Turkish campaign: advice welcome

[Gilrandir]

I'm about to embark on a Turkish campaign in high. My strategy is based on two main objectives: 1) get rid of the Byz in Nicea and Lesser Armenia; 2) get ready for the Horde (start training JHI asap). The tactical aims at the outset include a quick offensive in the direction of Trebizond, Constantinople, Bulgaria, Greece (in this very sequence) and possibly Serbia. I hope to get Egypt as an ally and (when I deem myself ready) to launch a two-pronged attack at the Byz in the mentioned Nicea and Lesser Armenia. I also hope that being in possession of Constantinople I will have a shorter building line to get JHI and be prepared for the Horde. The problems I'm likely to face are many-star Byz generals and few-star mine.
I will be grateful for any tips (either strategic or battle-wise).

[Vladimir]

Turkish Horse Archers.

That is all.

[Brandy Blue]

Horse archers are a great tool, but only if you know how to use them. If you don't, prepare to learn with speed.

Its been ages since I've played vanilla Turks, but don't they get Naphata throwers, or whatever you call them? They might be a handy tool for blowing up Katanks and Varangian guards, but once again you have to know how to use them. Pin the target unit with a junk unit you don't mind losing (its likely to get blown up pretty bad too), turn skirmish off for the Naphata throwers, and either send them behind the enemy unit to blow them up from there, or if that's not safe, have the junk pinning unit provide a protective screen and throw the bombs over their heads. Naphata throwers have terrible accuracy and range problems, so try to fire from close up and with a height advantage. Javelin units used in a similar fashion can also weaken uber units, but I don't think Turks get them, unless by bribery or hiring mercinaries.

[Trapped in Samsara]

Hi

I always play from early myself, so stand by for nonsense, but given that the Horde are imminent, why not head south, take out Egypt, and let the Byz take the hit from the Mongols?

Best regards
Victor

Sapere aude
Horace

[Gilrandir]

Horse archers are a great tool, but only if you know how to use them. If you don't, prepare to learn with speed.

Its been ages since I've played vanilla Turks, but don't they get Naphata throwers, or whatever you call them? They might be a handy tool for blowing up Katanks and Varangian guards, but once again you have to know how to use them. Pin the target unit with a junk unit you don't mind losing (its likely to get blown up pretty bad too), turn skirmish off for the Naphata throwers, and either send them behind the enemy unit to blow them up from there, or if that's not safe, have the junk pinning unit provide a protective screen and throw the bombs over their heads. Naphata throwers have terrible accuracy and range problems, so try to fire from close up and with a height advantage. Javelin units used in a similar fashion can also weaken uber units, but I don't think Turks get them, unless by bribery or hiring mercinaries.
I like Naptha but I usually use them if I'm the Byz. It is so because their main drawback is inaccuracy in shooting which can be surmounted by raising valor. As you realize, it depends on the command rating of the general which is normally high for the Byz, and is not likely to be high for the Turks. Moreover, the AI is prone to play nasty tricks when I bring Naptha to a battle: it causes rainy weather so I can't use them (well, to be just, it mainly happens in moderate climate). So, I don't think I will rely on Naptha much (at least, not against the Byz).
As for horse archers, I have them in mind, but I can't say I'm very good at using them. I believe that when attacking I should anchor most of my troops on a height and bring forward HA to pester the Kataphracts and drag them around the map to exhaust them. But that is theoretically speaking. Map is not territory, if you know what I mean. But thank you for the advice anyway.

[Gilrandir]

Hi

I always play from early myself, so stand by for nonsense, but given that the Horde are imminent, why not head south, take out Egypt, and let the Byz take the hit from the Mongols?

Best regards
Victor

Sapere aude
Horace
If you remember the map of the high period, the Byz own Georgia, and behind it there are Turkish Armenia and rebel Trebizond. As my experience proves, the Horde ALWAYS takes Georgia, and the feeble Byz garrison of Georgia is not likely to handle them. And then the way to the core Turkish lands is wide open for the Mongols. So heading south is not an option for me, Constantinople and the Balkans look more appealing.

[RRMike]

I am still playing through the factions in early so I'm not familiar with the high starting positions but if it was me it's treb, const. In that order. The fall of const will cripple the byz, economically at least, and you will be hard pressed to get many, if any jhi built even if you had it from the start. The buildings are going to take the better part of your 25 years. I wouldn't screw around with anything else. I'd even leave treb undefended if I needed to to bring enough firepower to const.

Bring as many Saracens as you can get. Use ha to run the kats all over the map, if they will chase, rout the rest of the army off and then make a kat sammich with a couple units of Saracens.

[Gilrandir]

I am still playing through the factions in early so I'm not familiar with the high starting positions but if it was me it's treb, const. In that order. The fall of const will cripple the byz, economically at least, and you will be hard pressed to get many, if any jhi built even if you had it from the start. The buildings are going to take the better part of your 25 years. I wouldn't screw around with anything else. I'd even leave treb undefended if I needed to to bring enough firepower to const.

Bring as many Saracens as you can get. Use ha to run the kats all over the map, if they will chase, rout the rest of the army off and then make a kat sammich with a couple units of Saracens.
In high Trebizond, Constantinople, Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia are all rebel. The Byz are confined to Nicea, Lesser Armenia, Georgia and Rhodes. So taking Constantinople is not about crippling the Byz, but about forestalling them in the same conquerings and getting access to a well developed province and fortress with (supposedly) some title offices which will give some stars to my generals. But thanks for the advice.
When I began playing campaigns, I also started in early, but then I found that for about a 100 years before 1453 I have nothing to do with the whole map being conquered. So now I try to go for more challenging tasks starting from the high (the French, the Turks, HRE).

[RRMike]

Alright then. I'd still beeline for Constantinople if it were me. I'm not sure what buildings are there in high but I'm going to assume you will need to build Master spear, Grand Mosque and MA before you can start training JHI. That's 34 years of building before you can train a single JHI, assuming that the master spear doesn't already exist there on high. Even if it does you have 26 years.

On edit: Is there a fortress there in high or just the Citadel?

[Gilrandir]

Alright then. I'd still beeline for Constantinople if it were me. I'm not sure what buildings are there in high but I'm going to assume you will need to build Master spear, Grand Mosque and MA before you can start training JHI. That's 34 years of building before you can train a single JHI, assuming that the master spear doesn't already exist there on high. Even if it does you have 26 years.

On edit: Is there a fortress there in high or just the Citadel?
I don't remember what level of the castle is in Constantinople, but it is definitely the most developed castle in the vicinity of the Turks, so it is my priority to get there asap.
As for building JHI, I do not hope to perform it before the Horde arrives. But capturing Constantinople will bring this sacred moment nearer. Of course, Mongols are my greatest concern, but I have to rely on two wishful thinkings:
1. What if I become their ally (it happend once or twice when I played the Byz).
2. What if they direct their rage northward and move south only with a small army (well, small enough to be successfully handled).

[drone]

The wiki has Constantinople's starting buildings (https://forums.totalwar.org/wiki/index.php/MTW_Constantinople) from all eras (High era extracted from High.txt). It does have a Fortress, if you can get that intact you will be well on your way.

[RRMike]

I don't remember what level of the castle is in Constantinople, but it is definitely the most developed castle in the vicinity of the Turks, so it is my priority to get there asap.
As for building JHI, I do not hope to perform it before the Horde arrives. But capturing Constantinople will bring this sacred moment nearer. Of course, Mongols are my greatest concern, but I have to rely on two wishful thinkings:
1. What if I become their ally (it happend once or twice when I played the Byz).
2. What if they direct their rage northward and move south only with a small army (well, small enough to be successfully handled).

They usually seem to show up with an army that's proportional to what they're going to face. I've seen it speculated that the number of troops on the eastern edge of the map decides it but that's not correct. I've kept all my troops back in Const. before and still watched them show up with 28 stacks while I had only small garrisons in volga, kaz and the Byz a little bit in georgia. The good news being that you may only get 10 or 12 stacks show up, which is manageable in a more conventional manner.

My whole earlier post was to point out how much you need to go to Const. before dinking around with the Byz IMO. Once you have it building and secured then start having fun warring on the Byz or whoever, and some silver armored troops would sure help. That's my only point, your original post talked about a two pronged attack on the Byz, which could well turn into 5 years, that you don't have, of screwing around before you get Const. building. That's the only disagreement. I get started in Const. before I touch the Byz in Asia Minor. Report back though. I'm interested in trying the Turks in high. They were one of the most fun factions that I've played so far.

