hard is.. umm hard.

[vlad_demstra]

http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif I've played over and over on hard. I keep losing really bad. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif.. It isn't really the battles that is killing me, its the money to expand my country.. I can't get enuff men to fight the french.. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif

[motorhead]

As far as i've read, the only difference economically is you get less starting cash on hard (10k easy, 8k normal, 6k hard, 4k expert). Check out some of the sticky threads here and in mainhall for advice on building a strong economy.

[Alrowan]

expert the battles kill me, mainly due to my poor generals vs the enemies good generals... the -4 morale is a killer

[Eastside Character]

Quote[/b] ]
I've played over and over on hard. I keep losing really bad. It isn't really the battles that is killing me, its the money to expand my country. I can't get enuff men to fight the french.

Hah I wish I could complain like that http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/rolleyes.gif

[Hobot]

Uh, I can kick ass with switzerland in MedMod 3.xx on Expert where they have no money, troops, and only switzerland to start with. I too wish I could complain about difficulty of play, instead I feel like complaining about me being too good. Unfortunately, I can't set a difficulty level on myself, only the AI http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/shock.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/dizzy.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wacko.gif

[The Wizard]

Expert is all I play nowadays... Aragonese on expert is quite the challenge http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wacko.gif

[dessa14]

well when i had med mod i was playing polish with my super russia on the east and super germans on the west and super hungarians on the south but i still won (it's known as my super mod only on my comp)(all super comps are fully built up at start of game and have better trade and ect)
thanks dessa

[vlad_demstra]

I guess I just suck at the game http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/rolleyes.gif

[seeker]

Before you come to the conclusion

[I guess I just suck at the game ]

try playing a game and saving it every few years until you get to the point you dont have enough money to beat the french. Read past treads on building a economy and replay parts of the game, but work on getting more money before you attack the french.

You will find a little time lost to building up trade, farms,mines and increasing taxes by having a happy pop make for a good flow of money coming in.
Also keep on the lookout for a soldier with a 5 accum to make a governor. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[o_loompah_the_delayer]

I assume you are playing England?

On hard or expert dont waste your money initially on unpgrading forts or other expensive items. For the first three - five years train troops and then attack the French early Flanders is rich and odds are the French have upgraded it agriculturally, so you can reap their rewards. Only hire mercenaries that are definitely going to be useful, such as seige units (catapults/mangonels, dont waste cash on ballista) and also heavy cav, vikings etc. If you cant hack it abandon Anjou and Normandy, the three you want in order of importance are Flanders, Ile de France, Aquitaine (castle, but distant). With France gone or pretty much so, sit back and build a fleet and infrastructure, keeping sufficient strength to deter HRE/Spain/Aragon. Also you can take Scotland/ Wales/ Ireland and Scandanavia at this point as you should have sufficient csah to garrison them adequately.

[The Wizard]

I don't like not having a starting province with no trade goods... So as the Aragonese I move to Valencia ASAP and leave Navarre to the dogs.

[Oaty]

The big thing to note here is if you use the pause button you are cheating the comp of its 1 and only great ability micromanagemant. So I do'nt use the pause button anymore and only use 1 or 2 horse archers because half the time you have to micromanage them becasue they can't skirmish worth a sh**

[seghillian]

If cash is the problem, I find the quickest way to generate it is to build ships and merchants. I like to be doing this throughout the game, setting a target of 1 ship in every sea area adjoining land initially, then upping that to 2 and more ships if possible to protect trade (and military ) routes. Incomes in excess of 50k are possible although that will slip away towards game end as you run out of people to trade with. I can't be bothered to develop farms unless cash is really plentiful - you can steal developed farms from your neighbours - let them spend the money Money is better spent on units (and the means of training them) so you can take your neighbours' lands than on building farms, as the payback on farm development is too long term for most provinces. IMHO.

However, another good cash generator is conquest As English, I like to take out the French very early, then pick off Wales and Scotland at leisure. I tend towards a rush strategy in the TW games as far as possible, though MTW places more constraints on this than STW.

