One of Several Reasons Why You Shouldn't Attack Your Allies!

A few days ago I started a Welsh Campaign on Expert in VI. I took Mercia's best province by turn four and then slowly wiped them out. I had carved out a nice empire in southern Britannia and built up a stable income and decent army. I wanted to invade Ireland or Scotland but they had fortified their small lands with about 2500 troops per province (only had about four provinces each. I stupidly allied myself with everyone but the Picts.

Anyway, the Saxons were building high valour Huscarles and since I had no unit to match up with them I grew mightily afraid of these guys. I built up enormous border armies with the Saxons and they did the same. After settling down for awhile I wanted to expand. Northumbria was focusing all their attention on a war up north with the Picts so they presented a good target. Unfortunately I was allied with them and I usually resolve to never break alliances during my campaigns. However, I needed more income to support my growing number of Welsh Bandits, so I decided to invade.

This decision would turn out to be a disaster. Since I did not want to waste my valuable Bandits in a siege, I wanted to quickly face the Northumbrian armies on the battlefield and defeat them. I sent in small armies to invade against decent-size defensive garrisons but they refused to give battle. This diplomatic move to attack my allies also had serious political implications. My previous allies the Scots, Saxons, and Vikings turned against me. The very next turn the Vikings attacked my fleet. I destroyed three of their boats while losing none but their seemingly endless amount of ships are surrounding my helpless fleet. I was greatly helped by a recent Saxon civil war that took out two of their large garrison armies (one of which I will bribe), but they are still a great threat to my empire.

Meanwhile, I am facing a serious domestic crisis. My declaring war on allies caused my brand new king's influence to drop, and I was informed by one of my agents I had a large band of disloyal generals. I looked over my empire and saw countless generals with little to no loyalty, especially among the Welsh Bandits. I fear that the next battle will cause a civil war and invite the Saxons to invade, ripping my empire to shreads.:san_cry: Fortunately I have loads of experienced spies that I must turn to. Mass executions of these treasonous generals might start soon.

In conclusion, I am about to learn the hard way why being a backstabber is almost never a good thing. I am not only facing a domestic crisis, but I am now fighting the war on three different fronts against three powerful factions. I must also scramble to save my small number of ships if I can. I am currently offering up my princess to the Viking king, hoping against hope he will accept. Those Saxon Huscarles with 5 valour scare me out of my mind, because I doubt my Armored Spearmen and Celtic Warriors with armor and weapon upgrades (x2) can stop them. Not to mention that the Huscarles are receiving support from Royal Bodyguards, Fyrdmen, Horsemen, and Armored Spearmen, not the usual peasant rabble. Is there any way to really stop the Huscarles? The Bandits seem to fare well against them and flanking with Horsemen or Celtic Warriors is an option, but these guys are such monsters!:san_shocked:

if you can afford to fight (and technically lose) some small battles try sending in repeated small armies of 5-6 Welsh Bandits and specifically shooting up the huscarles before withdrawing...tricky to pull off, but i did it against the Mercians once and wiped out two units of huscarles and 400 other guys besides...you might want to take some junk and cavalry to protect the bandits while you do it though, sometimes the AI sits there and doesn't attack, sometimes it comes after you...once you've shot them all up you can invade properly with standard stuff.
oh, forgot to add...hire mercs...javelins (Irish) and crossbows (Pictish?) and target huscarles with those as well.
as for your king, if you build loads of cheap stuff he'll probably get the Builder and Magnificent Builder virtues which will increase happiness and then loyalty.
but yeah, basically don't backstab! strangely, people get resentful when you do that...:san_huh:

Sending in Welsh Bandits on Hit and Fade tactics is a good idea, but unfortunately I don't think I can afford to lose any battles. My king's influence and my generals' loyalty are low enough that if I lose even one battle my empire will erupt into civil war. I'm going to have to fix this glaring problem first.

bummer. maybe it's time for your king to 'retire'...got any decent heirs?

a big rebellion is one of the best challenges in it, for me. apart from stopping high valour Janissaries with silver shield armour...:san_shocked: