I started a game in the Balkans. Figuring that I should support one of the regional powers due to my starting position, I decided that the Serbs would make a good nation to support. I figured it would be interesting to pit an army of Serbs against the Ottoman Empire. I bought a large gang of Irish infantry for an EXTREMELY cheap price (about 500 denars or so). That was rather funny actually, as I discovered that 21 Irishmen, despite being so cheap, are extremely useful to have around.
I joined the Serbs and began building my merit so as to make a huge army to attack the Ottomans with. A couple battles with bandits left me wondering as to the quality of my Serbian rebels, as almost all the killing was done by my cheap Irish mercenaries. However, I figured that they would get better once they reached "Revolutionary" level. I then spotted a large Serbian army attacking an Ottoman caravan. Seeing it as a chance to get easy loot, I joined the attack, expecting an easy win.
I was completely wrong. As the battle started, my entire allied army went into a giant clump of a formation and charged straight at the Ottomans. They crashed right into the Mercenary Cavalry, followed by the Ottoman infantry arriving. I was completely flabbergasted as the 80 or so Serbian infantry were butchered at about a 2-1 ratio by the Ottomans, despite the Ottomans being composed entirely of Merc. cavalry (I could purchase about 20 of those for 1000 denars), Ottoman recruits (lowest tier, composing about 3/4ths of the Ottoman infantry) and middle tier Ottoman infantry (composing the rest). The ratio probably would have been worse, but I had (wisely) held my troops back, and the giant clump of a melee battle was great pickings for my Irish infantry. Even then, I lost several troops once the Ottomans finished the melee fighting and began counter firing.
So I decided fighting an Ottoman force, even a small one, would be completely unfeasible without overwhelming numbers of Serbians (or lots of mercenaries and foreign fighters). Instead, I spent some time in Italy, supporting different sides in the battles (I love the ability to choose the side you fight on without screwing up diplomacy). After a while, I decided to try raiding the Ottomans again. I was kind of wondering how the Ottomans had not wiped out the Serbs yet, but then realized that one Serbian fort had been besieged at one point, but the auto-resolve disproportionately favours the Serbs (due to their numbers, and because their strength seems to be exaggerated). I arrived in Anatolia to see loads of "Janissary" forces raiding caravans. Fun! I supported one of these armies against an Ottoman caravan (of similar size to the one I had fought earlier).
Unfortunately, I was unable to let the AI control them alone. But I placed my troops in a big line, held fire, and then let off a volley, followed by a "charge" (I didn't tell them to hold fire though, so it was more like a very slow advance). Casualties this time? The entire caravan was wiped out, and I lost about 5 troops total (3 of them Janissaries).
Yup. The Serbian army (even with about 30 or 40 more troops in a stack) is inferior to bloody BANDITS. Now this is driving me nuts; I can definitely beat Ottoman armies, but it seems silly for me to recruit troops as though I were a multi-national mercenary, and I don't think my leadership will ever get high enough for me to simply overwhelm an Ottoman city. I understand that the Serbians are supposed to be relatively weak, I thought that would be compensated in some way. Yes, the Ottomans spend lots of time just killing the massive stacks of Janissaries, and yes, the Serbians get extremely large garrisons, but it still doesn't quite work. The top tier troops of the Serbians are, so far as I can tell, marginally better than Ottoman recruits. Had I gone with the Ottomans, I probably could have wiped out Serbia with 50 top tier Ottoman infantry and a good tactics skill. Furthermore, Serbia's numbers only seem to matter defensively. Serbia has about 5 regiments total, and they are about average size. Serbia ought to be beefed up in some way.
Beyond that, the diplomacy system is pretty cool.
I joined the Serbs and began building my merit so as to make a huge army to attack the Ottomans with. A couple battles with bandits left me wondering as to the quality of my Serbian rebels, as almost all the killing was done by my cheap Irish mercenaries. However, I figured that they would get better once they reached "Revolutionary" level. I then spotted a large Serbian army attacking an Ottoman caravan. Seeing it as a chance to get easy loot, I joined the attack, expecting an easy win.
I was completely wrong. As the battle started, my entire allied army went into a giant clump of a formation and charged straight at the Ottomans. They crashed right into the Mercenary Cavalry, followed by the Ottoman infantry arriving. I was completely flabbergasted as the 80 or so Serbian infantry were butchered at about a 2-1 ratio by the Ottomans, despite the Ottomans being composed entirely of Merc. cavalry (I could purchase about 20 of those for 1000 denars), Ottoman recruits (lowest tier, composing about 3/4ths of the Ottoman infantry) and middle tier Ottoman infantry (composing the rest). The ratio probably would have been worse, but I had (wisely) held my troops back, and the giant clump of a melee battle was great pickings for my Irish infantry. Even then, I lost several troops once the Ottomans finished the melee fighting and began counter firing.
So I decided fighting an Ottoman force, even a small one, would be completely unfeasible without overwhelming numbers of Serbians (or lots of mercenaries and foreign fighters). Instead, I spent some time in Italy, supporting different sides in the battles (I love the ability to choose the side you fight on without screwing up diplomacy). After a while, I decided to try raiding the Ottomans again. I was kind of wondering how the Ottomans had not wiped out the Serbs yet, but then realized that one Serbian fort had been besieged at one point, but the auto-resolve disproportionately favours the Serbs (due to their numbers, and because their strength seems to be exaggerated). I arrived in Anatolia to see loads of "Janissary" forces raiding caravans. Fun! I supported one of these armies against an Ottoman caravan (of similar size to the one I had fought earlier).
Unfortunately, I was unable to let the AI control them alone. But I placed my troops in a big line, held fire, and then let off a volley, followed by a "charge" (I didn't tell them to hold fire though, so it was more like a very slow advance). Casualties this time? The entire caravan was wiped out, and I lost about 5 troops total (3 of them Janissaries).
Yup. The Serbian army (even with about 30 or 40 more troops in a stack) is inferior to bloody BANDITS. Now this is driving me nuts; I can definitely beat Ottoman armies, but it seems silly for me to recruit troops as though I were a multi-national mercenary, and I don't think my leadership will ever get high enough for me to simply overwhelm an Ottoman city. I understand that the Serbians are supposed to be relatively weak, I thought that would be compensated in some way. Yes, the Ottomans spend lots of time just killing the massive stacks of Janissaries, and yes, the Serbians get extremely large garrisons, but it still doesn't quite work. The top tier troops of the Serbians are, so far as I can tell, marginally better than Ottoman recruits. Had I gone with the Ottomans, I probably could have wiped out Serbia with 50 top tier Ottoman infantry and a good tactics skill. Furthermore, Serbia's numbers only seem to matter defensively. Serbia has about 5 regiments total, and they are about average size. Serbia ought to be beefed up in some way.
Beyond that, the diplomacy system is pretty cool.