Advice on what to do next?

[First_creation]

I'm England. The screenshot below shows my empire. Also have Caffa, highlighted in the yellow square. I went for that settlement as I was on a Crusade which finished, so took my decent army and went for that weak settlement.

I think I could crush the French, but I worry that if I take one settlement, they will come and re-take it with twice the army of mine.

I spent a fair few years building up my army on the coast; Caen, Angers, Bruges, Antwerp, as well as which has now put me into a bit of debt.

What should be my next moves?



P.S. I was pretty sure this was the right forum to post this in. If not, apologies Mods and please move

[Cmdr_Sdxo]

You should attack the French. If you think you're not going to be able to hold the cities, you can sack them and level every building they got in that city(especially now that you're low on cash. You don't want them to expand to the west and gain more strength, or another faction absorbing them and using their newly gained resources on you afterwards. I'm not a pro by any means, just voicing my opinion . It would be nice to know though, how many full stacks you have and whether it's knights or militia =P.

[Laconian]

I agree with that you should take out the French. Sack the cities when you occupy them and that should remove your debt. After destroying the French you should concentrate your armies on one faction and destroy it, maybe Milan or Spain. Also take the rebel islands off the Italian coast as they are good stepping stores for future attacks. As youhave Caffa I think you should build up a strong army their and expand north and west from there.

[nosjo78]

Couple different thoughts here.
Are the French trying to get a ceasefire with you? If so offer it and make them pay with money instead of blood.

From what im seeing on your map is Denmark, and Milan are ripe for conquest. If you take Denmark start in the northwest and work your way down. Use a ship to block the land bridge from Arhus to Stockholm. After you finish off Denmark HRE is probably going to have some issues with you (since you will be heavily bording them).

1. Denmark
2. French
3. Milan (Unless HRE attacks you before you get to Milan)
4. Spain
5. Portugal- Then put a boat between yourself and north africa to keep the Moors out of your territory.
6. Moors or HRE- Moors are going to take forever to finish off because of the extensive amount of time it takes to walk North Africa (I would actually recommend waiting until you can afford to keep a full indepedant army for attacking the Moors.
7. Sicily- Take out Sicily so you can control Italy, at this point you can then quit the game and start over because you will dominate the entire world. Nothing will stand in the way of your mighty empire.

[Kahn]

I think you should stay out of the Spanish Peninsula. Post a few armies in the mountains and stonewall anyone trying to come through those pases.

I would take your time positioning what armies you've already got and try to take France out in one or two turns. If you can manage it, you'll turn whatever armies they have in the field into rebel armies, which are significantly less dangerous, as they don't tend to have conquest or land-grabbing in their game plan.

Once you've got a fortified front in the East, then you can decide whether or not to expand East into Milan/HRE territory, or SouthWest into Spanish/Portugal territory. But only choose one. It's the double front that costs you so much money because a) you have to spend cash on troops, and b) now that you're at war with everyone around you, you aren't trading with them.

Also, when I get a random-ass city like Caffa under my belt, I tend to turn it into a Castle so I can hold onto it, and it becomes something like a little side project. You can launch little raids from it and sack nearby cities. This is a good way to fill your coffers. (bad way to make friends)