Novgorod Strategy?

[Jeff]

Ok I playing Novgorod - Early - Hard, and I am having a difficult time. I can't seem to generate enough income to get troops to protect myself. Twice today I was overrun by the Byz and Poles. Unfortunately I just didn't have enough time to build some proper troops. Both games I ended up wiped out by 1150. So I started over before I came to work this evening but haven't gone but a few turns. So I wanted some good ideas on strategy before I got home tonight to continue. I have gone for Sweden each time but for some reason that seems to irk the Danes as they attacked me a year after I landed in Sweden. The income from Sweden is too good to pass up Any ideas would be appreciated. If I can last until the Horde comes then Maybe they'll occupy the Byz for me and give me some time to build up.

[MiniKiller]

dont take swedan, stay in ur own set provinces and pump out troops/money making buidlings until u are just making it on money. then try to take some near by rebels, make allies as fast as u can and to anyone u can for the time being.

[RZST]

from the get go, try focusing on the mainland countries. build lots of peasants and one army. try and get rus spearman, money is a problem so think wisely on how to use em.
if you do this early enough you can probably conquer most of the n.east part of europe :).
dont attack overseas till you are secure in your homelands.

oh and be sure to train assasins, hehe.

[Brutal DLX]

I haven't enabled Novgorod as playable faction, but when fighting them I noticed that they apparently can build Vikings. Since Vikings only require a fort and are quite powerful yet cheap in Early, I would suggest pumping them out together with a few spears and archers and light cav as soon as possible. Get Muscovy and Smolensk and consolidate unless nobody else is pushing into your region. See if you can get allied with any faction close to you and then attack another one when the opportunity is right. The Kiev-Lithuania line is perfect for defence against Western powers, Khazar or Georgia can be your chokepoint in the South if you can secure the Black Sea with your navy.

[PseRamesses]

Playing Novgorod (People of Russia) weather you start on early or high is mainly an income dilemma.
Playing on early I take Livonia, Lithuania, Kiev and if I´m in luck I can take Prussia and Moldavia too. From Kiev I take Crimea and Khazar then start to pick off every province that´s left within my "net".
Playing on high I let Kiev take Moldavia, Volhynia, Prussia making that my western border. And let Novgorod/ Moscow troops take Volga-Bulgaria, Khazar, Crimea and the rest.
Both on early and high develop military in Novgorod and Moscow only. The rest should only recive farm upgrades. In order to gain profit you have to go to 60% farm-upgrades atleast. When economy is solid you can develop military in Livonia, Lithuania and Prussia. Don´t forget to build steppe-cavalry in your steppe-provinces.
NOW you can take Sweden if you want or welcome the horde to a little steppe-party if you´re playing late. Good luck

[HopAlongBunny]

I have played the PoN many times. I usually try to do exactly what you are doing...Sweden is just too good to pass up. In fact, I bend every florin spent into getting (and keeping) it.

Livonia is good; rebels way too easily. Lithuania good; rebels easily and attracts the attn of the Poles. Muscovy good; not a huge amount of money to be made though. Finland good; has a trade good so is nice after you have a fleet established.

All said, you can do w/o Sweden. If you est a trade network and can keep hold of Liv Lith you will be doing well. You would just be doing better if you also had Sweden

[Jeff]

Ok well at this point I hold Novgorod, Finland, Lithuania, Livonia, Smolensk, Sweden & Norway. I have a fairly decent Navy extending to the top of the Iberian Peninsula. I have expanded slowly so that I didn't burn up my income and leave myself in debt incase I got attacked. Which proved to be the best thing I could have done. It's 1237 and I have been repelling the Horde every turn. This last turn Livonia was attacked by both the Horde and their Pole allies. I was a little shocked because previously the Poles were my allies. So I will wiped the floor with the traitorous filth and crush the Horde at the same time. I have some really nice Armies. My RusSpearmen have been a godsend. They ripped the GH Heavy Cav to shreads and my Cav mopped up the Mongol Warriors. I managed to capture and execute the Khan along with a couple of his generals. Unfortunately he had an heir that took over. I was looking forward to bribing a couple of his armies. Oh well, maybe in the next few years. For now I'm looking to keep defending and then once the GH threat is gone I'll look to expanding into Europe and south to Constantinople.

[RZST]

heh, thats why you need to have atleast a 7-8 star assasin :).
train assasins early and youll arrive at 7-8 stars when horde arrives :), just assasinate khan then presto, huge cavalry army right there.

[andrewt]

Are you playing VI in early period? If you are, then I would recommend building up Moldavia, if you can conquer it early enough. Avar nobles only require keep level buildings (horse breeder + armorer). They are comparable to feudal knights but only cost 40 florins per turn to support.

Steppe heavy cavalry are also really good. They're a slightly weaker version of boyars but are much easier to get to. Once you have enough money, druzhina cavalry should be your main infantry. You can dismount these guys anytime to make feudal foot knights.

[Jeff]

Thanks for the tip on Moldavia, I'll most def have to get that. Also I need to remember to dismount my Druhzina, i keep forgetting and end up using my Ruspearmen as my main infantry. Oh and yes I am on VI early.

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Well, I know this is off topic but...

When you enable Novgorod (change MINOR to MAJOR right?), does it appear in the factions list in the starting menu with proper text, stats etc. or do you have to cheat to switch to it?

Thanks.
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[RZST]

well yes, it appears on the faction menu, HOWEVER do not use GLORIOUS ACHIEVEMENT mode coz for some reason they crash the game.
theres no background info on the minor factions so just be prepared to use them in domination roles :p

[HopAlongBunny]

When you make Novgorod playable you also need to tweak the offices; been a long time but i think you can copy and paste the Russian offices and change the name to Novgorod.

There was a thread with exactly how to do this somewhere; try a search

Happy hunting

Just did a quick look at the file; here's how:

1)in Total War dir; open campmap
2)in campmap open startpos
3)dbl-click Early
4)scroll down to AddOffice::
5)highlight AddOffice:: FN_Russian make sure you get it all
6)copy to bottom of AddOffice section; you made need to add a space
7)change name on copied AddOffice:: FN_Russian to AddOffice FN_Novgorod

Just in case something goes wrong; save a copy of the original to a separate file. The Bunny assumes no liability for any attempt to modify any files; provides no warranty; mileage may vary

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Thanks both
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[Jeff]

Hmm I wasn't aware of the Office changing. I'll look in the dungeon for that. In my Novgorod Campaign I stalled out as my florins were depleted between war with the HRE and the Byz. Also I had the Horde beat down but somehow they managed to stay alive and between the 3 I was eventually crushed. I started another Novgorod campaign this morning before coming to work. My intent this time will be to spead out fast and furious and then make a nice wall of defence to brace horde, and then once they are crushed I'll concentrate on Europe before going south to Instanbul.

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Must have done something wrong. I changed early.txt (faction_minor to faction_major), added the russian offices. Novgorod didn't appear in the starting faction list. What might it be?
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