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Thread: The Picts

  1. #1
    Senior Member Senior Member Cheetah's Avatar
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    Tired Old Geek Member mfberg's Avatar
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    Money will be tight, farming is a long way off in most of your home provinces so tighten your belt, and try to get mines and churches in as soon as possible.

    Fib (iron) will be your upgrade province, and produces high valor pictish cav. You can keep upgrading to produce Mounted Crossbow there also.

    Celtic Warriors are high valor in Athfotla, get that up to max valor.

    Build your ports up to Slipway on Dromon, Orcades, and Moray protect your coasts from raiders.
    Early in the game
    1. Ally with anyone except the target (Scots), but especially the Vikings.
    2. Make your navy. Your longboats are cheaper upkeep, so get the second shipbuilder and replace your first set of boats
    3. Take the Scots out of the Isles, capture/kill the king and make them move to Ireland.

    Middle of the Game
    Take rebels, Ireland, Manu. Get farming going in your home provinces. Spies and assassins for protection. Upgrade another Iron province to make Mtd xbow and leave Fib to make the Pictish Cavalry. A third iron province should make upgrades to Celts/Berserks/crossbows
    Start taking enemies on, moving south. Take the richest provinces first.

    End of the game
    Buy or take the viking provinces. Do this at the end, doing it earlier may result in a re-emgence of vikings in an area you cannot reinforce.


    Units
    1 Crossbows - You have the best armor piercing ranged weapon. These guys will make life much easier especially when you have to hit Mercians/Saxons/Vikings.
    2. Mtd Crossbows - The best unit in the game to take care of those pesky Joms Vikings. You have the only mounted skirmishers. Once you get these guys no one can stand against you.
    3. Celtic warriors - use them as spearkillers, they are 200 man sword units.
    4. Pictish Cavalry - Light horse, very good with the valor upgrade from Fib.
    5. Berserkers - You and the Vikings get these, with upgrades they will take on anyone, without upgrades take on spears and peasants for valor.

    mfberg
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  3. #3
    Member Member Alexander the Pretty Good's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Picts

    Hmmm. The Picts. I once won a Picts campaign. "Normal" difficulty, and I settled for 2/3 (minor) victory.

    Did it a while back. Don't remember much.

    Try to make friends with Vikings. Or you will die.

    Then get a navy while simultaneously taking apart Scots. Don't bother with getting Ulster; if you take all of the main isle Scot provinces, the war is over.

    An intellignece/espianoge service is crucial. Spies will cause rebellions in enemy provinces and more importantly keep your provinces loyal (especially those troublesome Scots). Assasins were critical to my game. Used them to kill off dangerous generals (like the Mercian Jedi). Even managed to kill their King and caused their faction to disentigrate. Which is how I won. THey had taken most (though not all) of Saxony, and so when they became rebels, I conquered/bought up enough rebels to get the 2/3 provinces for victory.

