rajput are impossible to me

[Rudy727]

ok i decided [after taking a long break from this game] that i wanted to use elephants.. fantastic.. so i started a campaign in VH/VH on the rajput campaign.. and i played a few turns being broke [i was expanding].. which i predicted.. but even after conquering, its impossible to get out of that debt..

i even tried it on medium.. and the same thing happened..
i got to this point..
apart from controlling Dhar [starting capital]
i took:
somnath
kutch
anhilvara
mumba
all neighboring territories to the south and west..
and i ran out of armies with which to conquer anything else..
and now im in -19k debt..
and its going up by 2k every turn..
in the beginning with the 5k starting gold i believe i used it to upgrade farms in Dhar.. seemed like the best choice to me..

so what did i do wrong..??
any tips on what you guys did to expand correctly cuz i know im doing something wrong for sure..
any advice is appreciated.. ty..
im using 2.02 i believe [dont remember doing any more updates but i will double check]..

[TMK]

I wouldn't suggest rapidly expanding unless it is a complete blitz and also if you do this, you should sack every city to get the money back. If you are conservative you should disband most units (elephants are best as they consume so much income for upkeep).

However, if the income is going up by 2k, just wait a few turns and it will be in the black again.

Use 2.3.2.2, it will give the best result.

[Rudy727]

I wouldn't suggest rapidly expanding unless it is a complete blitz and also if you do this, you should sack every city to get the money back. If you are conservative you should disband most units (elephants are best as they consume so much income for upkeep).

However, if the income is going up by 2k, just wait a few turns and it will be in the black again.

Use 2.3.2.2, it will give the best result.

i meant going up as in next turn i will be -21k.. and then -22k etc lol.. believe me if i saw the debt going away, i would just wait

ok so if i dont blitz.. how many cities should i take?

i am currently downloading 2.3 actually (:
but regardless.. im sure im doing something wrong with starting rajput..
should i just disband all units and stay in Dhar, and just build from there..?? or take another settlement disband and settle..??

because ive tried a few different routes and i somehow keep fallling into this trap.. i tried disbanding the armies and just settling in 2 cities.. and i was still in debt.. when i played Koj.. disbanding was an ez solution there.. but here it seems not to do anything..
any replies are appreciated..

[TMK]

i meant going up as in next turn i will be -21k.. and then -22k etc lol.. believe me if i saw the debt going away, i would just wait

ok so if i dont blitz.. how many cities should i take?

i am currently downloading 2.3 actually (:
but regardless.. im sure im doing something wrong with starting rajput..
should i just disband all units and stay in Dhar, and just build from there..?? or take another settlement disband and settle..??

because ive tried a few different routes and i somehow keep fallling into this trap.. i tried disbanding the armies and just settling in 2 cities.. and i was still in debt.. when i played Koj.. disbanding was an ez solution there.. but here it seems not to do anything..
any replies are appreciated..

Did you sack the settlements you conquered?

Any other Rajput player have any tips? I personally don't play Rajputs much.

[cenkiss]

I recommend rushing against rebels with your starting troops.Don't sit trying to make a great economy with all those elephants.Go charge your elephants.After that you can disband your big animals because they cost a lost also your generals ae elephant riders,too.

[TMK]

Another thing; Don't adopt generals as their upkeep is very high as they use elephants.

[k/t]

Decrease the upkeep of generals.

Sacking is stupid since you'll just have to rebuild the infrastructure later and it will take time for the population to recover. Also, your reputation will go down.

[nein]

k/t sacking rarely destroys buildings, it also lowers population by a small amount. Sacking early game is quite important considering the tough economy of BC... especially for a small rajput faction. They also have the bonus of being surrounded by few enemies, so they may as well sack at will.

rajput factions are easy because of elephants, you just siege each town with a couple of elephants and cavalry to tie up their javelins... once they sally you slaughter them, preferably by destroying the cavalry (and general) first by pulling them to a edge of the map away from their infantry. When fighting the other rajputs bring alot of javelin cavalry to destroy their elephants

also the malevolant kings advice is important, do not accept many generals as a rajput faction, at least until you grow wealthy, as they cost a bomb, even more so for the chauhans I think. At the same time you must be careful as the indian factions only have a few family members, so keep 3-4 family members at most until you have conquered alot of regions.

[wudang_clown]

You have to wisely manage adoptions, since generals' upkeep is what's most financially burdening in Rajput campaigns. On the other hand, elephant units are extremely deadly when used correctly, so it kind of balance the expenditure.

[k/t]

Maybe something was changed in BC, but I remember sacking in SS was pretty damaging.

[nein]

Those are different mods

The worst thing that happens in BC is that a military/market structure will be downgraded, it also makes replenishment slower for the first set of troops in the settlement... although I notice that generally no buildings are harmed