How do I capture the Emerald Isle??

[Ace of Spades]

Ok...I'm playing my first campaign as England. At the moment, I hold Brittany, Anjou, Normandy, Aquitaine, Ile-de-France and all of the lands in modern-day "Great Britain", but I can't seem to get to Ireland from any of them. What am I missing? The year is about 1169. . Is there something I should be researching?

[DensterNY]

You need to have ships and ports on any of your lands... you can then send your troops across the water to Ireland which is a real treasure since you can easily build Gallowglasses from there.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

But you really shouldn't unless you are of Irish descent...

It just isn't right for anyone else to rule over the great Emerald Isle...

Gallowglasses are very useful, unfortunately I enjoy playins as the Turks too much and other than GB and sometimes a few others.

[EatYerGreens]

There's a regular poster here who used to have a whole tagline based around

"How do I trade?"
"How do I get to Ireland?"
"Why is the pope such a bar-steward"
Chorus: Viking_mobilise.wav

...so I'm guessing you're the 5,437th person to come here and ask this. No matter.

You will need the following:-

1 castle up to keep level
1 port in the (coastal) province where this keep is
1 shipbuilder (4 yrs build)
'n' ships in a connected string of sea areas from your port to any sea area adjoining Ireland (3 yrs to build each ship)
0 ships owned by enemy factions blockading these sea areas (sink them, wait for them to move out of your way, eliminate the faction entirely, or obtain a ceasefire - if you can - to end the blockade)
1 army in the province with the port, ready to ship out and invade (pick up the stack: Ireland should light up indicating a valid move, drop the stack on Ireland to do battle).

Do NOT take your king on this expedition. I did, successfully, but others report mouy mal things happening afterwards. Search for threads on factors affecting province loyalty and/or causes of Civil War.

You cannot get agents into Ireland to assess the size of the rebel army there unless they go whacko and build a port (normally they're too skint). I don't wish to spoil the surprise by telling you the size of the army you're up against, nor the troop types.

I will, however, warn you that although you can beach-land troops without a port to receive them, some twist of logic dictates they cannot get back into the same beached ships they climbed out of. They will not be able to return to the mainland until you have 1) won the battle, 2) completed the siege 3) built another port. Make sure your garrison size back home will be up to scratch after they depart for the invasion.

Needless to say, the absence of a path of retreat means that the army will be lost in its entirety if you lose the battle. I won, so I don't know what the Irish policy on return of prisoners is but ransoming may get some to rematerialise back home, should the worst happen.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

[EatYerGreens]

That one took me so long to write that there were no replies when I started and two other replies by the time I'd finished!

It's a pity that you've ruined the surprise a bit by blabbing about one unit type he might get to meet. He did say it's his first attempt at this battle.

Anyway, the essence is that Ireland isn't just an empty province that you can grab by plopping 60 Urban Militia into it. It appears empty only due to absence of agents. Border watch in Wales or Scotland can't see into it either.

Funnily enough, ships can act as roving border watch towers, to some extent. When your first ship is ready, move it into the Irish Sea zone and, in the following turn, you should be able to see the troop disposition there - numbers as well as quality - and some info about the province.

It goes almost without saying that any troop type which you can build, which other factions cannot even get access to, is an advantage to you since it gives them a problem in finding effective ways to counter it. 'Cheapnis' is another benefit too...

[Uesugi Kenshin]

The other reply was there before I wrote, otherwise I probably wouldn't have thought to mention the Gallowglasses.

For VI Ireland gets a big upgrade (VI campaign only), full faction and some neat and very effective units.

[edyzmedieval]

One problem:

Even if I have a fleet to Ireland, unblocked, i still can't assault Ireland....

[bretwalda]

One problem:

Even if I have a fleet to Ireland, unblocked, i still can't assault Ireland....

You have to have a port in the province you start from and uninterrupted chain of ships toward the Irish sea.

[edyzmedieval]

You have to have a port in the province you start from and uninterrupted chain of ships toward the Irish sea.

I have that also...but nothing.....

[bretwalda]

I have that also...but nothing.....

Try pressing V to see if it is really unblocked. And post a screenie!

[Ace of Spades]

Thanks for the help, everyone. I'll have to try that tonight (or maybe I shouldn't if I'm gonna' get creamed..)

[Maeda Toshiie]

There's a regular poster here who used to have a whole tagline based around

"How do I trade?"
"How do I get to Ireland?"
"Why is the pope such a bar-steward"
Chorus: Viking_mobilise.wav

...so I'm guessing you're the 5,437th person to come here and ask this. No matter.

The full original post:

"viking mobilize 1" is a very stirring piece with interesting lyrics:
(chorus)
How do I trade?
How do I get to Ireland?
(end chorus)
Vikings really had horns!
(chorus)
How do I build footknights?
How? How? How?
Why is the Pope a #@!&%?
(chorus x2)

The (post) lyrics were originally composed by Motorhead, who has unfortunately disappeared (from here and .com) since the end of last year.

[EatYerGreens]

That's the one!

Thanks, Toshiie.

Or is it Maeda? Forename last for Japanese, isn't it? Oh it's so confusing...

[EatYerGreens]

Thanks for the help, everyone. I'll have to try that tonight (or maybe I shouldn't if I'm gonna' get creamed..)

I don't think that's likely to happen. After moving the last ship in the chain into position, you will still have to press end-year before the army move is a valid one. This means that, on the next turn, you will get to see the size of the rebel stack and examine the troop types/quality to assess what sort of invasion force to take.

