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1 - Friendships:
It is important to create some good bonds with some Irish factions early on. These don't have to be alliances if you don't want to be dragged into any wars, but declarations of friendship can make all the difference as well.
I would recommend making sure you have a declaration of friendship with Mide (to your west), Osraige (south of Mide) and Aileach (in the north). Not only do these three factions usually have alliances together in some shape or form, but they usually end up forming a nice north-south buffer zone between yourself and the rest of Ireland. This will allow you to first secure the entire east-coast of Ireland before you have to fight stronger enemies.
2 - Territory:
It is best to focus on Ireland first, rather than also expand into Wales, Scotland or England. It is not impossible to take territory early there as well, but since you struggle I would recommend focusing on one area rather than several. So until you are the clear superpower in Ireland, it is probably best to stay out of these other areas.
While taking Ireland generally speaking work your way from east to west. Whether you first go north or south is up to you, but take advantage of weaker factions.
3 - Use peace-time:
As Dyflin you are pretty much the only Norse faction in Ireland, which means you will get wrecked if you piss off all Irish factions against you. So rather than start an all out war with the rest of Ireland, keep the number of wars to a minimum and keep them short --> sue for peace!
Not only will make your wars more manageable, but in many cases you can make the enemy pay for peace, thereby providing you with extra income.
To do this, prepare your wars in advance by positioning armies to the particular border, so you can take several territories quickly. If the AI loses several territories in quick succession and either lost their own army, or has no army nearby to defend against this, they will usually be eager for peace.
Step 1 will prove very helpful in this endeavour since you will not have to worry about invasions on these borders (provided the faction leaders are at least somewhat reliable). Consequently you can move your armies to a single front and leave the rest of your territory undefended for a few turns, while you deal with the enemy.
Once you have taken territory and signed a peace treaty there is a 10 or 15 turn (not sure about the exact number) where breaking the treaty hurts your reliability rating. During this period, reliable faction leaders are also unlikely to break the recent peace treaty. So use this time to expand on another border, as you can leave the new border undefended for a few turns. This will not always work as the peace treaty can be broken by the AI, but you'll just have to judge the likelihood of this happening for yourself.
Example:
At the start of your campaign (even before you recruit units or build anything) open negotiations with Mide and sign a declaration of Friendship with them. Also try to see if they are willing to pay 300-500 gold for it (this partly depends on your selected difficulty). If they accept you could also make a defensive alliance with them (in all these cases see if they are willing to pay for it). Then do the same with Osraige and Aileach. The order in which you approach these factions can make a difference, as each treaty and alliance will affect relations with other factions. If I remember correctly, Mide and Osraige are most positive towards you, because you all hate Laigin.
[/u]Brega:[/u]
Once you are friends with Mide, Osraige, and Aileach, you can start your first turn. Build buildings and recruit units like you normally do. Start your expansion by taking over Brega (either through the event or by conquest).
Laigin or Ulaid:
Now that Brega is gone, you have a choice, either direct your attention north on Ulaid, or to your south on Laigin*. So let's say Aileach has declared war on Ulaid, so you let them fight it out and decide to focus on Laigin instead. You declare war on Laigin and take the coastal cities (don't focus on their capital as Dyflin protects against any invasion from there, instead take his minor settlements first). Once you have taken a few settlements you can either sue for peace if you need to regroup, or you can push on and defeat Laigin completely. Either way, once you're no longer at war with Laigin, you can move your troops north and declare war on Ulaid (if they still have any cities left) **.
* While either can work, the best choice is probably determined by the overall political landscape in that particular campaign. Look who is already at war, as attacking a faction who is already at war makes it easier to take territory and sue for peace after a few turns. Although attacking another faction can also work great, as a faction at war is much less likely to attack you.
** Do not declare war until you are ready, move your troops into position first before you declare war. Doing it earlier only allows them to take some of your settlements.
Vedrafjordr & Veisafjord:
With Brega, Laigin, and Ulaid defeated, and friendship agreements with Aileach, Osraige, and Mide you can now focus on the Viking factions to the south. If they are already at war with other factions you can bypass their military alliance by joining their enemies in war. This allows you to face them one at a time, rather than both at once.
Breifne:
The biggest problem at any point will be Breifne (orange), as they dislike you from the start and are usually unwilling to sign any treaties. They are also difficult to get to without crossing neutral territory (which is best avoided due to the large rep hit this causes). If you are lucky either Connacht, Mide, or Aileach will take care of Breifne early on, but if you are unlucky they will be a pain in your arse and attack at the worst possible moment. You'll just have to deal with the situation as it arises.
If you get to this point you'll have a substantial part of the east-coast of Ireland, and you should be able to take on most factions in Ireland. Good luck!
ToB faction map:
https://cdn.creative-assembly.com/total-war/com.totalwar.www/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/11122408/TWS_Thrones_parchment_map_factions.png
Coincidentally, someone else asked me to complete the Sea Kings section of my combat guide recently. So I have just written a bit about the military aspects of the Sea King factions (Dyflin and Sudreyar). You might find that useful as well, as my response above only deals with the political side of the faction.
While the guide is not finished, at least the Sea King section is there. Feel free to ask any questions (either in the guide or here) on anything that you don't understand or would like to see added to the guide!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2195995757
You are very welcome, glad it helped. It is indeed much more enjoyable when you are not constantly paddling to stay afloat. A challenge is nice, but if a game just feels on the verge of collapse the entire time it is too much.
Personally I was very much disappointed by the Circenn crosbowmen. They didn't stick out considerably in terms of damage, yet they are much more vulnerable due to their reduced range. Perhaps other people have other experiences with them, but I found them too cumbersome so stopped using them after a while.
They do have their uses and can be strong, but they also require special attention due to their different range limits from archers, which is why I found them too much work compared to what they add.
The crossbows have the most AP damage of all the bow units in the game, as well as good accuracy. On the other hand, their reloading is slower, and their range is substantially less than the best longbow units. Crossbows are also unable to use flame arrows.
Something to consider is that in the game's combat system, a unit's armor value applies 360 degrees, while shield value is halved to the sides, and zero to the rear. Also, AP damage will always apply on a successful hit, whereas non-AP damage range is deducted from the range of armor value.
This arguably makes the crossbows much more potentially deadly than any selfbow unit, when it comes to attacking higher tier units who have decent or greater armor protection, like those often encountered from mid game. Early game, with low armor units, that means the crossbows will basically always be dealing damage with any shots that aren't blocked, while selfbows will have damage absorbed by armor.
If you can get a bow unit behind an enemy unit, for example, say mailed swordsmen, the crossbows will have an advantage over longbows, and especially lower tier or non-upgraded selfbows, because the swordsmen's armor value is the same from the rear as it would've been from the front, making AP damage decisive. Another example is with Daneaxe units, who have two handed weapons and don't use their shield in combat: if you're shooting at these guys, it all really comes down to AP.
Now, going back to the other side of the argument, the crossbows do shoot slower. Whether this is made up for by their greater accuracy is debatable. Also, the lack of flame ammunition and lowered non-AP damage means that they suck at killing mounted cavalry, which is arguably one of the best uses for bow units in this game to begin with.
At the end of the day, the crossbows don't dominate in any typical rtt/rts game sense, as in, they hard counter X, or absolutely suck at Y. This game doesn't really do its combat and unit balance like that.
In this game, things are more context specific, and the crossbows are proof of that. Whether or not they are a powerful force in battle depends a ton on your play style, army build, whether it's a siege battle or field battle, the unit roster of your enemies, and what tech and upgrade paths you've chosen for your faction.
I think I’ll use the welsh for the their longbows at some point.
Circenn actually has a very powerful roster though, so don't write them off completely. They have some excellent cav, their mid tier foot swords are arguably the best in the game, their cheapest spears have the most defensive power of any levy unit in the whole game (because of sciltron formation), and several of their units have Guerilla Deployment.
Plus, strategically speaking, they get Sousterrain chain, which gives huge food stocks and attrition free travel in winter for the province, and all Circenn characters get a +1 Loyalty bonus.
They are a very powerful faction, the main problem being to survive through their early game, which can be difficult.
By turn 4 the (7) total factions were at war with me because the other player was just paying them to. They all originally were slightly green with me as well. Not only that, but in thrones the "attack enemy" in diplo option seems to work esp well, which means you will have multiple doom stacks attacking you over and over. Even if they loose their whole kingdom they will just b line to you anyway.
Avoid this faction, esp in multiplayer.
I tried on medium/medium/medium the Dublin Vikings...
after some small strugglings in the begin with the food/Tax rules - (what is little bit of stupid, as the tax of a mine has nothing to do with a food production - so stopping it one by one building would be better.) and some with the loyalty of my generals or governors, it was an easy run
I have all the victories.
the Viking Axe units are abolutely OP !!
I used only the ones with a shield.
(later some additional with/without shield in the flanks (huscarls +berserks );)
additional the general units (can be buffed if you get a villa owner who is adding generals ability. so all +10, 10 is max)
the sword unit elite is also a good flank keeper, also always some spears on the flanks . may be 1-2 cav.
Vikings Units are the best I think. also great sea fighters! after Ireland was mine, I conquered my vassals and against wessex + co, then the North with only vikigs left, was mostly only auto battle.
ps
I have battle where 3 Dublin Generals defeat a 20x gwynned army on sea. it is atscreens uploaded. also 1 general against 17x gwynned, but not full armies. (medium)
I think, this is one more point about this underrated game /SAGA... you need to play every culture to have fun. they have balanced it almost like rock stone paper ;)
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2261434545728067191/6EEA790CBA74D6628F03727E6B67B2897A1E81AE/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2261434545728071564/9C509B67D172620460E8A3614B63CAD353DDF452/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false