This is the edited version of this thread.
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...=Volga-Bulgars
Most of this text is mine but some additions were made as a response by others.

(from xl's unit stats)
I will not mention UM, spearmen, Viking and slav units and most other regional units as most are known or are to far out of the way.

Unit roster
Unit Name Charge Melee Defence Armour Morale
infantry
Melee
Kursybays 5 0 2 3 4
Bashkorts 5 HS 1 2 1 4
Kazanchis 2 *3 2 3 6
Varangian Swordsmen 4 *4 4 3 8

The first thing that you should notice is the great infantry this cav based faction has. When it comes to infantry the Volga-Bulgars can rival with any faction in early and can still be decent in high.
Kursbays are their shield wall. They are very sturdy spearmen comparable with feudal sergeants (better melee, worse defence and armour), armoured spearmen ( worse morale) and rus spearmen ( better attack). Only the rus spearmen are better at their role.
Bashkorts are an interesting unit. They can do two tasks reasonably well. With their defence stats and anti-cav bonus, they can form the main battle line more cheaply than kursybays. An added bonus are their missiles which can wipe out a royal knight unit, make a serious mess of mongol heavy and send all others fleeing. They are, however smaller in numbers than Kursbays and very vulnerable to missiles.
They can also be used as flankers. They are however not your typical flankers (high attack, catastrophic defence) but rather the opposite (low attack, decent defence). Why should you still use them? First of all you don't have any other melee unit until you've teched up to Kazanchis (I'm not counting slav warriors as they are just above peasants). Secondly, their heavy spear. They can be compared to handgunners in this way: Flank, fire, charge. These men aren't fire and forget troops, they will survive when highlanders, ghazis and others perish.
Kazanchis are just a dream for every general. A unit comparible to billmen (worse melee, better defence) or Swiss Halbardiers (better defence, less armour, better morale) avalable in early. Agreed, they need some teching up but by the time most other factions get their hands on those new pole arms, your troops will have painted theirs red with the blood of hundreds of soldiers.
Varangian Swordsmen are in everyway better than chiv men-at-arms except in the armour rating. But when you think about it, this is an advantage as the varangians have a better defence with less armour (desert here we come).

Special
Hashishin 2 6 5 2 12

I've never bothered with Hashishin as they're IMHO to much trouble for wath they're worth. Sure you can ambush the enemy general or pull of a surprise flank manoeuvre but I have enough micro management with my HA. If anybody can put them to good use, bravo to them but I can't.


cavalry
Light
Steppe Cavalry 6 2 1 3 3
Murabitin Horse 6 3 2 2 4
Chernye Klobuki 8 3 2 1 4
Wallachian Mercenary Cavalry 6 3 1 3 5

Steppe cav isa very cheap, more than decent light cav unit. You'l be using them a lot in the earlier stages to get rid of archers, HA and routers. In these tasks they perform satisfactiory, just don't ask them to fight their way out of anything.

MH, Chernye and Wallachians are to be seen as upgrades to your SC. MH can only be trained in North Africa and should only be used in the desert as SC that can take just a little more. But by the time you train them that little more may be to little. I think higher of Chernye. They can do more than the tasks of light/medium cav. Chernye are lightly armoured lancers. Their speed combined with their charge can mean a mass rout when comanded effectively. just remember that they aren't heavy cav, most melees will spell death on them.
Superior to the steppe cav, Wallachian Merc cav (only in Wallachia) can add to the diversity of your troops as good light cav. Chernye Klobuki are, however, superior.

Missile
Horse Archers 2 -1 0 2 2
Steppe Heavy Cav 6 3 4 5 6

I've already expressed my surprise about the troops with the infantry, let me do the same for HA. As good as the inf is as bad are the HA. HA are not used for their killing power but for their ability to disrupt the enemies formation. To be able to do this you've got to be able to evade everything your opponent uses against this, in other words fast HA. SHC isn't a bad unit, it just can't be used as your typical HA. If you use them as HA ,you will sooner or later get caught up by royal bodyguards or knights and lose the fight without being able to use even half of your arrows (if your lucky). I use them as a very mobile archer unit that can easily strike if necessary or can duel with other HA and win.
Their ranged attack also makes it a good general killer as their missiles are AP.
What is available than for the useful HA task? Nothing more than the vanilla HA. Which only means one thing: you can isolate troops, you can encircle troops but charging those battered and tired troops will still be very costly. My advice: only charge in the best of situations (or in the most desperate ones) and make them valour up quickly.

Heavy
Bulgarian Royal Cav 8 3 4 5 8
Avar Nobles 6 3 5 7 6
Khwarazmian Cav 8 3 5 7 7

BRC is your run of the mill, standard royal bodyguard. Good to have in your army but maybe other troops could do a better job. SHC is only slightly worse than BRC (better charge, better morale) but has an AP ranged attack. The charge can be performed by Chernye Klobuki that have the same charge but are a lot faster. Then again If you want something 'knightly' before Khwarazmian cav, BRC is the way to go.
Avar Nobles have worse charge, better defence, are more armoured, less morale than BRC. I wouldn't call them superior to the BRC. Charge rating is the most important stat for heavy cav and here are the Avars lacking, they will however survive a melee longer (just don't match them up against AP troops). Everything depends on your personal use of heavy cav: pure 'hammer and anvil' => use BRC, a more 'hack and slash' use of cav => use Avars. IMHO, a prolongued melee is a waste of your cav that's what you got infantry for. Still I would be tempted to opt for Avars when money is thight but the teching up can negate the economical advantage.

