Every few weeks or so HWE will feature a review of a different kingdom of Hyboria by players who have either won with them or done well enough that they might as well have. These contain strategy tips, ideas, and a general direction to go for those interested in making the most of their bid for Hyborian dominance. Crom is very interested in gathering in as many reviews as possible from veteran players, so don't be shy about sending them in!
All right! I didn't have to deal with a wrinkle in the map this time!
Chances are the first time you played Kusan, you either were forced to because you just wanted to play the darn game, or you chose it, enticed by the "one of the toughest kingdoms to play" messages. I did both, and found that if played correctly, Kusan can be fun, challenging, impossible, or deadly.
Kusan finds itself entrenched in a power vaccuum between Hyrkania, Kambulja, and Khitai. Kusan long existed as a far-flung outpost of Khitai, ever-battling against the Hyrkanian hordes. Such a small nation, without real support from its mother country; it is easy to see that natural selection called for the sprouting of diplomats and agents from this tiny nation incapable of siring the heavy-booted, muscled barbarian hordes prevalent in the age of Conan. The challenge of Kusan is to subsist and yea, even prosper in the face of enormous foes thundering about with huge armies or vastly superior troops. But the name of the game in Kusan is diplomacy and intrigue, and with these, and some initial smart moves, Kusan is a force in the East.
Kusan begins the game with 16 court members. SIXTEEN. For a small nation, this number is HUGE, and the key to winning is utilizing them effectively. In the beginning, Kusan has 5 superior diplomats, 2 excellent, and 3 good. Imagine what these blokes would mean to Aquilonia or Zingara? And for the rest of the game, chances are that if you get a new character who is either a noble or priest, he's a diplomat. This means that you PEACE PEACE PEACE everyone off. Everyone. When I get bored, I peace off NPKs. I peace NPKs in HW games played by NPKs. The point is, if you peace them off, they can't fight you. More on this later. Avoiding influence is also key, and it is easily done on the surrounding nations. Again, more later. I have also used the diplomats as mercs for breaking up alliances, and it has worked enough in the past that I will keep trying it. Imagine the sudden lifting of an alliance, the damage done to armies within allied provinces, player's wondering what the heck happened, all while a single shadow slips back to Kusan, snickering within his cowl, wondering how the buffoons could have believed his worst material.
Kusan also starts with good rulers. The CHA is good, and the initial monarch superior (he is also one of the superior diplomats and has excellent military command as well), and there are 6 others who are at least good. This means that with your characters who are not peacing, you are ruling the piddly provinces you conquer to up the income you get from them. Normally I don't advocate the old (A) (R), but here it is critical so you can raise a ton of troops and a modest amount of mercs, since your troops aren't great and you'll therefore need numbers. And with a CHA who the people like, you have hometown happiness.
Kusan starts with a couple of generals (ex, good, good, excellent) with more to come on later turns, but the troops aren't great anyway, so... A bonus is that your ADJ, while ancient, has Sup heroism and good MC. As for Kusani magic, few realize that such a small nation could house such masters. There are two superior wizards with plenty of strategic and battle magic, a priest with diplomacy (bonus!), one with Black Death, and a hero with fanaticism who will be leading your average troops, coaxing them into battle ("Charge! I don't care if he's got a 10 foot pike, moron! You will charge and like it!"). There is also a character with long life spells aplenty. Use it on him and the agents. I have found that the magic has been key to several battles, and it doesn't stop with the initial set of characters.
Last, and probably not as well known, are the agents. One is Sup PC/INT, Ex DIP, and the other Sup DIP/INT, with a hero and 2 nobles with good INT and one wizard with Sup INT. This is large. The non-agents I use for routine spy work, stuff not too dangerous but too dangerous for lay folk. The agents have been, for me, spies, assassins, fomenters of unrest, kidnappers, and sources of income, as I hire them out as doers of the underhanded for other less-endowed nations. They are key for, well, everything that spies do, but as Kusan, where your military is not great (recurring theme?), every other advantage counts. However, keep the actual agents long-lifed, since Kusan does not grow agents. And while I have used them in dangerous missions, occasionally getting them killed, I find that they don't come in droves to replace them. But to be Kusan sometimes means needing to whack that mega-wizard so your paltry troops have a chance.
