AlphaMouse

I had this weird idea to create various tournaments to decide which factions in Rome: Total War had the best units of each category. Each time the battle was on Grassy Flatlands map and both sides had full experience, armour and attack.

I started off with melee infantry, leaving out Numidia this round through random selection to make an even 16.

Round 1

Rome (House of Julii) (Urban Cohort) vs Spain (Bull Warriors)

Macedon (Royal Pikemen) vs Carthage (Sacred Band)

Egypt (Desert Axemen) vs Scythia (Axemen)

Selucid Empire (Silver Shield Legionaries) vs Germania (Chosen Axemen)

Parthia (Eastern Infantry) vs Britannia (Chosen Swordsmen)

Pontus (Bronze Shields) vs Armenia (Heavy Spearmen)

Gaul (Chosen Swordsmen) vs Greek Cities (Spartan Hopilites)

Dacia (Falxmen) vs Thrace (Basternae)

Round 2

Rome vs Macedon

The Royal Pikemen stood up surprisingly badly to the Urban Cohort, given the usual victory of phalanxes over legionaries. The initial pila volley was pretty successful and the Cohort swept the field, taking only 20 casualties in return for the Macedonian's 115.

Scythia vs Selucid Empire

Once again the Selucid's wiped the floor with their opponents, hitting them hard after their own pila volley, winning the match 70-22

Britannia vs Pontus

The most surprising match of Round 2 by far. The Chosen Swordsmen took a lot of casualties in the initial charge, running onto the Bronze Shield's pikes, but for some reason Pontus' soldiers broke the phalanx formation, allowing Britannia to overcome their initial disadvantage to win 119-59

Greece vs Thrace

The Basternae literally jumped onto the Spartan Hopilite's pikes in this match, making it by far the easiest victory of the second round, with Greece coming out the victors with an overwhelming 77-4

Semi-Finals

Rome vs Selucid Empire

The number 1 and 3 seeds of the tournament faced each other off here. The match was won in the pila volleys in my oppinion, where the House of Julii launched first, rendering the Selucid's outnumnered as they fired. Also the Roman charge meant that many of the Silver Shield's pila skied over the Roman's heads as they ran towards their opponents. In combat the Urban Cohort easily overcame their eastern counterparts, winning the match 76-35

Greek Cities vs Britannia

The most hard fought match of the tournament between the number 2 and 4 seeds respectively. The Britannians didn't learn from their previous mistakes, charging into the Spartans' pikes. Again the Spartans broke formation halfway through which allowed the Chosen Swordsmen some time to deal some proper damage. By the time the Greeks reformed it was too late, and Britannia scraped a win at 80-71

The Final

A disappointing final, with The House of Julii wiping the floor with the Chosen Swordsmen, ending the competition with a 78-17 win