Quote Originally Posted by [b
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