How good is Sturgia?

[Nox]

Hello y'all.

So currently my solo run is Empire and we are pretty much dominating the map. We wiped Northern and Southern empire and are ridicolously large and are capable of fighting Vlandia and Aserai (who are the other 2 strongest factions in my run). Battania and Sturgia are insanely weak right now.

So I'm thinking about a new run. I like infantry a lot. And I also do like Vikings. So I was thinking Sturgia, but I swear to god I'm hearing from all sides how crap they are.

So I pretty much wanted to come here and ask if they are really that bad as everyone says.
I should note that I am not a fan of micro-managing...I usually send Horse Archers and Archers to skirmish via engage and then use shield wall on infantry while cycle charging with cavalry that is bound to follow me.

[KingSnack]

Im pretty sure they have the best infantry in the game, dont worry about whats "meta"

[Nox]

Originally posted by KingSnack:

Im pretty sure they have the best infantry in the game, dont worry about whats "meta"

I mainly play this game for rp and chill. I have never played MP so I don't really know what's meta rn. (Tho I suppose Khan's Guard and Dharkhan are up there).

I really just wanna avoid a frustrating run where I feel like my faction leaders are incapable of winning anything.

[Clovis Sangrail]

I like to play Sturgia, but I don't like to play as Raganvad's vassal, so here's what I do --

I start as a Sturgian because I plan on taking Sturgian fiefs first. When I hit level 1, I sign on as a mercenary for Raganvad. Usually Ragman pays pretty well because he's at war with 2 or 3 factions by then.

As a merc, there is plenty to do. Sturgia will have a couple of enemies, plus there are plenty of sea bandits and mountain bandits and looters to keep the merc money flowing in.

Usually, Sturgia will lose Varcheg pretty quickly to either the Vlandians or an Empire faction. And The Khuzaiti will start taking Tyal and working their way west.

But here's the thing -- Other factions can take Sturgian towns, but they cannot hold them because they are not smart enough to govern them.

So the Sturgian towns start to rebel, beginning with Varcheg. And by this time. I have enough army built up that I can take it, so I resign as a mercenary and attack the rebels. Varcheg give me a nice base of operations in the north from which to develop my holdings as an independent.

Then it's rinse and repeat as the other towns rebel -- Omor, Balgard and Sibir in succession, plus snatching the occasional castle when the opportunity arises.

At this point, I usually start over because I don't really enjoy the kingdom wars that much, but I do have the makings of a kingdom should I decide to start one.

And one more thing -- I always marry the lovely Svana. She makes an excellent governor and she is as fecund as the shad, so we snuggle up in Varcheg while she makes babies and my guy trades and smiths.

[Nox]

Originally posted by Clovis Sangrail:

I like to play Sturgia, but I don't like to play as Raganvad's vassal, so here's what I do --

I start as a Sturgian because I plan on taking Sturgian fiefs first. When I hit level 1, I sign on as a mercenary for Raganvad. Usually Ragman pays pretty well because he's at war with 2 or 3 factions by then.

As a merc, there is plenty to do. Sturgia will have a couple of enemies, plus there are plenty of sea bandits and mountain bandits and looters to keep the merc money flowing in.

Usually, Sturgia will lose Varcheg pretty quickly to either the Vlandians or an Empire faction. And The Khuzaiti will start taking Tyal and working their way west.

But here's the thing -- Other factions can take Sturgian towns, but they cannot hold them because they are not smart enough to govern them.

So the Sturgian towns start to rebel, beginning with Varcheg. And by this time. I have enough army built up that I can take it, so I resign as a mercenary and attack the rebels. Varcheg give me a nice base of operations in the north from which to develop my holdings as an independent.

Then it's rinse and repeat as the other towns rebel -- Omor, Balgard and Sibir in succession, plus snatching the occasional castle when the opportunity arises.

At this point, I usually start over because I don't really enjoy the kingdom wars that much, but I do have the makings of a kingdom should I decide to start one.

And one more thing -- I always marry the lovely Svana. She makes an excellent governor and she is as fecund as the shad, so we snuggle up in Varcheg while she makes babies and my guy trades and smiths.

That sounds interesting, the rebelling Varcheg is happening in my run as well, constantly rioting.

Also, as Sturgia, should I give their riders / archers a try? From what I understand, their shield wall is probably the best, but their archers and riders fall short.

Tho I suppose it won't hurt to have archers for sieges and cav for forcing enemy charging.

[Clovis Sangrail]

The Sturgian noble line Druzhinniks are pretty good, even when dismounted in a siege.

As for the archers -- I go hire Battanians.