    Hope that helps. Sorry if a bit "rambly",

  4. #4

    Default Re: The Picts

    The Picts are suspenseful to play because they always take a good part of the brunt of the Viking raids. You start with a bishop who can negotiate peace but I like to fight the Vikings off for the thrill, and that plus the fact that I like the unit lineup make the Picts my favorite faction of the VI campaign. Even if you prefer to make an alliance, you'll need a plan to fight because you cannot trust.
    You start with seven provinces: northernmost, with abbeys, are Domon and Orcades (islands), and Cait. Basically cash boxes waiting to be taken. Below that are Moray, Monoth, Athfolta, and Fib. Monoth is the only province built up for recruiting, giving Celtic warriors (v1), berserkers, and crossbows. Athfolta gives a valor bonus to Celtic warriors and you should build a mead hall there asap for v2 warriors. Fib gives a valor bonus to Pict cavalry, but takes longer to build up. Valor 3 pictcav is ultimately possible. At this level it has attack 5, plus the metalsmiths that can be built in Fib. Ouch. Fib is built up for farm income. This is your wealthiest and most important province. Whatever else happens, the cause is not hopeless unless Fib is irretrievably lost. Until the Viking raids peter out, the function of all Pictland is to protect Fib.
    You will see Viking ships off Orcades on turn 2, but they may or may not go for the abbeys immediatley. AI factions often look for rebel provinces before starting a war, and the Vikings may follow this pattern too. Or, they may raid the Northumbrians and Mercians first. The best policy here is to wait until they hit (usually Orcades) then immediatley destroy one or both of the other abbeys. This takes some judgement and guesswork. Sometimes they don't raid you for 10+ turns, and the income is a big help in getting off the ground. Other times you will have but three turns of building, and bang. But, even then you can defeat them.
    Because you will probably lose three abbeys quickly, it is desirable to take at least Cyil from the Scots early. This is as rich as Fib. The Scots often like to make a lot of archers, and Celtic warriors are extremely vulnerable to arrows. Fortunately Monoth can make stables immediately. But, when they see horses they set up in woods so take a mixed force.
    Also resist the temptation to build a fort in Monoth too early for armored spearmen you can't afford. By turn 6 you should start at least one replacement abbey, and the 20% farm in Fib.
    For defence against the Vikings, think of a triangle with one corner at Fib in the south, another at Monoth in the east, and the third corner in the north at either Moray or Cait, depending on two things: how early they raid you and how many princes they get. Barring a civil war, you should be able to seablock/deter/defend the Moray/Monoth/Fib triangle at least. If you can hold Cait, tech it for ships. If you can't, build the shipyard in Fib. One way or another, you *must* put a naval shield up or too much of your army is pinned in defence while the Scots buld colossal stacks that I don't know how they can afford.
    Against the Vikings your best early weapon is loyalist revolts. You won't see too many thralls in the early years which makes it hard for them to pacify their conquests. Domon, Orcades and sometimes Cait will change hands many times if you can keep the population loyal. Do not hesitate to keep rebuilding towers and shrines there. Once the abbeys are gone, those provinces are worthless, but for some reason the vikings will want to keep them. You should fight the Vikings over worthless barren spits of wasteland as long as they wish to, because it distracts them from game-winning strategies and mires them in game-losing strategies. Fighting them repeatedly over worthless land is the way to screw them! Autocalcing with 0* rebel armored spearmen can kill 5* Viking kings. Imagine your Viking king dying on Domon to an autocalc against spears and peasants. It happened. Also feel free to disband some rebels to maintain cash flow and re-tempt the Vikings into another grind. "Rebel farming" in reverse.
    If you have played the Vikings, you know that developing positive cash flow takes a long time and is tricky. Usually too tricky for the comp, and they will peter out if they meet stubborn hindrance. Every elite casualty you inflict early reduces their potential permanently. Early naval losses especially are a setback.
    Unless there are too many princes, most early raids can be defeated or badly mangled by an army of two v2 Celt warriors and a Pictcav. Even with a disadvantaged commander. But, make sure the commander isn't a celt warrior because he dies too fast and you rout. Moray and Monoth give commander stars, so give those titles to a bow or horse. Try a custom battle with two v2 Celts and a peasant (for the general) against a v2 huscarl and see. This kind of army will deter altogether for a while.
    Basically, after many Pict campaigns, I found that the gameflow is influenced mainly by how early the Vikings raid you and how many princes they get.

  5. #5
    Senior Member Senior Member katank's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Picts

    good points, I haven't had much trouble with viking raids.

    bishop to hordaland is my #1 priority and be persistent

    however, wiping out scots is priority.

    turn 2 blitz is doable.

    your pictish x-bows can hurt their clansmen badly and celts and berserks can more than match their clansmen.

    use celts for pinning and the berserks can rip up all the clansmen in the world from a flank.

    you don't need viking lands for 100% victory.

  6. #6

    Default Re: The Picts

    Those xbows are almost like arbs!! And their high defense and armor lets them stand solid in a duel.

    I try to hold the berserks back for a while until their nobles are committed, then target them.

  7. #7
    Senior Member Senior Member katank's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Picts

    they are, they can devastate most units as long as they can't be reached.

    the AP missiles are particularly strong against huscarles.

    the mtd x-bows are also good.

    however, that's the reason that they are fairly high tech.

  8. #8

    Default Re: The Picts

    The only issue a Pict has to worry about is money. Trade links are your most important objective of all, for it would take a century to turn the Pictish lands into viable farms. I find that a quick way to make some easy money is to demolish most of the abbeys early on, the 1,000 florins gained immediately being more useful than the handful of gold over the next 20 years. With that cash, develop the military production and trade power of the Orcades, Athflotia (That extra honour to Celtic Warriors really comes in handy), and Fib, but the Orcades in particular, as it can be protected better and the trade is vital.
    The next strength of Picts is that they just seem to breed daughters (or princesses) like rabbits at times, so you can marry them off to the Vikings, who seem to honour marriage alliances with the Picts more so than others. I have never had a Viking King attack me once my princess and his son are chained. The alliance remains secure for another generation or two, and I just marry off another daughter when the time comes. Keeps me free of Viking interference for about 200 years.
    Now, the elimination of the Scots on the Coast is the most important mission. It is useful to keep the scots alive in Ulster, so the Irish are kept busy for a time. Once that is done, invasion of Lothene and Reget is essential, for Lothene gives good money in farming and it is a defendable border. The Northumbrians are split five ways then and a combo of x-bows and c-warriors backed with some mercenary catapults will destroy almost any Northumbrian invasion attempt. If one wants to invade Northumbria, it is a good idea to try to invade Dere and and that province next to it, below Cumbri (its name just went out of my head), which serves as good border for your next stage. Destroy the Northrumbrians, who will have made you some farm-lands and new trade potential to capture, and then fortify the new border of Dere-whatever its neighbor to the west is.
    Now comes the tough part. The Saxons probably overwhelmed Mercia by now, and the Vikings are content to beat the s*** out of them, so I usually go to invade Wales, which rarely seems to be conquered, from the sea. The mining income and ease of defence will serve you as well as it did the Welsh, though it could be a tough-fight, for those Welsh Bandits can really be a pain in the arse, and they often have plenty of them by now.
    Once the Welsh are under your thumb, you should concentrate on consolidating your gains, not conquering more lands. Keep the Vikings happy with baby-machines, and using spies to start rebellions in Viking territories on British soil is useful as well. Try to kreep the Saxons alive and well for they are the only thing that keeps the Vikings out of your hair and they are the best bet you have towards removing the Vikings from British soil later. Try to get at least forest clearing in all your non-Pictish provinces before you start your next phase, which is either an invasion of Ireland, or Mercia.
    I go for Ireland, for the Irish are not going to bring you into conflict with the Vikings and while they are a tough bunch of gits, your x-bows outrange their javelins, your celtic-warriors outfight their infantry, and your cavalry slice apart anything they meet. Not to forget, you will have at least a couple of really high-level generals by this point. An eight star general leading celtic-warriors from athflotia turns these easily warriors into tough S.O.B.s that can weather a lot of s*** before dying. Even Huscarles will have a time fighting these super-celts.
    Ireland will take a while regardless, for those Irish are found of rebellion and there are usually quite a few of them on the island by the time you get around to invasion. The Irish armies may total over 15,000 men at this point, but with your Pict lands now churning out celts, x-bows, and cavalry with armour and weapon upgrades and the money flowing in from Northrumbrian farms, Welsh mines, and trade, you will never be in trouble of losing the war, just the occasional battle.
    Now, by this point, the Vikings are impossible to avoid for much longer, and you will be forced to decide. You can fight with the Saxons against the Vikings or with the Vikings against the Saxons. I prefer to fight against the Vikings, and the Saxon are pleased to oblige. Combining the Saxon Huscarles with Celtic troops produces remarkable results. Only Jomsvikings and high-end Huscarles will pose a serious problem. Your trading fleet will be at risk now, but you should be able to afford to use bribes to at least disrupt the Viking mainland (I once bribed a lone unit of 53 Huscarles with max-armour/weapon and defeated a force of Karls/Landsmenn/thralls totalling 1,200 men, thus conquering Jutland and completely screwing the Viking warmachine.)
    Now comes the second hardest part of the entire game, conquering the Saxons, who will probably have only about 10,000 or so battle-worn men scattered throughout Mercia and Wessex, but they have plenty of places to run to, lots of castles to occupy, , and the game now becomes a game of chase the red tunics, with the occasion conquered province rebelling, and watch out for the Saxons suddenly massing for a counter-attack to hit one of your armies. The greatest threat you face is being stretched too thin. Once they are done, you win.
    Now remember, at any point in the game, the Vikings or another power may launch an invasion, which is why it is essential to maintain your border garrisons. Every single province must contain at least one unit of Celtic warriors, one of X-bows, and some spears, and your big border regions, like the Reget-Lothene line, armies with at least 4 x-bow and 8 celts with a good general are essential. NEVER WEAKEN YOUR BORDER GARRISONS TO LAUNCH INVASIONS!!!
    Sorry if this is a bit lengthy, but I hope this helps somebody, if only a little.
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  9. #9
    Grand Patron's Banner Bearer Senior Member Peasant Phill's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Picts

    The first thing you do as the Picts, apart from allying with the Vikings, is attack the scots at their production center (Al Riad or something similar). Be sure to take at least one crossbow unit so the scots have to charge you and your army in a prepared position. Once the Scots lose their ability to produce units (especially their dreaded clansmen) they live on borrowed time. Next attack the province the Scottish king resides in and a hefty ransom is yours for the taking (Pictish cav will be very useful for capturing the routed king). Do this twice and your money problems are over for a lengthy time.
    Take some time to consolidate your new excellent position. If you've done it right, you now have two advanced production centers, an experienced army, a nice amount of florins and a easily protected 2 province border to the south.

    your next move: Ireland
    You can also take the island between Ireland and the British mainland if it is political possible. In my case, the Vikings held it so I held of until a more appropriate time.
    If the Scots still survived in Ulster, you might want to kill them off first as they could benefit from your hard work. After that, again attack the Irish production. It's the middle eastern province. Attack with as much men as you can safely muster and don't hold back on the mercenaries as you want to take the province in tact. Like the scots, the Irish are hamstringed after this easy win. You might want to take to the offence with your mercenaries alone (and maybe a decent general) as you want to hold your foothold on the Island but want to use your mercenaries productively. It's questionable you can win a battle with them, but at least you can damage the Irish troops somewhat, damage they can't repair for some time.
    When you strenghtened your hold on your Irish province(s) somewhat it's time to go back on the offensive. If possible try to isolate the king again for a good ransom or if this isn't possible, try to drive them towards the rebel province. The Irish will have to fight a big rebel force and won't come out unscatted. Now it is time to move in for the kill. The Irish last stand won't be an easy battle but handle it wisely and you can't lose.

    Hints when facing the Irish in battle:
    the Irish forces will have a lot of skirmishers (bonnachts, dartmen and kerns). they'll probably be half of the army your facing, with other half being royal bodyguards, gallowglasses and the occasional (armoured) spearmen. They can either be (1) aggressive and charge you with their melee troops (believe me taking a charge from a wave of gallowglasses and royal bodyguards will result in a lot of casualties on your side) and leave their skirmishers to hang back to pelt your troops when the fight thickens or (2) they will first try to thin your ranks and disorganize you with their skirmishers and charge in later with the melee men.

    (1) keep your men in tight formation to absorb the charge and flank with your celtic warriors and beserkers (if you got any) after the charge evolves in a prolonged fight. Send your cav (pictish cav will have a field day) around the fighting to attack the unprotected skirmishers.

    (2) keep your men in formation with your crossbow men at the front. Don't chace after them. It is questionable the kerns, bonnachts and dartmen even get to throw their missiles before they turn back out of range. Eventually the melee troops will engage and you can follow (1).

    So what should you remember when facing the Irish as the Picts:
    * bring along a decent cavalry force to deal with the skirmishers
    * bring along your best spearmen to absorb the enivitable and crushing charge
    * bring along crossbowmen to repel skirmishers in the first moments when they are still protected by the Irish melee units
    * always keep your infantry together before the melee starts
    * don't chace their skirmishers with anything other than cavalry or you could be in for a nasty surprise
    Last edited by Peasant Phill; 11-24-2006 at 17:38.
    Quote Originally Posted by Drone
    Someone has to watch over the wheat.
    Quote Originally Posted by TinCow
    We've made our walls sufficiently thick that we don't even hear the wet thuds of them bashing their brains against the outer wall and falling as lifeless corpses into our bottomless moat.

  10. #10
    Member Member Caerfanan's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Picts

    Hi all, I just finished a pictish campaign (normal level) it went as the following

    I made a rush to the drinking halls in domon, orcades, athfolla. Economic developpement in the others, after the classical towers. Troop production in monioth was 2 celts, 1 Xbow, 1 celt 1 berserker, 1 xbow, and repeat.

    I sent troops to defend my borders against the viks, and my islands.

    I lost Domon after a while, my mistake had benn to thing that my 500 celtic warriors would ne enough.

    Then I had to strengthen my borders while continuing an economic development, and repelling the viks. I actually been at war with them since the first invasion!

    Then, in order:
    - repelled the scots to Ireland
    - been attacked by the viking raided Northumbrians - I Wiped them out
    - took Reget.
    - took part in a Saxon-Welsh/mercian war: the mercs where winning, so I took the Saxon side.

    When this was over, I finally had enough boats in Muir Eriu to keep them alive and rule this part of the sea. the saxons had two provinces: Dornseate and Defnas. The Welsh two: Cerniu and Guent. The viks 4: Domon, Manau, South Saxe and Cantware.

    I tried to convert the vikings to christianism with loads of bishps, without success: a single pagan temple stops the conversion to put it back to a 80/20 ine the population apparently (but I haven't explored this conversion effect fully I admit).

    Wiped out the Saxons, then the welsh, then the vikings.

    Sent hordes of assassin on the Irish people to turn them to rebels, then took Ireland.

    I had Dal Riada producing Armored spearmen/Royal bodyguards at first, Mounted nobles by the end. Athfolla and Orcades for Celts, Monoth, Cumbri and Elmete for berserkers, two provinces for heavy speras and one for xbows.

    I was surprised in the end, I had about 130/140K florins!

    I was not convinced by the xbows at all. Each volley is efficient (3 to 5 huscarles, for instance), but their firing rate is so low that they tend to shoot one, sometimes two times before the battle is already won, or lost... I have to explore them more, it appears in this thread that they ar really cool.

  11. #11
    Enlightened Despot Member Vladimir's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Picts

    Put them on horses and you're good to go!


