Need feedback on first campaign ever.

Well, first here are some useful detail about the settings and all.

Started from Early Period, set as Easy, with the English.

It's now 1171, I control 8 of the 9 provinces in the Iberian peninsula(assuming that's the name). The one I don't have is Leon, and that's because I just don't want to deal with a rebellion later on in the game. I also control some of the Northern Africans provinces (Morroco to Cyrenecia). In the north I have all of the British Isles save Ireland. I have Normandy, Brittany, Aquitaine, Anjou, Ile de France, Lorraine, and Flanders.

Wessex: Cardinals/Siege engines/Ships
Mercia: All infantry
Cordoba: All archers
Aquitaine: All cavalry
Flanders: Assassins(and soon spies)
Another Province I'm forgetting(probably IDF or Anjou): Emissaries
Granada: Ships
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I most likely have the strongest navy in all of Europe, uncontested control of the Northern seas( in that no one else has ships there). There are some ships that belong to the Italians, Sicilians and Byzantines in the Southern seas.

I'm in a passive war with the Egyptians and the Spaniards, I've wiped out the entire navy of the Egyptians, and the Spaniards only have Leon left, haven't been attacked in a couple of rounds by anyone. I've got a shifting income of 2000 florins a year, which equals a profit of about 1500 a year.


My questions are the following:

1. How can maintain the largest army in Europe(for now), without going bankrupt?
2. Who can I trade with, and also how do I trade over sea?
3. Where to expand next, north against the French who have a couple of provinces left or the Germans who are at war with the French? Or South against the Egyptians, or the Byzantines, or the Italians (Navy and all).
4. Should I keep low in the eastern provinces for now until the Golden Horde come and duke it out with the Northern People/Byzantines/Turks and then when they're gone move in?
5. How to maintain a steady/increasing flow of cash?
6. What to do next?



Thank you in advance.

Also something I forgot to add:

I have Chivalric MAA/Sergeants coming from Mercia, and I'll soon have the next upgrade to Mounted Sergeants/Crossbowmen...

7. What should I update next?
8. Is it worth building something in an otherwise 2nd/3rd rate province just to get a specialized type of troop that is powerful, or is best just to go with general troops of overall same statistic value at a cheaper price?

your specialization is a bit off if you don't mind my saying.

Wales should tech for longbows ASAP and get to master bowyer for v2 longbows.

mercia should go for v2 billmen.

trade means unobstructed lanes to a port of a faction not at war with you filled with ships as well as source port with a trading post or higher merchant building.

build only troops of 1 type in a province. ie. upgrade only bowyers etc. and build to the master level with appropriate upgrade. ie. morale and armor for spears, armor for archers, weapons for maa and knights, etc.

Scotland should be used for clansmen.

conquer Ireland for kerns and gallows, both useful troops.

if playing VI, making an excursion into Scandanavia is worthwhile for the mighty huscarles.

read some of the my guides in the guide forums.

tons of good stuff. MTW economics 101 should also cover most things.

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Originally Posted by Rayaleh

Well, first here are some useful detail about the settings and all.

Started from Early Period, set as Easy, with the English.

It's now 1171, I control 8 of the 9 provinces in the Iberian peninsula(assuming that's the name). The one I don't have is Leon, and that's because I just don't want to deal with a rebellion later on in the game. I also control some of the Northern Africans provinces (Morroco to Cyrenecia). In the north I have all of the British Isles save Ireland. I have Normandy, Brittany, Aquitaine, Anjou, Ile de France, Lorraine, and Flanders.

Wessex: Cardinals/Siege engines/Ships
Mercia: All infantry
Cordoba: All archers
Aquitaine: All cavalry
Flanders: Assassins(and soon spies)
Another Province I'm forgetting(probably IDF or Anjou): Emissaries
Granada: Ships
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I most likely have the strongest navy in all of Europe, uncontested control of the Northern seas( in that no one else has ships there). There are some ships that belong to the Italians, Sicilians and Byzantines in the Southern seas.

I'm in a passive war with the Egyptians and the Spaniards, I've wiped out the entire navy of the Egyptians, and the Spaniards only have Leon left, haven't been attacked in a couple of rounds by anyone. I've got a shifting income of 2000 florins a year, which equals a profit of about 1500 a year.


