Contrary to popular belief, it's got nothing to do with the unit roster, nor has anything to do with certain units being OP or underwhelming. The results of individual battles in one or two wars hardly makes a difference in the larger scale. Doesn't matter if its Khuzaits or Sturgians or whatever -- caught up in a war with multiple enemies without enough armies fielded to cover every attack, and they will suffer.
The problem is the geography of Calradia and general situation each kingdoms are in.
The circled areas in the map, are the initials stages of conflict where it is most frequently contested between warring kingdoms.
If you just take a glance at the map, the Sturgians and Khuzaits seem to be in a similar state -- both are on the edges of the terrain, seemingly adjacent to multiple enemies. However, if you take into consideration the location of major cities, average distances between such cities, and the initial condition each of those states are in, the situation is very different.
Sturgia
Sturgia is located on the northern end of the map. It is a thin, elongated strip of land that runs west to east, and is within striking distance of 5 kingdoms out of other 7. We know for a fact, that the kingdoms are much more likely to declare war on its closest rivals. You rarely -- if ever -- see wars happening between Aserai-Sturgia, or Vlandia-Khuzait, in the initial phases of the game. The AI kingdoms will risk long distance campaigns to take settlements that's deep in enemy territory, yes, but that enemy is itself, most likely to be an adjacent entity.
In that sense, from the start, out of the two "access points" the Sturgians have toward the south, the western point is adjacent to Vlandia, Battania and the Northern Empire at the same time, with the Southern Empire also dangerously close. If we assume war declarations to be totally random, even through pure chance the Sturgians are the most likely candidate to be a target due to this western access point.
What about the eastern point? The eastern point is directly adjacent to the Khuzaits and the Northern Empire. If the Sturgians decide to expand from this direction, they are very likely going to war against Khuzaits -- and as a primarily infantry-based faction, the Khuzaits are the worst enemies to go to war with.
From the start, the shape of the land itself is actually a problem as well. Suppose the Sturgians find a great opportunity to advance southward in one of these two access points. Logistically speaking, Sturgia from west end to east end, is almost twice as longer than the Northern Empire, and the east-west span actually matches that of Aserai.
When Sturgia is starts a way from any of the two access points, or receives an invasion, a lord that is based in towns like Varcheg will take almost a week to travel to Tyal, and vice versa. Select a point in the middle of each kingdom, and measure the distance an army has to cover to reach any of its borders, and you will see that on average, Sturgian forces need to travel around three times longer distance to get to the borders. This logistical problem is further hampered by the mountain ranges that often hamper direct travel, and forces you to go around. This logistical problem also directly affects the rate at which the Sturgian lords replenish recruits due to the distance problems.
With the above factor in mind, take a closer look at the western access point to Sturgia. You will be able to realize that strategically, Omor is absolutely the most important of all the Sturgian towns. And every invading army -- Vlandians, Battanians, Northern Empire, Southern Empire -- will seek to take Omor, or less frequently, Varcheg. When Omor is lost, Sturgian land is effectively split into two, and strategically/logistically cut off from each other. In such wars, if an invading force succeeds in taking Omor, and then raiding a few villages around Varcheg, then a lord based on Reyvil and its nearby villages, have to move a distance that traverses half of Sturgia (roughly same distance of going from western tip to the eastern tip of Northern Empire), cross though enemy territory, cross a narrow strait, to reach Balgard to be able to get more recruits.
In the initial stages of the game, Sturgia and Vlandia are at war. In this situation, if the war between Battanians and the Western Empire end faster than the war between Vlandia and Sturgia, then Sturgia essentially goes into a double RNG check, and needs to have neither Battanians nor Western Empire declaring its next war against Sturgia. Heck, if any of the wars in the initial opening phase end before the Vlandia-Sturgia war, then Sturgia directly falls under possibility of facing multiple wars.
This, is the real reason why Sturgia gradually gets weaker and weaker until the point of collapse, earlier than anyone else. Around mid-game, all of the strategic problems mentioned above will pile on top of each other, until none of the lords can sustain or field any kind of army to be able to defend their lands.
