By AxeMaster3:
1. Cruise around the board picking up the 3 gems and open the mines to get your ruin weapon. While you are doing that pick up all the noble recruits from the taverns and establish a trade route. Fighting bandits, getting the cheap companions and tring to raise relations with the noldor.
2. Become a vassel. By this time you should have a big enough army to take a castle. Do vassel duties but dont talk to the king or raise relations with him. Take your castle(preferrably away from your factions main homeland) you should be awarded your first capture.
3. Wait till your faction is at war and elope a wife from another faction then talk to the king.
4. Take another castle by the first one and it should be awarded to another. Then declare your independance.
I try to pick a location that has a spawn army around to help me defend my lands. So when they bring their 2000 man loser army, I lead the 1000 man jatu army strait to them or snake cult works good too. Usually the faction I left will ask for peace within the first week because they are at war with whoever and my lands are far and gone from where they are being attacked and have no vassels to spare to get me. A very important key to success is to send out the companions on missions for right to rule. GLBW.