EW 7: Conquests guide

EW 7: Conquests guide Jun 26, 2022 13:51:52 GMT best75, jonblend, and 18 more like this

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Post by Ralyks on Jun 26, 2022 13:51:52 GMT

So another one of my few guides. The first one for the latest release from ET. If don't want to play Conquest, then this guide will provide little use, but else it will give useful info and stuff you didn't know about no matter if you're a veteran or just starting. I'll also give recommendations on which factions to prioritize to achieve a first hegemony on each campaign for each star number while also giving a guide into some others (as sadly, there's achievements for doing hegemony with every single faction). As I started this guide on 1.5, I will add changes as a "patch notes", and if these changes affect the difficulty of any faction, I will also be tweaking these. Like in previous ones, blue stuff is the important stuff, but if you wanna know more, read the rest

Intro + General tips

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For the first time, there's two victories to win on each run, one being completing the 2 or 3 objectives they assign you depending on the faction you took, the second being the well-known "fully eliminate your foes". Achieving hegemony (dominate the whole map by yourself and your allies) is only required one time per conquest per number of stars. Objectives are not hard, as stronger factions will have more ambitious objectives while weak factions will can just have as objective to survive x number of rounds, so they're normally balanced and easy. As they don't provide any bonus towards hegemony, I will not be focusing on how to get them, but each hegemony guide will not skip these either (like Ostrogoths needing to take down both Byzantine factions although they start even with passage with you).

Score and grade is only known on achieving hegemony (and so far I've been only getting S, so they're not hard). Don't waste Drums to get a faster hegemony as afaik you'll only get a little less gold. But this is not the important part, objectives win and achievements are, and both do not rely on reaching a good score or grade.

Important rewards:

1st time you clear a Conquest with a faction having 1, 2 and 3 stars: these include 25/30/35k gold, 50 medals, 10 item blueprints and one mediocre equipment item (with the exception of 1 star in 4th Conquest, which has a decent item)
1st time you get hegemony with each faction: you will get 20k (30k in 4th Conquest) gold, 50 medals, 5 or 10 mercenary orders and 10 pieces of a war gear equipment. You will also get some more gold depending on your grade and this can be repeated.
1st time you get objective victory with each faction: you will get 25k gold, 50 medals, 5 items, 10 war gears and 1/2/3 compasses
1st time you get each tier 4 claim, you will get a new achievement (added in 1.7). These always grant 25k gold, 50 medals, 5 items/250 parts/250 soul of wars and a level 2 gem.

So for being most efficient, the best way to get most rewards in the least amount of runs is doing a single successful hegemony run with 1, 2 and a 3 star faction on each conquest in which you also achieve the faction's objectives and a tier 4 claim you haven't achieved yet.

Conquest here is made way better than in previous games, specially towards the late game, with the option to speed up the ending without having to conquer every single bit of the map mostly on your own. Here there were two key additions:

-Surrender: allows the player to "conquer" all the remaining lands of a player if such country lost its capital city (marked with a crown) and you can pay an amount of resources (calculated by remaining strength of the player). This can be done if the targeted country is enemy, neutral or even ally.

-Alliances: you can pretty much ally anyone (with a few exceptions, which I'll mention on each conquest) if your relations are high and you have the resources to pay it. In previous games, Conquests were always 2 hardcoded sides with some neutral countries, here there's no clear sides except for the 4th Conquest.

However, some factions will be joining later on as well, either on x turn or triggered by certain event, and except some rare exceptions (only in 4rth conquest currently), they can't be befriended, which will also make a Conquest that is almost over last a bunch more turns because of these invaders.

You can recruit for free the first hero (with their corresponding attached troops) on any tavern you own, no matter the level of the tavern. You can recruit more heroes, but their price is decided on the quality of the troops the squad has. Prioritize this hero with some healing gear (ideally medical tent, else support wagon), avoid losing any mercenary troop and keep it healthy to maximize their value. This troop will be crucial early on, as it should be way stronger than the rest of the troops. Why?

-It should be a top tier unit. Those have way higher base stats than all normal troops, unique useful skills (like forests or rivers can be crossed without movement penalty) and will each have always 4 skills.

-Overleveled: any troop you train (normal or special) will be up to level 3 (same for the rest of countries), depending on the Age it was recruited. ~~If your spawn has lvl 10 Varangian Guards, it will spawn with such, giving an even greater advantage over its foes.~~ This was toned down in v1.7, capping spawned mercenary level to 6. Still higher level than the troops in the Conquest, but not as strong as it could be before. Remember you can raise the level of all troops within any squad simply by fighting, making your spawn reach even higher potential the more it fights.

With 1 star faction its suggested to get the free one and just make the most of it. With 3 star factions, your way higher income will make it way easier to get a 2nd and/or 3rd hero out quite soon, which can defend a whole front by themselves.

Having Justinian is heavily recommended. Having him as consul will drastically reduce the difficulty of any Conquest. Seems like something minor, but it was day and night when I tried with and without. By default, countries are coded to start with x relation with other factions, and then to have a base value of gain/loss towards them. For example, in Crusader States, if you take a Christian faction, all other Christian factions will gain relation while Muslim ones will drop it. This means:

-With those you were gaining, you'll gain even more. Getting passively high relations with them is important, as later on they'll be saying "Declare war on x country, else -40 relations (can be reduced to -30). These passive gains will counterweight these big -40/-30 events when you say no.

-Factions which were going to declare you war later on will no longer do so. Some will even slightly gain relation with you. This is a big deal, as once a war is declared, its very expensive to go back to neutral, double it for allies.

In your first turns, prioritize faction's tasks (will be at the left of the pause button). These give a lot of free resources for doing stuff that can also be useful. This makes your early game way more solid, specially with one star factions.

Upgrade early on cities AND get workshops on cities. Fortresses are not worth it. Only upgrade if on a key spot to ease a defensive position or if you have a solid general on it and want some specific tavern troop that requires higher level, but overall avoid upgrading fortresses, they're more expensive and give way less income per upgrade. The payback time for upgrading cities is ~9 turns (less turns for lower levels, more for higher levels, and half the turns for capitals), but it provides with extra population, hp and extra income for mid and late game, where it is crucial as its when you'll do most gifting.

Administration is a relatively useless capability as a whole. But there's an exception, it should be highest possible on your consul. Consul's administration score will determine the price to pay for policies, the higher his administration is, the cheaper all technologies will be. Every 2 points of administration, it will lower by 1% all prices of all policies. This is capped at 150 administration, thus giving a 75% discount. The more administration you have on a conquest, it will also very slightly increase (0.5% per point for every building within the territory), but nothing too big. You may want to deploy Justinian and Theodora on a single cheap troop each on the territory around your capital (capital doubles all income in the zone since 1.6) for the 2 technology bonus and they'll also be raising your income, if you do this, give them administration items.

Relations have a starting value with the others. But between AI factions, the moment they do have frontiers with each other, relations do decline, often leading to wars. There is no way to stop a war between AIs either, they'll be fighting eachother until one dies. You cannot ask your ally to stop a war with another faction either, you can only ask for them to join against one of your enemies if they're not at war with them. Once they declare war, you cannot reverse this neither.

All factions start a coded amount of resources (not relevant to how many stars they have), but only you won't get your income the first round, the rest will have starting resources + economic income on their first round to use.

Sometimes you'll get a free hero spawned on a city (one of the faction you choose). Its hardcoded. Its far more common in 3rd and 4th conquests. AIs get troops spawned for free sometimes too, and way more often than you, because yes (next level reasoning).

Relation policies (normally the two on the left of the bottom row) are very cheap and also very useful. Try to get them ASAP (in the first 3 rounds).

Pricing for researching policies increases every 4 policies researched, and like mentioned before, it can only be lowered by having a higher administration value in your consul. Silver prices will increase 2 tiers and iron will do 1 in all policies. Each tier is 50 resources. Meaning every 4 policies researched will increase 100 silver and 50 iron for the rest. This again, will be lowered by your consul's administration skill, meaning if your consul has 100 administration, the increase will be reduced to 50 silver and 25 iron for example. Tiers are not only useful to know increases, but initial prices are also in these tiers. Tier 1 is 50 resources (most policies in the 4rth row will have a tier 2 starting silver cost and a tier 1 iron cost), tier 2 100, tier 3 150 and so on. Max is 150 administration, going above will not grant any extra discount.

Rewards

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Conquests provide rewards not only on achievements, but also upon achieving the 2-3 objectives a faction has. The rewards these give depends on the number of stars the faction has.

--1 star faction:
----25000 gold, 50 medals, 80 Proof of Honor Conquest points
----10 Target (item for upgrading common archers), 200 Soul of War, 3 Compasses

--2 star faction:
----25000 gold, 50 medals, 80 Proof of Honor Conquest points
----10 Quintain (item for upgrading common cavalry), 5 Mercenary Orders, 2 Compasses

--3 star faction:
----25000 gold, 50 medals, 80 Proof of Honor Conquest points
----10 Scarecrow (item for upgrading common infantry), 5 Heraldry, 1 Compass

--Repeating any faction:
----12500 gold
----nothing more, not even Conquest points. So not really worth repeating.

Achieving hegemony grants an extra 70 Proof of Honor Conquest points.

Because of this, the most efficient way to get rewards in Conquests is achieving a victory with a single faction of each star number, in which you achieve Hegemony and get a Tier 4 title. This way, you will get the listed above rewards (except repeating one, which is by far the worst) and 9 achievements. Then move on to the next Conquest. Once we have done this with all, go for objectives with every faction, prioritizing easier ones. Normally these won't take more than 12 turns and the rewards are decent.

Else you can try Challenges, which has its own section below, but these are more challenging and should only be attempted once your common troops are higher levels.

Age

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Age is currently used only to determine the recruited troops level. Also, most non-mercenary troops will be locked until you reach Feudal Age (Age 3). Raising your age will not mean that already existing troops will level up to this new level, only new ones will benefit from it.

Age 1: troops level 0

Ages 2 & 3: troops level 1

Ages 4 & 5: troops level 2

Age 6: troops level 3

Remember troops can level up on Conquests, unlike in Campaign, simply by fighting.

Age requirements:

To age 1 (Wild Age): none

To age 2 (Dark Age): two level 2 cities

To age 3 (Feudal Age): two level 3 cities, 4 policies

To age 4 (Castle Age): five level 3 cities, 8 policies, max pop at least 200

To age 5 (Imperial Age): two level 4 cities, 12 policies, max pop at least 250, silver income per round at least 200

To age 6 (Firearms Age): five level 4 cities, 15 policies, max pop at least 250, silver income per round at least 300, iron income per round at least 150

If you meet the requirements to age up, it will not be immediate, instead it'll happen at the start of your next turn.

Relations

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To improve relations with other factions, you can send them economic gifts. There are three options, one costing the fewest resources, a second one costing twice the first option and a last option costing thrice the first one, these 100%/200%/300% price increments are fixed always. The price of the first one is determined by the strength of the faction you're gifting to. Normally, relation boosts are +10, +20 and +30 respectively, so if you have many resources, go for the third one for convenience. But it is worth checking first, as there are some faction combinations in which these three relation values are way different. A real good example is when playing on Crusader States as Ayyubid Dynasty, gifting most factions will give the usual +10/+20/+30, but doing so on the England's Expedition will give +0/+10/+20, meaning the best value is the most expensive one, as it gives 20 relation for 300% price, second one is middle option, with 10 relation at 200% price and worst being the cheap option, giving you literally nothing back for your resources. But when gifting the Sultanate of Rum, its a whole different story, giving +15/25/+35, meaning the best value is the first one, as if you do it twice, you get +30 relation instead of the +25 you get with the first option but for the same price.

Standing on a neutral country land will give you a -10 relation every turn, no matter if its just 1 troop or 10. This can be avoided by paying for passage. Having paid for this, relations will increase by a further 2 per turn compared to when they were neutral. This extra passive gain raises further to 5 when you are become allies. They need to go under -30 to start threatening you to send gifts sometimes to avoid declaring war on you. When relations are under -60, they will declare war without option of bribing to avoid it. However, they won't pay you to march their troops over your territory, they'll simply do it, no matter if there's passage agreement or not, and no relation is lost if they do. On the other hand, you can capture a neutral's faction city without causing any relation drop, and as its now your territory, the surrounding land is now free for you to step in without worrying about relation drops.

Prioritize relation upgrades always ("Good Neighbors" is key, followed by "Envoy to Allies"). Luckily they're also the cheapest. The earlier you gain relations or reduce how you drop them will have a big impact mid and late game, as you'll have less foes and less bribing to do.

