Difficulty does matter....

[Dark Prince]

Today I try to play as the English on expert difficulty,at beginning,I try to build a lot of farms,establish my trade route with other nations.I encounter so many problem several years later.French and Germany were able to build up huge army within 3-4 years,did they use the cheat flourin code???How in the blue hell can they build that many army in such short time???Most of the nations refuse to make alliance with me,My king has 6 crown influence and no bad vice,so why don't they make alliance with me?Last but not least,most of my generals got bribed so easily,this is killing me.Before I install the new patch,I was able to beat the campaign on expert difficulty,but now it is impossible. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/angry.gif

[Satyr]

No, now it is just more of a challenge. Many here have won games on expert after installing the patch. On expert, you can not afford to sit around and build econ for years. Any weakness you show will be exploited by the AI. Build your econ, but build troops to defend your land too. And you really should kill the french within 25 years or they will kill you. Rarely is there stasis in that relationship.

[desdichado]

Dark Prince,

Don't worry it is possible to win as the English on expert.

My first attempt failed as i went down on your path trying to build my economy and got slaughtered by the French within 30 years. Their armies were too big.

In my current 2nd instalment I have not focused too heavily on building farm income - short term their is no return - just focused on building armies and upgrading. by the time I thought the french were about ready to attack my income profit was about 100 florins per year - pathetic I know. however the Argagonese invaded France and I followed the year after taking all but one remaining French provinces. Finished them off 5 years later and now my annual profit is 1000 florins + and I have annexed Norway and also Aragonese are no more (they started it http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif ).

Just remember not too let the French or HRE build bigger armies than you and be patient and wait for opportunity to strike - its only a matter of time before they do it to you anyway.

[Dark Prince]

oh well I guess that i didn't build up any troops,so that's why i got slaughter by french... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/eek.gif

[Cooperman]

Playing as the English you need to get forts and watch towers in anjou and normandy as soon as possible, then a spearmaker in anjou, a bowyer in normandie and a horse farmer in aquitane. You can then build up an army of spearmen, urban militia, bowyers and hobilars very quickly in France that can easily defeat the french early on.
The best advice I can give is bribe the welsh early on those longbowmen come in very useful when you come to take on the French.

[SmokWawelski]

Yes, it looks like this is not the game for fans of Fast Food Tycoons and similar. You cannot be a sitting duck, and have to keep your military strong as to show your friends and enemies not to start anything with you. But then again you will sink your income in the upkeep costs and will not be able to expand your economy.... Choices

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

[Xiahou]

I think that even on Expert the game is entirely too easy. During the middle ages the HRE, Byzantines, and others were plagued by power struggles between the emperor and the landed nobility. Often times the nobles would ignore commands from their emperor and act almost autonomously. Many times, particularly with the Byzantines, the empire was torn apart by civil wars and internal power struggles. As generals would become sucessful they quickly became threats the the leadership due to their popularity and military might. Countless times, emperors were overthrown by rivals or rebellious generals.

This is scarcely represented at all in the game- on any difficulty level. Sure, you get the occasional rebellions or faction re-emergence- but how often do you see civil wars or generals changing sides? From my experience, seldom to never. The majority of generals have high loyalty to start out and they never succumb to temptation no matter how powerful an army they command or how powerful they become. This is the real reason why no single faction was ever able to control of Europe and the Mediterrenean.

Were the game totally realistic- no one would be able to accomplish much of anything except to fight civil wars and rebellions and I don't think anyone wants that... but as it is now I scarcely even need to look at my generals' loyalty. Just my 2 cents.

[Vlad The Impaler]

i dont want to play smart but i never understand why is so hard to win on expert http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/rolleyes.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/eek.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif