What's a good faction to play as?

[Benz282]

Hey, I'm usually a RTW player, but I recently decided to start a slow campaign on M2 on Vh/Vh. Now, I have never played M2 on VH/VH (let alone finished a campaign on any difficulty without cheating ) so I would like to know what a good faction to play as would be.

My goal is to get far into the game (past whatever it is the end date is), while not letting any faction get destroyed (by gifting regions to them if we are neutral, or letting them keep a region if I am at war with them).

I would like to play as a Southern European faction (ie, Spain, France, Sicily, Portugal, or Milan [Venice just seems too easy...]), but I'm really open to any faction that would be fun.

Any help plz? +rep for suggestions

[zligor]

Sicily is the good option because of its starting position. If you play as Sicily you can easilly expand early in the game without worsening your relations with the pope. You can expand towards Moors and Egypt and create relatively early in the game large mediterranian empire. They have all the advantages of other Italian factions-strong militia units above all-and they have some pretty strong unique units like norman knights (both infantry and cavalry). If you play as Milan or Venice you`ll have to wage war against other catholic factions sooner rather than later. Milan fields one of the best crossbow units in game and venetians have excellent venetian heavy infantry and archers. I don`t like Portugal because it relies on light-javeline armed infantry like almughavars. France is even better than Sicily but its western european faction. It is surrounded with rebel provinces so France can expand without attacking other catholic factions. It is important to keep good relations with the pope early in the game because, if relations are too low he`ll excommunicate you and some other catholic faction may declare crusade on you - which will ussualy mean war with all of them) Later in the game you will be able to manipulate pope by building cathedrals etc. Also, France have best late units.Hybrid heavy infantry/archers like aventurier and scots guard,excellent heavy infantry and best cavalry in the west. So, I`ll reccomend either France or Sicilly.Or only Sicily:hmmm:Hope this was helpfull.

[KoS]

Sicily is the good option because of its starting position. If you play as Sicily you can easilly expand early in the game without worsening your relations with the pope. You can expand towards Moors and Egypt and create relatively early in the game large mediterranian empire. They have all the advantages of other Italian factions-strong militia units above all-and they have some pretty strong unique units like norman knights (both infantry and cavalry). If you play as Milan or Venice you`ll have to wage war against other catholic factions sooner rather than later. Milan fields one of the best crossbow units in game and venetians have excellent venetian heavy infantry and archers. I don`t like Portugal because it relies on light-javeline armed infantry like almughavars. France is even better than Sicily but its western european faction. It is surrounded with rebel provinces so France can expand without attacking other catholic factions. It is important to keep good relations with the pope early in the game because, if relations are too low he`ll excommunicate you and some other catholic faction may declare crusade on you - which will ussualy mean war with all of them) Later in the game you will be able to manipulate pope by building cathedrals etc. Also, France have best late units.Hybrid heavy infantry/archers like aventurier and scots guard,excellent heavy infantry and best cavalry in the west. So, I`ll reccomend either France or Sicilly.Or only Sicily:hmmm:Hope this was helpfull.

I'd say Sicily, for the same reasons.

[Benz282]

I'd say Sicily, for the same reasons.

And this wouldn't have anything to do with your name, now would it KoS?

I tried Sicily out, and to my surprise, EVERYONE hates me. Milan, Venice, Moors, Byzies, HRE...the whole gang. Popey is my friend, but he refuses to leave Rome (hell, I even got Military Access from him). I haven't even declared war on any of them, they all came to me :hmmm:.

Summary:
I start out by taking Caralis (forget city name, haven't played M2 in a looooooonggg time) from the rebels. Then I go and take Tunis. As my fleet is sailing, Venice *randomly* lands on Sicily and besieges the castle. Sure, they got completely slaughtered, but it surprised me quite a bit (we had been on good terms prior to this).

Then the Moors land on Caralis and siege the castle as well. I had left a single unit of archers there, not expecting any attacks, so I moved a few Knights there to aid in the defense of the settlement. They attack and get slaughtered. Meanwhile, I defeat a small (1/2 stack) army they moved towards Tunis.

Peace is secured with Venice in a ceasefire, but then Milan (another state I believed to be on good terms with) lands a small army on Caralis. I pull off an extremely lucky victory and defeat them (I had the original unit of Peasant Archers and 1 unit of Mailed Knights against a 1/2 stack), only to be besieged again by a new enemy. Byzies.

Yup, that's right. The Emperor, in his infinite wisdom, decided to divert their resources to take a small island not even close to their holdings. No matter the fact that to get there, they had to pass two other, major settlements that were only lightly defended, taking Caralis was obviously more important .

Oh, and the Venetians landed another stack on Sicily and the HRE blockaded the port at Naples, so....I'm at war with...all of northern Italy, Greece, and Africa...all at turn 10.

Exxxxxxxxxxxxcellent....

[TheTrueGreek]

on vh/vh, sicily or spain(i see portugal as a spain) once you secure the iberian peninsula you can spread south, into africa and take timbuktu, then sweep thru egypt, the only trouble would be if France wants to have a party in Spain

[Insurgent]

I'd recommend Spain, Moors, Portugal, Sicily, England or Scotland. Spain, Portugal, the Moors and Sicily get easy expansion into Africa and can secure good defencive locations- the three Iberian factions can secure the penisula while Sicily can secure some powerful island fortresses and is generally safe at the south of Italy due to the rather effective barrier above that is the Papal States.

