starting as serbia

[nachoviper]

So far, out of all factions in the xl mod, i have found the Serbs to be the hardest. I cant even figure out how to start since you start out surrounded by factions who can easily out-produce you military-wise. Has anybody won the game as Serbia? And if so, how would you suggest starting out?

[Vladimir]

No. The thought scares me so. Armenia is fun but never with Serbia.

[naut]

I'll have to try it.

[DukeofSerbia]

I won and finished. But I remoded XL 2.1 Early and High period. Map is inaccurate. If somebody need patch ~1mb I will send.

[nachoviper]

And what changes to the map does this patch include?

[Don Esteban]

And what changes to the map does this patch include?

Perhaps they start controlling "Greater Serbia" including most of the balkans

[Martok]

C'mon guys. We're already going a little off the rails here.

DukeofSerbia, I'd be interested in your patch myself. To second nachoviper's question: What changes does it make?

[Odin]

If I recall serbia in the XL mod is fairly rich with gold and silver. Yes its a hard minor to play with all the Byz sitting right there but the Hungarians dont have a strong army to start (lots of horse archers) and the hungarian generals are nothing to write home about either.

If you play aggressive early enough you should be able to cripple the hungarians with an invasion into Hungary, the Cumans will mostly like attack as well and if your real lucky the Poles will go at the Cumans leaving Moldavia (and those precious avar nobles) open.

I didnt complete my game when I tried them, but I took out the hungarians first (it was early/hard) and was able to make a profitable little balkan state.

[nachoviper]

Has anyone tried building a ship to take venice? I think that might be a pretty good idea.

[therussian91]

Yeah, the Serbs have some very good troops. VERY good. You just need to find the money to make them.

[Martok]

@Innocentius: Are you sure about the Carska Garda? It's been a while since I played the Serbs, but I still could've sworn that the royal bodyguards for *all* the Orthodox factions were unique in that they had 40 men instead of the usual 20 (including the Serbs).

Has anyone tried building a ship to take venice? I think that might be a pretty good idea.

Regardless of which faction you're playing as, taking Venice is always a tempting prospect, and one that can pay big dividends. However, it's generally best to wait to invade until the Venetians have their armies engaged elsewhere. Otherwise they'll have the resources to launch constant counterattacks to retake their capital, and it can get rather exhausting after a while.

[DukeofSerbia]

I am very sorry, I was whole day in college in another town, so I couldn't write you report. I came home three hours ago. Tomorrow 100%.

Btw, Carska Garda (Imperial Guard) is wrong name and such unit never existed (only in short historical period when Serbia was Empire) . I renamed it to Kraljevska Garda (Royal Guard). And Serbs have 20 men in general unit (I think) because until mid of XIII century Serbia had rare cavalry (only the richest nobles fought mounted), so, that is realistic.

Venice can be easily conquered. Because in EarlyXL (my change) Croatia is rebel province, after I took Croatia, I waited that HRE weaken Venice and invaded it. They wanted peace and I accepted. Later I waited that Cumans weaken Hungary, and helped Cumans (my allies). We smashed Hungary, but Byzantium attacked Cumans, and I choose Cumans as allies. In 20 years bloody war I successfully conquered Constantinople in three bloody battles with super-jedi Byzantine generals. Only who can really weaken them are Slav Javelinmen.

And I will post bunch of screenshots (and starting map).

Anyway, in High, Serbia suddenly turns into a minor or at least potential superpower. The Voynuk Bladesmen combined with arbalesters, VHC and some Serbian Cavalry...That's one of the best unit roster in the game IMO, second only to the English roster of High and Late. And if you start in high, both Greece and Constantinople is yours for the taking, and Bulgaria's roster isn't nearly as good as the Serbian one (at least untill they can get Bulgarian Amroured Pikemen, but the AI never reaches for them sadly).

For high period is true. Voynuk Bladesmen are ahistorical. Serbian soldiers didn't use that kind of polearm ;).

Vlastela Heavy Cavalry are the same as Chivalric Knights from the West.

P.S.
Thanks r johnson (I forgot that I have uploaded screenshots):

EarlyXL


HighXL

[Martok]

Thanks for the screenshots, DukeofSerbia! Out of curiosity, how do the Selkjuks and Fatamids play, now that you've switched around which faction owns the Holy Lands? I'm curious as to whether the Eggies can still compete all right, and whether or not the Seljuks overpowered. What's your experience been in regards to those two factions?

Btw, Carska Garda (Imperial Guard) is wrong name and such unit never existed (only in short historical period when Serbia was Empire) . I renamed it to Kraljevska Garda (Royal Guard). And Serbs have 20 men in general unit (I think) because until mid of XIII century Serbia had rare cavalry (only the richest nobles fought mounted), so, that is realistic.

I stand corrected! Thanks for the clarification, Duke, and my apologies to Innocentius for doubting.

[Kavhan Isbul]

The Serbs are hard in medMod, in XL they are a moderate challenge at best. The only thing one needs to do is build an inn and wait for the Hungarians to get in a war with the Cumans and possibly also the HRE. In the meantime, one barque is necessary to protect the coastline from the Sicilians and the Venetians.