Conquering a province

[Shamus]

I’m currently playing as the Almos, started in the early age, and am playing a glorious achievement campaign. The next province that I must go after is Eddesa (sp?). I claimed Antioch a while back and am using it as a staging point for attacking Eddesa. The Turks had an army of nearly 1,200 units camped out in the province for a number of years. Recently however, the HRE launched a large crusade against the province of Eddesa, and have managed to whittle the size of the Turk army down to less than 300 (for some odd reason Turk armies from surrounding provinces have not gone to their aid).

There has never been a better time to take the province for myself. I know that the HRE crusade will demand that I leave the province once I take it, and I also know I can hold out against them. My question is this however. As this is my first glorious achievement campaign, I’m not sure if taking the province to complete that goal, is worth going to war with the HRE (I have no territory in contact with theirs, and I control most of the sea). Any thoughts?

[Monk]

let me ask this, is the HRE a major sea power? If not then do a quick check of who they are allied to. Match their allies up with yours and see how many nations will have to decided on whom they want to stay a friend to, should war break out.

If in that list you see some powerful neighbors of yours, then i say don't attack at this time, let the german crusade take the province. Afterward a Turk force will counter attack to reclaim it and you can defeat the turks as they are not looking.

Or you can attack now and hope that those allies stay with you and not side with your germanic enemy.

If they are a major sea power, then check to see if your trade routes are tied in with theirs. If not then you can risk a war. If they indeed are I suggest just sitting back and watching the confict unfold, waiting a bit longer.

just my two cents

[Eastside Character]

I wouldn't wait for the HRE to get the Edessa first, as it would add influence for their Emperor, better destroy their fleet and crush the crusade simultaneously. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/handball.gif

[Shamus]

Luckily the HRE doesn’t have a fleet to speak of. My main concern was whether the points gained from taking the province would outweigh the negative effects of being at war with the HRE.

[Somebody Else]

Take the province, if the HRE demands it - declare war on them. If your neighbours get upset, attack them as well. Nothing like a good multi-front war. This is then a good excuse to take a few more provinces around your borders. Having thus demonstrated your superiority, ceasefires should be easily acquired - if these are not forthcoming, eliminate a faction or two to ram the point home.
Admittedly I'm a bit of a warmonger - so my advice may be a bit hawkish.

[Voigtkampf]

If you are ready for war, never postpone it... Next time you may not be as well as prepared. Take the province and unleash your wrath on anyone who opposes Alliances? The stronger you are, the more allies you will have and keep, the less you need them the more will they come at stand at your side.

In two words, crush them http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif

[Foreign Devil]

Take the provence. This is total war, isn't it?. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Brutal DLX]

Let the crusade take it first, then take it from them. That way you don't directly have to go to war with the Turks, at least not right away.
Taking the crusade province back for Islam is a good achievement, and destroying the crusade will deal a big blow to the emperor's influence.
If you've already conquered all of Spain and are stretched out till Antioch, chances are you don't need to be afraid of anybody anymore.

[fruitfly]

Quote[/b] (Somebody Else @ Dec. 18 2003,03:22)]Admittedly I'm a bit of a warmonger - so my advice may be a bit hawkish.
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

The best advice is to weigh up whether you'd rather be at war with the Turks or HRE (assuming you're not at war with the Turks already). If it's the Turks, then nip in now before the crusade, if it's the HRE, then wait for them to oust the Turks and then liberate the province from those Christian infidels in the name of Islam.

If you pick the Turks and you're lucky, you'll attack the province at the same time as the crusade does and then get a 3-way battle where you can sit around watching the other two armies decimate each other before mopping up the survivors. Of course, that means you'll end up at war with both and won't work to your advantage if you're currently allied with either...

[Shamus]

I chose to wait and see if the crusade would wipe out the Turks in Edessa. Unfortunately they couldn’t seem to finish the task, as I watched their numbers dwindle to less than 100. Rather than wait for more Turks to enter the province, I took the initiative and invaded. Luckily no Turk armies from other provinces came to help. The oddest thing happened when the battle began though. I was planning to sit back and watch the Germans go after the Turks, after which I would sweep up whatever units were left. However, as soon as the battle began the Germans began to make motions towards the right side of my line. At first I didn’t believe that the Germans were attacking me, but I moved my troops into position to confront them. Sure enough the remnants of the German crusade were making their way towards my army. The 700+ of my men made quick work of the German crusade, after which I took out the defending Turk army.

Luckily the Turks came in force the next turn to try and liberate their province (I love wiping out an enemy force in a defensive battle). 2,200 of their men attacked the 700 odd of my army. I didn’t do as well as I had hoped, loosing 150 of my men and taking only 850 of theirs. If they do this again their forces in other provinces should be significantly weak enough for me to invade with little opposition and wipe the Turks out. I still don’t get the way the point system works in a glorious achievement campaign.

[Eastside Character]

After a won battle you can cut off the heads of beaten enemies and form a pile. I always do this when I play as a muslim faction.

http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/flat.gif
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/flat.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/flat.gif
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/flat.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/flat.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/flat.gif
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/flat.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/flat.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/flat.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/flat.gif
Now who will dare to question your power? If there will be someone that stupid, you can always place his head at top of the pile.