Strategies for dealing with pagan attrition and defensive pacts?

[GabrielLoki]

So, I need to take Croatia in my road to Rome campaign, as well as Italy and half the Muslim world(as of 816).

I've got an army of 20,000 men, half of whom are Varangians, Retinues, and demesne levies. I could easily crush the arabian empire, so that's no problem.

But my enemies realize how weak they are individually and have formed massive defensive pacts against me.

Pagan tengris and slavics have banded together. Muslims in Armenia have teamed up with the rest of the muslim world aside from the arabian empire.

So, first problem: Defensive pacts.

Next Problem: Croatia. It's just one duchy. Under ordinary circumstances, I could take it in less than a year.

But Croatia is a pagan duchy, in addition to being part of the out of control defesive pact.

I can build forts, but that only helps a little bit.

I need to take Croatia fast, because defensive pact, but I can't just assault the holdings because I take massive losses. But If I gather my forces into one big stack... attrition's a killer.

Part of the urgency with Croatia is that Bavaria would be taking it right now if they weren't already dealing with internal problems.

Now, because I'm playing to restore rome, I know that I can't cower from defensive pacts and I can't just wait them out every time they form.

Update: Croatia took no effort at all... I occupied two counties completely, then assaulted the last one with a stack of 14000.

 

[StarSword]

Well, building a fort when you get your stack in place for the siege will negate the attrition issue (you might go through one attrition cycle before it completes). As for the defensive pacts, it's all about moving faster than your enemies.. If you can get your retinues and Varangians into Croatia before declaring war, you'll get a head start and squash the ability of the Croatians to respond. The AI will also be inclined to form up its armies into doomstacks before actually moving to attack, which means you have the initiative and any terrain benefits. Commanders with Organizer and Siege Leader are also big time savers if you can get them.

You can also use the same trick as with holy wars and wait until other pact members are occupied, such as when they're dealing with Norse conquistadors or internal revolts.

Finally, there's always the brute force method. I had a pact form against me as I got close to creating Alba, composed of a few petty kings in Scotland and southern England. But I was simply too big--and too mobile, I tend to deploy and reposition by sea instead of overland--to fight off.

 

[LucidFugue]

If you have the money, hire mercs to storm the holdings. Doesn't matter if they take huge losses doing so, your main army will be intact for winning a major battle to get the final warscore you need, and you can dismiss the mercs once their job is done.

 

[GabrielLoki]

Alright, so I'm gathering my troops and preparing to take Jerusalem. I'm orthodox, so to the best of my knowledge I don't have anything comparable to a crusade or jihad, but according to a more experienced friend of mine, taking jerusalem will usher in the era of Jihads. Anything I should prepare for?

 

[StarSword]

Other than Muslim doomstacks? Not really.

Seriously, you might want to consider marriage alliances to some of the bigger, closer Catholic realms like Lombardy.

 

[GabrielLoki]

Alright, I've got Jerusalem and could easily take Alexandria whenever I want. My next target is Lombardy. And my next problem is that Lombardy is ruled by a single christian ruler. I've got de jure cb on the counties of the kingdom of sicily, but I don't really wanna press those. My alternative, then is the unbelievably slow and expensive process of fabricating claims. And then after fabricating claims on single counties, get to declare war on them for one county at a time. Win the war, then wait 10 years to do it again, because truce.

This seems like it would take far too long. I'm wondering if there is an alternative, since I don't think they'll stay catholic if I just mended the schism.

 

[Zsrai]

My alternative, then is the unbelievably slow and expensive process of fabricating claims. And then after fabricating claims on single counties, get to declare war on them for one county at a time. Win the war, then wait 10 years to do it again, because truce.

At the very least, you can fabricate a bunch of claims and then use the "Press All Claims" CB. Otherwise try and get a Kingdom claimant into your court, land them, and press their claim.

 

[Dragatus]

I recommend the second method, the one with the claimant. It's much faster than fabricating claims, it costs less, and it's not tied to your specific ruler.