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  12. #12
    Grand Patron's Banner Bearer Senior Member Peasant Phill's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Picts

    Quote Originally Posted by Caerfanan
    I was not convinced by the xbows at all. Each volley is efficient (3 to 5 huscarles, for instance), but their firing rate is so low that they tend to shoot one, sometimes two times before the battle is already won, or lost... I have to explore them more, it appears in this thread that they ar really cool.
    They are very efficient if you use them correctly.

    Most important rule (and I think that's where you misused them): don't let them move. If missile units move while reloading they have to start all over again. Whit bows, javelins, darts, ... this isn't a big problem as reloading time isn't that long but with xbows it is. So set them on hold position and don't move them yourself unless you think that you benefit from repositioning them. (not unless something is charging them or a position justifies the loss of firepower for several minutes.
    Quote Originally Posted by Drone
    Someone has to watch over the wheat.
    Quote Originally Posted by TinCow
    We've made our walls sufficiently thick that we don't even hear the wet thuds of them bashing their brains against the outer wall and falling as lifeless corpses into our bottomless moat.

  13. #13
    Member Member Caerfanan's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Picts

    Uuuuh... That's actually the way I used them, Peasant Phill.

    Mayber my mistake was that I did charge the targetted unit to quickly with melee units, permitting only one, sometimes two volleys to happen before taking the risk of friendly fire?

    I'm not that experienced on the battlefield though. I'll try to place the xbows in a better way. Or put hem on horses! :-)

    Ooooo speaking of it, I strated a game with the Scots (I know, other thread) and forgot to pay attention to what was going on between the Saxons and Mercians. I let then the Mercian take all Saxon lands. And I'm know being overflowed by Saxon Huscarles... So the "keeping the balance between mercs and saxons" part is very, very important whoever you are playing (except perhaps the vikings)

    Thanks for your advice, guys!

  14. #14
    Member Member Caerfanan's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Picts

    Quote Originally Posted by Peasant Phill
    If missile units move while reloading they have to start all over again.... or a position justifies the loss of firepower for several minutes.

    Just thinking... do you think that this reloading starting all over again could osccur when the xbow unit rotates to face a moving target?

    Gaaah. I have to double check this. I usually put them on hold formation and deactivate the "fire at will" (i'd rather kill one general with my ammo instead of 120 peasants), but I just wonder. Missile unit tend to rotate to face their targets...

  15. #15
    Grand Patron's Banner Bearer Senior Member Peasant Phill's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Picts

    I'm actually not sure, but I think they stop their reloading when rotating.
    BTW Don't charge to quickly when you have Xbows and the other side hasn't. I understand that it can be boring to let your Xbows shoot and just sit their with your troops but it will enable you to limit your casaulties.

    Set your Xbows up in front of your best spear units with some celtic warriors or beserkers ready to flank (the normal setup). Your enemy will be forced to come to you as nothing outranges your Xbows When they do, they will be screwed.

    Low morale units won't even make it to your line (they will rout or back away), mounted units will receive a serious pounding before they smash in to your spear wall (learn the right time to withdraw your Xbows behind your spear wall) or will turn back before they reach your line (hitting RK in the back with AP missiles is so rewarding), mellee troops will receive a volley at point blank range before their charge is stopped by your spears (if they get that far) and be flanked.
    A missile duel can be costly but can be won because of the range of your Xbows. At their maximum range, normal archers won't be as effective as your Xbows. Concentrate fire on the archers and see their numbers melt away (don't worry that your 'wasting' arrows, there will be plenty left to pincushion the generals unit). Archers can be dangerous when they move closer. They should be able to win the missile duel with their fasster rate of fire.
    The solution is 1 or 2 units of pictish cavalry (fastest unit in the VI game). The archers may have come in to range of your crossbows but the rest will be more hesitant. This means that your opponents archers are isolated and unsupported. This is what you trained those v2 pictish cav for. If some unit does charge your horsies, just run away to safety (The archers will probably have fled) and let your Xbows punish the charging unit for meddling with your affaires.
    Quote Originally Posted by Drone
    Someone has to watch over the wheat.
    Quote Originally Posted by TinCow
    We've made our walls sufficiently thick that we don't even hear the wet thuds of them bashing their brains against the outer wall and falling as lifeless corpses into our bottomless moat.

  16. #16
    Member Member Caerfanan's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Picts

    Well, I had a very big battle yesterday night, but with the Scots, I'll post about it in the scotish section. But at one moment, I got angry after lmy archers, who did not maintain position and stay in line, they did rotate to fire at their melee engaging target, and I had the real displeasure to see 20 archers of on unit going in front of an armored spearmen unit. They got crushed by enemy huscarles and routed. GRRRRRRRR.....

