History GameBreaker / ImperatorRome

* With changes introduced by patch 2.0, Scythia became absurdly effective, predominately because it's a ''huge'' tribal state with lots of land to quickly and easily colonize. Unlike typical scenarios, it just means more pops of Scythian culture following Heptadic religion. On top of that, it's a NormalFishInATinyPond, since it's surrounded by tiny Greek states and push-over tribals. And if this wasn't enough, Scythians laugh at [[EliteMooks heavy infantry]]-based legions, the typical "killing force" of more advanced nations, for their main unit, accessible even as a levy, is HorseArcher (further bolstered by highly effective heavy and light cavalry), a bane of anything else than heavy cavalry that's particularly effective at "default" compositions of levies and legions across majority of cultures. AI will never get to that critical mass needed for an absurd Scythian snowball, but even the most incompetent player can easily turn Scythia into a major power within just a ''few years''. And once you "upgrade" your settled tribe into a civilized nation (for which the nearby Greek colonies are very useful), you're virtually invincible - even when facing Rome that spawns all over the Mediterranean, it is possible to just roll over it.

* One of the Carthage's economic missions offer a choice of a permanent modifier to all ports in two regions (the biggest unit of land division). Two of them are insignificant buffs to cultural integration and fleet recruitment, but one is a solid economic bonus. Originally, ports were pre-defined to specific territories, so it wasn't a big deal and the bonus was barely noticeable, regardless of choice. However, since patch 2.0 turned ports into buildings (that can be even built in a rural territory), you can simply build ports in ''every single coastal province'' prior to that mission and the game will grant the bonus to ''all'' of them. Even if you then remove the port and build something useful instead, the modifier will stay.

** This strategy eventually becomes ComplexityAddiction, as a more straightforward way of crushing Rome is to have an alliance web with Rome's stronger neigbours, then declaring war when Rome is fighting her first war. This becomes especially valuable after cultural integration became a thing, making it in Carthage's best interest to take over large chunks of Roman territory in one war.

** In addition, Carthage can easily integrate a Hellenic culture to gain access to their unique inventions. So now, you have a Carthage that is a trading empire, has Roman military traditions ''and'' Hellenic technology. EarlyGameHell notwithstanding, you can easily surpass the Roman capability of taking the entire Mediterranean Basin[[note]]There is also a ViolationOfCommonSense aspect of it. To properly integrate Siceliote, Italic and Roman cultures and gain access to the related bonuses of Hellenics and Romans, Carthage must push into that move from the get-go and starting with Sicily. If you decide to first strengthen your base in Africa, this will significantly increase your total pop counter, meaning that even once Magna Graecia and Rome are conquered, their population will be too small in comparison to your total population, barring you from accessing cultural bonuses. However, despite sounding like a big gamble, taking over Sicily at the game start is one of the most straightforward moves for Carthage and you even start with a mission to do so[[/note]].
* One of the Carthage's economic missions offer a choice of a permanent modifier to all ports in two regions (the biggest unit of land division). Two of them are insignificant buffs to cultural integration and fleet recruitment, but one is a solid economic bonus. Originally, ports were pre-defined to specific territories, so it wasn't a big deal and the bonus was barely noticeable, regardless of choice. However, since patch 2.0 made ports into buildable structures (and ones that can be even build in a rural territory), you can simply build port in ''every single coastal province'' prior to that mission and the game will grant the bonus to ''all'' of them. Even if you then remove the port and build something useful instead, the modifier will stay.