My questions are the following:

1. How can maintain the largest army in Europe(for now), without going bankrupt?
2. Who can I trade with, and also how do I trade over sea?
3. Where to expand next, north against the French who have a couple of provinces left or the Germans who are at war with the French? Or South against the Egyptians, or the Byzantines, or the Italians (Navy and all).
4. Should I keep low in the eastern provinces for now until the Golden Horde come and duke it out with the Northern People/Byzantines/Turks and then when they're gone move in?
5. How to maintain a steady/increasing flow of cash?
6. What to do next?



Thank you in advance.

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As for #2, you automatically trade with any other province that you connect to via a sea trade route. You must have at least one ship in each sea area from your province to the ones you wish to trade with, and there must be a port in each province. In addition, none of the sea areas between the provinces can be blocked by an enemy warship or trade will not happen.

#4: Personally, I would go ahead and cross over through africa and up into the middle east and around the black sea. Leave a little buffer there until the GH attack. If you can afford it, go for the northern areas held by rebels ( Sweden, et. al. ) and Denmark.

To get more cash, increase your ports and sea routes, and trading posts and upgrades to them, and upgrade your agriculture in your high value provinces. Also, any gold/silver/copper mines that can be built pay way more in their lifetimes than you spend building them, especially starting in early period.

Another bonus is that upgrading your agriculture eventually gives very helpfull virtue bonuses to your leaders and your king.

6. What to do next? KILL THE POPE! ( Just out of general principle ) ~;)

Have a good time!

Robert

Oh, and I almost forgot, don't bother building ports in provinces that do not have resources to trade.

Robert

for general campaign, ports are fine. I usually have 6-8 coastal provinces going straight for ships just because trade is so lucrative.

ports also enable your agents to move freely.

remember to max out trade buildings for coastal provinces inw hcih you can trade but never go beyond trade post in inland provinces unless you really don't have anything to build as local trade is not worth much (treat it like a mine).

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1. How can maintain the largest army in Europe(for now), without going bankrupt?

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Get rid of peasants, disloyal units, units lead by drunkards, etc. and get you some trade.

Also, Scottish highlanders are amazingly cheap to both build and maintain.

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2. Who can I trade with, and also how do I trade over sea?

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Trade with everybody you're not at war with. You will need an unbroken chain of ships, ports and trade centers. These are quite expensive to build, by the way.

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3. Where to expand next, north against the French who have a couple of provinces left or the Germans who are at war with the French? Or South against the Egyptians, or the Byzantines, or the Italians (Navy and all).

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I'd conquer Egypt, which will help boost your income.

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4. Should I keep low in the eastern provinces for now until the Golden Horde come and duke it out with the Northern People/Byzantines/Turks and then when they're gone move in?

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Don't worry about the horde. They are about to do you the very great favor of weakening many of your remaining enemies in the east. This is another reason for driving on Egypt. Get yourself in position to exploit the chaos that comes when the horde hits.

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5. How to maintain a steady/increasing flow of cash?

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By trade.

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6. What to do next?

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Build that trade network.

1. Don't build a huge army, start withdrawing your stacks out of your borders. and send them in the frontlines. Border garrison must be relative only to your neighbor. If you stop building they will stop building. ALLY with the faction of your immediate neighbor. For example, ally with the Hungarians since the HRE is your neighbor.

2. You must have an uninterrupted chain of ships connected to another AI port. So keep building ships until you have 2 ships per lane.

3. Most MTW factions can be summed up in 4 words: "Go through North Africa". Don't blame me if your campaigns get too easy though ~;). But don't start until you have a steady flow of ships. Remember, for every province you take you must cover it with 2 ships (1. to prevent rebellion 2. to send reinforcements to the frontline 3. to prevent AI from invading by sea 4.continual framework for trade).

4. Keep pushing up to Constantinople. I always finish way before the Mongols arrive, I only met them once. Your Billmen or Feudal sergeants can handle the Horses. Take Kazar if you think you can defend it against the Horde. Here's what you do. One Billmen/Feudal Sergeants per Archer/Crossbowmen/Longbowmen). Put the archers in front push "hold" button. When the Cavalry arrives. shoot. When they get close retreat them behind the back. Keep shooting. Engange with Billmen/Spear when they start charging. Retreat archers that are out of ammo, then get reinforcement. When the AI is on a general retreat, use your horses. Which should be in the back or in a distant forest hiding. Remember though, once shooting starts march your horses slowly to the AI's back far enough so they aren't noticed ( do this if there is a forest where you can hid your horse). When the AI are all engaged that's when you get your horses closer, so when they retreat, they are caught.