    Thanks a lot for your advices, I'll try it as soon as I play a new Pictish campaign (it seems that I won't be tired of the game any soon!)!!!

  17. #17

    Default Re: The Picts

    Hi, looking for help to defeat the Vikings (currently my allies).

    The Vikings have Jutesaer (60 odd "home"), Dornsaete (500 odd army, but defeatable) and Domon (army of 500 odd Huscarles). Nordaland is in rebel hands (should I bribe them?). I have the rest of the map.
    My problem is Domon, which is well built up (Royal Palace + Shipwright) and I can't attack.
    I've got a fleet with at least 3 ships (90% longboats) in each sea region. There are a few regions with armourer and metalsmith upgrades. I've got a fairly large army, but only a float of some 3,000 since I've been training and building as fat as.

    So what's the strategy from here?

    Thanks Ian

  18. #18
    Grand Patron's Banner Bearer Senior Member Peasant Phill's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Picts

    If you want a strategy than you have to be more specific with your info. a pic would be nice.

    Tactically you can take the Vikings easily enough. Use mounted Xbows and normal Xbows to decimate those huscarles and Jomvikings (if they have any). Normally you can take on the rest with your teched up troops. Just tire out the most dangerous enemy units with your mounted Xbows or pictish cav.
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  19. #19
    Second-hand chariot salesman Senior Member macsen rufus's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Picts

    Hi Newbie ian & welcome to the org - IMHO your priorities are to bribe those rebels in Nordaland, stabilise the province and build a few ships there, wipe out the Viking navy then hop over to Jutesaer and take that too. Maybe if you leave Domon til last the Vikings may go into civil war and one half of those huscarles will kill the other half for you. But I'd say get their navy out of the way first, then you can deal with each land army one at a time. Then you should have the complete and utter 110% victory
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  20. #20

    Default Re: The Picts

    Guys,

    Thanks for your help, good advice taken on a holiday (what else are holidays for).

    Bribing the rebels in Nordaland failed miserably I'm afraid. I just didn't have enough spare cash in time. When I tried, my efforts were rejected and the Viking invaded to re-claim next turn. Still, after much shipbuilding, and a successful naval battle I was able to remove the Vikings from mainland UK.

    Off to try the Welsh.

  21. #21
    Son of Gloin, Cleaver of Orcs Member Gimli's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Picts

    I know its kinda brutal, but Celtic warriors are NOT that good, so I use them as... well... x-bow fodder! I will use them (or spearmen if I can get 'em!) to pin down an enemy unit (say, huscarls). Whilst the huscarls are happily hacking my poor little warriors up, I target my x-bows on them. This (sadly) results in my warriors being shot in the back (only a little!) and also (happily) the huscarls being stuck there being shot by my armor-piercing rounds! It loses me some troops, but c'mon, celtics cost NOTHING compared to huscarls and joms and nobles and such! You can try this at your leisure!

    Edit: To my shame, I was kinda bashing on the Celtic warriors in this post... As I continued to use them, I discovered that they are spear and peasant killing machines! Most of them are very high valor and I have started to get ones with upgraded weapons and armor and I have been VERY pleased watching them merrily hack their way through all kinds of units! (including Saxon huscarls and the likes, though that costs a lot of casualties... ) My appologies to all Celtic Warrior fans out there!
    Last edited by Gimli; 08-14-2007 at 14:33.
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  22. #22
    Hun of a kind Member Glyndwr in the Soke's Avatar
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    Cool Re: The Picts



    Apology accepted. CWs are beasts in naked-chest disguise, especially my dark green and red hordes. But the brown and white will do, too. Fyrd will die like flies, and Highlanders will just get swamped, to name their main prey.


    Take yer pick.

  23. #23
    Believer of Murphy's Law Member Sensei Warrior's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Picts

    Aye CWs are great. A poor mans Byzantine Infantry. Easy to make, easy to maintain, point them at almost anything and watch the poor bad guys get swamped.

    *The preceeding strategic suggestion is at the risk of losing many CWs, of course if you manually merge the poor survivors for long enough and give them a little armor watch them become a high valour, unstoppable wrecking machine.*
    Every weapon has evolved from the same basic design, either a rock or a sharp pointy stick.

  24. #24
    Member Member Agent Miles's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Picts

    As the game’s intro text for the Picts’ faction warns, they have two serious initial threats, the Scots and the Vikings. This strategy should eliminate both.
    On the first turn, build a brothel in Monoth and queue up four Celtic Warriors (CW). Build an inn in Fib and queue up a watchtower and shrine everywhere else. You can set all the provinces taxes on very low except for Fib, where your unit with the highest acumen should be governor. Send the Priest to Fib.
    Now send the garrison from the Orcades to Cait and split the garrison in Monoth between Fib and Athfotla (make sure that happiness is at least 100 here). Send everyone else into Sci.

