867 start question...

[Bulldog773]

In this start date. Starting as the king of Northumbria (3000 troops) is there anyway to beat York (viking invasion) that start with 20,000 troops?

This seems impossoble as the Northumbrian king start a the fame with no money and in war with York

 

[quigleyer]

This post likely won't be helpful, but it is possible. In my Wessex game the initial invasion only defeated East Anglia and Northumbria came out okay. However the AI managed it all, all I did was attach some 700-ish troops to a Mercian army.

 

[Rags17]

I actually haven't played much in this start date, is it possible to let some sacrificial provinces go to act as the initial invasion target, then play whack a mole with the follow up wars until the event troops die off ?

Second, do you have any ships of your own ? Another good trick is to jump on board your ship and countersiege their own home provinces while they are busy tearing up your kingdom.

 

[Semigall]

If nothing else, you can always hope to win by pure luck - like capturing those high value pows. It is a bit easier now, for since HF you can actually see on the map which army has the main leader attached to it.

 

[Tatterhood]

Second, do you have any ships of your own ? Another good trick is to jump on board your ship and countersiege their own home provinces while they are busy tearing up your kingdom.

Ivar and Halfdan are the war leaders and their "home" provinces are in Britain. I suspect going to Scandinavia to siege down the secondary participants wouldn't be worth it.

I think this isn't really meant to be winnable for Ælla, the war is just there to give you an excuse to blast some Amon Amarth and get your blood pumping for the first fifteen minutes of playing as one of the invaders instead of starting after they've already won. Unlike pretty much all the other "in medias res" start date wars, I don't think I've ever seen this get an unexpected outcome when the AI is playing both sides, although it does often drag on for a long while.

 

[Bulldog773]

Nope can't counter, York is owned by Lothbrok son & qholw kingdom is on the island...

Oh wow that tells you how much I pay attention, I did not know that the army's on the map show the leader since HF...

Yeah the AI does drag it out when they play both sides. I just gave up and created a duke in the Acquitane kingdom. It's more fun for sure.

Thanks guys for the replys

 

[Vokasak]

Unlike pretty much all the other "in medias res" start date wars, I don't think I've ever seen this get an unexpected outcome when the AI is playing both sides, although it does often drag on for a long while.

The Magyar invasion (same start date) is just as overwhelming vs an AI Bulgaria, but has the additional sin of coming over 30 years than it did historically.

 

[afrodius]

Your only hope is if you capture Halfdan Whiteshirt in battle.

 

[WJS]

First off, you're fighting two wars, one with Halfdan, and one with Ivar. You only need to win one of the two wars to survive.

Second, you need to survive long enough for other Catholic powers (aka everyone else) to join your war. Thanks to the increase in the number of territories from Holy Fury, more territories means more Catholics, which means more Catholic troops. Also, more allies means you get to see more of the map and can plan deployment better.

Third, yes, if you capture Halfdan or Ivar, that's an instant win, congratulations, but that's rare.

I'm most familiar with the Great Heathen Army as Ivar, but I have lost to Northumbria before. However, that's usually more of the "cut my losses now and save my event troops for blitzing across Ireland instead" strategy, that the AI might not consider. I'll give it a go as Northumbria and see if there's anything more I can recommend.

 

[robomax]

If you loose its no big deal . The Land should split on the next generation after his death Or You can Assassinate him after you loose. Get all your former vassals together .. The AI doesn't know how to hold land after conquering it. Thats why the Better Start is Mercia or Wessex.

 

[WJS]

By 10 June I could sue for White Peace with Ivar. He accepted on 16 June. Then I only had Halfdan to worry about. I had to assault holdings to complete the siege quickly, but they were all just tribes and churches.

An important point is that you don't need to win the war, just get a White Peace and you're good.

But yeah, I had to surrender to Halfdan on 5 October to save the part I could keep.

 

[Tatterhood]

The Magyar invasion (same start date) is just as overwhelming vs an AI Bulgaria, but has the additional sin of coming over 30 years than it did historically.

I've definitely seen them end up with weird tiny realms instead of the whole Hungary though. Maybe they won the war and then the land was retaken quickly, idk.

 

[Vokasak]

I've definitely seen them end up with weird tiny realms instead of the whole Hungary though. Maybe they won the war and then the land was retaken quickly, idk.

Usually, that happens when the war drags on and someone else (99% of the time it’s byz because easy dejure claims) piles on and sieges a bunch of land which then can’t be lost in the original war.

 

[nightgerbil]

I seen ai northumbria beat the invasion multiple times since HF went live. I suspect its cos a) whiteshirt and ivor get captured in battle alot now and b) the ai doomstacks its stuff. So while 30k angry vikings all siege down east anglia or lancaster 5 diff cath ais siege out the duchy of york and force the war to end with 100% occupation. That btw is how to beat the ai as northumbria, get alot of those welsh/irish/scotish guys to come help you out, keep your armies away from the vikings and just siege out there stuff.

 

[Chunakun]

I've definitely seen them end up with weird tiny realms instead of the whole Hungary though. Maybe they won the war and then the land was retaken quickly, idk.

Maybe because one of the Bulgarian vassals in Pannonia rebelling which makes that part of the territory invalid for accupation by Almos.