Starting faction for a noob?

[titanax]

what would u guys say are the best factions and which faction(s) would be good to start off with ? thnks in advance

 

[Sahran]

Right now the most lucrative trade routes tend to be in Northern Europe and the Baltic Region - the linen/iron/salt circuit. However that's also I would argue the worst place for a newb to start, because you've got terrain which makes campaign travel slow (Unless you go on the baltic sea), and at least in my experience a good deal of rebels and bandits and such.

Faction strength can vary from campaign to campaign, but Western & Northern European factions are often the most stable.

 

[Griefer]

I tend to start out doing mercenary work for the Teutonic Order - they'll go at it with the various Slavic factions, who seem prone to war with each other as well. It's good work, you have easy access to high quality gear from the Western European cultures and tend to fight the more lightly armored Slavic troops. It's good money and generally traveling in the company of some pretty rough and tumble lord armies, giving you good odds, decent renown and valuable loot. Iberian Peninsula is another decent choice for similar reasons. When you really establish yourself, get a nice nest egg of money and gear then get involved in the England/France/HRE region. These are some huge military regions; you'll see sieges involving 10-15 noble armies on each side and if you pick your battles right can net you TONS of renown, honor and loot. Also a lot of valuable properties change hands and you can end up with some good cities and castles that way.

Where this takes you:

Build up a good 100-strong heavy cavalry force and keep a separate heavy infantry/archer/crossbow army in your castle/city to take out for sieges. Ride around with your army-eating cavalry and rescue allied nobles getting humped by a good sized enemy horde. Move your cavalry off to the side; ride up and lance down some poor infantry bastard and watch their army charge the middle of the forces of the guy you're rescuing. Send your knights around flank and obliterate their archers, then swoop in and surprise-buttsecks the enemy infantry and cavalry that are engaged with the army of the guy you're rescuing. It'll turn into a route and your cavalry will rack up obscene kills.

Result? Everyone of your faction will love you, release everyone you capture and the enemy will respect you and your honor will skyrocket. You'll be demolishing much larger armies which means good loot, which means good money. You'll end up getting awarded more and more domains.

Do NOT rescue allies cities getting sieged! Let them get taken, then when the attackers ride off crush them in the field where your cavalry will reign supreme. Then hop back, get your archers and infantry, then retake the city from its skeleton garrison. Mmmm.... that renown tastes delicious! When you hit around 1000 renown, marry some daughter of a prince or princess and consider retiring as you've pretty much won.

 

[othr]

The easiest faction to play for would be the HRE.  It's large and only rarely has to defend itself, the chances of your fief getting set on fire are minimal.

The hardest factions would be the TO, Lithuania, Serbia, Granada, Mamluks, Ireland, Scotland and the ultimate challenge... the Latin Empire.

 

[Sahran]

The Latin Empire.

For the briefest second I thought "The Latin Empire's a faction? I never se-ohhhhhh"

 

[titanax]

I tend to start out doing mercenary work for the Teutonic Order - they'll go at it with the various Slavic factions, who seem prone to war with each other as well. It's good work, you have easy access to high quality gear from the Western European cultures and tend to fight the more lightly armored Slavic troops. It's good money and generally traveling in the company of some pretty rough and tumble lord armies, giving you good odds, decent renown and valuable loot. Iberian Peninsula is another decent choice for similar reasons. When you really establish yourself, get a nice nest egg of money and gear then get involved in the England/France/HRE region. These are some huge military regions; you'll see sieges involving 10-15 noble armies on each side and if you pick your battles right can net you TONS of renown, honor and loot. Also a lot of valuable properties change hands and you can end up with some good cities and castles that way.

Where this takes you:

Build up a good 100-strong heavy cavalry force and keep a separate heavy infantry/archer/crossbow army in your castle/city to take out for sieges. Ride around with your army-eating cavalry and rescue allied nobles getting humped by a good sized enemy horde. Move your cavalry off to the side; ride up and lance down some poor infantry bastard and watch their army charge the middle of the forces of the guy you're rescuing. Send your knights around flank and obliterate their archers, then swoop in and surprise-buttsecks the enemy infantry and cavalry that are engaged with the army of the guy you're rescuing. It'll turn into a route and your cavalry will rack up obscene kills.

Result? Everyone of your faction will love you, release everyone you capture and the enemy will respect you and your honor will skyrocket. You'll be demolishing much larger armies which means good loot, which means good money. You'll end up getting awarded more and more domains.

Do NOT rescue allies cities getting sieged! Let them get taken, then when the attackers ride off crush them in the field where your cavalry will reign supreme. Then hop back, get your archers and infantry, then retake the city from its skeleton garrison. Mmmm.... that renown tastes delicious! When you hit around 1000 renown, marry some daughter of a prince or princess and consider retiring as you've pretty much won.

HAHAHAH wow thnks i pretty much dont have to play the game anymore lol

 

[titanax]

The easiest faction to play for would be the HRE.  It's large and only rarely has to defend itself, the chances of your fief getting set on fire are minimal.

The hardest factions would be the TO, Lithuania, Serbia, Granada, Mamluks, Ireland, Scotland and the ultimate challenge... the Latin Empire.

why is the latin empire soo bad? i thought they were always good.......asuming latin empire means....the spaniards???? or im wrong?

 

[tintontoe]

Nawh, it's a faction that owns Constantinople, not the Empire of Nicea though. And they pretty much get destroyed by Nicea and Serbia.

 

[Skenderbe]

lol.... I've started over 5 times in this mod and not once did Serbia lose to the Latin Empire to the race of who dies first, or any other faction of that matter except for the occassional Novogrod.... not that I have a problem with it, mind you 

 

[Ragnar Edgoth]

In my first playthrough serbia was annihilated by i can't remember who,than now in my second playthrough as vassal of  norway same **** happened with serbia,they sure are weak :3

 

[Skenderbe]

Usually by HRE or Sicily...

 

[Daedelus_McGee]

HAHAHAH wow thnks i pretty much dont have to play the game anymore lol

Actually, the gameplay is quite addictive.  Personally, I like to take a fast horse through the enemy's right flank, then threaten them from behind.  There's nothing like seeing a line of infantry with their shields facing you and their bums facing your charging heavy cavalry.  The famous "bugger-me" parry is not renowned for it's effectiveness as a defense. 

 

[Ragnar Edgoth]

I don't know why but i really prefer foot combat,i usually go off the horse and help my infantry 

 

[Daedelus_McGee]

I don't know why but i really prefer foot combat,i usually go off the horse and help my infantry 

I really think this speaks to brain function as to what kind of activity releases endorphins.  I spent a considerable portion of my adult life figuring out how to hit moving targets from a moving platform.  I did this professionally working to put torpedoes into submarines and for recreation hitting people with paintballs.  For me, lining up the shot well is something I draw pleasure from.  I can easily see how others can prefer getting in line and working through the mosh pit.