Best starting faction??

[phonicsmonkey]

Kill them before they kill you. Byzantine Horse Archer armies are a match for Mongols.

[A Nerd]

Put a good replenishable army in a castle or city on their conquring route. They'll hit it over and over till they take it. A good way to reduce their numbers with victories. That is what I do. My playing skills are seldom a match for the mongols on the field.

[Jakob09]

They actually attacked me before i could even think to do something. And indeed JuJuBee, they have already trown 3 full grade armies on my Trebizond fortress, and 1 clear and 2 heroic victories where to come. I am playing the Biz Empire less as i am enyojing the pleasures of Sicily this moment..:)

[phonicsmonkey]

My playing skills are seldom a match for the mongols on the field.

As the Byzantines I use mobile all-cav stacks as hunter-killers to pick off single Mongol armies as they straggle the main horde. If you upgrade armour and use experienced and high-level HAs they can out-kill the Mongols quite easily using bag 'em and tag 'em tactics on the field. Even if you can't win the battle outright you can withdraw, take a 'loss' and retreat back to your territory with most of your troops intact and ready for the next round. You can use forts to shepherd the horde into areas where they cannot cluster, surround them and pick off the first and last stacks in the line one at a time.

As the Venetians I used a very different approach with stacks composed of around 40% pavise xbows, 40% Venetian spear militia (armour fully upgraded in both cases). If you dance a little you can tempt the Mongol HAs to leave the main force and come within range of your pavises, take them out one by one before eventually triggering the lancer charge into your spears who are on guard mode. You can win this way, there is a really old thread about it somewhere in this forum.

[A Nerd]

I'll have to read that thread. My HA usage really smells! I tend to stick to catholic factions for this reason and hate fighting anyone Poland or eastward! Thanks for the tips though! Been wanting to start a Russia campaign!

[where's yur troosers]

"Best" starting faction depends on what you are looking for - easiest or most fun? If you want a reasonably simple start I would pick England as you can snuff out the Scots and expand into rebel territory in France and the Low Countries securing a very sound starting base. I would keep only Caen and Nottingham as castles. Denmark, Russia and to a lessor extent the Iberian powers allow the same beginning.

If you want a more exciting start I would opt for Byzantium - you are likely to be fending off Turkey, the Venitians and Hungary at the same time. Or go for Egypt and snag Antioch and Jerusalem. Turkey usually takes exception and you have the added bonus of crusades and the Mongols.

I would also put in a word for Scotland - you have one city at the far north of the map, a powerful (Catholic)neighbour, fine infantry put poor everything else (I suspect I have banged on about this on other threads enough now) all of which makes winning feel that much better.

Touching on the other matter raised - what to do with the Mongols, I think you should take the fight to them. I find that taking a strong castle in their line of expansion and garrisoning it properly can break them as they throw stack after stack of their best troops. At the same time you can usually sneak an army into their territory. As Byzantium I had them wasting themselves against Isai (well the river crossings near it) whilst my stack moved up from Caffa and pinched Kiev. In some ways it is easier taking them on once they have a homeland and their forces split up. It is more challenging facing them as a horde.

[Myth]

In Vanilla:

England - by far the easiest because of it's starting position, the overpowered Longbowmen line of troops who have AP arrows and bodkins that are unaffected by in-game weather, the general stupidity of the AI when attacking your lands (they always land near Nottingham and if you keep it stacked, which you should as it's your most important castle, you'll be fine). If you decide to exploit the Crusade mechanic and bribe the Pope to be your best buddy, you cannot be stopped and will be able to take the whole map before the coming of the Mongols.

Denmark - very interesting starting position with only one settlement. Powerful early game armies and a pressing need to blitz anything and everything. Jump in the fray and show the Pope the intimate details of a Danish axe!

France - very good unit Roster from the start until the end of the game. Blue in colour. In the middle of Europe and bound to fight Milan, the HRE and England. Hot French accents.

For complete fun, try a migration game. Start with, say Scotland, jump aboard a huge fleet and sail for Jerusalem. Then try holding it and expanding your kingdom from there, while letting your provinces on the British Isles rebel or get claimed by England.

[Athena]

(I can't believe I just found this site today...)

Scots - Basically shares the same opportunities as England, save finance and Normandy. One of the most secure areas, on top of fantastic infantry. Cavalry is a problem, but you can usually catch some mercenaries once landed on Normandy. I'd like to echo the sense of accomplishment granted from ever victory.

Denmark - Definitely gives a sense of "unique" or "stylized" campaigning. As previously stated, the starting location is a "different" one, but the main advantage is having a near completely ignored Scandinavia available for income boosting or backdoor opportunity into Russia. Can be a weakness without a strong naval force though, considering your trade passes through a narrow basin.

Milan - Not only are they the bankers, and have beautiful paved roads to begin with, but also have the ability to A.) Field entire armies from their cities, B.)Blitz the pope, C.)Access the Mediterranean, D.)Central European dominance (If you decide to blitz north in to Bern and Dijon) E.) Some of the best crossbowmen in the game (depending on your point of view )

Russia - As said before, difficult and challenging, filled with surprises and anxiety (Mongol Invasions.) Definitely a good play for those playing M/M and thinking of going H/H.

[Jakob09]

In Vanilla:

England - by far the easiest because of it's starting position, the overpowered Longbowmen line of troops who have AP arrows and bodkins that are unaffected by in-game weather, the general stupidity of the AI when attacking your lands (they always land near Nottingham and if you keep it stacked, which you should as it's your most important castle, you'll be fine). If you decide to exploit the Crusade mechanic and bribe the Pope to be your best buddy, you cannot be stopped and will be able to take the whole map before the coming of the Mongols.

Denmark - very interesting starting position with only one settlement. Powerful early game armies and a pressing need to blitz anything and everything. Jump in the fray and show the Pope the intimate details of a Danish axe!

France - very good unit Roster from the start until the end of the game. Blue in colour. In the middle of Europe and bound to fight Milan, the HRE and England. Hot French accents.

For complete fun, try a migration game. Start with, say Scotland, jump aboard a huge fleet and sail for Jerusalem. Then try holding it and expanding your kingdom from there, while letting your provinces on the British Isles rebel or get claimed by England.

The migration thing sounds fantastic, i'm defintly going to try that sometime.. Unbelievable threre are still so many people cracking ther brains out and desinging new tactics even after E:TW, N:TW and S2:TW

[phonicsmonkey]

I'll have to read that thread. My HA usage really smells! I tend to stick to catholic factions for this reason and hate fighting anyone Poland or eastward! Thanks for the tips though! Been wanting to start a Russia campaign!

Here are two threads for your reading pleasure.

The first is potentially out of date if more recent patches have changed Mongol behaviour but in my Venetian campaign back in the time of patch 1.1 I basically used these tactics with great success.

Here is my horse archer bible. Timeless and invaluable.

[Jakob09]

Wow, 2 days without looking and so many comments, haha.. When playing as Bizantine Empire filling a fortress with tons and tons of Varangian gaurd is a good way to kill the mongols to i have noticed..

[Righteous Arrow]

I am now playing my first campaign n/n, starting with england, as said. Before I could go to the russians, as I was going to, Milan enter in war with me. Now I'm kicking some asses with longbow man and feudals both mounted and with swords. But in the last turn, gunpower was invented. Will my army become obsolet? Should I keep making longbow?
thx.

[Nelson]

Stick with the longbows. The firearms will never make them obsolete. Do build siege artillery though.

[Righteous Arrow]

Stick with the longbows. The firearms will never make them obsolete. Do build siege artillery though.

Lacking siege artillery of any kind. Thanks!