Challenges of XL

[bamff]

Inspired by King Kurt's queries re: the Teutonic Order, and having read of a number of players singing the praises of the challenges afforded by Portugal, what are the more challenging of the "new" factions introduced in XL?

[Deus ret.]

Portugal, as you mentioned. Good strategic position but rather small and not too rich.

Serbia, although some people claim it's actually quite easy in High. In early it's nigh impossible because neither the Hungarians nor the Byz are particularly weak, to say the least.

Ireland! Poor lands with some unique and interesting units. Of course no uber cav to ram foes into the ground but still...

Armenia. My personal favourite of the small ones. They have good units (esp. Armenian infantry and those knights ...Naxarars?.... are also excellent), but they are in the unenviable position of being surrounded by larger powers. It's essential to establish a foothold in the beginning; this means battling the Turks, the Byz and probably the Crusaders, who often grow powerful after finishing Egypt. Oh, and did I mention other crusades coming your way? Or the threat of the Horde (it appeared largely in Georgia when I played the faction)? In any case I recommend them if you're in for a challenge and some turbulences.

[Kavhan Isbul]

Ireland and Armenia in Early (Ireland is only available in early) are tough to play with, due to their small size and strong neighbors. The Volga Bulgars have better chances of Expansion, but later have to face the full might of the Horde. Portugal and Serbia are manageable.
Actually, I have discovered Sweden and Poland to be relatively tough. The Polish can expand rapidly against the HRE and then take advantage of the war between the Cumans and the Hungarians, but then have to deal with really powerful enemies on all fronts - the Byzantines or the Fatimids in the South, the Danes in the North, the Kievans or Novgorodians in the East (their troop rosters are a bit overpowered in early) and the French in the West. Later of course the Horde comes.
Sweden is tough, because it is surrounded by hostile neighbors. The Danes have a better starting position, and the Lithuanians will go out of their way to sink every boat you put in the Baltic, even if they are your allies. Norway will resist until the end, often managing to get you excommunicated.

But finally, if you really want an impossibly difficult campaign, try the Volga Bulgars in High and see if you can survive past 1240. I do not think I have ever been able to.

[Martok]

In the Early period, the Armenians are definitely the hardest, with the Irish being a close second. Kavhan Isbul already laid out the reasons why as well or better than myself, so I'll not repeat him.

Norway's fun, but I find them to pretty much be a one-trick pony: Far and away the easiest thing to do is take out the Swedes right away, and preferably the Danes as well. Otherwise, you'll quickly go bankrupt trying to build ships and develop trade. Fortunately, blitzing Scandanavia isn't hard -- since you can churn out those wonderful +1 Vikings -- but it does make the Norwegians a bit one-dimensional.

Definitely my two favorites thus far are the Bohemians and Portuguese. They both start with only one province, and are in a precarious strategic position at the beginning. One must find a balance between boldness and caution when playing as either of these two factions.

[Eternity]

When I first started XL, I found the HRE to be quite challenging. I took Venice early in the game, which resulted in a war on all fronts early in the game. The campaign didn't stablize until I secured some fleets in the Mediterranean, but after that it was quite easy.

I also decided to give Volga Bulgars in High a try after reading a post by Kavhan Isbul about how they're the hardest faction, and boy was he right. Starting from 1205, you only get 25 years before the Mongol Hordes comes charging in, which means I had to meta-game and run far from those border lands, or else I'll be slaughtered. In my first try, when the Mongols finally came, they took Volga Bulgaria and Muscovy from me, and when I was stuck in Novgorod, the Teutonic Order came storming in with their 5 units of knights and finished me off. I had better luck on my second try, and was able to last well into the Late period, although I only had a handful of provinces, at which point I got bored and just left the campaign sitting at that point. But if you want a challenge, definitely try this faction.

[Don Esteban]

I'm playing bohemia right now and it's certainly very challenging - a mix of trying to grab territory while avoiding being steamrollered by more powerful neighbours.

[r johnson]

Serbia in Early period;
Positioned between the Byzantiun (how do you spell?) and Hungarian empire theres not far to expand. Though because of this it makes it more fun.

Personally I fount Ireland to be fairly easy. Expand the navy and attack Brittany - where the French can't defend easily - and you've got a good economic starting point, you could attack Wales if you so wished but it's again opinion.