Okay, we're a long way from anywhere important, but, we have a nice strategic corner starting position that sees very little passing opportunity seekers....it is the home of the Sea Vikings after all ! We also have a staunch ally, Orkneyar to our right on the map....essentially, together, we own the top of the map; great strategic starting point.

Bornais is our capitol of Sudreyar which offers two fishing settlements and two industrial/commerce production centres. Bornais itself has a fishing harbour which boosts food production. When it comes time to expand Bornais, I found that a warehouse is the perfect compliment to the whole province as it offers huge bonuses to food and commerce through fishing and ports.

The second province, Drium Alban, is very spread out and only partially owned. The capitol, Ioua and another province, Aporcrosan (far north where King Eirik starts), are in our hands but the settlement to the south, rich in food, is owned by our neighbours, The Gallgoidel. What's important here though, is that Ioua has a monastery. This offers one of the starting blocks for the "Short Fame Victory". The other two we'll have to conquer but one out of three at the game start isn't something to be sneered at !

So, to sum up our starting position, we've got a reasonably safe starting point with a balanced food and economic availability, which we can build on. Particularly important to Sea Vikings, there's plenty of scope to sail off raiding and sacking without fear that our neighbours are going to grab our assets whilst we're off pillaging and collecting "tribute".

From a start like this it is possible to get all three 'short campaign' victories (Conquest, Fame and Kingdom) and build a game that'll offer a route to all the 'long campaign' victories.

First thing, as always, is to "spank the rebels" near Apocrosan. Do it manually, save troop numbers. That done, upgrade King Eirik. I like 'champion' for a first choice. It makes King Eirik a bit harder than your average noble and then I like to go for 'pillager'. The moral knock on your enemies is just as it should be when you sail out of the mists and sack their settlement ! Next thing to do is click King Eirik's stack and move him down to Ioua.

It'll take four or five turns before King Eirik gets to Ioua, so send him and concentrate on our second general in Bornais. Try to buy all the axe and sword infantry you can up to five units, if you can but all there is for now. Buy more whenever they come available up to five units. The idea is to unlock the tech tree associated with axe/sword men.....our strongest units. General 2 can hang out in Bornais for a couple of turns or move to Ioua directly; it only takes two moves. The idea is that Eirik meets General 2 in Ioua around turn six for a troop swap.

Sudreyar will need to take lands that offer food production facilities and money if we're going to become a proper kingdom. We're off to the rich farming and fishing areas of Ireland for just those things. Ireland also holds many provincial capitols that contain 'fame' boosting build options and another of our "Short Fame Victory" goals, The Girgainan. It also contains a gold mine and a couple of monasteries. The first people we are going to terrorise are the Uliad....we want what they've got....other than their lack of allies !

Around turn five/six Eirik and General 2 should have met in Ioua. Eirik has the five units he started with and General 2 has the two he started with, plus the five sword/axe men he purchased. General 2 should have had enough time to sit around waiting for Eirik, to have nearly fully units. You can beef them up be buying more of the same type in Ioua and merging them (right click unit in general's stack).

Give Eirik all the units unless they are very low on numbers. Eirik should leave Ioua with a stack of at least eleven units (inc. Eirik) maybe even as many as fifteen units, depending on how you spent your money or merged your troops. General 2 can sail on his own or take a very small force; one or two units that still need to build up. For now, he will just accompany Eirik.

You may need to stay a turn in Ioua to complete troop numbers or decide to sail straight off. Either way, we're heading directly south to the north eastern edge of Ireland, to a settlement owned by Uliad; Latharna. This province has a food resource and a port industry. The port, just in this position across from England, is perfect for Sea Vikings, especially a bit later in the game, as the third of our "Short Fame Victory" and ports needed for the "Short Kingdom Victory" are both sited right opposite....handy, eh !?! For now it will pay us cash, give us food and will make an excellent launch point for our conquest of the north of Ireland. Later it will also act as a springboard across to Eastern England.