I always play on expert now and am enjoying the Aragon late campaign, which the opening menus rate as especially difficult. I think I'm getting over the worst although I'm just coming up against the Horde now ....

[King John II]

There is a fundamental balance to strike.

You need to expand your army (so as to be in a position to conquer), to upgrade buildings (so that your army is powerful), and to generate income.

While balancing these three factors you must keep the provinces you already hold happy and only expand at the rate which allows you immediately to pacify the new territories you take.

The mistake you are making is to neglect the generation of income at the expense of having too big/powerful an army too soon.

A small re-balancing is all it is going to take. Because it is a weakness of the game that once you begin to win, as long as you are careful and continue to avoid over-extending, there is very little that can stop you.

So what you do is this. Put developing agriculture in all worthwhile provinces first. Save only in those few provinces where a 20% upgrade increases income by less than 50 florins a turn you should make that improvement the first you undertake. And later give a high priority to the 40% improvement.

Both of those are quick and cheap.

Make an exception where you can build a mine and go for that first.

When those priorities are taken care of go for a watch tower and a border fort. Because they give you a healthy boost to happiness. And they are also quick and cheap.

The precise order after the 20% agriculture and mine does not matter too much.

While you are doing this you may have the cash to pump out some peasant units. The point of that is to concentrate the more powerful units the game gives you at the start and to replace them with peasants as a garrison. Also to build up a number of peasant units to move into the first province you capture.

Now start advance planning for trade. One well developed province must head towards ship production as soon as initial income generation is sorted. And you should earmark two more provinces for eventual ship production. In those provinces you will as soon as cashflow allows give some priority to upgrading castles.

In two/three trade goods provinces a trading post followed by a dockyard are the improvements to go for after the mine, border forts and agriculture up to 40%.

And that will take care of cash generation short and medium term. Your cash generation will now keep place (and outstrip) army building and expansion.

In each of the first five years you can expect to have to count up the cost of everything you spend unit by unit and improvement by improvement. But about then you will find that enough florins are coming in so that you do not have to do that any more. Just keep every province building oan improvement and the two or three (or four, five or six) provinces where you can build worthwhile units each building one unit.

Once you reach the point where you start producing ships you will soon have more money than you need and that will then continue for a long time.

You can prolong that period, if need be, by conquering inland provinces before coastal ones. Which probably means routing expansion through the northern provinces followed by the central european ones.

The happiness thing you must watch throughout. Early on you aim to keep above 100% but should be willing to take a few minor risks (say two or three provinces on 90% for a turn or two) if that is what it takes to seize Sweden or Flanders or Egypt or whichever other juicy province is your first target. But quite soon you must keep all provinces (including newly seized ones) over 120%.

Take provinces one at a time and from first to last wait until you can see that you will have enough units immediately available to pacify the province to be seized before you grab it.

It is also worth ensuring that you can immediately assault the enemy castle. Because the risk of rebelion drops in the year you initiate the assault (not when you complete the assault). Taking the castle also puts you into a position to start propping up happiness with watchtower/border fort/citizens watch/church whatever.

Place your king centrally. Never send him into battle. And you will get a secondary benefit from planning for an early navy because once you have ships, your king's stabilizing influence will be felt more widely and more powerfully. Similarly lots of cheap early building will get him the builder virtue and that boosts happiness 10% throughout the realm.

Good luck. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Loose Cannon]

who cares? they'll run away for you [the frenchies]
i kno im bein' stereotypical... sry.

[Reconquistador]

true but your right as well theyll either run into your pikes or flee. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[el_slapper]

Duh. The english-french duel is always cool & interesting, whatever side you choose. Remember who won, historically.....

But others are right about building your economy. Strike a hit to your foe, so that he's too small to counter-strike, then immediately build up your economy. The 100 years war must finish in less than 20 years..... Keep your enemy's territory divided, so that he can't flee, and you destroy its forces piece by piece. And invest very early in a fleet. You need trade.....

[The Wizard]

Money... it's all about MONEY DOUGH BLING-BLING PESETAS THE GOLD 'N' SHINEY STUFF

http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif