EvilWeezel
Recruit
I am around 150 hours into my second play-through. My first one was about 30 hours and I got too ambitious, made everyone hate me, and was too small to face the then bugged conspiracy war party quest.
I am King of the Southern Empire with a party of around 340 troops. With the max number of workshops, I currently lose between 7k and 8k a day. Even if I get rid of my two largest garrisons I'd still be in the hole 2-3k. I am at the part of the campaign where I conquered 2/3 of imperial lands and war with Aserai, Sturgia, and Vlandia is the new "quest". So I take some time and smith 2 handed swords, then I have to actually find a city that can pay me the 40-60k they sell for. Does prolonged war just destroy a cities ability to generate money?
The Khuzait, and the West are pretty much constantly at war with me, the north has been smashed and only holds 2 cities. I cant remember the last time I had any peace. I take a Khusait city, we make peace, Sturgia comes in with a 1500 large army takes that city, I siege I get attacked by an army. If I win I dont have the troops left to finish the siege, or if I do take the city by the time I have rebuilt my party...guess who is under siege again, rinse and repeat. Then come the Aserai, who I have a lot of good relation with. But while I'm up north holding the Sturgians back, they roll in with an army of 1400 and take a city. Meanwhile, I cant remember the last time I saw one of my empire armies over 1000 troops unless I made it.
The AI armies are almost never helpful, picking bad targets, and often losing sieges because they think its smart to go head on with no towers or a ram and no time with siege engines. A lot of times my army of only 500-600 is the only one on the map. I keep my armies smaller so I can attack/defend on what always seems like 2 fronts, and allow the AI to form armies in an attempt to save them from themselves when they get into a bad situation. I know its a thing that crushing an army of 1200 is basically meaningless because they just almost immediately get back to strength way faster than I can recruit back up to full. I have almost no ability or time to manage my fiefs because the idiot AI likes to ignore one of our cities or castles under siege, only to go lose at their attack somewhere else and retreat.
Feels bad man, but the best progress I made was when the North really made me mad so I executed every lord I came across. Oh look....We killed the north, but it isnt really a fun way to play for me. I always read executing is pretty bad, and yeah a lot of people hate me now, but is that really the best way to make progress? Otherwise every city is like Amprella for me, being taken, taken back, taken, taken back over and over and over. Am I the only one putting troops in garrisons? I'll dump every soldier I have that isn't cavalry into a garrison and then have to rebuild, in which time the enemies surely take more land. Even if I have the strategy set to defensive my AI armies will ignore an Aserai siege to go lose a battle at a khuzait castle.
I do well in battles, I can easily take armies up to or around twice my size and then some. But any progress I make is negated by having that -7200 denars per day as I eventually have to go smith and then find a city that isnt broke to sell it to.
If this post seems like it is on a loop....thats because its exactly how I feel. I love this game...but I don't know if I need a new character or what. It just seems like its at a stalemate. When I do make progress against one of the 3 alliance factions against me, the West or the Khuzait start war and pull my AI armies away from where I want them to focus and I lose progress on that questline, going from 60/100 back down to 12/100 or something. If I attempt to finish off the West or Khuzait, then one of the 3 alliance factions builds and army of 1500 and takes a stroll though my land.
I currently dont use any mods, I usually dont in most games. But at this point I am open to suggestions. I just feel like with 150 hours in, things are getting worse not better. If I grant myself a city then I have to pay the garrison making my situation worse. If I give the city to a lord, he or she doesn't defend it and its get lost 10 minutes later. Not to mention because of companion restrictions and the culture penalty I simply cant put a governor in most of my fiefs.
So I ask....am I doing something wrong...or is this just how it goes? Thanks in advance.
I am King of the Southern Empire with a party of around 340 troops. With the max number of workshops, I currently lose between 7k and 8k a day. Even if I get rid of my two largest garrisons I'd still be in the hole 2-3k. I am at the part of the campaign where I conquered 2/3 of imperial lands and war with Aserai, Sturgia, and Vlandia is the new "quest". So I take some time and smith 2 handed swords, then I have to actually find a city that can pay me the 40-60k they sell for. Does prolonged war just destroy a cities ability to generate money?
The Khuzait, and the West are pretty much constantly at war with me, the north has been smashed and only holds 2 cities. I cant remember the last time I had any peace. I take a Khusait city, we make peace, Sturgia comes in with a 1500 large army takes that city, I siege I get attacked by an army. If I win I dont have the troops left to finish the siege, or if I do take the city by the time I have rebuilt my party...guess who is under siege again, rinse and repeat. Then come the Aserai, who I have a lot of good relation with. But while I'm up north holding the Sturgians back, they roll in with an army of 1400 and take a city. Meanwhile, I cant remember the last time I saw one of my empire armies over 1000 troops unless I made it.
The AI armies are almost never helpful, picking bad targets, and often losing sieges because they think its smart to go head on with no towers or a ram and no time with siege engines. A lot of times my army of only 500-600 is the only one on the map. I keep my armies smaller so I can attack/defend on what always seems like 2 fronts, and allow the AI to form armies in an attempt to save them from themselves when they get into a bad situation. I know its a thing that crushing an army of 1200 is basically meaningless because they just almost immediately get back to strength way faster than I can recruit back up to full. I have almost no ability or time to manage my fiefs because the idiot AI likes to ignore one of our cities or castles under siege, only to go lose at their attack somewhere else and retreat.
Feels bad man, but the best progress I made was when the North really made me mad so I executed every lord I came across. Oh look....We killed the north, but it isnt really a fun way to play for me. I always read executing is pretty bad, and yeah a lot of people hate me now, but is that really the best way to make progress? Otherwise every city is like Amprella for me, being taken, taken back, taken, taken back over and over and over. Am I the only one putting troops in garrisons? I'll dump every soldier I have that isn't cavalry into a garrison and then have to rebuild, in which time the enemies surely take more land. Even if I have the strategy set to defensive my AI armies will ignore an Aserai siege to go lose a battle at a khuzait castle.
I do well in battles, I can easily take armies up to or around twice my size and then some. But any progress I make is negated by having that -7200 denars per day as I eventually have to go smith and then find a city that isnt broke to sell it to.
If this post seems like it is on a loop....thats because its exactly how I feel. I love this game...but I don't know if I need a new character or what. It just seems like its at a stalemate. When I do make progress against one of the 3 alliance factions against me, the West or the Khuzait start war and pull my AI armies away from where I want them to focus and I lose progress on that questline, going from 60/100 back down to 12/100 or something. If I attempt to finish off the West or Khuzait, then one of the 3 alliance factions builds and army of 1500 and takes a stroll though my land.
I currently dont use any mods, I usually dont in most games. But at this point I am open to suggestions. I just feel like with 150 hours in, things are getting worse not better. If I grant myself a city then I have to pay the garrison making my situation worse. If I give the city to a lord, he or she doesn't defend it and its get lost 10 minutes later. Not to mention because of companion restrictions and the culture penalty I simply cant put a governor in most of my fiefs.
So I ask....am I doing something wrong...or is this just how it goes? Thanks in advance.