By around turn nine or ten, we should be sacking Latharna with King Eirik's larger force. Part of playing Sea Vikings is about "tribute". There's a little slider at the top of the main campaign page that tells you how much 'tribute' you have and the effects (+ or-) thereof. We're probably in or near the red zone now but sacking Latharna will bang it up a fair bit.

So....Sack and then occupy Latharna with Eirik. Eirik will probably get some upgrade here. I like pillager for the reasons mentioned but 'bard' is also useful for replenishment in an invading army. Also, since you'll be having a seige in three turns, perhaps 'seige engineer' would be good.
General 2, whom has sailed along side Eirik, can now slip into port. The next turn Eirik will move south to, first take the gold mine, then to siege the provincial capitol, Dun Patriac. Sack both before occupying. General 2 will sack and occupy the settlement next to Latharna, then return to Latharna. Tribute will be looking good now. General 2 will benefit from the upgrade 'quartermaster' because we will use him to run all over the place after adding a couple more units.

During the siege of Dun Patriac, send General 2 south from Latharna to take the last of that province's settlements, Cairlinn. It's another food/money place and well worth getting before Dyflin moves in on it ! It's also important because it's another of the port settlements needed for the Short Kingdom Victory.

Uliad will still hold a provincal capitol in the north, Dun Sebuiri, but let them keep it for now. They are battered and weakened. By the time the seige is over they will settle a lucrative peace treaty with you to hold onto the only place the have left. They'll sit out their time there without much problem from here on. It may be possibly to get a vassalship out of them.....or take it later.
We should have concluded the siege of Dun Patriac and made peace with or vassalized the Uliad by turn around fifteen. Sudreyar now should own the North East coast of Ireland.

Around turn fifteen, General 2 should have a couple more troops with him. Preferably, he's in a port settlement; if not move him to one. He needs to sail all the way around the top of Ireland to the first settlement on the west coast, Dun an nGall. Again, it's rich in food and money....prefect. It'll take General 2, 4 or 5 turns before he gets there....sack and occupy. This should take care of General 2 for the next 5 to 7 turns. Once General 2 occupies Dun an nGall , get him a few more troops and wait for King Eirik to work his way northwesterly towards Girianan Ailech. This is the second of our Fame Victory conditions. Once again, General 2 is the run around guy as well as King Eirik's back up for the big siege.

Meanwhile, whilst General 2 is doing the above, King Eirik will strike out from Dun Patriac, after replenishing him army. March him towards Ard Macha. This is a small vassal nation of Aileach. If we attack their vassal, there's a chance that Aileach's allies will not get involved. General 2 should just be arriving on the west coast as King Eirik takes Ard Macha from the Airgialla and marches off towards Girianan Ailech. No doubt, your alliance with Dyflin will mean that they'll be chasing on your heels for land aquisition. Beware they don't get too ahead of you and steal your prize !

General 2 can be used to take Ard Sratha any any other out lying settlements. Don't give General 2 too many troops....five or six units to deal with rebels, sack settlements....and staying ahead of the Dyflin surge. Although they are your allies, they will grab lands that you want if you don't pay attention to their moves. Dyflin won't occupy anything Sudreyar already owns.

Eventually, somewhere around turn twenty two or three, we should have Girianan Ailtech either besieged or occupied. As King Eirik made his first move towards Ard Mach (turn fifteen), it's worth enlisting a General 3 in a settlement with a port....like Latharna, which is handy for nipping across to Hwitan Aerne; on the western English coast and our third location for a Fame Victory. General 3 can build on his army whilst King Eirik is storming across northern Ireland. Build his forces up to around fourteen to sixteen units...plenty of axe and sword men. They should have lots of bonuses via the tech tree by now.

It may be that Hwitan Aerne (English east coast) has fallen to rebels during Eirik' second phase moves. If it has, have General 3 nip over and fight them, then occupy.

It may be that it's owned by Strat Clut, Westernas, Northleode or (worst case scenario Northumbre. Let King Eirik recover from taking Girianan Ailech then sail him across the Strat Cluts northern lands. There's a settlement, Alt Clut, that allows us to do our thing......Sea Viking raiding from the sea. Declare war on Strat Clut if you need to but, at the very least, get military access from them. There's a chance that they are heavily threatened by either Westernas and Northleode or Northumbre.