[Gilrandir]

They usually seem to show up with an army that's proportional to what they're going to face. I've seen it speculated that the number of troops on the eastern edge of the map decides it but that's not correct. I've kept all my troops back in Const. before and still watched them show up with 28 stacks while I had only small garrisons in volga, kaz and the Byz a little bit in georgia. The good news being that you may only get 10 or 12 stacks show up, which is manageable in a more conventional manner.

My whole earlier post was to point out how much you need to go to Const. before dinking around with the Byz IMO. Once you have it building and secured then start having fun warring on the Byz or whoever, and some silver armored troops would sure help. That's my only point, your original post talked about a two pronged attack on the Byz, which could well turn into 5 years, that you don't have, of screwing around before you get Const. building. That's the only disagreement. I get started in Const. before I touch the Byz in Asia Minor. Report back though. I'm interested in trying the Turks in high. They were one of the most fun factions that I've played so far.
I never dream of starting the war on the Byz before trying to get hold of Trebizond, Constantinople, Bulgaria and Greece. My two-pronged attack will wait until that conquest is over. For once, this will bring me the money to continue the offensive. Secondly, the troops that I can train in those rich provinces. The problem is that the Byz may not sit and watch me doing what I want. I can only hope that their single initial unit of Varangians (I guess that it is single because I've been that way playing the Byz in high) will not multiply. I will have enough trouble with those many-star generals.
As for Mongols, in my game they always appear with 10-11 stacks as I never go near Khazar or suchlike steppe provinces before the arrival of the Horde. As I said in some post, I typically conduct what I call "airbag policy", i.e. I try to have some faction(s) between me and the Horde at the moment of their appearance. Evidently, it won't be so easy with the Turks in high.
I will keep you (and others in case they are interested) informed about the progress of my campaign, but it will start a couple of weeks later. Right now I have no time for serious campaigning. I keep collecting advice. And I'm still getting over the loss of my French campaign in high. It was through no fault of mine. In Europe, I possessed everything from Aquitaine to Bohemia and from Wessex to Burgundia-Tyrolia line. In Asia, I kept my three Outremer provinces and added Syria and Palestine to them. What happened, you may ask? Lack of heirs. I had only three kings reigning. So I'm kind of offended at the AI: when it saw that it couldn't beat me it used underhanded ways (stopped giving me heirs). Being offended I'm waiting for my rage to simmer down. And then I'll be ready for the Turks.

[RRMike]

.unfreeze.

I never will lose another game due to lack of heirs. I just say my king legitimized some bastards that he had along the way when he saw the lack of heirs becoming a problem. It's not really much of a cheat anyway. All those uncles that became "un-heirs" in this game would still have claims (their descendants anyway). One of them would simply take the throne and the dynasty would continue.

If you don't know what I'm talking about simply type ".unfreeze." at any time on the campmap and your king's wife will give birth to a son when you hit end turn. You are limited to 6 heirs though, so you can't spam RK this way :)

[Gilrandir]

I have been expecting this advice, but as I have explained elsewhere in this respect I'm like Jose Mourinho - the Special One. I have a russianized version of MTW where no cheatcodes work, so I have to be fair and square.

[Gilrandir]

I would like to ask (I believe Drone as moderator can help): why are some threads marked with five stars, others aren't? Who marks them? Do they give any valor :) ?

[drone]

I believe anyone can rate the threads (this is what the stars represent). There should be a dropdown menu at the top of the page, "Rate This Thread". The number of stars is the average of everyone's rating (no stars if no one rates). Apart from the visual in the sub-forum, no valour is applied to the posters!

[Trapped in Samsara]

...no valour is applied to the posters!

What about weapon or armour upgrades? Can we get those?

V

[drone]

What about weapon or armour upgrades? Can we get those?

V
For better gameplay, armour and weapon upgrades have been modded out. ~;)

[Gilrandir]

I believe anyone can rate the threads (this is what the stars represent). There should be a dropdown menu at the top of the page, "Rate This Thread". The number of stars is the average of everyone's rating (no stars if no one rates). Apart from the visual in the sub-forum, no valour is applied to the posters!
I haven't found the dropdown menu you speak of. But if I do, can you rate your own thread?

