best faction to turtle with?

[G^2]

@ ArtistofWarfare

As phonicmonkey stated, buy Bolongia from the HRE then nock out Milan quickly (within first 10 turns). If done right you can take both Milan and Genoa without getting excomunicated. With Milan out of the way you can then afford to turtel for a bit. Keep your relations with the HRE good and keep an eye on the Sicilians which almost always end up attacking at some point. When turtling as Venice you have to keep your rep. up because you share alot of borders with many factions which will gain up on you. When your ready you can use Crete as a lanch pad into Greece.

Italy was also my favorite faction in MTW, Chivilric Spearmen with Crossbows defeated many an army. Thus, I was thrilled when M2TW had three Italian factions and more provences.