A great horse formation is this. 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 rows deep, put them on wedge when flanking but not when chasing. Depends on what horse you use and their numbers. I prefer the fast Steppe Cav.
Make sure you don't chase 2 units with 1 horse, one will rally and flank you. Once they are on a general retreat, rearrange your main troops again. Archers front, Spear behind, Cavalry reserve at very back. On the extreme side you must have armor piercing shock troops such as Militia Sergeants/Billmen. When the Spear/Billmen enganges a horse use them to flank.

A Royal Knight general is Ideal. Put it at the very back (middle position). Repeat this again and again. When your spears get badly reduced retreat and get reinforcement. You may also use a catapult at the very back. But they are most useful during bridge defense and when you are facing a lot of infantry. Longbows run out of ammo real quick so I'm not keen on them despite armor piercing capability.

5. To maintain Cashflow. Trade. Capture enemy faction leaders for ransom. Don't build too much troops especially the expensive ones.
Here is a good balanced army:
Royal Knight general
1-2 hobilars.
6-7 Feudal Sergeants/Billmen.
3-4 Archers.
1-2 Militia Sergeants/Feudal MAA (shock troops).
2 Urban Militia/Woodsmen.

Longbowmen are worthless, so I don't recommend them. Regular archers kill a lot more and they last a lot longer. Of course you modify your army makeup depending on enemy and location but that's a great base army and will beat any AI army. You use the archers the same way as defending but march them forward shoot, hold formation. When the AI gets close march Billmen/FS in front of them. keep shooting. No need for expensive shock troops.

In addition, don't hire mercenaries, don't garrison provinces unless really rebellious ones like scotland and portugal etc. (See my other posts against rebellions). Be picky with titles, give it to former heirs and HIGH ACUMEN DECIMATED UNITS. So you have unit with only 2 soldiers but their acumen is high. Give them a title and garrison the unit in the province. Or if you find a high acumen unit but full, give most of their units to a decimated one. Then give them a title and leave them behind. Ideally, you leave behind a 10 or less soldiers as governor. When you get good on this, the AI will give them terrible vices. Keep a lookout and change accordingly.

One another note, DON'T attack on land before you eliminate all the AI ships of the faction you are going to attack ( Once you have full control of the seas). 1. It will cause rebellions 2. it will block trade.

6. Take Constantinople ( by going through Egyptians, Turks and Byzantines) and Kazar. Beat the horde and start taking on the the rebels and Novgorod. Take Norway and Sweden. Keep moving West. Your attacks must be coordinated though keeping in mind chokepoint provinces.

I got 6 million florins as the Turks during my second campaign (when MTW came out). All the provinces are as upgraded as time will permit. My taxes are normal and I took my time with the campaign, completely finishing around 1300. After that I just finish 2/3 but do it in only 100 years with at least a million florins. So I know these tactics work.

Enjoy the rest of your campaign and keep asking questions.

:knight: ~:wave:

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Originally Posted by TheVampire

Oh, and I almost forgot, don't bother building ports in provinces that do not have resources to trade.

Robert

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I seriously disagree with this. I build ports in most of my provinces, since troops can travel must faster over sea then over land usually. Especially since he want to go for the Egyptianss, Byzantines and Turks. Most of those lands can be accessed by sea (or in a range of range). Allowing for quick reinforcements, quick pullout of troops that need to be retrained or that need to stop a rebellion somewhere in your army.

So if it can have a port, I ALWAYS build a port in a province. It doesn't cost much, and the payback is very high if used effectively.

Ah, well thanks for the advice, here's how it's going so far

It's 1201, I've captured Sweden and Norway, as well as Egypt, put down with relative ease an Almohad resurgence, dealt with a pesky crusade, expanded my trade routes, improved my farming methods so that all of my provinces (except the really really worthless ones like Scotland and Cyrenacia) have at the very least 40%, still upgrading my troop producing provinces, finally constructed a brothel (NO!!! ADULTERY!!!! CALL THE POPEMAN AND HIS INQUISOTORS ~:mad: ). Had a small war against the Egyptians which are now allies of mine (after severely restricting their navy)....I plan on using them against my next target, another ally of mine (apparently I'm a bonafide Anglo Benedict Arnold), the Turks since the Egyptians. In a few rounds it's on to the Danes, and after the Germans.

