Quote Originally Posted by Deus ret.


hey Odin, nice to still see you around! I just disagree in hindsight of Estonia, they're a rebellious lot and not subdued easily. So conquer them only if you can spare the men. Taking the province in the first couple of turns completely paralyzed my forces as they were tied up in suppressing the unrest in this dirt poor strip of land.

Taking Sweden is of course no good role-play but a strategically very sound decision. Without it, the Mongols will be somewhat tougher to beat since you'll have nowhere to retreat to....
I am all in favor of taking sweden but its a strategic decision and not a historical/good game play one in my opinion. Sweden is a good first move, but if your not going to take it then by all means you must expand elsewhere. The immediate rebel provinces that border you should be the best place to start as in the XL mod, land is power, and land is florins.

Everything else in the baltic is a pain in the ass to grab and will take a big investment of new troops. Thats why I say if he has the florins, bribe estonia and take sweden, those three provinces together i believe give you 6 trading goods, 1 steel province and a copper mine.

From there you should be able to have sound footing for moving east.