How difficult is this game?

[Ironhawk]

Fenris99: If you want to pursue a turtle strategy against the AI, then the most important thing to do is control the bottleneck provinces. Instead of having a wide border with the AI, try to find the key provs which control access to large parts of your empire's interior. If you control the bottle neck provinces and put a ton of PD into them, the AI will brainlessly just keep ramming itself into them with no hope of victory. In this way you can gain almost perfect protection from the AI with the least investment.

Also, you probably dont want to build a fort in those provinces, just so you dont have to constantly remember to tell your commanders to Patrol (if they are set to Defend they will sit in the fort while the enemy takes the province around you).

[llamabeast]

Vedalken: I think Tharsonius meant giant PD in the sense of Jotun PD. The manual claims it's good, whereas actually it's one of the worst in the game.

[Fenris99]

Thanks, ironhawk.

I'll do some more experimenting tonight.

Any preferences on pretender types?

[VedalkenBear]

Ironically, a combat pretender would probably work best. Being able to take bottleneck provinces before your opponents is very important, and while your main armies mass in those provinces, your pretender can take independents on another front.

[llamabeast]

What nation are you playing?

[Fenris99]

llamabeast said:
What nation are you playing?

I started a game as Marignon.

I don't see the pretenders as being powerful enough to conquer an indie by themselves. I got the Wyrm in my first game killed on turn 3 by attacking a province by himself.

[Torin]

you have to give the wyrm dominion 8 or more(the more the better)
it will gain awe ability.
and will be difficult to kill unless fighting the lizardmen shaman indies.