View Full Version : I'm thinking Hungary, High, Expert
That looks challenging but doesn't have the unit roster obsolesence that irritates me so much with they Byz. A blitz toward Constantinople seems to be in order but I haven't looked at the high starting position yet. I know it was one of the most challenging of the early campaigns that I've played. I think I'll take a look at the starting position and then think it over....
The start position for MTW/VI vanilla can be found here (https://forums.totalwar.org/wiki/index.php/MTW_Hungarians). If you go to the provinces' pages, it will tell you what buildings exist at the start of each era.
Thanks Drone. That would be helpful when I'm on my phone and can't just fire a game up and look.
I'm a little frustrated now. My daughter came in the office and started playing around with the PC (she's 2) and managed to turn the game off and load a game from the Byz campaign I just finished. The last autosave was a few years in the past so now I have a bunch to re-do. Grrrrr :wall: I was going to save it and turn it off but thought it would be fine...
Gilrandir
01-09-2012, 13:00
A blitz toward Constantinople seems to be in order but I haven't looked at the high starting position yet.
To reach Constantinople in high as the Hungarians you would have to conquer rebel Wallachia and Bulgaria (or just Bulgaria to save time) from Hungary and only then the dreamed-of Const. So it is not that blitzeable as with the Byz in high.
I got there. Bulgaria then C. Cleaned up Serbia next then Wall. The Sicilians took Greece for a couple turns but I got it back and finally have the seas sealed off. The horde have been stuffed at the gates of C twice and the Turks are going back on the offensive a little. Won't last though. They lost Rum.
Gilrandir
01-09-2012, 13:24
The Sicilians seem to be a plague of yours! I wonder whether you would consider playing them some day. As the saying goes, if you cannot overcome the enemy, become its leader.
The Sicilians seem to be a plague of yours! I wonder whether you would consider playing them some day. As the saying goes, if you cannot overcome the enemy, become its leader.
It's that I'm playing around in the Balkans there and they seem to be hardwired to want to get some of that territory. I was just thinking about trying the Sicilians out. I don't think I've ever played a game as them.
Gilrandir
01-10-2012, 12:33
I think the Sicilians will be a challenge in high - pent by the Pope in Naples so having to fight him to get out of the Apennines and invariably incurring an ex-com and then facing the Italians with their navy or having to rely on sea-borne invasions thus become subject to loyalty drops in overseas provinces when you clash with the Italians.
I think it might be time to move on to one of the mods. I just started the Sicilian campaing, attacked Greece turn two, immediately moved to Constantinople and siege. Turn 4 or 5 grab Serbia with a second army. Turn 5-6 Const falls, move army to Bulgaria.
Now I have a border at Serbia-Bulgaria, Greece is still rebel but surrounded and will get taken in another couple turns and it's time to start to fortify Naples and build up a navy. Easy yet again. I think Sicily would be much harder in early. The rebels all over the balkans and C make it too easy to just jump over there and grab whatever you want. It would be much harder with a big Byz over there in C.
The Sicilians in Early are a lot of fun. They're one of my favorite factions, actually. Establishing a maritime trading empire with the occasional "colony" can be challenging but rewarding.
The Sicilians in Early are a lot of fun. They're one of my favorite factions, actually. Establishing a maritime trading empire with the occasional "colony" can be challenging but rewarding.
I already started it and I like it so far. Money is tight and expansion isn't readily available but I think the search for suitable "colonies" will be a fun way to play for a change. Only thing I grabbed right away was Naples.
Gilrandir
01-12-2012, 15:39
I think it might be time to move on to one of the mods. I just started the Sicilian campaing, attacked Greece turn two, immediately moved to Constantinople and siege. Turn 4 or 5 grab Serbia with a second army. Turn 5-6 Const falls, move army to Bulgaria.
Now I have a border at Serbia-Bulgaria, Greece is still rebel but surrounded and will get taken in another couple turns and it's time to start to fortify Naples and build up a navy. Easy yet again. I think Sicily would be much harder in early. The rebels all over the balkans and C make it too easy to just jump over there and grab whatever you want. It would be much harder with a big Byz over there in C.
You seem to be taking easiness of the initial expansion for the general easiness of the campaign. Don't be so hasty in your conclusions. Never underestimate the power of the dark side of the force... sorry, the wiles of the AI on expert. In a couple of turns some navy-strong faction (Italians or the Byz) may declare a war upon you and sever the ties between the parts of your realm. So either the core Sicilian provinces or the Balkans (depending on the location of your king) will go rebel. Then a couple of crusades and an attack from the Turks - and you are done in.
And if you want more challenge you can try any faction in late (the Aragonese, for instance: their starting provinces are Aragon and - guess what - Sicily). Among the high factions I would recommend the French - in Europe squeezed between the English, the Aragonese and HRE and in Outremer desperately holding on to the Egyptian-harassed Tripoli and Antioch. I tried them twice - both times failed. Once because of the civil war and then was left heirless by the AI.
You seem to be taking easiness of the initial expansion for the general easiness of the campaign. Don't be so hasty in your conclusions. Never underestimate the power of the dark side of the force... sorry, the wiles of the AI on expert. In a couple of turns some navy-strong faction (Italians or the Byz) may declare a war upon you and sever the ties between the parts of your realm. So either the core Sicilian provinces or the Balkans (depending on the location of your king) will go rebel. Then a couple of crusades and an attack from the Turks - and you are done in.
And if you want more challenge you can try any faction in late (the Aragonese, for instance: their starting provinces are Aragon and - guess what - Sicily). Among the high factions I would recommend the French - in Europe squeezed between the English, the Aragonese and HRE and in Outremer desperately holding on to the Egyptian-harassed Tripoli and Antioch. I tried them twice - both times failed. Once because of the civil war and then was left heirless by the AI.
I'm enjoying Sicily early right now. France late will be next.
And that sic high game was over. If I wanted to press it would be done by 1270. I was allied with the Italians and had my king in Constantinople so would keep those provinces if a CW broke out.
Gilrandir
01-13-2012, 15:25
I'm enjoying Sicily early right now. France late will be next.
I recommended French in high, not late. And in late any faction is challenging enough as you will be short of time to conquer all so probably you should go for a lesser victory.
Do you have VI add-on? Try it out if you do. Some VI factions seem unplayably difficult.
I recommended French in high, not late. And in late any faction is challenging enough as you will be short of time to conquer all so probably you should go for a lesser victory.
Do you have VI add-on? Try it out if you do. Some VI factions seem unplayably difficult.
I just came back to check that since I looked at France late and it seemed a breeze. I figured I must have mis-read it. France High it is.
I don't really enjoy any of the VI stuff as the rosters are pretty small and get stale quickly. I really like having the variety of units and teching up for others and such.
Gilrandir
01-14-2012, 12:07
If you start on French in high you will have one four-star general in Outremer so it would be difficult to have two valiant enough armies to protect Tripoli and Antioch. I would advise you to appoint one of the one-star crusade-leftover unit leaders the governor of Normandy (which will add one star to his command rating). Well, perhaps, you want to go through it all without anyone putting in his spoke. Let me know if you want tips on this campaign and keep us informed about it anyway.
No problem. Feel free. I'm usually better at the broad strokes and not so much the minutiae. I always forget which titles give stars until it's too late and it pops up there. I think I have a 2* guy over there anyway though. I still haven't hit "end turn" for the first time yet. I'm debating abandoning my ME holdings and pulling back to crete if I can get a boat build in time. Leave scorched earth behind so I can focus on the English.
