Venice

[Alexander: The hellenic empire]

I am currently playing a the Venicians and I am having a lot of trouble with the Mongols who are blasting down through Europe. I have been successful in defending my castles with archery but cannot match their missile cavalry in field battles. Does anyone have any advice for defeating the Mongols.

Thanks,

I have also found out that getting hold of the new continent is not as easy as it seems. Any advice for this would be great.

I hope I'm not asking for too much.

I also hope you are having as much fun as me while playing, most probably, the best game ever.

[Il Duce]

Here's my strategy (or what I have been doing for the last 50 turns):

1)Establish a strong trade economy with your neighbors quickly--especially with your Italian buddies...establish alliances with them to keep a period of peace on the peninsula; while you're at it, send out diplomats to secure your relationship with the more powerful nations like Byzantium...this will ensure that you will have at least 30 or so turns before you start getting harassed by them

2)Take over the rebel provinces--in the order of: Florence, Durazzo, Zagreb, Rhodes...Florence and Durazzo are the most important ones.

3)Send out several merchants to monopolize the resources in your peninsula.

4)Once you have a sizeable income, start building your army with more expensive units...also you should now have some cavalry units that you got as a gift from your council of nobles if you've taken some of the rebel states.

5)After building a sizeable army, take them over to Genova and kick some ass...in my case it was just some Milanese general there so it was easy...

6)Establish order in the new city, then march your guys over to Milan and burn that to the ground.

...that's as far as I've gotten...Milan has been pushed back further north and I have control over parts of the northern mediterranean and the alpine provinces...I plan to conquer the Sicilians and control the peninsula...after that, I don't know where I should go...the Byzantines and their cavalry archers are pesky to deal with (especially with a militia-heavy army) and HRE is still a bit too powerful for me to deal with...it'd be nice if i can monopolize the entire mediterranean...

[Wizzie]

Why Play Venice?

Venice is possibly one of the most interesting factions to play, not only for their fantastic militia armies, but also their ideal position near the seat of the holy see and the edge of the Christendom; within easy striking distance of the fabulously rich Asia Minor territories and their inhabiting infidels.
This gives you many options at the very start of your campaign. Should you take up the crusader's cross and bring the light of Christianity to the heathens across the adriatic? Set your economy on overdrive and become the trading hub of the mediterranean? Or, set your sights on Europe and crush the Christian Monarchs under your elegant velvet bootheel? Each is possible.

Short Term Goals - Early Game

Although it is tempting to band your militia armies together and ride off to sack Thesalonica and Constantinople right at the very beginning, your first priorities lie in securing you borders. Although the Council of Nobles will scream for you to annex Zagreb and Durazzo, neither is particularly wealthy or provide any significant advantages other than to over-expand your borders at a time when you are quite vulnerable. If the Council does offer a reward for the capture of either, it is worthwhile to send a token force to sack the settlements before abandoning them and leaving them to rebel. You will need all the troops you can get for the Peninsular war which will shortly be coming to a head.

The Nettle in the Bushes - Bologna

Bologna is the most pressing and tricky problem you will first have to deal with. Not only does it have a powerful Imperial Army, complete with an Emperor with an unhealthy hankering for Gondollas and Venetian girls, but it also lies between you and Florence. Although some think that Florence is a waste of time, I would strongly disagree. Not only does it expand your power base in sub-Alpine Italy, but also gives you access to the West coast of the peninsula. And this will be vital for creating various fleets, and for any military ambitions on the islands of the med, specifically Ajaccio and Cagliari.
So, one of your first orders of business should be to march your army of merchants and tradesmen over to Florence and force the resident duke to bow to the power of the Doge. However, to do this without dealing with Bologna will result in your various armies tramping all over the Emperor's lands. Understandably, soon enough he'll get annoyed at you and feel inclined to send his Germanic armies off to stick sharp things in your face.
You have three options:

1. Ignore him and induce the pointy things outcome.
2. Sack Bologna and start an early war with a powerful Empire.
3. Buy Bologna from the Imperials for 1000 florins for 6 turns.

Of the three, I would usually pick the third options. Not only does it remove one faction from the inevitably inter-Italian wars, but also gives you a few mercenary crossbow units for free and delivers the city of Bologna into your sweaty little palms.
However, if you do opt for the sack and pillage option, be prepared to suffer the Pope's displeasure and take on a powerful entity early on. Not really recommended for beginners.
In any case once you have Bologna you will be rated as quite a powerful faction, and it is worth trying to eek out every Florin of everybody when it comes to eary-game diplomacy. Giving away Map Information, trade rights or alliances; be a proper Venetian entreupener, sell anything you can for extortionate prices and buy anything you reckon you can flog on for a profit.

The Snake in the Grass - Milan

By now you should have Venice, Bologna, Florence, and the castle at Ragusa under your control, and you should be concentrating on building up ports, roads, farming and markets in each to maximise your income. If you are a person of a certain agressive and tyrannicaly nature, you can go for Milan straight away and try to throttle them before they become too much of a problem. However, I found it more leisurely and slightly more devious to churn out some heavy militia spearmen armies and wait for their inevitably attack on me.
While you wait, you should send some token forces to capture the island settlements of Ajaccio and Cagliari. Personally, I converted them to settlements as I thought they would turn into cash-cows later on (which they did), but I also see some merit in leaving one as a castle to support any military operations around Northern Italy, as Ragusa is quite far away. Alteratively, you can convert Florence to a castle to serve this function, but I think the islands are the better option (Florence will develop as a city quicker than the islands will). However, if you're confident enough you needn't bother turning any into castles, as Venice' militia armies are more than adequate to deal with any threats.
Once Milan attacks, repulse them with your militia armies and pounce on Genoa and Milan as soon as possible. At this early stage it is probably better to sack these settlements, as you could use the cash, but watch out for his Popeness. If Milan have expanded across the Alps, I would be reluctant to follow them. The tactic I would use is to capture Bern (as they usually will expand to Bern and then Dijon) and gift it to the Papal states, meaning you have a buffer between your little powerbase beneath the alps and your marauding enemies. Another plus to this tactic is that the Pope thinks you're the best thing since Jesus.

Fortress Italy

Now you have all of Northern Italy under you control, woohoo!
A major advantage that is often overlooked is that there are only around six to seven passes allowing access into this little money-printing region with it's big, wealthy cities. Since I wanted to move my conquests towards the Byzantine Empire at this stage, I created "Fortress Italy" by blocking all the passes with forts, garrisoned by a unit or two of cheap militia. Remember these forts arn't there to withstand any serious attacks, just to deter any wandering armies or to delay any would-be-invaders long enough for you to scrape a stack together. Once you have the money, it's worth creating a heavy espionage network with a spy in each of your Italian cities (they will be magnets to spies of the other Christian factions - and the less unrest in your cities the more you can tax them), and also spies in each neighbouring settlement on the other side of the alps. This way you can spot any invasions before it's too late.

The Mafia - Sicilians

By this stage Sicily will be hankering for some land and will probably attack you (if they havn't already). If you've been smart, you've been building up a nice, elite, small army in Ragusa. If you havn't, well you should have. Ship this castle army over to mainland Italy to take on whatever mob the Sicilians have sent against you, and hiring some mercenaries/getting some reinforcements from nearby settlements, march on Naples. Don't pause for too long in this conquest, as Sicily can be quite tenacious and have a good early-game unit roster. It's best to hit them early and fast with units like armoured spearmen that can withstand their Norman Knights/Muslim Archers combo. After a quick jaunt across to Sicily to storm Palermo (Note: the conquest of the Sicilians was a prolonged affair in my campaign because I didn't plan for it and I induced Papal interference. However, that's no reason for yours to go the same way. Know and plan for this war from the first few turns) you should be sitting sweet.