Changes compared with Campaign

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There are some clear changes with campaign:

Having Saladin/Joan of Arc/Charlemagne will not allow you to have 2 free heroes on tavern, remains 1. However, having Attila will discount your General's recruiting price by half.
Tile move cost is increased by 1 when it is on enemy or neutral territory, making it slightly slower to path through neutral or enemy territory, meaning the max tile movement cost is raised from 5 to 6 on this cases. Getting passage or alliance will scrap this movement penalty.
You can trade Iron for Silver and vice-versa. Normally its between 1.1 and 1.4 gold per 1 iron, but sometimes you'll find Iron being worth almost twice Silver or very close to the same. Trade value depends on how the game is going. I always found Iron to Silver value to be between 1 and 2.
You always start with 0 technology, unlike the 10 or 15 you do in Campaigns. Deploying fast Justinian and Theodora on weak troops will get their bond to solve this problem faster, but after the early-mid game is over, you'll be having plenty of wasted technology points.
There's no limit on how many generals you can use. But your enemies will recruit generals too, sometimes even repeating ones that they used and died already. I remember having to kill twice Attila in the first conquest.
Villages are a thing now. They're level 0 fortresses. They cannot train any special unit, however you can hire your heroes from these. They only have 10 hp and it will not repair itself. If you know some battles will occur near it, its worth upgrading it once to small fortress, as this gets hp to 100, gaining 90 health and allows to restock troops (albeit the basic ones). If you upgrade it when its on 0, the maximum will be 100, but it will be left as 0/100 durability, so not very useful, that's why its better to upgrade early. Resources these give are also doubled if they're within the territory of a capital.
Your troop level is determined by the age in which they were recruited, not fixed to the current one you have invested on in "Units" tab. This applies to both trained troops and starting troops, but troops that appear with generals will be one level higher than what they should be. The only exception is when hiring Generals in the tavern, that they'll come with the troops and the level you have them with.
You can raise troop levels by fighting, so although level is determined the moment a troop is created depending on the age the faction is on, the troop can raise levels afterwards.
You start with no policies researched instead of some (depending on the campaign mission), but you can research them yourself, price varies depending on Consul's administration value and the technology itself.
Some prices differ. They do drastically increase the workshop price, as well as tweak the special units hiring price, here costing always more iron than silver, while in the Campaign, their silver cost is always greater, like it happens with normal troops.
Troops available will greatly differ. Not only tier 3 troops and above will be blocked if you're not in Castle Age (age 3), but also depending on the Conquest and faction you play, you will have a different set of common troops to hire or another.

Challenges

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Version 2.0 added challenges as to re-use current Conquests and factions for extra content. These are a harder version of normal Conquest, with a bunch of differences:

Victory is only achievable by hegemony. We still have minor objectives (these that give rewards early on) and titles but no big objectives that will grant you rewards.
Here your rewards depend solely on the amount of points you selected before starting. Meaning, that alike it happens with Title achievements, playing with stronger factions (normally 3 stars) will allow for an easier run-through, and rewards are the same than using a weaker one.
You must at least have 5 points. 3 handicaps/penalties will be already applied you at 0 points. Maximum is 75
These do not have their own achievements.
Your troops' level will not be depending on Age they were recruited, but on the level you have them.

Because of the last point, you should NOT attempt this if you don't have common troops at at least level 15. Delay doing this for later, as they'll become much easier the stronger your troops are. Do not attempt either if you lack Constantine.

Here is a list of point milestones that I consider most important, the numbers are the column which they belong to, a 0 stands for not selecting anything of this column:
- 30 points (25 war drums): 0, 3, 3, 0, 3, 0, 2, 2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0 - this is the easiest of the list. Our troops should be clearly stronger than opponent's, with no harm done to our economy. Just beware the first turns of the other factions as they'll have plenty of resources to spend, but after it will be quite easy.
- 35 points (10 blueprints): 0, 3, 3, 0, 3, 0, 2, 2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0 - pretty similar to the previous, just that enemy troops will hit a bit harder than previously. It was either this or giving them 6 extra levels, which is worse as this increases their HP, defense and damage, while our change only increases their damage
- 45 points (15 giant war drums): 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 0, 2, 2, 2, 0, 2, 0, 0 - here our foes will have much stronger troops, and we can rely less on recruiting heroes in taverns.
- 65 points (10 expedition coins and 5 Mithril): 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 1, 2, 2, 2, 0, 2, 1, 1 - hardest of the listed milestones. Pretty much everything avoiding the relations. Being at war with everyone at the start is a no-go. Like everyone surrounding you will harass you and in some Conquests, there will be factions that start with no direct opponent, meaning their sole purpose will be to send troops to you until they declare war on someone else, but with everyone having the diplomacy policies, this may not even occur.

Taxes

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Like in campaign, this affects you and everyone. If you're under your population cap, then you get all the normal income. But here you can be on "maniac" and you can still recruit, however for obvious reasons (you literally dont get any income), this is not recommended. And yes, you can go over 250 population but you should avoid it, as if you have 250 pop, your income will be big, and a 30% of that hurts. If you're decided to go over 250 and remain there, then feel free to extend it to 375 pop, which should be the max before reducing from -35 to -70 the income. This is how taxes go:

Peaceful (-0% income): 100% and under of your max pop
Defensive (-35% income): Between 101 and 150% of your max pop
Aggressive (-70% income): Between 151 and 200% of your max pop
Maniac (-100% income): Over 200% of your max pop

Version 1.6 changes (17th June)

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Capital cities now double whichever production they give (and rampant repairs 10% faster). Meaning they're a key priority to upgrade. However, once a capital is captured (it loses its crown) it will no longer give double the resources
You can move the capital city to another city of yours for 500 silver and 100 iron, but on rare occasions its worth it. If your capital is threatened, the capital should be the strongest city (rampant bonus + should the the city with the highest level to maximize income), also those 600 resources will heavily help you defend it. I haven't seen IAs move their capital city either, so either they were not coded to do it or they know how freaking expensive it is and they rather spend those resources elsewhere. Price is fixed, no matter how many stars your faction has or which conquest it is. Sometimes you need to move it for "Resolution", like WRE in the first Conquest, which needs to be Rome, but its not worth it. There's no achievement reward either. Sometimes you capture a city which has a higher max level than your starting capital, but doing the change is not worth it, due to the absurd amount of resources the reallocation takes, plus that raising a city to level 4 and level 5 takes way more resources.
Declaring war on a faction will remove any mobility left on the troops already standing on that territory. This is to avoid the abuse of going into a neutral faction, surrounding their cities and then declare war, instantly capturing a few and giving you a huge advantage. Declare war and then invade his territory is the way to go now
Resolution/claims: a new basic interface that allows you to get passive bonuses after achieving some feat and paying coins to unlock it. Some factions (like Visigoths or WRE in the first Conquest) will have these, but others won't. Those are also mentioned in the list below. Only one resolution can be selected per age, and you must have one of the previous tier to buy one from the next tier. Prices are fixed at 300, 600, 1000 and 1500 silver for tier 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively, so not precisely cheap. Each claim can be claimed by a single faction, meaning if one faction already does have this claim, until you defeat it, you won't be able to take for yourself that claim. This was only added to the first Conquest, but it should be copied onto the other ones in the next patch.
Whenever you capture a capital, not only morale will drop heavily (by half its current value) on all of that faction's troops (this happened also before), but now you will also get a big morale boost (25 of max value) on all your troops.

Version 1.7 changes (25th July)

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Resolution screen is now enabled for all conquests (rather than only on the first one).
New achievements were added, focused on these titles you can achieve on resolution. These achievements are the first achievements and only achievements to give gems (always level 2). Added a summary of what to do and which are recommendations for each of these achievements at the end of each campaign, after the Invader subsection.
Achievements are always on the last last tier of claims, meaning its the most demanding one in terms of requirements and resources.
Each faction has 2 last tier claims, meaning that you must play with a bunch to be able to achieve all rewards.
Tavern hero recruiting was severely nerfed, capping mercenary troop level to 6. This is fixed no matter the Age, Conquest or faction you play.
On first conquest: Visigoths renamed Visigothic Kingdom.
On second conquest: Gaelic Kingdom is now named Gaels. Edited it on the guide too. Duchy of Britanny renamed Duchy of Brittany. Kingdom of Gwynedd renamed Kingdom of Gwyneth.
On third conquest: Vandal Kingdom renamed Kingdom of the Vandals. Kingdom of Suebi renamed Suebian Kingdom. Ostrogothic Kingdom renamed to Kingdom of the Ostrogoths.
On fourth conquest: Beyliks of Anatolia renamed Anatolian Beyliks. Eldiguzid renamed Eldiguzids Dynasty. Abbasid Caliphate renamed Abbasid dynasty (yes, with lower case d, probably a typo)

Version 1.8 Changes (26th September)

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Conquests are now ordered in chronological order, from order in which it was added. I will keep the same order here though, but y, basically campaigns order passed to game is: 1, 3, 2, 5, 4
A new extra large Conquest, now named Century of Iron (from European War) was added. Year was moved also from 951 to 939 AD.
A new large Conquest is announced, occurring in 651 AD.
Army Group implemented.
Agreements (when you are requested to join a war against x faction) will no longer show up and force you to decide at the start of the round. A big button will show up on the right and whenever you want on that turn, you can decide. A decision must be taken before turn end though, but this allows you to decide at the end of the turn and see better how things are going, which were not options previously.

Version 2.0 Changes (8th January)

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A new large conquest was added, 1427AD - Hundred Years' War, focused on Western and Central Europe.
Challenges were added for all conquests. These do offer an extra challenge when playing any Conquest, the more handicaps the greater rewards.
Rewards were added with the new "Rankings" option. Your best score of each conquest will be added up to make a total value, which will grant you a title.
Exchange rates (changing silver for iron and viceversa) is not so exploitable, making you lose resources everytime you exchange.

Version 2.1 Changes (24th April)

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New large conquest added 1444AD - Downfall of Byzantine, focused on the Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean. God bless Papal states were left out. This was meant to be the 650AD Large map, which is now 800 years after.
New extra large conquest announced, supposedly based on year 395AD.
Compasses can now be purchased on normal shop occasionally for 12000 gold.
Compasses may also be given as rewards for daily quests (1 per quest that has it).
Rewards for Conquest Challenges were adjusted.
Conquest Challenges max level raised from 75 to 80. A new column was added at the end that allows to get these 5 new points.

With all that said, lets speak of each of the Conquests available currently (will update this whenever there are more added, next patch should bring in the 5th, but I bet a 6th is added later on). Currently there's 4. Some are missing, but I will be filling those later, the guide is already good enough (IMO) to be posted and be useful for players.

Difficulty will be divided into 4, recommended, easy, normal and hard. Difficulty rating will be based on hegemony relative difficulty (so relative to the others in that same conquest, like hard in first conquest can be easier than easy on fourth conquest).

In most cases, the stronger factions will be ranked better as it'll be easier to achieve the requirements and pay up to get the title achievements. These requirements are either reach feudal age, have x city as capital city, defeat x kingdom(s), occupy x amount of cities or occupy a number of specific cities, this is also in order of general difficulty, from easiest to hardest. I just suggest best faction for each, considering that only some factions can achieve some hegemonies, plus a runner up, and the other possibilities (though these are not recommended if you're going for this achievement, but feel free to go for them if you're going for hegemony as well).

Conquests

1. Barbarian Invasion - 435AD

This is the easiest campaign, smallest map and only one invader, which joins later on the east. One single three star faction with lots of potential when played by yourself albeit weak on IAs hands, as they rarely level up cities and ends up with many enemies. This conquest is very easy as a whole, so as it is relative, being on dark red doesn't mean its impossible, just that its the hardest compared to others.

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Action order: WRE > Anglo-Saxon > Briton > Breton > Visigoths > S Franks > Franks > Alemanni > Alans > Ostrogoths > Huns

Factions

☆Alans - very hard faction. Similarly to Burgundians, you're against a 2 star faction that will exclusively focus you and the WRE. The WRE starts very weak on your frontier, and you could take advantage of their slow early to expand yourself, albeit this is very hard due to Alemanni pressure and the lack of a tavern, in both your capital city and the easiest nearby city, Passau. Not recommended.

☆☆Alemanni - your foe is Alans, which you should focus first, and the objective foe is WRE, which is way harder, luckily WRE is very weak on the north-east, so you should be able to push on without much problem. However without Justinian, your other 2 neighbors will delcare war on you around round 10, which sucks as by then you should be heavily invested on WRE, so its key to have either when playing this faction.

☆☆Anglo-Saxon - starts with a big upperhand on its rival, Britons. With the starting General attack through sea Lincoln, also with the troop below him. Give the troop above Lincoln Belisarius (free gen and infantry, so its a good troop), use his ability and with that you should be able to finish the city and capture on that first turn. On the tavern on the right spawn your strongest hero and in a few turns you'll have control over the whole island. Your next clear target are both Franks.

☆Bretons - easiest 1 star by far. Wait the first turn in your territory so that most Visigoths go east and then attack them, so you can grab most if not all of their cities without having to fight much. There's two clear paths after taking Visigoths down:

-If you have Justinian, you won't be dropping relations with Romans, so you can bribe them until you can get passage (upon that point, you'll even start to gain relation passively). On the meanwhile, sail North, and get England for yourself, then land on Anglo-Saxon or Franks, whichever is doing worse (and ally the other) and then expand southwards

-If you don't have Justinian, Romans will be asking for gifts else they declare war. Its worse if you pay to delay the inevitable war, so just accept and use the massive frontiers and slow early game the Romans have against them, remember you're not alone. Ally with either Britons or Anglo-Saxons later on, depending on who is winning on England by turn 15. Keep on pushing east and ally yourself with the , Romans have many cities, upgrade them a bit and then bribe the factions that are doing better or you like the most, giving the least priority to Ostrogoths, as they will not help out against the Huns unless you pay extra for them to.

-If you have Justinian but dont like Romans, wait a few(2-4) turns to upgrade cities, heal troops and assemble new ones. This time will also get the Romans to move their troops to help elsewhere, as there's no Visigoths and thus no apparent threat for them on their west. This will help you take some cities faster once you declare war. Then proceed similarly to option 2.

☆☆Britons (5 coins) - Avoid what will happen on turn 2-3, or turn 1 if you're the Anglo-Saxons; the capture of Lincoln. hen take the battleground to their land. The only big plus is that you're the only faction starting with decent relations with the Romans, which are the most expensive to bribe. Focus first Anglo-Saxons, then continue downwards to Franks, and get yourself one ally from this groups of countries you have downwards, whichever is doing best. If Visigoths are doing bad, then ally Bretons and with these resources, they'll end them, else create a landing party on your homeland and take down Bretons, and then Visigoths, as this way, Romans will focus all of their troops east.

