Irish Quandry

[King Kurt]

I am currently playing as the Irish in a hard VI campaign. I own all of Ireland and Wales and a belt across middle England where the Mercians used to be. To the south are the Saxons - very strong with all those Housecarls - and to the north is a mix of Northumbrians, Scots and Vikings - all not that strong.

My original plan was to rebuild my strength as I am quite worn down by defeating the Mercians and having to cope with a civil war which broke out as my King died just as I was finishing off the Mercians and before the new King could build his influence.

However, my plans have been upset by the Northumbrians - who were my allies- invading one of my provinces. All my allies have broken with me as they were allies of Northumbria as well. Most are neutral but the saxons are a bit more aggressive saying don't be agggressive to them.

So here is my problem - I must make war on the Northumbrians - who attacked with 300 men a province which is next to one of my provinces with 4000 men in. However this province has a mutal border with the saxons. So do I leave the Northumbrians in this province and wipe out all their others - which do not have a saxon on their border - or do I just attack the Northumbrians where ever they are. How can I keep peace with the Saxons, as I can't defeat them while at war with anybody else. One last thing - are there any automatic bridge battle sites in the middle of England? - could be handy for me defending against larger numbers.

[Grey_Fox]

What unit size are you on, coz saying you have 4000 men doesn't say how many stacks you have.

If you have 4 stacks, send two to kill Northumbrians. You should be able to beat any size force with just the first sixteen units in your army, as long as it isn't ridiculously outnumbered (i.e. over 4:1).

[King Kurt]

I am on standard sized units, so that is a 4 to 5 stack army. I suppose I could send a 2 stack army with my better troops and general to sort out the Northumbrians, while keeping a deterent against the saxons. i will keep you posted.

[King Kurt]

Well - that worked well - I have had virtually no problems with the Saxons and I have all but wiped out the Northumbrians. The Saxons have invaded 1 province - I am tempted to reinforce the surrounding provinces and leave it at that. I would like to take out the Scots and Picts before starting on the Saxons.

[Martok]

Sweet. I'm glad things are working out well for you. Personally, I would probably go after the Saxons next, as they can very dangerous if they're allowed any time to build up their foces--unless, of course, the Scots and Picts are such easy pickings you can't resist.

[King Kurt]

Pickings north of the border look easy - also I don't think the saxons can build up much as they have a reasonable force already and would need more income - i.e. more provinces - to build a lot more troops. This means that they would have to attack me to get more cash - and I would prefere to meet them initally as a defender as my Irish are stronger that way. A few attritional battles would wear them down before I counterattack. I am the richest - and would be richer after invading Scotland - so I could build quicker than he could. I fancy a few defensive battles based on a line of armoured spears, backed by kerns and bonnacts with a counter attack of gallowglasses to grind down those pesky housecarls. i will keep you posted.

[King Kurt]

What a rollercoaster - the Saxons started attacking me and my attempt at defensive battles to wear them down did not work - my leaders were 1 or 2 stars vs 4 or 5 stars and my troops were low valour vs 4/5 valour Huscarls. My main army was up north - Dere, but my main strong holds were wales and Cerniu. I decided on a new strategy - cut and burn - I moved my main army - 4 stacks and a 6 star leader on the following route - Lindissi, middel engle, East saexe, suth saexe, Dornsaete. in each province the saxons usually retreated, I leveled every building - I was in desparate need of cash and I always moved every year. This meant that I linked up with my forces in the west country and I had moved my fleets - I rule the seas - to support my troops.
By now I had lost Guent and Defet in Wales, but all the rest of Wales was strong. Now comes the good part - first the saxons attacked me in Dornsaete - armies about even, but I had superior general - I win a significant victory, next I assainate the Saxon King - I had been working up a collection of assasins over the last 10 years - then the saxons have a civil war - the same time as the welsh reappear with a massive army in Guent - so in about 3 years the Saxon empire - which looked really strong has fallen into disarray.
So from a position which looked really weak, I have managed to regroup into a strong position and my main enemy looks on his knees. I have already assasinated the Welsh leader and I hope to pick up some bribed Huscarls in the near future.
What has been so good about this campaign is that all my previous campaigns have been similar - build, conquer, build some more, conquer some more etc - you seem to reach a critical mass and the result is inevitable. This time i had to adopt a different approach when I overreached my self and the results and the excitement of the game play was excellent.