Khuazait
Now, with the above in mind, compare it to Khuzait. From a glance, it looks similar. Looks similar to Sturgia, but only north-south strip of land, instead of west-east. But the reality can't be any more different.
The "colors" of the map look like Khuzait is adjacent to Sturgia, Northern Empire, Southern Empire, and Aserai at the same time -- only 1 lesser than Sturgia, but logistics-wise, Khuzait is only actually adjacent to two kingdom: Northern Empire and Southern Empire.
At the opening stages of the game, Khuzait is at war with the Northern Empire. And practically speaking, it is that single access point to Khuzait that is really contested in any kind of wars Khuzaits take part in.
In the southern point adjacent to Aserai, the distance between Husn Fulq and Odokh is pretty far. It's only "adjacent" in terms of territory, but what lies between those two towns... is nothing. It's a wide open space with no castles in between. The next closest town of Razih, is even further. From the start the Aserai are at war with the Southern Empire, and in many cases the Aserai could make it up to Vostrum, but it usually stops there. All the major attention of the Aserai, given the logistic/strategic position they are in, are focused at their western access point across "Calradia's Gibraltar." The Aserai and Khuzait, simply don't fight, because there are no real targets to fight over. The Aserai rarely go up further than Vostrum, and usually their war with the Southern Empire usually stops there.
From this point on, the Aserai are all about crossing that channel in the west, and fighting the Western Empire and the Vlandians.
As much, the Sturgians are also almost entirely engaged in trying to protect their lands around Omor, right from the start, that they rarely seek to go southward from Tyal. It's just not an option.
However, for the Khuzaits, the situation is very different. Major Khuzait cities and Imperial cities are in close proximity to each other in two groups: Amprela/Myzea-vs-Makeb/Chaikand, and Onira-vs-Akkalat/Odokh.
Therefore, think about it.
1. After the wars that raged in Calaradia in the initial, opening phase of the game subside, Sturgia has a very good chance to be attacked by more than one out of five kingdoms that it is adjacent in the western access.
2. The Aserai, after ending the war with the Southern Empire, will almost 100% attempt to cross the straits and strike at Western Empire's Ortysia.
3. With Sturgians tied up in the west, and Aserai also looking to expand in the west, Khuzait will only be exposed to a multi-opponent war if Northern Empire and Southern Empire declare war on Khuzait at the same time.
4. However, if the North and South Empire declares war on someone else (or fights each other), THEN IF KHUZAIT DECLARES WAR ON ANY ONE OF STURGIA, SOUTHERN EMPIRE, OR NORTHERN EMPIRE, THEY GET TO GANG UP.
SUMMARY
(1) up to end of the game Vlandia, Battania, WE, Aserai will never really fight the Khuzait
(2) Sturgia will always be tied up in the west against Vlandia, Battania, WE
(3) THE ONLY ENEMIES KHUZAIT WILL EVER FIGHT WILL BE SE, NE, STURGIA
(4) THROUGHOUT THE MAJORITY OF THE GAME, THE KHUZAIT WILL GANG UP ON ITS ENEMY MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE
(5) THROUGHOUT THE MAJORITY OF THE GAME, THE KHUZAIT WILL ALMOST NEVER BE GANGED UP UPON
This, above, is the real reason why Khuzaits always seem to expand quite freely. Considering the strategic conditions and locations of all the kingdoms in the game, Khuzaits are the least to be ganged up upon. They are the most likely to gang up on someone else.
I can make a prediction, that in the games that the Khuzait didn't really steam-roll anyone, it would be the case tgat the NE or SE either both went to war against the Khuzaits, or did not fight anyone else, and always fought Khuzait on one-on-one terms. The Khuzait army is powerful, but they're not that powerful enough to just steamroll the enemy and conquer everything through autocalc. Khuzaits always expand through Sturgia and NE lands first. And empirically, the ones that really hold off the Khuzaits are the NE.