Now what?

Now you have several options. You can sally across the Alps and storm Europe, or head off and conquer the Byzantines (this is a lucrative prospect). Alternatively, you can use Palermo as a staging post for conquering North Africa, and move towards either the Iberian Peninsula or towards the Holy Lands. The advantage of starting with Crete and being within striking distance of Rhodes is that you have the perfect launch pad for Crusades - and you should exploit this. Not only do Crusades gain you favour, but turns your characters into Gods among men and make you very, very rich.

In any case, by this case you campaign will have panned out in it's own unique way and the way forward is really up to you, so happy conquering

[TevashSzat]

This is a blitz strategy that I have found to be very effective. I play as vh/vh.

First turn, use faction heir's army to take Zagreb. Leave one unit in it and send the rest of the army towards Durazzo. Build up three cavalry from Ragusa. Send faction leader in Venic with all garrison except for one peasent archer right next to Bologna as far as you can go. The army should be at 9 o'clock from the city if you did it right. Recruit militia in Venice.

Second turn, use everything in Ragusa except for one unit of peasent archers and go towards Durazzo. What will happen with HRE is that they will send an army right in front of your faction leader as if they are trying to block your passage through that mountain pass. Don't try to get to Florence another way but attack the army that came out. The fight is not that hard since they have lots of peasant archers. Key thing is to fight the army that is the smallest first whether it is reinforcements or the artmy that you attacked. If you do things correctly and kill a routers, sack Bologna. Leave one of your weakest units in there are move the rest to siege Florence. Hire all of the mercenaries you can at Florence.

Third turn, take Durazzo with army from Ragusa. Take Florence and sack it too. Turn it into a castle. This is very important later on. Leave one unit in Florence and go for Genoa. Siege it. Hire more cavalry in Ragussa.

Fourth turn, you might have to fight a battle with your faction leader against any army that attacks you, but Milan usually sends an army up towards Bern so there shouldn't be any heavy resistance. Sack Genoa too. Warning around this time Pope should be asking you to stop fighting Milan or get excommunicated, but continue. You can easily get reconciled later with your huge amounts of money. Meld heir army, cavalry from Ragusa, and the army that took Durazzo togeather and move towards Thessaloinca. Leave one unit in Durazzo. Remember to keep on building units in Venice to garrison the cities you conquered.

Fifth turn, stay put in Italy and build up your army. Milan might besiege Venice or Genoa, but you should be able to hold it easily. Get your general and two spear militia from Crete, hire mercs, and send it towards Corinth by boat.

Sixth turn, your faction heir army should besiege Thessaloinca and the army from Crete, Corinth. Set up for an attack on Milan.

Seventh turn, sack Thessaloinca and Corinth and besiege Milan. Turn Corinth into a city since you won’t get attacked there with this strategy. Move everything you can in Corinth up towards Thessaloinca.

Eighth turn, sack Milan. The Milan faction should be destroyed.

After this, use your army in Thessaloinca and head for Constantinople. It should be at least a half a stack and hire any mercenaries you can while fighting. There will be at least two stacks of Byzantine you have to fight, but they are not really tough fights since you should have three generals in your army as well as lots of other cavalry units. Remember to gang up on the horse archers with all of your cavalry first. Once they are out, rest of battle is easy as you can just charge the enemy infantry from behind. It is very likely that the army there becomes too weak to fight anymore at that point I suggest you head north and take Sofia which the Byzantines should have. Use that to retrain troops and build an army for Constantinople. In Italy, take the two island cities and then aim for Sicily. At the same time, try to get reconciled with the pope by giving him money. I had to give him 8000 for reconciliation, but I had like 25000 money already so I wasn’t really worried.

