non-Christian factions

[Aaron A Aardvark]

I've played England, Spain & Milan and I've had enough of the Pope so what's the best non-Catholic faction in terms of entertainment value?

[sapi]

I loved playing byzantium - it's really a balancing act to stay alive with everyone out there hating your guts

[glasket]

A good start for you would be to have a look at the Faction guides forum on this site.
Personally I chose to play the Russians (orthodox) as they are a fun and challenging side to play. At the start they are relatively weak but later they get the dismounted dvor, cossack musketters and are very fun to play. Genrally Russia has pretty good archers and missile cavalry ad a very vast land area which is a challenge to manage strategically.

Economically Russia can be a powerhouse with their coastal trade (especially Novgorod, Riga, Helsinki, Kiev)

The also have Poland and Denmark as their enemies (and very aggressive ones) on the Western front and the Turks on the eastern front.


Another alternative you could go for is using a muslim religion such as the Turks, Egyptions etc and being able to call jihads. I have not played as them so can't help you out there.

My suggestions would be Russia

[DaLipton]

I'm still playing as England at the moment, so i don't know about the other factions. I think i'll try Russia next.

[Dutch_guy]

I'd try playing as the Turks. A nice, challenging, starting position combined with a varied unit roster makes for a fun game in my book.

[Doug-Thompson]

I loved playing byzantium - it's really a balancing act to stay alive with everyone out there hating your guts

Depends on your definition of entertaining. If you like battles instead of economic managament, Egypt is easy because you're rolling in money from the opening turns, after you sack Jerusalem. Still, it's my favorite because of the big fights with invading Crusades, Mongols and Timurids. Crusades start about turn 20 but are not that tough, frankly. A few good armored units surrounded by untrained, unarmored easy meat. Mongol invasions don't start until about turn 70. Then the Black Death hits, then the Timurids.

So, if you hate being strapped for cash, like blitz openings, big cavalry fights, battles against Timurid elephants and having all of Christendom hate you, Egypt is your faction. You can also revenge yourself against the Pope by conquering Rome for Islam.

[HaroldVonBraver]

You can also revenge yourself against the Pope by conquering Rome for Islam.

That's exactly what I'm doing now as Egypt. I also got tired of the Pope. I took Rome and I'm going to hold for as long as I can. So far I've converted Rome to just over 70% Islam.

[katank]

I personally think the Turks are even better. While money is likely an issue early on, they have a more fun start in having to take out the Egyptians and the Byz.

Their horse archers are buildable from anywhere (cities or castles) and are ridiculously cheap in upkeep (150 for Turkoman and 175 for Siphai) meaning massive cav armies. Later on, you get janissary musketeers as well as other janissaries which are plain awesome.

[IPoseTheQuestionYouReturnTheAnswer]

The problem with the non-Christian factions is that they are all very weak in the late period. For the most part, they simply don't get units that can stand up to the heavy infantry and knights of the Catholic factions.

This isn't true of the Turks, however. Their Janissaries, Musketeers, horse archers, and Qapukulu are more than able to take out the best the Pope has to offer. I'd highly recommend the Turks for both great fun and an interesting challenge. They start out poor, but once you take the holy land, you'll be able to make armies consisting entirely of cheap horse archers that can defeat anything else that's thrown at you.

[Flavius Gonzo]

The Turkish campaign, for sure, is a blast. Late game, they have great units. Early on, you will learn to get the most out of HA, as your early infantry is some of the crappiest in the world. Plus, Mongols and Timurids arriving at your doorstep makes for lots of fun. Yalla!

One thing I always consider when selecting a new campaign is the map. I get bored fighting battles in locations where I've fought many before -- so if you've played in Spain, Italy and England, it might be time to move eastward. (But, I guess it depends on how much crusading you've done -- both the Turkish and Egyptian campaigns will necesssarily do a lot of fighting in the holy lands since they are the economic bread & butter of the area.)

[katank]

Russians can also definitely stand up to Catholic heavy troops. Dismounted dvors are great hybrid archers. Dvor cavalry is missile/heavy cav. Tsar's guard is one of the best heavy cav units. Further, you get cossack musketeers which can drop heavily armoured units like nobody's business.

Moors also have camel gunners, which are war winners in themselves.

In any case, you'll have so much production advantage that you can crush them. It's quite possible to outhorde the Mongol and Timurid hordes if you expand aggressively.

Not dealing with the Pope and killing him is great. It's also fun to turn Rome 100% Islamic or Orthodox.

[Aaron A Aardvark]

Hm, Turks, eh?

I do like using horse archers... The Turks it is.

[IrishArmenian]

I liked the Russians the most. They get many good horse archers, and many multi-purpose units. A very flexible faction and the most fun I've had so far.
Best unit list too, and Blitzing everyone else because they don't expect you is a lot of fun.
There are also many strategies for them, too. There is the common blitz that works well, but my favorite is a Russian version of the Mongols. Just churn out a whole lot of horse archers and give them to your generals. Then, go take your virtual horde and beisiege everything that looks at you funny. For sieges, I just wait the time and then they attack me. All my horse archers rain virtual death on them. Great fun.
EDIT: You also mean non-catholic. There is the Orthodox faith too...

[Blademun]

Hmm..for me its a toss up between Byzantium and Moors. I love Byzantiums cavalry units, and their econ is nice too. Unfortunately, they lose so much punch in the late game that playing them gets tedious after turn 70.

The moors start out kinda weak; their best early unit is the Desert Archer, which can kick west european militia butt. Their Econ needs help, mostly due to the fact your on the edge of the world and establishing trade deals takes some time. Their starting posistion is awesome for defense, even though early on your going to be fighting for your life against Portugal/Spain. Once they're whooped though, the game gets very easy.

Their strength really builds as the game goes. It comes to a head with their uber Camel Gunners, or rather, their Camel machine gunners. Awesome range, rate of fire and damage. The only thing they need are more bullets! Sudanese gunners, Hashishim and Urban Milita round out their late game army. Oh, and Timbuktu is a huge cash cow. 4-5K a turn once developed and fully stocked with merchants. Gotta love those Sudanese swordsmen for the early game, too..