XL Bohemians
I'd been wanting to play as the Bohemians since i first installed the XL mod but the fact that they were landlocked, don't border any rebel provinces, and i couldn't find a guide for them had me kind of intimidated. since there isn't anything else on the Bohemians on here, i thought that i'd post how my game's going so far. I'm playing in GA mode on normal(because their starting position intimidates the crap out of me).
I built an emissary on the first turn, since they don't start out with one(or a princess) and i decided to try to bribe Franconia, since it was only 2000 florins or so and it would give me access to a couple of rebel provinces. after they accepted the bribe(and HRE retaliated), I attacked Friesland and then bribed Flanders. HRE attacked me again and the pope excommunicated them. while they were excommunicated, i had a 2 star heir and then a 5 star heir mature, so i went ahead and took Saxony and Brandenburg. The HRE took Venice and Milan from the Venetians while all of this was going on(but they re-emerged in Venice about 20 years later) but i stopped to regroup because the Danes also got excommunicated and i was thinking about trying for Scandinavia(or at least getting one viking producing province on my border.
About 10-12 years later, the HRE got excommunicated again and France took Swabia from them, so i went for Switzerland before they could take it and ended up taking the province below it and above Venice(starts with a T but i'm drawing a blank. i was going to try for Venice but they re-emerged right before i got there and i was still kinda thinking about going for Scandinavia. it's 1155 now and i've been turtling for the last 20-25 years. other than Sweden attacking a few of my ships and the pope and France sending 1-2 assassins every year, nobody's really tried to attack me but i'm hoping that France will soon(or that they'll go to war with England). i'm building dromans in Flanders, Friesland, and Saxony and i have around 37,000 florins but my trade route only runs from the Black Sea to Sicily because Sweden sank 4-5 of my ships and i started doubling them up every other port.
what i'm loving about the Bohemians is the fact that they seem to produce really good heirs. so far my heirs have been a 2 star, then a 5, then a 6, then a 4, then another 6, then another 4, then another 5. the only thing that had me kinda worried was that my first King lived to be around 70 but it ended up working out really well because the 2 star heir only lived another 4-5 years and right now i have a 31 year old 5 star king and a 4, 5, and 2 6 star generals and he has a couple of underage heirs on the way.
i also love their unit roster. as far as i can tell, it's basically the same as the HRE or Italian factions(subbing Bohemian Archers for Italian Infantry). i love the Bohemian Archers. i haven't had to use them that much yet but they seem like they have a lot better range than regular archers, they also carry swords, and they come 60 to a unit for the same maintenance cost as regular archers. they seem like they're a lot better than Genoese Sailors but i don't know if the stats support this.
that's all that i have so far but i'm really enjoying playing as Bohemia and i hope other people have played as them and will post their experiences with them. oh yeah, another plus to bribing or taking Franconia as your first province is that it will give you a second iron producing province. if you can grab it fast enough to make a beeline for Flanders before anyone else gets there, you're set financially. i didn't post much about military tactics or which units to build when because it really hasn't mattered in my game. if you have the same luck that i had, you'll have 2-3 5 and 6 star generals before 1100(along with your 4 star king).
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks