Start with Armenians

[seireikhaan]

I must say, I thought that Armenia would prove difficult, but this is just crazy. I try invading the Turks in 1095, but have to abandon the attack because they moved their troops unexpectedly, and I didn't have a very good chance of the dominant victory I needed. The very next turn, I had a bad feeling. Turns out, my intuition was quite correct. Not only did the Turks invade with just over 1,000 troops and a 5* commander to boot, Egypt ALSO sent in a force, also numbering just over 1,000, and led by their new prince, who was a 3* commander. So here I am, with only 700 troops, to face down 2000 troops in open field combat, and to top it off, since the troops are from both forces, I have to fight both at the same time. I duly head to the battlefield, hoping I can at least go down in a blaze of glory.

Here comes the muslim horde, bearing down upon me.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

However, the battle didn't quite go as they had hoped...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Now, I've had battles with better kill ratios than this, but overall, I think this is probably the best battle I've had in a long time, perhaps ever, mainly because I was contending with two forces at once, which outnumbered me by 3 to 1. The main clincher early was that the Seljuk commander was shot down by a mounted xbow, which crippled the Turks morale, especially those ever morale-frail Saracen infantry. Additionally, I managed to flank the Egyptian prince with one of my units of Naraxars, and though I didn't get him, he ultimately wasn't heard from again for the remainder of the battle. So yeah, just kinda presenting a battle which I'm pretty proud about.

[Xehh II]

Cool fight, I wish I was that lucky.

[Kaidonni]

Lucky you!

I've been delaying a fight in my Scottish/Early/GA/Hard/XL campaign against the French because I have primarily Viking Landsmen and Huscarles, some Scottish Spearmen - and they have Norman Knights, Feudal Knights, their foot counterparts, and Hobilars, and...well...there is a forest where my battle will take place (tried it once already...it just went terrible, I messed it up).

[macsen rufus]

You just gotta love them Naxarrars and Armenian Infantry

Very nice victory, and hopefully they should both be knocked back enough for you to manage a little land-grab by way of reparations

My usual start with Armenia is to go for the Egyptians first, grab Antioch (you only have the one border with them after that) and stay friendly with the Turks and the Byz in the meantime. The income from Antioch is very useful!

[seireikhaan]

You just gotta love them Naxarrars and Armenian Infantry

Very nice victory, and hopefully they should both be knocked back enough for you to manage a little land-grab by way of reparations

Yup, both of them are pretty awesome, especially against those lighter spears and such. Unfortunately, that campaign ended in disaster, I couldn't convince either of them for peace, and the only way I could attack would be to risk losing Lesser Armenia from the flank. Thus, I basically ended up in an arms race with the two Muslim factions, and ended up near bankruptcy. I'll have to give them another go trying to use your method.(and hopefully the two factions won't double team me again )

[Martok]

Sorry to hear your campaign is sputtering, greaterkhaan. Good luck on your next go, however.

And regardless of how your current campaign has turned out, a big congrats on your victory, man.

[macsen rufus]

It's not nice being surrounded by three big neighbours at the beginning, that's for sure. I've never survived when I fought the Byz or Turks first... At least with Antioch you have more cash and extra training facilities when that war becomes unavoidable, but it is touch and go for a while. But that's what makes it such an exciting campaign to play. Better luck next time

[Roark]

Nice battle, dude. You took everyone to the cleaners!

My Turkish empire is about to face down the biggest horde I've ever seen in the entire time I've been playing MTW. I doubt I'll be as fortunate as you.

[Martok]

My Turkish empire is about to face down the biggest horde I've ever seen in the entire time I've been playing MTW. I doubt I'll be as fortunate as you.

How many Mongols are you facing?

[Roark]

Not sure exactly mate (I'm at work right now), but there's at least 20 stacks in Khazar, 5-6 in Georgia, and more than 12 in Armenia. HEAPS of Mongol Heavy Cavalry.

I'm procrastinating about playing the next turn, as it'll be a very long one.

[Martok]

Yeah, you're definitely for some epic battles there -- you could be facing upwards of around 35,000 troops, all totaled. I wish you luck, mate.

[ArtistofEmpires]

Great Victory...

Just think: No matter how this campaign goes you'll always have this battle and nobody can take it away from you. 10x more satisfying that it was 2 factions ganging up on you simply for powerbuilding purposes. How dare they threaten your peaceful people...

[bamff]

Great work on the field, greaterkhaan. That victory must have been hugely satisfying.

One query - were the Turks and Egyptians allied or operating independently?

For those interested in following Roark's huge horde problem, check the thread "The uhh... Grey Horde" - it is worth a read. Apologies for getting a touch off topic here and also for not knowing how to link this better....

[seireikhaan]

Great work on the field, greaterkhaan. That victory must have been hugely satisfying.

One query - were the Turks and Egyptians allied or operating independently?

Thanks. They were allied against me, which makes the battle all the more satisfying.

[bamff]

Thanks. They were allied against me, which makes the battle all the more satisfying.

I reckon it would! I was already impressed, but am even more so now - good work, well done sir!

[Roark]

That's nuts!!

So it was 2:1 on the battlefield alone (never mind reinforcements)!!

Killer effort.

How many stars was King Reuben?

[seireikhaan]

Good ol' Reuben was a 4 star general, but had the 'good defender' trait, or something like that, for +1 command when defending. The Seljuk commander was a 5 star regularly, and Egypt's was a 3 star prince. Oh, and Reuben did become a "very skilled" defender after the battle, making him a 6 star on defense.