Faction for a beginner

**Roachbugg** · September 02, 2012, 03:39 AM

Whats a good faction for a new player to play? I prefer more infantry based armies as I am a long time player of the HRE. But from what I've read it seems cavalry are the dominate force in this mod now i know my way around a heavy cav squadron but im not going to have to go all Rohirrim up in this

am I?

**Dr. Jones** · September 02, 2012, 03:59 AM

I suggest the Ayyubids or ERE, both have a strong rooster and a wealthy position. Tho you have to watch our for the 4th crusade as ERE.
Without cavalary you wont win however. The most infanrty based rooster is the Ghorid one (ones the starting Ghulams are gone) I guess, but I don't find them easy to play.

**Roachbugg** · September 02, 2012, 04:06 AM

I didn't mean I didn't want to use cav at all I just meant i have no idea how to properly use light cav or horse archers. Most of my experience is knights and other lance wielding cavalry.

**AqD** · September 02, 2012, 04:38 AM

Originally Posted by Roachbugg

Whats a good faction for a new player to play? I prefer more infantry based armies as I am a long time player of the HRE. But from what I've read it seems cavalry are the dominate force in this mod now i know my way around a heavy cav squadron but im not going to have to go all Rohirrim up in this

am I?

Oman or Makuria.
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Both rely on hybrid heavy infantry/archer, and start from isolated safe position. They also have cheap medium cavalry to counter lancers.

or Ghorid, it may seem challenging but it's really easy once you build up economics (like Seleucid in RTW)
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Great archers, swordsmen, 2H axemen, plus javelin-throwing heavy inf.

**zburanuki** · September 02, 2012, 06:49 AM

start as the byzantines or the ayyubids and then the crusaders.

**Robert Guiscard** · September 02, 2012, 02:02 PM

I find Ghazni to be a relatively easy faction to play with. They don't get any faction specific lancers until later (Fortress-level), but they have a solid choice of units in the beginning (including elephants!). The Ghorid full stack leaves your territory early on without a fight and you can easily take Kabul, Ghazni, and the other city nearby those two (don't know the name), and then sue for peace. You can get a peace treaty from the Chauhans easily (even an alliance if you play your cards right) If you are feeling particularly warmongering, you can blitz Sindh afterwards. You'll be in a solid position to move into more Ghorid territory if you want

**nein** · September 03, 2012, 11:33 AM

makuria... very infantry centric. They can spam light infantry although they do have poor access to elites. Plenty of medium spearmen however once you conquer axum and upgrade touggul. You border the ayyubids but those guys are too pre-occupied to attack you until much later

**YuilenZ01** · September 28, 2012, 10:39 PM

I played as Makouria on VH/VH for my first game. Those infantry were such a sight for sore eyes, I beat the crap out of the Ayyubids and took all of Africa in around 20-25 turns, and was starting to absorb parts of southern Arabia and the Levant. It was going pretty good, until my game crashed and my save got corrupted. Then I just didn't bother to play again for a looong time.

**Ichon** · September 28, 2012, 11:26 PM

Oman was my first game and I think the relative isolation works pretty well for a first game. Otherwise pick somewhere with a map border or near lots of rebel territories.

**nein** · September 29, 2012, 08:15 PM

I thought you were referring to the makurians as an eyesore yulien... which they are kindof. Still I notice that factions with easy access to spammable weak units are much easier, and fun, than factions that have a tiny elite roster like the khwarezmians.

**metsikhovne** · October 01, 2012, 10:56 AM

i would suggest oman, egypt or ere,also ghazni are also very easy to play (until mongols..)

**nein** · October 01, 2012, 03:54 PM

I find the ghaznavids to be one of the hardest factions for multiple reasons.

1. zero access to levy units (vital for garrisoning regions cheaply)
2. some of the toughest rebel garrisons in the game are nearby
3. ghurids (although you can cheat by grabbing a free alliance at the start - do not sack anything until you do)
4. tough economy, made harder by their expensive units.
5. and ofc the mongols, although you might be able to grab an alliance (never played long enough to try)

**Robert Guiscard** · October 02, 2012, 12:27 PM

Originally Posted by nein

I find the ghaznavids to be one of the hardest factions for multiple reasons.

1. zero access to levy units (vital for garrisoning regions cheaply)
2. some of the toughest rebel garrisons in the game are nearby
3. ghurids (although you can cheat by grabbing a free alliance at the start - do not sack anything until you do)
4. tough economy, made harder by their expensive units.
5. and ofc the mongols, although you might be able to grab an alliance (never played long enough to try)

1. You have Khorasani light spearmen, which are cheap and available from the beginning (at least in Lahore and one other city), and Jat spearmen are cheap mercenaries that are useful garrisons
2. I usually ignore some the rebel settlements and focus on taking on the Ghorids, pushing to Ghazni, then I take on Sindh
3. The Ghorids usually leave me alone at the beggining, leaving Kabul and Ghazni ripe for the taking. After taking those they usually sue for peace
4. Once I expand to Ghazni and move down the Indus, my economy balances out where I can maintain a strong field army (with two units of elephants), respectable garrisons, and still pull 4000 gold per turn
5. If you push the Ghorids far west enough (taking their capital as well as Kandahar should be enough), and attack them when the Mongols invade, you can easily secure an alliance with the Mongols
At least that's my experience with the Ghaznavids, when I play my cards right. Do not attack the Chauhans, it will spell a long and painful death at the hands of the Paramara (?) Rajputs, Sindh, and the Ghorids

**nein** · October 02, 2012, 12:45 PM

whoops I

ed up, for some reason I confused ghaznavid with khwarezm

**Robert Guiscard** · October 02, 2012, 12:50 PM

Originally Posted by nein

whoops I

ed up, for some reason I confused ghaznavid with khwarezm

Haha, no problem, Kwarezm is toughie, and I agree with all those points when it concerns the Shahdom

**AqD** · October 03, 2012, 03:58 AM

Originally Posted by nein

I find the ghaznavids to be one of the hardest factions for multiple reasons.

1. zero access to levy units (vital for garrisoning regions cheaply)
2. some of the toughest rebel garrisons in the game are nearby
3. ghurids (although you can cheat by grabbing a free alliance at the start - do not sack anything until you do)
4. tough economy, made harder by their expensive units.
5. and ofc the mongols, although you might be able to grab an alliance (never played long enough to try)

Just gift them cities and then declare jihad