1.

As stated above, you have to go after and beat the Turks starting from the first move of
the game. If you play it right you'll take three Turkish cities at once. However, if you take
even two of the Turkish cities in the same move you'll have the Turks on their knees.

2.You must get to the point where you can build an offensive infantry unit. There are two
of these that are reachable by the time the inevitable 1st Venetian war starts, Byzantine
Swordsmen and Dismounted Lancers. They have the same stats. One is built from a
castle and the other from a town. The Dismounted Lancers are a little more expensive
because they can be improved farther but the easiest one to get to is the swordsmen and
you can build them in Constantinople by upgrading two times to a drill square.

3.You must marry Anna Comenus to the Hungarian Faction heir. This buys you a bit of
time when the inevitable 1st Venetian war starts. Indeed, the longer you can keep the
Hungarians at peace with you the better. Marrying Anna to the Hungarians may keep the
Hungarians from going to war with you for 100 years if you are lucky

4.There are are a total of 10 rebel provinces within easy striking distance of Byzantine
armies at the beginning of the game. These are Smyrna, Trebizond, Tbilisi, Adana,
Antioch, Aleppo, Edessa, Sophia, Bucharest and Durazzo not to mention Sarkel and the
Crimea. You need to take at least seven of them with the possible exception of Durazzo,
Bucharest and Sophia before you go to war with the Venetians

5.You must develop your economy so that you can have the money to build the buildings
that get you better troops. That means building not only training facilities but farms and
ports, markets and fairs to give you the income needed for a long war.

The War to Destroy the Turks

There are several good reasons to go after the Turks rather than the Venetians at the
beginning of the game:

1.Because when you attack the Turks the Egyptians don't declare war on you. If you
immediately go after the Venetians or Hungarians the other will attack and the Turks
won't be far behind. Then you'll probably end up in a two front war against three nations
at once and that is a good way to say You lose early in the game.

2.Byzantine troops do not seem to match up well against the Venetians. At least in the
early game the Turks seem to be easier for the Byzantines to take on.

3.The Turks really have nobody else to fight. It is possible that the Venetians will be in a
war with the Milanese or HRE and the Hungarians with the Polish. If they get into a war
with someone else you'll gain time to develop your economy and troop types.

4.There are a large number of rebel provinces in the East which you can bring under your
control. These, when combined with the Turkish provinces make a unified and easy to
control empire.

5. Because the Turks are in four provinces that are difficult to travel between. This means
it is is very hard for the Turks to send aid from one city to another. If you attack the
Turks from three directions at once you prevent them from being able to reinforce one
front with troops from another.

6. The Turks start with four provinces. The Venetians and Hungarians combined have (I
think) five between them. You are taking out your biggest enemy first.

How to Start
(Note: This walk through gets fuzzier as the moves pass because there are too many
variables to account for.)

Turn 1
Constantinople
Building: City Watch
Troops: 1X Urban Militia and 1X Spear Militia 1X ship
(You need the extra Droman to ensure that you can deliver your troops to Trebizond.)
Nicaea
Building: Land Clearance
Troops: 2X Urban Militia
Thessaloníki
Building; Port
Troops: None
Corinth
Building: Land Clearance
Troops : None
Nicosia
Building: None
Troops: None

Movement
Prince John: South towards Smyrna
Orthodox Bishop: East into Turkish territory
Spy East toward the Greek coast
Move two ships in the Aegean to the harbor in Constantinople
Move two ships in the Eastern Mediterranean to point on coast just North of Nicosia

Other
Adjust tax rates to the highest level each city can maintain

Move #2
Constantinople
Build:
Troops: 1X Spear Militia

Nicaea
Build
Troops

Thessaloníki
Build
Troops 2X Urban Militia

Nicosia
Build: Garrison Quarter
Troops

Prince John:
Build
Troops 1x Armenian Archer Mercenary
Corinth
Nothing

Move
Alexis + 1X Trebizond Archer + 1X Urban Militia + 3XSpear Militia into ships in harbor
- Then Move ALL THREE ships from Constantinople to the East side of the Bosporus in
the Black sea just beyond the river (Where Troops from Nicaea can board them next turn)
- Then move Evangelos Exotrochas and 3X Byzantine Spear men +2XTrebizond
Archers+1X Town Militia from Nicaea towards the coast to board ship in turn three

Other
Prince John lays Smyrna under siege

Turn #3
JOHN TAKES SMYRNA

Constantinople
Thessaloníki =Dirt roads
Corinth = Dirt Roads
Nicosia = nothing
Nicaea = Port
Smyrna = Repair or build castle

Troops
Constantinople: Diplomat + 1X Spear Militia
Nicosia = Byzantine Cavalry if you have any left
Smyrna = delete Armenian Archers

Move
Load Evagelos on ships with Alexis and ships and sail East up the coast towards
Trebizond (Trebizond is about 2 1/2 moves away)

John towards Thessaloníki - at the end of his move build a watch tower
Diplomat towards Raggusa
Move spy so that he can see Ragussa, Durazzo and Zagreb but do not attempt to enter any
of the cities. You need to see where moving armies are not what is in the cities. Also If
the spy is caught in the city it makes the Venetians more likely to attack you so keep him
in the country side and observe.

Note: Another family member should have appeared somewhere. Move Him towards
Smyrna

Other
Establish diplomatic relations with Hungarians near the city of Sophia. Marry princess to
faction heir

You will receive a reward for taking Smyrna. If it is 4X Vartaroi move them towards
Thessaloníki or Smyrna If it is two Dromons move them towards Smyrna

If it is 2500 gold then purchase 1X Dromon at Constantinople and other troops in Nicosia
or better yet a Dromon and an economic improvement somewhere

Move #4
Constantinople
Thessaloníki
Corinth
Nicosia
Smyrna = Dirt Roads
Turks offer trade rights and map information-accept but do not ally


Turn #5
Alexis lands and places Trebizond under siege
Ships begin returning to Constantinople
John builds watchtower at the end of his turn
If you have a ship at Smyrna - load family member 1X Cavalry + 2Xspear +1X archer in
ships near Smyrna and head to Rhodes
Another Family Member should appear in Constantinople or Nicaea move towards
Smyrna with any Urban militia or Spear militia you can spare.

Troop builds
Nicosia Start building Byzantine Spearmen


Move #6
Alexis takes Trebizond OCCUPIES IT leaves one Urban Militia and marches East (to the
right) up the coast towards Tiblisi
John Continues towards Thessaloníki
Family Member places Rhodes under siege

Move # 7
Alexis continues towards Tiblisi and should be able to see it at the end of his move.
Rhodes falls. Family Member boards ship and heads towards Cyprus
Continue building army in Cyprus

Move 8
Alexis places Tiblisi under siege (If the Turks have already taken it you may wish to wait
until you land an army at Adana)
John Reaches Thessaloníki
Continue building army in Nicosia
Begin building some cavalry and 1 peasant in Smyrna

Move #9
Alexis takes Tiblisi - Repair and strengthen his army as you can
Continue building army in Nicosia (Build only one peasant)

Move #10
Ship reaches Cyprus and combines with other two ships.
Load everything except for on peasant into the ships at Nicosia if you've been diligent
this should be about 15 units plus anything you've taken with you from Rhodes . Move
towards coast of Adana

Start moving the family member in Smyrna with any cavalry you've managed to build
there towards Iconium but do not set a route TO it have your route stop just out side the
city. You don't want to declare war yet. Purchase any Mercenary you can. You will need
a big army.

Diplomat arrives at Ragussa. Offer trade rights to Venetians offer to pay 100 gold per
turn for 20 turns as tribute. If the Venetians have not taken Durazzo offer a prayer of
thanks it probably means they are fighting someone up North

Move #11
Move the Ships with the army from Nicosia to South Coast of Lesser Armenia land
troops and look around If the Turks have not taken Adana place it under siege. If they've
taken it just stand there and move Alexis down from Tbilisi towards Zeveran
Continue moving towards Iconium buy another mercenary

By this time you should be starting to build Spear Militia in Thessaloníki

Move 12
Take Adana - Exterminate the population leave one peasant or urban militia (You could
bring in another one from Nicosia if you need and have the cash) and move the entire
army towards Caesarea

Alexis moves towards Zeveran leaving only an urban militia in Tblisi

Army moves next to Iconium hire another Mercenary

Move 13
Besiege Caesarea, Iconium and Zeveran
Build peasants or cheap cavalry in Tblisi

Move 14
Exterminate the populations in Zeveran, Caesarea and Iconium.
(If you wish to guarantee winning at Iconium use Prince John rather than the other
Family Member and send John back West)

You may need to send some help from Caesarea towards Iconium if the siege there was
unsuccessful. Otherwise move that army, less a garrison back towards Adana.

