Kievan Rus Start

[Lukianos]

Hey guys, I was wondering if I could get some advice on how to start off with Kievan Rus. I always get pulled into a war with Hungary over Iasi, and the fact that they start off with Castle recruiting ability and I have nothing but Slavic Javalinmen = my early destruction.

Should I just spam cav archers and widdle them down that way? Or is there another trick I don't know about?

Thanks for all the advice in advance!

[Fakir]

I love the Kievan Rus', which is why it makes me so sad that they start so very very badly (although this may be specific to 6.2 RR/RC).

[Anatorax]

I love Kievan Rus too!!! I started a campaign with SS6.2 on vh/vh one week ago and I am only by turn 40 so far. I am at war with Cumans, Novgorod, Lithuania, Poland and Byzantium and allied with Hungary. (I gave them 2000+300x20) I think it is more about strategic planning, rather than battle tactics here.

Well, anyway, here is my strategy:

I go for Zhytomyr in the very first turn with the general from Kiev. After capturing Zhytomyr go for Yasi in the next 2-3 turns. Then get some reinforcements and go for Bucharest (but Byzantines may get it first, however, in my campaigns they always get beaten by rebels). I have never seen Hungarians near Yasi so early, so if you hurry up it should do the trick. Pretty much, here is the scheme how I capture settlements:
Kiev - Zhytomyr - Yasi - ?Bucharest?;
Pereyaslav - Azaq - Serdobinskaya - ?Ryazan?;
Bryansk - Smolensk (usually a really hard battle here) - ?up to Baltic?;
Tmutarakan - Sarkel.
You can take Caffa later, since nobody goes that far so early.

In my campaign, I managed to get about 12 regions quickly at the start with that scheme, but battles are usually very hard, because I overstretch my armies, so I had to reload battles few times. Try to get an alliance with Hungary or avoid taking Yasi, if they are so aggressive. Hungary becomes quite strong in most of the games, so try not to war with them.

[DavEEEEEEy]

I just started a Kievan Rus campaign myself. Playing 6.2 on VH/VH. And I can't say I've has much difficulty as of yet (turn 30) In my game, the Kievan Rus do not start with Iasi

What I've done : Allied with Cumans - I have no aspirations expanding East, especially as it will all be void once the Mongolians come, I feel safe having a barrier of sorts, so I'm trying to stay on my Cuman allies good side

I also allied with the Byzantines and got Caffa in the deal, meaning they have no need to attack me, and the trade boost is welcome on the Black Sea. This way I can also go help them out on the obvious Jihads that will come.

For other allying purposes, either ally with Poland or Lithuania (It will cost though, but is worth it for the moment) I went for Poland, as I plan to expand into Lithuania later on as it's much easier, and won't bring me any new border clashes

At the start, take all the rebel settlements you can snatch up, expanding in all directions, it makes no difference to being against more peoples borders, because if you don't, the other factions close to you will just take it, and you'll be against the same people's borders, with less settlements.

From there on, it's inevitable the Cumans will either attack Novgorod, or vice versa, once they do, it's your first opening to break off the Novgorod pre-made alliance that the game starts you off with (For me anyway). And expand North, and take as much as you can before the Cumans. The Lithuanians or Polish (Depending on Alliance choice) may declare war on you, so there is your next move.

I've not gone beyond that really, that was my game-plan anyway, morph it into your liking :] About the Iasi problem, you should probably sell it off to the Hungarians, Byzantines, Cumans, whoever you can secure a reliable Alliance with.

[Point Blank]

You will be pleased to know that the next rc/rr update includes substantial work on the kievan roster, including adding many of the excellent Rusichi models.