based. The selection of infantry include: Peasants, Screeching Women, Spear Warband, Naked Fanatics, Axemen, Night Raiders, Chosen Axemen and Berserkers

Peasants are of course your basic garrisoning unit to maintain public order.

Screeching Women are an interesting unique unit. High attack but very low defense means they should not be used to hold a line but rather perform the flanking attack. Even then they are probably more useful sitting behind the lines using their screech ability which demoralises the enemy. This is useful but not worth spending the denarii on.

Spear Warband are one of the most powerful units in the game. They outclass the basic Warband unit of other factions in terms of stats AND have the phalanx ability. These will be the mainstay of your armies due to their relatively low cost and phalanx ability. Just use them as you would any other phalanx unit, in the centre of the frontline absorbing the brunt of the charge while the more attack based units sweep around the sides. Four or five of these units will be able to defend a settlement against even the largest of armies.
For the sake of brevity Naked Fanatics, Axemen, Night Raiders, Chosen Axeman and Berserkers will be lumped together since they all perform similar roles which is to hit the sides of the enemy. Fanatics have a higher attack than Axemen whereas Axeman have more defence than Fanatics. Night Raiders are an improvement on them both with a very nice unique look. Chosen Axemen have a very high defence but a low defence value leaves them open to taking heavy damage from ranged units. In testing I have found that Chosen Axeman and Night Raiders tend to perform quite similarly so the choice is up to you. I prefer Night Raiders due to their looks. Berserkers are a great unit to have in any army. This unit, if used well, can win battles. I've had these guys rack up 500+ kills in a single battle. Get them! Keep them away from ranged damage though, a low defence makes them vulnerable to any ranged attack, especially the javelins of the Roman legionnaires.

Ranged Infantry

Germania has only two units to choose from in this category, Skirmishers and Chosen Archer Warband. Skirmishers are a basic javelin unit. I would not recommend relying too heavily on them but they are a nice addition in small numbers, they just give a bit more flexibility to your armies. Their attack and defence values are also good enough to maybe turn the tide of a battle but it's a risk.

Chosen Archer Warband is an excellent unit. A decent defence and attack, they can hold their own for a surprising amount of time. They also have a very good ranged damage stat. Their relatively high armour stat for a ranged unit means that the Chosen Archer Warband will survive in 1v1 shootouts against higher missile damage enemies such as the Forester Warband. I'd argue that they are the 2nd best ranged unit after the Pharaoh's Bowmen. The Forester Warband costs far too much to ever be worth it.

Melee Cavalry

Barbarian Cavalry are standard barbarian light cavalry, very good for running down fleeing enemies or charging into skirmishers or archers. They don't have much staying power so don't expect them to go toe to toe with most heavy infantry units. Especially don't use them against spearmen. I've had cases where a rear charge didn't break the morale of a Warband unit. This was followed by a decimation of my cavalry.

Barbarian Noble Cavalry are a unit I have never had much experience with. Basically just a decent upgrade on Barbarian Cavalry. Capable of frontal charges into heavy infantry units and coming out on top.

Gothic Cavalry are an elite unit of heavy cavalry. By no means are they the best but still capable of taking on the strongest of units. Although I wouldn't recommend it they can defeat an Urban Cohort
single handedly, albeit with heavy losses.

Generals

Barbarian Warlord. Basic General's Unit. They will be your primary source of heavy cavalry early on. Always keep an eye on this unit as it tends to have a nasty habit of letting your general be the first to die in any fight.

Barbarian Chosen Warlord is obviously an upgrade on the Barbarian Warlord with higher defence. More survivability is always appreciated.

Other

The Germans also have wardogs. I have nothing to say about them because I have never used them nor can I be bothered. Thus, I do not know if they are useful or not. In the hands of the AI they just seem to be a waste of unit cards and denarii. I fell a unit that can actually be manoeuvred and controlled is far more useful.

Tips
I like to use a ratio of 1:2:1 of cavalry to melee infantry to ranged units. So in a full stack army you would have 5 cavalry (including the general), 10 melee infantry and 5 ranged infantry. This, of course, should only be done when you are able since the most efficient way to win campaigns is to field armies with just enough manpower to overcome the enemy. 20 units assaulting a town defended by only one general's unit is a waste of resources; instead you should use 2 Spear Warband which should be more than enough.

The early campaign for Germania is quite difficult to describe due to the many variables at play. Playing Germania on VH/VH it is best to expect to be at war with all factions around you. Being proactive rather than reactive will be essential, destroy weak factions as quickly as possible, otherwise those factions may prove to be tough nuts to crack in the future.

