Polish Strategy

[NewJeffCT]

Well, I keep running into the building queue bug, so I started a new campaign as the Polish, since I am half Polish. What sorts of strategies should I use? To start, I quickly invaded either Prussia or Pomerania and bribed the other rebel province. I wanted access to the seas. I then moved North to Lithunia and that other territory just to its north and conquered the rebels there, though one of my princes is now down to just himself and no other royal knights. I also conquered that one territory just east of Poland as well. I am thinking of expanding south to Kiev, as they have pretty fertile farmland, if I recall from my days playing the Byzantines. I am also building ships so I can move into Sweden and get an iron province. Any other advice? Did I expand too quickly? I just see rebel territories and feel I need to conquer them. I am kicking myself for not getting Finland, as the Novgo’s just snagged it.

[ShadesPanther]

Quote[/b] ]I am kicking myself for not getting Finland, as the Novgo’s just snagged it.
believe me you dont want Finland as it is just like Portugal http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/eek.gif
Try to get coastal areas and try to get Sweden and start trading, then when you have enough money kick novgo's arse and gain thei land. Also try to invade Hungay as they have very nice provinces

[DojoRat]

I found the Poles to be one of the harder factions to play. I was constantly limited by my lack of income, so slow and steady was the way I went. I expanded first to the north (Pommerania) and then to the south (?) to seal off the eastern steppes from other western powers. Once this line was drawn from the Baltic to the Black Sea I could pick and choose my targets without worrying about what other factions would do. Sweden, Livonia, and Lithuania, make a great trading base to fuel your further expansion.

[NewJeffCT]

Thanks - so far, I have found the lack of income tough, too. In the past, I have loved getting that "magnificent builder" virtue... but, it seems hard to build more than horse farms and siege engineers (and I never use non-gunpowder artillery...)

I already have northern access to the sea via Prussia & Lithuania (and two others), So, tonight I will try as well to snag as Kiev & Moldavia. Then, I'll have a Northern and a Southern lane to the sea. Then, land Sweden & Norway for the trade goods and iron. Wait a few years to build my ships and upgrade my army, and launch an attack on the Novgorads.

[lonewolf371]

Well, as for the actual battles make sure you've plenty of Mounted Crossbowmen for use against those Horse Archers. Use Retainers for flanking and Spearmen for holding the enemy melee.

[solypsist]

See the Table of Contents near the top of this forum topic page.

[NewJeffCT]

Thanks, some good advice...I played a bit more last night and my campaign as the Polish is going pretty well so far. I am surprised. First off, I conquered Sweden via combat. I thought it was going to be a tough battle, as they had a bunch of Vikings on top of a hill, and I had to march across the screen to get there. However, I had a group of crossbowmen, mounted crossbows and some archers pepper them, and the Vikings sent only one group down at a time at me, which made them easy prey to my feudal men at arms, urban milita/woodsmen flankers and royal knights waiting for them at the bottom of the hill.

I moves some spearmen and a group of mounted sergeants into Sweden in case any sudden rebellions came to light while I was building my watch towers and border forts, but nothing came to pass. While waiting for the port to be built so I can go back home to Poland, I decided to then invade Norway. That battle went quicker, as my mounted crossbows quickly killed them enemy general and then it was just a matter of running down the routers.

Several years after that, I attempted to bribe the rebels in Moldavia onto my team. They saw the light and accepted a year later. Next up was the rebel hotbed with good farmland and 2 tradable goods in Kiev. 939 rebels, but mostly peasants, led by a 4 star general who had fought off the Byzantines for the better part of a decade. However, the peasants were no match for the trained, professional Polish army, even though the Polish were outnumbered by more than two to one. However, a hundred peasants are no match for 20 royal knights charging in to their flanks.

Things seem to be going pretty well. My fleet is in just about every sea province now that I am building up Kiev and Moldavia and launching a few barques out of there. My only concern is the huge Almohad empire that is rapidly encompassing Europe. First, they wiped out the Spanish and the Aragonese to control the Iberian peninsula, and then they proceeded to wipe out the French, who had just finished confining the English to Northumbria. Next up, they have just about decimated the Germans and their empire. All of France, Spain, North Africa up to Egypt, most of Germany (including Friesland, Flanders and Franconia), as well as Wessex and Wales are ugly orange.

I have a big empire landwise and am making a lot of money through trade, but I am somewhat thin of troops. I will have to start building my army up soon instead of my farmlands and mine complexes, and I am also worried about the Novgorads, as they have several very high star generals in their ranks and their troops have good valor from fighting so many rebels. The Byzantines and Egyptians have been fighting to a stalemate after the Turks disappeared a good 50 years ago. The year is around 1180 now, I believe.