After a few major skirmishes I've now secured the Steppes, with the exception of Pereyaslavl, which has the remains of a Golden Horde Reemergence contained in it. It's a poor province that I'm letting them develop for me before I smash them. I control everything from Kazar, Moldavia and Lithuania make up my borders with Europe. I've recently taken Sweden, Scania and Denmark too, which I'm hoping will add a little money to the coffers and finally provide me with a source of Iron.

My next imperative is to marshall a sizeable invasion force and develop my navy into a real force. I don't need it to be massive, but I does need to be well concentrated. Your ships are weaker than the Catholic ones so can't stand up to a one on one fight.

Invading an enemy territory is tough. Your best bet is to try and occupy defending forces with your spears while you manouver your Steppe Heavy Cavalry into a good attacking position. Likewise your Bashkorts, getting these guys into flanking posiotions and letting them throw javelins at anything in sight sparks routes all over the place and is probably your best way to win tough battles.

On the plus side, if you leave out the SHC, you are well set up for Desert fighting. Steppe Cavalry, Horse Archers, Bashkorts and Chernye Klobuki can all handle the heat well. If you can get into the arabian and egyptian teritories there's a lot opt options for you.