I bought the game yesterday from Gamersgate and played around a bit with the game. I read the manual and the beta manual, also some of the threads here, but after a few games with the Saxons / Britons / Sassanids / Ostrogoths / Visigoths I have a few questions to you veterans...
General questions:
- I got patch 1.06 with the game download, how can I get 1.07? What does 1.07 add (beyond cosmetics)?
- What does the "Official Mod" add, and does "mod 1.07" work with "game version 1.06"?
- How can I adjust scrolling? o It is incredibly twitchy... I would like it to be less sensitive.
And what bugs me even more, I haven't figured out yet what I should aim for in a new game:
- If I play a barbarian state, what should be my immediate goals for the 2-3 years after game start? Should I beat up on other, weaker barbarians, and seize their provinces? Should I march into empty provinces and beat up the natives? Or hit the Romans at the next opportunity?
- I noticed I can "conquer" empty provinces by beating the natives, will this help me turn into a strong kingdom or is it not worth it?
- If I am too weak to attack the Romans, what should I do instead? Is there any glory (VP) in expanding at the cost of my barbarian neighbours?
- When am I strong enough to beat up the Romans? I noticed they get embroiled in wars against the Persians often. In a 375 scenario as blue player, I attacked the Romans as soon as they moved their troops away, sieged some provinces, but then Western Roman armies came and beat me up. o
- If the Romans defeat me badly, destroying my army and forcing me to give up land, can I recover or should I restart the game?
- I want to become a federate in the Roman Empire, move away from the Huns and move my people into Roman Balkans provinces. How can I make the Romans give them to me? What do I have to ask for in the peace terms, and when are the Romans likely to give it to me?
- I got an event where I could choose between "submitting to the Huns" and "fleeing west". Submitting was probably the historic thing, it was option #1. I chose the other one and tried to take land off the Romans (unsuccessfully). What happens if I submit to the Huns? Is it any fun to play as a vassal of the Huns?
- Do I stand any chance to defeat the Huns in 375? If so, how?
- I played the "tutorial" as Saxons and managed to annex the Britons in 452. I turned into a kingdom and felt pretty good. But the scenario had nothing else to do. Generally, what would I do next after turning into a kingdom?
- Should I always "upgrade" my nation as soon as possible? (Barbarian --> Kingdom --> Empire). The manual speaks of Kingdom / Empire management as if it was a chore. And in one AAR (Sassanids), the player gave away provinces to avoid turning into an Empire. So what's the idea here???
- When I invaded the Roman Balkans in 375 as the Visigoths+Ostrogoths, the Romans never attacked my sieging armies but marched into my "home" provinces in Russia. Is this a problem? I always had my horde (the ox carts) with me. Do I need to defend my provinces at all? I thought I was playing a barbarian tribe on the march.
- How do I manage my budget as a kingdom? I read that there are all kinds of things that cost money (constructions + upkeep) and also ways how I can earn income (trade + taxes). Generally how do I balance the two? Should I try to maximize my income early on, or rather minimize my expenses? What should I do first if I have a shortfall of money?
I am experiences in many Paradox games (EU2, Victoria, CK) so I am used to complicated games, but this one has me more confused than any of the others... Many thanks in advance for helpful answers ...