Sicily: Gameplay Information

Italian Spear Militias and Sergeant Spearmen are your friends in the early stages of the campaign. They are stronger than standard militia units but their morale is weak. Unfortunately, Sicily don’t have a Carroccio Standard to strengthen the morale of their units so you’ll need to keep a general close. Things pick up when you get Dismounted Norman Knights as they are tough and won’t rout easily. They are marginally weaker than Dismounted Feudal Knights but that shouldn’t be a major problem in the campaign. Later Dismounted Men at Arms & Dismounted Broken Lances flesh out your infantry roster. They are cheaper to recruit but their upkeep is the same and their morale is considerably lower (5 versus 9). Sword & Buckler Men are perhaps a better alternative to those units as they have the same morale as Dismounted Norman Knights but cheaper upkeep.

The selection of missile troops is also somewhat limited. Muslim Archers are reasonable archers and can withstand limited melee but Pavise Crossbowmen are far more effective missile troops. Sicily also have access to Hand Gunners & Arquebusiers as well as Mounted Crossbowmen.

The cavalry selection is also nothing to brag about in foreign courts. Norman Knights are solid horsemen while Condottieri are recruitable in custom or online battles but have low morale. For elite cavalry, you’ll be relying on Templar or Hospitaller Knights to provide the cutting edge to your armies.

All in all, Sicily have a somewhat more limited unit roster than other factions and their unique units are no better than the “vanilla” equivalent. However, the skill of the player will more than make up for any deficiencies in the roster balance.

Table of Contents

• Campaign Overview
• Recruitable Units
• Constructable Buildings
• Back to Faction Information Page

Campaign Overview

Sicily start in a very central position just like the other Italian factions but unlike Venice & Milan, they are not at an immediate threat of being invaded by four factions at once. The island of Palermo is possibly the safest base from which to launch operations all over the Mediterranean. You will need to become a naval power if you want to succeed as Sicily because securing Africa is the key to your game. Capturing the rebel castle settlements of Cagliari & Ajaccio should be your first order of business. The other factions will be thinking likewise so you need to be quick. Now you can convert them to towns immediately to reap the benefit of increased trade or you can keep them as better defended castles for the inevitable invasions by the other factions. Tunis to the south is another rebel held castle that should be captured. If you are friendly with the Pope, be sure to ask him to call a crusade there early in the game. It’s mainly Muslim so the area is an ideal place to train priests and start planning to control the College of Cardinals. If you turn Tunis into a city, there is every chance you could get a Theologian’s Guild. There is nothing to prevent you expanding into the southern Mediterranean along the African shore and slaying some Muslims along the way. Expanding west will bring you the riches of Timbuktu. Expanding east into Egyptian lands will bring you to the holy land and the possibility of fighting with the Mongols.

Having Rome to the north of you is not likely to protect you from your Christian neighbours for long. Let them attack you and incur the wrath of the Pope and then grab their provinces while you fight the war that they picked. Avoid the temptation to capture Rome itself because you’ll be excommunicated and every Christian faction will be at war with you. Use the belligerence of AI factions to gradually gobble up their lands.

If you’re feeling adventurous, you can capture the Balkans from the Byzantines and use that as a base for expansion into Asia Minor. With north Africa secured, a natural route for expansion is into the Iberian peninsula. It is possible that the Moors will still hold Granada. When you relive them of it, you will be in an excellent position to annex the entire peninsula and possibly move into France.

The central base of your realm will be north Africa and you will need to rule the Mediterranean waves. By controlling Africa, you have many options and can move north through Iberia, north Italy, the Balkans or east into the near east. Trade is critical and to get the best benefit, you will need to convert some castles to towns and build up ports & markets. It is relatively easy to control the College of Cardinals when you get the Theologian’s Headquarters Guild and the Pope will be very important to your final victory.

Recruitable Units

The following table contains all of the units that Sicily can recruit in Multiplayer and Custom Battles. For the Grand Campaign, use the “All” period with the following corrections:

• Units in (Brackets) are mercenaries and therefore cannot be trained in campaign, although any general can recruit them in the field if he has space in his army and there are some available.
• Units in [Square Brackets] cannot be recruited in campaign, they are for Multiplayer and Custom Battles only.
• Units in Italics can only be recruited in certain regions (eg. The New World) or after a certain event (eg. The discovery of gunpowder).

Constructable Buildings

Cities

Castles