Albatross_Viking wrote:The problem with the pope is over (for now at least). Hes excommunicated Scotland
Good stuff
Now the Pope will even approve of you attacking Scotland, so this is your moment to strike and conquer their lands.
Albatross_Viking wrote:What do you guys think about Venice, is it a good faction?
Venice, like any faction, has its pros and cons.
They have some very strong troops and very good morale. For example, their militia can hold their own against most professional troops. These are just town folk (civilians) that are drafted and sent into battle so they're cheap to recruit and cheap in upkeep (sometimes even free in upkeep because they live and work in the city anyway). The problem with most militia is that they lack training, equipment and morale, but the Venitian militia are fierce and can hold their own in most battles, especially on defense (they're not very good for attacking or besieging).
They also field a good variety of strong infantry, both in light and heavy armour, and in the late period, when gunpowder has been invented, you can recruit some of the most excellent professional musketeers and cannoneers of Europe.
What the Venitian army lacks, however, is good cavalry. You can get some strong knights in the later period, but they're somewhat outdated then and very expensive. And if you look at the stats, apart from their practically unbreakable morale they're not much better than your basic cavalry, the Mounted Sergeants, or the Mailed Knights.
All in all Venice has a very strong army though, even if it does lack a bit in cavalry.
I think the worst con, though, is Venice's starting position. You're literally squished in between the Papal States, who you don't want to mess with for obvious reasons, the Holy Roman Empire, a huge and mighty empire, Milan, which has some of the strongest infantry units in the game, Hungary (probably your best target from the beginning, although they are a catholic faction as well), and Byzantium.
Your starting regions are also spread out too much, you can a powerful city as your centrepoint, Venice, but it's already too big to convert to a castle so you'll have to defend it very well. Without the city of Venice you're nothing, for the sheer income it provides you with, it's a trade hub and a wealthy city.
Then you have Ragusa, a region stretched very thinly along the coastline, with one castle in it, and plenty of enemies to the northeast who would like to push you off into the sea. Admitted, this castle can be defended more easilly than Venice itself, and makes for good military barracks to recruit troops to attack eastern Europe with.
And finally you have Heraklion, a settlement on the island of Creta. As said before island settlements are relatively safe from attack, because of the high cost for your enemies to reach them, but all alone on the island Heraklion is quite isolated and far away from everything. If it should get attacked, there's no way for you to get reinforcements there before the enemy besieges and takes the city.
So Venice in short: Great army (infantry in particular), bad starting position.
Aliencat (another big Total War geek)