For some reason I love playing on the russian steppes with XL... the challenges...So I knew how my games went with default unit sizes, so now I wanted to try them out with huge unit sizes...

One thing to note is that the russian steppes are generally POOR, and your income is ugly...So a small military is almost a given... so your gonna have generally cheap units supported with elites to push you to victory...

So 2 things to consider when struggling for those $ provs...
Novogorod, Muscovy, Levidia and 1 or 2 others...(Crimea & Moldavia iirc)

But those 3 are the main ones...

So obviously to have those are utmost for long term survival, especially if you have a military...

PRIMARY CONSIDERATIONS:

1) Build time... with a slower build time, the unit is costlier, and waiting is aggravating especially if you have empty provs with poor loyalty

2) Poor loyalty ... since having 1 or 2 units is what you see as a garrison, those picky people will give you MAYBE a 125 to 135 loyalty.. and it rises and falls, so you have to watch them and change taxes accordingly...

3) Building builds ... In the beginning, since one is so damn poor, I always build a 20% land, trading post, merchant first, then build town watch or woodland clearings. Obviously $ is main concern or your gonna go into the red within 30 years and die an agonizing death...

4) Military units ... since $ is a primary concern, be exceedingly important, therefore, I choose militia ($200) or Steppe cavalry ($300) compared to Armored Spearmen ($500)

so for the first 10 years (5 units), I send 1 or 2 with the "King" to take the first prov, and the rest (other 3 or 4) with the "king" to take the second. Loyalty is a royal pain here, so keep taxes at very low and slowly build up the loyalty to about 110 before moving King away from occupying stack to attack your next prov.

So generally after 10 years, you should have 3 provs, maybe 4 if you got lucky, with all of them pretty much stable as far as loyalty (so rebellions will be minimized) [loyalties ~ 110 to ~125], [taxes at very low]

5) Empty provs ... Here is a real sticking point. Since your 'heartland' is gonna be cranking out units, the units are going to be sent out to occupy new provs, so your core provs will be empty and VERY weak. So for the next 10 years after your initial gains, expect your taxes to drop in your core provs as you strengthen the loyalty of your conquered provs.

Expectations: If you build wrong, built too expensive troops, have too many units, your money WILL BE GONE, and not coming back for a LONG while.. basically restart the game, and try it again...I have played each faction like 4 times before I saw this pattern, as each faction is a bit different as we'll see below...

FACTIONS:

1) Novo: Go after Mucovy immediately, THEN build up your units to go after Smolensk.. Rebellions will be an utter pain and fact of life if your loyalty is too low.. and SMolensk sends big stacks, which can be killed, but will slowly kill off your troops, lowering loyalty further... VERY aggravating

Those 3 provs will be your "CORE" as Novo & Moscow will be your cash cows once you have 80% farming and merchants up. I know Moscow to be pretty good at 1000 florins (& more) a turn and with 2 militia, it's a very profitable prov indeed.

Ally with Lithuania/Kiev or Volga/Kiev. Either way, your gonna be going after somebody soon, so with the money, you can build a small "offensive" force, this is where I build Armored Spearmen and mounted crossbowman. I usually go after the Volga and Cuman and surround Kiev for a nasty backstab strike later on.

Currently, at 1210 I own all of Russia and I border Poland, Hungarians, Byz, and the Swedes. In this current game, the Swedes are the Danes and are starting to rampage thru France/England... so it would be suicide for me to fight them with the Mongols coming soon.

2) Volga Bulgars: Instead of building Militai, build steppe Cavalry. Go after Moscow immediately!. The prov doesn't rebel, in fact, most of the time, I just leave 30 steppe cav there with my preacher and the prov doesn't rebel... so it's a very "safe" prov too.

Ryazan was a pain until I found out I need to take it with 4 Cav, and I had to bringin 2 more units to fight off rebellions. I then built a few more to take Khazar, so after say 15 years iirc, you will have 4 provs, all have trade stuff, and Moscow being your cash cow prov.

I build only cheap cav and keep taxes low, and build up agriculture/$ bldgs like mad. Volga will be your advanced bldg prov. At 1210, I still only have a castle...so don't expect to be mr. tech geek.

I took out Chernigov/Smolensk/Novogorod. And with those I have good Cash cow provs and a good overview of Kiev and I also took out Lesser Khazar/Levidia/Crimea for added provs with trade items too..:)

At this point, I am making ~1000 to ~1500 florins net, so I am currently saving up since I need to buy military for the Mongols. I also built up Novgorod with a royal palace in case I loose my home prov, so I'll have a backup capital.

3) Cumans: Plays unlike all other factions in that it has 5 provs and is bringing a good amount of money from the git go.
Immediately take Khazar, build up & take Georgia...the Byz are pretty good about not attacking you, even if neutral. Make SURE you ally with Kiev...since Levidia will be your "empty prov" as it is cranking out units left & right.

I build up Agr/Merchants and actually have time for Keeps/Castles.. so the Cuman actualy can (within reason) go after building up to keep up the tech race.

Go after Volgas and so you should have Ryazan & Volga

IF YOU CAN... take Moscow for a cash cow prov.. it isn't critical, but if you can, take it!

If you can't, solidify your holdings, for a stab against the Novos sooner rather than later.

The Cuman CORE is Moldavia/Levidia/Crimea. And to protect them, I keep a full stack with a good gen right in Moldavia... it keeps the Hungarians & Poles honest, since Kiev are allies.. your back is secure while you conquer east & north.

POOR FACTIONS

1) Lithuanians: These guys, I've played 4 times, and I have taken Chernigov, Smolensk, Ryazan, Livoda to be backstabbed by my Kiev ally (every time) as he takes my home prov (which is empty)

I start off taking Chernigov & Smolensk to keep Novo/Kiev honest (I hope) as I go for Livoda..

What I need to do is keep a small stack, like 3 units (militia) to keep the Kiev away from thier consistent backstabs..

So note that Lithuania can expand and fast, but due to Kiev being the way they are, it forces you to keep a force at home to defend it...:(

2) Kiev: These guys are just in a poor money area, even the provs of Chernigov/Ryazan are little compensation since this faction is cash por with no cash cow provs to hit. (And yes, I have thought of the Chernigov/Smolensk/Moscow run to get there before the Novos or Volga get to it)

I start off going after Chernigov and Ryazan (maybe Smolensk) to keep the lithuanians to the west fighting the Novos.

Due to the "being in the middle", Kiev need to keep it's provs garrisoned which means sucking up precious $ that could be used to conquer another prov.

So ultimately I would have 3 or provs, and be broke all too soon, since my military has to keep the loyalty up, which sucks up my cash, and I am not bringing in acsh anyways...:(