How to win in Viking Campaign

[Budwise]

I have beat the Viking campaign with a 100% using the Irish, Welsh, Viking, and Scots and unless you are playing the Vikings, to win easily do the following. To test my theory, I gave the vikings 9999 starting Florins and by doing that, they stay around the entire game. Here is the 10 commandments of VI. I didn't add tips for the Vikings because if you are good at all, you probably don't need them. I found these out playing HARD.

1. On turn two, DESTROY EVERY NO LANDLOCKED (Edited for clarification) ABBEY you have. Yes, you will lose some income but the Vikings will leave you alone this way, plus, its better to get a 1000 florins than to give the Vikings 2000.

2. Farms = Money, after your boarders are protected and you have a good 30 years to build, mass farm build. I have never been so amazed in this game than when I was just breaking even to being filthy rich in just 10 turns do to this.

3. Use the Vikings to your advantage, for instance, try to ally with them. If you are the Irish then Shipbuild spam until you outnumber the Vikings ships three to one. By doing this, I have in two of my campaigns effectively used the Vikings as a second army. They not only won't attack you because you would cripple their only source of income (Raiding) by blockcading their ships but they will often join you in battle. It is so sweet to see the Vikings Elite units working with you to crush someone else instead of against you.

4. If against a superior force like if you are playing Welsh and the Saxons attack you. Mass spam any unit in all provinces possible and try to take two of their terriories in one turn. Most often, this will cause a civil war. Try whatever you can to kill their king or better yet, cut him off from the empire. If you do take their land, SLASH AND BURN is a great way of neutering your enemy. Remember, war isn't about killing off their army - its killing all their options but to surrender.

5. If the Vikings do attack, try to hold the territory you have or at least garrison. Then hit them back NEXT TURN with everything you have in the surrounding areas. If you do this right, you can attack back when they try to defend and hopefully take on many Viking Prisoners. I would suggest Ransoming them back because to kill the Vikings, you must destroy their money, not units.

6. Unlike the original MTW campaign. The AI usually stays with you on your Tech advances, so don't expect a 16 unit army to destroy a 30 unit because even knowing your tech is higher than theirs, its not by that much.

7. Trading is worthless in my opinion, if you aren't the Irish or about to attack Ireland, don't build a boat. You might provoke the Vikings to sink it and start a war. While your at it, don't build Traders/Merchants either. By the time you have the buildings built you won't have a trading partner due to war.

8. Save Ireland for last. The Irish usually stay on that island without moving but they mass spam on units. Don't waist your units unless you have the main island to yourself.

9. Mercs own here. If you have the money, hire them in legions.

10. Thats basically it, due to no mass rebellions, smaller map, and more fun tech tree, 60% is a copout - a true victory is 100%.

[Budwise]

Excuse my grammar and spelling, I am just too tired to fix it.

[Weebeast]

Don't build a boat? The Irish will eventually try to land on mainland near the end so you need a boat to cut off their rolling army. They'll send about 6 full stacks on one turn once the war is declared.

I played as Saxons last time, my first game too, and I didn't have enough ships to cut off the Irish. Well, they were taking out rebels in the north but I just had to stop them. The other factions (Scots, Picts) were losing badly against rebels, turtling in little provinces up north. In result, I lost more than 6 provinces in midwest region. I did recover from the blitz after couple nasty battles but I ran out of time and lost the campaign lol.

[Ludens]

Excellent work, Budwise.

However, how are you going to make money as the Picts? Their farm income is lousy and trying to upgrade it is wasting money, so they need their abbeys.

[Vladimir]

The Picts' abbeys don't seem to last long when I play them. Maybe a large garrison would help.

[Patron]

"1. On turn two, DESTROY EVERY ABBEY you have. Yes, you will lose some income but the Vikings will leave you alone this way, plus, its better to get a 1000 florins than to give the Vikings 2000."

"2. Farms = Money, after your boarders are protected and you have a good 30 years to build, mass farm build. I have never been so amazed in this game than when I was just breaking even to being filthy rich in just 10 turns do to this."

Bad idea, in the long term you're better off with them, it's sometime cheaper to build them in provinces without basic farms. To get rid of vikings cheaply...

Build a navy using your most technologically advanced coastal province as quickly as possible nad keep on churning out cheap ships to cover all your coastal provinces. Vikings never attack your navy for some reason. You can neuter them a lot more cheaply this way.

