Starting moves with ERE

[~Seleukos.I.Nikator~]

Hey guys,

I thought it was about time to give a try to Attila with FotE + RP revised and as I have yet to play even a vanilla Attila I would very much appreciate some tips on how to kick-start that campaign as the task looks from the beginning enormously daunting.

Do I need to abandon some territory from the start?

Do I need to disband some of my armies?

What else should I focus on in the first few turns? Is it worth, for example, to invest in appointing governors wherever I can? What buildings should I prioritize? I think I read somewhere that EP favourises trade income so I guess investing in trade might be a good idea from the start, right?

[Cgma]

I guess it is up to you depending on thousands of aspects regarding playing style because FotE+EP Revised wants to engage full RTS potential. It is not Radious nor vanilla game so you are expected to do a lot of politics (and pay or get money to keep effects), think how to balance recruiting units and develop provinces vs. incomes you can expect, try to protect WRE if it is possible (mostly by politics to bribe their neighbours to stand vs. its enemies) to keep business partner in most areas, and many more. Abandoning any province is bad idea always as it critically drops public order factionwide.
There is no one medicine to play and even playing again from the start is nothing to be shamed of if you fail.

[~Seleukos.I.Nikator~]

Failure is not an option!

I guess I just need to get the ball rolling and see how it goes.

And btw, thanks for keeping these mods alive and up-to-date. That's an enormous task in itself. Well-done!

[alhoon]

Failure is not an option!

Agreed!!!!!

There is always the load button.

[~Seleukos.I.Nikator~]

Agreed!!!!!

There is always the load button.

There is, there is, but we don't talk about it and pretend that there isn't any such a button...

[Cgma]

There is, there is, but we don't talk about it and pretend that there isn't any such a button...

I don't see anything wrong in reloadings, especially when stupid AI turns friendly faction vs. me. There are a lot of irrational decisions Ai creates, mostly you want to correct it either with MAGA or loading.

Anyway i needed myself few attempts to learn playing my own mod, so failed runs might be quite possible for anyone who didn't pay enough attention to all game's aspects, mostly - missing succesion issues. As i said this is not vanilla happy gameplay build & conquer, you are expected to spend more time on thinking than fighting.

[~Seleukos.I.Nikator~]

I don't see anything wrong in reloadings, especially when stupid AI turns friendly faction vs. me. There are a lot of irrational decisions Ai creates, mostly you want to correct it either with MAGA or loading.

Anyway i needed myself few attempts to learn playing my own mod, so failed runs might be quite possible for anyone who didn't pay enough attention to all game's aspects, mostly - missing succesion issues. As i said this is not vanilla happy gameplay build & conquer, you are expected to spend more time on thinking than fighting.

I was just kidding, of course. I don't have anything against reloading.

Though sometimes when I make some mistakes that don't necessarily break the whole campaign, then I like to get on with it and try to fix it as the campaign goes on to give myself some extra challenge.

[Odinarius]

As ERE you are quite safe at the very beginning. No need to abandon provinces. I don't do it with WRE either, though I don't really play at harder difficulty levels where it might serve a purpose.

Militarily, you should protect the northern border and keep an army or two in the east if Sassanids get any ideas of invading. Ideally, as cgma said, it would pay off to help WRE keep it's borders as they are under very heavy pressure.

Economically, my priority is to get the food supply sorted out (fields and jetties). Due to deteriorating climate which reduces fertility as time goes on, animal buildings with fixed food income are better long term choice as they keep their production levels regardless of the fertility drops. Food will help with public order, which is greatly affected by religion as well, therefore build or upgrade churches. Priests are invaluable here as they provide a huge religion modifier, and a decent public order bonus.
Next, take care of sanitation, to avoid problems with diseases.

Once that is taken care of, getting the quality of the military and building the income buildings in a balanced manner (taking care of public order, food and sanitation) becomes the goal. Resource buildings (dyes, olives, wine etc.) are a good start, and you can follow with industry or trade buildings. If the war with Sassanids starts (eventually it will), there is the opportunity to expand your territory.
I usually exterminate the horde factions, but don't push beyond Danube. And I try to keep peace with Huns as long as possible, even if it means tolerating their raiding parties. May be ahistorical, but it works well in this game.

As WRE, after a while I begun ignoring the rebellions as my garrisons can hold against any of them, either through autoresolve or manual battles. Archers are incredibly deadly in those situations. Choke the ramparts with your spearmen in shield formation and place the archers on the walls above. In some situations, archers can get up to 900+ kills!

[The Despondent Mind]

But how exactly to help WRE keep its territories? I always feel powerless to help them seriously.

[Cgma]

But how exactly to help WRE keep its territories? I always feel powerless to help them seriously.

Mostly with diplomacy, pay their enemies to fight other enemies, join their wars to distract attackers.

[Odinarius]

And send a stack to cover their cities or hunt for hordes. Also, declare war on Huns to draw them to yourself.

They will still have rebellions in the far areas like Spain and Africa. You can reconquer those rebels and use MAGA to give the provinces back to WRE.

Historically, ERE was much more stable and did do some of these things.

[Cgma]

Also, declare war on Huns to draw them to yourself.

Actually ERE is at war with Huns, WRE is not and luring them into it is pretty bad idea as well as making peace with Huns as ERE.

ERE was much more stable and did do some of these things.

In fact between 398 to 423 and after installing Valentinianus III ERE and WRE didn't cooperate until Vandals' conquest of Africa. And after death of Aetius ERE recognized WRE as strict vassal.