☆Burgundians - along the Alans, 1 star in this conquest, you have a single city and you're against a 2 star faction that only has you as enemy and also against the WRE? Deadly sandwich. Not recommended.

☆☆Franks - the harder version of the Salian Franks. Starts with slightly worse eco and troops, and very badly positioned tavern. Your first task is to take Strasbourg for yourself, but dont let the Salian Franks take it. If you have Justinian/Niko, its great as you won't have to worry about Anglo Saxons, else they will be declaring war soon after Burgundians fall. You have to also reach Orleans, but unlike Salian Franks, you don't have passage with Romans, which makes it way harder. Check if by the time Burgundians fall, Orleans is on Visigoth hand or almost, if so, just wait until they also take either Dijon or Paris, or until you can pay them to get passage. When you're done with Visigoths, betray the Salians as you need them taken down and then focus on the Huns.

☆☆Ostrogoths (10 coins) - tried myself and nothing special. Romans are surprisingly easy on the east and you're neutral with everyone else, so you can freely choose alliances with the solid Roman economy, when Huns joined, although I do start with 40 relation points with them, you cannot bribe to increase relations and befriend them. Your relations will drop every turn with them quite fast, so even if you were lucky to achieve alliance, it will not last, so treat them as an enemy to beat that will ignore you at first.

☆☆Salian Franks - your only foe is Burgundians, as you start neutral with AS and Franks, and with passage for Romans. This pre-1.6 was easier as you could use the passage to take advantage of Romans when you wanted to start a conflict with them (which you need to conquer Orleans), now this exploit is no longer possible. Focus Burgudians, use the passage you have on WRE to your advantage, by turn 4-5 you should take them down. Check how Orleans is doing. If it is taken by Visigoths or close to being so, go to Orleans and be ready to take the city for yourself after Visigoths do so, and remain allied with the Romans. If Orleans is not close to being taken, either restart or continue and focus on Anglo-Saxons, after defeating them, check again Orleans. If still under Roman control, then you'll have to declare war on them, it makes the Conquest take longer, but nothing

☆☆Visigothic Kingdom - starts with 2 claims - focus first on Bretons, as they will be more annoying than Romans, then go on Romans. Go east taking all of the Roman territory and then feel free to befriend whoever, everything should be easy from now on.

☆☆☆Western Roman Empire - starts with 3 claims - the best (and worst

) 3 star faction for this conquest. Focus first going west, defeating the Visigoths first, while playing more defensively on east and north. Britons is your only coded ally, while Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Burgundians and Alans your coded start enemies. The first two are 2 stars factions, while the latter two are just 1 star, but they each also have a 2 star faction fighting them, so the pressure they do on you is way lower than the 2 stars, which will both mainly focus you. Britons will fall to Anglo-Saxons unless you give them resources, so either send some help after finishing the Visigoths or give them some resources, unless you prefer to ally the Anglo-Saxons, which is not a bad idea. Ostrogoths should be gone or close to gone when Huns join. Luckily, as most of the factions above you should still remain (and at war with eachother), they'll take the harder hit from the Huns. You just invade the Huns from the south after taking down the Visigoths and ally whoever is left.

Invader

Hunnic Empire - they'll join the conquest upon 25 cities have been conquered OR on turn 15/10/8 depending on if you're a 1/2/3 star faction respectively. They'll appear on the east, above the Alans. They'll be hostile to everyone with the exception of Ostrogoths, Anglo Saxons and Alemanni. You cannot ally them, you can bribe to delay them declaring war on you, but this is strongly not recommended, as they have to be defeated anyway and this will just make them stronger at the expense of your on strength. They do have a big number of charge and melee cavalry along with some foot support units.

Resolution (titles) achievements

Celtic Kingdoms - capture 25 cities, reach feudal age, occupy London, Paris, Toulouse, Cologne, Rennès - recommended Britons; others: Bretons

Roman Empire - capture 30 cities, capital city Rome, occupy Milan, Paris, Ravenna, London, Budapest, Toulouse - recommended WRE, (Ostrogoths); others: Visigoths, Briton, Franks, S Franks, Breton (pretty easy as WRE, around turn 10 you should have it. Sucks this always requires a capital city move, no matter which faction you play as)

North Sea Empire - capture 25 cities, reach feudal age, occupy London, Bremen, Paris, Cologne - unique to Anglo Saxons (it is a free bonus if you haven't achieved hegemony with them yet, check guide for AS above)

Germanic Reich - capture 25 cities, reach feudal age, occupy Cologne, Budapest, Bremen, Strasbourg - recommended Anglo Saxon, (Salian Franks), others: Franks, Alemanni, Alans, Burgundians

Goths Empire - capture 25 cities, reach feudal age, occupy Budapest, Salona, Ravenna, Rome, Milan, Toulouse - recommended Ostrogoths, (Visigoths)

Alania Empire - capture 25 cities, occupy Brandenburg, Krakow, defeat Hunnic Empire - unique to Alans (the hardest by far is the first one, as you start off very weak and threatened). Should do when going for hegemony. Having 20-21 cities before the Huns join should secure you achieving this title, as merging the Huns will grant you all 3 achievements, if an ally takes one of the 2 Hunnic cities required, you'll be forced to declare war on him, so do not let it happen).

2. Legend of the Vikings - 850AD

Clearly split 3 battlefields. Great Britain, Ireland and north mainland Europe. Vikings start all around the sea and with a decent force on Ireland. If you can send some help to Ireland (either troops or resources, more comfortable the latter), they'll be able to hold and then push back, thus avoiding having to take this island which is on the opposite side of the map of Denmark, which is the last to join, and you must always conquer. Around round 10, a lot of ships will spawn in the North Sea and head mostly to Great Britain, which some landing also in mainland Europe. Around round 22-25, Denmark will join, along with some more Vikings. They'll head everywhere. Capturing Denmark capital will allow you to surrender them. They will also surrender if you capture their lands. However, all Viking troops must be defeated in order for you to defeat such faction. Viking second and third incursions are hardcoded to go west, so if you place your ships at the top of the map and let them pass, they'll pretty much ignore you, so you can raid and take their lands with healthier troops.

SPOILER: Click to show

Action order: Gaels > Wessex > East Anglia > Mercia > Gwyneth > Northumbria > Alba > Brittany > West Francia > Middle Francia > East Francia > West Slavs > Vikings > Denmark

Factions

☆Alba - Vikings will annoy you, and you have to take down alone Northumbria. After that, your only somewhat ally is Gwynedd, so you're pretty much alone. You need economy to be able to bribe to ally status the mainland strongest powers, and then deal with the Danish and Vikings, but you start from a weak position and have to travel through mountainous area. Not fun, but not hard. You can either help with resources the Irish or go and take Ireland yourself.

☆East Anglia - your only real enemy is Vikings and Danes, but being so weak doesn't do any good on you. Fight first the two viking ships that will be attacking your capital, then attack Mercia, followed by Gwynedd. Without Justinian, West and Middle Francia will eventually declare war on you, so its clear Brittany and East Francia will be your continental allies, Wessex should remain with passage with you. Focus first on West Francia, then continue with Middle, its a lot to conquer. With Justinian, you should only take down one (likely West) and ally the other.

☆☆☆East Francia (12 coins) - Strongest 3 star, and on a very good position to take down Vikings and Danes when they join. Focus your west troops on capturing the small Viking city and take down the Slavs asap. Send resources to Ireland on the meanwhile, they must win. Build up resources while you move your forces to the west, ready take down Middle Francia. Luckily for you, Cologne, the enemy's capital is just at your frontier. Focus on it first to get the high morale for the rest of the fighting. Once you're done, either continue west and take the whole mainland Europe or land in England. Just do one, as remember that Danes and Vikings will join on turn 20, so be ready for them. Danes you can take easy through sea, but Vikings needs to kill every soldier. Befriend whoever's left when you're done with Danes.

☆☆Gaels (6 coins) - Vikings gonna be rough at first, focus on not loosing any city and then your better economy will allow you to push them out. Your next objectives are Alba and Gwynedd, so it shouldn't be hard. Then you're free to do whatever, so focus either Northumbria or Mercia (IMO the former is better) and continue east, as you'll be needed to fight the Vikings and Danes when they join on the east.

☆Gwyneth - you're weak and alone here, and not because of it Vikings will respect you, but kinda the opposite. You'll have to fight Mercia alone, and when you're done with that, go south to take down Wessex. But ofc, even Irish don't like weak kingdoms, so you're one of the few that start negative with them. I think this is not bad, as the proximity does allow you to instead of going mainland Europe after Wessex, to take Ireland all for yourself, but do so only if there's no clear winner or Vikings are already winning, as you shouldn't pay Ireland early on as you have crap economy and stronger foes. From there, just ally Northumbria or Alba, and help it take down the other, and also ally 2 of the Francias, the ones doing better. While you are giving resources to make friends, focus your troops on the Danish and Vikings.

☆Kingdom of Brittany - you will have to hold at first against Vikings at the north and then West Francia on the west, until Middle Francia joins against them between turns 8-12. Unless you have very strong general, its a rough faction as you will be struggling to expand and be useful later on.

☆☆Mercia - the easiest two stars, as it starts somewhat similar to Wessex but with some key advantages. You're not (or barely) harassed by the Pirates, your enemy is a 1 star faction that will be attacked by them, and you're in good terms with the kingdoms in the North while not being at odds with any continental Europe faction (unlike Wessex). Take down Gwynedd first and then focus Wessex. Once that's done, I'll suggest you go down to mainland Europe, and attack West Francia, which should fall easily with Brittany and when Middle Francia joins as well. With this you should also get a better economy and the 12 cities you need. If you were unlucky and got few, remember that on turn 25, Danish will join, and there'll be 5 new cities you can take.

☆☆☆Middle Francia - you start with the least cities of the 3 star (7 vs 8 and 9) but a solid wonder. Focus first on the north, defending against the few raiders and specially on taking Groningen. Once that's done, and place troops on the frontier with W Francia while also upgrading your cities and declare war once you're ready. He will have most of his troops on the opposite side of his territory, fighting Brittany. Send resources to Ireland when you see them struggling. E Francia should be your ally, so are the Irish . Once W Francia resigns, your objective is to contain the Vikings and then Danes when they join, so be ready for them. E Francia will also help you, but you'll have to do most of the carrying if you dont want Vikings settling around and extending the conquest duration. Focus first on the Danes as getting their cities is enough to get their surrender, then Vikings. While you're clearing Vikings, with your massive economy, befriend the strongest 2 factions in Great Britain.

☆☆Northumbria - you get raided heavily by Vikings, and having mountainous terrain all over makes everything way slower. You have to take down first Alba, while playing defensively around your capital and then your ally Mercia and Wessex (you can use the passage to take down Wessex and Gwynedd first). You're on a rough spot also when the second wave of Viking invaders are released. Help Ireland either with resources or landing and capturing it for yourself and see what's going on in continental Europe once you have control over the British Isles (counting allies). Ally the stronger two Francias (east Francia is a plus, as this resources will mostly help against Danish, but if they're weak, ignore this Francia) and sail the seas in preparation for the Danish and Viking last wave. You can avoid most of the ships if you stay on the northern-most part of the sea, allowing you to enter their territory with few opposition.

☆☆Wessex - focus first taking down the raiding Vikings and then while Mercia is fighting Gwyneed, attack them. If Caerwent is available, don't hesitate on taking it also. Take down Gwynedd and Northumbria after Mercia, keep East Anglia as an useless ally, as its neutral with everyone and will just help to take down Viking raids later on.

☆☆☆West Francia - focus first on Brittany, while holding the Viking raids at the North. Support a couple of times the Irish to take down the Vikings in their homeland. If you have Justinian, you will be the one to decide when to start war with Middle Francia, you should still do it. The other option is to land on England, but its better to focus on Middle Francia first as this way England will take the burden of the second viking wave, while Middle Francia has no enemy (yet, they'll eventually engage with East Francia) and a bigger economy, so its not good leaving them untouched. Now you can either set up for the final wave of Vikings and Danes or go for England, I recommend the former, as you can ally whoever's left in the British Isles, but you cant Danes nor Vikings.

☆West Slavs - rough start, but your economy is the best of the 1 stars. Of the 3 raiders you have sailing on your north, 2 will focus you, 1 will try to go west for WF. Focus the ones going for you and dont attack the other one. Use the tavern at the frontier to make pressure on Francia. Most of the conquest will be you fighting WF, as Middle will be declaring war on it by turn 15-20, so until then, its pretty much you alone. If Ireland is struggling hard, send them some gift, having it survive and push back the Vikings will make this Conquest's late game way easier. When you're done with East Francia, you should ally Middle or West Francia, whichever is doing better, ally the strongest faction and get ready for Danish, to take them down fast, as they're vital for also Vikings to achieve some success.

Invaders

Vikings - present since the start. Since the first turn, they'll start harassing all factions and try to establish wherever, with them already having a strong foothold on Ireland and a weak one between Middle and West Francia. All of their spawned units will be having Viking Longboats, which makes them slightly faster and better than normal transports on the sea. For some odd reason, the most expensive gift gets you +10 relations with them, but its still offset by the hardcoded enmity of the Vikings towards every faction, making you lose 15-20 relation passively with them every turn, so pointless to try. Between turn 12-15, 12x3 raiders with 3 generals with high morale will spawn on the North Sea, and will do a second attempt at bullying factions and establishing themselves. When Denmark joins, 2 small cities in Sweden and a bunch of more Viking raiders will join as well. All of their troops must be defeated for them to resign.

Kingdom of Denmark - joins in round 20 along with some more Vikings in Denmark. Most will sail west, fewer will move south. Can't be befriended. They do have a capital and when their cities are all captured, they'll resign. You can also bribe them once you capture their capital.Resolution (titles) achievements

Resolution (titles) achievements

Western Roman Empire - capture 20 cities, occupy London, Cologne, Exeter, Tamworth, York, Paris, Strasbourg, Rennes, defeat West Francia - recommended Brittany, others K. of Gwyneth (this is a hard achievement, specially due to Strasbourg and Cologne, which belong to Middle Francia but are very close to East Francia, meaning you might have to declare war on both. Gwyneth is even harder as you start weaker and you also have to take down Brittany).

Celtic Kingdoms - capture 25 cities, reach feudal age, occupy Paris, Rennes, Boulogne, Caernarfon, Dublin, Scone, London, York - recommended Gaels, (Brittany) others K. of Gwyneth and K. of Alba

North Sea Empire - capture 20 cities, reach feudal age, occupy Winchester, Tamworth, Rendlesham, York, Scone, Groningen, Hedeby, Lund - recommended K. of Wessex, K. of Mercia, others K. of Northumbria, K. of East Anglia, K. of Alba, Gaels

Germanic Empire - capture 20 cities, capital city: Frankfurt, occupy Strasbourg, Bavay, Utrecht, Cologne, Groningen, Hedeby, Hamburg, Brandenburg - recommended East Francia, (Middle Francia, West Francia) others K. of East Anglia, K. of Wessex, K. of Mercia, K. of Northumbria

British Empire - capture 20 cities, defeat Vikings, occupy Winchester, Caernarfon, Tamworth, Rendlesham, York, Scone, Dublin, Cashel - recommended K. of Wessex, K. of Mercia, others K. of Northumbria, K. of East Anglia, K. of Alba, Gaels, K. of Gwyneth, Duchy of Brittany

Frankish Empire - capture 20 cities, capital city Cologne, occupy Orleans, Paris, Boulogne, Groningen, Hamburg, Erfurt, Mainz, Strasbourg - recommended East Francia, (Middle Francia, West Francia) (basically conquer the other 2 Francia as any of them, focus first on your main enemy Brittany/Slavs and then go for one Francia at a time. If you're middle Francia, attack one Francia from the start, as 2vs1 situation should help out, East should be slightly easier)

Slavic Empire - capture 20 cities, defeat Middle and East Francia, occupy Poznan, Erfurt, Frakfurt, Cologne, Groningen, Hamburg - unique to Slavs (achieving to defeat both kingdoms mentioned will pretty much give you the other two requirements needed, beware of Danish when they spawn. For hegemony, ally West Francia, Gaels and after the two strongest remaining kingdom in Britain)

3. Rise of Byzantium - 530AD

Long conquest, with a bunch of 3 star factions and all neutral with eachother. Pirates will be pestering everyone in the Mediterranean (except for Vandals) and then two invader factions will join, one relatively soon, the last quite late, but that will be hitting hard those nearby. Byzantine Empire and Ostrogoths will be the ones that have no clear target, so they'll both be meddling with Pirates until passive frontier relations decay with some other kingdom and war is declared, so they're very easy conquests. Franks and Visigoths see way more action, having a couple of factions each opposed to them. Vandals are screwed and with little prospect of doing good or even surviving on every run.

SPOILER: Click to show

Action order: B Expedition > Vandal > Visigoth > Ostrogoth > Suebi > Vasco > Frankish > Bretons > Burgundy > Thuringia > Lombards > Gepids > B Empire > Pirate > Mauri > Avars

Factions

☆Bretons - having a tavern makes this not as bad. Your objectives is basically to survive, but as this guide is to get hegemony, we're gonna push back the French, else we will be useless and always bullied by the stronger faction. Burgundy will also join against the French on turn 5-10, so that can relieve you a bit if you're stuck. Push east, capturing also Poitiers and Bourges, but ignore the more fortified and far Toulouse, which you'll get paying them to surrender once you're done pushing east. From there onwards, go south to defeat the western Pirates and Mauri, all of this while gathering up resources. Luckily everyone is pretty neutral to you, so building relations (specially with Justinian) should be quite easy once you get a decent income (which you get from the French), and last, go east to help against the Avars. Ally with the strongest factions and you're done.

☆☆Burgundian Kingdom - the only faction to not start with a declared enemy (plus you have passage from Ostrogoths), but starts with a mediocre army and economy. Focus on the Frankish Kingdom or Visigoth, as you'll have other factions attacking along you. If you don't have Justinian, I suggest you focus first on Frankish, as else, they'll end up declaring war on you when you're with the Visigoths, making you be at war with two 3 star factions and with weakened allies against the Frankish. Then go for the other and after south, to the Mediterranean, you have to take down Mauri.

☆☆☆Byzantine Empire (15 coins) - very easy conquest; solid economy, two wonders and no real threat. Focus resources early on fending off the pirates in the south and upgrading your cities. Send some troops south to take Gortyn in Crete and most north, as you're gonna be going to be expanding at first mostly north, that is easiest. Then go on Ostrogoths when someone declares war on them (besides Pirates) and you're free after, dispatch some troops to take down Mauri (and whatever is left of Vandals). Beware the Avars later on as they will show up on your starting northern frontier.

☆☆Byzantine Expedition - I dont know why it is considered hard. Your starting big upperhand should get you deep into Vandal. Use the tavern on their territory to get your hero there and just watch out in your capital for some pirate raiding. When Mauri joins, continue against them, and when they're done, switch focus to western Pirates and then Ostrogoths, using the declare war advantage from the sea (as it doesnt work for land since 1.6)

☆☆☆Frankish Kingdom (10 coins) - you start against two 1 star factions, which both should be easy to handle with your solid economy and useful wonder. Your next objective should be take down Burgundy with the troops you used for Bretons and continue east with the troops you used against Thuringia, attacking the rear of Lombards and then Gepids.

☆Lombards - you're alone against a 2 star faction and Thuringia will be joining against you quite soon. And ofc, another objective is to capture the Ostrogoth's capital, which is very hard as Ostrogoths will be banking on a decent economy and as it lacks any solid enemies, so you'll have to wait until passive relation declines get them some enemy and then join in, else you're in for a big struggle. Mauri will be big by the time you reach them, and then switch to the opposite part of the map to fight the Avars (reserve some heroes to deploy them in your homeland when they join).

☆☆Kingdom of Gepids - the early game is very easy, as you're against a slightly weaker faction, but after that, you don't have a clear path, as going against Ostrogoths or Byzantines is unwise as they will do not have any real enemy (just fend off sometimes pirates) and they'll go very hard on you. Your best bet is continue upwards, as you need to expand and get a better economy, so attack Thuringia along the Franks and then go against the Franks (you won't be alone against this 3 star faction). Sucks to be so far from Mauri, which you have to take down yourself as Visigoths will be busy and so will Byzantines with Vandals, and when you're finishing them, soon the Avars will join on the opposite point in the map, which sucks ngl. Not a hard one per se, but a long one.

☆☆Suebian Kingdom - best 2 star economy and you're with other 2 factions to fight the Visigoths. You have a tavern near the Visigoth frontier, and you dont have to betray your ally (with Vasco you have to betray Suebi). Quite easy to reach your objectives and also to continue onwards from them. After finishing Visigoths, split your forces in two groups, the one more in the north, tasked with capturing the 3 pirate islands nearby and the southern go to North Africa to get more economy from the Vandals and Mauri. With your solid economy, you can start doing alliances and then going east, to contribute with the Huns, as being isolated in the Iberian peninsula makes you neutral with everyone else.

☆Kingdom of Thuringia - similar start to Bretons but you have two starting cities and less Frank troops to face, so the start is undoubtedly easier. Research "Envoy to the Enemy" on the first turn (there's a task to take one research, and this is by far the most handy, it will delay Lombards and its the cheapest). Don't worry about the -35% income the first few turns, you need that population to push into Franks. Send most of your starting troops to take Augsburg, then Suttgart, the ones in the north plus your tavern general should be the ones taking the harder Frankfurt. But soon Lombards will be soon wanting war too, but this faction should not pose much threat, as Gepids will be keeping most of their troops busy, so continue focusing Franks, which will also be soon attacked by Burgundy. You're free after defeating Franks, so your goal is to defeat invader factions (first Mauri and Pirates, then Avars) and ally strongest remaining factions, which you can do with the massive economy you got from the Franks.

☆☆☆Kingdom of the Ostrogoths - very easy conquest. You start neutral with everyone except Pirates, so focus them. Your objective is to take down both Byzantine factions, both of which you start with even passage. Having Justinian you can keep the relations with them, so focus on expanding. After taking down the closest cities of Cagliari and Ajaccio, go south to join against the Vandals, which will be struggling already with the Byzantines. They will ask for payment to avoid a war even with Justinian, so always decline, as they can't be kept neutral without paying. Try to take the most of them so that Byzantines don't get them. Don't worry for Byzantines as you'll remain in good terms with them (for now). Mauri should be joining soon, they're your next focus. Then go east, after 1.6 you cannot longer use passage advantage to get good positions and then declare war, however water is not considered their territory, so sail your troops near their important cities and then declare war, putting some emphasis on Cyrene, their capital. Once you're done with Byzantine Exp, Byzantine Empire. Repeat the sea invasion strategy. Byzantines should be at war with Gepids, so most of their troops should be North, making the naval attack easier on the south. If Gepids are already gone, waiting until Avars is a good thing, as it will draw Byzantine attention north. With Justinian, you should be able to maintain or even raise relation with the other factions so just befriend the remaining ones.

☆☆☆Kingdom of the Vandals - Hardest 3 stars by far. Worst 3 star economy, no wonders, and you're alone in this, with Ostrogoths and Visigothic starting negative relations with you and Byzantine Expedition only focusing you. Mauri will go mainly for you, as they'll be on your back when you're pushing back the Byzantines, and then the Pirates, which you start positive with, will decline and you also have to capture their main city. Send asap all your dispersed forces to the east to hold the Byzantines, but you're happy if you can hold the line (use the tavern close by the frontier) and also hold the city that is attacked by 3 Dromons (have archers and melee infantry). Play in the defensive against the Byzantines as you have to be ready to take down Mauri asap, once that's done, push on Byzantines and the troops you used to take down Mauri, use them against the Pirates, which should be your enemy by now. Once Byzantine Expedition is down, your target is Ostrogoths, finish Pirates and then Avars.

☆Vasco - very similar to Suebi, although understandably, as a 1 star, you start with half the cities but at least you still have a tavern. Remember its a 3v1 against Visigoths, so you won't be having much trouble, but try to take as many cities from the Visigoths as you can as they'll help a lot with population and income since early, and after that you should ally France while focusing Western Pirates and then Mauri. After this, you're free to do whatever as you're neutral with everyone, but remember Avars will be joining on the east and those must be defeated.

☆☆☆Visigothic Kingdom (8 coins) - you start on a 3v1, no wonder but a good base. Play defensive on pirates and go aggressive on the peninsula, the earlier you can defeat them the better, as they'll be only focusing you. Unfortunately, both have their capital as the likely last city you'll conquer, so the morale advantage and option to pay for surrender are not available. Once you're done with them, remember you have to take down France, which who you'll still be neutral, but as they will be still fighting for a while, focus on your current enemies while keep on growing, so focus both Western Pirates and Mauri, those troops should then continue east, either through north Africa or through the Mediterranean, to be there for the Avars, while your production and new army should be focusing France, as your objective is to take Paris. You have a solid economy to bribe the factions that are doing better to join your side.

Invaders

Pirates - present since the start. They are against all Mediterranean countries except Vandal Kingdom and the other 2 invader factions. They control 4 islands and all troops have to be defeated to defeat this faction. They'll be annoying everyone with their caravels, but rarely will be capturing something on mainland, but as they can't be befriended, they must be taken down.

Mauri - appearing to the south-west of the Vandal Kingdom. They're not strong, but they'll show up in turn 10 when the Vandals and Byzantine Expedition have been fighting eachother hard, so they'll have an easy time and even conquer some territory. After capturing until Carthage, and they'll continue that path into southern France and Italy instead of continuing east or north.

Avars - they'll show up on top of the Byzantine Empire, and they'll spawn with many resources and many troops, mainly horse archers. Most of these troops will go west, causing havoc wherever they pass through. They show up at turn 25-30, with a good size of land and a bunch of cities that must be taken, as well as many resources.

Resolution (titles) achievements

Roman Empire - capture 40 cities, capital city Rome, occupy Paris, Lyon, Barcelona, Milan, Ravenna, Syracuse, Carthage, Athens, Budapest, Augsburg, Constantinople - recommended Byzantine Empire, K. of the Ostrogoths, Frankish Kingdom, (Visigothic Kingdom), others -literally every other faction-. The hardest and most available achievement, literally possible to do with anyone, but the headstart you get with the stronger factions does really help here. You need to move the capital always, even as Ostrogoths, but y, going for this achievement means fighting all the 3 star factions, so if you're going for this, consider the 1 and 2 star factions your most reliable allies.