[drone]

I haven't found the dropdown menu you speak of. But if I do, can you rate your own thread?
I suppose so, never tried it myself. On the STW skin, if you look right above post #1, there should be a bar. On the right hand side of the bar, you should see several options (View first unread, Thread tools, etc.). Click on the one that says "Rate this thread", and it should drop down for the choices.

[Gilrandir]

I suppose so, never tried it myself. On the STW skin, if you look right above post #1, there should be a bar. On the right hand side of the bar, you should see several options (View first unread, Thread tools, etc.). Click on the one that says "Rate this thread", and it should drop down for the choices.
Still can't find it. The bar is there all right but no option in it you think there should be.

[RRMike]

How did this campaign turn out? I was inspired to play Turk, high, expert after this thread and it was one of the best games I've played. The French civil war after losing their ME posessions, and I assume some stuff in western Europe, was unexpected. I'm so used to fighting a massive French empire every game that when I ran into English forces in Egypt it was a nasty surprise. Massed Billmen and Longbowmen are just as good in the hands of the AI as they are in ours. That became the hardest slog I've ever had that far into a game. Usually, once I get established it's simply a matter of choosing who to kill off next but this massive English empire was rich and loved to build Billmen. My single province of JHI production couldn't hope to keep up and I was fighting bills with mostly Saracens and Gazis. Good times.

[Gilrandir]

Regretfully, my plans to play the said campaign are still plans and will stay plans for a couple of weeks longer. This mundane routine does nor leave me any time to tackle it hammer and tongs. So, I'm still yearning to see my Saracens marching over heaped bodies of cataphrakts and varangians. But, as for your game, you didn't mention the Horde arriving. Too early for it or did the mongols turned a piece of cake for you?
P.S. I promise to keep you informed when I embark on the campaign in question.

[RRMike]

Please do. I love talking about the game. Unfortunately I really got into it years too late.

The horde never bothered me. I garrisoned Armenia and treb as well as I could with Saracens and Turk foot and never took Georgia. After they spent themselves on the poles and Huns I killed them fairly easily.

[Gilrandir]

How did you handle the Byz? Did you use the strategy I have in mind or did you have your own?

[RRMike]

Pretty much just ignored them. I took Treb in the first turn or two and immediately took Const, moving a couple peasants up to attempt to keep Treb. Luckily it didn't rebel before I got some watchtowers and border forts built and moved some more units up, on their way to const. I assaulted the fortress on the turn before it fell, since I tried waiting it out, after saving, and it was knocked down to citadel. When I assaulted my little army was gutted but I got the fortress intact. After that I started teching toward JHI there and built lots of saracens and archers elsewhere. By the time I needed to kill off the Byz to secure my borders they were an afterthought. I smashed them with one of the defensive armies I was keeping around Nicea to protect against them surprise attacking me while the Horde were in Georgia.

Basically just go for Const. I was way too worried about Jedi Katanks, probably from always playing from early, where they have amazing generals everywhere and you don't have a lot of units that can deal with those royals. Once I finally decided to clear them out it was easy. I just pinned the king and hit him from behind with some gazi's and it was over in a few seconds. There weren't a lot of quality units there with him. Their budget is severely restricted in high. IIRC I had to do the same with a unit of varangs they had there and they were actually a tougher kill. I think that one cost me most of a unit of sarcs. I don't remember all the details, as I've played a lot of battles since then, but I do remember thinking it was surprisingly easy and I had been dreading it.

[Gilrandir]

It is not the Katank generals that I dread but their multistarrity (I hope I'm still writing English). The valor their junk units (not to mention Varangians) get made my troops rout after a minute or two in a couple of battles. I realize that it was something wrong with my generals' v&v, but still the memory lingers and gives me a kind of apprehension. So, winning the battle against the Byz becomes a psychological issue, and it's not the psychology of the generals that I mean.

[RRMike]

I was the same way. The Byz aren't a problem with Saracens and Ghazis though. Don't sweat it. Just bring your best general, 5 or so Sarcs and 3 or 4 Ghazis and just pin, flank and mop up the leftovers.

I got a healthy respect for the difference their great generals can make while playing Catholic factions in early, but the Turks can flat clean up on them. Saracens are amazing, especially with some armor upgrades and a v1 from a master spear:yes: Build them liberally, I use two construction provinces for them, north, with armor upgrades, and south, without.