    On the second turn, the Scots will retreat into the stronghold that they have built in Sci. Assault with the forces you have there. Send the Priest to Hordaland and destroy the ports and abbeys in Orcades and Cait to keep the Vikings away. Leave the Abbey in Domon as bait for the Vikings. Send the CW from Cait to Sci and the new CW from Monoth to Athfotla.

    Turn three dawns with your forces taking Sci. Destroy the abbey and port there. Have the Priest propose an alliance with the Vikings. Build a stockade in Athfotla and a watchtower and shrine in Fib and Sci. Hire all the mercs you can at Fib’s new inn. Move the new CW from Monoth to Fib and leave a small garrison in Sci. Send everything else into Dal Riada.

    Turn four should have you winning an easy battle in Dal Riada, or the Scots may even run. Leave a garrison there and push as many troops as you can into Cyil. The Vikings have hopefully accepted your alliance offer.

    On the fifth turn, the Scottish king is defeated and leaves for Ulster, after paying you a ransom of 8900+. Start producing spies in Monoth and build a Stew to give them valour. Send the first spies to Jutland, then Hordaland, followed by the rest of your provinces. Once you get three-star spies in the Viking lands, they are effectively crippled and their raiding days are over.

    I then built infrastructure like crazy. Eventually I was producing valour 2 CW in Athfotla, valour 3 Pictish Cav (PC) in Fib, valour 2 Pictish Crossbowmen in Dal Riada and valour 1 Pictish Mounted Crossbowmen (PMC) in Cyil. My armies consist of a general, three PMC, four CW, four crossbows and four PC. I build ships in Cait, Sci and Moray and I stagger the production so as to get one ship per turn.
    The Northumbrians attacked, so I took Lothene and the rebel province of Reget. During the cease fire, I got Manau and overran Ireland. Jutland rebelled and I bribed the rebels. From Jutland, an army of PMC’s can take a bankrupt Hordaland once you have sealift in place. On the main island, push south to the strong defensive position of Pec Saethan and Dere. Whoever controls the south is now at your mercy.
    Last edited by Agent Miles; 10-04-2007 at 13:26.
    Sometimes good people must kill bad people to protect the rest of the people.

  25. #25

    Default Re: The Picts

    I had had a exciting but unsucessful campaign.First I went to war with the scots,whilwe waiting my 2 islands and some of my border provinces being raided by the Vikings,which were promplty pushed out by loyaltist uprisings.Once I had dealt with the scots, I began producing Pictish Cavalry/Crossbows at fib and producing beserkers/celts at Elmete,only when I mounted my invasion of the irish,the saxons decided to invade me,with 4000+ troops as there had pretty much total domiance and also Huscarles with 3 armour and weapon upgrades, My downfall at this point was 1.numbers I couldn't match 4000+ troops in 3 provinces at once and 2.my low valour celts which ran after a brief fight,even though my beserkers where cutting up the huscarles from behind nicely.The huscarles also took heavy casaulties from my Crossbows in closing but with them fielding 6,or 7 of them at once, I was trying to use concentrated fire to take out one,then switch to the next one, I also tried using Mtd Crossbows to get behind them and take them out,but they had 6 squadrons of archers ready for that,so any suggestions on how to do better?

  26. #26

    Default Re: The Picts

    I chose the Picts for my very first campaign of MTW on normal difficulty and here's what I found:

    1. Your +1 Valour Celt Warriors from Anftholia (sp?) kick some serious rear. 100 men per unit and high attack stats mean they can dominate the field of battle. the'r biggest problem is low morale, which the +1 vlaour helps with alot. Mobs of these guys led by a good general (4* or more) mean massive killing potential.

    2. Fib rocks. This province is really the key for you. good income, +1 valor Cavalry, Iron for weapon and armour upgrades - what more do you want. Protect it at all costs.

    3. Money will be tight to start with. If you manage to capture enemy nobles for ransoms it'll help you a great deal. Otherwise you need to watch your upkeep costs, which leads me to.....

    4. Berserkers. Indispensible and absolute gold. Capable of tearing through just about anything else on the field they are very tought and more importantly, HAVE A VERY LOW UPKEEP. This means you can support large numbers of Berserkers without ruining your economy. Making armoured Berserkers in Fib is just plain nasty.

    5. X-Bows. I don't actually like them so much. I prefer regular archers most of the time given that most units have low armour in this campaign. Lots of volleys tends to yield a great many more kills than few volleys but armour piercing. Also, they can't fire over other troops, which is a pain and can really restrict their use once the battle is joined.

