Your favourite faction in SV?

[DaVinci]

... out of curiousity and 'cause i often don't know which faction i shall choose for a campaign (as i mainly choose factions after testing-considerations for the global balancing observation and modding).

Perhaps you can describe some of your observed impressions with the several available factions in terms of campaign gameplay, to give an inspiration to me and to others?

[|Lorre|]

have I to say mine, or it's clear enough which one is?

[SicilianVespers]

Not wanting to state the obvious

[zznɟ ǝɥʇ]

It's hard to say...I'm really enjoying playing as Denmark but normally I play as Byzantium and that's heaps on fun.

Denmark is fun because you're reletively safe and can sit back and watch while sending an army HRE's way every so often.

Byzantium is pure madness with wars everywhere, very challenging and very fun.

Genoa is pretty fun as well, I always focus on trade and try to take all the little islands, except the Golden Horde get uppity pretty often.

[DaVinci]

Well, Denmark is my favourite faction to observe the AI campaigning behaviour, as for its pretty secure strategical position.

except the Golden Horde get uppity pretty often.

... what does this mean?

[zznɟ ǝɥʇ]

Well, Denmark is my favourite faction to observe the AI campaigning behaviour, as for its pretty secure strategical position.


... what does this mean?

They don't take kindly to me taking a territory or two from them.

[Boztorgai_Khan]

IL-KHANATE

GOLDEN HORDE
QIPCHAKS
OTTOMANS
SELJUKS
MAMLUKS

[Demokritos]

Well, I choose faction depending on the situation or mood I'm in. When the game or mod is new to me and I need to try out how thinks work, then I usually play it safer with a faction out on the fringe of the map, so that my back is free. When I start to get the hang of it, then I increase the challenge by picking a more vulnerable or weaker starting position, one that is open to attack from several sides or counts very few regions or both. And when I have played the Christian crusader, I like a change in the game experience and put myself in the Muslim spot to fight all those crusading infidels. For maximum variety and challenge in the campaign, however, I pick the smallest faction in the middle of the strategy map, to increase the chance of encountering all kinds of cultures on the battlefield early on in the unfolding history of the country. And then there are of course times when I feel a certain patriotic surge and must play the faction closest to home, regardless of everything else...

[Aeneas Veneratio]

I really like Aragon. Mainly due to their look and troops They also start at a very interesting place, where they need to contain with two catholic factions (who normally sign an alliance very early making them a threat to my expansionism) and the Moors. Iberian conflict ftw!

[Almogaver]

Long live the Crown of Aragon! I like fighting the genoese and expanding my trade routes all over the mediterranean as well taking the angevins to their knees..

[|Lorre|]

Long live the Crown of Aragon! I like fighting the genoese

Buuuuhhhhh!!!!




Personally I Like more the smaller factions, like Scotland, Aragon, Genoa, Venice, Portugal and so on: since it's quite a job to make them grow, and you have less parameters to control.

[Hardor the Magyar]

Do I have to say?

Hungary is the best, nothing better than kick venetian ass with Magyar cavalry

[SicilianVespers]

Do I have to say?

Hungary is the best, nothing better than kick venetian ass with Magyar cavalry

Just wait until we add the Darkage campaign (888AD'ish)

[Shaun]

I like Portugal. They are the first to reach the new world, and the first to travel down south on the African coast. I like my colonial Empire! And the only people that can attack them are the Spanish or Moors, and the Moors are too nice to attack people.

[Bosphoran]

I like playing the Turks because they are in a strategical position , I first secure the western anatolia then thrace and I don't take Constantinople until 1400. and after this it is very good to see the serbians bulgarians armenians and ilkhanate are shaking because of mighty turkish armies.

and my catholic choice is scotland. I love two handed swordsmen and those highlander nobles are really cool guys , I stay on the defensive to wait England become more powerful and attack me full strenght.

[masterproctor77]

I like anything that is usually relatively small and creating a huge trading empire and trying to score territories through diplomacy and wars that I create after I have established myself. Portugal was one of my favorites, starting in the early age and then pushing the moors out of iberia and then turning against Castille and Aragon to secure iberia and then shoring myself in at the pyranese and straight of gilbraltar and sending out expeditions to take islands.

But big factions are fun to play with too sometimes when they are surrounded and they are about to collapse, ex Byzantine Empire.

[dimitarsl]

Bulgaria

[Tzar]

Serbia

[awisler]

I like Venice the most, but Byzantines are fun as well.

A challenging campaign that I have done twice is a migration of Venice campaign. You migrate to southern Italy, and after securing Naples, Brindisi, Cusenza, Messina, Sarusa, Malta and Palermo you turtle. Before you take the Sicilian capital, gift them Venice and Ragusa.

I love southern Italy to be honest, it is very easy to turtle as you can simply hold Fermo and all enemy forces must be narrowed down through there and are easily stopped, that is if they come at all. At this point you can slowly expand into N. Africa and Cagliari.

And of course you could just start out playing as Sicily, but I love Venice's units and colors. When I take all of Italy including Rome, and let the Pope settle in Milan, the red reminds me of the good old days of the Julii in RTW.

From there you can easily assault Greece, taking Corinth, Mistra, Athens and Negroponte. You can block off the land bridge and use a fort on the eastern side to protect all of these settlements. Then do some island hopping in the Mediterranean.

On one of these campaigns I restored the Roman empire to its realistic borders. Of course after that I extended them to the corners of the world

But it is very fun, especially once you get into Britain versus the Scottish, I built a bunch of forts just past York to simulate Hadrians wall just for realism sake.

[alien_t]

I played only with Bulgaria, late campaign and with Byzantium renaissance campaign.
Bulgarian campaign was very challenging. Only one starting region...many trops, so the player can easily bankrupt after 3-4 turns. Actually it happend to me several times. My strategy was first to make alliance with Serbia and Hungary to assure my back, and after that attacked Byzantine. My goal of course was Constantinople - the money maker

In byzantine renaissance campaign, my strategy was almost the same - alliance with Bulgaria and Serbia and attack the Turks It was not so difficult because, I had more starting regions, more trops...as far as I remember