A few problems there. The first is the early invasion of Scotland. Spreading out from your strong position to take what are mostly poor provinces yielding little benefits apart from being defensible. The next issue is the blockaded seas. You should never attempt an invasion of Britain unless you have dominance of the seas. The Viking ships should be sent to the bottom systematically before you make a move. The Vikings raid the north a lot because it's close to them. The Northumbrians and Picts suffer the most of all the factions but the Vikings will go for rebels regardless of location. By invading the North early, you are simply taking on the burden of that struggle and using your own rich lands to finance it. Also Civil War can sometimes be a good thing, and adds a new dimension to the gameplay. It is best to fight through the civil war, possibly even backing the rebels, as it can strengthen your position in the long run.Originally Posted by Jamie the Shrubber
Viable, certainly interesting and quite challenging though a war on two fronts can be very costly. I have always preferred the south eastern rout, invading near the channel and taking on either the Saxons on the Mercians first, switching allegiance many times and playing them off against each other.Originally Posted by Jamie the Shrubber
The problem with playing as the Irish is that Britain then lacks a human player on the mainland. The Mercians will then often achieve total domination of Britain. I remember once turtling an Irish campaign, and watching the Mercians take the whole of Britain. By the time I felt ready to take them on they had massive stacks of bloodthirsty Huscarles...
Before you invade Britain: Conquer Ireland and develop it for income and the building of ships upgrade to the longboats ASAP, dominate the seas with a large navy - two to three ships per sea, blow every Viking ship out of the water and replace your losses (don't allow your fleets to weaken), develop extensive trade to fill the coffers, tech up to better units and build a large army and when you're ready invade into the south and take on the English factions first. It is important that neither gets too strong. You should also keep their navies under control. If they start to get overly large, declare war, wipe out all of their ships, pull all of your ships away from their coasts and wait 2 turns for the automatic ceasefire. Return your ships to their coasts and continue trading. You can't afford to wait around too long though, as the English factions will eventually become so strong that you will find yourself fighting one very strong faction in the end in order to conquer Britain.Originally Posted by Jamie the Shrubber
You can't occupy an allied province as that would be a declaration of war.
The best policy is to specialise. Kerns have a valour bonus in Laigin so it is bes to develop that to produce them. Brega is already well developed IIRC so you can concentrate on turning out Gallowglasses there. You can then allocate another province to cavalry or something else if you wish, though all provinces should also be capable of churning out ships and you will need to have phases of ship building and unit training. Try not to build what you don't need and once your coasts are secure concentrate on improving income by further upgrading farmland and building abbeys.Originally Posted by Jamie the Shrubber
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