Khwarazmian Cav is the heavy cav you use outside the desert in later stages. This cav unit is your closest thing to chiv knights and all that follows them on the tech tree.

Proposed army
My standard Volga-Bulgarian army in early
Two groups of vanilla HA's (as teched up and valoured up as possible). Their task in defence is to disrupt the enemy formation as much as possible so the attackers arrive peace-meal and somewhat fatigued. Favorite targets: heavy cav and heavy inf. On the offence they'll try to draw out enemy units or keep their missile troops busy while my army can attack unharmed.

Three Kursybays as spearwall with Kazanchis on the flanks and Bashkorts behind them, ready run around the flank and spear the enemy in the back. I'll have to add Varangian swordsmen as main infantry killer.

I don't use vanilla archers in my standard army as their task is taken up by the steppe heavy cav. A good allrounder in my army: AP missiles, good mobility and they can fight there way out of most things. Only disadvantage: quite expensive.

I also try to use Chernye Klobuki to chase away HA, take out isolated skirmishers/archers and chase routers (your typical light cav stuff). I do however use them to great succes in hammer and anvil tactics. They can get everywhere on the map within reasonable time, charge a fighting enemy and be off before a counter measure can be put in place. Just don't let them fight melee unless there is no other choice.

I don't use BRC except maybe as general (princes and ex-princes). Their tasks can be done by other troops that are more suitable or more polyvalent.

Opening moves a.k.a. the rebel blitz
I've started a campaign early/hard/GA. My unit size is medium. If you use a smaller unit size, your rush may be delayed which can cause the loss of some of the rebel provinces or an early war with one or more of the other factions.

This is what your royal family will see of the world in the first couple of years.



You start with one province, an army of HA's and steppe cav and a reasonable king (3 stars and authorian). The aim is to forge a decent size khanate for yourself without upsetting any of the neigbouring factions. If all happens according to plan you'll end up with at least 7 provinces, a good heir to the throne and as many alliances as you wish with whom you wish.

Gather all available troops under your kings command and attack the rebels in Muscovy. Don't worry about loyalty in Volga-Bulgaria, it won't drop under 100%. Train units of 133 men for a few years to subdue the newly conqured lands.
The rebels will flee to their fort. Although the siege will only last one year, you must attack the fort immidatly. Losing time means that other factions can conquer the other rebel controled provinces! (waiting one or two years will lose you smolensk to the Lithuanians and possibly Ryazan or Chernigov to the Kievians or the Cumans) Besides no rebel soldier can match your kings (dismounted) bodyguards. Still, be careful not to waste to much men as you'll need as many as possible to keep provinces from rebelling.

Repeat the battle/assault strategy through smolensk, Chernigov, Ryazan and Khazar. If you're lucky, Giorgia might still be rebel. Start pumping out slav warriors in Muscovy asap with the same goal as your training program in Volga-Bulgaria, namely for garrison and assault purposes.

Your heir will mature just a year (or two) before your king receives his 4th star. A shame really, but you can still make sure your heirs skills are based on 4 stars. Small battles are easy, so if you plan and execute your battles with care you can earn your king a good attacker virtue. Make sure you attack the year your heir matures and he'll be based on a 4 star king.

If you aren't playing on hard or expert, you might consider bribing the rebel general in Khazar rather than fighting him. Good generals are hard to come by so early.

During the first few years, you will be bombarded with alliance requests from almost all neigbouring factions. I would exept them all. Peace is very important in these upcoming years where start to organise your khanate. You don't need to keep a faction neutral to be able to attack it later on. War will come to this region soon enough and then you can chose your alliances more in purpose of your next victim.
The whole region will be more or less in one big alliance. So if you just attack a faction, you'll end up only being allied to Countries that can't attack you. It'll end up in a multiple front defence which your economy can't sustain.

You'll have to wait for the right time to take new rebel provinces or to attack a weakened faction which most/all other factions turned their backs on.

When blitzing or in the opening of your campaign in general, you have to be very aware of your economy. The revenue of steppe provinces are in no way comparable to the revenue of the lush West-European provinces, nor do they have the trade potential of the Mediterranean provinces. Ignore your economy in the first ten years and you'll be the weakest eastern faction for a long time. And believe me Novgorod, Kiev and Bohemia are just waiting for a chance to enlarge their territories unpunished.

To strengthen your economy you’ll have to start sea trading. This can be done by attacking Novgorod and opening up the way to the Baltic sea or attacking the Cumans and settling on the shores of the Black sea. Both have their merits but I doubt you can do both at the same time. Novgorod will attack you sooner or later so overwhelming them when you have the chance is not a bad choice. The Cumans may be weak or spread out thin which makes them an easy target.