Money wise, I have a somewhat steady flow of cash of about 5500-5800 florins(or was it 6500-6800 florins???), and 70 thousand and some change florins in the bank.

Troop wise, I won't give as much importance into type as model.

I'm currently doing a campaign of Aragonese, Early, Expert and it's a similar year (late 12th Century) and one of the first things I did is take over the Iberian peninsula in its entirety. Here's how I dedicate the land to resources:

Aragon - Swords - concentrating totally on upgrading swordsmiths, Iron foundry and Armour so that when High era comes about I have mean CMAAs.

Navare - Spears - concentrate on spears, iron and armour so that n High I have mean CSs. Then I'll upgrade to Lancers for Late period.

Castile - Trade / Boats / Agents. Castile has tradeable goods and so it makes money. I also produced boats here early on and at the moment I do Spies and Assassins. Castile also has Iron which should be utilised for troops, ideally, although I forgot this before I set it up for trade etc.

Valencia - Trade / Boats / Range troops. When High comes around, Valencia will be ready to roll out Pavice Crossbows with armour upgrades. I also use it early on to get my boats out.

Leon - Royal knights. Here is where I upgrade armour so I can upgrade Royal Knights when I need to to replenish units and keep my princes etc. with the best possible arour upgrades.

Portugal - Trade / Boats. Portugal makes a lot of money and has no great benefit for making troops, so make boats.

Cordoba - Trade / Artillary. Again, makes money and I need somewhere ready to make heavy artillary when High comes around.

Granada - Militia. I concentrate on militia here so I can have halberdiers ready to roll with armour upgrades when High comes around.

I also have a few other areas covered, like scandinavia, Ireland and Antioch and some of North Africa. I have at least one boat in every single patch of sea and I'm at war with nobody. I have huge armies of well upgraded early era troops and still make 15k profit per turn and have 400k in the bank. Money is all down to trade. The more enemies you have, the less trade you have. For me it's important not to mess with the English, Byzantines, Italians and Siscillians as they have a strong navy nd would interrupt my trade routes. I only took out my forward colonies from civil wars and uprisings to avoid starting wars ( I was pleased to see an uprising in Antioch!) The way I play the early era is to make a strong base for High. The idea is that when High happens I have enough money and income to immediately roll out huge armies of Chivalric troops and heavy siege equipement. Also have everything in place so that when gunpowder comes out you have places to upgrade your boats to gungalleys etc. Try to think ahead to what's coming and plan for it so that when new technology and new troops come out you are the first to use them - it gives you a massive advantage. That way you can spend the High Era wiping out the middle east and mainland europe, generating high command generals by doing so and huge influence and then take on the rest of the world in Late with an undefeatable empire. The Golden Horde are a piece of cake when you do this.

It's all about oney in early. Get trade going everywhere, make money, money, money. You'll need a lot in the bank for when you go conquering. AS soon as you make war with people you loose a LOT of income from trade. I've gone from 25k per year to 10k per year in 10 years before now, very easily and with big armies you're suddenly losing 5k per turn supporting your campaign. You need capital to support the war. Money, money, money. Get lots. The only problem with this tactic is that it can't be beaten and so I rarely finish a game because I get bored. I just start again and see how quickly, efficiently and inventively I can get to an undefeatablt empire. This current campaign, however, I'm gonna finish and it will probably be my last before RTW.

I hope that's of some use to you.

In summary:

1 - Make money
2 - Make more money
3 - Make lots more money
4 - Plan your regions and what they will make. Use Iron and region valour bonuses.
5 - Don't go to war unless you have to in Early.

Nice to see another Calgarian on the board ~:)

Sounds like you have the game well in hand. Make sure you tech almost all your farmland to 80%. Farm income is steady and reliable; even if you are at war with everyone (hence 0 trade) farms still pump out the coin. I try to ensure that every governor gets the steward V+V at some point.

The v2 Billmen and Longbow units are priceless; one of the top melee units and the best offensive archer in the game. The Billmen will chop thru the Horde (due in 1230) like they aren't even there.

Enjoy and welcome to the .org ~:wave:

seriously disagree with Quietus.

how can you say that the longbow is worthless? longbows are the kings of archery as far as I'm concerned.

they have longer range, AP ability with arrows or in melee, better lethality than normal archers.

they also shoot faster than arbs and can arc their fire, making massing them very doable.

park 6-10 longbows on a hill behind a shield wall and you can achieve a very nice machine gun effect in seeing tons of hardcore cav and inf just vaporize.

all you need in a high english army is longbows and some bills.

they can take most anything and are one of the best 2 unit combos around.