Whether you wait for a while or zip right over to Hwitan Aerne, it's a prime requisite that we occupy it at some point. Look for Din Prys; if it's open to take then grab it as a route to Hwitan Aerne. Lastly, built a forth army, General 4, in Ireland. It only needs six units and can sit nicely in Ard Mach, while General 2 sit in Girianan Ailech with his six units. Together they can guard our Irish asset from rebels, whilst Eirik and General 4 enact our third phase.

Keep an eye across the Irish Sea. If any of the port settlements fall to rebels (one in North Wales, Dugannu; one just nearby on the English coast, Otergimele) be sure to send somebody (usually General 4) across to occupy it. It'll be needed for the Short Kingdom Victory conditions.

By turn 27 or 28, King Eirik should be off the coast of north east England, looking at landing, either to engage directly with Strat Clut or to move through their lands to engage with Northleode or Circenn....or both. Either way, raise another army in the first settlement that Eirik takes. Use General 5 in much the same way as we used General 2....King Eirik's go-for. Genral 5 doesn't initially need any units. Just use him to take settlements for now then send him somewhere safe to build up his numbers later.

It should be possible to take Northloede's northern most province with Eirik whilst dashing about, taking four or five of Circern' southern settlements, by using and building on the General 5's army. An important point here is that, this is one of the slimmest parts of the the British Isles which makes the east/west, coast to coast, troop movement very quick. Also, many of the settlements have ports in this area....great for moving Sea Vikings around for sacking and occupying. These continual actions against Circenn will boost Sudreyar's standing with both Gallgoidel and Orkneyar.

Eventually, Eirik will conquer northern Northleode, Strat Clut and southern Circern (Scoan particularly). That'll need at least three or four governors. It's sometimes good to 'liberate' some of the provincial capitols as Sudreyar will be getting short of governors, and a little stretched with keeping those it has, sweet. Liberated peoples will be our ally automatically.They make a good home guard. The capitols in Northleode (Eidenburg) and Strat Clut (Guvan) contain fame assets so make sure that they come under Sudreyar's full control. Be sure to sack before liberating !

This part of the campaign all happens within this arena. It'll take about 25 to 30 turns. King Eirik's full army and General 5 (mid sized army) should handle it. By now, Eirik's very experienced army, plus his bonuses and the tech tree advances, should make this particular stack 'nails'. Perhaps create a General 6 for a bit of help. It's handy to have another fellow to dash about or raise a force quickly.

General 3 should be have made his way to Hwitan Aerne during Eirik's third military phase. Use him to mop up Strat Clut from the south. Or, if things are going well with Eirik and company, use General 3 can be used to grab one of those port settlements of north Wales and east England, if they fall to rebels. Don't bother to take Cearloen....more trouble than it's worth to us Sea Vikings. It'll mean yet another governor and it's not one of our main goals by requisite.....but hey....if you're on a roll, don't let me hold you back !

Try to keep Eirik's full army within the central area so he can engage main forces and seige capitols. Use General 5 and 6 to push up into Circenn, along the north west coast. Our allies Orkneyar and the ever opportunist Gallgoidel will be pushing the enemy from the north.
Certainly, by turn 60 something, the middle swaithe of northern England and southern Scotland should be owned by Sudreyar. When it's all wrapped up, march Eirik south until he gets to Din Prys , through the newly gaines lands of Strat Clut.The Short Fame Victory is just a matter of time and careful kingdom management.

Hold onto what you've got...or follow the conclusion section for more achievements. It's worth noting that most of what we do in the third phase is about keeping allies sweet and crushing contenders or inhibitors to our main goals in this area......Guvan and Eidenburg for the 'fame' boosting buildings....and most important, Hwitan Aerne for the last of our Fame Victory buildings. If it seems unsure about how far to take the advance into Scotland or Northern England, remember why we're advancing and what we are trying to acheive through that advancement.

It is important now to make a special save game.

