Endgame

[Imperial Buffoon]

Hi,
I'm near the end of my first campaign (I'm a slow player, too many outside commitments ) http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif and was wondering how people end their games.
It's GA (English early easy) and I refused a minor victory. To get a flavour of what total domination would play like I'm going for it but there's only me and the Spanish and they have large armies though not very well balanced (lots of archers and other ranged units)
Difficulty level means that I can usually do a lot better than autocalc and so I prefer to play out the battles. I tried to avoid war and my inquisitors have been burning anything with stars on it; my assasins killed the king and war started, in the first battle I captured and killed a heir. However it turns out there was another one and even though I had his massive major army (about 10 stacks) cornered, the king appeared elsewhere.
The worse thing was that since he attacked first, he crippled my navy, although I'm confident I'll get it rolling pretty quickly.
Anyway, it seems clear now that it'll be a long war (in real time, probably not in years) and I'll probably just play the large battles (3000+) where I'm usually outnumbered 3 to 1 but i think I can win or the ones where I am very severely outnumbered just to increase damage.

Just wondering what other options people use. I enjoy battles most but actually prefer relatively smaller battles (up to two stacks) as often larger battles end up with the AI's reinforcements coming in, getting peppered by archers, routing, chased by cavalry, new ones coming in...and that lasts way too long http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/redface.gif

[Magraev]

I usually autocalc huge battles - it takes too long to fight every single battle in the end-game.

Usually I don't finish - I make it to where I'm sure to win and then start a new game.

[Cazbol]

If you're facing lare stacks of archers just send in a lot of cavalry. Such battles are usually quickly won despite there being large numbers involved.

You can also make things a lot easier for yourself with a good strategy on the main map. Encircle armies and destroy them. Try to cut of their escape routes and avoid having to chase the same men over most of Europe.

In my view the most important thing regarding end play is the speed of conquest. Blitzkrieg. During the end game the chances of rebellions and factions reemerging rises, so by acting swiftly you reduce that risk.

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

Quote[/b] ]I'm near the end of my first campaign (I'm a slow player, too many outside commitments )

I to still have to finish my first one http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

I agree that huge battles are boring, very boring... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/angry.gif

...but I can´t resist trashing the AI, it's just too fun
So I never refuse a battle, unless I'm really outnumbered and against a very good general.

[Dhepee]

I usually finish the game with a drink or two. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
I play the English a lot and this is what I do. As the English the strongest Cavalry you can get that come in large units sizes are Chivalric Knights (80 men in the largest army option). Crank those puppies out like mad and make up entire armies of them.
When you are going against weak armies that have an over emphasis on archers you just put your cavalry in a single line, group them and then go to the group formations. That way your line is longer than theirs is, as the AI usually uses a double line or a sorted double line. You want to be able to outflank them and get in their rear. Line your Chiv knights up so that your center unit is directly across the field from their center unit, do this from out of range of course. Charge right at them.
Now just as you are making initial contact take the Chiv Knights on the extreme left and right of your line, they should be uninvolved in the combat and use SHIFT to set way points so that they ride around behind the enemy and can knock the stuffing out of everybody on the field. Set everybody to engage at will once the flanking has been achieved, when you start the charge or are disengaging set everybody to Hold.
Once you have beaten the tar out of the enemy on the field disengage and pull back to about the midpoint of the field and wait for the full set of enemy replacements to come on the field (Better to destroy them all at once than piecemeal) and repeat. It might take one or two repititions. Once you get the hang of using your cavalry to encircle and destroy inferior units you can use ctrl-T to speed the action up.

Since you are playing GA and you already have the minor victory I assume that you are cleaning up on GA points, you have all the English specific goals and you are raking in the domination points. In that case all you really have to do is contain the Spanish and don't let them complete their homelands, for instance take and hang on to Gibralter. The AI usually goes for homelands first. That's the lazy way, which I use if I am in a hurry.

[Adam the Great]

I have yet to finish a game. I keep getting to the 1200-1300 and the game gets all bogged down with micromanagment and everyone attacks me and I get pissed off and restart. I'm trying GA mode now, so that I can keep a small number of provinces not have to take over the whole world.

[Jacque Schtrapp]

Quote[/b] (Adam the Great @ Nov. 25 2003,11:47)]I have yet to finish a game. I keep getting to the 1200-1300 and the game gets all bogged down with micromanagment and everyone attacks me and I get pissed off and restart. I'm trying GA mode now, so that I can keep a small number of provinces not have to take over the whole world.
I refuse to play conquest, as I feel GA makes up in a small way for the overall lack of diplomacy. I used to only play early GA games and would still find myself getting frustrated at the pace of the game. I then switched to starting in the High era and even more recently have moved on to Late era games. In this manner I have begun dealing with different troops types as well as an advanced tech tree and I'm not getting bored as easily because the game is now down to 200 turns or less. Give the High or Late eras a shot and see how that affects your patience with the flow of the game. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Gregoshi]

Greetings Adam. It is Great to have you here. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif

GA is the way to go. While a conquest game made sense in STW (and VI), it seemed out of place and unrealistic in the MTW campaign. GA adds a nice flavour to the game.

[HawaiianHobbit]

I auto-cal huge battles, there too long and boring. I have only played 2 games to the end cause usually I just play untill im sure Ill win then quit.