What is your main campaign strategy?

[Bowmaster]

Once again, I make a poll! I really like polls, it's nice to see the answers growing. And if I ever have a question that does not seem stupid, I ask (though sometimes I also ask stupid questions).

What is your main strategy in campaign? Do you turtle, build up your strength and secure the borders? Or do you simply just send all your men out to face the enemy, just trying to quickly steamroll everybody, risking a lot? Or perhaps you usually just go it slowly, taking settlement there and there, keeping a good balance between defending and attacking armies? I ask for your opinion.

[DrDragun]

My strategy is to take 1 wave of settlements against my enemies early, then turtle. This weakens them for the rest of the entire game while I build my economy. For example as Mordor I will rush rebel settlements and take W. Osgiliath and Cair Andros from Gondor, then build economy for a little while. Gondor has 2 less troop queues to bother me with and I have created a nice bottleneck only needing 2 large defense garrisons.

Usually I decide when my conquering can take a break by when I have a nice bottleneck. On Orcs of the Misty Mountains, their starting position needs to defend many settlements but if you take Rivendell you can generally empty Mountain Fort and Goblin Town and have a more efficient ratio of production versus frontline settlements.

[Captain Adverse]

I really haven't been able to develop a valid strategy as yet. My ultimate goal is to try to achieve the campaign victory conditions, but there are only 150 turns and most goals are difficult to accomplish when confronted with all the AI cheats. Basically, I like to play with one or two high-quality armies that I use for conquest/battles, and leave basic garrisons in conquered cities. That means taking time while my buildings develop so I can create quallity armies, but it takes a significant part of the 150 turns to do so.

I don't like to use massive weenie armies that win by chinese-wave attacks. Unfortunately that's exactly how the AI play's, it just keeps throwing wave after wave of magically appearing armies at the Player until it wears you down through attrition. If I had my druther's, I'd like to see the AI play more responsibly so that each battle would be both more fun and also more decisive for the victor. Until I figure out how to do that in the current version, I am not sure what my preferred strategy will actually be.

[SirEyeball]

Probably even too slow as I tend to forget there is a time limit

[FC Groningen]

Going straight for the throat. Rush and go for the vital settlements while trying to avoid garrison/AI scripts as much as possible.

[lolIsuck]

The poll lacks a neutral option. You assume someone either doesn't expand, expands slow as hell or goes on some kamikaze full offensive from turn one. I don't rush it but I don't turtle either, expanding slowly comes closest as most of my campaigns are played for the who-am-I game and you can't have too obvious maps there.

[Salah-ad-deen]

I take my time and consolidate by trying to build up my economy, to fund one or two ultimate stacks of soldiers.

[Mikail Mengsk]

1- Quick first expansion, to take some settlement i consider strategic or rich.

2- Turtling and holding the enemy while i develop my economy

3- Choose an enemy. Build 2 dreadstacks and blitkrieg him. Head for his major settlements, take them, burn them to the ground, leave them.

4- Build 2 mid-tier stacks, conquer the minor settlements of the chosen enemy while he's still trying to stop the dreadstacks.

5- Finish off the now-crippled enemy.

6- Head for another enemy.

7- Repeat 3, 4, 5 & 6 until victory or boredom.

[Wolfeson]

I normally rush to grab all the rebel settlements I can, particularly if they are important ones (due to position, special units, or economic potential). Then I tend to be defensive for the first 40-50 turns while I focus on economy, building up only the military infrastructure I need to remain secure. Then I start pushing out based on what I see in the initial skirmishes, and just inexorably push across the enemy territory.

[LuckyPistol]

I think it depends on what faction you play as, but in general I rush rebels and build economy for the first 10-20 turns, helps in the long run when you have to goto war and build an army

[Dude with the Food]

Blitz all possible nearby rebels.
Then blitz all not-so-nearby and slightly not-so-possible rebels.

Then turtle 'til someone attacks me.(This doesn't normally happen for a while due to me being stronger than neighbours from all the early cities.) When I get attack defend a few waves, get bored create a couple of stacks and blitz them. Simples.

