Different tactics for the English

[gaijinalways]

I'm currently playing an English GA campaign as a refresher course after a layoff from MTW for over a year and a half. I usually find the Welsh difficult to bribe, so I ended up overrunning Wales instead. I also took Flanders and Champagne, and Isle d'France (?).

Now the how is the interesting part. I have used mercenary troops while slowly putting out some troops of my own as well as capturing some buildings (such as a crossbow production site in Burgandy which the Germans happily gave me ). I started off attacking the French, until the pope warned me off, than switched to bothering the Germans. I considered also attacking the Italians, but held off, not wishing to create too many enemies at once.

My question is, how far should I take my combination of slash and burn and the occasional capture of a province? I currently have the above provinces as well as the starting areas except Anjou and another that I 'sacrifised' to take over Isle d'France and Champagne. I just took Switzerland recently and am debating whether to take it's neighboring province as well for the pikemen bonus (I think it's Trivolia, maybe?). I realize that the pikemen will not be useful until later, but in a GA campaign that is okay. I have yet to do a crusade, but it is only year 1114 I think, and I am slowly building up Wales and some of the more productive farming areas.

I have to also consider dropping some of my mercs, though their upkeep keeps dropping as they are lost to attrition , so they are serving their purpose.

[King Kurt]

How is your trade? I would build a fleet/trade network if you do not have one. This enables expansion into Scandanavia and the Iberian Penisula. Are you playing MTW or VI? If VI then no longbows/ bills until 1205, so in GA mode build your trade and expand slowly for a bill and bow blitzkreig come 1205. With a strong navy, Crusading becomes easier as otherwise you have to plod across Europe - good fun for stripping troops out of the other faction's armies, but somebody always ends up fighting you and it can be difficult to get to the Holy Land.
So broadly I would suggest some building with a few diversions before you come into your own in the 1200's.

[Ciaran]

I agree with King Kurt, if you plan on doing the Crusade goals, it´s important you get your navy set up. Your crusades stand a way better chance of being sucessful if they go by sea instead of land.

Having Switzerland is a great advantage, as from 1205 you´ll be able to recruit Swiss Halberdiers there, and they´re on par with the English Billmen (and since you´re playing the English, you´ve got the monopoly on good polearm units). Pikemen don´t come around until the start of the Late era in 1321, and they need too much of a buildup to be truly used in a regular way, so taking Tyrolia isn´t worth the trouble, in my opinion. Anyways, once they do come around, you can get Swiss Pikes and Swiss Armoured Pikes, and (I think) those are better than even the +1 valor pikemen you can get in Tyrolia.

[Sensei Warrior]

A fav strategy of mine is to take Toulouse (I think its Toulouse, its the Provence just above Aragon), which is a port Provence in the Med, and make it into a ship building city, along with a Chapter House. Start producing your ships in the interior of the Med to the Provences you plan on Crusading to. Once that is done, stage and launch Crusades from Toulouse straight to the Holy Lands.

You can get to the first provence with 7 ships. Once you can build ships and Crusades it will take 25 years for Toulouse to make the connection to Crusade objectives all by itself (21 years to build the ships + 4 years to build the Crusade). The rest of your provences can use that time to build up their infrastructure and the Crusading armies.

This is standard but don't forget to make nice efficient borders so you can use less men to protect them. I find the Friesland, Lorraine, Burgandy, Toulouse line very nice, but you have already pushed into Switz. Remember Navarre has Iron (I think) and Aragon can be annoying with all their Royal Knights.

Good Luck!

[ajaxfetish]

Another bonus to holding Toulouse would be that as soon as the High era rolls around, you get a nice valor bonus for your Chivalric knights there. Also, all the northern Spanish provinces have iron (Castile, Leon, Navarre, and Aragon), which can be very helpful, and you can build jinettes, which are nice for crusades in most if not all Iberian provinces).

Ajax

[Alexios]

if you plan on doing the Crusade goals, it's important you get your navy set up. Your crusades stand a way better chance of being sucessful if they go by sea instead of land.

I will second that (or am I the third now?). In order to succeed, you're gonna have to quickly take and retain command of the seas. Not only will this help your crusading, but it will also help you establish trade routes, thereby bringing in tons of cash to feed your efforts. I usually try and keep about 3 to 4 coastal provinces churning out ships throughout most of the game. And don’t make the mistake I made once - when it appeared I had established decent shipping lanes, I stopped cranking out the ships. No sooner did I do that when the Byz fleets came along and started blasting away everything I had. Just keep building them, and upgrade whenever new technology comes along.

Another thing I've noticed while playing the English - no matter what you do, you will never be friends with the French, HRE, or Spanish. So I try to eliminate the French as quickly as possible (thereby providing me with additional coastal provinces in which to build ships), then go after the HRE. After I've eliminated those two, I usually find that the AI will allow me to peacefully co-exist with the Italians, Sicilians, Poles, and the Papacy, as long as I don’t do anything to p--- off of the Pope, that is.

But the Spanish are a different bunch. As the English, I find them to be a constant pain in the rear-end. They will never leave you alone. They will constantly poke away at you. And I have found it difficult to eliminate them due to their formidable armies and the fact that the Pope will whine and complain anytime you take some action against them. So I try to build up strong fortifications as quickly as possible in Aquitaine and Tolouse, and maintain fairly sizeable defensive armies in those 2 provinces.

[Ciaran]

Yes, Navarra is a crucial province in the English campaign, it´s the only one with iron the English have quick access to and it´s rebel-controlled in the beginning. Tolouse is also good to capture once you´re at war with the French, both for the bonus on Chivalric Knights (if you´re in early try to build up Tolouse so you can get Chivalric Knights there as soon as High era starts) and for access to the Mediterrean. Aragon is a good province to capture as well, if need be, it gives you iron and rids you quickly of a rival faction which otherwise can be irritating you with raids.

[gaijinalways]

The trade aspect can be important, though surprisingly I have won campaigns on expert where I didn't really build up trade at all. The building up the navies for the crusades (and trade as an incidental for cash) is a good idea. Often crusades stall, so if I wish to get more points, it's a good point to bear in mind.

As to getting better provinces for resources, I am on my way. I am considering wiping the French out soon to get Anjou and Aquitaine (two of the provinces the English start with), but I may have to wait. I was considering wiping them out right away and taking on the pope, but I think I may change my strategy and take some rebel lands that appeared in Toulose and a neighboring province after I pushed the HRE around (who I am at peace with now) and finish sacking the Italians (poor Venice is still burning).

Thanx for the advice guys.