[Martok]

Ha! I *told* you to go after the Saxons! See what happens? (Sorry, had to get that out of my system!)

Anyway, that was an awesome way to come back and beat them. It's amazing what a knife in the dark can accomplish. Well done, my friend.

[King Kurt]

Martok - thanks for the kind words - it was an excellent passage of play and the challenge was really testing - for a few years it was just a case of keeping in front of the saxons by constantly moving my multistack army.
My previous VI campaign on this map had been a straightforward affair using the Saxons - build/ conquer/ build/ conquer, so this has been much more enjoyable. The saxons are down, but not out and there is the Welsh to deal with - so there is still plenty of action to come - I will post accordingly. The pressures of a young family and loads of other things means I only get to play for a couple of hours a week - so it may be some time.

[Martok]

Yeah, the Mercians and Saxons--while fun--are generally pretty standard in terms of the whole build/conquer cycle. The Irish unit roster and starting position allows for much more varied strategies, as you have of course discovered. Glad you're having such a good time with it!

The pressures of a young family and loads of other things means I only get to play for a couple of hours a week - so it may be some time.

Hey, no worries. Good things come to those who wait.

[King Kurt]

Latest update from the Irish chronicles:
The saxon kingdom was split in 2 with my 8 star general and army chasing the Saxon king - King Alfred, no less, - across England finally pinning him down in East Angle. Here the Saxon army was put to the sword and King Alfred to boot. This left a few remnants in SE England and a small enclave in the NEast, based on Clwyd and Wrocen Saetan. The Welsh had thrown in with the Saxons at this time with Sumorsaete falling to the Welsh and Pouis, the heart of my Welsh domain under great pressure. With the saxons dispatched in the East, I was able to pull my forces over to defeat the remaining Saxons and the upstart Welsh. So now things look really healthy - I control Ireland, Wales and the southern half of England. I am the richest and have the biggest military force, so the conquest of the rest of England should be easy. However, I fancy trying that take out the Viking's homeland end game with agents and bribery etc - I will let you know what happens.

[King Kurt]

Well, things are going well. I wiped out the Northumbrians, was offered the minor victory which I refused, and started putting spies and emisaries into Scandanavia while I gather my troops to tackle the scots. To my surprise Jutland is weakly held - less than 100 troops and Hordland had rebeled already. Jutland was too higher bribe, but I have just bribed the Hordland rebels on the 2nd attempt. The main Viking force is off with the King in Orcades and they seem short on ships - hence the trouble in the homelands. I think that the end is in sight - I will tidy up scandanavia and beat up the Scots for the ultimate 100% victory.

[Martok]

Sweet! So I take it you've essentially cut off the Viking king from his homelands, yes?

[King Kurt]

I would love to say it was all my efforts, but I am not fully sure why the Viking homelands were in such a bad way. I think I may have helped as I had several naval clashes with the Vikings and tended to win in the long term by numbers. So a shortage of boats - and I assume money - probably led to the Viking King being in Orcades and revolt back home.
This campaign has led me to believe even more that the key to beating the Vikings is to build a navy as soon as possible. The Vikings did not have a single landing on Ireland this game. My navy stretched up the Irish sea and around the north coast of Scotland. This probably led to the Vikings concentrating on the east coast where the economic pickings are not too good. Perhaps I should try the vikings on hard to see how difficult it is to make bridgehead on the English coast and then create an empire from it. I am also wondering as I type if it is possible to grab a couple of islands, build up a trade network for some cash then do a full on invasion. That is the trouble with this game - too many possibilities!! - you could play and play and it still comes up trumps with surprises etc.

