[Ironhawk]

This is a pretty robust analysis of dom2 early game. I have only a couple of minor points to comment on.

-If your nation starts with a scout I "probe" promising provinces on turn 1 with it. This simply means attacking that prov with the scout (or any commander for that matter) set farthest back and ordered to retreat. This will reveal the exact composition of the indy force which can mean the difference b/w success or failure.

-Different nations value different terrain types more than others. This can effect in what order you capture the ring of provs around your capital (or if you stick with the ring at all). For example, Ulm with its high resource troops, might choose to attack Mountains and Forests before Plains so that it can boost production in the capital. On the other hand Ctis cares only about money and may ignore the capital ring for a time in order to exclusively attack high-value farm lands and plains.

-Mercs are always helpful, but keep in mind that the price of mercenaries effectively increases with additional players in a game. With more people bidding you will have to use more money to attain the winning bid. This in turn reduces the value of the merc somewhat, since you could have used that money for something else.

-Dont be afraid to use screens or decoys. They are invaluable in manipulating the combat AI to do what you want. With practice, this skill will become invaluable when you are able to orchestrate your troop layouts and orders to divert enemy attacks, trap/kill special enemy units, or bypass hard enemies to attack weaker ones.

-Sometimes it is more valuable to not capture a strong province than to capture it, if you believe the province may become a border with another empire. In this way, you forgo the gold/gem income of the province in exchange for a border province which you do not have to defend. Of course any real army can destroy any level of indies but it will force your opponent to make a choice: attack this indy knight province and possibly lose valuable men? or attack this regular border province of my enemy's? And if you can influence your opponent's behavior in this way, then you can fortify yourself appropriately.