Build a decent army of spearmen and cavalry to begin with, then your factions elite troops later on. Generally pwn everyone in battles and conquer provinces strategically so you have to defend little and can put more into offfense.


I agree with 3, except ship build spam no matter what faction you are.

I also agree with 4, 5, 7, 8 and 10

I've never noticed the AI tech up very much and mercenaries are only really needed when they are mounted noblemen or some vicious viking unit.

[Budwise]

"
I've never noticed the AI tech up very much and mercenaries are only really needed when they are mounted noblemen or some vicious viking unit.

Really, I have seen them tech hard before, just never receieve their biggest unit. Like if they play Welsh, they will have everything but Welsh Bandits. Also, the Vikings attack my ships all the time and unless I have them outnumbered, I always will lose my fleet.

[Budwise]

Also, I have never played the Picts so I can't comment on them but as a general strategy, what I suggested usually does work.

Against the Vikings, the Picts are the first to lose the ABBEYS. If you must keep one, keep the Landlocked one.

[ajaxfetish]

An alliance with the Vikings is your best defense against them. If you have that you can build abbeys reasonably safely, especially once you have enough ships in the water to shield your shores. Abbeys make for a big income boost much faster than farming which is especially valuable in poor farming areas.

Otherwise I agree with most everything, though as some factions (scots, welsh) attacking Ireland early on can be very beneficial. Once you have it it's basically safe from attack by anyone except Vikings (who you are hopefully allied to), and has very good farming income compared to the poorer Welsh and Scottish lands.

Ajax

[Budwise]

An alliance with the Vikings is your best defense against them. If you have that you can build abbeys reasonably safely, especially once you have enough ships in the water to shield your shores. Abbeys make for a big income boost much faster than farming which is especially valuable in poor farming areas.

Otherwise I agree with most everything, though as some factions (scots, welsh) attacking Ireland early on can be very beneficial. Once you have it it's basically safe from attack by anyone except Vikings (who you are hopefully allied to), and has very good farming income compared to the poorer Welsh and Scottish lands.

Ajax

In my game as the Scots, I lost Ireland very quickly so I can't comment on that. Yeah, well after you get ships in the water and can waste they years for an abbey, then go for it. But honestly, even with the 266 dollars a year, you still have to wait 12 years to build it and another 7-8 years (Too Lazy to do the math.) to get your money back, I don't feel like wasting all those years when I can build something I need now.

[Budwise]

If you can hold Ireland as the Scots, BY ALL MEANS DO IT. I just couldn't pull it off. Just don't kill off your mainland to do it.

[ajaxfetish]

Yeah, well after you get ships in the water and can waste they years for an abbey, then go for it. But honestly, even with the 266 dollars a year, you still have to wait 12 years to build it and another 7-8 years (Too Lazy to do the math.) to get your money back, I don't feel like wasting all those years when I can build something I need now.

An Abbey costs 2000 florins and takes 12 years to build, and after that grants a significant income reliably every year regardless of how poor the province is.

A forest clearing costs 1500 florins and takes 16 years, basic farms means another 1500 florins and 16 years, 20% is another 600 florins and 6 years, and 40% is another 800 florins and 8 years. Full farming upgrades cost you 4400 florins and take 46 years to complete. And in a poor province you still won't be getting much return for that investment. I don't see how the abbey is a waste. Compared to other Viking-era options, it seems like very fast cash. Plus it increases happiness and Catholic faith in its province.

Once you have basic farms in place it doesn't take too long or cost too much to finish the upgrades, and of course farming is the foundation of a Viking-era economy, but in my early game it's the abbeys giving me the cash to build those farm upgrades, along with whatever military or political buildings "I need now."

Ajax

[Roark]

Interesting ideas. Thanks.

I tend to build ships for transport, and blocking sea attacks, rather than trade.

[Budwise]

Thats why I love this game so much, you can play how you choose. Personally, the quick thousand helps a lot more for me and as long as I keep the Vikings from attacking, I tend to have enough money. But, if you can hold your Abbeys, then your strategy is better than mine. I forgot to mention that I do build and keep abbeys in LANDLOCKED territories. I find that they get raided a lot less and I keep them for longer.

