The Art of Total War, by... Me & You???

[blackfire83]

Hey guys,

I've been hatching up this crack-brained idea for quite awhile now, and just now gathered up the courage to present it to everyone. Well, without any further adeu, I present to you:

The Art of Total War, by Me & You

Summary: The Art of Total War is to be an FAQ/Strategy Guide for Medieval: Total War compiled by myself, using advice from the members of this forum. I would post questions and leads, and other, more competent and skilled players, could post strategies, tips, and answers to questions. I am by no means a Total War Expert (I have only little time to play, but love every minute I spend at it), nor am I the most active poster on the forum (I do READ many, many posts, but I'm too busy to reply or post many of my own). However, I feel that the Medieval: Total War community would greatly benefit from a compilation of strategies, tips, and answers to frequently asked questions. Hopefully something like this could get posted on The Org, and possibly get distributed to other gaming sites (Gamespot, GameFAQ's, etc.) as well as linked to by other Total War fan sites. It also could be very informative for newer players, and would keep them from posting some rather simply (yet often times annoying) questions on the forum.

What I Want: I'd like to see how many people on this forum would be interested into contributing to such a work. I would give ALL credit to whomever gave the information, and would not change it in any way, other than to correct minor spelling or grammatical errors. I would simply be the one compiling the work, and all the credit would go to those who submitted their advice. All I ask is that the advice be as impartial as possible, and that it be playtested and confirmed, not just rumor or conjecture. I don't wanna see people submitting advice like this:

"Chiv Knights are the best unit blah, blah, blah, and if you don't think so, you are a stupid n00b."

I hope you all get the picture. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/wink.gif

Anyway, what I'm looking for in replies to this post are whether or not anyone would support this project, and what they think should be included in it. Any and all advice is welcome. You are even free to call me a crack-headed newbie if you so wish. Anyway, thank you, everyone for your time, and I hope that we can get the ball rolling on what I think can be a very awesome project.

-blackfire83

[anymapkoku]

The game is constantly evolving and the strategies which won yesterday are inferior by tomorrow. Any strategy guide would have to be constantly updated by someone who plays continuosly nonstop, that's how fast the winning strategies and plays are changing. Strategies people once thought dominated the game are becoming old and newbish as others come up with new and revolutionary ideas to counter them. Tactics are quickly becoming outdated in short periods of time, it was not too long ago that people thought the rush was inferior. Now there is a new tactic which beats even rushers and non rushers. And tomorrow this secret new strategy will be as old and out of date as the rush/ranged/balanced armies are.
--reaverlisk

[This message has been edited by anymapkoku (edited 10-08-2002).]

[maroule]

anymapkoku, your point is?
Because tactics are diverse and evolving doesn't make his idea less interesting. The catch could be just to avoid presenting it as the 'definite manual', but just as a presentation of different style of plays.

One way (but not the only one) could be to put up a list of standard questions, that each player would answer to. The comparing of the answers would be interesting, not their 'absolute' truth or value. Typical questions
1- your prefered defensive strategy, + unit mix
2- Offensive
3- Units that you have learnt to appreciate over time
4 - units/tactics you used originally but dropped as your style developed
5 - nasty surprises : the battles you lost after thinking you'd win them easily and win
6 - miracles (the reverse)

etc etc.

Blackfire, for one I can contribute to that, and probably other would.

[maroule]

and by the way blackfire, you should change the title to something less bloaded, let's show a bit of respect for good'old Sun T...

[blackfire83]

Okay, Maroule, you have a point. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/wink.gif
The title was mainly to draw people in, but I see your point.

Also, I had envisioned it more as a guide for Single Player, as I don't play Multiplayer, and probably never will. I presume that the strategies for singleplayer are a bit more static, especially those used on the tactical map. That is more along the lines of what I had in mind.

Also, it wasn't necessary that all the tips, answers, etc. be fresh and new. I'm hoping this will be more like a consolidation of all the advice that is hanging around out there on the forum, put together somewhere that everyone can have easy access to it.

Maroule, I meant no disrespect to good ol' Sun T. I love his work. I merely meant it, kind of 'tongue-in-cheek'. Sorry if I seemed like a braggart or something. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/eek.gif

-blackfire83

[maroule]

no offense taken
well, you just have to get the ball rolling now...

[Don Megel]

I love this idea,

We could include Multiplayer stratagies also. I know alot of people would like those and there are plenty of people to offer them. So what if they change? The reader ha sseverile stratages to look over and use unit he/she comes up with one of thier own. Makes sense.

In the formations section we could post screen shots of the formations before the battle. I love the questionir thingy as well.

If you need ANY help with this just let me know,

THanks,

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Praise the Lord for He is mighty and great!

[Magraev]

Dunno if this fits here, but here is my fave setup (offence and defence). It hasn't been tested in mp, so a vet could prolly smash me, but it works well enough against the AI. I'd love pointers on how to improve it.

A usual stack is made up of 1/3 spears, 1/3 archers and 1/3 horse (that's units - not men).

I use group formation 5 (missile first). The archers are all on skirmish/loose formation.

Behind them are the spearmen with the horses bringing up the rear (deployed to the flanks if needed).

Usually the enemy charges my archers when I get close enough. They skirmish out of the way and the spears charge through them at the enemy. The horses are used to plug holes or flank the enemy.

This strategy makes pavise arbs/x-bows less usefull - they simply can't get clear quickly enough. I prefer arbs for my armies.

I usually manage a win with this setup. I ocassionaly go with two lines of archers if I have particularily many and even on occasion two army groups (mainly for bridge crossings).

just my two cents.

[chunkynut]

Very good idea.

