It is a real balancing act. A few factions and the rebels are not at war with me at the moment, though there are a few sea areas I don't control right now as the Hungarian fleets control those 3-4 areas. Trade dollars are there, but I have been trying to invest in farming where practical. I am considering retiring some units who are not well armored or teched up and slowly replacing them with my better trained units. Though it's interesting thsat sheer numbers do ward off some attacks, though inviting an attack is sometiems a good way to weaken your enemies (assuming you get a good ratio of casualities in your favor) and well as reduce your costs as units are knocked off (sorry lads, no retirement benefits for you)

I now have to carefully budget between troops and new fleet additions, so the Hungarian navy blockade may remain in the short term. Unless of course I go on another merc raid and strip a lot of the Hungarian economy to support my loyal subjects.

I hope to put off the rush for now and try to make do. I might only need to whack the Italians later, but we'll see.

Thanx for the advice,

GA