I'll probably try to hold them. Just for the challenge, and to avoid the influence hit until I can capture a couple English provinces to offset. I have a feeling that an excommunication is coming though. I simply will not allow the Brits to survive for long to start pumping bills and longbows.
Gilrandir
01-14-2012, 18:37
While in Outremer I built a port in Cyprus and started producing urban militia and archers there and transported them to the continent. Then I teched up Antioch (as the more developed out of the two land provinces) and built an inn and horse trainers in Tripoli. Thus pretty soon I had everything in terms of infantry (both kinds of sergeants and men-at-arms) and some decent cavalry plus mercenaries. Also try to get the Byz as an ally.
In Europe I waited until my king was 5-6 years from dying and invaded Anjou and Brittany. Next move - sent a starred guy (a prince, very probably) from captured Anjou to Toulouse to head the defense and then invaded Aquitaine. If the ex-com did come it was soon over with the demise of my king (a strange coincidence - the Pope died the same year my king did). Well, it only sounds too easy but I did some tough battling - and you are looking for a challenge anyway. Plus you will have a problem with English fleet (if you produce your own - they already have some of it drifting around) and/or English marine landings. So I tried to conquer Wessex. After that the English are crippled, you can let them be for a while (and you will have one-province border with them which - if attacked from Mercia - is protected by a river with a single bridge). After that your main aim is HRE (with the renowned Switzerland developed enough to produce swiss halbs). NEVER attack Burgundy from Anjou, Ile-de-France or Toulouse - only rivers and bridges. I first captured Lorraine and from there attacked Burgundy. Then basically bite away province by province until you reach as far east as you want. Simultaneously develop ship-building facilities as your next aim will probably be Italians.
Well, I do not want to sound as I'm the SuperStrategic Teacher, so you can use the given advice at your discretion. And, probably, those tips come too late and you are far advanced beyond the point the tips stop.
No, I've been busy the past couple days so haven't really started yet. I just got my governors named and taxes set and saved it so that I don't have to sift through all that stuff again and can just implement my strategy when I can sit down to play. I hadn't thought about allying with the Byz, as they are so weak in High, I was thinking of going with the Turks but I doubt they will. The English will get stomped all the way to Northumbria, just in case, maybe even Scotland so that I can get the two trade goods from NU. I was aware of the Burgandy/river issue from a few games as the HRE. I found them to be nicely challenging so have played them 4-5 times, but I didn't know about the Wessex river. My plan was to build tercouples and eventually swords from Antioch, Feudal sarges from Tripoli, since it has a keep and archers from crete since it has only a fort. With the one boat over there I may just wait on ship building facilities until I can go on the offensive against the Eggies (wishful thinking maybe? LOL), since they don't usually build much in the way of navy.
I will post up here when it gets underway and let you know if I'm liking it or not.
Gilrandir
01-15-2012, 14:34
The English will get stomped all the way to Northumbria, just in case, maybe even Scotland so that I can get the two trade goods from NU.
The English do not hold Scotland, so it will have to be Northumbria left for them.
As for the offensive against the Eggies, it is quite possible as soon as you have enough troops. In fact, I attacked after repulsing them several times and captured Syria and Palestine. You won't need more ships in that area, so don't bother about shipwright and the stuff.
You are correct. My mistake. I haven't played the French so usually by the time I'm ready to kill the English, if they are still around, they have Scotland.
I have all of mainland France Unified and got the excomm. warning right after I took Aquatain. The rebels had Wessex under seige so I figured I'd wait for them to starve the garrison so I could take it from them rather than get excommunicated but the English relieved the garrison and I got auto-CF so I'm letting them be for now. They are broke anyway since I ransomed the king so I'm not worried about hordes of Bills and LBs any time soon. My border with Germany sucks and I haven't gotten the moxie yet to attack them since they outnumber me along the border so I'm stuck with a bunch of defensive armies everywhere.
The elmos have all of Iberia minus Navarre where the tiny remaining Spanish army sits, so I have to keep big armies in the south too. The elmos have 3 stacks in Aragon.
The Eggies declared war by sinking my boat in the English Channel of all places. The next turn I attacked with my 4* into Syria, got attacked from Edessa into Antioch and got attacked in Tripoli from Palestine. I repelled the attack on Antioch but lost at Tripoli. After moving the army from Syria with my 4* to Tripoli I was able to whip that army and ransom the Sultan as Palestine and Arabia had gone rebel. That gave me auto-CF with the eggies after I took Palestine to re-establish a border with them. They now have just Egypt and Sinai. Arabia is rebel.
I'm allied with pretty much everybody except the Germans and elmos. Which sucks since I think they both plan to attack. The Turks and Byz even sent emisarries after my war with the English and Egyptians were both over. I think I want to keep the ME quiet until after the horde arrives, I'd love for a nice strong Turk empire to take the brunt of any southward expansion strike and leave both sides weak for me to move in on.
I'm out of money right now. I'm almost ready to start getting some big income from some of my trade provinces but I've been hampered by that eggie fleet up north that kept bouncing around between the North Sea, Skag, and Baltic. I had to double up all my boats and that is expensive when I'm only trading with a few places. In the ME I have been building troop production stuff so I don't have the ports and trader buildings but I'm trying to get them built and move a few boats that I (stupidly) built in Telouise over there to establish a little network.
Gilrandir
01-20-2012, 14:47
Yo, RRMike! How are the French doing? Have you tackled HRE? Are Elmos making a nuisance of themselves? Are Eggies up to any mischief? I am eager for the news.
The game is going good. In the ME, the Egyptians are done. I managed to corner them in Arabia but during the attack to pin them inside the stronghold and reduce their numbers the Sultan managed to get killed so I have to be on guard for a re-emergence. The Turks whipped the horde and now control everything ringing the Black and all of their initial holdings. My border is Antioch-Syria-Egypt.
In France things are going ok but I made a bit of an error. I attacked the English fleet, planning to attack into Wessex the following turn, and got an excomm warning right away. The Germans jumped me so I've taken the line from Province through Burgandy and Loraine to Flanders. I'm taking and giving back Friesland every turn waiting for an excomm warning about the HRE so that I will have 10 years to take the British Isles.
The Italians have been making life tough for the Elmos, taking and holding Morocco against multiple Jihads. The result is a civil war in Iberia and me in posession of Navarre and Aragon. The Argonese have re-emerged in Castille so Iberia is a mess. I'd like to consolidate that and North Africa to connect my empire but probably won't be able to do so with the Italians sitting in Morocco and me not having enough money to be willing to risk the trade disruption of a war with them yet. They have lots of boats, and although I'm sure I could eventually win control of the seas, I don't want to deal with it yet.
What are you doing? I'm starting to feel like that guy at the party that does all the talking. Have you been playing any? Maybe we should fire up a parallel campaign and compare notes on our differing experiences/strategies or something.
Gilrandir
01-22-2012, 15:15
I'm taking and giving back Friesland every turn waiting for an excomm warning about the HRE so that I will have 10 years to take the British Isles.
The excom warning may never arrive since the pope will watch for you not to attack the English turning a blind eye onto anything else. So, I assume you are waiting for the ten years term to expire to get a brand new "don't-you-dare-to-touch-HRE" warning. Well, it may not arrive either as the warning issuing depends on the size of the perpetrator and the victim. If the perpetrator (I mean you) is not larger (in terms of the number of provinces) than the victim the pope may disregard your bickerings. So you should check how large HRE is.
