R'as al Ghul
02-01-2007, 13:07
After finishing campaigns with Venice, HRE, France and the Moors I've started a new one with Portugal.
It's set to VH/VH, short, and with Foz' Shield Fix applied.
I'm currently at about turn 40-50. I've taken Cordoba and Granada from the Moors, as well as the rebel settlements Zaragossa and Valencia. The start went well, laid siege to Zaragossa on turn 1, captured it on turn 2. At the same time I marched on Cordoba with the Lisboa force. I've blocked the strait of Gibraltar to prevent the Moors from reinforcing. (a bit unfair, I agree) After taking Cordoba the Moors wanted a ceasefire which I granted for Tribute. When the tribute payments ended I took Granada. Shortly after the Moors wanted a ceasefire again. I granted it for tribute.
By that time everyone was swarming Iberia with their armies. I've had the Sicilians, Milan, Papal states and French armies travel through my lands. Probably they were looking for the rebel settlements that I had taken. (I tried to stop that by selling/ givving away my map) It seems Valencia attracts quite a lot of opportunistic armies, too.
I've beaten all of those armies with mostly Jinetes and finally took Valencia myself.
Now I own all of Spain, but Spain as a faction still owns Toledo and Leon. We're trading buddies since turn 1. It's the only faction that hasn't attacked me yet (they rather attack England or France via Sea invasion) and that's the main reason I haven't done so either. But to be honest, there wasn't much time either with all those border fights. Even the Scots and the English frequently send invasion forces to Pamplona. The permanent devastation and blockaded trade causes a serious drop in income. Besides, what do they all want from me anyway?
I haven't had as many invasions and attacks in all my other games. Not that I really complain but actually I wanted to play this one really slow to give the AI a chance to build up its armies and provinces. Also I planned on just take the peninsula and then turtle and defend. As it's now I have 4 active actions for injunction from the Pope and I need money badly. One of the last turns I actually hit the red, which never happened to me before.
I'm quite pleased that the AI puts up a fight but it can also be annoying to defend all those halfhearted invasions. It's seldom that they send whole stacks. What's really annoying is that the AI will, after getting a bloody nose and having to pay for it with florins, always comes back for more. It's clearly a calculation problem. Half a stack of just 1-3 knights and 7-8 jinetes seems harmless to the AI.
How are your Portugal campaigns playing? I think that, because of the multiple factions that border your lands via Sea and the improved naval invasion code, Portugal has to be one of the tougher campaigns. The map position looks safe at first but it isn't at all.
Despite some flaws it's enjoyable and I find myself actually in tough situations, like when the English laid siege to Pamplona with a full stack of spears etc and Milan marched on Zaragossa while further south the Sizilians marched on Cordoba.
R'as
It's set to VH/VH, short, and with Foz' Shield Fix applied.
I'm currently at about turn 40-50. I've taken Cordoba and Granada from the Moors, as well as the rebel settlements Zaragossa and Valencia. The start went well, laid siege to Zaragossa on turn 1, captured it on turn 2. At the same time I marched on Cordoba with the Lisboa force. I've blocked the strait of Gibraltar to prevent the Moors from reinforcing. (a bit unfair, I agree) After taking Cordoba the Moors wanted a ceasefire which I granted for Tribute. When the tribute payments ended I took Granada. Shortly after the Moors wanted a ceasefire again. I granted it for tribute.
By that time everyone was swarming Iberia with their armies. I've had the Sicilians, Milan, Papal states and French armies travel through my lands. Probably they were looking for the rebel settlements that I had taken. (I tried to stop that by selling/ givving away my map) It seems Valencia attracts quite a lot of opportunistic armies, too.
I've beaten all of those armies with mostly Jinetes and finally took Valencia myself.
Now I own all of Spain, but Spain as a faction still owns Toledo and Leon. We're trading buddies since turn 1. It's the only faction that hasn't attacked me yet (they rather attack England or France via Sea invasion) and that's the main reason I haven't done so either. But to be honest, there wasn't much time either with all those border fights. Even the Scots and the English frequently send invasion forces to Pamplona. The permanent devastation and blockaded trade causes a serious drop in income. Besides, what do they all want from me anyway?
I haven't had as many invasions and attacks in all my other games. Not that I really complain but actually I wanted to play this one really slow to give the AI a chance to build up its armies and provinces. Also I planned on just take the peninsula and then turtle and defend. As it's now I have 4 active actions for injunction from the Pope and I need money badly. One of the last turns I actually hit the red, which never happened to me before.
I'm quite pleased that the AI puts up a fight but it can also be annoying to defend all those halfhearted invasions. It's seldom that they send whole stacks. What's really annoying is that the AI will, after getting a bloody nose and having to pay for it with florins, always comes back for more. It's clearly a calculation problem. Half a stack of just 1-3 knights and 7-8 jinetes seems harmless to the AI.
How are your Portugal campaigns playing? I think that, because of the multiple factions that border your lands via Sea and the improved naval invasion code, Portugal has to be one of the tougher campaigns. The map position looks safe at first but it isn't at all.
Despite some flaws it's enjoyable and I find myself actually in tough situations, like when the English laid siege to Pamplona with a full stack of spears etc and Milan marched on Zaragossa while further south the Sizilians marched on Cordoba.
R'as