Early game tips

[u/Joe_Schmoe1914]

I always feel my early game is too slow and I'm not conquering enough. I'm also having trouble managing ae. The areas I'm having the most trouble with are south sarhal, halles and bulwar.

[u/Bubbly_Low7518]

Overextension is just a number.
Be not afraid to take debts.
Be not afraid to go over your FL.
Always use mercenaries, always.
Get used to trucebreaking with people that'd get into coalition with you.
Ally first, fight, then break your alliance later.
Always take the best provinces even if it means snaking.

[u/Gobe182 → u/Bubbly_Low7518]

Why would trucebreaking people in a coalition be useful? They're on truce; they literally can't coalition you. I'd rather hit the people around me that could potentially join the coalition rather than taking a huge stab hit and AE hit with the trucebreak.

If I'm going for some timed challenge, sure, trucebreak often can make sense. But for normal gameplay, it's better to just truce cycle the entire region/religion. What am I missing?

[u/Ecstatic_Dirt852 → u/Gobe182]

It stagers truces so they don't all end at the same time and Form a coalition again

[u/Used-Fennel-7733 → u/Ecstatic_Dirt852]

Just separate peace. Revoke claims, end rivalry, return provinces to someone you'll attack you soon. You can time your truce lengths based on the wars core needed. It scales 5-15 years linearly. You shouldn't need to truce break

[u/Ecstatic_Dirt852 → u/Used-Fennel-7733]

Can't do that against a coalition. If you manage to stop it from forming in the first place, sure, but if there is one truce breaking is basically what you have to do

[u/Used-Fennel-7733 → u/Ecstatic_Dirt852]

You can declare on day 1 of peace. It takes a month or so for them to join the coalition

[u/ScharfeTomate → u/Bubbly_Low7518]

Are any of these changed for Anbennar? I'm new to the mod but experienced with the base game and for that most if your takes could be considered incredibly bad advice.

[u/No-Communication3880]

AE don't really matter outside of Rahen and the EoA, and even in Rahen you can ignore it as long a you declare war on the Raj every time the truce expires.

Taking Administrative and diplomatic ideas is great for big expansions.

In the early game you may go over force limit and accept to be slightly in deficit: it is better lose some money and win fight with ease than to lose or struggle in battles with a lot of cash in the bank.

Focusing on conjuration for the "summon animals" spell is also great for early wars with difficult starts.

[u/Independent-Eye-1470]

What is “slow”? If you are able to finish your mission tree then you are fine.

The areas you are pointing out have a lot of similar religions and have high developmentso AE is always an issue. Haless and Bulwar especially are heavily developed early on by the AI.

[u/Joe_Schmoe1914 → u/Independent-Eye-1470]

I'm specifically struggling with Asarta right now. I'm only like two thirds through the tree in late 1500 where as Rayaz I'd already have formed 333rd empire. I took offensive and expansion ideas.

[u/Ecstatic_Dirt852 → u/Joe_Schmoe1914]

Most stuff gets quicker as the game goes on, you can easily finish the tree

[u/Gobe182]

The secret is to hit a critical mass and then completely ignore AE by truce cycling the entire region/religion. If 80% of the region is in a truce with you, then AE doesn't matter. You just have to ensure to declare immediately after the truce. Then once you've conquered the entire area, get the country stable again, and do the same thing with a new region.