In the games NE stays strong, the Khuzait advance is either halted or very slow. In the games where NE is decimated early on, then the Khuzait expand easily, coming in fast west of Makeb and through Amprela and Myzea.
The problem is the geography of Calradia and general situation each kingdoms are in.
The circled areas in the map, are the initials stages of conflict where it is most frequently contested between warring kingdoms.
If you just take a glance at the map, the Sturgians and Khuzaits seem to be in a similar state -- both are on the edges of the terrain, seemingly adjacent to multiple enemies. However, if you take into consideration the location of major cities, average distances between such cities, and the initial condition each of those states are in, the situation is very different.
Sturgia
Sturgia is located on the northern end of the map. It is a thin, elongated strip of land that runs west to east, and is within striking distance of 5 kingdoms out of other 7. We know for a fact, that the kingdoms are much more likely to declare war on its closest rivals. You rarely -- if ever -- see wars happening between Aserai-Sturgia, or Vlandia-Khuzait, in the initial phases of the game. The AI kingdoms will risk long distance campaigns to take settlements that's deep in enemy territory, yes, but that enemy is itself, most likely to be an adjacent entity.
In that sense, from the start, out of the two "access points" the Sturgians have toward the south, the western point is adjacent to Vlandia, Battania and the Northern Empire at the same time, with the Southern Empire also dangerously close. If we assume war declarations to be totally random, even through pure chance the Sturgians are the most likely candidate to be a target due to this western access point.
What about the eastern point? The eastern point is directly adjacent to the Khuzaits and the Northern Empire. If the Sturgians decide to expand from this direction, they are very likely going to war against Khuzaits -- and as a primarily infantry-based faction, the Khuzaits are the worst enemies to go to war with.
From the start, the shape of the land itself is actually a problem as well. Suppose the Sturgians find a great opportunity to advance southward in one of these two access points. Logistically speaking, Sturgia from west end to east end, is almost twice as longer than the Northern Empire, and the east-west span actually matches that of Aserai.
When Sturgia is starts a way from any of the two access points, or receives an invasion, a lord that is based in towns like Varcheg will take almost a week to travel to Tyal, and vice versa. Select a point in the middle of each kingdom, and measure the distance an army has to cover to reach any of its borders, and you will see that on average, Sturgian forces need to travel around three times longer distance to get to the borders. This logistical problem is further hampered by the mountain ranges that often hamper direct travel, and forces you to go around. This logistical problem also directly affects the rate at which the Sturgian lords replenish recruits due to the distance problems.
With the above factor in mind, take a closer look at the western access point to Sturgia. You will be able to realize that strategically, Omor is absolutely the most important of all the Sturgian towns. And every invading army -- Vlandians, Battanians, Northern Empire, Southern Empire -- will seek to take Omor, or less frequently, Varcheg. When Omor is lost, Sturgian land is effectively split into two, and strategically/logistically cut off from each other. In such wars, if an invading force succeeds in taking Omor, and then raiding a few villages around Varcheg, then a lord based on Reyvil and its nearby villages, have to move a distance that traverses half of Sturgia (roughly same distance of going from western tip to the eastern tip of Northern Empire), cross though enemy territory, cross a narrow strait, to reach Balgard to be able to get more recruits.
In the initial stages of the game, Sturgia and Vlandia are at war. In this situation, if the war between Battanians and the Western Empire end faster than the war between Vlandia and Sturgia, then Sturgia essentially goes into a double RNG check, and needs to have neither Battanians nor Western Empire declaring its next war against Sturgia. Heck, if any of the wars in the initial opening phase end before the Vlandia-Sturgia war, then Sturgia directly falls under possibility of facing multiple wars.
This, is the real reason why Sturgia gradually gets weaker and weaker until the point of collapse, earlier than anyone else. Around mid-game, all of the strategic problems mentioned above will pile on top of each other, until none of the lords can sustain or field any kind of army to be able to defend their lands.
