EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE
I decided to write that ''tutorial'' after reading those that wrote ''ByzantineByron'',and as a result I used his style of presentation, and also because i have played numerous byzantine campaigns and i believe that I know this faction better than any other (faction of course not member )
STARTING POSITION:
You share borders on with 2 future enemies (seljuks of rum on the east and amenia on the south east),so there is a great possibility to face them from the first turns,especially the seljuks.As the game advances, the kypchaks on the north are on your doorstep,the georgians on the north east say hello to you and of course the crusaders along with the ayyubids welcome you on the levant.so you can see that even if you are on the beggining of the campign map,you are surrounded by enemies (well, except the georgians).
ARMY:
The byzantines posses 2 of the most powerfull and devastating units of the game,the pelekyphorous axemen (aka varangian guard) and the royal kataphraktous.To have the best of these units you have to pay a little attention to them during the battle and of course keep them safe before their charge.In field battlets these units are your keys to win as they can flee the majority of the units of BC just with their charge.The kataphracts also can also harrass the enemy units with their javelins,but i don't recommend that due to their lack of speed.In sieges you have to use them,especially the varangians,as your driving force to weak the defensive forces.One last thing for the varangians,keep the away from units that use halbreds.
Except for pelekyphorous and kataphracts,the byzantine army contains also 3 remarkable units.These are the pronoiarious (heavy cavalry),the spatharioi emperor's guard (spearmen) and the vestiarious swordsmen (heavy infantry).Make sure you have many units of these soldiers,because they hold the line for your 2 key-winning units.Vestiarioi are also very good in sieges just like the varangians.The imperial guards have also have as secondary weapon the sword and in combination with their attribute to inspire the nearby troops(just like pelekyphoroi) they can be used as charging heavy infantry and aid other units that losing the fight,especially in sieges.Also in constantinople region you can hire varangian warriors as mercenaries (more in number than pelekyphoroi) that can do the job of the vestiarious and pelekyphorous.
The other byzantine units exist for only one reason, be baits.Kavalarioi lancers are a decent unit for a charge-withdraw-charge strategy,while kataphracts can annihilate the enemy's cavalry and spearmen and proniarioi can continue to slaughter the enemy's infantry after the initial charge.Stratatoi are good in nothing,anatolikoi eugeneis(available only in cyprus and maybe in ankara) are something between kavalarioi lancers and stratatoi.Thats for the cavalry units.There are also spathatoi swordsmen, that are good for carying siege towers and ladders(if you use siege equipment in sieges) and soft the defenders before the coming of your real heavy infantry.Skoutatoi are decent spearmen and attribute better as defenders and of course we have the unique pikemen of the game,kontaratous who are good in absorbing the initial charge of every unit.In melee, very gently, they suck
.
And finally we have the byzantine missile units,who are the real problem of the empire.You have the mediocre toxotai (aka archers), the trapezitai javelin cavalry,the hippotoxotai (aka horsearchers) and 2 very bad units of javeliners peltastoi and menavlatoi (well, menavlatoi are little better than peltastous).Different enemies need different armies.When you face the seljuks,the ayyubids or the abbasids and the kypchaks you need more horse archers (the mercenaries turkopoles are better than hippotoxotai) just to keep busy the enemy mounted archers,while against armenians and franks you need more heavy units.
TACTIC:
In the first 7-10 turns everyone does the same things.Conquer the 2 rebel settlements of Dorylaeum and Amorium, increase the taxes to recover as soon as possible from the debt.What i do to recover faster from it is to sell my map in other faction for 1000-2000 coins,and destroy some useless barracks on the beggining from varna rhodes and maybe leukosia.After that, there are 4 possible ways to follow.
Firstly,you can do the obvious and attack iconium or ankara,each one is important to the seljuks.When i choose that, i also lead prince Alexius' army (amplified with some mercenaries) to sevasteia (aka sivas) and capture it.With that trick i encircle the seljuks in anatolia, and either they focus on me or try to find their way out against the armenians.
After the turks are knocked out or unable to threat your empire,you have to prepare for the 4th Crusade in 1202-1204.In all my campaigns the detoured crusaders just lay siege on consantinople and wait 12 turns to surrender the city.In other campaigns the crusaders may assault rigth away with their trebuchets.Despite their appetites, i always attack them before they lay siege.Oh just to mention it for someone who doesn't know it,the detoured crusaders have 2 full stacks armies and it's easier to fight them with night fighters generals.
The second way is to attack the armenians,BUT you have to secure you frontiers against the turks.The only way is to ally with them by giving worthless settlement (personaly i gave Varna) and some coins,as everyone has his price,even your fierce rival
.Attacking the armenians means the crusaders will hate you,so be ready for them.
The 3rd path you can follow is to ally both the crusaders and the armenians (their beloved settlements are leukosia and seleukeia or if you are lucky enough and have captured Vahka,the armenians will happily ally with you) and head for the Nile Delta.In that occasion you will have to break an alliance with either the turks,the crusaders or the armenians as muslim-christian war is possible.
The 4th and final way you can choose is to go for the orthodox rebel settlements of the north steppe.That means that you prevent the kypchaks from uniting their hordes,but along with the georgians you can handle them easier.But there are 2 major reasons that i don't recommend that.The steppe settlements don't give any remarkable units and their income doesn't worth all that effort.In either script you have to choose carefully your allies, when will you ally with a faction,which faction will you betray ans when,and finally who of your allies will you follow when they are at war.
Any criticism and comments are welcomed