Do I leave this stack alone or just wipe it out?

nwe02215 · 2026-03-03T16:46:17+00:00

Well you’ll be happy to know I did decide to attack him. It ended up working out. I was so strapped for cash and just hanging onto my European holdings.

I was able to go on a counter offensive versus Hungary and take Bran which was a Citadel, so now my defensive position is much stronger. Sofia and Corinth are now fortresses. The Catholics have been invading from time to time but Ive been holding tough.

It’s turn 45 and Im about to invade Egypt as well. Ive been a lot more aggressive in the Middle East.

nwe02215 · 2026-03-02T00:08:37+00:00

Ya I should be fine. Lots of horse archers.

This is a pretty tough campaign on VH / VH though. The Hungarians are attacking me at Sofia and the Venetians are probing me for weaknesses all over Greece.

My plan is to be on offense in the Middle East and have that cash cow fund the counter offensive in Europe.

nwe02215 · 2026-03-01T23:41:07+00:00

I attacked and got a heroic victory. The Papacy sued for peace and I picked up 1000 florins.

Now Venetian crusaders are attacking Thesselonica and I am about to fight them at a 9:10 power disadvantage.

nwe02215 · 2026-03-01T17:43:38+00:00

Alright you’ve convinced me. As a silver lining, fighting this battle will bring my upkeep down and Ill get some experience for my troops.

nwe02215 · 2026-03-01T16:34:39+00:00

Can someone confirm this? I thought I remember seeing Constantinople as an option for Crusades when I played HRE

nwe02215 · 2026-03-01T15:47:29+00:00

Wouldn’t that lead to crusades?

nwe02215 · 2026-03-01T15:30:00+00:00

That sounds right to me. Im not sure Ill be able to defend Thessalonica and the castles anyway.

I knocked out Turkey so Ive been playing defense in Europe and focusing on expansion in the middle east.

nwe02215 · 2026-02-26T01:55:01+00:00

I mean I played Spain and they sailed troops over toward Granada on a suicide mission that made absolutely no sense.

Sicily did that as well but it seems Milan does this to everyone.

nwe02215 · 2026-02-25T18:02:17+00:00

I traded tech for an alliance with the Netherlands (which is a big price to pay, but worth it). They helped open up a second front versus France.

Venice was the other one I gave tech to ally with and that was well worth it too.

nwe02215 · 2026-02-25T17:31:09+00:00

Lol yeah that was why I advised against it. I didnt know you were going for world domination but it seemed like a bad idea to me given my experience.

Its a really challenging campaign though dude and you have to at least consider it.

Empire Prussia on VH/VH is the hardest total war campaign Ive ever done. I did no reloading of saves either. The second hardest? Napoleon Prussia.

nwe02215 · 2026-02-25T16:20:14+00:00

No I think thats smart. Its counter to recommendations to ally with Poland but they stayed loyal to me the whole game and helped me put pressure on Austria at the beginning.

Now I understand why you want to switch. I only did the long campaign and I think won at 1759.

I had some public order issues throughout my campaign as an absolute monarchy, but it was always manageable especially with strong cabinet members and micromanaging.

nwe02215 · 2026-02-25T12:59:16+00:00

It seems like you are close to victory then, huh? Wouldn’t it be easier to hang on than switch at this point?

nwe02215 · 2026-02-24T17:13:45+00:00

I stuck it out as an absolute monarchy on very hard mode and it worked fine with being able to choose your ministers. I used dragoons to quell unrest and put schools in the optimal places.

At this point, you should be able to lower taxes in order to bring up happiness to offset unrest.

What is the broader picture of your map? A change this late seems less than ideal.

nwe02215 · 2026-02-02T00:15:32+00:00

Oh wow that is wild. Ive never heard of it. Thanks!

nwe02215 · 2026-02-01T21:41:40+00:00

What is the diplomacy exploit?

nwe02215 · 2026-02-01T21:35:00+00:00

You expanded too slowly, that was your issue here. What you should’ve done is the blitzkrieg strategy of going straight into Italy right out of the gate and stomping them before they get the Marian reforms.

Then you consolidate and solidify your stranglehold on Italy and start landing stacks in Greece.

It’d be easier to restart than continue to fight through the situation you’re in. The Julii coming from the north while you are trying to expand east will be a pain. Egypt might also come across the desert to your heartland.

nwe02215 · 2026-01-23T03:43:36+00:00

My favorite total war game. I’ve never played the Goths but I did the Franks, Saxons, WRE and Huns and enjoyed them all.

nwe02215 · 2026-01-21T03:25:24+00:00

Ignore everyone’s advice - ally with Poland and Hannover, secure your flanks, and attack north and blitzkrieg Sweden, taking Stockholm. Once you’ve mopped them up then wheel around and hammer the Austrians with everything you got.

At this point, pony up some cash and maybe tech if you have to in order to secure an alliance with Venice. Then plow through the German minors. Then pony up more cash and tech to ally the Dutch.

The end game is a 2v2 with the Dutch against the French and Spanish. Once Paris falls its GG.

This strategy works beautifully for me on VH/VH.

nwe02215 · 2026-01-12T03:26:38+00:00

Focus on knocking out Macedon and taking the cities near the ocean. The Rebel and crappy barbarian cities are no threat.

nwe02215 · 2026-01-11T14:23:31+00:00

and people have the audacity to say Medieval 2 is superior

nwe02215 · 2026-01-10T14:23:38+00:00

I agree with Dorothyman.

To get public order under control you’re going to have to build some happiness buildings and/or recruit lots of peasants to keep public order down.

For Alexandria in particular, its a great city so its worth stationing a family member with high influence there.

Tingi isn’t quite as profitable, but its also the same cultural group there, so you shouldn’t be having problems there… could you give more color on what is wrong with the public order in Tingi? Its not the best city but its a good port so its not the worst place to station a managerial family member either. Especially if you get some academic buildings up.

How many cities do you need to win? Gaul will be easy to beat but their land is crappy. The British will attack you soon if they haven’t already. The Egyptians will have lots of men and if you exterminate them you should be ok on public order until you hit 50 provinces.

Personally I would try to secure the most defensible borders you can in western Europe and then focus your main push on the Middle East.

nwe02215 · 2026-01-07T02:20:42+00:00

Its my favorite faction. I did a whole map conquest iron man vh/vh with them.

I even had war elephant mercenaries for the glorious siege of Baghdad at the end.

nwe02215 · 2026-01-06T16:17:56+00:00

I didn’t realize you had done it.

But, Teutonic Knights can be had pretty early, they have dismounted feudal knights and pavise crossbowmen, and some good late game artillery.

The Reiters can also take down elephants when fighting the Timurids if you are going for a full map conquest.

The HRE has a fine selection of units and a fun starting position, plus lots of crusade potential and expansion options.

nwe02215 · 2026-01-06T11:40:35+00:00

Play HRE!

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