Also, perhaps you have already figured this out, but if you haven't, the reason katank said that you should be building longbows in Wales and billmen in Mercia is because they get +1 valour in those provinces. You can see that if you right click on the province, in the strategic map. Obviously, you should always build the kind of unit that gets a valour bonus in a particular province.

Well, Rayaleh, sounds like you've solved your money problem. ~:)

Having a trade empire from Sweden to Egypt will do that for you. Let me repeat the advice to spend a lot of of that money on farm upgrades, though. Not only does it directly increase a stable source of income, but gets your king the "Good steward" virtue. The result is a 10 percent increase in farm income -- an absolutely enormous increase. That increase doesn't disappear when this king dies, either. Governors can get that virtue too. It has quite a multiplier effect. Also, there are more "steward" virtues too. It's quite a boost.

also use the upgrade path wisely and build upgrades tailored to that line of units.

this was discussed on a thread some time back but

armor for spears and then morale, weapons etc. woudl come last.

morale may have to come first if spear is 0 morale

same for archers and missiles with armor, morale, weapon last.

exception is HA where they need morale more than armor as skirmishing around, they suffer from the constant retreat penalty and the worse thing is to have them rout off the field.

the attacking units like m@a and knights shoudl go for weapons and then armor as they need to shock and break the enemy line and survivability is also nice but they need morale least as they usually have decent if not very good morale to start with.

it may be good to have a province with valor go straight for building the master level building and retrain elsewhere for appropriate upgrades.

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Originally Posted by katank

seriously disagree with Quietus.

how can you say that the longbow is worthless? longbows are the kings of archery as far as I'm concerned.

they have longer range, AP ability with arrows or in melee, better lethality than normal archers.

they also shoot faster than arbs and can arc their fire, making massing them very doable.

park 6-10 longbows on a hill behind a shield wall and you can achieve a very nice machine gun effect in seeing tons of hardcore cav and inf just vaporize.

all you need in a high english army is longbows and some bills.

they can take most anything and are one of the best 2 unit combos around.

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Katman may not know the difference between a Byz Lancer and a Pronoiai Allagion, but he is absolutely right on about LBs here.

Longbows have the range and armor piercing ability of Arbalesters, rapid rate of fire, and good melee stats (@V2 they can fight good) with an AP bonus.

ichi

Katank,

Longbowmen quickly run out of ammo=>don't kill alot=>don't gain valor=>don't kill alot (circular rut).

I think your "fun" vision of LBs is ok but not efficient. I gave that advice to Rayaleh for many reasons (mainly economic).

Role of Archers in MTW & Importance of Balanced Army.
1. To kill/weaken/taunt/bait mobile AI cavalry.
2. To kill/weaken AI shock troops.
3. Spears charge the weakened Shocktroops/Cavs then flanked with your shock troops (MS,FMAA,RK,Highland C,Gallowglass, Urban Militia, Woodsmen or any Cavs on wedge).
4. AI instantly or quickly rout. Chase with Steppe Cav or any fast Cav.

This balanced army is designed to take on stacks of troops (attacking or defending)!!! Say Attacking. When the AI routs , Wait for the next stacks, rest cavalry on two flanks, RK at the back middle , reposition troops. Normal archers don't run out. Longbows run out fast. You have to wait for reinforcement:
1. Waste of time
2. Lower kill ratio because you have to melee alot while waiting for reinforcement - waste of florins.
3. You have to use extra stack of reinforcement - waste of florins.
4. Stack of reinforcement - expensive upkeep - waste of florins.

There is no need to waste ammo with a 6-10 LB overkill. You just need to weaken the shock troops. Doesn't matter if it AUM or Varangian Guard or Kats. Just use a stronger flanker. The stronger, the faster they route. That was my message to Rayaleh: don't build too many expensive troops. Only 3-4 normal archers are needed againt 1-3 waves of AI. If you have good flankers and spears, it will take 4 or more. If you have 5 archers they can take 4 waves easy. Same technique, again and again. With the captured troops, you can choose to ransom them or kill them (without even using ammo).

