Precarious, Indeed

[RisingSun]

Well, I'm in my first REAL campaign as the Italians, (GA) and I must say things were going quite well. I took Naples and Sicily. I became quick friends with the Byzantines, doing a lot of trading, an fighting our mutual enemy, Egypt, together successfully. I also became a huge fan of crusades. It took me a while t pacify the Egyptian lands, with a couple loyalist rebellions, but I hd aken an early lead inglory points wih my crusades, and I'd gotten a lot of influence. Then my king dies... CIVIL WAR. To make things worse, the Egyptians re-appear at the same time, taking a bunch of my rebelling elite units which I was hoping to bribe back, as well as a couple of my provinces in Anatolia which I'd taken from rebels, which the Byzantines promptly took away. But, I trudged through the rebels, ad finaly got my land back. Peace. I do my trading, and the Byz are attacked by the
Germans and the English in crusades. The crusades fail. This will come into play later. Well, things are going so great,I decide to take a couple emissaries to see if I cant bribe a couple rebel armies and make myself a stronghold in Kazar or somewhere and buy some mercs, and hae some fun wen the horde comes along eventually. (Do they come in 1225 or 1325?) What I find is troubling. The Byz empire stretces from Antioch, through Kazar, to Poland and Greece. Bu no big deal, we are allies, an I'm still in the lead in glry points. Spai starts a war with my navy (Its managed to survive the Almohads, and they share Iberia, and are allies).I promptly kill off its fleet, and leave it alone, until I prepare an attack force of a whole lot of Italian inf. I invade, and hold Aragon and that other eastern coast province. The French invade Aragon. I win. The French invade again. I'm overwhelmed. The assault the castle and wn. I ake back Aragon, and take Navare and Castile. The Almos and the Spanish attack my besieging frce i Cstile. Theyre beaten bc. Same thing again. The Byzantines are invading the HRE They have 4 stacks and are eating the HRE alive. Now I have the Byzantines on almost all fronts, m at war with 3 countries, and the Byzantines cancelled their alliance. What do I do?

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

Go at the French man, kick ass Whenever life becomes unbearable in a particular campaign thanks to faction i've made enemies with i do not rest until i have caused as much anguish and pain and have killed there king. Forget your lands, just get the biggest army you have with a good general and burn and loot across his lands, then make a stand. Trust me sometimes it works....but the majority of the time i get slaughtered http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[RZST]

any assasins?
usually when i play italians early i build assasins and by the time its late period my assasins are 5-8 valours http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif. its better to assasinate leaders than fight their armies unless you are sure you will beat them.

[Mega Dux Bob]

If Byz is what is ailing you stay away from those four stack of armies and attack Byz anyware you can to wittle them down. Better yet look for someway to isolate that army from the rest of the Byz empire and it might revolt. Worse comes to worse get a good army going and take 'em head on the battle map, it's only an AI after all.

[solypsist]

Hmmmm...email me that campaign, I'd like to see if I can turn it around...

[Razor1952]

Never fight a war you can't loose, that really means you need $ and more $'s. So just consolidate and build your money. Forget your inland no trading provinces if you can't defend or develop them , they are just dead weight. Concentrate on your sea trade . Giving your opponents a useless province will often bring peace. Then make money.

Also its great fun to assinate a faction till they become rebels, but you will need to build the assasins valour increasing buildings. Also try and get Syria as it give +1 valour to assasins. Spies also which expose powerful opponents vices and reduce their subjects loyalty are great fun as well.

Also burning a few guys with inquisitors is good sport. relax, you have a long time to succeed, enjoy the journey.

[HopAlongBunny]

From what I understand you are not at war with the byz; they just be awful big. I would ignore them http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

If you have a chance of taking Spain, thats what I would concentrate on. It's filthy rich, easily defended and has iron I don't know the layout of the forces, but Navarre and Aragon are a good start. If you have a large army ready, Cordoba is nice place to snatch too. From there the entire land-mass is vulnerable...ok, it can be attacked from everywhere http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/rolleyes.gif but if you hold it you can pretty much decide where your next battle will take place. You don't have to keep it, its just a nice place to begin consolidation from.

ps. the Byz are eating up the HRE? good http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif Let them fight it out; keeps HRE out your hair and extends the Byz for when the Horde appears in 1230

[RisingSun]

Yes, I'm working my way through Spain, Its just tough having to fight 3 enemies where hey caal help each other out. But soly, thers no need to turn it aound, as I have 200k florins, going up every turn, so I can bribe my way out of some situations, and fight my way out of others. Going to war with the Byz isnt an option, because they have about the same size navy as I do (Even though I've been buildng it up recently) except that their ships are all 3 valour, while mine are 1 tops. But the horde is going to eat them alive, because theyve got absolutely no troops defending the Eastern provinces. Also, one of my goals is to have the most trade income, so cant be at war with everyone, especially the Byz, hence my predicament. But this ame is by far the most fun i have ever played, because it is making me think differently. I also forgot to mention two things. 1- I have been at war with the Hungarians for the past 100 years because they refuse to accept a ceasefre, altough I've never made move, and they havent made one for the pat 50 years. 2- I have begun to train inuistors, and using them against the French.