Byz, High, Expert

[Martok]

@RRMike: Any follow-up on this? I'm very curious as to how your campaign went/has been going!

Save it for later mate, for later.. ;)

Indeed. I gotta get my old guitar out of hock first anyway.

[RRMike]

Nah, I got frustrated with it and was doing some other stuff and then MW3 came out and I haven't really played since. I have been getting the itch again lately though so I might fire this back up soon.

[RRMike]

Picked it up again last night. I had taken too long in my initial game, getting to Constantinople and thus the Sicilians have Greece and the Huns have Bulgaria. I wanted to secure Treb. before the turks could, for those v1 treb archers, and I was too slow. I launched an attack on the Turks and took all of asia minor, minus Armenia and I managed to get Georgia to rebel so that I wouldn't be automatically at war with the horde when it arrived. The turks went down without too much trouble. I then attacked the Eggies and was in the middle of my campaign against them when I parked the game.

I kinda screwed up by not having a clear idea of the builds I wanted to set up so it's kinda a hodgepodge right now. I have two stacks on big C and the huns hit it every few years and get their asses kicked but I'm focusing my attention on trying to get a one province border in Egypt or Sania, would prefer Egypt, obviously, but the Italians are in Cyr. so I imagine they will grab Egypt before I can. I managed, last night, to get familiar with what I was doing. I now have Antioch and Tripoli under siege, Palestine is mine, as well as the rest of the ME/AM and the only Egyptians left are a single heir and one other unit in Arabia, where I want them to end up, and the Sultan and a big stack on Egypt. Unfortunately there are two stacks of rebels in Sania.

In the NE I have an alliance with the horde and they have 3 stacks between Georgia and Armenia but a lot of it is garbage. I'm facing them with a 2/3 stack in treb and another in Rum. They haven't moved around a lot so I think they're sitting tight for a bit.

I want to get Egypt secured, keep the eggies on life support in arabia and start to move in on the Huns for their iron. I'm allied with both the Sicilians, who are fighting along the Adriatic with the huns now, and the Italians, who are pulling off amphibious landings all over that I can see. I've done everything I can to keep both of those alliances as either can crush my fledgling fleet and I'm very dependent on my little bit of trade to keep out of the poor house. I have my one island (Rhodes?) making boats non stop and I have them from the black almost to Gibraltar.

[Gilrandir]

Head for Bulgaria. Once you hold it you will have a river border to the north and north-east so the Huns (and those who hold Moldova) will have to cross bridges to get at you. But beware a stab in the back from the Sicilians in Greece.

[Martok]

^ In fact, just beware of the Sicilians backstabbing you, period!




Overall, though, I'd say you're doing about as well as could be expected or hoped for at this point. Other than seconding Gilrandir's recommendation of grabbing Bulgaria, you're pretty much already doing what I would be, were I in your shoes.

Thanks for the update, and good luck!

[gollum]

Indeed. I gotta get my old guitar out of hock first anyway.

In the mean time i'll follow that AA program.. then we can talk with the roadies and the tour managers ;)

[RRMike]

Head for Bulgaria. Once you hold it you will have a river border to the north and north-east so the Huns (and those who hold Moldova) will have to cross bridges to get at you. But beware a stab in the back from the Sicilians in Greece.

Now you tell me! :) I haven't been having too much trouble with the huns but the rest has gone to hell. That is good to know about Bulgaria though. I guess I don't remember that from my Hun games. I don't think I could support two armies anyway, with the Sic. in Greece, but still good to know.

Update: As soon as I got Egypt, feeling like I had the tiger by the tail, the Germans launch a crusade at Const. They are the big dog in Europe. Owning from Iberia to Northumbria to Austria. Of course, as soon as they do this it gives the Sicilians and horde pretext to drop their alliances with me so the Sicilians promptly sink a few of my boats and launch a crusade at Egypt, while the horde send two stacks into Rum from Armenia. I stoned the German crusade and they're sitting in Bulgaria. Beat the Horde badly in Rum, Arbalast attack on the general and then routed better army when their morale wavered.

I just hate this game right now though. My only ally, the Italians, had a civil war and I was allied with the crappy side so a bunch of the map went rebel. I have nobody left to trade with and no way to get anything out anyway through all the Sicilian ships. I guess I'm just gonna carry on with my original plan with the change that I'm going to now take Kazahr from the horde and make that my NE border. If I ever do get any trade going it will be nice to have.

[Gilrandir]

When I'm up against a faction with a strong naval power I usually try to concentrate my dispersed ships in a few sea zones and make several strong navies. Then I move them up against any stranded enemy's ships. The AI is normally not smart enough to do the same. But your foremost task I see in securing your maritime provinces from the Sicilian landing. So if I were you I would withdraw all my ships to Eastern Mediterranean and evict all enemy's ships from out of there. Once your maritime provinces are safe you can think offensive at sea.

[Trapped in Samsara]

Hi

And even if you can't evict the enemy's fleets, get your fleets into your coastal provinces' sea zones and start doing the seaborne-invasion-prevention rumba.

Regards
Victor

Sapere aude
Horace