So while in the past I have found it annoying that the Irish seem to always get conquered by the English in this mod, I have found that that is not always the case. It is essentially a matter of luck, but if the Irish take the Isle of Mann first, and the player personally goes after Norwegian armies and then continues to support them after, Ireland can have success.
Most importantly, do not start out Irish. Offer your services as a mercenary. After they take Mann (whether you help them or not), save first, then offer King Brian O'Neill your sword in vassalage. I got Mann Hamlet as a fief, which provided me with the much tougher Norse troops rather than the much weaker Gaelic troops. Gaelic troops come in handy later, just not right now.
So after raising an army and kicking some Norse butt, O'Neill declared war on the Scots. After I had many decisive battles against their forces, the Irish were able to make progress against the Scots, conquering Stirling on their own without my help. The English the went to war with the Scots and took Glasgow, and the Irish and English proceeded to divide and conquer Scotland. After building my own castle, I went after Edinburgh Castle. It is important to do this so you can get professional European troops (Miles and the like).
After Scotland was conquered, O'Neill declared war on the English and proceeded to take Wexford Castle and later all of Wales. I personally assaulted Dublin three times without help, taking it the final time, though before I did this, I had to take on the entire English army alone. This was accomplished by hiring two huge armies from my manor and letting them engage the English. I joined the battle and we were outnumbered 2 to 1, so I fought as hard as I could to kill as many of them as possible. Ultimately neither side won (I was so wounded I had to order my troops to attack without me eventually), but the English army was more or less destroyed, while the Irish army was completely intact except for my own forces. I proceeded to mop up what English lords I could (auto - resolve causes heavy casualties on both sides, I only used it since I wasn't given a choice). Then I simply went back to my castles, restocked my army with fresh troops, and hired a new army from my manor, and proceeded to take Dublin, the purpose of the accompanying army to scare off or destroy any of the now weak English armies that came near.
Anyways, Ireland is now fully freed from English tyranny, has Wales entirely under its control, and now most of Scotland. This has been a very fun, rare playthrough. I am thoroughly enjoying it. I realize my success is largely due to luck, but I thought I would share my strategy on how to be successful with Ireland.
As for how to pay for all of it... personally I imported my character. However, it is very easy to make tons of money in this game with a new character. As long as you have a horse, you can practically win any one on one tournament. Just ten tournaments and you'll have over 100K. After you have your own manor, build everything, and make some of your peasants pay you in goods. I do oil, tools, hides, linen, wool cloth, fruit, wine, and ale. Between the occasional tournament and selling these goods, you can pay for anything in this game. Ah, you should also buy enterprises in as many cities as possible. Remember dye works is not always the most profitable.
Ah, also, keep auto-garrison off, and stock your castles and cities with 1000 troops each. It costs a buttload, but the AI will leave it alone. Right now I'm losing over 40k a week. But if you can make the money, it is well worth it.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my overview on how to play as an Irishman. Happy Sasanach hunting!
Most importantly, do not start out Irish. Offer your services as a mercenary. After they take Mann (whether you help them or not), save first, then offer King Brian O'Neill your sword in vassalage. I got Mann Hamlet as a fief, which provided me with the much tougher Norse troops rather than the much weaker Gaelic troops. Gaelic troops come in handy later, just not right now.
So after raising an army and kicking some Norse butt, O'Neill declared war on the Scots. After I had many decisive battles against their forces, the Irish were able to make progress against the Scots, conquering Stirling on their own without my help. The English the went to war with the Scots and took Glasgow, and the Irish and English proceeded to divide and conquer Scotland. After building my own castle, I went after Edinburgh Castle. It is important to do this so you can get professional European troops (Miles and the like).
After Scotland was conquered, O'Neill declared war on the English and proceeded to take Wexford Castle and later all of Wales. I personally assaulted Dublin three times without help, taking it the final time, though before I did this, I had to take on the entire English army alone. This was accomplished by hiring two huge armies from my manor and letting them engage the English. I joined the battle and we were outnumbered 2 to 1, so I fought as hard as I could to kill as many of them as possible. Ultimately neither side won (I was so wounded I had to order my troops to attack without me eventually), but the English army was more or less destroyed, while the Irish army was completely intact except for my own forces. I proceeded to mop up what English lords I could (auto - resolve causes heavy casualties on both sides, I only used it since I wasn't given a choice). Then I simply went back to my castles, restocked my army with fresh troops, and hired a new army from my manor, and proceeded to take Dublin, the purpose of the accompanying army to scare off or destroy any of the now weak English armies that came near.
Anyways, Ireland is now fully freed from English tyranny, has Wales entirely under its control, and now most of Scotland. This has been a very fun, rare playthrough. I am thoroughly enjoying it. I realize my success is largely due to luck, but I thought I would share my strategy on how to be successful with Ireland.
As for how to pay for all of it... personally I imported my character. However, it is very easy to make tons of money in this game with a new character. As long as you have a horse, you can practically win any one on one tournament. Just ten tournaments and you'll have over 100K. After you have your own manor, build everything, and make some of your peasants pay you in goods. I do oil, tools, hides, linen, wool cloth, fruit, wine, and ale. Between the occasional tournament and selling these goods, you can pay for anything in this game. Ah, you should also buy enterprises in as many cities as possible. Remember dye works is not always the most profitable.
Ah, also, keep auto-garrison off, and stock your castles and cities with 1000 troops each. It costs a buttload, but the AI will leave it alone. Right now I'm losing over 40k a week. But if you can make the money, it is well worth it.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my overview on how to play as an Irishman. Happy Sasanach hunting!