The only hiccup would be if it turns out you under-estimated how many of your troops this is going to require to be sure of success and, if understocked with troops (remember what I said about the garrison in the province they embark from needs to still be strong enough after they've set off?) then you may have to delay a few years to both mobilise enough of them at your training centres and, perhaps, maneuvre them into the departure point.

You CAN move multiple units from multiple provinces to the target province but this presupposes that you've constructed numerous ports and all the relevant ship routes are valid. If this is very early into the game, that might not be the case e.g. you've only had time/money enough to build just the one.

[PittBull260]

There's a regular poster here who used to have a whole tagline based around

"How do I trade?"
"How do I get to Ireland?"
"Why is the pope such a bar-steward"
Chorus: Viking_mobilise.wav

...so I'm guessing you're the 5,437th person to come here and ask this. No matter.

well some ppl (many) dont feel like searching for it for hours.....

[EatYerGreens]

well some ppl (many) dont feel like searching for it for hours.....

That I can understand.

Also, the thing which draws you to a support forum in the first place is the seemingly insoluble problem, which this is a classic example of.

Either an inbuilt limitation in the forum software being run here or the moderators in their infinite wisdom <fawn,fawn> means that, ironically, the one thing which new members cannot do, until they've done enough posting, is use the search facility!!! <cough>

"Don't plost unnecessary duplicate threads", say just about every forum I've ever visited but this restriction on search until you've contributed X postings is worryingly commonplace. Result: - we get the duplicate postings anyway because the item of knowledge required is the only thing the noob can think of to talk about until they've got that problem licked.

EDIT: typo in bold lettering and it still took me over a day to notice!

[Fabolous]

That I can understand.

Also, the thing which draws you to a support forum in the first place is the seemingly insoluble problem, which this is a classic example of.

Either an inbuilt limitation in the forum software being run here or the moderators in their infinite wisdom <fawn,fawn> means that, ironically, the one thing which new members cannot do, until they've done enough posting, is use the search factility!!! <cough>

"Don't plost unnecessary duplicate threads", say just about every forum I've ever visited but this restriction on search until you've contributed X postings is worryingly commonplace. Result: - we get the duplicate postings anyway because the item of knowledge required is the only thing the noob can think of to talk about until they've got that problem licked.

Hehe, really the search function should be available to everyone, even those who have not posted. Maybe even those who are yet to register.

[EatYerGreens]

Hehe, really the search function should be available to everyone, even those who have not posted. Maybe even those who are yet to register.

No, not for guest users. The main purpose of the restrictions is typically about protection against web-bots and other malicious attacks.

Searches are, apparently, very intensive on the servers, compared to basic posting activity. If a forum is run on rented servers, instead of owned ones, then bandwidth useage affects the monthly charges and searches eat bandwidth. A determined nerk could launch multiple, robotically controlled searches, all anonymously, until the forum crashed. Registration means a valid email address has been given and presumably cookies can track forum activity, so anything detrimental can be traced. Traceability keeps us all honest and well-behaved.

Guest status has to let you see enough forum content to realise it's worth becoming a member but restrict what you can do to read-only as a way of motivating you to register in the first place, otherwise few people would bother to do that and that would make it a very quiet place...

[Fabolous]

No, not for guest users. The main purpose of the restrictions is typically about protection against web-bots and other malicious attacks.

Searches are, apparently, very intensive on the servers, compared to basic posting activity. If a forum is run on rented servers, instead of owned ones, then bandwidth useage affects the monthly charges and searches eat bandwidth. A determined nerk could launch multiple, robotically controlled searches, all anonymously, until the forum crashed. Registration means a valid email address has been given and presumably cookies can track forum activity, so anything detrimental can be traced. Traceability keeps us all honest and well-behaved.

Guest status has to let you see enough forum content to realise it's worth becoming a member but restrict what you can do to read-only as a way of motivating you to register in the first place, otherwise few people would bother to do that and that would make it a very quiet place...

True no one would ever sign up if we gave everything out to guests. And it could be a security concern.
I do think that all registered members should be allowed to use the search function.

[Ace of Spades]

Problem solved. I connected the Irish Sea with some boats and after a turn or two, I was able to view their army. About 300 men, kerns & gallowglasses. Shouldn't be too hard to take.

[DensterNY]

Well, when I first popped up on this board not too long ago it was with similar interests in asking some basic questions. I read Frogbeastegg's extremely valuable guide and picked up more than enough knowledge to get my feet wet but I came here to fill in the gaps in what I knew.

I didn't use the search function but I tried myself to spare people the most basic questions by at least reading my manual, Froggie's guide and also taking an hour or two to read the posts.

Now, I'm the most brutal, cold-blooded, calculated, destructive, conniving, Machiavellan, spiteful, powermonging, blood-lusting, oppressive, war-loving, Egomaniacal, hateful, greedy, paranoid and sociopathic King that has ruled over a nation..... and I have all of you to thank!!! (Sorry, I get a little loopy on Friday plus that Dunkin Donuts Turbo Ice Coffee... like crack, just tastier)

Hehe, seriously though this forum has been awesome in teaching me MTW and I gained such confidence that I began my first campaign on Hard.

[ichi]

Its really not that hard to find things here. There's the guides, which are invaluable, and the Library, which has some useful stuff, and there is the ability to sort threads by post time, title, author, etc.

Some questions do get asked repeatedly, but some of us don't mind going over the same ground with new folks.

It's when there's a thread up on the front page about the same topic and it's clear the new poster didn't take the time to read the FAQs, or look in a guide, that I start to wonder when their last slave died.

ichi