HRE - Provincial Build Strategy

[kiwitt]

I stuck to a peaceful strategy, and built all my provinces to +80% Farming. This meant I did not have much for miltary buildup, e.g. speramaker, bowyer, etc, were not built until I had +80%.

I kept the peace with all Christian factions, and took up no alliances with Orthodox or Muslim countries. It wasn't until 1150 before I could expand into other provinces. I chose to attack only rebel provinces and was able to expand. This firm foundation enabled me to then build the miltary side of my provinces without depending to much on trade for income.

It is 1267 now, and I have all of HRE, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Hungary, Byzantine, Half of Italy, Half of France, and half of the Russian Provinces. And I still haven't got my Gothic Knights. I will probably finish soon with 60% of the map conquered. I chose to finish then and with 60% of the resources, playing against the remaining factions is not fair play.

[Gregoshi]

Good move kiwitt. There is no hurry in conquering Europe - it isn't going anywhere. Trade is the glamorous way to make lot's of florin, but in the end it dries up and you're left with huge debts or falling back on farming. You've just cut out the middle man.

BTW, how did you keep the French off your back?

[kiwitt]

The French had a problem with the English and the Spanish. Kept them busy, so they ignored me. They got excommunicated, then rebelled, so I took over 3 of their provinces, while owned by the rebels, i.e no war with the French.

Also, I suspect, being allied to only Christian Factions and not muslim or othordox showed my loyalty to the Christian Faith. When the French attacked England and spain I broke off my alliance with them.

[Gregoshi]

That was fortunate. Had you given it any thought during that game how your strategy would have changed if France or another faction had attacked you?

[danielrech]

Hey Kiwitt, what level (easy/normal/hard/expert) were you playing?

[o_loompah_the_delayer]

How did you deal with th crusades vacuuming up your garrisons? As HRE I usually wipe out the French (who oblige by attacking me) and the English as soon as possible to avoid this problem.

[kiwitt]

RE: Crusades. I just let them do it. Placed the depleted for rebuild.

Always play normal difficulty.

[danielrech]

Quote[/b] (kiwitt @ Jan. 18 2004,14:39)]Always play normal difficulty.

I like to play the HRE in early/normal mostly as well... I'm starting to feel unchallenged, I think I'm going to take the step to the hard level.

Being peaceful with the HRE is quite an acomplishment. I usually tend to go very quickly after Venice or Sweden to get trade money, because I don't know how could you keep your border troops with just farming. I mean, keeping enough garrisons to avoid attacks is quite expensive for the HRE starting position.


Kiwitt if you were a general in this game you would have some excellent acumen virtue.

[kiwitt]

On Acumen, I look at the generals and assign titles to those with the highest. I have found this can almost double the income in a province. One General I have has 7 acumen. Wow

[ichi]

Quote[/b] (kiwitt @ Jan. 18 2004,14:01)]I stuck to a peaceful strategy, and built all my provinces to +80% Farming. This meant I did not have much for miltary buildup, e.g. speramaker, bowyer, etc, were not built until I had +80%.

I kept the peace with all Christian factions, and took up no alliances with Orthodox or Muslim countries. It wasn't until 1150 before I could expand into other provinces. I chose to attack only rebel provinces and was able to expand. This firm foundation enabled me to then build the miltary side of my provinces without depending to much on trade for income.

It is 1267 now, and I have all of HRE, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Hungary, Byzantine, Half of Italy, Half of France, and half of the Russian Provinces. And I still haven't got my Gothic Knights. I will probably finish soon with 60% of the map conquered. I chose to finish then and with 60% of the resources, playing against the remaining factions is not fair play.

Excellent - my fav way to play. It takes a lot of discipline to not build that extra spearman or upgrade your castle - to spend those florins on farms.

It takes a little courage to watch those AI stacks grow while you develop your income.

Economy is the engine that drives the empire, so upgrading to 80% and getting a little trade going is almost always my first order of business. In my Hungarian campaign I relied heavily on Szekely to back up some spears until I had the engine running then started conquering.

Great way to play - I think it leads to better armies later in the game.

ichi

[The_678]

I do almost the same thing when I play as HRE but I get bored early and want to fight. I usually only upgrade most to only 40% or 60%. I agree though that in the very beginning it's a great idea to make farms everywhere. I don't have your patience and bravery though to go all the way to 80%.

[kiwitt]

I wasn't in fear as I had Allied with only Christian Factions. This minimised my exposure to others. I did stand by the sideline, when my allies got attacked by my other allies. But whenever, an ally attacked another Allie I chose the Defender as the one to hold on. Quite scary when France Attacked as it was my neighbour. However, It meant he was too busy fighting Spain and England and did not want to fight on 2 fronts I suppose.

[kawligia]

How can you tell who attacked and who defended?

Can you also find out the results of the battle before making your decision?

[PseRamesses]

Quote[/b] (kiwitt @ Jan. 18 2004,15:01)]I stuck to a peaceful strategy, and built all my provinces to +80% Farming.

I kept the peace with all Christian factions, and took up no alliances with Orthodox or Muslim countries.

Kiwitt, you´re my kinda guy Finally someone who understands how to play HRE on early. Everyone seems to have so much trouble getting ends to meet with them. As you´ve found out the key is income to protect all thoose borderprovinces. Great gaming