which factions do you avoid playing

[solypsist]

I'm interested in knowing if the majority of .Org users exhibit some qualities, mostly along these lines:
1. Has tried every faction and will play every faction.
2. Had only played a few but wants to try every faction.
3. Prefers only a few factions and has avoided others.
4. Plays the same two or three factions only.

These are not choices, but simply guidelines to help steer this thread along on-topic.

For me, I have avoided playing the Turks and Polish since their starting positions intimidate me. I always play Early Game. I played the Egyptians once, but had bad luck and so have not returned. I have played the Italiansand Spanishtwice and will play them again, to see if I can improve on my last games.

[Teutonic Knight]

I mostly play the English and French or Germans and avoid most everybody else.

[Negative]

I've played HRE about 6 times. Spain once. That's it. I'm obsessed with playing the perfect HRE campaign. Eventually I will try the other factions. I want to play all of them at least once.

[Al Qasim Hussein]

I have only had the game approx. three weeks, so as you might imagine I've only had time to play two factions. The first was the Almohads, unplayable after getting the patch so I didn't finish. I shall return, however The other, and my current choice, is the HRE. I do not intend to every play them again, though, as their starting position is abominable (too many folks surrounding them) and they ahve a severe shortage of good generals initially (and the french have a nasty habit of invading me and exploiting this fact http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/angry.gif ).

I intend, however, to have played each faction before I die WHich may happen sooner than I think if I don't start paying less attention to MTW and more to my spouse...er, Empress...

[Hosakawa Tito]

Post patch I have only played one faction, Danes, early period + hard. This has been my only campaign to date, working for a living sure has it's drawbacks http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif I want to try them all, but like you soly the Poles, Hungarians, and Turks starting positions sure look intimidating. I'll cut my teeth on the others first. At the rate I'm going, I'll be fortunate to play them all before the next TW version comes out.

[Vlad The Impaler]

i avoid almohad;i think i do this because i dont like big & cheap armies http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
i like to play turks ( hard position ) and france ( even harder starting position in early ) ;
i tried all factions but i finished only with turks (despite 2 civil wars ) , france and danes .
now i am playing with russians and the next will be the spanish ;

[MonkeyMan]

I Play everyone except the French or the HRE. Feels too strange, to take them being english. Kind of like i'll have the english, and anyone but our traditional enemies. Weird i know but go figure I even go so far as to mod their units to the english to see what it would be like without having to be them. I really think i need help, i even like german and french people because they make nice beer.

[Azrael]

Hey Guys,

Being a Brit, the English are my favourite faction. Great in GA mode, since the Crusades give you the ability to establish yourself on both sides of the map.

Had fun with HRE. If you can follow the sound tactical advice of not fighting a war on two fronts, quite entertaining.

Played the Byzantines after getting familiar with their troops on MP.

When you consider that historically, the Ottoman Empire stretched to Spain, how anyone can give the Turks a miss is beyond me. Challenging start position makes for rewarding play.

The game has taught me to hate the Alhomads so much that I can't ever see myself playing them (I'll grow out of it, I'm sure).

Eventually, I'd like to give every faction a go, though I worry about the Spanish as they always seem to get snuffed out before 1100.

Azrael

[Postino]

i have stuck to the catholics mostly. i did try the turks, on accoint of their VERY difficult position. i havent gotten very far in that one. the other muslims i have stayed away from, cause their positions are just too good. just before the patch i started a norvgood game, but deleted it because of the patch and that i like to start in early.

[LordKhaine]

Never played as the almohads. Havent ever really got to grips with the Polish and the Russians, just tested them out really. Aside from that... I've played enough of the other factions to know them well.

[baz]

ive only played one campaign and i was spain http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[sassbarman]

I've played as the danes, turks, italians, poles, english, hre, and now playing as the people of novograd. At the risk of sounding cockey found them all fairly easy with the exception of the HRE. Want to eventually play them all.

[Prodigy]

I played HRE, Russians, Egyptians, Spanish and Turks. Spanish turned out to be very easy despite the pregame summary telling the opposite. Finnished only as HRE, and let me tell you tose Gothic Sergeants eat khights for breakfast, woth the wait.

I stay away from Byzantines and Polish. Tryed Byzanines ones but ones I heard their troops speak Russian instead of Greek I "freeked" out and avoided it since then.

Next I hope to play Italians and English.

[Dijeeh]

Quote[/b] (Vlad The Impaler @ Nov. 23 2002,05:11)]i avoid almohad;i think i do this because i dont like big & cheap armies http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
i like to play turks ( hard position ) and france ( even harder starting position in early ) ;
i tried all factions but i finished only with turks (despite 2 civil wars ) , france and danes .
now i am playing with russians and the next will be the spanish ;
While on the subject of factions, Can anyone tell me how to play the unselectable factions?




