Alemanni (RTW:BI Faction)

Alemanni (RTW:BI Faction)
Name:	Alemanni
From Game:	Barbarian Invasion
Religion:	Pagan
Culture:	Barbarian
Playable:

The Alemanni are one of the playable factions in the Barbarian Invasion for Rome: Total War.

Game Play

Starting Position

• Vicus Alemannii (Tribus Alimanni)

Win Conditions

Hold 20 settlements, including, Aquincum, Rome, Augusta Trevororum

Units

The Alemanni are a fairly well rounded faction, like many barbarians in Barbarian Invasion, with Infantry that is aggressive rather than defensive in nature. In many ways they are similar to the Germans in the original Rome Total War. Their basic Spear Warband form the backbone of their early game armies; all their other Infantry is more aggressive in style. From large and Huge cities barracks they get access to the Chosen Axemen, an two handed Axe unit that is armour piercing, and the Golden Band, a unit with 2 weapons, excellent stats and morale. They also get access to certain frightening units; the Lombard Berserkers and the Night Raiders if they remain Pagan, as well as Warhounds. For cavalry their basic cavalry is rather mediocre, but from a Minor City they get access to 2 very strong units, the Burgundii Lancers and the Barbarian Noble Cavalry. They also have access to the very strong Lombard Archers, Chosen Archers who are worse archers but better in melee, and Onagers.

Unique Units

None really.

Strategy guides

The Alemanni are a very well balanced faction with a good selection of troop types. They are a growth faction, like the Julii and Egypt in the original RTW. You start out surrounded by powerful factions, and it is up to you to survive and eerge as one of them. Start with an alliance with the Franks and Western Empire. The WRE always gives you like two settlements for an alliance and attacking another faction, so carry out the missions they give you. Quickly take the rebel provinces to the east, Campus Marcomanni and Campus Quadi. They can't fall to the Lombardii and in Campus Quadi you can train berserkers :) Don't forget your internal provinces. Build a sewer and archery range in Vicus Alemanni. Chosen Archers are the best unit you will have for a while. Also recruit mercenary Comitatenses. Those units, a general, and even some Barbarian Cavalry will defeat most armies. From Campus Quadi start churning out Lombard Berserkers and send them towards Aquincum. The key to winning sieges is either starving out large garrisons or sap points with berserkers through the breach followed by Comitatenses. Starve Aquincum and when they sally cower behind your Comitatenses. When they rout, send your general and chase them down. This is good for all sallies, by the way. From Aquincum you have access to Salona, etc. Spread east. Don't forget the west, though. The WRE garrisons are very weak. Their armies are mostly Limitanei-one unit of Berserkers destroys them. Now, the Burgundians and Lombards are probably hordes. Gobble up their lands and surround the Franks. DO NOT ATTACK THE FRANKS. Just surround them, and don't trespass or anything. Also take Campus Frisii to bottle up the Saxons. DO NOT ATTACK THE SAXONS. If Campus Frisii is already in their hands, take the next province. Now keep going west to the borders of the Vandals. They are not a horde anymore, and have five or so provinces. Now, spread south. The Romans have a large garrison in Rome. Starve it out. Then turn towards Mediolanium and Ravenna. Rome has superior troop training facilities. Train Chosen Axemen and Onagers. This is your next army staple: Chosen Archers, General, Burgundian Lancers, Chosen Axemen, 1 Berserkers, Onager, and mercs. Attack Tarentum. Forget Sicily and go to Caralis. Destroy the Vandals, and turn east. The ERE has better troops, but in smaller stacks. These will be destroyed easily and you can take Athens, Salona, Constantinople, etc. They will also have many First Cohorts. To break one, hold them with a merc Comitatenses, then charge in the flansks or rear with Chosen Axemen or heavy cavalry.

You have now won!

---

I did my strategy quite different in the beginning. The first thing I did was establish myself by taking about 3 surrounding settlements from WRE and Rebels. Once this was done I became allied with the Burgundii, and went to war with the WRE, Franks, and Saxons(Saxons only had 1 settlement so I took them out easily) and taking over all of Western Europe, while keeping a strong Eastern front because of hordes, after all of West Europe was taken I followed the same strategy as above.

History

From Wikipedia:

The Alamanni, Allemanni, or Alemanni were originally an alliance of west Germanic tribes located around the upper Main, a river that is one of the largest tributaries of the Rhine, on land that is today part of Germany. One of the earliest references to them is the cognomen Alamannicus assumed by Caracalla, who ruled the Roman Empire from 211-217 and claimed thereby to be their defeater.[1] The nature of this alliance and their previous tribal affiliations remain uncertain. The alliance was aggressive in nature, attacking the Roman province of Germania Superior whenever it could. Generally it broadly followed the example of the Franks, the first Germanic tribal alliance, which had stopped the Romans from penetrating north of the lower Rhine and subsequently invaded the Roman province of Germania Inferior.

From the first century, the Rhine had become the border between Roman Gaul and tribal Germania. Germanic peoples, Celts, and tribes of mixed Celto-Germanic ethnicity were settled in the lands along both banks. The Romans divided these territories into two districts, Germania Inferior and Germania Superior situated along the lower and upper Rhine respectively.

Upper Germania included the region between the upper Rhine and the upper Danube, (the Black Forest region that was larger than today: see Hercynian Forest). The Romans called this the Agri Decumates, (i.e. "Decumates territories"), a name of unknown origin. Some scholars have translated the expression as "the ten cantons",[2] but whose cantons of what entity is not known.

The exterior Roman fortified border around the area of Germania Superior was called the Limes Germanicus. The assembled warbands of the Alamanni frequently crossed the limes, attacking Germania Superior and moving into the Agri Decumates. As a confederation, from the fifth century, they settled the Alsace and expanded into the Swiss Plateau, as well as parts of what are now Bavaria and Austria, reaching the valleys of the Alps by the eighth century.

According to Historia Augusta the confederates in the third century were still simply called Germani. Proculus, an imperial usurper in 280, derived some of his popularity in Gaul by his guerrilla successes against the Alamanni.[3]. The Alamanni, thereafter became the nation of Alamannia, that was sometimes independent, but more often was ruled by the Franks. The name of Germany and the German language, in French, Allemagne, allemand, in Portuguese Alemanha, alemão, and in Spanish Alemania, alemán, are derived from the name of this early Germanic nation. Persian and Arabic also designate Germans Almaani, and Germany as Almaania.

The region of the Alamanni was always somewhat sprawling and comprised a number of different districts, reflecting its mixed origins. In the Early Middle Ages its territories were divided between the Diocese of Strassburg, which dates from about 614, the territory of Augsburg from 736, the Mainz archdiocese from 745, and of Basel, from 805. Its distinctive laws were codified under Charlemagne as the Duchy of Alamannia in Swabia. Today the descendants of the Alamanni are divided between parts of four nations: France (Alsace), Germany (Swabia and parts of Bavaria), Switzerland and Austria, and the German spoken in those regions has distinctive regional dialects.

See Also

• Factions in BI

Barbarian Invasion Factions
Eastern Roman Empire | Western Roman Empire | Huns | Goths | Sarmatians | Vandals | Franks | Saxons | Alemanni | Sassanids | Celts | Burgundii | Lombardi | Roxolani | Berbers | Slavs | Romano British | Ostrogoths | Eastern Roman Rebels | Western Roman Rebels | Rebels