TW2 vanilla Venetians advice

[bertram boso]

Hi All,
I just got MTW2 and am playing as the Venetians in the short campaign (so as to have access to different factions in the longer campaign!). Would you recommend I go after the Byzantines first, or the MIlanese? I figure the Byzantines 'cause I won't get excommunicated, and I'll have a much larger resource-pool for the north Italian theater when I do turn against the Milanese....thanks!

[wowbanger]

Go after the Milanese first. If you take Milan, Genoa, Florence and either buy or conquer Bolonga off the HRE then you will have a very secure heartland (defended by the Alps to the North and the Pope to the South) and will start raking in the cash North Italy is a very rich area. With all this money it shouldn't be a problem to beat the Byzantines who will probably have their hands full with the Turks and Hungarians so shouldn't pose too many threats. However the Milanese are backstabbing scum who always attack you so its best to remove them early.

To avoid trouble with the Pope just tribute him a few hundred florins each turn. The Pope loves money.

[Silverheart]

Kill the traitors!

then the greeks...

[VersionLangley]

^ yup
conquering byz is slow with low yield
but..sometimes the byz can be pretty annoying if they decide you to be their main target. if you don't take care of them soon they'll send stack after stack at Ragusa and Ikraklion

[FiatLux]

Agreed with wowbanger. Try to secure a centralized homeland before you go off on any adventures in eastern Europe. Also make sure you ally with the Pope!

[KnightOfPortugal]

Go after North Italy first. It's far more secure than going into Greece, more because North Italy is easy to take swiftly, while fighting in Greece can become weary and confusing.

[bertram boso]

Thanks for the advice everyone...yeah, I hate the Milanese, those louts always come after me as soon as they get an opportunity.

[bertram boso]

Yeah this worked great, I knocked out the Milanese by turn 10 and am currently raking in all the florins that northern Italy has to offer. I'm getting quite tired of the pope, though, and am thinking I'll have to pull a Henry IV soon.....