Economy

As Germania all spare denarii should be spent on improving the economy of your towns. Don't bother focusing military as all you need for an entire campaign are Spear Warband. If you want to have a high enough population growth to recruit units and the money to afford them, focus on economy. Don't even bother with religious buildings for a while, you shouldn't any public order issues early on to justifying the creation of these buildings. For the first 5 turns or so I set my regions to the maximum tax possible (without the risk of riots). It a good short term boost to field a slightly larger army and be able to always be constructing buildings in all towns, afterwards I set all of my settlements to a lower tax policy. This ensures long term success due to population growth.
Note: Farms are the priority! They give pop growth plus far more income than trade.

Expansion

The first step as Germania is to secure the nearby rebel settlements of Locus Gothi, Bordesholm and Domus Dulcis Domus. You may be inclined to send large military forces to each settlement but 2 Spear Warband and a general, if you have one spare, will be more than enough for these three settlements. You may be asking, why don't I take Lovisice and Iuvavum as well? The answer is simple, resources are better spent elsewhere. The rest of your troops should be amassed to drive the Britons off the Continent. Iuvavum is slightly too far away for your military to be functioning effectively and Lovosice tends to be attacked by the Dacians. A war on two fronts is never ideal. attempt to ally with the Scythians and Dacians to reduce the risk of an attack on your eastern borders. I have found that at least on of them will accept the majority of the time. It is more beneficial to be allied with the Dacians since they are more likely to attack you. If they won't accept, do not fret, simply build watchtowers on your frontier with them and keep a garrison of a couple of Spear Warband in the at risk settlements (usually Vicus Marcomannii and maybe Domus Dulcis Domus)

There is not time to relax once the Britons have been driven back. It is likely that the Britons will keep sending troops to Samarobriva. Four or five Spear Warband should be more than enough to keep the settlement in German hands. It would be nice to take Britannia for yourself but approximately 30 turns are required before you have a town large enough to build ships and attack the Isle.

It should be approximately turn 10 and chances are that the Gauls have allied themselves with the Britons and already attacked you, if not, consider yourself lucky to have a few more turns of preparation. Ready yourself to swarm through the Gallic lands by recruiting a few spies and using them to scout Gaul, Northern Italy and wherever else you wish to have information on. I personally send keep a spy watching to see of the Britons are preparing to invade somewhere other than Samarobriva and another to keep an eye on the Dacians. and send an expeditionary force to take Iuvavum and maybe even Aquincum.

Alesia, Condate Redonum, Lemonum and Lugdunum should all be taken in a span of 4-6 turns. During this time preparations should also be made to invade Northern Italy through the Alps. Finish off the Gauls by taking their remaining settlements. In this time you will have had to trudge into Spain and expect an attack from the Spanish at Narbo Martius or Numantia if it has not happened already. Chances are the Romans have also attacked you but by now no one can be much of a threat. Do not be worried if you still aren't making mountains of denarii, Barbarian economy is quite limited.

Extra Notes

Sometimes the Julii don't attack Gaul which makes it more difficult to invade Gaul. I find it makes the long campaign easier, however, since if the Julii don't expand they also don't build up a military which although you can beat, it may feel like the large scale battles will have no end as they send more and more legions your way.
If Dacia attacks you early on the campaign will be very difficult if you are also at war with Gaul. All I can recommend is to try and make peace with one or the other and go on from there.
Spain rarely attacks Gaul to take Numantia. If they do, hooray, that saves you some turns. If Numantia is Gauls last settlement you may want to attack Spain preemptively. It could save a lot of hassle later on.

I consider the middle to late campaign to start at once you have eliminated Gaul and hold about 16 settlements. For myself this is usually turn 30 but you are not failing if it takes longer. The most successful campaign will be those fought at your own pace.

At this point you should be able to build boats and finally rid yourself of the Britons once and for all. Northern Italy should be in safe hands and the oncoming storm ready to destroy Roman civilisation. The Spanish will be quivering in their boots as their settlements are besieged and enslaved. Domination of the known world is quite straightforward as Germania. Continue recruiting Spear Warband and spice up your armies with some of the other units now that you can afford it. I find it boring seeing the same faces in every army, playing the same slow tactic every battle. Enjoy and experiment with ambush tactics, or perhaps shock tactics (chosen axemen are fun!), rather than phalanx tactics. Attack whichever faction stand in your way. Western Europe will be yours in no time and by then the East stand no chance.