Anyway, I avoid Muslim nations, i never go Germany, I tend to go England or Danes.

I hate Byzantine. I don't like starting off with too much land to manage, The smaller the empire the better.

[hrvojej]

Well, the Turks are very enjoyable to play, and have a fairly unique playing style, so I would recommend trying them out, if you haven't already.
I tend to be put off with the lack of variety, and hence never played as the French, the Danes or the Poles. Simply not enough unique units to make the time investment worth it, from my perspective.

[SideshowBob]

I've played nearly everyone, all the Majors and 3 minors. Having said that a lot of games still are not finished and i have something like 25 save game slots used up.

I have favourites which i play more often, but i thought it would be good to see the strengths and weaknesses of every faction for myself.

[A.Saturnus]

I`m definitely intend to try them all.
I played Egyptian to the end and Spanish nearly to the end and they played very different. I ecspecially liked the R-Egyptian special units. Every faction is somehow unique, so I want to see what is it like to play them. Bad that you can`t play Novgorod, would like to try that.

[solypsist]

just a quick bump before this gets buried and is irretrievable.

[Michael the Great]

Quote[/b] (Vlad The Impaler @ Nov. 22 2002,19:11)]i avoid almohad;i think i do this because i dont like big & cheap armies http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
i like to play turks ( hard position ) and france ( even harder starting position in early ) ;
i tried all factions but i finished only with turks (despite 2 civil wars ) , france and danes .
now i am playing with russians and the next will be the spanish ;
The Turks seem 2 have a pretty balanced army,suited for deserts AND for (invading) Europe http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[candidgamera]

Pre patch played Danes once and couldn't get anywhere - not agressive enough. Then played HRE up to about 1259.

Am still in my first campaign post patch http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/redface.gif but this game takes a lot more time and effort and thinking than STW - its an ocean of game play and am just leaving shore feels like.

Would like to try England - longbows and billmen.

[G0THIC-Lobster]

Dude, my dad finish the whole conquest campagin with polish, but i don't like playing them because they have nothing special except for da retainers.

[Nelson]

I've only played and Spaniards and Danes. I'll do them all eventually. So far the units and tactics I want to use have influenced who I decide to take more than the stategic position a faction begins in. I wanted Knights of Santiago and jinetes so I did Spain. Then I wanted vikings.

Obviously this game is going to take a long time to get stale.

[ShaiHulud]

I've only played the Early period, and in that, have yet to try the Almohad, Byz, or Italians.

The easiest, while still competitive, has been the Turks. With the immediate capture of the Egyptian king available you get a jumpstart of 10K florins. Swallowing Egypt puts you into serious income quickly, thereafter. You can outproduce the Byz and roll them quickly, too.

Playing either the French or English seemed too easy. Both were able to roll over the other quickly and, thus, get a lot of land that cannot be easily assailed.

The HRE (one time only playing them) was frustrating because almost every leader was 3 or below in loyalty. So spread out, too and the monarchy appears to be very weak in producing good generals.

The Poles, while interesting, are slow to develop. The Danes, even after substantial conquests, stayed poor. They have to maintain a lot of armies as they expand.

Spain was good. Little in the way of easy conquests there but I seemed to have some awesome offspring

I'm playing the Egyptians now and find them somewhat frustrating. Their basic spears, the Nubians, get carved up by everything they face. The Saracens, which I now use in their stead, are very expensive. With a two front war against the Almohad, with their deadly militia, and the Byz, with their equally deadly Byz infantry and the occasional Vanrangian and the meatgrinding kataphractoi, even victories are costly. I'm finding it common to hold the field, but retain but a quarter of my former forces before battles.

[muffinman14]

Ive played England a couple of times, The Germans twice, Italians once, The Turks 3 times,Poland once(thats wheere mee blood is), The almohads once, and the Russians for 5 minutes.

It seems that I have played alot but usually i play one faction but if I get bored at the faction that Im plaaying with I start another campaign.

[Leet Eriksson]

Played all three muslim factions and almost all europeans except for france and byzantines(did try them once),i tend to avoid almohad for their bad selection of units,and i say the best faction are the polish becuase they simply have the retainers.i also like the italians/germans and the turks they have some really good unique units.

[Lord Romulous]

Ive played the itallians and the Turks. and a half hearted go at the almos on easy. (nothing against the almos just easy level was a walk in the park, so quit the campaign and played the itallians on hard. much more satisfiying.


not had the chance to play any others yet.

I didnt find the Turks to difficult. (on hard level)
the key I found is try and ally with the bzy or atleast not go to war with them. Attack the egyptians and take Antioch, tripoli and Palistine as soon as you can. These provences yield fantasitic income and can ensure you have enough cash to win against the egyptians before turning and smashing the byz. cause i like to trade. my usal strat is to stop conquering once i hold constantinople, eyypt and the provence below kaza in the north.
these 3 choke hold provences ensure you only need to defend these 3 provences from attack and you can leave the rest with minimal garrisons. (make sure you have ships in you home waters though or you will be vunrable to sea invasion in your poorly defended interior provences.

[Katasaki Hirojima]

I'v tryed the Russians, Byzantines, Poles, Italians and Egyptians so far. I'v dominatedthe game as Italians and Byzantines, Poles I'v at least secured my nation. The Russians arn't doing so well, even though Boyars are, in my opinion, the best cavalry in the game. I play factions based on unit avaliblity and how fun they are on the battlefield with these units.

[Ogre de Warrior]

I've played'em all. So far I like the Russians, the Spanish, and the Byzantines. I dont really care for the Danes or the Poles. I dont really like the HRE either, simply for the fact that their leaders are pretty pathetic, and that they have no starting training facilities. I also like the Almohads and the TURKS. I basically look for the factions that have the most potential to mix it up. War is my game.

[chunkynut]

I really dont know why but i seem to play catholic factions alot.

I do intend to play all the factions of course(i dont see how you can't). But i have never played the turks or egyptions and i only ever play early. I have never played a GA game either.

Now its not because i dont want to and i certainly will but its the time factor, i just don't seem to have enough to play all the campaigns i want

I will say pre-patch i loved spain (haven't played em 1.1) and the english are my favorite(i think thats only because im english though http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif ).

I think after my current dane campaign (first one) i may try the turks

[Ktonos]

I have played 3 campaigns pre patch and I am during my first post patch (I play it from day 3 of patch release.)

My first was the Byzantines, because I am Greek...yo know how it goes.

My second was Germany because I sympathise Germans in general.

My third and last prepatch was the English because 1. they had a perfect strategic position and 2. in the same day I had seen for #17 Breaveheart.

My current post patch game is with Germany because it was the one campaign without successful end and I wanted a revenge.

I plan to play every faction and my next will propably be the Turks or the Egyptians, because I must play a muslim one and the Almohads are too easy.

[Daevyll]

I havent played Almohads or Egyptians since they look too easy on the strategic front.
HRE I avoid because you start out with such a big lap of land that the game is basically yours to lose (it feels like that anyway).

My favourite factions (all on early) are the Danish, Polish, Turkish and Spanish.

[RJV]

Hi all,

First campaign was English - did OK but didn't finish. I like the underdog so I went with the Poles. Tough to get going, but once you get Lithuania, Sweden and Kiev (to get a black sea port and a short-cut to Med trading) then the cash comes-a-flowin' and it gets a bit easier.
I was a bit unsure who to play next, so I had a look around the boards and found that, aside from the Almos, the Egyptians seemed a little under-represented, so they are my current campaign. Nice income to start with, and as the Turks didn't attack Antioch/Tripoli/Palestine (though I thought they would) my bank balance has rocketed. Just sticking to a war with the Almos at the mo, pushed 'em back into Spain and now it's just a process of wearing them down over time - I have more troop producing provinces than they do, so eventually they'll disappear. Once they've gone, well, Europe is my oyster...
ONE BIG PROBLEM - No-one will marry into my faction. The catholics all turn me down flat, and the Byz/Turks want me to fight 'our common enemies' - as they are at war with each other I have no intention of joining in, so WHAT DO I DO???

Cheers.

[Inferno]

I've played (and completed in conquest mode):

The English
The Danes
The Turkish
The Spanish
The Italians

Not planning on using any of the others, I am concentrating on MP from now on.

[Hulegu]

I'm working my way through them. Fascinated by the Near East and its warfare, I will happily play the Muslim factions although my latest, Turkish campaign is not exactly a startling success. But I have no desire to play the Almohads, because they seem not to have any really interesting units, because I don't like the orange, and because they seem to do quite well enough (to say the least) as an AI faction without any human input.
- there are just so many factors behind players' preferences.

[HopAlongBunny]

I've played Almos', Byz, Italians, Egyptians, Danes and English. They've all been interesting. I;ve even won with some of them http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

My most spectacular failure had to be with the Italians; kept small with a huge trade network...then I think I pushed a little too hard in the wrong places => war with everyone http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/shock.gif

I think I'll get around to playing them all http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Teutonic Knight]

is that a picture of you in your sig soly?

[Daveybaby]

Quote[/b] (Teutonic Knight @ Nov. 25 2002,10:17)]is that a picture of you in your sig soly?
Nah, that da H-Dog (http://www.theonion.com/archive/archive_kornfeld.html).