Strange Campaign...questions inside...

[Ken Carson]

So I'm playing as Russia for the first time, and it has been a very weird game. It's turn 75 or so and I have not been at war with anyone. Poland has honored our alliance made on turn 5 and they have been allied with Denmark since about that same time. My Byzantine allies have also honored the alliance and cut Hungary off from my borders. I haven't even had one of my ports blockaded! I don't want the rep hit of attacking anyone, especially because the Mongols just arrived, and of course near Sarkel.

My territories include the basic Russian ones of Novgorod, Riga, Vilinius, Smolesk, Kiev, Caffa, Moscow, and Helsinki. I made an early move and nabbed Stockholm, eventually taking Oslo and across to Inverness. I snagged Ryazan and was recently able to swap it for Ragusa with the Hungarians. The Poles bypassed me and took Sarkel so I have two factions as a buffer from the Mongols right now.

Anyone ever had a game where alliances were this ironclad?


Also, my biggest fear with the approaching Mongols is that Smolesk and Vilinius have not become fortresses yet. They have just been sitting there for 40+ turns as castles. Any other Russian players have that happen? I need me some Cossack cavalry!

[13lackGu4rd]

too late now but what you should have done was convert them into cities, build max farms and put a high chivalry governor in them, than when the population grows enough convert to fortress and build the necessary military buildings and recruit armies. if you time it well you should have these provinces as fortresses and producing elite troops 10-15 turns before the Mongols arrive, so you have time to recruit entire stacks(or nearly) from these fortresses, diversify your stacks a bit to work with the pool, you have plenty of quality troops to recruit so the pool shouldn't be too limiting.

as for not fighting a single war all game until the Mongols arrive, never happened to me. in my Russian campaign Poland declared war after I took Kiev from right under their noses, than Byzantines(former allies) landed below Kiev and sieged it from the south. never happened to me with other factions either, the AI loves to go to war and I love destroying its stacks o.0

[Teutonic Warlord]

I did have a recent campaign as the HRE that the AI actually did honor my many alliances. I just ended up taking as many rebel settlements I could and quickly taking down Denmark. Eventually, however, I had taken all the rebels down I could and was surrounded entirely by allies or allies of my allies. The only bright side was I had a good reputation.

And if you are really worried about the Mongols, take your worst general, give him a few cavalry units, and send him close to the Mongol horde. They will chase him around until something else shiny catches their eyes, but you could always try sending that general south so the Turks have to deal with the Mongols. Then just have your general make a loop around the Black Sea so he can be back in your lands.

[Silverheart]

You don´t need fortresses as Russia to defend against Mongols - just play it on the defensive: recruit PILES upon PILES of Spearmen and Peasant Archers. If you have a castle fully packed with that, it should be able to withstand two assaults by the Mongols´ "Swarm" strategy.

I am astonished that you have taken Kiev and still haven´t been attacked by Poland or Hungary - they must really be doing poorly on their other fronts... Nice going, though, I´ve never had an alliance last for 70+ turns!

[Ken Carson]

You don´t need fortresses as Russia to defend against Mongols - just play it on the defensive: recruit PILES upon PILES of Spearmen and Peasant Archers. If you have a castle fully packed with that, it should be able to withstand two assaults by the Mongols´ "Swarm" strategy.

I am astonished that you have taken Kiev and still haven´t been attacked by Poland or Hungary - they must really be doing poorly on their other fronts... Nice going, though, I´ve never had an alliance last for 70+ turns!

The funny thing is, Poland is doing very well, and Hungary isn't faring poorly either. Poland has all the regular territories, plus they snagged a few from HRE and they bypassed Kiev and took Sarkel. The Hungarians have their main territories except Bucharest (Byzantines beat them to it), and they took both Ragusa and Zagreb from Venice.

One reason that I may be keeping love with Poland is because I helped crown their current king by bumping off his father, but that was still about 45-50 turns into the game.

*******************

My current plan is to keep tabs on the Mongols and try to lead them away from Russia as was mentioned above while possibly swapping Moscow for another Hungarian territory if they progress further into Russia to give my castles a chance to grow. I'd really like some good archers and HAs to hold them at a bridge like I did as the Turks, but I may just need to fight within castle walls.

Any other inspirations would be welcome.

[danny X]

dismounted dvor, will be your best archers, then try to get dvor cavalry and tsars guard, then you should be able to hurt the mongols, but you may have to do this behind your walls!! its been a while since i played as the russians, but i found the tsars guard, dismounted dvor are very effective!

[OnlySleeping]

In my Spain campaign I was allied to Portugal for 100+ turns. They just chilled out in Lisbon and Pamplona for all those years...

[the new username]

lucky, in my campaigns i always get attacked

[KingofPoland]

I was playing a turtle campaign as Russia by taking over the British isles and abandoning Novgorod. I just wanted to see who would come up dominant. I made an alliance with the Spanish and they end up being dominant. When they took every single territory but the British isles amd the new world, they didn't attack me. They didn't even blockade me! This shows that the gameplay can really vary when playing M2.

[epicnerd]

Thats pretty epic

[Teutonic Warlord]

Don't give up Moscow. Just stick with the general getting close to the Mongols and leading them down into the Turks like I posted earlier. The Turks will weaken them some, and if the Mongols do take some settlements the horde will scatter so you will be able to take on their armies individually. This will also give you time for your castles to develop.