Move 17
Alexis takes Mosul
FM that took Caesarea may take Antioch if the Egyptians haven't

Move 20
Alexis takes Eddessa
FM takes Aleppo

Move 21
Army built in Mosul without a FM puts Baghdad under siege

At the end of this process you will have all or most of the following provinces under your
control.
1.Corinth
2.Durazzo (possibly)
3.Thessaloníki
4.Constantinople
5.Nicaea
6.Smyrna
7.Trebizond
8.Rhodes
9.Iconium
10.Caesarea
11.Adana
12.Tbilisi
13.Zeveran
14. Nicosia
15. Mosul
16. Eddessa
17. Aleppo
18. Antioch (possibly)
19. Baghdad
20. Sarkell (If you are bold)

These 19 or 20 provinces are defended by 5 because you can only be attacked over land
through Durazzo, Thessaloníki, Tbilisi, Aleppo and Antioch. That means that if
you can weasel even a few more turns of peace you will have considerable economic
muscle. Since you need 45 provinces to win including Jerusalem (Which you are in
marching distance of) and Rome you are well on you way

A Few Tricks
At the beginning of the game build a diplomat and send him to the Venetians. Provided
that they are not already moving armies into your territory to attack you. Obtain trade
rights, then exchange maps. Then offer to pay them 100 gold per turn for 50 turns.
Sometimes they will take this. If they do you gain time because believe it or not the
computers wants the tribute. Losing a 100 gold a turn will hurt you a lot less than than
being able to build your economy and reach those hard to get troops

Don't garrison with mercenaries if you can avoid it. Hire mercenaries fight the battle, take
the town and dismiss them. Garrison your towns that are not on your borders with militia
that you don't have to pay upkeep on. While they are poor attack troops they are useful in
defending and keeping down civil unrest. Once you build them there is no upkeep cost. 8
x militia Spearmen + 8 x Militia archers + 4 x Merchant cavalry will make a walled city
very difficult to take. They also give you huge hordes if you have to go to war.

Don't take the Venetians out at one whack. When they attack the first time take Iraklion.
Make peace and build. When they attack you the next time take Ragussa and Zagreb.
This helps to keep your reputation better with the other schismatics. Leaving the
Venetians with just Venice can be kind of fun to watch. You can do this because when
the Venetians attack they'll probably need most of what they've got. That means
Somebody else may, after a turn or two attack them. If you've taken Iraklion and they
suddenly begin moving armies North then sue for peace. Then wait for them to break the
peace and attack you again. The reason this is a good idea is that you don't want to limp
into Zagreb only to have another faction take it from you. It also helps to have the
Venetians in Venice. The Milanese have to march through them to get to you.

If you are not at war, after subduing the Turks and the rest of Asia-Minor save some cash
for hard times If you start a move with 5000 gold only spend 4000. If the next move the
start is 6000 only spend 4000 and so on. Add a 1000 gold to your reserve every year you
are not at war. If your finances improve add more. For example, if you sack a city and get
20,000 only spend 10,000 It takes discipline but over the course of 10 or 20 years you can
build up a huge pile of reserves. This seems to help your merchants resist being taken
over and gives you the ability to make that very special bribe to the garrison in a hard to
take city such as Venice. Paying a 30,000 in gold bribe to take a huge city can be a
bargain. It also gives you the ability to wage a large scale war that requires you to keep
armies in the field and pay for their support.

I talked about the Power position of having 20 provinces defended by 5 above. But, it
gets better. If you take out the Egyptians you can add

21. Alexandria
22. Cairo
23. Donga
24. Jedda
25. Gaza
26. Jerusalem
27. Acre
28. Damascus
29. Ragussa (probably)
30. Iraklion (probably)
31. Sophia
32. Zagreb (Probably)
33. Bucharest
34. Tripoli
35. Tunis
36 Venice (Maybe)
You can then defend 36 provinces from Sarkell, Venice, Zagreb, Sophia, Bucharest
Tuniis.

Indeed, you can push all the way down the coast of North Africa without increasing the
number provinces that you need to defend. What this means in a perverse way is that
while I have found that the Venetians are a greater threat to you the Egyptians are a more
economically viable target. Venice is hard to control. There are too many cities within a
days march of one another. If you can stabilize your Western border or see the Venetians
and Hungarians in a desperate war with other powers build up and march on Egypt.

Egypt is harder to down than the Turks and I'll post another "How To" on them later.

This post has been edited for grammar and minor sequencing issues