Boii

The Boii are one of two playable Gallic factions in the Invasion Sandbox of the Eagle King DLC. All of the faction's possible starting locations are in Alpine passes in the Po Valley, allowing the player to simulate an overland migration of Gauls into Italy.

When playing as the Boii, the city at which the player ends up settling their capital will be renamed to 'Bononia' when the player settles there.

In-game Description
"The Boii are a large Gallic tribe who crossed the Alps from the northeast and who would then proceed to take most of the Etruscan territory in the Po valley. Often described as a violent invasion by ancient authors, some archaeological finds suggest there may have been less destruction and more intermarriage than claimed."

Possible Starting Locations

 * In the western Po Valley, near Golasecca.
 * In the Po Valley, near Brixia.
 * In the eastern Po Valley, Near Vicetia.

Starting Brigades
When composing your starting army, the Boii have 16 points to spend, with the following options available: In addition, you will always receive 3 groups of Colonists, 3 groups of Scouts, and a Baggage Train.

The default loadout consists of 1 Skirmishers, 1 Slingers and 14 points to spare.

You will be given 2000 gold to start.

Historic Starting Generals
When playing this faction in a sandbox setting, the player may choose to start with one of the following pre-defined historic generals instead of a generic one. These characters usually have far better bonuses than can be obtained with the generic starting generals.

Strategy
The starting positions of AI factions in the Invasion Sandbox are slightly random, as factions will have randomly conquered an amount of cities from one another depending on the world age setting. As your fellow Gallic factions will be more friendly to you than the Etruscan or Illyric factions, this can make the starting difficulty somewhat random depending on which factions managed to grow at the expense of which other factions. Regardless, you are more likely to encounter friendly Gauls the further west your starting location is.

Compared to non-Gallic invader factions, you are given a smaller army to start but a larger amount of Colonist brigades to assimilate your initial conquests with.

Trivia & History

 * Historically, the Boii invaded Italy in the 390s BC at the same time as the Senones (who ended up sacking Rome in the process). As hinted at in the in-game description, the Boii ended up settling in the inland part of the area previously owned by the North Etruscans, making the former North Etruscan capital of Felsina their own capital and renaming it to Bononia in the process. The coastal parts of North Etruscan territory were historically settled by another Gallic tribe known as the Lingones instead, but in-game they are simply merged with the Boii in the Pyrrhus Campaign.
 * The Boii came into conflict with Rome in 283 BC, when they allied with the Etruscans and Senones against Roman expansion. Though the Romans defeated this coalition, they did not move to conquer the Boii at that time. The decisive conflict with Rome began in the 220s BC when the Insubres and Boii allied with the Gaesatae against Rome. Though the Romans won the initial conflicts, their annexation of Cisalpine Gaul was interrupted by the Second Punic War of 218-203 BC, in which the Boii assisted the Carthaginian invasions of Italy. The Romans completed their conquest of the Boii in the 190s BC, and many of the Boii were said to have migrated out of Italy afterwards to avoid Roman overlordship.
 * Though one branch of the Boii had migrated into Italy, other branches of the Boii inhabited other areas in Europe, most notably in Pannonia (where they inhabited an area around the modern border between Austria and Hungary) and in an area further north in modern Czechia still known as Bohemia (literally meaning 'home of the Boii') to this day. Another group of Boii was reported to have joined the attempted migration of the Helvetii into Gaul in the 50s BC, and were defeated by Julius Caesar.
 * The faction icon depicts a bird perched on a horse, and is taken from ancient coins found in the lands of the Boii of Pannonia.