I decided to try the Akritai start (Orthodox Hunters) and have been beating my head against the wall for a few days now. The starting Holy Order character is good, and his true faith trait carries you, but he is old and on a timer to kick the bucket.

You are forced to pick the Russian troops option in the initial event (free 1k light infantry event troops) otherwise you can't survive a year into the game, but after that I can never gather enough money to build up my economy. You are ALWAYS at war, so you can never get your control high enough to make money, so you have to spend every penny from hard fought defensive wars into mercenaries, again and again... until you can't and lose.

The main issue is always money. Your economy is always ticking down (low control due to wars, raids and different culture AND religion), and the buildings cost from 150-250, which you can't afford because, again, you need mercs to survive. I tried to rush to form Bulgaria so I could make a Holy Order, but the economy doesn't scale fast enough to get you there before the big vampire/werewolf blobs anex you in a single holy war CB.

Am I doing something wrong? I was able to last almost a century into the game, but, again, you are always, ALWAYS on a timer with your low control and ticking economy. Does anyone have advice or tips?