And I do get a kick out of the Sturgian Hardened Brigand and Horse Raider because they are mounted javelin chuckers. Just fun to watch.

You'll be able to get a lot of Sea Raider prisoners in Sturgia, and I will recruit those for infantry. Sea Raider Warriors have javelins, too, and Sea Raider Chiefs pack throwing axes. Also fun to watch, and they upgrade to Druzhinniks if you have the right leadership perk and the necessary horse.

[Trashley]

Usually Sturgia are the first to fall off in all my games probs due to their leader > but their infantry troops are strong !

[The Mau Corporation]

I really dig Clovis' take cause I usually play much the same way with my preferred campaigns. Battanian start taking sturgian lands also works well cause the player can manage loyalty easier thru marriage.

Druzhiniks real strength is in being cav but also dismountable infantry. Very very strong strategic and tactical bonus that i dont think is weighted enough generally.

Being so close territorially to fians is great.

But the best things bout sturgia is how all their borders are so castle heavy meaning towns near them can go real tall, either sturgian or battanian/khuzait. The key to sturgian is depleting enemies strength by starving towns with castle while balancing peace.

Rag is actually quite young too, IIRC, and will usually outlast all other leaders?

Tyal under player control makes sturgia very powerful imho. So many nearby castles to make Tyal a defensive monster.

[GIJoe597]

Originally posted by BananaChumpus:

Hello y'all.

So currently my solo run is Empire and we are pretty much dominating the map. We wiped Northern and Southern empire and are ridicolously large and are capable of fighting Vlandia and Aserai (who are the other 2 strongest factions in my run). Battania and Sturgia are insanely weak right now.

So I'm thinking about a new run. I like infantry a lot. And I also do like Vikings. So I was thinking Sturgia, but I swear to god I'm hearing from all sides how crap they are.

So I pretty much wanted to come here and ask if they are really that bad as everyone says.
I should note that I am not a fan of micro-managing...I usually send Horse Archers and Archers to skirmish via engage and then use shield wall on infantry while cycle charging with cavalry that is bound to follow me.

If you ever are bored and have free time, you could take a look at my current Sturgia game play. They do indeed have good infantry. Infantry is the backbone of my army. I have some archers and cavalry but that is mostly for long range and harassment. I am 100% Sturgian, no other faction in my army.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5V336kvsQs&list=PLCsuIVA3xcpv4oOxQqca0-S0_XOXAdndF

[TardWrangler]

Yeah the combo of shock infantry and throwing weapons are pretty good. I wouldnt say Sturgia is any better or worse than other factions in and of itself but they usually get cleaned out for varcheg and tyal because the geographical design for that part of the map is just straight up awful.

I usually just spam raid villages and it makes larger factions more likely to pay tribute and propose peace

[Clovis Sangrail]

Originally posted by The Mau Corporation:

I really dig Clovis' take cause I usually play much the same way with my preferred campaigns. Battanian start taking sturgian lands also works well cause the player can manage loyalty easier thru marriage.

Druzhiniks real strength is in being cav but also dismountable infantry. Very very strong strategic and tactical bonus that i dont think is weighted enough generally.

Being so close territorially to fians is great.

But the best things bout sturgia is how all their borders are so castle heavy meaning towns near them can go real tall, either sturgian or battanian/khuzait. The key to sturgian is depleting enemies strength by starving towns with castle while balancing peace.

Rag is actually quite young too, IIRC, and will usually outlast all other leaders?

Tyal under player control makes sturgia very powerful imho. So many nearby castles to make Tyal a defensive monster.

Yes, sometimes Tyal rebels first, and when that happens, I just make that my home base. It's the lovely Svana's home town, so she can be governor. And her daddy was the lord of Uriksala Castle right next door.

And if I'm lucky, I can get both Tyal and Varcheg.

[=M$= Oroberus]

Without player support? They suck, I've rarely seen a game in which Sturgia isn't completely split apart and gobbled up by the other kingdoms.

With player support? They'll dish out quite some ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ themselfs towards the others. Sturgia kind of suffers the same issue Battania succumbs to most of the time, bad campaign AI + small troop count
While Asira and Vlandia will casually roll up with 800+ armies to siege a barely defended castle, Sturgia usually will derp around with 3 or 4 armies of 300 or 400 troops watching the 700+ army just curbstomp thei towns.
If you can manage to take care of the defenses, you'll be fine with Sturgia :)

[Fighter of the Nightman]

Sturgia aren't vikings they're more like dudes from Rus, they're slavs

Look up how to sturgia on youtube the video is hilarious

Also, you can win with any faction but like was said avoid being a vassal for the sturgian dude he's actually a muppet