Southern Irish Campaign issues

[Callimachus]

So I figured I'd give the southerns a try after playing as the ui niell for a while and I find i'm worse off then the ulstermen, right off the bat I get freight trained by the norse, I usually go for an alliance of convenience with the ui niell but they just sit on their cans waiting for me to grind myself away at the norse till the gold harp is just a fond memory, tips and major suggestions would be gladly appreciated.

[jackx]

Move towards Dublin, you should be able to intercept the first large Norse army coming your way in a defensive battle on the steep mountainsides... that way, you can tire them out a lot and then pick them apart with rear cav charges.

Early game with Leinster isn't that different from Ui Neill, just a bit more difficult... you'll need a couple of heroic victories early on, but with your cavalry advantage, they aren't that hard to get.

[Callimachus]

yeah I know with the irish, be they leinster or ui niell choosing your battleground is majorly important, it helps me a lot to when you can get onto a steep hill and then hit them with an ambush, thanks for the advice!

[CountMRVHS]

What difficulty do you play on? Anything higher than Medium (campaign) will mean your alliances only last as long as you don't share borders.

I tend to avoid Ireland altogether in VI2 - never completed a campaign as either of the Irish factions, or the Norse for that matter. Any way you slice it, Ireland in the game is a great big pie of hatred and unhappy settlements.

[Callimachus]

I usually keep it to medium medium, I didn't find they were that rebellious, sometimes they would even tell the norse to sod off by rebelling back to me, but a rebel irish army of peasents and some kerns can't really cut the mustard against an army of blood thirsty norse who will probably be more pissed off then before it does make me feel better when I can break a unit of hirdmen with some hefty dart fire, but yeah I could win some major battles against them but I just get ground down since I cant recruit due to the crippling debt and then they attack my cities and it's game over for the eire

[DinkyDonkey]

Why doesn't someone make Ireland a betetr nation to play with ?

[Aradan]

Define better?

[Callimachus]

I don't find anything wrong with the faction itself, the game is excellent, one of the best mods I've ever played, the irish factions just have a harder time with knocking vikings out of their land. My issue is the never ending influx of norwegian armies lol

[jackx]

Even better? They already have the best/most versatile rosters, and the campaigns aren't really hard, either. Yes, you're in a tough spot, but you have all the tools (mostly fast cav, missiles and fear) to fight your way out of it.

You also have the option to loot your own churches and monasteries without seriously damaging your late-game prospects if you really need some extra cash to deal with the early battles.

The Irish are hard the same way Wessex or East Anglia are hard - you can't allow yourself to be complacent/make mistakes in the first couple of turns, which takes a bit of planning, and some knowledge/experience, but ultimately isn't all that much of a challenge.

Bad campaigns to start if you're new to the mod (new to the game we can probably rule out in 2011) and looking to get your bearings, but if you know what to expect, and how to deal with it, you should be fine.

[Callimachus]

My latest campaign is more of a success, vikings confined to cork with only small armies, I control the south western corner up to ulster and gaining ground in munster and connaught, at war with the ui niell but I can take care of them, a few heroic ambushes save the day!

[Imperator Alexander]

You have to be aggressive in early game, and pool all your units to take Dyflin.