Other points:
1. Arbalesters are sickeningly overpowered. I used them once when a 5000+ rebel coalition/alliance (from 5-6 provinces) surprised attacked my garrison. One arbalester killed 401, another one 340( plus 2 reduced x bows which killed at least 100+ each). Six waves, flat field, Ai has mixed troops (strong to weak) with a lot of strong horses. Never used them again. My army had one one mish-mash stack with one reinforcement (never used). It wasn't even an army. BTW, zero loss for the ARBS.

2. Billmen are also overstrong. I only recommended it to Rayaleh because he is new and will have tough time with the Horde. Kats, VG, All Jannisarries, Chivalric MAA etc are all overpowered, expensive and unnecessary. They just drain florins. That was my message to Rayaleh, he was trying to save florins.

With this balanced army you can just modify it a little for each battle. The AI behaviour has a pattern anyway.
1. Attack AI province A, AI retreats
2. Attck province B, AI retreats.
3. Attack proince C, AI retreats.
4. Attack province D, AI retreats.
5. Attack province E, AI retreats.
6. AI counter attacks with all the troops they retreated.
7. AI losses to your stack. Faction severely weaken or degenerates (depending how much and who they lose and how much they pay in ransom..
8. Cleanup.

That's why I got quickly tired of MTW, it was the same campaign again and gain. ~:dizzy: ~:wacko: ~:)

Very nice post, Quietus

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Normal archers don't run out. Longbows run out fast.

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IIRC, Archers and LBs have the same rate of reload (=4) and the same number of arrows (=28) in VI, at least.

LBs do much better than Archers in most other aspects. One of the best values in the game.

ichi

Pressing the V key will colour code on the campaign map which sea areas are currently blocked by enemy ships. This is a quick way to see who you can trade with, and where you can move your armies via the sea.

Alright, so it is now 1270, I've got Handgunners coming out of Cordoba and soon Mercia, a bell foundry in Granada another one coming from Aquitaine. Up until a few turns ago, I was raking in 18k-20k a year, but I had to deal with a pesky rebellion (ALTHOUGH ALL MY GENERALS HAD 100% LOYALTY), anyway so I lost a lot of 5 star acumen generals, but I dealt with that in like 4-5 turns, at the same time, the Egyptians decided to show up so I had a rebellion in Algeria, Arabia, and Syria....Anyway dealt with all of that, and recaptured all of my provinces except for Silesia, except that now I have to deal with a crusade by the Italians that was made during the Egyptian control of Algeria....Also stopped the Germans, the Hungarians, the French, and the Golden Horde (Long live the Billmen), I have access to EVERY general unit, except for the Gunners. Right now I'm now raking 16k, and in a couple turns I'll be back to around 18k. I have over a million in the bank. And the only factions left are the Italians, the Novgorods, the Poles, and the Pope.


My Provinces:

All of English Isles, all of the Danish Isles, all of West Europe stopped at Provence in the South and Pomerania in the South, so basically haven't conquered the Northeastern Lands past Khazar, and I've a short while ago passed the 60% mark, so I most likely have anywhere from 65% to 70% of the Provinces.




How's the progress so far, what to do next?

Ray, sounds like you're almost done with a nice campaign.

A number of comments:

1. Next time as English, don't fight the Italians (until the very end). They make a lot of ships. They won't attack you if you have enough ships. If you share a lane with the Italians, put at least 3 ship stack so they won't attack you. You need the Italian coasts for trading. The pope too, leave them alone.

2. Next time finish off the Novgorod so you can concentrate moving west. Right now you are fighting two sides (Novgorod and Poles). The key is to make as little border provinces as possible. Also the HRE should have been left alone because those provinces are numerous. You make too many borders. Plus, a lot of them are rebellious. The last 3 factions should have been HRE, Italians and the Pope. Possibly the Byzantines. If you left the Byzantines in the islands, they would be broke.

4. Basically, after taking out the Byzantines in Constantinople.From Kazar beat Novgorod and eastern rebels, Norway and Sweden. Move west and take Poles and Hungary in concurrent attacks (one army coming from Constantinople). Then HRE, then Italians then the Pope. So that your Army movement is efficient and fluid. Sicilians should be left alone too. As long as you have a shield of ships along your coast, they can't be bellicose (since they are on an island and can't attack. Leave the islands alone as a general rule (till the very end). They add to your trade as well.