[Gilrandir]

I have started on the long-expected Turkish campaign at last! As I had planned I captured Trebizond, Const and Greece (not Bulgaria nor Serbia, though - Hungarians forestalled me). Then I turned on the Byz which had been complacent so far - even offered me alliance - I declined the offer. My first battle with the Byz was a failure. They climbed a hill and encircled their position with archers - both foot and mounted. Being unable to dislodge or lure them down I had to attack uphill where it was not so steep. I hoped to sacrifice a unit of Saracens and surround the Byz with other Saracens and Ghazis, but they kept sending Katanks one by one so finally my army routed. But that victory was dearly bought for the Byz. They had only four soldiers out of the Varangian unit and one full Katank royal unit plus 15 men in another (not counting cheap ragtag).
I decided to bide for time and restore my strength (at least to some extent), but the Byz attacked Const and again I lost. But the second battle was touch and go for some time thanks to the mercenary Italian infantry. After it the Byz had only 22-soldier Katank royal unit plus the small fry. Being broke they couldn't replenish their army which I used in the third battle finishing them off completely. The emperor died in it and the faction is no more (he had been calmly staying in the rear watching his three sons dying in the first battle). So now its 1227. The Horde is imminent and I have to build a mosque, grand mosque, military academy and two spearmaker buildings to reach JHI. It will evidently take 40-45 years. So I will have to welcome the Mongols without them. To be continued.....

[Gilrandir]

It is 1239. The Horde directed its wrath against the Russians in Kiev and Hungarians in Moldova. I was ovejoyed at this development, but my joy was cut short by a peripatetic HRE crusade. It was easy to repel, though. Seeing the Hungarians hard pressed by the Horde I started the offensive against them as well and captured Bulgaria and Serbia. The Horde did attack me from Georgia that very year, but not with its full might but with a couple of stacks. I defeated them in a touch-and-go battle, so I'm rather optimistic about the general outcome of the campaign. Meanwhile, I'm still teching up to JHI.

[KaraDevil]

Hi Gilrandir, I’d like to give you some advice about the composition of your armies if I may…

First of all I’d suggest you create two different types of armies, one you will use for offense and one for defense. Be patient and stay on a low profile during early and high… in late, as soon as your faction switches from the Seljuk Turks to the Ottomans (about 1300) you will be able to train Ottoman Infantry and Ottoman Sipahi, don’t underestimate these units, they are very useful especially against Christian knights.

Your defensive armies should be composed of at least 6 battalions of Heavy Janissary Infantry, 4 battalions of Ottoman Sipahis, 4 battalions of Turcoman horse archers, a siege cannon (or demi-cannon) and your General… which would be a solid army of about 1400 men. You should use these kind of armies to defend against crusades and other invasions from your enemies and you will be able to repel them even when outnumbered (with one of these I’ve personally defeated enemy armies of over 6000 men!).

As for your offensive armies you should use 6 battalions of Ottoman Infantry, 4 battalions of Janissary Infantry (yes the normal ones, not heavy), 2 battalions of Janissary Archers, 2 battalions of Ottoman Sipahis, a demi-cannon (or siege cannon) and your General. This will be an army of about 1640 men, excellent for classical Turkish warfare. Almost all of your units will be archers and simultaneously melee troops which will give you an excellent advantage for attacking enemy armies even if they climb up to a hill like the Byz did during your first battle.
Of course it all depends on how you use these troops, the best way to lure the enemy down the hills will be to approach him until he is in range and start shooting. Also do not make your troops attack them on melee until they are out of arrows, you will do them a lot of damage even if they are positioned downhill.

I also suggest you to conquer Hungary asap and to train your Janissary troops there… the province has iron and will boost the attack of your troops immensely. Hope this helps you to conquer easily most of the map :)

[drone]

Welcome to the Org, KaraDevil! ~:wave:

[Gilrandir]

Hi Gilrandir, I’d like to give you some advice about the composition of your armies if I may…

First of all I’d suggest you create two different types of armies, one you will use for offense and one for defense. Be patient and stay on a low profile during early and high… in late, as soon as your faction switches from the Seljuk Turks to the Ottomans (about 1300) you will be able to train Ottoman Infantry and Ottoman Sipahi, don’t underestimate these units, they are very useful especially against Christian knights.

Your defensive armies should be composed of at least 6 battalions of Heavy Janissary Infantry, 4 battalions of Ottoman Sipahis, 4 battalions of Turcoman horse archers, a siege cannon (or demi-cannon) and your General… which would be a solid army of about 1400 men. You should use these kind of armies to defend against crusades and other invasions from your enemies and you will be able to repel them even when outnumbered (with one of these I’ve personally defeated enemy armies of over 6000 men!).

As for your offensive armies you should use 6 battalions of Ottoman Infantry, 4 battalions of Janissary Infantry (yes the normal ones, not heavy), 2 battalions of Janissary Archers, 2 battalions of Ottoman Sipahis, a demi-cannon (or siege cannon) and your General. This will be an army of about 1640 men, excellent for classical Turkish warfare. Almost all of your units will be archers and simultaneously melee troops which will give you an excellent advantage for attacking enemy armies even if they climb up to a hill like the Byz did during your first battle.
Of course it all depends on how you use these troops, the best way to lure the enemy down the hills will be to approach him until he is in range and start shooting. Also do not make your troops attack them on melee until they are out of arrows, you will do them a lot of damage even if they are positioned downhill.

I also suggest you to conquer Hungary asap and to train your Janissary troops there… the province has iron and will boost the attack of your troops immensely. Hope this helps you to conquer easily most of the map :)
Thank you for the tips, KaraDevil. I will take them into account. Division of armies into defensive and offensive is a natural thing for me to do. As for the composition of the army, I haven't reached the late period yet (it is 1305). Still, I don't think I will use Ottoman infantry much - for multipurpose melee/archer type of units I prefer Futuwwa. Secondly, I never (after some initial attempts at usage) train artillery of any kind - way too ineffective in defensive battles and unable to move when the enemy is out of range in offensive ones. And an essential thing you seem to miss is cavalry. You must have some of it to circumvent and smite the enemy in the rear and then to chase routers.
The Hungarians are confined to Walachia only now, so they do not present any particular problem at the moment. My empire stretches from Frankonia to Volga-Bulgaria, and in the south it is in Egypt (the Eggies are in Tunisia with Almohads in Cyrenaica between them and me).
My real concern now is the Italians - they managed to create a colonial kind of empire which beside their core starting provinces includes Portugal, Granada, Morocco, Algeria, Aquitaine, Brittany, all of Great Britain and Ireland, Pomerania, Finland, Livonia and Lithuania. I am reluctant to start a campaign against them so far as it will disrupt the overseas trade I'm having now (my treasury is more than 400 000 florins). As the Italians have a ramified navy network, I foresee the prospective campaign as predominantly a marine one the outcome of which is far from certain. The land campaign presents less difficulty with my beloved JHI up the sleeve. At least it is how I see it now.

[I of the Storm]

Having to fight against a huge rival who posesses a navy is a pain. Especially naval factions like the italians will drop small raiding parties on your coasts if you don't 'garrison' all your seazones properly. For my late game muslim empires 5-6 baggalas per seazone should be a sufficient deterrent navy. Have 2 or 3 killing navies going around (booms mainly I think), preferably full stacks, to fight a naval war of attrition. Overkill and outbuilding is the key here. On the land you seem to be pretty safe but naval opponents are a real pita.

[Gilrandir]

I do expect it to be a pain. The crumb of comfort that I have is the supposition (bordering on conviction) that with the start of a war the Italians will find it hard to retain a hold on their overseas provinces. The disruption of ties with the king will lead to the drop of loyalty and consequently to a number of rebellions, so they will face a continuous shrinking of their power. Hopefully, it will distract them from producing more ships.

[I of the Storm]

This may happen but don't count on it. Keep us updated!

[Gilrandir]

To tell the truth, I want to postpone this war for as long as possible and I'm not going to start it myself, anyway. At the moment I have the Swiss to deal with (they own only Tyrolia and Switzerland, but keep producing Swiss halbs - how can they afford it????) and the French became a handful of rebel provinces so I'm kind of jostling and pushing others to get my piece of their pie (I got Flanders!!).

[Gilrandir]

Now I know why this game is called TOTAL war - within three of four years I found myself engaged in active warfare with three out of four most powerful factions of my time - the Polish, the Danish and the Italians - and it was through no initiative of mine!!! The fourth (the Aragonese) just sent a crusade, so this war can't be called "active hostility". The Danish twice invaded my Muscovy from Novgorod, Italians twice attacked me in Chernigov (their Lithuanian force had five stacks), the Polish captured my Volynia and stormed the fortress. Plus four newly-captured Fench provinces rebelled, plus substantial loyalty drop in Levant provinces, plus the mentioned crusade attacking my Croatia from Venice. And, intensive sea battling to boot. Someone said that the AI is not especially aggressive on expert - bullsh... oops - fiddlesticks!!!
But I'm proud to say I weathered the gale. Trusting my armies to hold back the invaders I decided to deal with the enemies piecemeal.
I started with the Polish by invading Poland and Silesia and besieging both fortresses. I repelled the Italians who attacked from Pomerania to deliver their Polish allies besieged in Warsaw but the Polish, leaving Volynia attacked me with all their might. But I knew it to be an agony. I withdrew and attacked the next year bringing more troops. The Polish being short of manpower after their two phyrric victories in Volynia were utterly defeated and are now confined to Prussia and Carpathia, being unable to garrison either of them properly. Then I evicted the Danish from Saxony and Brandenburg and the Italians from Lithuania, Venice and Milan (by the way, the Italians were foolish enough to start a war against the Danish over Novgorod; moreover, their overseas provinces are rebelling one by one). The crusade is no more and I control all the coasts of Eastern Mediterranean. Well, the wars are not over yet and I have to deal with the resurrected French in Wessex and Normandy, but at least I can draw a breath after those 5 eventful years.
If anyone is interested let me know and I'll report on my campaign later.

[I of the Storm]

I am! Sounds really entertaining, this campaign of yours.
Whats the year again? Also, do you happen to have a screenshot of the map that you could upload?
Keep it up!

[drone]

Sounds like a fun couple of years. Let them expend their armies in the attack, make them pay dearly for every yard, then crush them when they have exhausted their men!


So wishing I could play now, RL is killing me....

[Gilrandir]

I am! Sounds really entertaining, this campaign of yours.
Whats the year again? Also, do you happen to have a screenshot of the map that you could upload?
Keep it up!
It is about 1325. As for the screenshot:
1) I don't know how to make it;
2) I don't know how to upload it.
So, if you tell me (preferably in a foolproof step-by-step way) how to do it, I will try to provide the evidence of my joys and sorrows.

[HopAlongBunny]

The campaign sounds great!

I can't give a step by step (too long since i did it myself) but here's an outline:

1)get a screen capture (PrintScreen; PrtScn will usually work, although if you examine the game default keys there ought to be one that will do the trick)

2)locate the screenshot and convert to jpeg; Irfanview ought to work

3)load the jpeg to a free hosting site like photobucket

4)use the tools here to link to the jpeg.

[I of the Storm]

I couldn't be more specific than that either, so if this doesn't suffice, maybe some kind soul will drop in and give a step-by-step instruction.
Anyway - keep it up!

[drone]

In game, the F2 button will take a screenshot (battle and campaign map). It will put the shot, as a TGA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truevision_TGA) file, in the Medieval Total War\TGAs directory. Convert the TGA to a jpeg using some kind of pic editor (I use GIMP), upload it to photobucket (https://photobucket.com/) or imageshack (https://imageshack.us/), and link to it in a post.

[Gilrandir]

Out of all the steps the only one that turned out to be foolproof was making screenshots. I found the folder where they are stored but I don't have any program to convert them to a desirable format nor do I know how to do that. So probably I'll just give you a short rundown of my current campaign.
Well, it somehow stopped being exciting after I squeezed Italians out of the Continent. They hold only Cyprus now and are left there to gnaw the ends of their old plots against me. More problems were caused by their fleets. I sank all their single- or few-shipped navies, but the one with 10 ships in it was really a poser. I attacked it many times with different number of ships (up to 10) hoping to diminish its size even losing most of the sea battles. But it NEVER lost a single ship sinking all mine. So I decided to build a huge navy (of three full stacks at least). But then Italians were foolish enough to split their navy into two (2 and 8 ships) and I moved in with my 2 full stacks and now they are left shipless.
On land I started a war against the Aragonese but I mostly autoresolve the battles deeming my supremacy impregnable. As I found out, battles don't seem interesting when the campaign is not.

[drone]

Out of all the steps the only one that turned out to be foolproof was making screenshots. I found the folder where they are stored but I don't have any program to convert them to a desirable format nor do I know how to do that.
GIMP is an open source alternative to Photoshop. You can download it here (http://www.gimp.org/). It probably does way more than you need, but it's pretty easy to change image formats, resize, and crop images.

[HopAlongBunny]

GIMP is an excellent editor, and free.

Irfanview is just a viewer but it will open TGA's, and you can "Save As" jpeg; also free.
If you download the pack for additional extensions or filetypes you can also use it to view most movie files and listen to MP3's.

True, the battles seem a bother when thew game is already won, but you can use them to experiment :)

[Gilrandir]

I would like to thank you, Drone, for the link. I downloaded GIMP and, well, I'm posting three screenshots. Hope they you will see there everything you want. In case any questions arise, I will try to answer.
3243
3244
3245
To post them I didn't go all the way Drone described. After converting them to jpeg format I just used "insert image" option on the bar used for posting messages at this forum.

[Plato]

but I mostly autoresolve the battles deeming my supremacy impregnable. As I found out, battles don't seem interesting when the campaign is not.
You could try going all out for the enemy rulers - to kill or capture them in battle. I believe it counts as a win when you eliminate all the other factions.

Also, when using the GIMP, reduce the Quality when saving jpegs. I myself use 85%; this means smaller filesizes while not making the picture noticeably poorer.

[HopAlongBunny]

You seem to have beat them all into their respective corners :)

From what I can see the Sicilians have the only fleet; I would make their elimination a priority. Sicily and Naples give good trade goods as well.

Beating down the Papacy might be worthwhile. I try to wear out his army w/o killing him; saves on re-emergence. Unfortunately that means fighting the battle yourself and using captains that have no V&V's (you don't want a good commander to end up as "hesitant" or a "coward")

Is that a Hungarian re-emergence i see?

Thank you for the screenshots; looks like an epic campaign! :)

[Gilrandir]

As for the Hungarians - yes. They had gone extinct with no help of mine (I never kill off a faction completely and leave them one province through having no wish to see them re-emerge in the heart of my realm with no armies within the easy reach) but then popped up and some years later attacked me. I didn't want to bother with a battle and autoresolved it - and lost. Luckily, I had quite large forces billeted nearby, so next turn the Huns were driven from Hungary with slaughter. Still next turn they attacked Bulgaria across a bridge - got repulsed and calmed down.:2thumbsup:
The Sicilians had some kind of civil war (probably this time is reflected in the screenshots), but later on they resumed control over the whole territory and now they are the only faction (beside me) that has a fleet. That is the primary reason I don't want to start a war against them. Yet.
The papacy repeated the faith of Hungarians and I'm considering invading Rome just to reduce the amount of their forces. But I can take my time now being preoccupied with the war against the Aragonese.
A funny thing I noticed autoresolving the battles. If I do that with defending bridge battles my armies bereft of my wise generalship tend to take losses several times greater than I would expect them to. So, my new rule is: never autoresolve defending bridge battles.

[Gilrandir]

This campaign stopped being languid. The Sics launched a crusade against me and all the eastern part of my realm (from Saxony to Volga-Bulgaria and from Finland to Egypt) went red with anticipated rebellions. I'm expecting a lot of them. Yet I hope that with sinking of the Sics' ships the loyalty of my provinces might improve. I'll report on the devlopments later.

[RRMike]

Did you get your ruler isolated? Are you using spies in all your provinces to help keep loyalty up?

[Gilrandir]

1. I did not.
2. I am.
I guess that the enemy's ships disrupted connections between the parts of my empire. The sultan was in Castilla which has land borders with my other provinces so I'm at a loss in trying to find explanation to the sudden loyalty drop.
But I'm hanging on. I repulsed the crusaders in Venice and the Sicilians in Tuscany. By varying tax regime and relocating troops I managed to reduce the number of rebellious provinces to about a dozen and a significant number of rebels appeared in just two of them (curiously those whose loyalty didn't go below 100% - Moldova and Chernigov). By the way, have you ever encountered rebel JHI? I have - in Volynia.
After sinking most of the Sics' ships I saw the inflammation of my realm subside, so now I'm thinking of the way to deal with the Sicilians - no mercy and no prisoners.

[RRMike]

Have not seen rebel JHI. I did once have a rebellion containing Pictish cavalry, a VI only unit...