


I've been struggling for the past 25-30 turns trying to keep afloat, as I've bitten off a bit more than i can chew. all expensive troops, so the English campaign demands you spend time building your empire up first. All you really need are a truckload of those, 6-8 units of heavy cavalry and a few units of shock infantry. England are still my favourite, because Retinue Longbowmen are embarrassingly good. Taking over mainland Europe is a piece of urine.

and you're always swimming in cash anyway. The only units you will ever use are available from the start of the game, at dirt cheap prices. I strongly recommend that you keep castles as part of the equation, or you are really going to cripple your military potential (unless you're looking for a more challenging game, then by all means, go for it). But to all but neglect castles is a really bad idea as Venice. Look out for traits like "royally extravagant" once your florin total goes above 50k at the start of each turn.Īgreed that Venice, like all Italian factions, can train excellent militia, and later, firearm troops, from their cities. Also, you should realize that if you start hording too much money your generals will decide to live extravagantly and begin to drain your coffers. I've actually played Venice twice now, and I've found that even with having 20 - 25 % of my settlements as castles I end up with too much money. They are fast, have good attack, great morale and stamina AND their weapons are effective against armor. You don't build stables in your castle(s)? Well you're going to miss out on THE BEST light cavalry in the game, Stradiots. John's Chapter houses (which give you access to the superior Hospitaller Knights) and Swordsmith guilds (which allow you to upgrade melee weapons) are generally only available in castles. While these guys aren't unique to Venice, they are a great help when going up against eastern factions that employ a large number of Horse Archers.Īlso, certain key guilds like St. You should also be striving to get mounted crossbowmen. Also notable in castles for Venice is Venetian Archers, which have great range and flaming arrows (which Pavise Crossbowmen lack), and can hold their own in melee if need be. They have low upkeep, good attack, decent defense and their weapons are effective against armor. These are Venice's signature unit, and they are widely considered one of the best heavy infantry units in the campaign. The Venetians can train some truly superior units from their castles, like Venetian Heavy Infantry. It makes more a bit more sense as Milan, but even with them you should keep a few castles around. Click to expand.Not building castles as Venice seems a tad silly to me.
