Most difficult VI campaign

[Kommodus]

Hello friends,

Which faction in the VI campaign do you think is the most difficult to play as, and why? Factors such as geographic starting position, economic situation, unit selection, and likely enemies could come into play.

I just purchased VI, and originally thought to try the Picts, since I thought they would be weak. However, the notes in the beginning of the campaign indicated that some other factions were even more difficult. I ended up settling for an Irish/Hard campaign, although now I suspect that the Welsh campaign might've been even harder. I'm not that far in, so I don't know. What do you think?

Kommodus

[DisruptorX]

I've found the Irish to be the most difficult. You only start with one province, forcing you to extend yourself very early. If the vikings decide to pick on you, this causes severe problems. Even after you conquer the Island, making a beachead on Britain proper is not easy, as you will either be landing in strongly fortified Scottish or Saxon territory.

[Cruelsader]

Do not believe what the faction selection screen says. Often it it is quite wrong in the assesment of faction difficulty. In general, the most difficult factions in MTW are those that are on relatively poor land in the middle. In my experience Northtumbrians are the most difficult in Viking Invasion. They are in the middle and even quick expansion does not help much because they have to conquer at least two factions in one direction before having only one land front. Besides, they border Mercians - one of the strongest factions in the game. Also, they have to defend their extensive coastline from Viking raids - a very difficult task in the beginning.

In my experience Irish have been very easy. It is not difficult to conquer the whole island and the agriculture on the island is very good. The critical issue with the Irish is the control of the sea. Once you control the sea you have practically won. However, with Irish much depends on whether the Vikings decide to attack you early in the game. If they do, you will have difficult time, if not, it is easy.

P.S. I play only on expert, maybe things are different at lower difficulty levels.

[Kommodus]

Interesting comments. As it happened, the Vikings did not invade me, but instead went for the British mainland. This allowed me to unify "my" island, and build a sizable navy that firmly establishes my control of local waters (although some other factions still have a few ships in those waters). I have used this navy to destroy all the Viking ships I've encountered so far.

However, I have not become the dominant power yet, or even truly close to it. For a long time, the Mercians and the Saxons had the largest armies and the most territory. The Picts also became powerful by conquering Northumbria, while the Scots stayed about the same.

When I decided it was time to establish a base on the mainland, I originally wanted to head for Scotland but ended up settling on Wales for political reasons. I conquered two Welsh territories, but the rest were carved up by the Saxons and Mercians (both my allies), and the Mercians had my small foothold boxed in. Thus, when the two went to war, I sided with the Saxons, hoping to seize a little more land from Mercia's backside.

Unfortunately, the Saxons conducted a shocking blitzkrieg campaign, aided by a Mercian civil war. Before I could mobilize my men to invade Mercia, the Saxons had occupied all the borders I once shared with Mercia - and now they were boxing me in! Mercia soon fell completely, leaving the Saxons as the undisputed master of southern England, and by far the strongest power overall.

Realizing my Welsh beachhead could not be expanded, I launched a new invasion, this time against the Scots, after allying myself with the Picts. The foolish Scots had attacked the Picts, and thus were ripe for the taking. I took two Scottish territories, including their capital, but the Picts were also on the attack, and they took the rest. I now had two boxed-in beachheads.

Expansion would prove difficult on either front. The Picts, as I said earlier, had conquered Northumbria and had large armies including berserkers. Expansion against the Saxons, however, would be virtually impossible, as they had huge armies including huscarles, and an enormous economic base. Thus, when the Northumbrians re-emerged in Pict territory, I allied myself with them and attacked the Picts.

That's about where the campaign stands now. I've taken one Pict territory (without a fight), and split their empire in two. The Saxons sided with the Picts in this conflict. With my southern beachhead in Wales weakly defended, it can only be a matter of time before the expansionist-minded Saxons decide to add it to their empire. I wouldn't be able to hold them back if I wanted to, so I will probably let them have it while I focus on expanding my power in the north. My large fleets will protect my homelands from Saxon invasion for a long time. My chief immediate concern, therefore, is the Pictish armies I face. They would not be too fearsome except for the berserkers in their ranks, which I have yet to face in battle.