Scotland and England meanwhile are defencively formidable. Conquer Britain and Ireland and convert all castles to cities for a poweful moneymaking nation that is generally safely isolated from other nasty European factions. From here you can drop armies onto mainland Europe, snd stike the other factions quickly and ruthlessly while they're least expecting it.

Good luck in your campaign.

[The Noble Lord]

Southern European factions, hey.
Well, there is Spain, Moors, Fatimids, Sicily, and you can go for the Byzantines. They are kind of in the south eastern Europe. All of these are good factions.


CHEERS

[D.B. Cooper]

I say Venice. Where did you expand when you played it? It's not that easy, for me at least. Maybe I'm a noob, hm. Economy's good, and you'll have to master the land and sea routes to succeed. If you decide to wrestle the Byzantines for Greece then naval dominance will be especially important, since your enemies can deposit armies pretty much anywhere on your territory with a fleet. Venetian infantry is superb as well. Early on, you won't need anything other than Italian Spear Militia, which are abundant and cheap. So, try Venice it's a great romp.

[Sorkenlol]

England, strong starting position and britain is a goldmine.
After capturing britain you'll have to travel ALOT to get to other regions, france and HRE is almsot too hard to capture.

[Benz282]

Well, I decided to play as the Venetians and, as I had originally feared, the campaign is far too easy. 20 turns in and I've conquered parts of Greece and Asia Minor from the Byz's. I've also destroyed Sicily (though as a result, the Moors landed two small stacks at Naples and whatever the town on Sicily is called). Meanwhile, Milan and the HRE have both betrayed me and have both been excommunicated, giving me the freedom to do whatever I want with them =D. Milan does have 2-3 stacks, but I've got a lot of HC from those "Reward: best unit availible" missions, so they shouldn't be too hard to take out.

I guess I'll see where this campaign goes, but I bet I'll switch to the Spanish or Portugal later on, lol. Thanks for the advise everyone!

[Augustus Lucifer]

Well, I decided to play as the Venetians and, as I had originally feared, the campaign is far too easy. 20 turns in and I've conquered parts of Greece and Asia Minor from the Byz's. I've also destroyed Sicily (though as a result, the Moors landed two small stacks at Naples and whatever the town on Sicily is called). Meanwhile, Milan and the HRE have both betrayed me and have both been excommunicated, giving me the freedom to do whatever I want with them =D. Milan does have 2-3 stacks, but I've got a lot of HC from those "Reward: best unit availible" missions, so they shouldn't be too hard to take out.

I guess I'll see where this campaign goes, but I bet I'll switch to the Spanish or Portugal later on, lol. Thanks for the advise everyone!

Portugal is a really fun campaign, you start off with your two main provinces separated by Spain, and you have to reconnect against good spanish units, and insure you don't get excommunicated in the process, or get on bad terms with the Moors. France will almost always attack you, as will Milan, especially after you reach Toulouse on the northern front. England could also be a problem if they've expanded much. Additionally most of the Spanish provinces have bad order problems, you'll have to keep them on Low for the most part and they'll still have some riots. Lastly, the Portugese don't need to rely on their ranged infantry like the Almughavars. I personally field armies of mixed Dismounted Feudal Knights and Dismounted Portugese Knights, where the former has a strong defense to hold the line, and the latter a strong offense for flanking. You'll also have access to Portugese Knights, Jinetes, and potentially Knights of Santiago, so have a relatively good cavalry contingent. The ranged infantry aren't something to rave about, but Pavise Crossbowman can go toe to toe with the Milanese Crossbowman with tactics and experience.

Cheers,
Augustus

[Old Geezer]

Sicily would be the easiest of the factions the OP mentions, because of its strategic position, very good early units, and low probability of being attacked.

[TheTrueGreek]

you just got owned, id suggest a new campaign or a new faction

[Old Geezer]

Naw. It's a perfect situation. They'll all get excommunicated by his buddy the Pope. He'll get multiple crusades and win the game by turn 50. It is made easier because the bastards are stupid enough to come to be executed by his Norman knights and Muslim archers. Couldn't ask for a better situation.

[Benz282]

Naw. It's a perfect situation. They'll all get excommunicated by his buddy the Pope. He'll get multiple crusades and win the game by turn 50. It is made easier because the bastards are stupid enough to come to be executed by his Norman knights and Muslim archers. Couldn't ask for a better situation.

Exactly. They're not getting exo'd yet (except for Venice, that is). I'm going to let the Byzies take Caralis which also has a Moorish army and 2 Milanese armies situated for an assualt as well..

The Milanese are more or less tied up on Caralis while the Ventians have lost their FL and FH trying to take Sicily (each along with 1/2 a stack). HRE....well, they're just stupid. Hopefully I'll be able to get a ceasefire after I secure N. Italy.

From here, I could also go and start a new kingdom in Constantinople, but my navy just got owned by the Venetians (even though I outnumbered them by quite a bit ).

Oh, and France doesn't like me for some reason as well. I offered trade rights and they accused me of holding them at ransom :hmmm:. Nonetheless, they accepted and the next turn I got a message saying my relations with them went down to "very poor" .