The Irish

[Cheetah]

summary

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

Very easy with Ireland i find. Important and relatively easy to secure ireland, start off with with the rebel lands, then attack ulster. The scots will forget the war as soon as ulster falls.

Next get a fleet going and at the same time get an alliance going with the vikings.

I usually pick on the Welsh. Take Cornwall and try to invade the welsh coastal provinces. When you are secure proceed and take the rest.

After this i try to broach alliances with one of the saxon kingdoms but not Northumbria. I usually invade those buggers from the sea and you can quickly secure the area with minimal casualties. Do it in good numbers and use your skirmishers because they are handy in pelting those troublesome Huscarls. But usually Northumbria suffers from internal troubles and viking attacks and her armies are usually poor anyway

With that area secure, i try to turn on the most powerful saxom kingdom which is usually mercia and all the while i am building up my fleet and keeping mainly skirmishers in ireland in case of the pesky vikings.

Try to hold an alliance with the saxons. Try to build inns and get good solid infantry if you can. Also keep those bonnachts and gallowglasses coming.

Try to take a hilly province from the mercians. With flat land there are very tricky. But with a hill or broken ground, your warriors stand a much better chance( when looking for mercenaries try to get an archer units because as you know the irish don't have any.

I'll post some more info later on as i've got an exam tomorrow and revision calls

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

Right where were we. Ok, after you have dismissed the mercians from the british isles, turn your attention on the saxons. By this point they may have a good bunch of those damn huscarls but not to worry, those units are the only real danger so it is important to get alot of cavalry going and bring some mercenary horse. So build those inns.

The battles with the saxons can last a while but use your Javelins who can pelt the hell out those Fyrdmen and Huscarls. Use your infantry especially gallowglasses to hurt and halt the saxons, then use your cavalry to sweep around and hit the flanks. The south of England has a lot of woodland areas so conceal your lighter cavalry in those areas and try to use them once the saxon army is engaged.
Once you have beaten the saxons, turn your attention to securing the south. Leave the East Anglia parts because of rebellion level. They can be mopped up later.

Next on your list should be the scots, picts or Northumbrians depending on who is there in the north of England. If it is the latter you can simply overwhelm them. There armies generally are poor, so a quick and decisive strike should finish them quickly.

At this point i would advise on a break and build those buildings up and prepare for the final push northwards. I'd advise to keep some medium armies on the major coastal provinces as those vikings like nothing more than a good raid, so keep those boats coming into the seas. Get those rich provinces of the midlands and the southern parts of England stable and built up and your economy should be booming

Post more later
BKB

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

For the third part it is the invasion of the north parts of britain. Usually i find this might include a war with the vikings but eliminate the others first. Get rid of the scots, she will be weaker than the picts. I usually overwhelm the scots with superior numbers and it is easy to defeat them. The highlanders might put up a fight but use your good attack units like the gallowglass and bonnachts backed up by any good mercenary units with some cavalry.

The picts are tricky. Those mounted crossbows and beserkers are tough. I find bringing naval attacks on the pict coastal provinces as a way of securing yourself in the pict lands. Try to get a decisive(i actually prefer attacking them) battle with them with good armoured units and use you skirmishers to pelt those light units such as celtic warriors to diminish their numbers.Any cav units you have should be moving round and swiping those crossbows and driving those mounted crossbows out of the fighting and then wipe them out later after you have crushed the main infantry force.

[Oleander Ardens]

I will try to add some small tips for the Irish to the good overview of the Blind King - to make sure that ich dien also the good cause...


Always try to fight in the worst possible climate when you attack. Rain is your friend, Snow your love.

Why Rain? 1)The Irish have no archers, thus they won't suffer in bad friendly weather. Especially since most of them carry no armor..

Why else? 2) Their Javs and darts will be equally deadly while the other ranged troops suffer. Make them pay for sitting in the rain


Why Snow? 3) The top infantry like Husaclers will suffer and tire while your Kerns with their stamina can pick them off.


Why Trees? 4) They can also be a great help, especially in good (or bad for you) weather on defense. You can hide from Arrows and Cav and let the Gallows play their game.


Why a good deal of cav? 5) As your infantry is mostly fast and very vulnerable to cavalry and missles it is always good to have more cavalry than the enemy to be able to protect your guys from the only ones which can really hurt them...


Cheers

OA

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Strategically speaking, do what you can to make good units.

There. That was simple. ~:p

What I meant was: don't skimp on the morale and valor boosting buildings available. Irish troops have low morale, and any means of improving it is a plus. Your troops will last longer, retreat less, and fight more effectively. It will also make it easier to use what looks like crap troops for more than just skirmishing - flanking!!!

