Tips on starting a campaign

[The Kybrothilian]

Hello there, I am Scutarilegion and I got a question; Which faction is the easiest to start a campaign with?

I have tried the Auyybids, but I had trouble having an effective economy and happiness whilst at the same time I had troubles having an good army which to use in a war against the KOJ and Makuria.
Then I tried Romans, but it didn't took long until the turks attacked with stacks that greatly outnumbered my paltry garrisons as I was building economy. The most irritating thing I have run in the campaign is that diplomacy is damn hard. It's usually on knife's edge, if I can get trade rights for free, and alliance isn't possible unless I give lots of money in return.

[shikaka]

I think with Abbasids it is very easy to setup an economy.

Just take the port cities east of you (good sea trade income), unify roughly modern day Iraq, and send a few merchants to the holy land.

[valachian shepherd]

Probably you are playing on H or VH. I'd suggest to play on medium difficulty

As for a faction, you can also try the Seljuks, they are big enough and have pretty good troops

[The Kybrothilian]

Probably you are playing on H or VH. I'd suggest to play on medium difficulty

As for a faction, you can also try the Seljuks, they are big enough and have pretty good troops

I actually was playing with medium difficulty. In the very first turn of playing as romans the turks send their diplomat to my capital to try bribing it. I tried diplomacy but nothing could get trough and after the turks run out of rebel settlements, they started attacking with full stacks, and my settlements had only 5 units at the best

[Iguanaonastick]

Actually the Ayyubids and Romans are among the easiest factions to start with, particularly the Ayyubids. They have an immensely powerful unit roster and a strong starting position. Jerusalem may start with a good few stacks of troops but they have few territories and can't win a war of attrition against you. Makuria can generally be ignored, it'll be decades before they can challenge you if you don't expand too far south.

You could try a more isolated faction like the Kypchaks or Omani, but they have a more limited unit roster. Ghanzi is also an option, they have great units and unlike Rome or Egypt no "designated" enemy they have to fight early in the campaign.

Broken Crescent is pretty difficult at the start, compared to vanilla. This is just something you need to get used to. Some important tips:

- Seize as many rebel settlements as possible at the start of a campaign. The AI is usually slower than you, even if they have more armies. This gives you a head start while you prepare for war.

- Do not sack or exterminate any settlements unless it would yield you huge amounts of cash and you have a good reputation already. Diplomacy is very dependent on your reputation. If you are "very trustworthy" people will gladly accept alliances with you. Your allies are also far less likely to betray you than in vanilla, I've found. Carefully select allies that will not get in fights with each other, if you're forced to break an alliance you will take a big reputation hit. Allies that share your religion are likely to be better.

- While we're at diplomacy, buffer states are great. It sucks having very powerful neighbours like the Ayyubids or the Great Seljuks who can draw you into endless boring wars of attrition if you let them. Much nicer to have a small, dependent and easily controlled ally between you and them. You'll probably need to help them out militarily to keep them from getting swamped, but that's still a lot easier than having to defend all your borders yourself.

- Keep spending under control. Build up your economy first. Roads, markets, ports, merchants, special trade buildings, all of them. Even if the AI does attack you with their larger stacks, they're usually not able to quickly destroy you, at worst taking a few settlements while you're enlarging your armies. (Don't forget about mercenaries, they're a pretty good deal in BC.) I don't know which EDU you use, but in the new one in particular this is very important as most units cost a lot of upkeep. In the old one you can recruit a half dozen levy units for the price of one regular, and though they suck pretty badly that's a lot of cannon fodder.

- Learn how to beat AI enemies that outnumber you. Hammer and anvil tactics generally are the way to go. Use troops in shield-wall formation with archers behind and cavalry in reserve to rear-charge anything that engages your shieldwall. (In the new EDU, in the old you just need to learn how to use cavalry charges to best effect.) If you play Romans use lots of pikemen, they're very good but should be protected from missile fire.

I think that just about sums it up. Good luck! And more importantly, have fun.

[Mihajlo]

Forget diplomacy, only do it for a trade rights. Ayyubidas are the easiest faction to play. The best unit roster and the best economy in overall. All you need is to defeat KoJ in two battles. First is to gather your forces from Damascus and castle next to it, and go and kill Balian's stack. Other battle is to get your forces from Egypt and siege Jerusalem. After you defeat Bailian, go and siege Acre. If you manage to take Acre n Jerusalem, KoJ are as good as dead. They have the worst replenish rate for their unit poll, and they cant train powerful knights at beginning. Also first serious help they get is Richards crusade, but by that time, you will 100% eliminate KoJ.

[Iguanaonastick]

Don't keep garrisons in your cities either. You cannot possibly afford enough troops to defend all your territory against determined enemy attack.

Concentrate your forces in one or two big, strong field armies instead. Seek out enemy stacks and defeat them in the field.

Also, be careful with the elite units you get at the start. You won't be able to replace them for a very long time, so don't squander their strength on a few rebels, use them in decisive battles. (You can still use them in your rebel hunting armies, so they can gain experience, you just shouldn't expose them to any danger. In my latest Roman campaign I got one of my cataphract units up to silver experience while just losing 1 man. The other lost 8 men, which sucked, but got gold experience.)

[Neige]

Diplomacy is much harder, but not impossible, as many seem to believe. You just have to experiment with it more. I don't think it is unreasonable that other factions don't jump into an alliance with you immediately. It is based on logical assumptions, e.g. Armenia will accept your alliance proposal much more likely than, say Seljuks, if you are Georgia. (At least in my experience.) Often to get what you want from Islamic factions (playing as Christians and vice versa) you'll have to throw in some money. I think BC diplomacy is hard, but not unreasonable and I like it a lot as I manage to do a lot of manipulation using it and in my hands it's more often than not a very powerful tool.

[The Kybrothilian]

Thanks guys. I might retry auyybids, or maybe I'll try with seljuks

[trollface]

romans are not an easy faction to start with, the turks have 3 stacks and will attack you ruthlessly with them unless you expand quickly and build up your forces asap. An easy starting faction is oman, they can expand everywhere and have little competition... initially. There is also great wealth in the iranian coastal regions. Abbasids are also easy, excellent troop selection and vast wealth once you take rebel regions. Ayyubids are not an easy faction either... more a medium one

[metsikhovne]

with ayyubids I have had easiest campaign ever... kwarezm is very easy as well but until mongols arriver but very challenging and interresting campaign.. imamate is has very interresting campaign also i found it very funny but in early game.. kypchags have also easy campaign

[Ansar Warrior]

Watch out for the Seljuks, Ayyubids and Turks they get huge armies very quickly and seem to generally be the super powers on the block, once these guy's get kicking your in for one hell of a battle to contain them.

I found diplomacy to be hugely important if your playing with one of the smaller or weaker factions, if you piss off the wrong people you will have waves of enemies jumping on you.

Alliances are quite strong in BC so watch out if you attack an ally of one of your existing allies as this will likely break yours.

[Vaynakh]

What I've learned from a previous campaign - although this is probably not as vital for a faction that starts with a high population - is to focus on the economy and home front - everything else will follow through. Focus first on upgrading (castles > fortresses; towns > cities) and focus first on farming upgrades.

Historically, tribes and empires which had the population advantage came to dominate their regions. Egypt was the largest empire of its time and during (& especially leading up to) its golden age, Greece had more people than any of the lands around it. That's why they began colonizing the black and mediterranean seas: they had overpopulation. The same goes for Rome and later, France in Napoleon's day.

Numbers will make tactics a lot easier. Higher populations means you can take advantage of trade bonuses more (btw, upgrade trade right after farming). Farming first, then trade; not the other way around. And more bodies to tax. More money + more population = more upgrades and higher tier units.

The ai does not have a cohesive strategy so clear economic goals will give you a significant advantage no matter who you play as.

[Boriak]

OK, I have the BC mod up and working. But to tell you the truth I have no idea what to do. It's been a while since I was a noob at any game and I'm a bit rusty.

How should I begin? Do I start by conquering or economy building? Do I perform 'Senate' jobs?

[Neige]

No, but you will receive occasional missions from the council or something. They aren't important mostly and won't do you much harm if you ignore them. All you have to do is build up your towns and muster armies. You'll see that it's very similar to rtw in many aspects.

[Iguanaonastick]

A good idea is to use your starting troops to seize as many nearby rebel settlements as possible, but avoid conflict with AI factions until you've developed your economy. Don't hire new troops until later, use your starting money for farms, roads, markets.

It's also important not to sack cities despite the quick cash influx. Doing so will get you a reputation as an untrustworthy bastard and will make the AI hate you. Good relations with like-minded neighbours and some well-placed alliances can make a very big difference.

[Boriak]

I began an Ayyubid campaign. After turn three I am already without cash. I attacked the only rebel settlement close by, the one west of Damascus. Should I attack Jerusalem? Rebel towns along the Nile are heavily defended and I don't think expanding north of Damascus would be a good idea. But to test my flimsy spearmen against Christian heavy horse seem madness.

What to do?

[Iguanaonastick]

Seize Antioch. It's the biggest money-maker in the region. You'll need a large force to do so, but should be able to pull it off before the Armenians or Crusaders get their act together.

Also seize the towns in northern Syria if you can. Aleppo is heavily defended, but there are a few rebel settlements south of there you should take before Jerusalem can.

[trollface]

an easy campaign would be the great seljuks, very wealthy and no-one will dare attack you. Makuria is another easy campaign, you only have to face the ayyubids... there are no surrounding factions waiting to backstab you. That being said makuria lacks armour so play to their strength, use javellin infantry and longbowmen to batter the enemy into submission... best done on a bridge or city walls. An open battle is dangerous as they get to smash your infantry with heavy lancers.

If you want a challenging campaign play armenia

[Cuong Vu]

Seize Antioch. It's the biggest money-maker in the region. You'll need a large force to do so, but should be able to pull it off before the Armenians or Crusaders get their act together.

Also seize the towns in northern Syria if you can. Aleppo is heavily defended, but there are a few rebel settlements south of there you should take before Jerusalem can.

That's the point, Antioch and you will have a full bag of cash. Diplomacy is utmost important if you are playing Roman Empire, the Armenians or Georgians.