What I wrote is just a guideline that I follow when I play VI. Its not edged in stone so take what you can use and discard the rest. Its just what I use to play and from the feedback, a lot of its good.

I have just seen so many strategies for the Main campaign and I have never seen a guideling for VI - so I made one.

[King Kurt]

I have just started my first VI campaign and so far, so good. I choose the Saxons - purely because one of their starting provinces is where I live! ( that nice diamond shaped island just off the South coast of England) - mind you, now I have built a few, those Huscarles are OK aren't they!! To begin, I conquered the rebel provinces to secure the south coast and made an alliance with the welsh and scots. I then built up resources and troops - principally Fyrd with some archers and when I can build them Huscarles. Inns are very important - I concentrate on getting Gallowglasses, Kern and good cavalry. The Gallows and cav are obvious but the Kern are a nice unit to have due to their armour piercing ability. They sit behind the shield wall, wait until the Huscarles - or even better royal cav - close with the shield wall and then they pelt the appropiate unit with javs.

So after the build up - don't forget to include a few spys assassins etc - it is time to stuff the Mercians. I have had 1 large battle with them where my shield wall stood nicely, my Huscales, backed by Royal cav broke their line and I routed the whole army, killing the King at the same time. Key event - the Kern + archers showering the Mercian's King's unit with missles to kill him while he was fighting a unit of Fyrd.

Two more things of note.
1) The reason for taking Cantabrae (eastern most south coast province) is to build up a small navy to seal the English channel.
2) I have had 1 Viking raid so far. Initially I was worried - I only had 1 unit of Fyrd and 1 unit of archers and the Vikings had beserkers, huscarles, spears and carl.I then noticed that all the units were small, so I deployed to wards the back of the deployment area so they had to come over a lot of open ground, up hill to attack me. My archers shot up the danger units - beserkers and huscarles, so the time they got to me they were so shot up - I had killed all the beserkers and Huscarles - that my Fyrd made short work of them - about 6 Vikings made it back to the boats!!!

So far, so good - only set back - the Abbey I had built got destroyed by a storm the year it was finished.

[Roark]

Nice work.

Berserkers are horrible if they get in close...

[m52nickerson]

So far, so good - only set back - the Abbey I had built got destroyed by a storm the year it was finished.

Arrows to kill main viking force - 120 FL
Cost to train and arm Fyrds - 200 FL
Price of victory party after winning - 350 FL
Humor in having you Abby destroyed by a storm two months later - priceless.

[King Kurt]

Arrows to kill main viking force - 120 FL
Cost to train and arm Fyrds - 200 FL
Price of victory party after winning - 350 FL
Humor in having you Abby destroyed by a storm tow months later - priceless.

Suffice to say, I managed to stiffle the chuckle!! - but it didn't take the edge of stuffing the Mercians - next stop Birmingham and the M6

[Ludens]

Arrows to kill main viking force - 120 FL
Cost to train and arm Fyrds - 200 FL
Price of victory party after winning - 350 FL
Humor in having you Abby destroyed by a storm tow months later - priceless.

[miho]

Arrows to kill main viking force - 120 FL
Cost to train and arm Fyrds - 200 FL
Price of victory party after winning - 350 FL
Humor in having you Abby destroyed by a storm tow months later - priceless.

Some things cannot be bought by florins for everything else there's M:TW VI.

[King Kurt]

The Abbey going must have been a sign - MTW has excommunication - Viking campaign must have acts of God!! I went for 3 Mercian provinces at once, in 2 they ran away, the other they stayed and fought. Foolishly, I miss judged the balance of forces, autocalced as I was keen to get to get on - and lost. Next year the Vikings invade Cantware again - another mistake, I had 2 boats in Dofras Sund, I should have put 1 in Seaxe sea - this time they brought their friends - 2 units of beserks, 1 of huscarles and 1 full strength Viking Carl. Despite my archers and Fyrd doing their bit, they were overrun. Also the Welsh - no doubt attracted by various illuminated manuscripts of sheep in provocative poses - invade Defnas.
Over the next couple of years I adjust things around - I have a break - Cantware has a loyalist revoult so I pick up a couple of units for nothing and clear up the remaining Vikings - who were trapped by my navy covering both sea areas now. I also get lucky with an assasin - I had been producing them in Defnas, so there were a few about - he kills the Welsh King which makes him a 3 star overnight. H e is now strolling round the SW peninsula killing all in sight. So things look a bit better - I have invaded and taken Guent - then my king dies - natural causes I hasten to add. No problems with an hier - but I have had a warning about general's loyalty, so I will have to attend to that - any suggestions?

