How do you enjoy the slow game?

[Martok]

So, the moral of the story is, you can blitz to an extent, and then hunker down and let really interesting things happen. A blitz at one time can become the frontline which you have to defend fiercly at another.

Well, that's basically what I do. Blitz until I've got enough provinces to produce everything I want (troops, agents, boats & war machines) and then hunker down into turtle mode and improve the quality of my troops and provinces.

I used to do the same, but not so much anymore. I tend to roleplay factions a bit more now, not just in terms of how they'd behave specifically, but in general terms as well as is fitting with the medieval period.

For instance, the Reconquista of Iberia took a couple centuries -- not that even I can make myself wait *that* long to drive out the Almos, but I often will take a good decade or two before my Spanish/Aragonese armies reach Gibraltar. Yes, it certainly makes the game harder (and I do end up losing slightly more often now), but I generally come away with a much greater sense of satisfaction.

At the moment I'm playing as the Turks in Late, and I've only my GA goal provinces and a handful of others, but I'm having a great time enticing big crusading factions into attacking cannonades of serpentines and organ guns backed up by a small standing army of high-morale (Ribat level) Turcoman Horse, arquebusiers, Futtuwas, Muwahids, and Armenian Heavies.

Good times.

My next goal is to build an "ultimate" 1 stack army (including Janissaries and Hashishin) with a moderately-talented general (4-6 stars), and to see how far my boys can strike into Christian territory. I'm even gonna have some boats waiting in the Channel and North Sea to ferry them over (just in case they get lucky).

Dude, you should totally post an AAR (either in the Pics & History thread, or start your own). We've not seen a good Turkish campaign in ages!

[drone]

I find it pretty hard to keep the game pace slow. There are too many ways to take offense at what the AI does. I just had a stretch of about 10 years of peace in my campaign, and it was killing me. I finally gave in and pounded the Spanish (they were building too many ships, can't have that ).

I find a slow game hurts the King's influence and generals' loyalty. No wars means you can't train your heirs, and generals start getting lazy. After years of peace and a couple of successions, your 2 crown, inbred, unhinged loon of a king is not going to be able to keep things together.