Northumbria. How? Why?
Hello. I need help. Recently I started a new run, more like a challenge, as Northumbria in 867 start. I knew it would be a pain in the ass, but I'm getting a bit stuck and frustrated. To be honest with y'all, although I have quite a few hours in this game, there are still some things that go over my head. So that's why I'm here. First, the armies. At the very start, you have two wars going on. The Sons of Lodbrok invasion of Northumberland; lead by Halfdan and supported by Ivar, you only have two allies by default, which are Mercia and Wessex; and then you have the Sons of Lodbrok Invasion of Lothian, lead by Ivar, supported by Sigurdr, no allies by default. Naturally, nearby christian kingdoms will join you in either of these wars. But to make the allied armies group is a problem. Vikings have a 23k-ish warriors at first, but allies from Scandinavia can also join. You have to group the armies to even wish facing the viking. Since there is very little space to maneuver and basically no ships at all, you have to move your troops with a DEVIOUS army of 20k+ angry norsemen just next to you and pray that you don't get attacked. Or go the other way around and cross all of Ireland and Wales to finally get to England, just behind them, but it takes too long and the allies usually disperse. Now, if somehow I manage to build up a nice army of allied christian forces between the anglo-saxons, the bretons, the scots and irish, of over 10k people, there is another problem. Because I never get the full strength of that army. If I attack a fraction of Halfdan's army with those 10k troops, maybe only 60% of them will actually fight against his 4000+, because there are 4 fucking retarded rulers that signed up to fight Ivar, not Halfdan. The other issue is that there is another invasion going on, which is the Sons of Lodbrok Invasion of East Anglia. And Mercia will usually focus on that conflict instead of moving to help me stop the angry viking warlord absolutely scorching my lands in the north. And even when they repel Ivar from East Anglia, FOR SOME DAMN REASON, THEY WON'T GO FIGHT WITH ME AT NORTH (attached image !!). And East Anglia will NEVER EVER EVER join me in any of the two wars mentioned. So.. any tips?