Gothic Empire - capture 35 cities, reach feudal age, occupy Barcelona, Ravenna, Rome, Milan, Lyon, Bordeaux, Toledo, Nova Carthage - recommended K. of the Ostrogoths, runner up Viisgothic Kingdom others Suebian Kingdom, K. of Gepids

Germanic Empire - capture 35 cities, capital city Cologne, occupy Erfurt, Vienna, Budapest, Ravenna, Lyon, Paris, Barcelona, Braga - recommended Frankish Kingdom, runner up K. of the Ostrogoths, others Suebian Kingdom, K. of Thuringia, K. of Gepids, Lombards, Burgundian Kingdom, Visigothic Kingdom, Frankish Kingdom

Frankish Empire - capture 35 cities, capital city Paris, occupy Rennes, Bordeaux, Barcelona, Lyon, Ravenna, Vienna, Erfurt, Cologne - recommended Frankish Kingdom, runner up Burgundian Kingdom, others K. of Thuringia

Mediterranean Empire - capture 35 cities, reach feudal age, capture Rome, Carthage, Syracuse, Cagliari, Marseilles, Barcelona, Malaga, Caesarea, Palma - recommended Suebian Kingdom, runner up Vasco, K. of the Vandals others Bretons

Celtic Empire - capture 35 cities, reach feudal age, occupy Paris, Rennes, Bordeaux, Lyon, Milan, Salona, Budapest, Philippopolis - recommended Suebian Kingdom, other Bretons, Vasco

4. Crusader States - 1184AD

Its a very big map, with a lot of water on the east and north, a big empty dessert in the south and two clear sides, Christians and Muslims. However, starting from turn ~15, many Muslim factions will be fighting eachother due them sharing borders and passive relation decay. There will be 2 Christian invaders, 1 Muslim and 1 that will not be attached to a religious side (Cumans), luckily you can befriend invaders if they're from your religion, and also Cumans. As many Christians will be having to sail, they're mostly using Frigates, which gives them a combat bonus when fighting on sea. Byzantines will occasionally also have some Dromons when sailing. Will be adding C or M depending on if its Christian or Muslim for this conquest, as this one is mostly 2 religion war with the factions of each religion fighting the ones from the other. Having Justinian is even more important for this conquest, as it'll avoid having the whole of the other religion drop relations passively with you, difficulty is consiering you have one of them, if you don't, then raise 1 difficulty level for most of these factions.

I strongly suggest you do this conquest with a 1 star (Kingdom of Cicilia is the easiest), the 1 star hegemony achievement item reward is the only item reward really worth something.

SPOILER: Click to show

Action order: Byzantines > Rum > Cilicia > Beylik > Georgia > Eldiguzids > Zengid > Abbasid > Tripoli > Jerusalem > Ayyubid > England > HRE > France > Seljuk > Cumans

Factions

☆☆☆Abbasid Dynasty - M - very easy, and boring too as you're a 3 star that is surrounded by allies and with no target nearby. You will have early game no impact on how the game goes, doesn't matter how, and that's very bad to say of a 3 star faction. You're not even at odds with the Christian Kingdoms, so you're free to do as you please. Win through diplomacy as you get relation bonus with literally everyone. This faction feels like it was forgot when they were making the Conquest, hopefully will receive some tweaking on a later patch, but as of now, it is very easy, specially if you have Justinian. Just focus on having your troops in the Black Sea to take down HRE, and then near Greece, to do the same on French. Seljuk and Cumans can be befriended if they show up, but they shouldn't.

☆☆☆Ayyubid Dynasty - M - strongest faction of this conquest by far, feels like a 4 stars on this scenario. Starts with the most cities, 3 wonders and no real threat nearby. Focus on taking down fast Jerusalem and Tripoli and then march north. The troops you had in the north part of Africa, send them to Crete as the English Expedition will be landing on your land, but that expedition will disappear as soon as you conquer their single city. If you don't have Justinian, they'll declare war on you between turn 5 and 10, but if you do, you can ignore them (they'll stay spawning troops in their isle and around it, but without sending them anywhere as they have no foe), or declare war on them once you have 3-4 troops around their isle and this war declaration will make them leave their island to attack you, making the city capture possible.

☆☆Anatolian Beyliks - C - the early is easy, but you're heavily hindered by your weak eco, and that you're at least 5 turns away at least into conquering any city. Once you're done with Cicilia, take down Antioch if its still alive. Byzantines are coded to be your foe, so help Rum against them. If you have Justinian, worry not about Georgia, else they'll be soon declaring war on you, which will be nasty, as your main army is with the Byzantines, but still feasible if you remain on the defensive while getting a better economy from the Byzantines, as Eldiguzids will keep on pressuring Georgia. HRE and France will join while you're fighting the Byzantines, making progress be harder for a while, and you're the one that should finish them.

☆☆☆Byzantine Empire (15 coins) - C - quite easy, your main focus is Rum and then Beylik. You start with 13 cities but no wonders. Your foe's capital is very close to your frontier, but sadly you dont have any near tavern, so you should take it with normal troops with a couple of your generals, but instead on their back, on Trabzon, where its literally on the frontier and it can do way more damage. Once you're done with the Rum, Beilyks should be your next focus, and after consider if to continue on Rum or play the bribe game from this onwards thanks to your solid economy.

☆County of Tripoli - C - very hard, probably the hardest faction for this conquest. You start with just one city and barely any economy, a weak army and worst of all, no village/castle to summon any hero. Your top priority is to take Damascus so you can get a strong hero spawned. From this onwards, its slightly easier, but its hard facing the Ayyubid is tough, but at least you're on the Edge of their long kingdom, and Jerusalem will take most of the focus. If you don't have Justinian, Zengids will be wanting to declare war on you as well, which sucks as normally you will take the most time with this faction to take the Ayyubid down. Once you win against both, you're free to do whatever for hegemony. If you just go for hegemony, capturing Damascus and playing defensively should be enough though.

☆☆Eldiguzids Dynasty - M - decent economy and positioning. Your clear target is Georgia, which is a decent rival, but between turn 5-10, Beylik of Anatolian will be declaring war on your foe making it easier. After defeating Georgia, sail west, as your main focus now should be destroying HRE and France when they join. You should have a solid economy to befriend the rest.

☆England Expedition (8 coins) - C - starts with a single city far from everyone, no village/castle, and being neutral/passage with everyone as well, so you don't have a clear enemy. You're meant to support the Jerusalem kingdom and Antioch against the Ayyubid but its not a good place to land. You start far from everyone, , but instead of going east, go south, and declare war on Ayyubid when you're ready to land, you should focus on the same turn on both Tubrug and Matruh, then continue east. Having these cities will help you not be population capped while also damaging the Ayyubid. Matruh is really important as it will have your first village, allowing you to get out your strongest hero. Whenever some troop from Richard dies, just replace them with charge cavalry, will perform better and you'll keep him alive, as his active skill is quite useful. Once you get the Ayyubid down, you're free to do what you wish, as everyone will be neutral. My suggestion is to go east, either invading Zengid or through the Desert and either ask for passage or invade the Abbasid, as you'll need to go cross their faction to face the Seljuks. Ally after with the Cumans if they join. Your solid economy should allow you to ally the leading factions, and you should be already allied with the French and HRE when they join.

☆Kingdom of Cilicia - C - easiest 1 star, but mostly because the other three 1 stars are quite bad, as you start with the strongest army and double the cities compared to the other 1 star factions, and your main enemy (Beylik) is the least dangerous. Having Justinian is very important though as this will avoid Rum declaring war on you while you're on the east. Declare war also on Zengid as if not, its impossible to go east without stepping on neutral ground, and much better fighting Zengid with Antioch than Rum alone. Luckily Aleppo is very close to the frontier, and starts already damaged. With Zengid done, continue to the Beyliks and then you're free.

☆☆☆Kingdom of Georgia (10 coins) - C - you'll be doing tons of fighting with the weakest 3 star faction. First with the Eldiguzids, focusing first their capital, as it will severely hamper their economy, when they're done, then go for Beylik. Then focus on whichever Muslim nation (I suggest Rum or Zengid, and avoid Abbasid, as their extended isolation makes them have a large army, and many more resources, and that you'll be facing that alone). Be ready to take down Seljuk Empire when they join and you're pretty much done.

☆☆Kingdom of Jerusalem - C - hard start, you're surrounded by a strong faction and although you're not alone in this (Tripoli and later English), its not a big help. Play defensively around your capital at the start the first few turns, as its easier to fight off in cities when outnumbered and then push towards Ayyubid's capital. English will land and slightly help you, but tbh it comes late and its not much help. Once the Ayyubid are done, push north and take down the Zengid, then you're pretty much free to do whatever, as everyone else will be neutral or kinda ally, making the late game easier (and thus why this is yellow and not red).

☆Principality of Antioch - C - crap army, crap economy, no allies against Zengid, who will put a hard fight. The only good things are that you start with a tavern and your foe's capital is very close to you and already damaged. You can take it in turn 2, which helps a lot on this conflict. After they're done, if you have Justinian you can just go against the Ayyubid (you'll gain the most economy absorbing them, and they're the only faction who with Justinian and both relation policies, you will not gain relation, making it very expensive to befriend them. Fighting Ayyubid after the earlier rounds is easier as you're in a better position and have allies who will be fighting them already. If you don't have Justinian, its way harder. Rum, Beylik and Ayyubid will be declaring war on you sooner or later, so you'll have to focus both north and south, which makes it quite harder.

☆☆Sultanate of Rum - M - go hard on Byzantines, you must defeat them before . Ignore Sicily and keep pressuring towards Constantinople, and once captured, start looking to get them surrendered. It helps a lot if you can have them dead before the HRE and later, France joins. Without Justinian, Cilicia will declare war on you while you're fighting the Byzantines, but they won't be annoying much as Beylik will keep them busy.

☆☆Zengid Dynasty - M - this is similar to playing as Principality of Antioch but starting on a stronger position but also having to take down Christian states. Focus on Antioch first and then go south, attacking both Ayyubids, Tripoli and Jerusalem. Then you're free to do whatever, but I suggest you push west as the French and Germans factions will not ally to you, so you have to take them down.

Invaders

Holy Roman Empire Crusaders - C - they start in Bulgaria, they will be allied to Christian factions and very hostile to Muslim ones. It will appear on turn 13-15 if Jerusalem fell, with only two cities, but with a large and strong (good tier) army, that will sail the Black Sea to mostly support the Byzantines against the Rum and push onwards Middle East. All troops must be defeated and their cities captured for them to surrender.

France Crusaders - C - they start in Greece at turn ~20 only if HRE Crusaders spawned and Christians are doing poorly, with relations identical to HREC, in good terms with Christian factions and -80 to Muslim ones. They start with 2 cities, a +1 technology wonder and a huge army with high tier and high level (relatively, as all troops will be lvl3 and generals lvl4, recruited ones after just 2, like the rest of factions) troops. They will head to attack the Ayyubid, on most of their coastline. All troops must be defeated and their cities captured for them to surrender.

Seljuk Empire - M - they start to the east of the Abbasid Caliphate, with 5 cities, one being the capital, they'll be against Christian factions and friendly to Muslim ones. They will only show immediately when a Muslim faction is fully defeated. Them joining will also trigger some extra resentment from Muslim to Christian factions, making it harder for alliances between opposing religions be harder. They will be sending troops the map to support against Christians, passing through Muslim territories. If you capture their capital, you can pay them to surrender, else capturing all their cities will work as well.

Cumans-Kipchaks - they start to the north of the Kingdom of Georgia. They will always show up on round 35, so if you can finish before this round, you'll skip their appearance. They're not very strong but they're surely a nuisance to deal with, for the spot they show up and that its a very mountainous region. Luckily they can be befriended so do such to skip having to fight them.

Resolution (titles) achievements

Roman Empire - capture 35 cities, reach feudal age, occupy Constantinople, Nicomedia, Konya, Sinop, Trabzon, Tarsus, Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria - recommended Byzantine Empire, runner up Sultanate of Rum (no other Christian kingdom as runner up as you also have to capture Constantinople, meaning declaring war on strongest 3 star Christian faction and they're all v far from it), others Kingdom of Cicilia, Principality of Antioch, County of Tripoli, English Expedition, Kingdom of Georgia

Eastern Latin Empire - capture 35 cities, capital city Jerusalem, occupy Konya, Tarsus, Nicosia, Cairo, Mosul, Antioch, Damascus, Aleppo, Tripoli - recommended Kingdom of Jerusalem, runner up Byzantine Empire, others Principality of Antioch, Count of Tripoli, English Expedition

Turkish Empire - capture 35 cities, defeat Byzantine Empire, occupy Hamadan, Konya, Antioch, Jerusalem, Damascus, Aleppo, Erzurum, Tabriz, Baghdad - recommended Zengid Dynasty, Sultanate of Rum, others Eldiguzids Dynasty, Anatolian Beyliks (hard part is going after Byzantines and Jerusalem at once, the latter will likely be captured by Ayyubid, meaning you have to face both strongest faction of the conquest)

East Empire - capture 35 cities, capital city Jerusalem, occupy Konya, Tarsus, Nicosia, Cairo, Jerusalem, Aleppo, Mosul, Antioch, Tripoli - recommended Ayyubid Dynasty, runner up Zengid Dynasty, others Eldiguzids Dynasty, Anatolian Beyliks, Abbasid Dynasty

Arab Empire - capture 35 cities, capital city Damascus, occupy Basra, Kufa, Baghdad, Mosul, Erzurum, Aleppo, Tarsus, Jerusalem, Cairo - recommended Ayyubid Dynasty, other Abbasid Dynasty

Black Sea Empire - capture 35 cities, reach feudal age, occupy Constantinople, Sinop, Trabzon, Pitsunda, Tbilisi, Baki, Tabriz, Konya, Erzurut - recommended Kingdom of Georgia, runner up Kingdom of Cilicia (both suck mainly as you have to capture Constantinople while being a Christian kingdom)

5. Century of Iron - 939AD

Should come in the next patch, coming on July. It will surely have central Europe, and in my opinion the map below is a good bet on how its gonna be. It also uses the frontiers that kingdom had on that year too. I will remove this picture and add the final conquest scenario when it is added.

~~Link if you want to see it better, as its a big picture, I noticed its not easy to see it all here: i.imgur.com/3ZpxJRh.jpg~~

3 patches after it was announced, its finally here! 38 factions, 2 starting invaders and 4-5 joining later on.