[Spartiate]

As Alexander just mentioned build all the morale and valour bonus buildings plus all armour upgrades.Put an Irish prince in charge of the army as the Irish frequently get at least 3 star generals in the royal family.Then simply train Bonnachts and NEVER leave them on skirmish as they retreat without ever throwing those heavy-spears whenever an opponent charges at them.Those heavy spears will decimate even the huscarles if they get off 2 volleys before closing for hand to hand.The morale and valour upgrades mean they won't run at the sight of the huscarles.

[TWNoob]

I just picked up MTW and it seems pretty cool until I try to play it. I cant even get past the first part where you start out playing the Irish and its set to easy. The Saxons beat me every time no matter what I do. I can take out every other faction but by the time it is just the Saxons left, they are so powerful that I have no hope of winning. I tried going after them first but by the time I can build ships and have an army ready, they are still to powerful.

Can some one help?

[peacedude]

The strength of the Irsish is javelins and Gallowglases so pin the saxon Huscarles(i assume thats the main unit your having trouble with) with someone prbly spearmen and fire away with javelins they are very powerful against armor then charge with your gallowglasses to finish them off

[CountMRVHS]

You do know that you don't need to play the factions in order, right?

Forgive me, but from your post it sounds almost like you think you need to play the Irish in order to play the Mercians, then the Northumbrians, and so on...

But peacedude's advice is right on. Irish troops take some getting used to; the best thing is to take some Armoured Spearmen to "hold" the enemy, then move your javelin units or gallowglasses around to the back and attack from the rear.

Not all the javelin units are good against armor. Kerns and Bonnachts have AP javs, but Irish Dartmen do not. To make up for this, the Dartmen have slightly better range I think.

[bamff]

Hi TWNoob, peacedude is quite right - but I would add that I think you also need numerical superiority.

I saw it from the other side of the fence, where my Saxons got shredded by the Irish projectile guys. Granted we were massively outnumbered (2,500 to 600).

The AI did exactly what peacedude suggested - surrounded and pinned my dudes and pelted them to pieces. Gallowglasses are a hell of a lot quicker than Huscarles, so no matter how many times we tried to hack our way out, we were surrounded again. My guys killed 1700 odd Irish (including their general very early on) and still got overwhelmed.

[Empirate]

With the Irish, my biggest successes (like beating viking armies who were numerically superior to mine) came from using cavalry. It was already mentioned, but it cannot be stressed enough: Build up all the way to Mounted Nobles, then use these to break those landsmen and huscarls while pinning with other troops (armored spearmen are very durable even against armor-piercing units like huscarls). I never got much use out of those javelins. It was not that they were not effective - they were. But they carried too little ammo. I would use up the ammo of two to three regiments of javelineers before I had damaged a huscarle regiment enough that it would run, or be made short work of by other troops. And after using up their ammo, kerns and the like are not much use anymore, you can only really withdraw them from the field. Once Bonnachts became available, it was much different though: These guys can hold a line, they can do a lot of damage in melee (especially coming from an iron province with some church upgrades), and on top of that they can do nasty things with javelins. Even though their ammo is even more limited (a single throw per man!), this works a lot like the pila of Rome:TW. Give the enemy one volley, charge. Bring another regiment of Bonnachts around the flank, volley, charge. Every regiment of Huscarls will break before that! And since only about half your men will hurl a javelin in each volley, you can repeat this maneuver using the exact same two units. Even when all the Bonnachts' javelins are gone, they remain formidable fighters.

Summary: Build Bonnachts, build as much cavalry as possible, build some armored spear for holding the line. That's what you need to beat any army a VI enemy can throw at you. You don't need numerical superiority this way!

[Agent Miles]

Don’t forget that you can hire mercenary archers or bribe other faction units to overcome this shortcoming in the Irish arsenal. Also, you can produce valour 2 Horsemen which are actually slightly better than valour 0 Mounted Nobles and cost half as much. Similarly, you can produce V2 Kerns in Laigin which I find are much better than V0 Bonnachts and again are cheaper.
With Manau, Ulster and Munster, you have three provinces with iron. Thus, I specialize and tech each up to make weapon +3/armour +3 Horsemen, armoured spearman and gallowglasses, with V2 Kerns from Laigin. I throw in the merc archers if needed. If you leave Connacht without a garrison, you can “farm” the rebels to train up your generals. I had three 6*’s when I invaded England proper. Valour 3 spies and assassins are also very useful. I took Jutland with a priest, a spy and an emissary.