When Eirik's third military phase is over, make a special save game. Right now Sudreyar should hold all but one or two of the ports needed for a Short Kingdom Victory. Whoever owns those ports now...it doesn't matter. What matters is to make the save game first.

Once saved, create a general way up Stornaway, our most northerly settlement. Send him to the very north of Scotland. It's a port settlement own by Orkneyar, our staunchest ally. We need to declare war and occupy the settlement. Do exactly the same with whatever other port you need to hold. Make sure you get the arrival of the generals and the occupation at the same or similar time. Once done, you'll get the Short Kingdom Victory along with some other achievements.

When you've got the Kingdom Victory achievement, reload to the original Short Fame Victory special save game and continue without bothering with the Short Kingdom Victory goals in mind....i.e. don't attack said ports and thus a war with our best ally. Just keep building on the Short Fame Victory goals.

At first, it seems tempting to go straight off and grab Cell Daltain off The Gallgoidel, but for now though, it's best to offer a Declaration of Friendship with them at the start of the game. They will prove useful later in the game. Although I never made a military pact with them, I found that their king is opportunist and is always happy to plunder our natural enemy, the Fortui/Circenn alliance, whenever Sudreyar/Orkneyar alliance go to war with them.

Every so often in the game, Cell Daltain gets taken by rebels. If you have the time and you are passing then it's worth taking just to complete the Druim Ablan province. It isn't worth getting in a war with Gallgoidel over though.

The other group to reach out to is Dyflin on the east coast of Ireland. They are blood kin and you'll get a mission sooner or later to make a full military pact with them. The completion to the mission offers Eirik and the Kingdom some good bonuses, plus Dyflin are good allies as our main focus in the first military phase will be in Ireland. Make a "Declaration of Friendship in your first four turns. Build on that a bit later, after taking a settlement or two in Ireland, with a small gifts, defensive pacts, marriages, etc.

It's worth building relations with Northumbre as they are also Vikings but don't go too far for now, just keep an eye on what's happening in their world. Later, they will become a huge power and they may own a couple of settlements that we need for a full victory. Watch the interaction between Northumbre (Great Viking), Strat Clut (Welsh) and Northleode (English) and their vassals Westernas. Later in the game we will want to exploit their positions. Strat Clut is an easy victim, but with no allies also makes a needy king. Westernas are also easy pickings. You can take what's theirs or use them to help defeat one of the other two, when needed. Strat Clut also offer a handy route back from Ireland to attack Circenn is their weak southern areas later (turn 30 onwards).

Remember for now though, to always keep an eye on Irish interactions since this is the area we initially intend to exploit in our goals. We are going to first take the north eastern side of Ireland, then work our way back north westerly later.

Last point of interest is that somewhere around turn six, you will be requested to join a war by your allies, The Orkneyar. Do not refuse them, it will seriously destroy your nobles respect for you, which will be devastating during these early stages. It may be that your enemies declare war on Sudreyar directly. Either way, when the war notice comes, click that you'll support your ally or ask for theirs. This war will rage for nearly your entire game, don't freak out....your allies are pretty tough and will keep your enemies busy for ages.

Gallgoidel come into their own here because they want land that your enemies own. They leap at the opportunity to rip into your enemy's exposed assets. You will have to do very little in this war until much later in the game. For now, concentrate on Ireland until around turn twenty.

At one point in this war, the enemy will seize Apocrosan whilst all you armies are in Ireland. Seems like a problem at first; back-door-wide-open and-the-guard-dog-has-run-off scenario. In a couple of turns, your enemy will leave Apocrosan and dash off to defend his own land. Up until now you should not have actually had any part in the war other than by treaty. Simply create a general on the island next to Apocrosan and sail him round to retake the settlement...don't sack it though, it will affect the public order of all of Druim Alban, your province.

By turn fifteen, we should have alliances with Dyflin, Orkneyar and Friendships with Northumbre and Gallgoidel. Dyflin has a couple of vassals and can prove a strong ally, guarding our southern edges.

By turn twenty five Orkneyar and Gallgoidel will still be dealing with Circenn....a war that we've had little to do with but are now going to prepare for, after that taking of Girianan Ailech.
Northumbre will have to be watched through Eirik's second military phase. We need to stay on side with them for now. They have huge potential and a couple of large armies by now. We have being Vikings in common although they consider us 'lowly' ones. Usually they get embroiled in a war with Northleode. Strat Clut usually gets hastled by both of them. There's no faction alignment here; English/Viking/Welsh .....no friends here !

We can use this situation to our advantage. Strat Clut's lands are rich in food and money. They also offer a route directly into the south of our enemy Circenn. If Northumbre has Northleode/Westernas on the run, we could join Northumbre and attack Northleode's northern area via Strat Clut's lands. An offer of marriage to Northumbre would be good by turn twenty.
Kingdom management.

The more the game progesses, the more Northumbre will get involved in wars elsewhere, just keep them sweet and it'll all go well. The north will be covered by your Orkneyar allies. The west will be covered by your Dyflin allies. Northumbre will have a Declaration of Friendship with you. Be careful of going into pacts with them. You may get dragged into a side war that you didn't want.

In the first turn, by the time you've bought your five troops units, there'll only be enough for a couple of builds. Upgrade the lesser of the two fisheries in Sudreyar and upgrade the monastary in Ioua.

I'll be six turns before the monastery in Ioua upgrades so every couple of turns, it will be possibly to upgrade something else. Spend all you can on upgrading Sudreyar' food industries and bring the stronghold to level two.

Once Ioua has it's level two monastery (turn seven), it will allow an addition to the capitol's build plan. I chose the granary for the food. It's still early in the game and we need all the food we can get. It'll allow town upgrades and allow for more troops. Once we control north east Ireland we'll own another two monasteries, so building libraries can come a bit later.

After turn ten, we'll need to start spending money repairing sacked settlements in Ireland. I usually leave them for one or two turns as it works out cheaper to repair. Keep investing in food production until turn fifteen. By then, Sudreyar will have it's own addition to the build plan....stick a warehouse here. It'll compliment both the fisheries and the Herring port.

By turn fifteen, our tribute score will be rising nicely, as will the bonuses thereof with five sackings, an enemy surrender, a new province and a new major alliance. Following our tech tree research line, we should have some decent bonuses in melee skills and shield skills. Now we're starting to become a strong force in the local area; probably better troop types than our enemies have right now around turn fifteen....nice!

Try to find useful wives for your generals and, most of all, your governors. Keep them happy with a loyalty of no less than four and an influence of less than seven. Pay to manipulate this if necessary. Upgrades for governors might be 'forager' or 'priest' first a first go. As Sudreyar gets strong they can take 'scribe' upgrades for the gold bonuses. Our governors don't really need 'siege', 'quartermaster' or 'bard' since they'll be hanging out in town and are unlikely to be getting attacked much.

By the taking of Girianan Ailech, the 'leadership' option in the tech tree should be open. It will give King Eirik large fame bonuses. Try also to open the library option in the tech tree at some point. This will add bonuses to the research rate.

To gain the Short Fame Victory, we need to upgrade the buildings in Ioua, Girianan Ailech and Hwitan Aerne to level 5. It'll cost masses in food and money. It can take until around turn 90 before it's all complete. Keep upgrading food producing settlements and of course our income. Build granaries to help this.

By turn fifty, Sudreyar will have anything up to five buildings that produce fame. Build these up when possible because King Eirik needs a fame score of 246 as one of the requirements for the Short Fame Victory.

By the time the third phase of Eirik's campaign is over, it only a matter of time before getting the Short Fame Victory. I found Gallgoidel acting a bit dodgy around this time. I arranged a marriage and a military pact with them after ghosting one of their raiding vessels around the Hebrides.

Also at this time, King Eirik isn't that far from a Short Conquest Victory ! Sudreyar, by now, controls eight or nine provinces with two big armies and three of smaller ones. In my own game I chose to invade Cerneu (Cornwall) but any of the English, Welsh or Irish provinces will do.