Khuazait
Now, with the above in mind, compare it to Khuzait. From a glance, it looks similar. Looks similar to Sturgia, but only north-south strip of land, instead of west-east. But the reality can't be any more different.
The "colors" of the map look like Khuzait is adjacent to Sturgia, Northern Empire, Southern Empire, and Aserai at the same time -- only 1 lesser than Sturgia, but logistics-wise, Khuzait is only actually adjacent to two kingdom: Northern Empire and Southern Empire.
At the opening stages of the game, Khuzait is at war with the Northern Empire. And practically speaking, it is that single access point to Khuzait that is really contested in any kind of wars Khuzaits take part in.
In the southern point adjacent to Aserai, the distance between Husn Fulq and Odokh is pretty far. It's only "adjacent" in terms of territory, but what lies between those two towns... is nothing. It's a wide open space with no castles in between. The next closest town of Razih, is even further. From the start the Aserai are at war with the Southern Empire, and in many cases the Aserai could make it up to Vostrum, but it usually stops there. All the major attention of the Aserai, given the logistic/strategic position they are in, are focused at their western access point across "Calradia's Gibraltar." The Aserai and Khuzait, simply don't fight, because there are no real targets to fight over. The Aserai rarely go up further than Vostrum, and usually their war with the Southern Empire usually stops there.
From this point on, the Aserai are all about crossing that channel in the west, and fighting the Western Empire and the Vlandians.
As much, the Sturgians are also almost entirely engaged in trying to protect their lands around Omor, right from the start, that they rarely seek to go southward from Tyal. It's just not an option.
However, for the Khuzaits, the situation is very different. Major Khuzait cities and Imperial cities are in close proximity to each other in two groups: Amprela/Myzea-vs-Makeb/Chaikand, and Onira-vs-Akkalat/Odokh.
Therefore, think about it.
1. After the wars that raged in Calaradia in the initial, opening phase of the game subside, Sturgia has a very good chance to be attacked by more than one out of five kingdoms that it is adjacent in the western access.
2. The Aserai, after ending the war with the Southern Empire, will almost 100% attempt to cross the straits and strike at Western Empire's Ortysia.
3. With Sturgians tied up in the west, and Aserai also looking to expand in the west, Khuzait will only be exposed to a multi-opponent war if Northern Empire and Southern Empire declare war on Khuzait at the same time.
4. However, if the North and South Empire declares war on someone else (or fights each other), THEN IF KHUZAIT DECLARES WAR ON ANY ONE OF STURGIA, SOUTHERN EMPIRE, OR NORTHERN EMPIRE, THEY GET TO GANG UP.
SUMMARY
(1) up to end of the game Vlandia, Battania, WE, Aserai will never really fight the Khuzait
(2) Sturgia will always be tied up in the west against Vlandia, Battania, WE
(3) THE ONLY ENEMIES KHUZAIT WILL EVER FIGHT WILL BE SE, NE, STURGIA
(4) THROUGHOUT THE MAJORITY OF THE GAME, THE KHUZAIT WILL GANG UP ON ITS ENEMY MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE
(5) THROUGHOUT THE MAJORITY OF THE GAME, THE KHUZAIT WILL ALMOST NEVER BE GANGED UP UPON
This, above, is the real reason why Khuzaits always seem to expand quite freely. Considering the strategic conditions and locations of all the kingdoms in the game, Khuzaits are the least to be ganged up upon. They are the most likely to gang up on someone else.
I can make a prediction, that in the games that the Khuzait didn't really steam-roll anyone, it would be the case tgat the NE or SE either both went to war against the Khuzaits, or did not fight anyone else, and always fought Khuzait on one-on-one terms. The Khuzait army is powerful, but they're not that powerful enough to just steamroll the enemy and conquer everything through autocalc. Khuzaits always expand through Sturgia and NE lands first. And empirically, the ones that really hold off the Khuzaits are the NE.
In the games NE stays strong, the Khuzait advance is either halted or very slow. In the games where NE is decimated early on, then the Khuzait expand easily, coming in fast west of Makeb and through Amprela and Myzea.