[Martok]

Yeah, you're probably right that the Viking king was short of cash. I've seen it happen often enough with other factions that I'm not terribly surprised. After all, it's awfully hard to keep your provinces from rebelling if you can't pay the garrisons you have stationed there.

I agree that naval supremacy is probably the biggest key to beating the Vikings. The Mercians and the Saxons might be somewhat exempt from this rule (due to their superior lands and starting position), but for the other factions I've discovered it's often critical to get boats in the water as soon as you're able. Otherwise it's too easy for the Norsemen to come and plunder your lands.

That is the trouble with this game - too many possibilities!! - you could play and play and it still comes up trumps with surprises etc.

Indeed. It's probably the biggest reason I still play this game, even after 3 1/2 years.

[Tony Furze]

Nice...very nice ...to read a complete thread about the VI game.
Great work, King Kurt. And I ve learnt alot about VI from both you and Martok (Hi there, again!)

I started a Saxon campaign some days ago. I m amazed at how quickly they make money and conquer lands. No sign of the Vikings yet. All the best, TF

[King Kurt]

Tony

Thanks for the kind words - I have been here for just over ayear - and it is a great source of info. I usally start a thread when I have a problem within a campaign and then follow it through as in Irish Quandry. I have always found that there are lots of good people like Martok willing to chip in with excellent advice. if you are fairly new to the game, I would recomend all the faction guides - I have found them to be really useful.

When I played the Saxons, the Vikings turned up in Cantware. i would recomend building boats there ASAP to keep the Vikings at bay. If they do turn up try and have some archers about so you can sit on a hill and pepper any berserkers as they die nicely under missiles. Their huscarles you can counter with yours or just try and overwhelm them with numbers.

Be warned - I have found these bulletein boards to be nearly addictive as MTW!! - enjoy

[Tony Furze]

Thanks for the tips,King.I m a relatively new player-bought the game last year in June.
The Saxon campaign is a bit more successful than my present Spanish campaign.
I ve restarted that several times. Now I ve a loooong holiday, instead of just about an hour a day (not good for a beginner as you tend to forget everything). So I ll be able to devote some time to it. All the best,and look forward to more posts.
This sounds like the place for me.
TF

[drone]

Welcome to the Org, Tony Furze.

There are still some very knowledgeable people (not me though) that hang out here and play Medieval. You should also check out the Guides forum for MTW:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forum...sprune=30&f=47

which contain Froggy's excellent Guides:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=31444
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=31445

These guides are the main reason I joined here in the first place. Hope you enjoy your stay here and hope to hear about some of your MTW experiences.

[Tony Furze]

Thanks ,drone , for the welcome.I ll try not to irritate too much with my noob questions.
King Kurt I ve noted your hints,thanks a lot.TF

[Mithrandir]

There is no such thing as a noob question, only a thing like a noob answer.

Welcome.

[Martok]

Hey, the rest of us are just happy to help. We were all neophytes here at some point; and I in particular have always been very grateful and appreciative of the help and advice I've received from the other more experienced members. I felt that extending the favor in turn to newer players was the least I could do. And while I only speak for myself, I'm pretty sure that most here feel much the same way.

There is no such thing as a noob question, only a thing like a noob answer.

[Roark]

What's Mithrandir doing here? There are no camels in the Viking campaign...



In addition to protective fleets, I have found the Cunnywarren to be most indispensable to my campaigns as ANY English faction. Once you have valour 3 spies stirring up dissent in the Norse lands, it is much harder for them to raid and pillage, because they are constantly needing to supress rebellions at home. It can make things very difficult for them economically, too.

Of course, eventually, the AI figures out that it can build its own spies to foster loyalty, but by then you should have some longboats in the water protecting your coastline.