SPOILER: Click to show

Action Order: Gaels > Vikings > K. of England > K. of Gwyneth > K. of Alba > K. of Leon > K. of Pamplona > County of Barcelonabo > Caliphate of Cordoba > Idrisid Dynasty > Pirate > Duchy of Brittany > West Francia > Duchy of Normandy > County of Paris > DuKe of Aquitaine > County of Toulouse > Danes > East Francia > Duchy of Lotharingia > Duchy of Franconia > Marca Geronis > Duchy of Bavaria > Duchy of Bohemia > Poles > Kingdom of Arles > Kingdom of Italy > Papal States > Duchy of Benevento > Republic of Venice > Kingdom of Croatia > Principality of Serbia > Bulgarian Empire > Byzantine Empire > Magyarok > Pechenegs > K. of Iberia > K. of Armenia > Hamdani Dynasty > Abbasid dynasty > Buyid Dynasty > Fatimid Dynasty > Rurik Dynasty

Factions

☆☆☆Abbasid dynasty -

☆☆☆Bulgarian Empire (15 coins) -

☆☆☆Byzantine Empire -

☆☆☆Caliphate of Cordoba (15 coins) -

☆County of Barcelonabo -

☆County of Paris (8 coins) -

☆County of Toulouse -

☆Danes -

☆Duke of Aquitaine -

☆☆Duchy of Bavaria -

☆Duchy of Benevento -

☆☆Duchy of Bohemia -

☆Duchy of Brittany -

☆☆Duchy of Franconia -

☆Duchy of Lotharingia -

☆Duchy of Normandy -

☆☆East Francia (10 coins) -

☆Gaels -

☆☆☆Hamdani Dynasty -

☆☆Idrisid Dynasty -

☆Kingdom of Alba -

☆☆Kingdom of Arles -

☆Kingdom of Armenia -

☆Kingdom of Croatia -

☆☆Kingdom of England (10 coins) -

☆Kingdom of Gwyneth -

☆Kingdom of Iberia (8 coins) -

☆☆Kingdom of Italy -

☆☆Kingdom of Leon -

☆Kingdom of Pamplona -

☆☆Magyarok (10 coins) -

☆Marca Geronis -

☆☆☆Pechenegs -

☆☆Poles -

☆Principality of Serbia -

☆Republic of Venice -

☆Vikings -

☆☆West Francia -

Special interactions
----Declaring war on either East Francia or Marca Geronis will get the other to declare war on you.
----Papal state works like in other conquest. Being at war with them means that all Christian factions will declare war on you. If you befriend them, you can bribe for them to declare war on a faction you're at war with, and all Christendom will follow suit. Befriending them is more expensive than usual too.

Invaders

Pirates - present since the start, and much stronger than in previous appearances. Starting with 4 cities (Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Sicily and Crete), they will push into Byzantine territory quite early, and dominate the Mediterranean until a few more factions declare war on them. They will start being against Byzantine Empire and County of Barcelona, soon followed by Kingdom of Arles and Duchy of Benevento, and a few turns later by most of the Mediterranean coast factions: Rep. of Venice, Abbasid, County of Toulouse and Caliphate of Cordoba few other. If you're not one of these, you can actually befriend them unlike on other conquests.

Papal States - present since the start. Attacking this faction will get all Christian kingdoms to get at odds with you. When befriended, you can pay them to declare war against other factions, and all Christendom will declare war on those factions. However, they will always be neutral with other factions. They have to be befriended or taken down, and it is far easier going the first path.

Buyid Dynasty - will show up in the south-east of the Hamdani Dynasty quite early, turn 6. They will be mostly focusing both Muslim states (which should still be at peace with everyone else when they join, thus just pulling many troops from both Muslim kingdoms (Hmandani and Abbasid) into the edge of the map, making it an ideal opportunity to be attacked. They have a capital on their Eastern-most territory (meaning making them surrender is an option, but harder than with other factions). They will perish on their own unless you act on that area.

Fatimid Dynasty - will show up where and with a similar dimension to the Kingdom of the Vandals in Conquest n3. They show up on turn 11-12 in the northern part of Africa, between Abbasid's southern part and the Idrisid Dynasty. They have a capital and its a coastal one, meaning you can declare war on them and make them surrender on that same turn if you get a good set-up.

Holy Roman Empire - not really an invader faction, but a trigger. Needs more testing to see repercussions.

Rurik Dynasty - appearing at the north of Bulgarian Empire and Pechenegs. They will show up on turn 25 or if Byzantine Empire is weak enough, whichever happens first. They spawn having passage with Byzantine Empire and at war with Bulgarian Empire. They are relatively weak, starting with okeish troops but being only a 2 city faction. They can be bribed to be befriended.

Resolution (titles) achievements

The Celtic Kingdoms -
North Sea Empire -
Germanic Reich -
Roman Empire -
Arab Empire -
Frankish Empire -
Slavic Empire -
Carpathian Empire -
Turkish Empire -
Black Sea Empire -
East Empire -

6. Hundred Years War - 1427 AD

This conquest came out of nowhere, as it was completely unannounced. It is a large map based on Western and Central Europe. Here I will use "you're free" when you go for hegemony after there's no clear path to take, as you'll be neutral with everyone and scenarios varies from game to game. Normally side with the stronger factions and join against the weaker ones, trying to also grow from them.

SPOILER: Click to show

Action order: Kingdom of Aislech > Lordship of Ireland > Kingdom of England > Kingdom of Scotland > Kingdom of France > Duchy of Brittany > Kingdom of Burgundy > Kalmar Union > HRE > Kingdom of Bohemia > Duchy of Austria > Duchy of Bavaria > State of the Teutonic Order > Kingdom of Poland > Duchy of Savoy > Duchy of Milan > Republic of Genoa > Kingdom of Naples > Kingdom of Portugal > Crown of Castile > Crown of Aragon > Papal States > Peasants' Revolt Army > Rebels of HRE

Factions

☆☆☆Crown of Aragon - your objectives are Naples and Castile. Naples should be your first target, as it will remain neutral with everyone, but Castile is bound to war with Portugal and Granada, so its better to join against them when distracted. Troops around Cagliari and Palermo should go for Naples, they all have Frigates, but only Alfonso has a lvl 2 one, which gives rampant bonus. Give one of the squads an extra troop, a general and before attacking Naples city, a war with rampant dmg (most lvl 2 ships do, Manila Galion solid choice). Declare war when Alfonso, and your general are around Naples (on sea) and a third troop behind. 4 attacks should be enough to take down the city, and then that third guy captures. With this foothold, keep on expanding here. Your tavern General should deploy on Barcelona's tavern for now (to give more eco bonus with administration) but move him to Castile frontier when you see war with Granada and Portugal started. Declare war on Castile which should be easy between the three. Granada should be focused after, then you're free.

☆☆☆Crown of Castile (15 coins) - super easy, both objectives and hegemony. Your troops above Toledo should go east, to Aragon's frontier. The rest south, to focus on Granada, which you also have a tavern close (deploy hero). When Granada is done, then set sail and place 2 ships near Barcelona, Tortosa and Valencia. When you declare war, you should take or at least heavily damage Pamplona and the three coastal cities. When you have mainland all conquered, pay for Aragon to surrender. With this, you will have finished objectives. France starts as a kind of ally, so if Britain is doing poorly by now, support Ailech and declare war on them, else sail to Genoa and push from here. You're free pretty much upon completing objectives, with a solid economy and nothing against you. Ignore Portugal as its not worth invading, as your troops will be too far from anything if you do so, and you're alone against a Portugal that has been banking resources for many turns.

☆Duchy of Austria (8 coins) - very similar to Bavaria, but arguably harder, as you're quite isolated. You have two approaches: 1. Focus Rebels; your first conquers should be Laibach and then Trent, then go through Bavaria's territory (you're ally) and start fighting Rebels higher up. 2. Focus Rebel's ally: Bohemia. Bohemia will have its backyard quite easy to penetrate through. However, if you conquer Bohemia, HRE will likely not fall, and thus Hungarians will not show up. I think its better to do 1, as this way you can expand more on Rebels while also then trying to take advantage of Bohemia once they are crushed by Hungarians. Expand north and you're free after.

☆Duchy of Bavaria - identical objectives as Austria (its even your ally), but starting weaker and closer to action. Your hardest objective task is the 15 cities. Like with Austria, you have two approaches. In both, avoid going west on your first two turns, as this way, the many Rebels there will go north against HRE and will make it much easier for you (and may also capture cities from HRE, which you retake and claim for you). 1. You can either go South and ideally you can grab both Trent and Laibach, but Austria will make the latter a coin-flip. You must focus West now, chasing rebels mostly if they own the city, else we allow them to pillage and capture cities peacefully. 2. You can go against Bohemia, Prague has its capital quite close to you. Avoid declaring war on the first two turns (Bohemia will leave its borders, making it easier for you), use them to get your troops to the frontier, and then declare war and charge in.

☆Duchy of Brittany - although your objectives seem very easy, to reach Castle Age you need to have five lvl 3 cities, meaning you can't just sit like Portugal and win, but you have to do stuff. You're already ally with France, so your clear free state is England. If you can grab the 4 English cities to your east, you win. England acts first than France, so dont declare war first turn and those Longbowmen will move to attack the French Pikemen, making the attack and capture easier. Feel free to cross the straight after if you go for Hegemony and finish England, then Bavaria who will be struggling alone against France. You're free after.

☆Duchy of Milan - you're against both republics, however you start with them neutral and with passage (passage really?). Capturing 10 cities really delays your objectives completion, as with Venice, Savoy, Genoa and yourself you're still short, you need either Naples Kingdom or to go upwards on HRE territory. So precisely because of this, we will start declaring war on HRE Rebels, leaving both republics to fight on the meantime. Your main aim should be Trent, which is crucial to attack Venice, which Zurich, Stuttgart and Nancy being less important.

☆Duchy of Savoy - you're weak, but so are you foes, and their capitals are very easy to reach. Declare war on Milan first, as it has no opponent, and leave Genoa for later, as it will be sending its troops against Venice. Aim for the capital, and once you have it, push down, and declare war on Genoa, which you can now besiege from 2 sides. Take Ajaccio and Florence to win by objectives, for hegemony, you're free. You can either go against France or Burgundy, depending on who is doing worse when you're done with Genoa.

☆Emirate of Granada - holy smokes, you're in for trouble. You're weak, you face a strong 3 stars on your own (at least for a while) and the other two Iberian neighbours dont like you much either. You also have a penalty when giving gifts with most of the Mediterranean Empire claimants. The only good thing you have is that although you're kinda bound to fight Castile and then Aragon, they start neutral to you, this will allow for some valuable preparation time and the first strike. Set sail for Nova Carthage with initial General and Horse Archers (ideally with Cid or Timur), deploy general that will go for Cordoba first. When relations get under -40, you should be declaring war, else they will declare on you or ask for bribe, which you shouldn't give. Muhammad has to take down Nova Carthage hp and your general will take it, and you give him an extra troop here, he will push to Quinca and Toledo after. Your tavern general will go for Cordoba and Toledo, then keep going up, ignoring Cadiz. When you conquer most of Castile, Aragon should already be busy with Naples. If you have Justinian you will be still neutral with them, so just declare war when troops on frontier, else ignore Cadiz and Santiago, pay for surrender and focus on Aragon. Note: This is the only faction that can achieve Arab Empire title though.

☆☆☆Holy Roman Empire - you're against Bohemia and the stronger part of the Rebels. Play defensive against rebels and focus on Prague, as it is close to your frontier, the morale boost of capturing their capital will be very useful and Bohemia performance will be severely hindered. Deploy General on Brandenburg and play defensive on Melissen, wait for your General to stomp Lusatia and then reach Prague, as it'll make it all easier. Beware the Hussite Wagons, and make infantry/cavalry to clear them. Once Bohemia is done, go on the offensive against Rebels. Austria and Bavaria should be clearing the ones south, so focus mostly on the rest. You'll finish once objectives when you clear them, but this should be Hegemony run with maybe also title achievement, as you're on a very strong and centric position. Kalmar will slowly turn against you, even with Justinian, so as they dont have any opponent and they are in the northern-most part, its not worth fighting them, so gifting them and then pay for passage status or alliance will stop this relation drop and you can focus elsewhere.

☆☆Kalmar Union (10 coins) - you start kinda isolated, with no clear opponent and with a bad economy for being a 2 stars. Your objectives are HRE and England. Declaring war on the latter will also bring Ireland against you, so you should support Ailech to secure a victory in Ireland. Two approaches: 1. Go for England first. Use your neutrality to get close to London and York, and when ready, declare war and capture. Keep on focusing England, landing also on continental Europe. HRE might even fall without you attacking, so this is the faster approach. 2. Prepare to fight the Rebels

☆Kingdom of Ailech - your focus is clear your homeland and then make the English pay for the future famine they'll cause in your country. Play defensive the first turn, as it will make James with his defense infantry leave the capital, but not against you, he will even leave the island to fight the Rebels, which is great for us. I could reproduce this every time. If your deployed General has 11 mobility, you can afford to attack Carrickfergus on the second turn with it, else move him towards Dublin. Scotland will support you a bit, but don't rely on them as they will be arriving kinda late and they just use transport ships. Once you clear the island, go for England. Ask for passage on Peasants (with your starting +30 relations, you dont have to gift them, which is the most expensive) and then land again but now on France, to clear the English leftovers. You're free after.