As for my doings, I don't have time for serious campaigning right now. Moreover, I haven't decided who to play yet. I'm vacillating between Mercians in VI and HRE high expert. But either way the campaign is likely to start in early spring. You know I'm a kind of a person who is quickly bored with any lasting campaign and needs to get really hungry for it before starting a next one.
I liked your party-guy comparison :laugh4:, but I more inclined to view myself as an old geezer who likes to talk of sex.. oops! of MTW more than pactice it.
The excom warning may never arrive since the pope will watch for you not to attack the English turning a blind eye onto anything else. So, I assume you are waiting for the ten years term to expire to get a brand new "don't-you-dare-to-touch-HRE" warning. Well, it may not arrive either as the warning issuing depends on the size of the perpetrator and the victim. If the perpetrator (I mean you) is not larger (in terms of the number of provinces) than the victim the pope may disregard your bickerings. So you should check how large HRE is.
As for my doings, I don't have time for serious campaigning right now. Moreover, I haven't decided who to play yet. I'm vacillating between Mercians in VI and HRE high expert. But either way the campaign is likely to start in early spring. You know I'm a kind of a person who is quickly bored with any lasting campaign and needs to get really hungry for it before starting a next one.
I liked your party-guy comparison :laugh4:, but I more inclined to view myself as an old geezer who likes to talk of sex.. oops! of MTW more than pactice it.
Grrrr. I just had a big reply typed up and hit the wrong button and lost it.
Yes, I was waiting on the 10 years to expire. I never make note of the year I get the warnings. I got one for HRE and killed the english off to Scotland where they are under siege. They have a barren Ireland to retreat to, which will make them irrelevant. The Argonese were mean to my emmisary so I took Castille and finished them off again and am getting ready to kill off the Elmos.
After that I may just sit behind my lines of Flanders-Provence and Syria/Antioch and tech up to SAP (I did send one little army over to snatch Switz.) to try them out once Late begins.
Gilrandir
01-23-2012, 09:40
In case you kill the English king you are likely to face their resurrection one of these turns (the same applies to the Aragonese), so watch out. And HRE isn't so mighty as it may look. A couple of decisive victories (no prisoners taken) and their huge empire will tumble down.
In case you kill the English king you are likely to face their resurrection one of these turns (the same applies to the Aragonese), so watch out. And HRE isn't so mighty as it may look. A couple of decisive victories (no prisoners taken) and their huge empire will tumble down.
The English king did die in Scotland. They re-emerged in Ireland with 4 stacks of irrelevancy. I'm keeping the loyalty of all conquered provinces at 200 so I should be able to avoid any other re-emergences. I think the danger zone is <130 or 140%.
The Turks are so concerned with my huge armies in Syria/Antioch that the horde are on the offensive and now own the steppe from Kiev/Lithuania to kazhar. I like seeing them keep each other busy while I sit and tech up. Germany owns only Friesland, the rest being rebel after I took some away. The poles made a brief appearance back from the dead, conquered all the German rebel provinces and it all promptly went back rebel when their king managed to get himself killed somehow.
The Italians are a constant. Not doing much since they lost morocco to the Elmos. They had a brief war with the Sicilians which netted them Naples and me Sicily. They also bribed rebels in Denmark so my Sweden borders them there. The Danes are stuck in Norway broke.
So it's me from provence-Flanders, around north Africa to Syria/Antioch. The Italians with their initial holdings plus Naples/Denmark and lots of boats and enough $ to have some decent units. The horde on the steppe and the Turks from me up to Georgia and Moldavia Poland carpathia area. The Huns are still in there a little but not a factor.
Sorry for typos. On my phone.
Gilrandir
01-24-2012, 12:57
The English king did die in Scotland. They re-emerged in Ireland with 4 stacks of irrelevancy. I'm keeping the loyalty of all conquered provinces at 200 so I should be able to avoid any other re-emergences. I think the danger zone is <130 or 140%.
They say it is < 120%, but I believe that if a faction made up its mind to re-appear at least in one province it will do irrespective of the loyalty rating. Perhaps, someone may correct me, but you can't keep a vanished faction down just by maintaining high loyalty of its former provinces.
Trapped in Samsara
01-24-2012, 15:07
They say it is < 120%, but I believe that if a faction made up its mind to re-appear at least in one province it will do irrespective of the loyalty rating. Perhaps, someone may correct me, but you can't keep a vanished faction down just by maintaining high loyalty of its former provinces.
Hi
Obviously this is anecdotal, but I hardly ever suffer reappearances in my own provinces. I put this down to paying obsessive attention to their loyalty scores - anything less that 150 is a cause for concern for me. I always construct the happiness buildings, and as soon as I am able to I'll deploy a spy, a priest and an assassin on permanent assignment. I also pay a good deal of attention to the governor's traits, and I will forgo max income for a decade or so if I deem it essential to install a tyrant to suppress any disaffection. It goes without saying that the province's faith must be that of the the righteous and godly.
What I'm leading up to is that I do believe that a province's loyalty score is at least highly significant, if not decisive, in the calculation of whether a reappearance will take place in a particular province.
Best regards
Victor
Sapere aude
Horace
Gilrandir
01-24-2012, 15:48
What I'm leading up to is that I do believe that a province's loyalty score is at least highly significant, if not decisive, in the calculation of whether a reappearance will take place in a particular province.
I agree, but what I was trying to say is:
Factions tend to reappear. Whatever you may do they will. Even if you keep your provinces 200% loyal they will. Even if your provinces are superloyal one of them will go the resurrected faction. It is true that your superloyal provinces will not go over to that faction but will stay with you. Yet, one lost province is inevitable.
To get a reemergence:
There must be an heir of the faction that was underage at the time of the factions demise. If you go 60-70 years without a reemergence, you are probably safe as that "heir" will be dead of old age.
There must be a rebellion/uprising in a province the faction once owned. This requires less than 100% happiness, but this applies to all provinces, controlled by either the human player and the AI factions/rebels.
Provinces nearby the base uprising will join in if their happiness is below 120%.
Of course, these happiness levels change during the end turn phase, so unforeseen factors (events, spies, faction leader changes, etc.) come into play. But if you control all of the dead faction's lands, and keep the happiness levels up, you won't see a reemergence. The main problem is when the AI factions have a piece of their old kingdom, but there is not much you can do with that.
Trapped in Samsara
01-24-2012, 18:55
Hi
But if you control all of the dead faction's lands, and keep the happiness levels up, you won't see a reemergence.
I agree. Certainly this squares with my experience.
The main problem is when the AI factions have a piece of their [the dead faction's] old kingdom, but there is not much you can do with that.
Yes. I feel that, via the re-emergence feature, the game does a pretty fair job of modeling the 'Julius Caesar as Governor of Cisalpine & Transalpine Gaul situation'. I.e., he was 'forced' to invade the barbarian territories in order to preemptively quell potential disorder on his provinces' borders which might have spilled over into Roman territory.
Best regards
Victor
Yes. I feel that, via the re-emergence feature, the game does a pretty fair job of modeling the 'Julius Caesar as Governor of Cisalpine & Transalpine Gaul situation'. I.e., he was 'forced' to invade the barbarian territories in order to preemptively quell potential disorder on his provinces' borders which might have spilled over into Roman territory.