So the Irish campaign hasn't been too hard on me (yet), but the worst is yet to come. Besides mounted nobles, I don't seem to have much by way of elite units, and the lack of archers is a serious detriment to my normal style of play. I'm not very good with javelin units (which the Irish have in plenty), and the armoured spearmen and gallowglasses that make up the Irish infantry core are not exactly great. I know I'm going to have a hard time when I go up against huscarles and berserkers, and archer-heavy armies have already been giving me grief in this campaign. It seems that cavalry is my strongest arm, and the one advantage I have over my enemies. I just hope it's enough.

On the other hand, it's cool to have three major powers remaining, and to be one of the weaker ones. Now let's see if we can get it down to two, for a final, climactic battle for domination...

[ajaxfetish]

Lack of archers is definitely a weakness for the Irish, and I would agree that Mounted Nobles are your strongest unit. Archers are the best tool for wearing down berserkers without giving them outrageous valor increases at the same time, but hopefully your javelins can wear them down sufficiently. The huscarls the Saxons will be fielding are some of the toughest units in the game, but fortunately your kerns and bonnaughts have the ability to puncture their armor from a distance. If you can pin them with some armored spearmen or other sturdy unit and let your javelins rip into them from behind your Irish troops won't do as poorly as might be expected. Gallowglasses should also be great for eliminating their fyrdmen and spearmen, so with the right army composition and some good tactics you should be all right. I'd worry a lot more about the Saxons than the Picts. I've never been too impressed by the Pictish armies I've fought.

A lot of people feel that the Welsh is the hardest, being pinned right next to the great superpowers with a pathetic economy and very exposed coastline. I'm of Welsh descent so they're my favorite to play anyway and can be quite successful. The Welsh archers are the best and they can employ traditional spear/archer combinations to great effect, and the Welsh terrain is very favorable to defense. I take Guined and Dyfed as soon as possible and ally with the Vikings early on, then sit and wait. With large enough garrisons the Saxons and Mercians usually decide to deal with each other instead of you, and time can be a great ally. I also build up Gwent directly to keep, bowyer workshop, and Royal Court and start churning out Welsh Bandits. Once you've got plenty of those guys you're a formidable force on any battlefield.

[Cruelsader]

Expansion would prove difficult on either front. The Picts, as I said earlier, had conquered Northumbria and had large armies including berserkers. Expansion against the Saxons, however, would be virtually impossible, as they had huge armies including huscarles, and an enormous economic base.

Usually Mercians or Saxons end up dominating the big island. It would be indeed almost impossible to fight them if it wasn't for the relatively poor AI. The AI does not understand that 3000 more men do not mean that much if you can beat the first 16 units including the general. But, I agree, this can be quite difficult against the elite units in the first campaigns. Alternatively, you could sit tight and hope for a massive rebellion or civil war. Sometimes it happens sometimes it does not. You could, of course, rise the likelihood of it happing by training valour 3 asssasins.

[DisruptorX]

The welsh are not very difficult at all, because you can cripple the Saxons early in the game, before they can stock up on huscarles. Along with the Scottish, the Welsh are one of the most enjoyable factions in the VI campaign. The scottish are great because you can build hordes of highland clansmen, which I picture in my mind as a unit of Mel Gibsons.

As for the Irish, in my game, the Scotts actually invaded one of the rebel Irish territories, forcing me into an early war. While the Irish have few good elite units, at least gallowglasses pack an offensive punch. If you are not good at javs, try using hills, so that you can throw them over your own troops, or attack from the side against enemies already engaged in melee. This will give you practice against a static enemy. While it may be blasphemy, the one good thing that I got from RTW was experience with javelins, which I now use much more often in MTW. It takes practice, but once you master them, they are very effective, especially Spanish Jinettes in the normal campaign.