☆☆Kingdom of Bohemia - why is this two colors? Well, blue for achievements, as they're very easy to do. However, upon doing your objectives or being close to, Hungary will join, and it will go fully against you, which makes it much harder than many other countries, as these knights are quite strong and your forces will be on the opposite side, finishing HRE. Once you finish objectives, you should just exit than go for hegemony, because what's coming next is not pretty. If you still want hegemony, play it defensively, recruiting a bunch of defense infantry and keeping them in cities and then push back into Hungary. You're free after.

☆Kingdom of Burgundy - best single star economy. Your direct foe is France, with some British help. Sadly, you need to capture Paris, which starts in your English ally' hands. Push downwards to Lyon and then Marseilles and Montpellier while avoid supporting England around Paris. Both of your troops in Calais should remain in English territory (luckily you have passage) near Paris, ready to take the city for yourself if France takes it. If Paris fails to be taken by the French (which is likely if you go offensive) you will have to declare war on your ally, which will also turn Ireland against you. This should not matter you if going for objectives, however, if you intend to go for Hegemony, you can befriend England after capturing Paris (or not), gifting the English as Burgundy has a relation bonus. Beware the Joan of Arc event and the morale raise on turn 15. If you defeat France before those turns, Joan dialogues will both still show, but nothing will happen.

☆☆☆Kingdom of England - Solid economy and 3 wonders, but 3 direct opponents. You can have two approaches. 1. Focus first on France. France is more dangerous if it gets ahead, but it will also be slowed down by Burgundy, however, if you choose to play defensive on England and focus on finishing France you may even do it before the special events occur, and this will also buy time for Peasants and Scotland to declare war on each other. Do not forget about Lordship of Ireland, which you can support financially to ensure it wins in Ireland, which is quite beneficial. Once you're finished clearing the French, sweep your homeland. 2. Focus first on your homeland. While this approach will leave Burgundy kinda alone on the offense, it will allow you to grab yourself a capital. The easiest way to take down Scotland is attacking its capital through sea, as you skip having to go through mountainous terrain and many other troops that will block you. Either militarily or economically help Ireland also win, which will skip you having to clear the island of Ailechs. When you capture Perch, you can focus on continental Europe. Then you're free.

☆☆☆Kingdom of France - you're alone against two factions, but you're far stronger than Burgundy and England will be half-focused on their homeland first. Focus Burgundy's capital first, which is quite close to your frontier, while playing mostly defensive on your other fronts, and when you take it, the morale boost will surely help. Have a look at Ailech, as you want them to win in Ireland, support a couple of times to guarantee their victory. Meanwhile, push upwards, to clear the British foothold in the mainland. Finish Burgundy and the British left overs in the south, and then invade England, just like Napoleon dreamt. You're free after, and in a good spot for title/hegemony.

☆☆Kingdom of Naples - you're very weak for a two stars, your main rival is a much stronger faction, many sea between you two, so potential naval fights. But why is this yellow and not red? Simply because you start neutral with them. This allows you to safely set sail and prepare an attack fleet for Barcelona, Parlermo and Cagliari, which all are coastal cities, granting you a big upper hand with a solid first surprise blow. Your objective is just finish Aragon, which shouldn't be hard as it will also be fighting Castile. After this, you're free, but I suggest continuing with Castile and then go north. Granada and Portugal will be neutral with you, and will be also fighting each other.

☆☆Kingdom of Poland - focus first on your main opponent, the Teutonic Order, which should be easy. Have a look at HRE, if by this time they're struggling, Hungary will soon join, which you can use against Bohemia. If they're resisting, declare war on them and then again, against Bohemia once Hungary joins. Your harder objective is to get 15 cities, then you're on your own. Expand against Rebels which should be somewhat easy and then, either Bavaria, Austria or Hungary itself. You're free now.

☆☆Kingdom of Portugal - objectives blue, hegemony Green. So although your economy is quite crap for a 2 star faction, achieving objectives is super easy, and you're neutral with everyone. By staying neutral (instead of declaring war on Castile like IA will do), you will enable Castile to easily take on Granada, then just skip turns until turn 15. So this Conquest is literally research diplomacy policies and skip turns, Granada should die before turn 15 and Castile declares war on you (or Justinian, no war declaration will ever come). If you want to do Hegemony, then set sail, prepare troops around Santiago and Cadiz in sea, and on your frontier near Badajoz. When Castile starts war with Granada, wait one extra turn (for most of its troops to go south) and then declare war, aiming to capture those 3 cities on that same turn. Keep on pushing after until you reach Aragon, which you can decide to keep neutral or fight (if its the latter, which I suggest, only do so if it started war with Naples already). Take continental holdings of Aragon and Surrender the rest, which is far easier than sailing to capture them. Then you're free. PORTUGALCYKABLYAT

☆Kingdom of Scotland - Well, you're isolated, but you should start moving ASAP, as you must not let Ailech take Dublin nor Peasants take London. The two troops you start with, sail them east, their aim is to take London. Your tavern general should go to Dublin along with a single scout Cavalry. Besiege both cities from sea, but only finish them if you can capture them after, as you dont want to declare war on allies as a weak faction earlier on. Peasants will end up against you unless you have Justinian, research both diplomacy policies AND you get them on Passage instead of neutral early on (passage gives +2 relation every turn, which is enough to keep Peasants at 0 loss/gain). Once you clear the English in Britain, either declare war on Peasants if you dont plan on befriend them or land in Continental Europe to finish England. Then you're free.

☆Lordship of Ireland - you have not one, or two factions against you right from the start! Record of the game, more surprising even that it occurs on a 1 star faction. Luckily you're on a island against just one. Scotland will come for you, luckily its starting forces are mediocre. Rebels will focus England and not go for you unless you pester them. Go on the defensive in the first turn, this will make Eoghan leave the capital, making both much easier to take down. When you defeat Ailech, disembark in Glasgow and Caernarfon (this last one only if you go for Hegemony, else fully focus on Scotland), when Scotland and Rebels are done, you're free.

☆Republic of Genoa (8 coins) - sister of Republic of Venice, and also your opponent to beat. This is much easier as not only you start with an extra city, but you will already have passage with Duchy of Milan, allowing you to freely access Venetian's territory without having to worry. Once you capture Venice, if either Laibach or Trent is still up, declare war and take them. If you have Trent for yourself, go for the Duchy of Milan after, else into Austria. You're free after.

☆Republic of Venice - weak and isolated, with no easy way to reach your maritime rival Genoa. You're given 3 dromons to start with, which normally would be great, but here they're pretty much useless. Ignore Genoa for now and declare war on HRE Rebels, your aim is to grow and there are two easy targets you can safely pick from the Rebels near your north frontier. Genoa is the next focus, but how to reach it? If you have Justinian, you can go over Papal lands safely to reach Genoa, or bribe once with +30 and then pay for passage, but no Justinian means Milan is bound to declare war on you, so invade it first from Trent. Either of those three options will allow you to reach Genoa. Once you take it down, you're free. If France is struggling, go against it, else Bavaria or Austria will be good next targets, as they'll likely have most of their troops in the north fighting the HRE Rebels, which you'll also fight after.

☆State of the Teutonic Order (8 coins) - you're isolated and weak and against a far stronger foe that has v cool cavalry, and his capital is very far from your early reach. And when you beat them, and you'll take a while, you have to expand further. If Hungary joined and its already on Bohemia, join as well and try to sneak in some easy cities for you. Else you should path for the HRE and force Hungary to join. Expand on both factions all you can, and you're free once.

Invaders:

Papal States - alike with them in Century of Iron, they will stay there without declaring war on anyone while occupying Rome. If they are declared war, a special dialogue triggers calling all Christendom to declare war on you (on this Conquest this is literally everyone except Emirate of Granada, Kingdom of Bohemia, Rebels and Peasants).

Peasants' Revolt - they will mostly annoy the Kingdom of England and support the Scottish on the early stages, but they'll go at war with Scottish at around turn 15. They don't have a capital and must be fully destroyed for them to surrender. They can also be befriended.

Rebels of the Holy Roman Empire - they will pester HRE, Bavaria and Austria, but their performance is weak in the South, mostly pressuring in the northern part, but this will serve Austria and Bavaria as a "what to do" on the early stages, as this clearly sets up for an easy war in which to expand your land. Alike Peasants' Revolt, they lack a capital and can be befriended.

Kingdom of Hungary - will join on turn 10 to help the struggling HRE against the Rebels and the Kingdom of Bohemia. They show up below the Kingdom of Poland, having a strong 6 city territory and starting with many lvl 3 Heavy Knights and lvl 3 Squire Cavalry, that will mostly harm Bohemia in early stages. They are a force to recon.

Special interactions
--Lordship of Ireland and Kingdom of England are tied together. If you declare war on one, the other will declare it on you.
--Papal States acts like in the other conquests where it exists. It will stay forever neutral. Declaring war on it will get all Christian factions to declare war on you, a real nuisance if you have to capture Rome for a title.
--Joan of Arc will show up and give a speech on her turn 9-10 that will give a morale boost to all troops within Kingdom of France, along 2 other squads of knights. She is an altered version of Joan of Arc, weaker and with worse skills (not the op active nor the "Rally" skill that recruits Gendarme skills freely). On turn 15, another speech that will raise again the French morale.

Resolution (titles) achievements

Recommendations in green (not only faction to take, but which Titles to go for, anything needing Rome discarded basically)

Celtic Empire - Kingdom of Ailech, Kingdom of Scotland, Duchy of Brittany, Lordship of Ireland
North Sea Empire - Kingdom of Ailech, Kingdom of Scotland, Kingdom of England, Lordship of Ireland, Kalmar Union
Germanic Empire - Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom of England, Duchy of Austria, Duchy of Bavaria, Kalmar Union, Crown of Aragon, Kingdom of Portugal, Kingdom of Burgundy, Kingdom of France, Crown of Castile, State of the Teutonic Order
Mediterranean Empire - Kingdom of Portugal, Crown of Aragon, Republic of Genoa, Republic of Venice, Duchy of Savoy, Duchy of Milan, Emirate of Granada, Kingdom of Naples, Crown of Castile
Roman Empire - Republic of Genoa, Republic of Venice, Duchy of Savoy, Duchy of Milan, Duchy of Brittany, Holy Roman Empire, Duchy of Bavaria, Duchy of Austria, Crown of Aragon, Kingdom of Portugal, Kingdom of Naples, Kingdom of Burgundy, Kingdom of France, Crown of Castile
Arab Empire* - Emirate of Granada
Frankish Empire - Kingdom of France, Kingdom of Burgundy, Duchy of Brittany, Kingdom of England, Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom of Bohemia, Duchy of Bavaria, Duchy of Austria
Slavic Empire - Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Bohemia

*Mental note: this title even needs Rome... like really? Wasn't it hard enough already?

7. Downfall of Byzantine - 1444 AD

This conquest is drastically different than the "Coming soon" that we had for several months. It is a large map based on Balkans and Anatolia, with only 1 starting invader and 1 that will join later on from the east. It is worth noting that Hegemony victory with Ottomans will grant you a general, and that hegemony with any faction will also give you unit's upgrade gear. Like with Hundred Years War, if a faction has two colors on the name, the first half means fast win (achieve your 3 objectives), the second half is for hegemony and tier 4 title (third color in a few cases). If a faction has a single color, it means it has the same relative difficulty for both. THANK GOD it misses Papal States, which were a pretty useless yet very annoying (for titles) faction that was added a couple of times already.

SPOILER: Click to show

Action order: Ottoman Empire > Byzantine Empire > Kingdom of Hungary > Principality of Wallachia > Principality of Modavia > Kingdom of Bosnia > Serbian Despotate > Republic of Venice > League of Lezhë > Depot of Epirus > Despotate of the Morea > Crown of Aragon > Knights Hospitaller > Crusaders > Genoa Mercenaries > Aq Qoyunlu

Factions

☆Byzantine Empire - from being a solid 3 stars faction on the 3 Conquests it showed up to now this. Surely the Conquest's name gives a hint. You start with only two cities and very far apart. And the important one (for both income and objectives) doesnt have a tavern, making the start even harder, on the bright side, you have two wonders, one of them being top, and Ottomans starting neutral to you (which you can befriend even, but you shouldn't, as you need two of their cities to win). Play defensively on Constantinople (this will make Mehmed and other enemies go elsewhere instead of grabbing their attention) and push upwards from Athens, using the tavern hero too, with the aim to join with Constantinople through land. Constantinople will receive siege by Turkish Ottomans, but if you keep playing defensively, you should be able to hold until your troops from Athens link with Constantinople. Cross the strait and start wrecking Ottomans in Turkey, focusing on capturing the key city, while the Christian Balkans will keep them engaged on mainland Europe. Survive after until turn 15, not worth going for hegemony here, neither for titles.

☆☆Crown of Aragon (12 coins) - your main rival is Venice, however it wont be your immediate threat. Venice starts neutral with you and has all of its 4 cities bordering sea, including his capital, making it very easily to set up a quick capture. The troops you have in Italy should go for this, recruit your hero in Pescara's tavern, get him a decent boat with Rampage bonus, and aim to capture Venice with these (hero takes down city, other troop sneaks in to capture). The other troops should be ready for Sparato and Kotor, and then pay them to Surrender, not hard as they're not threat. The real threat is Genoese, that have their biggest fleet and sole city within your sphere, and will annoy for a while. Play defensively here first, as this will avoid most of them annoying in Sicily, when they leave, push to take the city, without spawning any hero here, as this is very far from the rest of the battlefield. You need 15 cities after, meaning you're only missing 3. Lezhe and Morea are the easiest targets, also having 2 each. From here you can continue freely, should be quite easy. Probably focus Ottomans and Byzantines, as they will be easy pickings to grow yourself, else just befriend everyone.