[miho]

but I have had a warning about general's loyalty, so I will have to attend to that - any suggestions?

you can make him a governor of a province which increases loyalty. You can also get him out of the stack so if he goes rebel he doesn't take the whole stack with him. You can also kill him if he's not so good.

[King Kurt]

The warning implied generals - not 1 in particular. I will look to do the things suggested, but I wondered if doing things like building a royal mint might help - do these affect just the province they are in or does it affect the whole faction??

[King Kurt]

The warning implied generals - not 1 in particular. I will look to do the things suggested, but I wondered if doing things like building a royal mint might help - do these affect just the province they are in or does it affect the whole faction??

[Ludens]

The warning implied generals - not 1 in particular. I will look to do the things suggested, but I wondered if doing things like building a royal mint might help - do these affect just the province they are in or does it affect the whole faction??

No, they provide you with a title you can give to a general in addition to a provincial title. The title does nothing except adding stats to the general.

The best way to increase the loyalty of generals is to increase your influence. You do this by succesfully conquering provinces and by crusading. Also relieving sieges of allied castles helps.

Another option is to start building all kinds of cheap, quick-to-construct buildings and acquire the magnificent builder virtue.

Thirdly, you can distribute titles and wed your princesses to important generals (meaning the ones commanding the armies). Unfortunatly, this also means stripping others of their titles, making them disloyal in turn. Keeping suspected traitors in the king's stack also helps, but this makes them unavailable for frontline duty. They also won't get any governement related V&V's anymore. These go to the stack leader, in this case the king.

Lastly, you can separate disloyal general and make sure that the stacks are lead by incompetent but loyal ones. I consider this rather cheesy, though.

[Budwise]

you can make him a governor of a province which increases loyalty. You can also get him out of the stack so if he goes rebel he doesn't take the whole stack with him. You can also kill him if he's not so good.

A quick fix is that you won't have a civil war if all your heirs and former heirs are in the SAME STACK AS YOUR KING. No leader, no mass civil war.

[Deus Ex]

A quick fix is that you won't have a civil war if all your heirs and former heirs are in the SAME STACK AS YOUR KING. No leader, no mass civil war.

As an added bonus, over time, in the same stack as your king, they will improve in loyalty.

DE

[miho]

As an added bonus, over time, in the same stack as your king, they will improve in loyalty.

DE

Nice thread linking. We discussed loyalty increasing before.

[amagi]

I created a harder version of the Viking campaign, set later. It can be installed alongside the original and without affecting any game settings. The Scots and Northumbrians are the most difficult choices.

http://www.3ddownloads.com/strategy-...Army_Amagi.zip

The campaign is intended to be played at the expert level of difficulty. It begins in 867, with the Great Army in possession of York, and ends in 1016, when Cnut's invasion and conquest made England part of his Viking kingdom.

[Legorreto]

I have just finished a VI Campaign as de Vikings... OUTRAGEOUS UNITS!...

Here's my story. I started training infantry units, just infantry: Carks, to be specific. And they were quite a blast. I made an army of 10 units. On the other province I started building and sending boats throughout the east coast of the British Islands. When both, army and boats were ready, I started raiding all the coast, north through south and getting as much money as possible. It wasn't that difficult as most of the provinces are still rebels or very weak (except Mercs and Saxons) I gathered so much money I could start building and developing my lands very efficiently, and as soon as I noticed the money level coming down I started a new raid again to all those weak provinces on rich factions and started all over again. This would take me about 30 - 40 turns, but, believe me, it is very profitable.

By the end of those 30 - 40 turns, I had achieved such a developed land that no one would equal me. And I wouldn't really matter on being raid as others can not approach the Viking lands.

I never needed to train other units but Carls. They are very cheap to build and keep. The only ones I would train are the Peasants to start colonizing as I came conquering Britain. At the end of the game I got the 100% of the British islands and only using infantry units: Viking Carls and Peasants, and having all other factions laying to my feet.

This was Vikings. I don't know how it would work with other factions. Try and let me know.