[Peasant Phill]

Conquering Ireland, the first thing you should do, is very easy. All you're going to meet are lots of kerns, some spearmen, one or two gallowglasses, and that scottish archer unit. Just use your common sense (rock-paper-scissor) and you'll be fine.
Don't attack the rebels with to many or you could wind up with one semi-hard battle instead of two easy ones.

After you've conquered Ireland, prepare to take Manau. There is a chance that the Vikings have already taken it. Be patient, Manau will rebel sooner or later and than it's yours for the taking.

[doctrellor]

I just finished my game with Ireland

step 1) Conquer Ireland.. take out the Scots, they don't complain
step 2) build 2 longboats
step 3) Take Manx (center island)
step 4) Take Welsh and any freebies (rebels on west coast)
step 5) Take out Scots/Picts

make sure that Mercians and Saxons keep at war with each other to as to not look your way

I won by keeping the Mercians my allies and then keeping them away from the Pict/Scot areas..

I had just cranked boats out from Ireland all game, so I basically stayed at a naval war with the Vikings and kept them away from England most of the game. I literally had encircled all of the UK with my boats, so I could land troops anywhere and at anytime.

I won by 895 and had finished my 1st Cathedral by 875, and I was the #1 Tech guy all game

My main troop type I used were armored spearmen with nice add-ons due to advanced spears/armor and moral bonuses...

So even when the Mercianstried a late game attack on me with thier Uber axmen, I still won those battles...

[eggplantman]

The irish are by far my fav faction

[Hound of Ulster]

I always took Man first then went after the Picts and Scots. Was never invaded by the Vikings(?).

[Heidrek]

Kerns are a versatile very cheap unit that can cause massive damage to much beter units. Bonnachts are like super Kerns, and have roughly the same stats and the Scottish Hghland Clansmen or Celtic Warriors but with the big advantage of having a javelin each to throw.

A low cost garrison army made up of Spearmen and Kerns can cause serious losses against a superior attacking force thanks to those wonderful Javelins. Add a couple of units of Gallowglasses and Horsemen and the enemy had better come prepared for a very bloody battle in they want to win.

Meanwhile, you crack troops of Armoured Spearmen, Bonnachts, Gallowglasses and Mounted Nobles supported by Catapults and/or bribed archers can kick arse on foreign fields.

Don't forget that once your Kerns have run out of javelins, they make very effective flanking units, especially in Wedge formation. Run them around the side of the spear wall, form them up and charge. given that the enemy is engaged on two sides now, they will quickly panic as the wedge hits or soon after. Even strong units buckle under this pressure after a while.

As a bonus, the enemy units will have lost men to your javelins, so will have a tougher time wearing down the spears and suffer morale penalties. Against huscarles, nothing beats a rear cavalry charge from a wedge of Mounted Nobles, but plain horsemen will also do fine. Have a spear unit engage them to lock them in place, then run that wedge of cavalry into their backs. If you also managed to ping them with Jav's, even the mighty huscarles will break and run under the onslaught. Gallowglasses or Bonnachts also fill this role just fine but there is a bonus morale penalty if cavalry charge the flank/rear.

[cuthach]

Kerns are a versatile very cheap unit that can cause massive damage to much beter units. Bonnachts are like super Kerns, and have roughly the same stats and the Scottish Hghland Clansmen or Celtic Warriors but with the big advantage of having a javelin each to throw.

A low cost garrison army made up of Spearmen and Kerns can cause serious losses against a superior attacking force thanks to those wonderful Javelins. Add a couple of units of Gallowglasses and Horsemen and the enemy had better come prepared for a very bloody battle in they want to win.

Meanwhile, you crack troops of Armoured Spearmen, Bonnachts, Gallowglasses and Mounted Nobles supported by Catapults and/or bribed archers can kick arse on foreign fields.

Don't forget that once your Kerns have run out of javelins, they make very effective flanking units, especially in Wedge formation. Run them around the side of the spear wall, form them up and charge. given that the enemy is engaged on two sides now, they will quickly panic as the wedge hits or soon after. Even strong units buckle under this pressure after a while.

As a bonus, the enemy units will have lost men to your javelins, so will have a tougher time wearing down the spears and suffer morale penalties. Against huscarles, nothing beats a rear cavalry charge from a wedge of Mounted Nobles, but plain horsemen will also do fine. Have a spear unit engage them to lock them in place, then run that wedge of cavalry into their backs. If you also managed to ping them with Jav's, even the mighty huscarles will break and run under the onslaught. Gallowglasses or Bonnachts also fill this role just fine but there is a bonus morale penalty if cavalry charge the flank/rear.