  27. #27
    Wandering Fool Senior Member bamff's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Picts

    Quote Originally Posted by oz_wwjd
    I had had a exciting but unsucessful campaign.First I went to war with the scots,whilwe waiting my 2 islands and some of my border provinces being raided by the Vikings,which were promplty pushed out by loyaltist uprisings.Once I had dealt with the scots, I began producing Pictish Cavalry/Crossbows at fib and producing beserkers/celts at Elmete,only when I mounted my invasion of the irish,the saxons decided to invade me,with 4000+ troops as there had pretty much total domiance and also Huscarles with 3 armour and weapon upgrades, My downfall at this point was 1.numbers I couldn't match 4000+ troops in 3 provinces at once and 2.my low valour celts which ran after a brief fight,even though my beserkers where cutting up the huscarles from behind nicely.The huscarles also took heavy casaulties from my Crossbows in closing but with them fielding 6,or 7 of them at once, I was trying to use concentrated fire to take out one,then switch to the next one, I also tried using Mtd Crossbows to get behind them and take them out,but they had 6 squadrons of archers ready for that,so any suggestions on how to do better?
    For what it is worth, my "standard Pict strategy" against the "heavier" factions was to have (where possible) 2 units of mtd xbows, 2 units of pictish cav to harass them all the way from their starting pos to my defensive line. Mtd xbows disrupt their units, archers will either come after them or drop back behind while huscarles chase. In either case, as soon as those lovely soft little archers are isolated, Pictish cav will ride them down. This process basically just gets repeated as required. The main part of the enemy force will soon enough arrive within range of your crossbows (at least 4 units). These will cause some serious casualties if their valour is high enough. Armoured spears and celtic warriors will take the brunt of the initial clash (where possible, have the armoured spears take the huscarles, they will last longer). At this point, your beserkers will be folding around the enemy flanks to his from the sides and rear, and the pictish cav, having most likely finished up with any enemy archers, will also now be available to hit the enemy's rear. They will break and run, or die in droves. By the time the next wave arrives, everyone is back in position and ready to roll again.....yes, you will suffer some casualties, and yes, you do need to have a general who will inspire some valour and/or have "teched up" troops...With 6 sqdrns of archers, your cavalry skirmishers will suffer, but they should still be able to tie the enemy projectile units down away from the main line, especially if your mtd xbows can find a hill to sit on and pepper the archers down below.

  28. #28
    Wandering Fool Senior Member bamff's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Picts

    Quote Originally Posted by Heidrek
    I chose the Picts for my very first campaign of MTW on normal difficulty and here's what I found:

    1. Your +1 Valour Celt Warriors from Anftholia (sp?) kick some serious rear. 100 men per unit and high attack stats mean they can dominate the field of battle. the'r biggest problem is low morale, which the +1 vlaour helps with alot. Mobs of these guys led by a good general (4* or more) mean massive killing potential.

    2. Fib rocks. This province is really the key for you. good income, +1 valor Cavalry, Iron for weapon and armour upgrades - what more do you want. Protect it at all costs.

    3. Money will be tight to start with. If you manage to capture enemy nobles for ransoms it'll help you a great deal. Otherwise you need to watch your upkeep costs, which leads me to.....

    4. Berserkers. Indispensible and absolute gold. Capable of tearing through just about anything else on the field they are very tought and more importantly, HAVE A VERY LOW UPKEEP. This means you can support large numbers of Berserkers without ruining your economy. Making armoured Berserkers in Fib is just plain nasty.

    5. X-Bows. I don't actually like them so much. I prefer regular archers most of the time given that most units have low armour in this campaign. Lots of volleys tends to yield a great many more kills than few volleys but armour piercing. Also, they can't fire over other troops, which is a pain and can really restrict their use once the battle is joined.
    Whole hearted agreement on points 1-4!

    As for xbows though, with a bit of valour, these guys can carve. They outrange archers, so you can hurt them before they get close enough to touch you. Mounted xbows are great for annoying the hell out of your enemies before they get anywhere near you.

  29. #29

    Default Re: The Picts

    X-Bows have more range than regular bows? I didn't know that. I thought shortbows and XBows had the same range.

    Is it different for the VI campaign? In the normal campaigns I'm sure Archers and xBows have the same range, though Arbalesters outrange them.

    Valour might be the problem. I never tried them with a high command General after my first few uses of them had them getting eaten alive by regular archers who out volleyed them mercilessly, decimating their ranks before they could return fire.

    they were the first faction I tried, well before I learned about the virtues of a good general so you might be on the money about Xbows. Certainly I found the mounted xbows handy. Their mobility is a great asset, allowing them to keep away from untis that would ride down and kill regular xbows.

  30. #30
    King of the Scots Member Robert the Bruce's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Picts

    long live the picts! and the pictish kingdoms!

    THE BRUCE

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