Franks (BI faction)

[frogbeastegg]

Guide.

[Craterus]

I'm going to start a Frank campaign as my first, would anybody like to join me?

Oh yeah, I got BI!!! Should be installing later, or tomorrow.

[Theodoret]

Perhaps not a definative guide to the Franks, seeing as I only got hold of the expansion a couple of days ago. More a starting narrative.

The Franks have a starting position both good and bad in equal measure. On the up side, they are some way off the beaten track for Vandal and Hun migrations. On the down side they are close to the heartlands of four Germanic tribes (Saxons, Burgundians, Alemanni and Lombards) which sets the stage for early conflict.

A quick look at the appendices of the game instructions told me that the Saxons are going to be aiming for more or less the same lands (France and the Low Countries) as I am. Therefore I decided that the Saxons were to be the first to die.

I reinforced the army I began with and waited for the Saxons to send an army away from their capital. At the same time I began setting up agreements with my other neighbours to try and discourage any attacks from them. Its worth investing in better walls for the Frankish capital early on as it is fairly exposed.

Once the Saxons were merrily laying siege to the settlement in Frisia, I sent my army north to attack their capital, and took it before their expeditionary force could return. A few turns of consolidation and the Kingdom of the Franks had expanded to contain Saxony, Jutland and Frisia.

Meanwhile the Burgundians and Lombards were engaged in an indecisive conflict, so I began to plot the downfall of the Alemanni. Unfortunately, some wannabe Caesar posted on the Rhine decided to send the Roman Legions to attack me, causing a sharp shift in policy. I had hoped to absorb the weaker Germannic tribes before driving westwards. As it was, I was forced to set my armies against superior Roman numbers.

The Roman army isn't what it once was - think Hastati backed up by archers and town watch. The Frankish host on the other hand is rather effective. The Frankish levys by themselves are no match for Commitates, but they make an effective anvil. Their javalins combined with spears make them rather dangerous to cavalry, and they are very durable formed into a shield wall. The other key element to the early game Frankish army is raider cavalry. Okay, they aren't cataphracts, but they are cheap enough to take in quantity.

Fighting the Romans proved easier than I had feared. They had no cavalry to speak of, so I was able to outmanouvre them break up their battle line and defeat them piecemeal.

Sieges however, are a different matter. The Romans seem to have been continually adding layers to their city walls over the last 363 years, and the Franks don't start out with much in the way of siege troops. Augusta Vindelicorum was my first target. I hired some vetenary legionnaries to give my army some assault punch and used these to scale the walls and tie up the defenders whilst I rushed levy troops through a sapped breach in the wall and to the town square. The main problem with Roman cities in Gaul is the size. It takes ages to get to the town square, all the time being peppered by arrows. In later sieges I used swordsmen and axemen, but I am coming to the conclusion that levies are the best choice to assault as most of your casualties will come from the arrow towers and they don't seem to distinguish much.

What surprises me about the Romans is that once you have crossed the Rhine, its fairly easy going. I made sure that I kept on advancing, as the Roman cities are big enough and advanced enough to produce pretty decent armies if given the time. Gaul is full of mercenaries, so reinforcements are not so great a problem as you might expect. I suspect that if things got more exciting on the Eastern front, then defeating the Romans might be more difficult. I was lucky as the Burgundians and Lombards were at each others throats all the time, and the Alemmani had problems with migrating Sarmatians.

I currently hold all Gaul, along with my Germannic possesions, and I'm preparing my invasion of Britannia. I also need to evict some Sarmatians who seem intent on setting up home in my lands.

Quick summary:

Thin out the ranks of your neighbouring tribes at the outset.
Fortify your cities.
Use levy/cavalry combinations to smash the Roman frontier armies.
Expand rapidly into Gaul before the Romans can pump out new armies.
Use levys to do the fighting in sieges.

[Craterus]

Well, you started out much the same as I did. I've got the stone wall queued in after Weaponsmith, Hall of Heroes and Cavalry Stables (not sure of exact name of the cav suppliers)

Anyway, my plan is to take the Saxons, and then launch an invasion through the land-now-known-as-Belgium (a la Schlieffen) and maybe send an army or two over the channel while I take Northern France.

Hearing that barbarian alliances tend to hold strong, I have made an alliance with the Alans, and I hope they'll keep to it as I have sent most men up to deal with Saxons. After 3 turns, I came to a battle, and then the CTD. So no more play for a while

[Garvanko]

Interesting to see you both go for the Saxons straight away. I took a different track.

Merged my Heirs army with the Leader (and retrained them to +3 exp) and went straight across the bridge for the WRE (well I waited till their full stuck went AWOL down south) - I think there was an early rebellion so that helped matters. Quickly took the city then, even more quickly, struck a ceasefire, which the WRE held, while I built up my forces for two other surgical strike on their fortresses up north. Waited again for their full stacks to wander off before I attacked first with my spy at the city above, then with saps on Sambrobriva. Both fell within four turns.

I should mention that I allied with Allemani early to keep my southern border at Vikus Gothi (My starting city) protected. Since Barbarian Alliances hold, it was a necessary strategic decision.

Sambrobriva fell on retaliation, but I wiped out most of the invading army, and was able to retake it a turn later with a relief force I sent up just in case. On the way I recruited a unit Graal Knights for a whopping d2k. I now hold 4 settlements.. I'll probably consolidate up north into Saxon territory and Britain, before I strike south again against the WRE.

The Franks have an excellent upgrades, and their starting city produces exp 3 units. Very, very handy.

PS. Those Comits... Damn them!

[Craterus]

Hmmm, strange that no-one went for the Alemanni, or is it that everyone else feels they aren't worth bothering with?

My reason for not going after WRE is because I want to see it crumble without the help of a human.

I'm playing without pause (wherever possible) and no "toggle_fow" except maybe to see how the Sassanids are doing etc.

[Franconicus]