Kusan initially borders only NPKs. True, Khitai is only one province away, and Hyrkania two, but all of your imperial goals are directly around you, and none of theirs include either you or any of your goals. Yours are also easily taken from the heathens of the Eastern Deserts. Further, the initial proximity to Khitai is unimportant due to an initial peace treaty, while Hyrkania has no goals in your direction, even though Kusan is a tasty province to have. So there is relative freedom to roam about the Eastern Deserts, conquering, raiding, and stirring up hordes reminiscent of the great MONGOL HORDES! DEATHDEATHDEATHDEATH!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!
Not so fast, spanky. You aren't going anywhere with those troops. 1 army starts off defensive. Your best troop (Ad/Ex/Sup) are unique, but hey, they fight well in forts. Everyone else has two goods and a poor, infantry with poor missile, archers with poor melee. Your infantry accounts for at least 50% of your force, LCA 10%, and LIA 20%. Never has Kusan achieved missile superiority or busted someone with a charge. You can hire mercs, but with four different types, being able to account for 1-4% of your force, and your initial treasury of excellent (but a small nation's excellent), they aren't important until later, when ya stick 'em in the front lines to absorb the charge. Your imperial troops (which you should get within the first war seasons if you follow my Five Easy Steps to World Domination) are great, certainly better than what you start with, but...
You say this doesn't sound so bad? Well, it is. And I'm not just pouting. All the surrounding nations have very similar troops, and later in the game they multiply, not quite like Picts, but close. It's also usually 1 for 1 in battles, with occasional execeptions. And if you let your diplomatic guard down, like I have in the past, defending troops of this particular kingdom don't appear to defend too well.
Not so fast, junior. The good news is that despite all this, the player is a thinking being and should be able to wrest most of the Eastern Deserts from their incompetent rulers, peace them as the dweebs try to fight back, and generally overrun the gap between Hyrkania and Khitai. The peacing and avoiding influence is key since you can easily peace off (hey, neat little double entendre) Khitai and Hyrkania so they can't attack, and I've been pretty successful walling off Khitai's northernmost western expansion. Hyrkania never seems to care what I'm doing. I drop them a line when I get close to let them know that their eastern border is safe with me, and oops, hope you don't mind the peace treaty - good fences make good neighbors...
If I'm being ignored, I'll raid a couple of big boy provinces, or better, take out a diplomat or an agent, which is unfortunate for Khitai et. al., since they have so few, and are so vulnerable to this ploy. I haven't had problems after I try this. In terms of alliances, often I will ally myself with Kambulja, since they seem so far away, and I like to know what's going on with them, and like to help him against Khitai, who could become a problem if things went terribly wrong. If I am feeling truly bold, I will occasionally invade Khitai or Hyrkania, but I do this when they seem unsuspecting (umm, usually they don't park armies on Kusanian borders), and when I have help on another front.
Beyond the three imperial goals, the surrounding nations have some good points. The Wigurs and Kuigars are tough opponents but are nice to have, as is the Jaga Tribes and some of the Meruvian nations with their trade routes. Be careful though, since some of them seem to grow Black Death on trees, along with the troops that of course grow on trees.
So the key is to raise as many troops as you can and plow through your imperial goals, rule to increase your provinces' worth and loyalties, and peace off EDES and others so they can't take back what you already took. Never underestimate surrounding nations' armies, since equal forces are not as good thing for you to see. Work with the other PKs in the area to your advantage, but don't hesitate to be a royal pain in the ass, peacing them off and surrounding them - they don't have the characters to stop you. And being bold enough to invade a big boy pays if you catch them napping, since your capture of their province means them not being able to get it back as long as they're peaced. Simple, basic, by the rules HW. But fun.
Kusan is fun because of the characters. They steal, spy, kill, spell, and eat with the best of them. It's satisfying to sit back and imagine a slack-jawed opponent reading his turn sheet, incredulous that his invasion has been cancelled because of some pencil-necked diplomat, or because his best diplomat was left decapitated with a note saying "Momma had a baby and its HEAD popped off!" Or that his provinces are revolting for some unknown reason, all while some shadow skulker slips back to your fold with stories of deceived guards, silly kings, and unfaithful queens.
Conan should've been a Kusani.