[MasterBigAb]

I am one of the turlingers

[Alaeron]

My usual strategy is:

- Rush bandit settlements (obviously)
- Get peace with surrounding factions if possible OR take a few settlements of theirs and then ask for peace
- Build up economy and military during peacetime, form alliances, get map info and send spies to see how my chosen target is doing
- See if I can get some of my target's settlements peacefully, like buying them or exchanging them for ones I have with limited construction ability (if I have any)
- Make as many armies as I can sustain while still turning in a profit and send them at the gates of the closest/weakest settlements of my target
- Blitz said settlements, ideally in one or two turns thanks to siege engines
- Try to get peace, wait for culture to build up, retrain and develop conquered settlements, now I should have a good chunk (ideally around half) of my target's lands
- Try the same strategy again to finish them off before the scripted stacks come to get me, or try to wipe them out if I can't while holding a solid front
- Now I'm rich and powerful and can do the same, or worse, to another faction

As you can see it's a mix of peace-war-peace. I try to be at peace with as many factions as possible but not for long, then be quick and decisive and not let the war drag out. Take a chunk, peace, take another one. In waves. So I don't know what to vote.

[Enarec]

A lot of people seem to have the same strategy and so do I. In the beginning I grab all the rebel settlements that I can reach, then defend chokepoints (preferably) against the enemy while I build up my economy. Once I have a decent economy, I build up my army consisting mainly of above average units, I especially like elite units. Then I finally begin moving on my enemies, usually they fail to resist my "dreadstack" with my best general who goes around destroying armies. Once that faction is destroyed I consolidate my gains and prepare for the next war.

[brasswire]

Depends on the faction. With most of course I rush to grab the rebel settlements.

Additionally with Dale I rush to try and hit Rhun hard before they can build up their super-economy in the middle game. And with Eriador I rush a bit to try and take out Orcs of Gundabad before they develop Troll units.

[Maiar93]

I like to play offensively. I try to keep a balance between military and economy, but most of the time I blitz my borders at first, then settle down for a few turns to build more troops, then blitz again.

I expand my borders as far as they can go, but leave most of the minor settlements nearly ungarrisoned. While my armies are rampaging on the borders, my economy is developing; eventually I will be able to build a full-stack of high-quality troops.

And then that will be used to take the settlement that will most benefit me.

[Zimmy]

I go slowly.

1.Capture a few rebel settlements around me.
2. Build up economy and population growth.
3. Build up on all my free upkeep units.
4. Move on my enemy

[chriskourou]

It obviously depends on the faction too

[Arǭmēz]

Hmmm I play depending on Fection and region...
Eriador > I run to clain rebels then make economy then turtle against Dunland and OotMM while attacking the OoG then Oot MM and then Dunland and usually there I get bored, unless the other good factions have fallen and I have enemies...
High Elves... take a couple of settlements, Turtle for an eternity then conquer everything...
Gondor > RUSH and take everything from Minas Ithil to Andrast and from amone Hen to Harondor... then alla is easy...
Erebor... too easy to bother
Lorien > take Amon Gastal then Moria then Eregion then OotMM, while turtling against Mordor expand north by mountains and rebel valleys then Isengard falls then dunland falls then Dol Guldur then Boredom
Silvan > take the woods, turtle, Dol Guldur, OotMM while turttling vs Mordor, then move south to Morannon then Rhun
Dale > turtle, shatter Rhun, drive Mordor Back, turtle, Move to Harad, attack Mordor from the East...
OoG > gather armies and ruin Eriador, before the Dwarves get powerful... then turtle, access Trolls and hit the dwarves
OotMM > take Imladris, turtle, take Lorien, turtle, attack Dwarves, attacke Dwarves, attack Dwarves, attacke Dwarves... eventual they will fall then claim Rhovanion. Then turn to Arnor...
Rhun > rush for Rhovanion's rebels, turttle. gather three stacks and attack Dale while turtling against Dwarves... then economy then five stacks then Dwarves then Silvan thn No enemies left...
Isengard > just bring Rohan down, and then Attacke everyone...
HArad > claim Harondor. leave Gondor to crumble, turttle and then the coast shall be red with blood
Mordor > turtle, allowing time for Gondor to gather strength, as it is easy to defeat them at start... then unleash the hordes and claim everything.
Have not played Dunland

[avenging angel]

If evil, i wait for a long while building up the economy and then the army, waiting to attack in an evil blitzkrieg camopaign. Thats how i destroyed rohan within 10 turns.
Depending on the good faction i play, i will either turtle and attack or rush as quick as i can like say for Dale to prevent the easterlings from getting too strong... lol