I always found Kerns to be worse than useless, so I tried this the other day and what do you know it can actually work! They still take a lot of casulaties but at least I have a task I can use them for.

What's the best way to use Gallowglasses?

[Caerfanan]

I always found Kerns to be worse than useless, so I tried this the other day and what do you know it can actually work! They still take a lot of casulaties but at least I have a task I can use them for.

What's the best way to use Gallowglasses?

Hi. Gallowglasses have a very high attack, a bad defense (but not as bad as Bonnacht or Kerns), average speed and morale. IMHO, they are slightly better thant the Highland Clansmen, because they die slower (and you have Kerns/Dart throwers to run after fleeing melee troop anyway). Gallowglasses are excellent shock troops especially with helping one of your units engaged in melee by attacking someone in the flanks (I often think that taking the tim to manoeuver rear with something which is not cavalry is too long).

I use them a bit like the clansmen. I try not to engage them in melees (I prefer spears to "pin" the oponents) or at least to keep a few of them free of movement so as to create "local" 2:1 situations which can lead to a "chain rout"

[cuthach]

Hi. Gallowglasses have a very high attack, a bad defense (but not as bad as Bonnacht or Kerns), average speed and morale. IMHO, they are slightly better thant the Highland Clansmen, because they die slower (and you have Kerns/Dart throwers to run after fleeing melee troop anyway). Gallowglasses are excellent shock troops especially with helping one of your units engaged in melee by attacking someone in the flanks (I often think that taking the tim to manoeuver rear with something which is not cavalry is too long).

I use them a bit like the clansmen. I try not to engage them in melees (I prefer spears to "pin" the oponents) or at least to keep a few of them free of movement so as to create "local" 2:1 situations which can lead to a "chain rout"

So best for shock behind the enemy. Thanks I'll give this a try.

[Vladimir]

Agreed. My biggest beef against the Irish is that it's too easy to cut through them. Gallows don't quite make it in a head to head.

[Heidrek]

Against Huscarles and Berserkers you have a tough time, thats for sure.

Mind you, it can still be done. Yesterday I faced a Viking force that I slightly outnumbered and creamed them. They has a unit of Berserkers, a Viking Landsmen, a couple of units of Archers and a unit of the very rare and deadly Joms Vikings.

I set up a unit of armoured spears, with a Kerns behind them and Gallowglasses off to the side and back a bit. The Berserkers and Joms came straight at my Spears, while the landsmen stayed with the archers becuase I had a couple of units of light cavalry circling behind to run them down.

The Berserkers got nailed to the ground by Kerns javelins, as did couple of the Joms Vikings. As soon as they got within Javelin range I ran the gallowglasses straight out to past the Joms as they ran in to attack the Spears. Once they engaged, the spears start dying, but the Joms are now tied up with them and the gallowglasses are in place behind them so I put them into wedge and charges them into the rear of the engaged Joms Vikings. A couple of seconds later the Joms broke and I set the Kerns to chasing them.

I then sent the Gallowglasses to attack the Landsmen and slaughtered the archers with cavalry, using one set of Horsemen to rout them once the gallowglasses attacked them leaving their rear exposed.


Your Armoured Spearmen are the best option for engaging enemy heavy infantry, but they will still die quickly, even with armour upgrades. Morale is actually your biggest hurdle though. Once a unit routs you're in big troble as others will quickly follow.

Use your javelin units well, they are the key to your victory.

[warrior king]

I've just recently got back into Medieval. I've been playing The Irish on Viking Invasion and I've found them to be quite easy to play, you just have to remember a few key things that will lead you in good stead in the game.

1. Your navy are the key to your defence, thus your survival, keep them strong and expand them as you gain control more of Britain.

2. The following items I'd recommend being built in every province you rule.

A watchtower
Border Fort
Port
Shipyard - you can add to this later
and at the very least a Fort.

3. One thing I found useful, is the auto control on taxes and titles, this can greatly increase your loyalty and maximise your income, so is something you can consider.

4. When you have increased your borders, don't keep large amounts of troops hanging around in provinces already covered by another. This can waste so much money. My advice is to train some peasantry for your already covered provinces and keep a few of your attack forces on your borders with enemies to deter any counterattack. Remember keeping your coastal regions safe is what your navy is for, so keep them strong by any and all means.

Now done to the conquest.

1. The Irish aren't exactly strong to begin with, but they have some good units and they do have options for conquest immediately. So firstly take Ulster with your armies from Laigin & Brega. Don't forget about beginning your navy and leave some peasants behind!