☆Crusaders (8 coins) - kinda similar to Byzantine Empire, but trading having a better tavern and more starting troops with having more enemies to fight and worse cities (lvl 5 and 3 vs lvl 3 and 1 meaning worse eco), you start already at odds with Ottomans and no wonders. Your obvious aim is to clear the nearby Ottoman army, if you have good gens, you can attack on your first turn, taking advantage of not having to move to attack (thus attack twice). Else pull back to your nearby capital Varna and make it take the blow, allowing for your tavern general to also be up. Tavern general and 1 scout should go for Constanca (very close and annoying, as it will focus only you until Hungarians arrive), 3 Archer squad and one other squad to Ruse, the rest to Edirne. Stay defensive on Pristina the few first turns so that Lezhe takes more focus and you have it easier to defend while pushing on your other front. Genoese will land near Varna, but they'll be neutral, so ignore them. Sadly they'll also ignore Ottomans, so dont expect help from them. Neither expect it from Byzantines, they're not the powerhouse they were. Once you take the cities, hold until turn 15 and grab your win. Not recommended for hegemony nor titles.

☆Cyprus-Knights Hospitaller Union - you're weak economically and pretty much alone, which isn't a good looking start. However you have a bunch of squads with one top troop for Conquest, Knights Hospitalier. You have to fight three factions in order to win, with two already starting at odds with you (and Venetians neutral). From Rhodes, go for Mugla, your first objective, and then push east. In Cyprus stay defensive as Karaman will go mostly on you, with one exception, send your tavern hero against their capital. Defeat Karaman and then use . Probably the worst faction to do either Hegemony and/or titles, as Cyprus and East of Anatonia is bad, and you'll be against Otomans and Venetians, while also facing Aq Qoyunlu which will give lots of trouble with no buffer faction in between (as you defeated them) in turn 15.

☆Despot of Epirus (10 coins) - worst starting economy of the whole campaign, a level 2 city (but at least it has tavern). However, you have no direct threat, you're neutral with everyone except Genoese but the closest fleet will not go for you, so you're fine. You should work first on Lezhë, which you start with passage, so pretty much a betrayal. He will be busy the first few turns defending against Genoese ships, so take advantage and by turn 3-4, whenever you have your two starting troops plus the tavern hero on the frontier, declare war next turn and aim for the capital. Sadly even with the capital, you're so weak that he wont accept surrender, so you should also capture his other city. From here, you should prepare to go against Ottomans. Your target is Thessalonka and either Skopje or Ohrid, as you will need 5 cities that can reach level 3 in order to win (all of these 6 cities can reach lvl 6). You can either wait until some other Christian faction offers resources to declare war on Ottoman (which will occur every few turns) or declare war on your own, Ottoman is so vast that they will not properly defend against you. You can continue for Hegemony, or even title, but you only have "Roman Empire" option, but you gotta fully defeat Byzantine to get their title in order to reach 4th tier title.

☆Despotate of the Morea - very easy for victory (although long as no matter how good you do it, it wont be shorter than 15 turns), quite hard for hegemony, painful for title achievement. Stay neutral and defensive with everyone, but set up a fleet around Alta and another around Candia (your objectives, both coastal cities). Skip turns until turn 15. Declare war on Ottomans and Venetians and capture both cities, gg. Very weak for hegemony and title achievement, not worth the time.

☆Karaman Bey State - easy for quick win, not recommended for more. Focus first on taking Cyprus against the Knights as Ottomans will be neutral to you so you shouldn't worry about them. You start with so many troops that you should deploy Justinian and Theodora (latter better on a single melee recruited infantry) very fast in order for the tecnology, which will come in handy for better ships. You're overpop, but np, its a 30% cut on little and once you capture Nicosia you'll be good. The cav and general at the back should head to the frontier closer to Ankara, but wait there. No point declaring war now, much better wait until most troops go West. When you captured Cyprus (turn 3-4) and those troops are half way through to Rhodes (as you're very weak and have just a 4% chance of making them surrender, so you gotta do it by force), declare war on Ottomans and your mainland troops should rush to Ankara. Both remaining cities should fall at the same time, upgrade cities and houses until you hit 200 max pop and you're done (should be 10 turns). You can keep on pushing into Ottoman for hegemony or title, hegemony is not that bad, as most Christian factions will be easy to ally, including Genoa Mercs, who you start at odds with, but title is not recommended, as the only title option is Turkish Empire, which Ottomans have far easier, as you'll have to betray Aq Qoyunlu to get one of their cities, capture all of Ottomans and also get an extra 10 cities in the Balkans to reach 35.

☆Kingdom of Bosnia - quite easy for quick victory. Your immediate threat focus are the Serbians, which who you're at war with already. The key city here is Ras, which you must take yourself, however its quite easy as its close to your frontier and Serbians other threat is far from it. When Serbia is dispatched, settle your troops around Kotor, with the intention of it falling in a single turn (attack from both land and sea). Once you're prepared, declare war on Venetians and capture it for the quick easy win.

☆☆☆Kingdom of Hungary (15 coins) - you have a huge economy and no near enemy, making it really easy to setup attacks on your neutral objectives. Your troops to the west should focus on setting up against Venice, the ones on the east on Wallachia. Wallachia should be declared war a few turns in, mostly so that the troops are on the west fighting Serbia. When you have a couple of ship around Venice and a couple near the frontier for Udine, declare war as well and use that first strike effectively, with the aim to pay to surrender as soon as they're weak enough. You should continue for hegemony and specially title, as you're already at odds with Ottomans and you finished your fast victory with already a very strong position (as you absorbed 2 2-star factions very easily and early).

☆League of Lezhë - its a rough start to end, but nothing too hard. Although Ottomans and Epirus will be your focus for the quick victory, dont declare war on either at the start, as your focus the first turns should be defending against the 3 Genoese ships. Once that's cleared, focus first on Epirus, as its easier to take down, capturing their only city will surrender the whole nation, so avoid fighting their troops as much as possible. Then push into Ottoman territory but to the East, remember your aim is Sofia and Flores. With some luck, Flores falls into Ottoman or Genoese (most common) hands and you can take it from them without having to also declare war on Venetians. If you didnt have to declare war on Venetians, hegemony and maybe title gets easier, as you can expand more easily on Ottoman soil, else it gets slightly harder, but still feasible.

☆☆☆Ottoman Empire - you're the strongest faction of the Conquest, and your objectives aint hard. You will be attacked from the South by Venetians, Northwest Crusaders and again Crusaders on the Northeast. Lezhë is another enemy, but will focus the first turns on defending against the Genoese. Hungarian is your biggest enemy, but starts far off from you, and Cyprus Knights start also quite far from you. Go aggressive on the Crusaders on the east, as you already start in contact with them (meaning you can do 2 attacks) and its where their capital is. Also go aggresive on the western crusader, but here avoid fighting Mikhail, as he has strong merc units. Your aim is to capture both Crusader cities and this will cause all of the troops to disappear. The troops that defeated the bulk of the Crusaders should move to Constantinople and surround it by sea, in order to strike hard from sea when you declare war. The units that captured the other crusader city should go against Serbia, and here you need to reinforce, as you will also face Hungarians. Once you're done with Serbia, you won. You REALLY should go for hegemony with Ottomans, as you get a free general. Do also either of the titles achievements, for Eastern Empire you will need to focus on lower Balkans and Greece, for Turkish Empire the focus is all the way west, against the neutral Karaman.

☆☆Principality of Moldavia - although you start with no enemies, your objectives aint that easy. First prepare your troops in the frontier with Wallachia, and declare war when you're ready. This delay before declaring war is good as you will have less time to react and that most of his troops would have already marched west against Serbia. Once you're done conquering all of Wallachia, prepare to do the same on Hungarians. If you're doing well against Hungarians, consider continuing for Hegemony, else just capture Tisisoara which is close to the frontier and leave with the fast victory.

☆☆Principality of Wallachia - an easier version of Serbian despotate but even without considering you're a 2 star. The obvious initial focus should be taking down Serbia and then prepare in the frontier to go against Ottomans. You can either chill until turn 13-14 and then go for Sofia for simple victory or declare war as soon as you're ready in the frontier and run over Ottomans if you're going for hegemony. If you go for Hegemony, you should also aim for Balkan Empire.

☆☆Republic of Venice - this is probably the only faction in which hegemony is relatively easier than simple victory. That your bulk of your forces start trapped in a corner of the map, the highly-spread of your territories, spreading from north to south, and western most to quite to the east. Your initial focus should be moving through sea the four troops around Venice and drop half of them on Sparato (where you should also recruit your hero in the tavern) and the other half to Pescara (at least one of these 2 should have a warship with rampant bonus damage). The troops from Kotor should go down to be ready against Lezhë, and these will be joined by the troops from Flores, which should capture Ohrid on their way. If you're going for quick win, scrap the troops at Candia, as Venetians start heavily overpopulated, and this should help. If you're going for hegemony and/or title achievements, then keep them. Wait one turn on the island (this will avoid Genoese's fleet attention), and then head for Turkey. If you're going for Mediterranean empire, you should declare war on Cyprus-Knights, and capture both of their islands, else just land directly on Turkey (no title or Roman Empire aim). If you're going for quick win, declare war on Aragon as soon as you take Lezhë and Serbia. Else just move more troops to surround most a few Italian cities first to capture at least 3 on the turn you declare war on them.

☆Serbian Despotate - strongest 1 star faction, although also the one with the roughest start. Bosnia will go fully against you while you'll also take most of the focus of Wallachia. Focus Bosnia first as its weaker and has the capital close to your frontier, then switch to Wallachia and you can chill after until turn 15 for easy victory. Else dont chill and go for Hegemony, probably one of the best ones for 1 star factions. You can either go against Hungary after Wallachia if you want Slavic Empire, else go against Ottomans for Balkan Empire (ideally go Slavic here and in Wallachia go for Balkan)

Invaders:

Genoa Mercenaries - they will be mostly like Vikings on the second Conquest. They are at odds with over half factions and will start with a small city in West Sicily, however they will have many lvl1 Galleon squads scattered around the seas. They are a nuisance as like most invaders, all troops must be taken down in order for them to be defeat. If you defeat them however, it will not prevent the reinforcement wave spawning when Aq Qoyunlu gets a couple cities captured in south-east of Crimea, holding 7 new Galleons, one of these with a General. They can be befriended, but its very expensive and not recommended, as they're not reliable allies.

Aq Qoyunlu - they will instantly join if Karaman Bey State is defeated, else they will always join on turn 15 on the east of the Ottomans, just above Karaman Bey State. They will be friendly to Genoa Mercs and Karaman Bey State, but hostile to all the rest. Upon appearing, they will have a vast army that will swarm westwards, plus plenty of resources, that will summon more waves. Only Karaman Bey State can easily befriend them. They have a capital, capturing gives the option to pay them to fully surrender after, however their capital is very deep into their starting territory.

Special interactions
--Killing Wladyslaw III (Crusader leading the army on the right) will trigger a morale drop of half for all Crusader troops. So beware or speed this when playing as Crusaders or Ottomans.
--For a bunch of turns at the start, every 2 attacks on Constnatinople, the city will heal back 420hp, resulting in a longer siege than it should be.
--Ottomans will get 3-4 squads all armed with Orban Cannons and siege Constantinople by turn 5-7 (when you play as Ottomans, you will just have Orban guns given to equip).
--When Constantinople's health goes below half, a speech will be done by Constantine, and all Byzantine troops will get high morale.
--Vlad III the Impaler will spawn and give a morale boost to all troops of Principality of Wallachia whenever they start a war with Ottoman Empire (turn 13)
--Turn 14, Stephen the Great will spawn in Principality of Moldavia with a dialogue saying he was helped up to the throne. By next turn, he will declare war to Hungarians and Ottomans. Soon after, they'll also become allies with Wallachia.
--If Aq Qoyunlu gets taken 2 cities, his leader Uzun will do a speech, and just after, 7 Genoese Galleons will spawn on the Black Sea. Remember Genoese and Aq Qoyunlu are allies.

Resolution (titles) achievements

Recommendations in green (not only faction to take, but which Titles to go for, anything needing Rome discarded basically)

Eastern Empire - Ottoman Empire
Turkic Empire - Ottoman Empire, Karaman Bey State
East Latin Empire - Cyprus Knights
Christian Empire - Crusaders
Mediterranean Empire - Cyprus Knights, Crown of Aragon, Republic of Venice
Roman Empire - Crown of Aragon, Byzantine Empire, Crusaders, Despot of Epirus, Despotate of the Morea, Republic of Venice
Balkan Empire - League of Lezhë, Serbian Despotate, Principality of Bosnia, Kingdom of Hungary, Principality of Wallachia
Slavic Empire - League of Lezhë, Serbian Despotate, Principality of Wallachia, Principality of Moldavia, Principality of Bosnia
Carpathian Empire - Principality of Moldavia, Kingdom of Hungary

8. Coming Soon - 395 AD

Upcoming probably Q3 2023. Only known that it will be "Extra Large". From the picture we can see a castle, so I would bet its on Europe again, but maybe its Middle East. The picture or the year doesn't seem very fitting, so I doubt it will not be on this year, like it happened on previous 2 "Coming soon" conquests, they got a new picture and year.

Please do not quote the whole post if you want to reply to something, just quote in your reply whatever you want to refer to. Else this will make the thread be a nightmare to navigate and it will also make harder for everyone know to what you're referring to

radiofuhrerbunker: can someone provide link of WC4 Glory mod. That doesn't crash when using airforce and has no sound issue fixed. Feels kinda boring to play without BGM and SFX Nov 6, 2024 20:02:55 GMT

radiofuhrerbunker: I can give you the mod but it doesn't have sound but if you are looking for a genuine pc game of wc4 then go to microsoft store Nov 11, 2024 15:58:34 GMT