Irish Quandry

[King Kurt]

I am currently playing as the Irish in a hard VI campaign. I own all of Ireland and Wales and a belt across middle England where the Mercians used to be. To the south are the Saxons - very strong with all those Housecarls - and to the north is a mix of Northumbrians, Scots and Vikings - all not that strong.

My original plan was to rebuild my strength as I am quite worn down by defeating the Mercians and having to cope with a civil war which broke out as my King died just as I was finishing off the Mercians and before the new King could build his influence.

However, my plans have been upset by the Northumbrians - who were my allies- invading one of my provinces. All my allies have broken with me as they were allies of Northumbria as well. Most are neutral but the saxons are a bit more aggressive saying don't be agggressive to them.

So here is my problem - I must make war on the Northumbrians - who attacked with 300 men a province which is next to one of my provinces with 4000 men in. However this province has a mutal border with the saxons. So do I leave the Northumbrians in this province and wipe out all their others - which do not have a saxon on their border - or do I just attack the Northumbrians where ever they are. How can I keep peace with the Saxons, as I can't defeat them while at war with anybody else. One last thing - are there any automatic bridge battle sites in the middle of England? - could be handy for me defending against larger numbers.

[Grey_Fox]

What unit size are you on, coz saying you have 4000 men doesn't say how many stacks you have.

If you have 4 stacks, send two to kill Northumbrians. You should be able to beat any size force with just the first sixteen units in your army, as long as it isn't ridiculously outnumbered (i.e. over 4:1).

[King Kurt]

I am on standard sized units, so that is a 4 to 5 stack army. I suppose I could send a 2 stack army with my better troops and general to sort out the Northumbrians, while keeping a deterent against the saxons. i will keep you posted.

[King Kurt]

Well - that worked well - I have had virtually no problems with the Saxons and I have all but wiped out the Northumbrians. The Saxons have invaded 1 province - I am tempted to reinforce the surrounding provinces and leave it at that. I would like to take out the Scots and Picts before starting on the Saxons.

[Martok]

Sweet. I'm glad things are working out well for you. Personally, I would probably go after the Saxons next, as they can very dangerous if they're allowed any time to build up their foces--unless, of course, the Scots and Picts are such easy pickings you can't resist.

[King Kurt]

Pickings north of the border look easy - also I don't think the saxons can build up much as they have a reasonable force already and would need more income - i.e. more provinces - to build a lot more troops. This means that they would have to attack me to get more cash - and I would prefere to meet them initally as a defender as my Irish are stronger that way. A few attritional battles would wear them down before I counterattack. I am the richest - and would be richer after invading Scotland - so I could build quicker than he could. I fancy a few defensive battles based on a line of armoured spears, backed by kerns and bonnacts with a counter attack of gallowglasses to grind down those pesky housecarls. i will keep you posted.