One important note is that try to get a ceasefire with HRE. If you don’t fast enough, they will get an alliance with Byzantine Empire at that time which its incredibly hard to get peace and then they will try to drag other factions into the fight. At one point in my campaign, I was against a five faction alliance against me. They were HRE, France, Sicily, Hungary, and Byzantine Empire. If you cannot get peace with HRE, it is important to take Innsbruck just north of Italy since if you don’t it will keep on pumping troops out for the HRE to attack you in Italy. Hungary will probably show up in front of Zagreb with a full stack, but you can hold the city by having around five or six militia units in it. All you do is position them around the gate and when they break the gate down, the whole army will rush in the gate which you will have surrounded. They enemy will be easy to defeat from there . I have defeated a full stack with around 1000 troops with only about 350 militia with this strategy. It is highly effective. Sicily will go for Bologna with a full stack if they declare war on you so put a decent sized garrison in it, but defence strategy would still be the same as Zagreb.

[Nepereta]

Starting Moves

Roleplaying: Crusader

Diplomacy:

1) Visit Bologna with diplomat buy Bologna off germans + offer maps + trade and allaince. Best way to buy is a perhaps around 2500 for 2 turns or so. (It varies please experiment)

2)Send diplomat to secure allainces with Pope ( offer Military access + Maps + trade + alliance) Offer each gift seperately for more bonus should get perfect rating.

3) Send diplomat to secure allaince + trade with sicily and milan.

4) Send diplomat to ally +trade with every single catholic faction.

5) Always keep your word. Make sure that allainces are broken by others and don't communicate at all with those you intend to fight early on. I got a reliable diplomatic rating for this and it makes it a lot easier in the game if people always trust your word.

Aggression:

1)

• send faction leader with the x-bows to take florence.
• take the two rebel territories to the east using your other generals.
• Take the small rebel island to the north east of your island.

2)

• Trigger crusade versus Tunis. Pope standing should be high enough.
• Send faction leader + x-bows from bologna + enough mercs to trigger minimum crusade army on florence coast.
• Hire cheap crusader boats on the coast
• go straight to tunis and take it.
• on the way back try to take out the two small rebel islands between tunis and florence.

Bring your faction leader back to venice and sit pretty with the huge pop(chiv) bonus in your homelands.

Now take a breather from fighting and build up for war:

The target is byzantium
To remain diplomatically reliable never enter or agree to talks with them

I used the following bases:
X-Bow Militia + It Milita in venice
Ballista then catapults in Bologna
Armoured Sargeants + Peasants in Raguza.
I built priests in a variety of locations and stacked them together in a horde which I nickname the god squad.
And I built lots of boats everywhere.

Attacking byzantium:


Its harder fighting them outside due to the huge numbers of horse archers they seem to tote. I would advise taking a castle or city at one end of their empire and then attacking the other using marine attacks.

I went for south greece castle first and watched their stacks approach it. Then I attacked nicae and constantinople.

Its important to bring your own artillery as it will save you a turn.( I started build ballista workshop on turn 1)

Once you have byzantium the world is your oyster. Remember to trickle a giant and growing god squad(preist horde) through your territories rapid conversion is the second phase of a true crusader.

I took another breather until rome asked for an antioch crusade.

NB rebel held antioch yields the holy lance (spear of destiny)

Ended up fighting the egyptians. Milan just got xcommed thinking about starting to fight them but we share many allainces unfortunately.

[RtkBedivere]

Has anybody on the venice campain tried to completely ignore the papalcy. I started out caring then kinda slipped of. I have priests in my estern territories so that i dont riot as offten but i just dont see much use for it. Now i can also expan much more easliy in europe as i dont have the pope on my back.

im just wondering if I will get destroyed in a couple turns...

[Nepereta]

ignoring the incredibly nearby papacy as any Italian faction is rough, you'll get slapped around by inquistors quickly and easily they rarely snipe a good friends priests and generals. Best bet imo is play the pope and manipulate him as best you can and obey when you can't manipulate. Every italian has a great shot at crusading from the get go.

However if you want RP some catholic bashing I'd suggest cleaning the italian penisula including the pope. IF you can stop the inquistor spawn point you'll be safer.