2. Get your self a Royal Palace in Brega and train some emissaries, then send them to the rebel regions to the west of you in Munster & Connacht.

3. Once you have your attack force retrained from Ulster and have moved the armies from Munster & Connacht to join them. Keep an eye out on the loyalty, your border fort and watchtower should help improve this and get your peasantry in and this should also help.

4. When you have a fleet begun, get it in position to the north of your lands, to allow you to attack the north of Britain, I chose Reget as it was rebel land so you can do the same, aim for any rebel lands in that region, Manu, the small island in the middle is another easy picking. But be quick as someone else may seize the opportunity.

5.Once you've gained your first provinces in the north. Keep your provinces popping out ships, where you have your shipyards, so their reinforced and over time you should aim to cover the whole of British Isles, but most importantly all across your lands. Retrain your troops if you've invaded any of the rebel lands. You can now start to build your military arsenal up, get the best troops available to you in every province, later on when you are have a few more florins to spare, you can quickly build an army and train stronger forces for the more powerful fractions later.

6. From here it's straight forward really, keep your navies strong, get upgrade your shipyards to allow you to build stronger ships, i.e the longboats. Keep your provinces near your enemies covered. In terms of conquest, take out the weaker northern fractions, The Scots, The Pict's and any rebel lands you might find. The south usually war amongst themselves so after your victories in the north, you can usually finish off The Northumbrians. Now it's time to get the big guns out for the fight to conquer the south. Sure your provinces and get the as many of your best troops together all in the five turn maximum, Armoured spear men & Gallowglasses are your best infantry, and these should be trained in their hundreds, by this time you should have the money, provided you haven't left any idle troops in provinces far beyond your borders. Any upgrades you've got from armouries and metal-smiths is an advantage in your favour, select a good general, the one with the most stars! A hell of a lot of royal bodyguards, get your king and his sons in on the war, as it will only improve their experience as commanders, so give them a punch of men to command.

Just remember the three R's for the rest of the game, Reinforce, Retrain & Reform and then cut the bastards limb from limb!

Good luck
Warrior King.

[Brandy Blue]

One thing I found useful, is the auto control on taxes and titles, this can greatly increase your loyalty and maximise your income, so is something you can consider.

I do not understand this.

Why use auto control on taxes? The only case in which I can imagine auto taxes increasing your income would be if the AI sets your tax in some provinces higher than you would want to risk if you set the taxes yourself. Too much tax can trigger rebellion.

Why use auto control on titles? Does the AI make better title assignments than a human can?

[bamff]

I do not understand this.

Why use auto control on taxes? The only case in which I can imagine auto taxes increasing your income would be if the AI sets your tax in some provinces higher than you would want to risk if you set the taxes yourself. Too much tax can trigger rebellion.

Why use auto control on titles? Does the AI make better title assignments than a human can?

Hmmm - maybe just as a means of avoiding getting bogged down in micromanagement, or possibly to avoid that late at night issue of having a province governor die in battle without your noticing, therefore leaving a province rudderless....but that is just guesswork on my part.

I suppose I am like you Brandy Blue, in that I would far prefer to "do it my way" through all provinces. Not because I am a control freak, I just back my own judgement over the AI.

[oz_wwjd]

I'd advise as said dealing with the welsh and if you can spare the troops the Picts,or at least raiding Fib frequently ASAP. Both of them have good AP missile troops with longer range than yours that can really hurt if you let them tech up to them,especially the Picts mounted crossbowmen , I've had to fight agaionst 5-6 units of them and catching them was almost impossible..

[Brandy Blue]

I've found that kerns can be quite useful raiders against enemies with few or no missles and not too much cavalry. You send in your kerns, shoot up the enemy as much as you can without letting them engage you, and then withdraw, using horsemen to cover your retreat and/or keep enemy cavalry away from your kerns. Technically it counts as a defeat, but you killed some of their guys with little or no losses yourself. Of course you have to be careful not to give enemy generals too many free stars that way.

The Northumbrians, Mercians and Saxons often have provinces vulnerable to kern raids. I haven't tried it lately against Picts, Scots or Welsh, but I imagine that those factions have too many long range missles, cavalry, or fast infantry to be easily treated this way.

[warrior king]

I choose to allow the AI to deal with taxation levels, because it takes away a little of the work, especially as your realm grows in size. The level of tax may increase many times throughout the course of the game, so its good knowing its taken care of to avoid any nasty rebellions!. However its purely at the player's preference. Fight well my lords!