In 272 BC, there is no single superpower. There are many peoples poised to claim what they believe is rightfully theirs. There are some peoples who have acquired what might be termed 'Empires', though none is assurred of long-term hegemony. In Europa Barbarorum you will either lead or face the peoples that most impacted history in ancient Europe and its neighboring lands.

In northern Europe live the 'barbarians', and although they might look alike, there are more differences than similarities, certainly in the ways of war. In the Isles of Tin, or Britain, the different tribes trade or fight each other with none truly maintaing control. The Casse, however dream to become the strongest peoples, and with patience and wise leadership that goal may be achieved. In Gaul to the south, war rages across Gallic countrysides and forests. The Arverni alliance regards the Aedui as weak and has rebelled against their rule, lead by their god-king made flesh. The Arverni attacks on traders, both Gaul and foreign ones, is disrupting Gallic prosperity as a whole and the many battles ultimately deprive Gaul of skilled warriors. If the civil war continues the Gauls will be weakened and their lands will be ripe for foreign invasions. To the east of Gaul in the dark forests of Germania, things are not quiet either. One of hundreds of tribes, the Sweboz, is stirring and looks with covetous eyes on the rest of Germania and abroad. Under a strong Kuningaz, the disparate tribes might be brought under a single Sweboz banner. If Germania or Gaul is united under a strong line of kings, lands far away might tremble.

In the western and central Mediterranean two nations live side by side, yet not peacefully. The children of Aeneas and Dido are, according to legend, doomed to fight each other, and like eaglets in a nest only one will survive the encounter. Either the disciplined legions of the Romani will land in Africa, or the fat coffers of the Karthadastim will be enough to hire mercenaries and levy locals to take the fight to Italia and the Roman heartlands. The Iberians, who might get caught up in this conflict, either as mercenaries, as people to be conquered, or even as conquerors themselves, must be considered as well. They might fight between themselves, but in the west the Lusotannan might take on the mantle of leadership and unite the peninsula under their rule, to protect themselves better from the encroachments of foreigners.

In what has long been considered the cradle of European civilization, Hellas, the Greeks are at war. Makedonia is not as powerful as before, but only a fool would underestimate them. Their phalangitai are still enough to turn the tide of most wars, and their cavalry is among the world's finest. South of them the Koinon Hellenon is a new alliance of old states, and they ready themselves to defend their freedom against Makedonian tyranny, as they see it. Made up of Athenai, Sparte, and Rhodos they are but a shadow of the power they wielded two centuries ago individually. Hoplitai are still the mainstay, but they are different from the hoplitai that fought at Thermopylai and Plataia. Still, being different does not mean being worse, and the new soldiers are still a threat. And to the west of these two rivals Pyrrhos rules Epeiros, which forms a buffer between Hellas and the Romani. Pyrrhos desires himself to be the next Megas Alexandros and having almost been pushed out of Italia, he might regards his eastern neighbours an easier prey. And north of these kingdoms, one of the Thraikian tribes, the Getai are showing signs of power. Their warriors are strong and with the teachings of Zalmoxis, they fear little. Under a strong Getai king, the Thracians might be united under a single banner, and the Greeks to their south will again fear the day, a horde of Thracians will descend upon them from the north.

In the east in Asia, the Diadochoi, or Successors, live side by side and are often at war. Indeed they regard themselves as the true heirs of Alexandros and wish to rule what he conquered. They still fight as Alexandros did, but each Successor army is also influenced by the people he conquered, which is evidenced in their use of War Elephants and heavily armoured cavalry. In Aigyptos, the Ptolemaioi have taken the title Pharaoh and they have a finger involved in every war from Hellas to Babylonia, either with soldiers, ships, or gold. The Seleukids encompass almost all of Alexandros' Asian conquests, and they want more. However the grip on their empire is failing, as is shown by the emergence of many 'lesser Successor' states along its borders. In Anatolia, a Persian noble has founded the kingdom of Pontos which on almost all levels is a mixture of Hellenic & Persian culture. In eastern Anatolia, the Armenian nobles have declared themselves rulers in their own right, and their mountainous lands are hard to traverse with an army, and even harder under archery fire from their light cavalry. Further east, the Greeks in Baktria are becoming more independent as the Seleukids do not seem capable of defending their eastern border against nomadic raids. And far south in Arabia, away from the eyes of the Macedonian dynasts, the Sabaeans are slowly building up their influence either by coin or sword, over the fertile valleys of their homelands and across the sand dunes to their north and east. And left unchecked, the Red Sea and Africa.

In the steppes north of the "civilized" world the nomads roam. Their warriors are all mounted, with the nobility fighting as heavily-armoured cataphracts, while the warriors of lesser status fight as horse archers. The Sauromatae north of the Pontus Euxine are looking for more pasture for their horses and more wealth too. In the east, the Pahlava are making numerous forays into Seleukid territory, and slowly building their armies for invasions. While north of the great rivers of Central Asia the Saka-Rauka might find their lands too scarce to support their herds and watch the fertile riverlands to their south.