Would be useful so that n00bs http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/wink.gif (joking) stop asking the trade question http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif

but a great idea for both SP and MP (because we know how different the gameplay is) and as well as personal strategies a FAQ would be good. And we have all seen the fountain of stats out there that some ppl know and some dont.

I think the strategic units ie spies and preists should be represented in here because i find that alot of questions on this board are to do with them and ships(apart from the spears or some such unbalanceing http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif ).

Perhaps it should not be a thread but maybe a new forum which at a latter date could be collated by someone??

A great idea i hope i can be apart of.

[Rosacrux]

Count me in, if you need some advice on how to play the Byzantines. Other than that, there are more experienced players here, who can contribute more.

You could actually call it "everything you allways wanted to know about MTW but you never actually dared showing up at TheGuild (TM) because you knew they'd call you a stupid n00b"... or something between those lines http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif

[blackfire83]

That was what I was thinking of, Chunkynut. Things like the use of strategic units, how to use ships, etc. Basically, all those questions that seem to get asked a lot can be answered in one place, and people can put in strategies for how they use strategic units, as well as HOW to use them.

Basically, this would all be consolidated into one DOCUMENT and posted on some website, hopefully The Org (any clearance by an Org mod or something would be nice) and possibly other gaming sites.

Thanks for the support, guys. I'll see about posting some common questions/requests for strategies soon. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif

-blackfire83

[blackfire83]

Also, if you can think of any Frequently Asked Questions, go ahead and post them and we can get the ball rolling on some answers... I'll brainstorm on a title, Rosacrux, but I'll keep your's in mind. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/wink.gif

-blackfire83

[Don Megel]

Web pages, word or PDF document. Why put it in a forum? We already have the forums :-P

YOu could orginize it like a book. You could divide the document into 3 parts, Campain, Single Battles and Multiplayer battles. Inside have a number of chapters.

Introduction

Part 1: Try to take over the world!

Chap 1, Campain map
Chap 2, FLorinomics (I know I stole that word form another thread).
Chap 3, Buildings
Chap 4, Agents.

Part II: Cry Havoc!

Chap 5, Basic Infantry tactics.
Chap 7, Terrain.
CHap 8, The Art of being out numbered.
Chap 9, Seiges. Castle assults and defense.
Chap 10,Battle Cries: Veteran's tales.

Part III: Takeing over the World!(wide web)

Chap 11, Multiplayer intro and edicate.
Chap 12, Tactics.
Chap 13, Unit guide.
Chap 14, Letters from the front: Veteran's tales.

So on and so forth. THey arent in order, just spouting off ideas. We could have diagrams and screen shots, links to other recources as well as compiled info from the forums and players.

Perhaps even contacts willing to personaly play and help newbies?

If you need any help with compileing or grafics (I formaly did art for a Company makeing PC games) or anything else let me know.



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Praise the Lord for He is mighty and great!

[blackfire83]

Thanks for the offer of help, Don Megel. It's very encouraging.

Your outline is awesome. If it's okay with you, I'll use it and either add to it or modify it slightly, then start posting "FAQ" questions per 'chapter'.

I'd like to assemble it first as a simple Word document, and then later expand into pdf format or some such. During that phase, your skills in graphics would be much appreciated, as I have the artistic abilities of a soggy box.

Once again, thanks for the offer of help and for the outline. Keep in touch. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif

-blackfire83

[Don Megel]

Im glad you like it, just email me ( donmegelico@juno.com ), AOL IM me ( DonivanMegel ) or ICQ me ( 46023414 ).

(IM or ICQ is best, i only check m yemail once a week :-P )


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Praise the Lord for He is mighty and great!

[ShadeHonestus]

This sounds like a worthwhile project. If you would like, I can set you up with your own section at Total War Assembly and have you add this information and fill the chapters as you wish...

[blackfire83]

Thanks for the offer, Shade. I'll let you know when I have something solid and we can work something out. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif

Thank you to everyone for the support... Now I'll see if I can find some time to start it going. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/wink.gif

-blackfire83

[Don Megel]

Um...*Bump*

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Praise the Lord for He is mighty and great!

[Inferno]

Happy to help if you need it.

Email me: soxsexsax@ukonline.co.uk

I consider myself to be a bit of an expert on using the English. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif

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It's getting warm in here...that must be one hell of an INFERNO!

[blackfire83]

*curses loudly and at length...*


Okay, now that I've gotten that out of the way...

Bad news. My computer crashed. It's dead. Gone. Bye-bye. I'm ticked. Very ticked. No MTW and I'm dying. Worse yet, I can't even get it to install on my mother's computer (it stops working at about 13%, with a file having something to do with art for the Islam factions... whatever.). Anyway, life's ganging up on me and kicking me in the arse, so I won't be playing MTW for a long time, probably. However, I'm still very addicted, so I guess I'll work on the FAQ to tide myself over until I can play again. I think I'll be able to post some preliminary FAQs tomorrow afternoon.

Thanks for the support, guys.

-blackfire8

[Don Megel]

Oh, that cant be good. Maybe the PC doesnt freeze at 13%, perhaps its just moveing really slow. How long do you wait?



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Praise the Lord for He is mighty and great!

[blackfire83]

No, it actually gives an error message that says it can't copy the file. It's "homeland_islam.tga". I guess it could be that the CD's scratched, but it really doesn't look that bad. I've had CD's that are scratched way worse and they still work... Oh well. Any suggestions would be nice. I guess I should post this on some tech board, too.

-blackfire83

[Don Megel]

Try going into the CD and copying the file manualy. Might work...

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Praise the Lord for He is mighty and great!

[blackfire83]

As per the limits on the number of posts, I suggest to the mods to close this thread. It believe it has sufficiently run its course. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif

-blackfire83