That's one way of morally justifying the assault of your neighbors! ~D
My biggest reemergences have been of this variety. Killing off the faction leader and of-age heirs, with territory I just can't get to under the circumstances. The worst was a VI game as the Scots, I took out the Welsh, Saxons, and Mercians by killing off their lines, but couldn't consolidate the provinces fast enough. Both the Welsh and Mercians reemerged and were promptly killed off again, but then the Saxons reemerged (and gathered all of the leftover rebels under their banner). Something like 25,000 troops total, in a VI game. :rolleyes:
Gilrandir
01-25-2012, 15:26
To get a reemergence:
There must be an heir of the faction that was underage at the time of the factions demise. If you go 60-70 years without a reemergence, you are probably safe as that "heir" will be dead of old age.
There must be a rebellion/uprising in a province the faction once owned. This requires less than 100% happiness, but this applies to all provinces, controlled by either the human player and the AI factions/rebels.
Provinces nearby the base uprising will join in if their happiness is below 120%.
Of course, these happiness levels change during the end turn phase, so unforeseen factors (events, spies, faction leader changes, etc.) come into play. But if you control all of the dead faction's lands, and keep the happiness levels up, you won't see a reemergence. The main problem is when the AI factions have a piece of their old kingdom, but there is not much you can do with that.
So, Drone, you claim that even if there is an underage heir of a pulverized faction the faction won't appear in case you keep its former provinces' loyalty high enough? That is the existence of the heir doesn't matter for the high loyalty provinces? Thus, the surefire recipe against any (but Papal) resurrection is keeping all provinces 121% loyal?
It's been my experience. I've only had one reemergence since I started playing again a year or so ago. I prefer to keep a faction on life support but if they do die off I keep loyalty absurdly high to avoid having a succession or excomm. cause it to drop too low.
The trigger for a reemergence is an uprising/rebellion, so technically you could get away with 100% if you occupy all the dead faction's lands. The 120% level keeps a province from joining in when the uprising occurs in another province nearby.
Due to unexpected events, it's always best to keep levels higher though. I prefer 150+%, just to be safe. When your prestigious king dies unexpectedly and his chinless, drunken imbecile of a son takes over, happiness can take a bit of a hit. Enemy spies, famine, events, lost battles, excomms, and new governor vices can also change the loyalty during the end turn phase. And provinces connected by sea lanes to you king need to be even higher, as a blockade can hurt.
Another thought occurred to me. Gilrandir, you are running without the VI expansion, correct? If I'm not mistaken, the default AI loyalty setting for regular MTW was 100%, with VI I think they upped it to 120%. The lower AI setting increases the rebellion chances, which in turn increases the chances of reemergences in AI controlled lands. I think the -loyalty switch is available in the original MTW, you might want to try running with loyalty of 120 or higher. The higher loyalty will also increase the AI garrisons and enhances AI faction stability, which makes the game a little harder strategically.
Trapped in Samsara
01-25-2012, 17:56
Gilrandir, you are running without the VI expansion, correct?
Hi
Didn't the early version of MTW allow a cumulative 'unhappiness' effect from multiple enemy spies in a province? Which made it possible to apply huge 'anti-loyalty' hits.
I am aware that there is a debate as to whether the AI can employ agents such as spies effectively. But this still seems a point worth making in this context. (Which is to say, helping Gilrandir acquire and retain the love of his subjects.)
Best regards
Victor
Sapere aude
Horace
Didn't the early version of MTW allow a cumulative 'unhappiness' effect from multiple enemy spies in a province? Which made it possible to apply huge 'anti-loyalty' hits.
Correct. With VI, only one agent counts, and an effective strategy is to put one spy or assassin in a busy port province without a border fort and let the carnage begin...
I am aware that there is a debate as to whether the AI can employ agents such as spies effectively.
I believe it can, sometimes. In my current game, I sent a 6 star spy to Portuguese controlled Flanders, and the next turn he was caught. They only had a watch tower constructed. When I attacked a couple of turns later, the loyalty was 0 @ Normal taxes! With a large force and 4 star general, too.
Whatever they had in there clearly was not to be messed around with :no:
Gilrandir
01-26-2012, 14:44
Another thought occurred to me. Gilrandir, you are running without the VI expansion, correct? If I'm not mistaken, the default AI loyalty setting for regular MTW was 100%, with VI I think they upped it to 120%. The lower AI setting increases the rebellion chances, which in turn increases the chances of reemergences in AI controlled lands. I think the -loyalty switch is available in the original MTW, you might want to try running with loyalty of 120 or higher. The higher loyalty will also increase the AI garrisons and enhances AI faction stability, which makes the game a little harder strategically.
Well, I do have VI expansion and I vary my tax regimes in the provinces to avoid the loyalty level drops. But, as Victorgb..., sorry Trapped in Samsara (new year - new name :wink3:) correctly remarks, my desire to get as much profit as possible (you may call it avarice, Victor) prevents me from having a low tax regime in most provinces. In my next game I will try what you advise - to kill off a faction and keep its former provinces absurdly happy. Then I will be able to make up my own mind as to the ability of factions to pop suddenly up.
But we are forgetting RRMike and his French subject. What is going on in your empire?
Trapped in Samsara
01-26-2012, 19:30
Hi Gilrandir
There's nothing wrong with being avaricious, Gilrandir.
Devising new ways of squeezing every last florin out of my subjects without driving them to the point of rebellion is what gets me out of bed in the morning. Fact! :yes:
It's only in exceptional circumstances, and with a heavy heart, that I sanction less than the max tax take.
Best regards
Victor
Sapere aude
Horace
Hi Gilrandir
There's nothing wrong with being avaricious, Gilrandir.
Devising new ways of squeezing every last florin out of my subjects without driving them to the point of rebellion is what gets me out of bed in the morning. Fact! :yes:
It's only in exceptional circumstances, and with a heavy heart, that I sanction less than the max tax take.
Best regards
Victor
Sapere aude
Horace
Ditto. Usually the cost of the peasants that are necessary to keep loyalty up at a higher tax rate is less than the additional revenue. For a few provinces, Switzerland, Arabia, Siani etc. I just set taxes at very low and leave them. For just about every other province though, very high and build peasants until the loyalty is 200. I just try to make sure to check the loyalty of all my provinces after any kind of major change like a succession, excomm. etc.
Well, I do have VI expansion and I vary my tax regimes in the provinces to avoid the loyalty level drops. But, as Victorgb..., sorry Trapped in Samsara (new year - new name :wink3:) correctly remarks, my desire to get as much profit as possible (you may call it avarice, Victor) prevents me from having a low tax regime in most provinces. In my next game I will try what you advise - to kill off a faction and keep its former provinces absurdly happy. Then I will be able to make up my own mind as to the ability of factions to pop suddenly up.
But we are forgetting RRMike and his French subject. What is going on in your empire?
Haven't been playing in a few days. Long hours at work. I plan on doing nothing for a while while I tech up some more. SAP, Gold v1 Halbs from a cathedral and pavise arbs are going to make late fun when the time comes.
Gilrandir
01-27-2012, 08:38
Ditto. Usually the cost of the peasants that are necessary to keep loyalty up at a higher tax rate is less than the additional revenue. For a few provinces, Switzerland, Arabia, Siani etc. I just set taxes at very low and leave them. For just about every other province though, very high and build peasants until the loyalty is 200. I just try to make sure to check the loyalty of all my provinces after any kind of major change like a succession, excomm. etc.
I never train peasants for any garrison duty. I believe that even garrison units will be called to perform deeds of valor on the battlefield someday and it is no use to have such crap there. So garrison duty is entrusted to units of a higher worth - horse archers, spearmen or something like that.
Trapped in Samsara
01-27-2012, 11:13
Hi
I'm with Gilrandir on the subject of garrison troop quality.
My typical/default non-frontline garrison is a company of spears, a company of xbows/archers, and a company of the cheapest cav available. My thinking is that garrison troops are my reserve of last resort. So, in an emergency I can raid my garrisons for troops (quite possibly in conjunction with a tax drop) and muster a 'serviceable' force which could put on a half decent show if required.
Best regards
Victor
Sapere aude
Horace
I can't remember the last time I used a garrison unit for anything other than garrisoning. (is that a word?)
Peasants, slav warriors, or anything else that is 37/100 or less. Cheap, easy to train, easy to move across the map by daisychaining them from province to province without concern for which ones end up where. And actually kinda funny to try to fight a battle with. I train them in Provence, over to Aragon for weapon upgrades then to IDF for gold armor and huge (cathedral) morale boost. It's kinda time consuming, keeping the assembly line running, but I can't wait to actually try them out in a fight somewhere.
Gilrandir
01-28-2012, 15:02
I can't remember the last time I used a garrison unit for anything other than garrisoning. (is that a word?)
Peasants, slav warriors, or anything else that is 37/100 or less. Cheap, easy to train, easy to move across the map by daisychaining them from province to province without concern for which ones end up where. And actually kinda funny to try to fight a battle with. I train them in Provence, over to Aragon for weapon upgrades then to IDF for gold armor and huge (cathedral) morale boost. It's kinda time consuming, keeping the assembly line running, but I can't wait to actually try them out in a fight somewhere.
You may use garrisons for fighting if a rebellion catches you on the hop.
As for the move-the-unit-and-make-it-better procedure you have described, I would soon get lost who moves where and when, especially if there are some urgent matters like war elsewhere. Besides, wouldn't it be better to have a unit with better stats from the outset then take the long road of improving a junk unit?
You may use garrisons for fighting if a rebellion catches you on the hop.
As for the move-the-unit-and-make-it-better procedure you have described, I would soon get lost who moves where and when, especially if there are some urgent matters like war elsewhere. Besides, wouldn't it be better to have a unit with better stats from the outset then take the long road of improving a junk unit?
Aww Gil, you're missing the point. The point is that there isn't a point;-). I just thought it would be funny to train v1 peasants, equip them with +2 weapons then +4 armor and tons of morale and see what they could do in battle with a 6* general. The game has been won for a long time. I could end it in 15 turns if I chose to. I'm just goofing around and having fun. If I have to wait until 1320 before I can train SAP then I might as well occupy my time doing something besides keeping build cues full:-)
And rebellion? Really, didn't we just go over this during the reemergence discussion? And if it does happen, I get weak rebels since I have weak garrisons and they are proportional.
Gilrandir
01-29-2012, 09:00
I did miss the point. I thought you were still playing, not just experimenting.
As for rebellions, I'm not over this apprehension since a couple of times I had two thirds of the map go red and the feeling of panic I experienced makes me very sensitive in this issue.
One more thing I forgot - Sicilians early expert. You said you enjoyed the game but never told us further than getting Naples and teching slowly up. Any consequent reports to share?
I did miss the point. I thought you were still playing, not just experimenting.
As for rebellions, I'm not over this apprehension since a couple of times I had two thirds of the map go red and the feeling of panic I experienced makes me very sensitive in this issue.
One more thing I forgot - Sicilians early expert. You said you enjoyed the game but never told us further than getting Naples and teching slowly up. Any consequent reports to share?
I cleared out a bunch of save games but kept Sicily early. I will play that game after I finish up France. I just got to late and started building SAP so I'm going to wait a bit and try them out.
The Turks attacked me and failed miserably so I'm taking AM from them currently. The Italians have big C but it's about time to deal with them anyway. I have 1.3 mil florins so trade disruption shouldn't be a big issue.
Gilrandir
02-03-2012, 14:18
I cleared out a bunch of save games but kept Sicily early. I will play that game after I finish up France. I just got to late and started building SAP so I'm going to wait a bit and try them out.
The Turks attacked me and failed miserably so I'm taking AM from them currently. The Italians have big C but it's about time to deal with them anyway. I have 1.3 mil florins so trade disruption shouldn't be a big issue.
Are the Italians suing for mercy yet? How is your naval campaign against them going on?
Are the Italians suing for mercy yet? How is your naval campaign against them going on?
Nope, they fought to the end. I really underestimated how powerful my armies in Europe were. Because of the disparity between my provinces along the border (4) and theirs, (5) I kept putting off the invasion, thinking that I was going to leave one of my provinces almost undefended for a counter attack if I tried to invade. It turned out to be the case that my SAP, gold v1 6morale Halbs, and pavise arbs could slaughter 4/1 odds when needed so it wasn't that tough. Finally I got bored of waiting so I took Treb, Nicea, and then Constantinople from them. I ended up having my ME holdings go from 200% loyalty with very high taxes to 0-20% with very low taxes, (you were right, but having my king on 20 provinces away after the naval battles disrupted my trade network seemed to play a major role). I managed to stabilize the important ones, at the expense of the lesser ones, Arabia, Siani, Syria. The rebellions in the provinces I "sacraficed" were tiny since I moved everything out to other provinces that I wanted to keep more, so I was able to crush them easily, repeating this process multiple times until I got enough peasants trained to keep order. I now have a new strategy about garrisons, I keep one strong army in each area, with smaller, peasant garrisons, in each province. When I get a big loyalty drop, I consolidate my peasants in the more important provinces and have weak rebellions in the others, that I can crush with my local "real" army.
After suffering another loyalty crisis when I got excommunicated for invading the Italian holdings in the west (Swabia, Genoa, Franconia, etc) I finally put the Italians away. The naval battle went the usual way. I lost some and won some, consolidated my fleets around my 3 and 4 star admirals and had to re-build my network behind a couple big fleets that moved across the Med, sinking the smaller Italian fleets. We did have one big stack vs. stack fleet battle off the coast of Cyr. but other than that it was pretty much as expected. From there the mop up in the east seemed unworthy of my time so I took the 60% and moved on to the Sicilian campaign.
Now on to that.
I left off in mid 1100s with Sicily, Naples, Malta, NA from Tunisia through Cordoba and had just invaded Castille after being attacked by the Spanish. After beating back a Spanish counter attack on Castille I thought that I would have Iberia pretty much sewn up in a few turns, training 2 FS, 1 FMAA, 1 archer and one Jinette per turn, to deal with the masses of Jinettes that the Spanish have in Leon and, to a lesser extent, in Portugal. The tiny Spanish army, with king, in Navarre is no threat and the same goes for the little elmo army in Valencia. Things didn't go according to plan when the Frogs warped in 3 stacks to Castille. I won the first battle but things were close. Then I moved some re-inforcements in from Cordoba and was hit two turns later by 4 stacks. I won again but it was a much closer run thing. If the frogs had anything other than peasants and UM in the later couple waves I would have lost for sure as I was fighting with FS units with 20-30 men, Mounted sarges with 8-12 men, etc. Luckily their units would break with a single charge and I just kept chasing them off the map and hastily re-forming to repeat the process.
Now I have a two ship fleet in the ocean north of spain (can't remember the name, costa verde or some such) so that the invasions have stopped but I'm worried that the French will sink that fleet soon. They are, like usual, the dominant power in Europe, (The English don't show up when I check the diplomacy screen), so I imagine they will be able to build a lot of fleets. I'm almost to the point that my Iberian and NA holdings can train worthwile units, and trade is holding me steady at 50k florins with constant building/training from most provinces. I just discontinued troop production in Sicily to get a second boat builder going (in addition to Malta), as I feel that the time has come to double up all my fleets in the med before somebody starts sinking them. That fear has abated somewhat since the Germans just attacked the Italians, which will, hopefully, keep them busy for a while, but it is inevitable at some point, and I do have a French boat headed down the coast of Spain that I don't have anything to attack with until it gets to Gibraltar.
My internal debate now is whether to take Navarre and Aragon. I've been excommunicated for my attacks on Portugal and Leon, I don't remember getting a warning but alas, so finishing off the Spaniards and killing off the Aragonese won't impact me with the Pope anymore. The downside is that it will give me a border with the French and I don't know if I'm ready to deal with the massive numbers of troops that they will be able to train from their 20ish provinces. Right now I'm insulated from them but can't get auto-CF since they have an agent roaming around Iberia and I have no assassins. I'm thinking about taking Rome also but that will give me a border with the Italians, which I don't really want, in addition to a two province border in Italy, vs. the one I have now at Naples so I probably won't.
I may play some today but if I haven't resolved the Iberia issue your advice is welcome. I hold a two province border now at Castille/Cordoba (soon to be Castille/Valencia), so taking Navarre/Aragon, won't really help in that regard but it gets me more Iron and big hills to defend from.
Well, the question no longer remains. The objective is to conquer all the map after all. The french seemed to have a limitless capacity for ransoming back captured prisoners, only to send them back against me every 2nd turn so after the 4th invasion of Iberia I slaughtered a couple thousand prisoners. I didn't know that if you execute enough prisoners you get a second "virtue" in addition to scant mercy. My general in Castille recieved scant mercy and "butcher" both when this occured. That has quieted the frogs down some. I now have a stable border at Navarre/Aragon. I will probably take Aquitaine from them next, just to be mean.
Gilrandir
02-04-2012, 10:41
Well, the question no longer remains. The objective is to conquer all the map after all. The french seemed to have a limitless capacity for ransoming back captured prisoners, only to send them back against me every 2nd turn so after the 4th invasion of Iberia I slaughtered a couple thousand prisoners. I didn't know that if you execute enough prisoners you get a second "virtue" in addition to scant mercy. My general in Castille recieved scant mercy and "butcher" both when this occured. That has quieted the frogs down some. I now have a stable border at Navarre/Aragon. I will probably take Aquitaine from them next, just to be mean.
You will have constant trouble with the French until you corner them in some dark place far from help. So keep on afflicting them and never stop. And in such win-or-die wars I never ransom back any prisoners. Only public slaughtering and sending the severed heads to Paris COD. One more thing: produce as many ships as possible - control of the seas is a pivotal issue both in protecting your lands and squeezing your enemies out of sea zones near their coasts.
Using Navarre and Aragon as my northern border against France (or whoever occupies Aquitaine and Toulouse) is generally an easy decision for me. The enemy can break their armies against my defenses almost indefinitely, at least until such time as I feel ready to launch my own counter-offensive into Frankish lands.
Still, Gilrandir has a point: The French likely won't let up (even if they seem to have paused to catch their breath at the moment), and can eventually wear one down through sheer attrition. Sooner or later, depending on your overall strategic situation, you'll want to go after the Frogs on their own ground -- either via the direct route (through Aquitaine and Toulouse), or by landing expeditionary forces from the sea.
Sounds like a fun campaign, btw! I suddenly want to play as the Sicilians again... :yes:
I will probably take Aquitaine from them next, just to be mean.
:laugh4:
You will have constant trouble with the French until you corner them in some dark place far from help. So keep on afflicting them and never stop. And in such win-or-die wars I never ransom back any prisoners. Only public slaughtering and sending the severed heads to Paris COD. One more thing: produce as many ships as possible - control of the seas is a pivotal issue both in protecting your lands and squeezing your enemies out of sea zones near their coasts.
I always do it seems. I really don't have any fear of them right now though. I have big armies that are of better quality, bigger size and are lead by better generals sitting on the high ground. I believe their constant movement of troops to the border is a defensive action right now. I've sent some agents to snoop around and they have stripped northern France and the Isles bare of troops. Some provinces completely abandoned. I was a little bummed that the Germans wouldn't take advantage of the situation and jump on board but they had to go and start a stupid war that they can't win against the Italians.
I'm excommunicated for the third time. The French sent a crusade that I refused and immediately upon the pope dying the Germans sent one that I also refused. No biggie though since my empire is still relatively small and not too rebellious.
I am building ships from 4 provinces now and having good success rolling back the few French boats while doubling up all my fleets around the med/Black. It's getting on towards high period so I may just tech up some more and start rolling out high quality units for a little while before going on a rampage.
Using Navarre and Aragon as my northern border against France (or whoever occupies Aquitaine and Toulouse) is generally an easy decision for me. The enemy can break their armies against my defenses almost indefinitely, at least until such time as I feel ready to launch my own counter-offensive into Frankish lands.
Still, Gilrandir has a point: The French likely won't let up (even if they seem to have paused to catch their breath at the moment), and can eventually wear one down through sheer attrition. Sooner or later, depending on your overall strategic situation, you'll want to go after the Frogs on their own ground -- either via the direct route (through Aquitaine and Toulouse), or by landing expeditionary forces from the sea.
Sounds like a fun campaign, btw! I suddenly want to play as the Sicilians again... :yes:
:laugh4:
I enjoy it because there aren't a lot of options for early expansion that are easy to grab like most other factions. It keeps your empire smaller for a while, which is more fun.
Gilrandir
02-05-2012, 13:47
I would advise you to capture Aquitaine and Toulouse in the nearest future. Firstly, you will add two more provinces to your realm and will still have a two-province border to the north.:grin: Secondly, Toulouse has a river border both with Provence and Burgundy, so you will have your flank kind of protected against any incursions on the part of HRE. And watch Portugal closely. It is prone to rebellions very easily and you wouldn't like to have some extinct faction that had owned it before pop up in your rear which is usually stripped of troops, would you?
I would advise you to capture Aquitaine and Toulouse in the nearest future. Firstly, you will add two more provinces to your realm and will still have a two-province border to the north.:grin: Secondly, Toulouse has a river border both with Provence and Burgundy, so you will have your flank kind of protected against any incursions on the part of HRE. And watch Portugal closely. It is prone to rebellions very easily and you wouldn't like to have some extinct faction that had owned it before pop up in your rear which is usually stripped of troops, would you?
I'm now sitting on the provence (went rebel after Italian CW and I bribed), Burgandy (Huns had it but were irritating me and starting to build boats so I did a little pre-emptive strike), Loraine (See Burgandy), and Flanders line. The frogs still retained Normandy and Champaign when I got the excommunication warning so I've left them for a bit. I will resume crushing them as soon as my ten years is up and I get my warning for the huns, who I really don't want to pursue anyway as it leaves my southern flank exposed to the Turks, yes you read that right, the Turks have spread along from Venice to ....whatever is north of Genoa, and Genoa. The Italian attack on me, which lost them their entire navy made that amphibious action by the Turks possible.
As soon as the horde arrive, it's 122x now, I imagine the Turks will get a whole lot weaker or CW in western Europe. I might sink all their boats to speed things along but I'm undecided so far.
I'm really looking at installing one of the mods after this is over. I can't really think of a faction that I really want to play next. I've debated an Eggie campaign but I imagine it will be about like my Turk campaigns but with Arbs and fewer horses, which I don't really use much of anyway.
Right now I'm down to BKB, XL, or redux. My criteria is that I want a reasonable tech tree, some kind of info on unit stats, a good balanced game and maybe a little more diversity, both in factions and units available.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Gilrandir
02-06-2012, 09:13
I can't give you any advice on mods as I don't use them, but I expect you will get plenty from others at this forum. As for your reluctance to play the game you have now, a viable option may be any factions in late.
Maybe I can offer a few words of advice regarding mods.
In no particular order:
BKB - Lots of units, very interesting unique maps for each era concept. Probably the one older mod that is most ambitious. Lots of historical research incorporated.
Redux - Superb graphics, the mod with the most visual changes. Very good roster of units, diverse and fairly balanced given that most units are replaced "from the ground up", so to speak. And a big plus for the fact that it is actively supported and worked on.
Medmod - Difficult and harsh campaign play, most MTW veterans back in the day preferred this mod. It still holds up today and is nearly bug free. Has new units, but no new graphics. However, the High era can't be played which to me is a minus.
XL mod (with Tyberius patch) - Well rounded mod, offers new units, factions and provinces. Balance is OK, but the economic game play is improved over vanilla. Very stable and bug free. Together with the Tyberius patch (which alters game play further as well as changing unit graphics), this is what I based my home mod on.
Caravel mod - Most like vanilla, but more fine tuned and optimized. Expect no major changes, but if you love vanilla MTW this is the one for you. Within it lies the cumulative experience and knowledge from a known MTW veteran and community profile. Some new units, I believe.
I didn't know that if you execute enough prisoners you get a second "virtue" in addition to scant mercy. My general in Castille recieved scant mercy and "butcher" both when this occured. That has quieted the frogs down some.
The Butcher "virtue" is my favorite. Whenever I see the captured counter reach 1000, I'm on that button like flies on a thousand corpses. :yes:
If you want to make the French tougher, mod out the peasants and ballistas. ~;)
Installed medmod. I guess we'll see how this goes. Any advice is welcome. I sure wish there was a unit wiki like vanilla has. I enjoyed studying it at work. Now I have to devote home time, that could be used playing, learning units.
I started as the Brits but the lack of ability to train anything other than knights and claymores at first is irritating. I may switch to the French as I've read that they have many of the vanilla units, feudal sarges and MAA.
Where have you been Gil? Have I, inadvertently, ended our daily dialogue by modding my game? You should DL the medmod too so we have something to talk about. If you want, I could upload my TW folder to Dropbox and give you the UN & PW.
Gilrandir
02-09-2012, 15:22
Where have you been Gil? Have I, inadvertently, ended our daily dialogue by modding my game? You should DL the medmod too so we have something to talk about. If you want, I could upload my TW folder to Dropbox and give you the UN & PW.
Well, you have, in fact. I don't play any mods as I have not lost interest in the vanilla game which has a lot of unexplored factions and predicaments for me to try. Besides, as I have told elsewhere, being a technical imbecile (as a colleague of mine put it) I'm afraid to tamper with the software in any way. My game is in Russian, it defeats any cheatcodes and won't be interefered with (well, with my technical skills) unless I have a purpose to finish it off altogether. But, you know, modding is changing in all senses of the word, so break a leg. I believe we will find something to talk about outside mods, like when I finally start a campaign of mine.
Turbosatan
02-09-2012, 16:03
Installed medmod. I guess we'll see how this goes. Any advice is welcome. I sure wish there was a unit wiki like vanilla has. I enjoyed studying it at work. Now I have to devote home time, that could be used playing, learning units.
I started as the Brits but the lack of ability to train anything other than knights and claymores at first is irritating. I may switch to the French as I've read that they have many of the vanilla units, feudal sarges and MAA.
Hey dude.
Personal resurface, long-time no-player (wrong-headed seducement by RTW/ETW sexy graffix, busy with real life), recently re-install. Fire up MedMod.
Astonish-bogglement that computah game actually fight back & try to kick my #r$3. Recommend perseverance w/MedMod, really is stunning-wowser achievement. Battlefield gameplay balance brilliant (THE AI ACTUALLY SEEMS TO KNOW WHAT IT'S DOING!) & campaign map game jaw-dropping (WHERE ARE ALL THESE KNIGHTS COMING FROM? I ONLY HAVE PEASANTS! AAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHH!).
A little mannered, perhaps, & Wes had a hard-on for the Italians & their freaky pointy-stick twirling footmen. But apart from that, best mod evah by far. Makes the game worthwhile post-vanilla, something which I don't think any other mod has ever done (for me); no offenced intendered to any other mod-profferer but rest are merely diverting until you establish they haven't fixed anything, just bunged a load of crap on top. Wesmod serious achievement.
BTW: If any happy-harpy home-brews High Era for Wesmod, please to be dropping line Turbosatan-wards. Muchly appreciated.
Well, you have, in fact. I don't play any mods as I have not lost interest in the vanilla game which has a lot of unexplored factions and predicaments for me to try. Besides, as I have told elsewhere, being a technical imbecile (as a colleague of mine put it) I'm afraid to tamper with the software in any way. My game is in Russian, it defeats any cheatcodes and won't be interefered with (well, with my technical skills) unless I have a purpose to finish it off altogether. But, you know, modding is changing in all senses of the word, so break a leg. I believe we will find something to talk about outside mods, like when I finally start a campaign of mine.
I haven't played much yet. Maybe 3-4 hours total as the French but it is a really new feeling game. I had really lost that anxiety that I might actually lose a game playing vanilla but it is back with a vengance now :laugh4: The wealth of different factions really makes it cool too. I'm at war with Germany and England both, they share no real allies, while having a few each, and I still have 7-8 allies. There are emisaries running all over the map making deals, coalitions galore, and no huge multi stack armies. I'm playing my first game on normal, rather than expert, figuring that I will make some mistakes and be able to keep from having to pay the ultimate price if I can whip out a little magic on the tactical map, which is pretty easy on normal.
You should really give it a try. You wouldn't even have to mod your game. I will just dropbox you my complete MTW folder and you would just need to cut yours and paste it in a safe place, like the desktop or whatever, and just paste mine in it's place. Game is all modded and working perfectly. If you didn't like it or whatever, and decide to go back to your original install just delete the folder and paste yours back into it's place. Easy peasy.
Just an idea if you decide you want to give it a try. No work required and no risk of screwing your original install up. I still have my original folder backed up on a seperate drive for that very reason. I don't have to worry about undoing anything if the medmod stops working or is buggy. I just delete the whole folder and copy/past my clean vanilla install back into the total war folder and it's good as new.
Hey dude.
Personal resurface, long-time no-player (wrong-headed seducement by RTW/ETW sexy graffix, busy with real life), recently re-install. Fire up MedMod.
Astonish-bogglement that computah game actually fight back & try to kick my #r$3. Recommend perseverance w/MedMod, really is stunning-wowser achievement. Battlefield gameplay balance brilliant (THE AI ACTUALLY SEEMS TO KNOW WHAT IT'S DOING!) & campaign map game jaw-dropping (WHERE ARE ALL THESE KNIGHTS COMING FROM? I ONLY HAVE PEASANTS! AAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHH!).
A little mannered, perhaps, & Wes had a hard-on for the Italians & their freaky pointy-stick twirling footmen. But apart from that, best mod evah by far. Makes the game worthwhile post-vanilla, something which I don't think any other mod has ever done (for me); no offenced intendered to any other mod-profferer but rest are merely diverting until you establish they haven't fixed anything, just bunged a load of crap on top. Wesmod serious achievement.
BTW: If any happy-harpy home-brews High Era for Wesmod, please to be dropping line Turbosatan-wards. Muchly appreciated.
I am loving it. I like that the challenge is back. No enemy armies full of peasants and ballista. Now they all have real units that can fight. Lots of boats in all the oceans, making the old days of ringing the entire map with boats a pipe dream. You have to really expand cautiously and not overextend. Secure borders. All that stuff.
I have downloaded redux and xl also, and will eventually give them a try also. I like that redux has current developer support and Axalon is still active on the boards but the reputation for challenge that I've heard about medmod was too much to resist for my first go at a mod.
Gilrandir
02-09-2012, 17:52
I had really lost that anxiety that I might actually lose a game playing vanilla but it is back with a vengance now :laugh4:
I still have this feeling whenever I play vanilla (especially at the outset of a campaign) and sometimes I do lose (after a civil war, for instance) so I'm fine with what I have. Besides, I play about 2 or 3 campaigns a year (partly for the lack of time, partly to retain the fresh hunger for the game - when it is too much I get fed up with it) and it seems that I will have plenty of things to do in some years to come. But thanks for the offer anyway. If I change my mind I will let you know.
Fine, be that way then https://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/rrmike/gifs/crossedarms.gif
Trapped in Samsara
02-10-2012, 11:06
Hi
@GilRandir
At the risk of sounding smarmy, I don't understand why you 'need' to play a Russian-language version of MTW. Your English comes across as really pretty good to me.
The reason I'm saying this is that there are some great, extraordinary mods out there that seriously improve on MTW's gameplay and challenge factor. If language is an issue make the jump.:2thumbsup:
@RRMike and Turbosatan
Which version of Medmod are you playing? I have actually downloaded BKB intending to give it a go for my next campaign. But your enthusiasm for Medmod is infectious.
I have played one campaign on a version of Medmod. I did not enjoy it as much as some. There were a few reasons, but the main one was that ships could not travel from the Med to the Atlantic and vice versa. I found this to be an excessively artificial and intrusive 'device', which really compromised the immersiveness that I have come to love and expect from the MTW experience.
Best regards
Victor
Sapere aude
Horace
Hi
@GilRandir
At the risk of sounding smarmy, I don't understand why you 'need' to play a Russian-language version of MTW. Your English comes across as really pretty good to me.
The reason I'm saying this is that there are some great, extraordinary mods out there that seriously improve on MTW's gameplay and challenge factor. If language is an issue make the jump.:2thumbsup:
@RRMike and Turbosatan
Which version of Medmod are you playing? I have actually downloaded BKB intending to give it a go for my next campaign. But your enthusiasm for Medmod is infectious.
I have played one campaign on a version of Medmod. I did not enjoy it as much as some. There were a few reasons, but the main one was that ships could not travel from the Med to the Atlantic and vice versa. I found this to be an excessively artificial and intrusive 'device', which really compromised the immersiveness that I have come to love and expect from the MTW experience.
Best regards
Victor
Sapere aude
Horace
I'm playing the latest "I believe" version. MM4? And boats can transit from the Med to Atlantic once high arrives and the proper ships are enabled. It was done intentionally, I just don't remember what the reason was. It's in the MM thread though IIRC. I, for one, don't really mind it. Mostly since my fleets haven't made it that far:laugh4: but also because I like having some kind of limiter on trade. Especially early. It forces you to make tradeoffs in your home provinces between troop production and farming/mining.
Trapped in Samsara
02-10-2012, 13:20
Hi RRMike
IIRC the reason Wes implemented this 'device' was (as you've touched on) to prevent the human player from building up a massively profitable trading network. I completely sympathise with that objective: we all know that the AI is cr@p at establishing and maintaining a contiguous line of fleets from its trading provinces. My solution would be to significantly reduce the income from trade and increase that from farming and mining, which the AI can manage reasonably well.
Also, there's the issue of 'teleporting' from, e.g., the Baltic to Palestine. And finally, and peripherally, I've seen the argument - which has some merit - that something should be done to reduce the CAI's tendency to maroon its king on some god forsaken foreign beach, in a port-less province as a consequence of an ill-judged invasion. Cutting Med-Atlantic travel is better than nothing, perhaps.
...boats can transit from the Med to Atlantic once high arrives and the proper ships are enabled.
Thanks for the heads up. That's worth knowing.
Hmmm... BKB has pulled into the lead.
Cheers
v
Gilrandir
02-10-2012, 15:15
Hi
@GilRandir
At the risk of sounding smarmy, I don't understand why you 'need' to play a Russian-language version of MTW. Your English comes across as really pretty good to me.
The reason I'm saying this is that there are some great, extraordinary mods out there that seriously improve on MTW's gameplay and challenge factor. If language is an issue make the jump.:2thumbsup:
It is not about the language. I have some quest games (which I also enjoy greatly) in English on my computer and I prefer them to their translated versions. In fact, I have stopped playing quests if they are not in English. Perhaps I didn't make my point explicit which I will try to do now.
1. I'm satisfied with the MTW I have (irrespective of the language) since I have not exhausted all challenges I would like to face. It will take me a while to exhaust them and starting anything new will rule out this opportunity and will take a lot of time and effort to get adjusted to (like I have played only MTW battles for three or four years before I got down to campaigning).
2. I'm very apprehensive about anything I can download and install on my computer. A couple of times I had pretty nasty accidents which necessitated re-installation of WINDOWS. Since I couldn't (and can't) do it myself it means finding a geek who could do it and time+money to spend on it. And, I have no idea if my computer's memory and all technical requirements which I don't understand (and don't know in fact) will suffice to install anything so grand as I believe the mods to be.
It is not about the language. I have some quest games (which I also enjoy greatly) in English on my computer and I prefer them to their translated versions. In fact, I have stopped playing quests if they are not in English. Perhaps I didn't make my point explicit which I will try to do now.
1. I'm satisfied with the MTW I have (irrespective of the language) since I have not exhausted all challenges I would like to face. It will take me a while to exhaust them and starting anything new will rule out this opportunity and will take a lot of time and effort to get adjusted to (like I have played only MTW battles for three or four years before I got down to campaigning).
2. I'm very apprehensive about anything I can download and install on my computer. A couple of times I had pretty nasty accidents which necessitated re-installation of WINDOWS. Since I couldn't (and can't) do it myself it means finding a geek who could do it and time+money to spend on it. And, I have no idea if my computer's memory and all technical requirements which I don't understand (and don't know in fact) will suffice to install anything so grand as I believe the mods to be.
I'll quit hassling you over it then:bow:
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