Gallic

The Gallic faction group is located in the Po Valley. The region they inhabit is also known as Cisalpine Gaul.

Overview
Gallic melee units emphasize speed and powerful charges while their ranged units are some of the best in the game, particularly the deadly Gallic archer. They also field the fastest cavalry available, suitable for offensive operations. Because they lack any very tough units, classic battleline combat will rarely be a viable strategy. Head-on assaults against fortified cities and camps are also difficult without sustaining significant casualties, making sustained blockades necessary in many cases.

"The Gauls rely on large lightly-equipped units along with supporting cavalry and archers to charge and flank their more heavily armoured opponents to the South."

- In-game Description

Factions

 * Cenomani
 * Insubres
 * Ligures
 * Senones (not playable in Vanilla - can be spawned by event. Playable in the Eagle King DLC in the Invasion sandbox, and exists as a non-playable faction in the Pyrrhus Campaign)
 * Boii (Eagle King DLC's Invasion Sandbox and as a non-playable faction in the Pyrrhus Campaign)

History
Early Gallic warfare seems to have involved a large proportion of swordsmen judging from the archaeological record, which is probably the basis for the Gauls having sword-armed skirmishers rather than spearmen as their basic early-game melee bigade. Some tribes, such as the Gaesatae, are known to have fought entirely naked. Though this was in reality a tradition common to specific tribes, rather than a distinct military brigade.

Unlike in-game though, swords were expensive, suggesting that warfare for the very early Gauls was probably a small-scale affair between wealthy warriors as they would not have been economically strong enough to deploy swordsmen en-masse. Later on an increasing population would lead to the Gallic armies swelling their ranks with larger amounts of commoners armed as spearmen or missile troops.

While the Gauls are on various occasions described as using javelineers, slingers and sometimes archers, they were not noted for being particularly proficient in ranged combat. Their strength was stated to be in their infantry, and some Gallic tribes were known for also having a strong cavalry arm, with the exact battle strategies and troop deployments varying from tribe to tribe. Probably, the developers gave them strong missile troops to create an in-game niche for them and help compensate for their limited access to heavy infantry such as hoplites.

Though the early Gauls used chariots, these fell out of use in Continental Europe relatively early on (but still persisted in Celtic Britain by the time of Caesar's invasion), and there are few records of them being employed in the hilly terrain of Italy to which they aren't very well suited. The later Gauls are known for employing cavalry, and usually fielded them in much larger amounts than their Greek, Latin or Sabellic enemies.

Though many of the Gauls fought in a lightly armoured fashion and didn't adopt the hoplite panoply of the Greeks, they did adopt the usage of chain mail by at least the 3rd Century BC or earlier. The Gauls are often the ones credited with the invention of chain mail, but it is also possible that it was originally developed by the Etruscans instead. Regardless, the Gallic adoption of mail is reflected in-game by the late-game Noble Swordsmen and Noble Cavalry brigades, which require the Advanced Warfare skill to access.