I submitted my first campaign move in our Dark Ages - Fight For Europe! campaign.  As perusing my blog can tell you, I'm taking the role of an Andalusian Amir in the 12th centry (as the Christians tell time) out to earn his fame and fortune as a warlord, and hopefully expand his Taifa-kingdom while he's at it.

Since we're all in the dark this first turn as to who is where and with what, I'm taking a conservative approach at first.  My home territory is on the Northern coast of Spain, and I'm sending out a raiding party into a neighboring coastal territory.  Hopefully, none of the two other players in Spain will make the same move, and I can have a simple "milk run" raid scenario.  (You know the drill - charge in, kill some militia, and liberate some grain/livestock/whatever.)

In this game, we can't go on any expeditions of conquest until we have 500pts worth of troops, and we're only starting with 300pts.  So there is very little chance that anyone will be doing any conquering this first year of the campaign.  More likely, we'll all be probing the neighboring territories to see which ones produce the most, saving up money, forming alliances, and planning our next years' conquests.

My initial force is heavy on missiles and horses, though I have a core of spearmen that should give my footsoldiers some staying power.  Since my first year will be spent raiding, my theory is that the mounted force will be able to outflank and cut down the enemy, and the archers and javelin men will tear up the unarmored peasants that I'll be fighting.  The spearmen will probably be relegated to carrying loot at first, and for use as shock troops if the missile bombardment isn't enough to remove the enemy threat.

My belligerant neighbors to the North will be largely tied up in their own interests, and the Franks are the ones I'm most worried about, as one of their petty warlords might decide to carve out a piece of Al Andalus for their own.  I'll be keeping a close eye on their activities over the next year.

I'm not sure what those Berber Al Murabitun are up to, nor what my other Andalusian brothers are planning.  My own strategy must adapt to my success or failure as a warlord.

It is probably too soon to be making too many concrete plans.  I'd like to follow an audacious path of conquest, but until I have amassed enough wealth, I'll bide my time and wait for my spys to report.