The Vandals: Legendary

Well it seems that patch 3 broke this guide, but that is not all bad news. The good news is the patch is supposed to address the issue with the AI chasing horde factions across the map and improve AI logic in general. The fact you could troll the Alamans like this was ridiculous. So moving forward it should make the Vandals and other hordes more enjoyable without the need to cheese.

You start in Casurgis, Hercynia around the Marcomans only settlement. To the west lay the Alamans in Uberzis, Germania whom you are already at war with, and they will be out for blood. You are losing money, landless, and your only allies are hundreds of miles away, fun times.







By spring 400 AD you should have:

• Two Tributary States.
  
• Good wives for your sons.
  
• Plenty of NAPS and Alliances.
  
• All Chapter 1 Goals.
  
• 15k-30k in your treasurey.

Note: This was written in legendary but works in other difficulties.

• Goto the Politics menu and assign Indulf and Wisimar to Companions. Should a political complication arise on the next turn have them spend their own influence to rectify the problem. This gets rid of 40-60 rival family influence strait off the bat.
  
• Goto the "The Bringers of Victory" army and replace Wisimar with you heir Genseric. This is important to get your family Dominion and to get Genseric the experience he needs to take over the Vandals later.
  
• Move the "The Bringers of Victory" as close to Casurgis as possible and camp.
  
• With "The Howling Wolves" army hire a mercenary onager.
  
• Attack Casurgis and Subjugate them. This battle can be auto-calced on defensive stance if you don't have confidence.
  
• Move "The Howling Wolves" to the west side of Casurgis, near "The Bringers of Victory", and Camp.
  
• Have both hordes build lavish tents, have "The Howling Wolves" build a herders' camp.
  
• Set your research to Militarized Society.

Militarized Society

• Move "The Bringers of Victory" west and encamp.

Note: the bridge at Casurgis was fixed in Patch 1.1.0 allowing "The howling Wolves" to move much further past the river, However you should still move to the location in the picture as it draws the Alamans to the correct spot.

• Cross the river with "The Howling Wolves" and encamp. That's as far as they can move and still camp, which you need for you construction and income.
  
• Purchase a spy at "The Bringers of Victory"

You just hit Imperium 2 thanks to your research.

• March "The Howling Wolves" at normal speep to catch up, do not encamp, go as far as you can.
  
• Move "The Bringers of Victory" from under the small mountain range around toward Uberzis and encamp next to the other army.
  
• Move your spy south to find the Alamans chasing after you and attempt to hinder them. Thanks to the rivers and forests you have a natural buffer that slows them down.

This is what end turn should look like.

Alamans seem to have lost track of your hordes but are staying vigilant, they may have even reinforced with more units.

• Siege Uberzis with "The Howling Wolves" sustain it and move "The Bringer of Victory" as close as you can and encamp them.
  
• Attack Uberzis and Subjugate them. It is once again possible to auto-calc defensive and win this battle with few casualties.
  What if "The Howling Wolves" are hindered? Np, siege with "The Bringers of Vitctory" then double time the other army over and swap the onager.
• Make sure both armies are encamped. Your income is in the positive.

As you can see, the Alamans aggressive nature has ended poorly for them.

• Move your armies south of the river, they won't be able to encamp.

The major threat of the Alamans has been turned into an advantage. With two tributary states under your belt and the new camps built in your hordes, your economic situation has turned around as well.

• Siege Agusta Vindelicorum with "The Howling Wolves" and sustain the seige.
  
• Move "The Bringers of Victory" down as close as you can get and encamp.
  
• Sack the city completing Chapter Objective IV.
  
• Encamp "The Howling Wolves".
  
• Set your research to Labour Service to complete Chapter Objective II, now that your previous research is complete.

Labour Service.

It's time to look at the rest of the chapter objectives, the diplomatic situation, and getting your family taken care of.

You have 3.5 years to fulfill all chapter objectives and you are already mostly done, so let's have a look:

• I All that Glitters: Loot or sack 3 different settlements. 1 down 2 to go and these Roman cities are undefended. Note that it says different cities, you can not just keep hitting the same one. Iuvavum and Vurunum are great targets. Also heading north to more walled cities is a great Idea for high gold sacks. Just don't go too far if you wanna make it back for bonus ojective V.
  
• II The Fat of the Land: Research Labour Service. You already started working towards this on turn 6 and will finish before 400 AD for an easy 1000 gold.
  
• III Migration Period: Ensure your faction is in migration at the end of the chapter. Just don't settle, np.
  
• IV Raid on Raetia: Sack Agusta Vindelicorum. This is already complete, 1000 gold in the bank.
  
• V Westward Ho!: Maintain a military presence in Raetia et Noricum and Germania. In the spring of 499 you need to head one army back to Germania and one army back to Raetia et Noricum and have them in place by spring 500 AD to get an easy 1000 gold.

During the next 12 turns you can easliy sack roman cities 10 times or more to build your coffers, but this builds another important currency, the diplomatic kind. For your actions against the Wester Roman Empire many other factions will love you, even your Tributary States. You should take advantage of this before your Imperium shoots up and spoils it.

• Find Wives: While everyone loves you is a great time to shop around for the perfect wives for Genseric and Gunderic and get gold out of the deal. Try to arrange a marriage with a young woman, that will live a long time, with a good stat to pass to your son. I personally like +1 cunning to the husband so you can get to night battles (req general to have 6 cunning). Demand payment, you can usually get about 1000 gold per if the probability was high to arrange the marriage.

• NAPS and Allliances: Continueing to take advantage of your good standing in the world, try to sell as many NAPS (non aggression pact) and Alliances as possible. By sell I mean demand payment to sign it. Always remember, if the probability is high, you can get more money from them.

At 400 AD you should have the goals listed in the introduction fulfilled. You are in a great position militarily, diplomatically, and politically. At this point, if your Tributary States are not at war with the Western Roman Empire, ask them to join. They will follow some of your sacks and occupy Roman territory. This will help keep some of those Roman legions off your butt.

Have a look at your Chapter Objectives, see what cities you need to sack and plan accordingly. You are in control now, Vandalize the Western Roman Empire and bring the Vandals to glory.

There was a diplomatic pop up during the end turn cycle, should I join this war? Yes, go ahead, it was probably the Alans asking you to fight some faction you won't meet for 100 years, or the Seubians asking you to fight the Romans which you will be doing soon.

Diplomatic pop up, should I marry this girl? It could not hurt, but you won't get money yet. Just remember who she was if she had good stats and ask again after you tear into Rome.

Should I ask my allies to join my war when I declare? I almost never ask allies to join wars, it's a good way to lose allies. If you want them in the war, still don't ask here. Ask them individually after you are already in the war. Sure you may not get them to join, but their lands still count toward your victory conditions.

How should I upgrade my spy? Get at least 1 point in tracking so you can move him into an army. This will help him get xp without having to always find an army to hinder. Other than that it is up to you.

Where should I spend my General's points? To go into any amount of detail here would need a guide unto itself, but I will say getting "Hunter" for the extra food is a great idea to help you expand your encampments and not starve.

What army traditions should I get? By year 400 this is what my traditions look like. Growth is key for expanding as a horde, and lower army upkeep is a backward way to raise your income.