With a nice flow of florins, it seems like everything is already set. Attack the pope last or at least beat/kill him in one stroke. Also when you start attacking the Italians, attack by sea FIRST. Move your stack of ships in position. Attack in one turn. When all the ships are sunk, then move on with the army on land.

Enjoy the end game!
~;) :knight:

As the English, always take Toulouse (chiv knights +1v) after smacking up the French. Use the province to tech up for Chiv Knights.

"1. Next time as English, don't fight the Italians (until the very end). They make a lot of ships. They won't attack you if you have enough ships. If you share a lane with the Italians, put at least 3 ship stack so they won't attack you. You need the Italian coasts for trading. The pope too, leave them alone."

In my current English campaign, the Sicillians destroyed the Italians (bypassing the Pope). The Sicillians apparently got too big for their toecap and attacked me (who was holding HRE, French, English and a a smattering of other lands). Thereafter went on a sinking spree to destroy their armada and got myself a few of 4 star admirals.

Never leave a single ship in a sea region. Always use them in pairs for guarding and 4 -8 for hunterkiller packs. (Try to have each pair under 1/2 stars, hunterkillers under min 2 stars, 3-4 for the best). (Also, the speed of the stack is the speed of the slowest ship).

"but I had to deal with a pesky rebellion (ALTHOUGH ALL MY GENERALS HAD 100% LOYALTY"

Civil War. Must have happened because your king was away.

" the Egyptians decided to show up so I had a rebellion in Algeria, Arabia, and Syria...."

To prevent rebellions, ensure that all provinces have loyalty of 120% and above. Use happiness buildings and governors with dread to do so.


Something to add to archery. They are indispensible when dealing with HAs and defensive positions. Arbs are very good for such roles. On the other hand when you need rapid support fire (ie when attacking), longbows are well suited for the role. Royal BG units tend to become target practice for my longbow boys. ~:pimp:

Oh well, my first campaign's over, I have total dominion of Europe and its seas. A huge army (I think something along the lines of 15k to 20k). Was raking in 35k a year, and I had over 3mil in the banks. Had access to all the technology, and it was around 1310. Woohoo, thanks for all the help.

I would seriously recommend going to Expert level now - this game's far too easy as it is.

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Originally Posted by Rayaleh

It's now 1171, I control 8 of the 9 provinces in the Iberian peninsula(assuming that's the name). The one I don't have is Leon, and that's because I just don't want to deal with a rebellion later on in the game.

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That is a mistake. Because you are worried about future re-emergence, you are having to maintain garrisons in the three provinces that border Leon that are large enough to fend off any attacks from the Spaniards. My advice is to wipe the Spanish out, that will free up all of those troops. Managing loyalty/happiness to avoid rebellions is not difficult, and there are some good threads about it in this forum.

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Originally Posted by Quietus

Longbowmen are worthless, so I don't recommend them. Regular archers kill a lot more and they last a lot longer.

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Rayaleh, if you ignore nothing else in this entire thread, at least make sure you ignore that statement. I can't stand by and see a fellow Canuck be so grievously mislead.

~:smoking:

Sorry Quietus, not trying to trash you here, but that statement couldn't be more untrue.

First, not only are longbows effective against armored units (which vanilla archers are not), but they are not bad in melee either. After they run out of ammo, charge them into the fray; they will hold their own against most non-elite infantry (as opposed to vanilla archers, who drop everything and flee if even a unit of peasants so much as farts at them).

Second, they have much longer range than vanilla archers. There is nothing better than targeting the AI's tank cavalry general with 4 units of longbows and wiping out all of them in 4 volleys before the enemy archers are even in range to fire back.

Third, they run out of ammo sooner than vanilla archers only because they fire (read: kill) so much faster, not because they have less ammo.

Longbows are one of the biggest advantages the English have, make good use of them.

Quietus, as for your assertion that longbows kill less than normal archers, I suggest you try two custom battles: 1 with a unit of longbows vs. a unit of vanilla spears, and one with a unit of vanilla archers vs. a unit of vanilla spears. Not only will the longbows kill a lot more of the spears before the spears are able to close and melee (if the spears even make it to the longbows before routing), but then the longbows will add injury to injury by kicking the spears' arses at melee too...

Hey Goof,

Yeah, please read my second post of the thread/topic first, thx! ~:)

1. Why melee with archers ~:eek: and lose kill-ratio advantage when the AI is already fleeing and being captured en masse? ~;) You still have the option to kill or ransom them once they are prisoners.

:frog: