Faction Advice: Venice

[Lukianos]

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if anyone has played Venice to completion, and if so, if they have any starting pointers for a successful campaign.

I am currently using SS 6.1 with SSTC and BftB 2.0. I have played Novgorod, HRE, and England successfully, but for some reason I can't seem to get Venice going.

Thanks for the tips!

[SonofPeverel]

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if anyone has played Venice to completion, and if so, if they have any starting pointers for a successful campaign.

I am currently using SS 6.1 with SSTC and BftB 2.0. I have played Novgorod, HRE, and England successfully, but for some reason I can't seem to get Venice going.

Thanks for the tips!

When i played as Venice in 6.1 I tried a number a ways but the approach i like the most was to: 1) ally with genoa and siciliy asap and the pope ofcourse
2) Pay the pope so he would call a crusade on the moors and begin my conquest of north africa
3) once i had enough $$$ i would try and buy bologna from HRE and Florence from the pope
4) if i wasnt attacked by genoa, sicily, byzantines, or hungary i would work from north africa towards egypt.
5)once i control the lands of the moors and fatamids i would push into greece and anatolia against the Byzantines then the turks.
6) then on to global domination

i know that the ventitians didnt attack Marrakesh but i enjoy the conquest to much to wait on papal approval to attach catholics. hope this helps

[hippacrocafish]

-Use naval hit-and-run attacks against the Byzantine Empire. Sacking their big cities for loot then retreating while pushing through Albania and into Greece is always a good idea. Use Crete as a staging ground for the naval attacks and Ragusa to field a strong land army.

-Build paved roads and/or a merchant's wharf in Venice ASAP. After that invest in advanced armories to upgrade your go-to unit: Italian Spear Militia.

-Ally with the Pope, Hungary, and Sicily if possible, Hungary is especially important since they are so close to your two biggest cities and they will likely go to war with your two biggest enemies (HRE and The Romans).

-Build a fort at the entrance to Venice, when the HRE/Genoa attacks (And they will) it will help to cut down on losses and help with defense.

-Don't expand any farther north than Tyrol (A good buffer against the HRE) or any farther east than Genoa or you will come into conflict with factions such as France. Once you've subdued your two biggest enemies on the Italian peninsula turn your attention east, but don't neglect your armies in Italy, upgrade them and build more advanced barracks and such to prepare for any future invasions.

-Do all you can to undermine the Fatimids, they like to jump on Crete at the first opportunity. If they declare war on you taking Benghazi or calling a crusade on them (I like to make Gaza my little mideast colony ) is a good way to keep them in check. Also, support the Crusader States when possible, call crusades for them and give them money when you can.

[prima legio]

when i play with venice use this tactics(if is possible)ally with sicily and hungary and i fight only against the bizantinium.then there is the possibility to participate in a crusade on a German city so much better.

[danexpat]

I play SS 6.4 with Savage AI. Some suggestions:

-Take Milan before Genoa does. If you do, Hungary will probably beat you to Zagreb and Byzantines will take Bari.

-Take Ancona and then take Bari from the Byzantines. Convert Ancona to a town after you take Bari. Bari lets you recruit Muslim archers, which are pretty good.

-If you can influence the Pope to crusade against Baghdad, your crusading forces will, unfortunately, have to cross through the Balkans, Greece, Crete, and Constantinople to get to Baghdad with minimal desertion penalty. (Recall that the Venetians were master manipulators and were responsible for the sacking of Constantinople.) Be sure to include 2 catapult units per crusading stack so you can assault same turn and avoid desertion.

-Hold out for Merchant's guild in Venice

-Invaders should never besiege Venice because you can defend the bridge on the way in. Create a semi-circle of 4 crossbows and four urban spear units and nothing should survive the bridge crossing for long.

-Set a goal of maintaining at least 50,000 florins in your account at all times, and stick with it. 50,000 will go faster than you think with improvements and mercenaries.

-Venetian merchants start with extra skill. There is gold in Belgrade that can generate 1000/turn with a full merchant, and many other resources (wine, amber) scattered around to exploit.

-Spam priests/bishops. Byzantine Orthodox bishops will sometimes even come to Veneto, so be prepared.

[flankstakes]

ah Venice, my favorite
-alliance with the Pope is a must.try to get alliances with Holy Roman Empire and Sicily.
-First cities you capture should be Ancona and Bari. These can greatly help in the war against the Romans by training reinforcements, which then you can carry into Peloponnese. Try to capture coastal cities at the beginning because it will be easier (since you ferry the army around) and less time consuming. Capture Zagrep and do not stray for inland if you don't have to. Once you capture Durazzo, you may think about advancing East from Zagreb and disturb Hungary. Your alliance with Holy Roman Empire will pay off since they will keep Hungary busy up north.
-During this time, however, Genoa will probably betray you(or you can betray them ), they however, won't be a problem since you can easily ferry your main army from east of the Adriatic.
-In the war against the Romans, capture of Peloponnese is essential since Corinth trains most of their troops and these regions make good money.
-You should finish of Genoa (if Holy ROman Empire didn't betray you, in my 3 campaigns, they never did) then march on the Marseille but stick to coastal regions until you get REALLY strong, that is how Venetians did it after all.
-Later on, you might have to deal with Sicily since they have their eye on Greece and eastern italy.so make sure you have 1-2 more units than the free upkeep slot in Ancona and Bari.
-also make sure to use cavalry militia in your early armies since they are good early heavy cavalry.

Venice is a great faction to play!

[VINC.XXIII]

"Take Milan before Genoa does"
that need some balancing certainly...for Venice as for Gena.
So bad to see these thalassocratias trying to become continental powers...

[k/t]

You can recruit Muslim Archers in Ancona too.

[Ferdiad]

I blitz Italy and then I iz set for rest of game in my power base.

[Serbian Hussar]

I think I've played most of my games as Venice. But unlike most players here I don't like to make Venice a continental superpower. It just doesn't feel right. What I like to do is to conquer eastern mediterranean. Make a snake like republic from all costal cities from Venice to Alexandria. It looks realy cool
I play Late campaign.
1. make an army and attack Fatimids at Antioch and Tortosa
2. call a Crusade on Cairo and while Fatimids are bussy conquer Gaza, Damietta and Alexandria. You can even request some cities from them in exchange for peace.
3. Jihad will probably been called on Jerusalem, wait until muslims take Jerusalem and then attack
4. attack Crusader States if they still have Acre and Nicosia
5. when Byzantines go to war with Hungary or Turks, take from them Durazzo and Arta, and Corith and Athens from rebels
6. wait until Mongols atack Turks and conqour Smyrna, Isparta, Iconium and Adana
7. then you get bored and quit the game

[Ferdiad]

I think I've played most of my games as Venice. But unlike most players here I don't like to make Venice a continental superpower. It just doesn't feel right. What I like to do is to conquer western mediterranean. Make a snake like republic from all costal cities from Venice to Alexandria. It looks realy cool
I play Late campaign.
1. make an army and attack Fatimids at Antioch and Tortosa
2. call a Crusade on Cairo and while Fatimids are bussy conquer Gaza, Damietta and Alexandria. You can even request some cities from them in exchange for peace.
3. Jihad will probably been called on Jerusalem, wait until muslims take Jerusalem and then attack
4. attack Crusader States if they still have Acre and Nicosia
5. when Byzantines go to war with Hungary or Turks, take from them Durazzo and Arta, and Corith and Athens from rebels
6. wait until Mongols atack Turks and conqour Smyrna, Isparta, Iconium and Adana
7. then you get bored and quit the game

Pics or It didn't happen.

[Serbian Hussar]

Pics or It didn't happen.

Well, I don't have that campaign saved anymore. You'll just have to trust me

[Ferdiad]

Well, I don't have that campaign saved anymore. You'll just have to trust me

I don't

[Druvatar De Bodemloze]

you should try Venice in my mod, very different Campaign than what is traditional~ just a thought