A few odd things

[Shamus]

I am relatively new to this game. I have been through the table of contents and had most of my questions answered – thank you for having that there. There are just a couple of things that I am still unsure of.

1. Could the passing of my faction leader prompt others to attack me? I was allied with the Italians right from a couple years into the game. However, a year after my faction leader died, they attacked me in two provinces (I’m playing as the HRE). The year after that, the French attacked a province to the east. And now I have found out that the Hungarians have declared war on me to the west.

2. Why is it that every single time I end up in a conflict with the ally of one of my allies, they always side with them, no matter who started the conflict? Is it due to my three-crown level of influence?

3. Does the marriage of princesses have any political weight, short of giving someone claim to land? One of my daughters is married to a Nov prince, and one of their princesses to one of my sons. Yet when I was attacked by the Italians, my Nov allies broke ties with me and sided with them.

4. Why is it that when I attack another Catholic faction the Pope gets his panties in a knot, yet when another Catholic faction (i.e. Italians, French) attacks me, the Pope says and does nothing? I haven’t been excommunicated, and in fact, was about to start a crusade against the Egyptians, as per the request of the Pope, right before I was attacked.

5. How does one go about improving both the influence and the piety of their faction leader? I had read that waging successful campaigns would improve influence, but I am trying (or rather, was trying) to gain strength in a peaceful manner. Is there a way of gaining influence and respect peacefully? The piety of my old emperor was non existent (partially due to his infidelities), and so I was attempting to rectify the situation. I started building churches in each province as build spots became available, and began placing a bishop in each province as well. Will this help the piety of my faction leader?

6. Can one be caught in a sea battle by being in the wrong place at the wrong time? I wasn’t at war with anyone at the time, but happened to be in the same sea space as others who were fighting amongst themselves. I then got this message prompt declaring the results of the naval battle, and the fact that I lost a ship. Seems a bit odd to loose ships in fight I wasn’t even aware I was part of.


Thanks in advance for the help. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Theredlemming]

I will start the the points I know best.

6) You where attcked at sea. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/tongue.gif Perhaps some one was jealous of your tradde routes or perhaps he wanted to move his armies and you were in the way. You only find out after a sea battle that you have been attacked.

5) by onwning a lot of land or lots of allies (i think not sure though)

4)Just the way it is. simple as that ( i think not sure though)

3) No i don't think so

2) Yes proberbly if you look weak they always side against you. Tip: have a large army http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

1) Hard luck maybe you were just to juicy to resist? I have had that problem to it is a domino effect. Provinces with large incomes are always attacked. The leader change proberbly was the ´reason though to if you went from a good to a crap leader.

theredlemming

[Hetman_Koronny]

*bows*

1. I believe that the answer is YES. Usually, the new king has a much lower influence than the previous one. IMHO the lowering influence can be the reason for enemy attacks.

2. The AI conspiracy http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

3. Marriages do have influence, I believe. I think you are less likely to become a target of an attack them. Obviously, provided that other factorts are constant.

4. Pope's a bad guy in M:TW and he's a part of the AI conspiracy agains us http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

5. Try crusades. Successful ones do increase your king's influence. It could be the same with piety but I am not sure. The Muslim rulers' piety can be increased to its maximum with 2 or 3 successful Jihads, that's for sure, however I am not sure whether it's the same with catholic leaders.
I don't know of any peaceful means of increasing piety. Would love to learn though.

6. I think you were attacked by an enemy ship.

I hope that helps a bit http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif .

*bows*

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

Welcome to the Org, Shamus http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif

As for your questions:

1-When your leader dies, his sucessor will allways have a lesser influence than his predecessor (he hasn't proven he is up to the task http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif ). This, together with the fact that you might own rich provinces and a small army, will generally trigger the AI to attack you. With HRE more so (sourronded and with powerfull and ambitious neighbours).

2-Yes, you seem to have a very low influence and that causes the change of sides of your allies.

3-When bigger interests are at hand (provinces, wealth) the princess's marriages haren't influential.

4-Because he is a ba*t*rd Seriouly, he zeals after is own interests. If you're too big he will never side with you.

5-Build churches, monasteries, cathedrals, etc. and train bishops, cardinals, inquisitors, grand inquisitors.

6-That happen to me several times. It's because you probably have a strong trade network and the factions that want to monopolyze trade (e.g. Danes) don't want you as competition

[Shamus]

Wow, I am amazed at the speed of responses here.

Quote[/b] ]2) Yes proberbly if you look weak they always side against you. Tip: have a large army
I actually have the largest army amongst all the factions. The Italians and French are finding that out the hard way – in retaliation for attacking me, my armies are poised to take two provinces from the French, and three from the Italians. I have already reclaimed all land they took in their initial attacks (I keep my main forces in the center of my provinces, so that they may deal with a problem on either side as quickly as possible – this unfortunately leaves my borders weak for a couple of years until the army can arrive. I found it was too costly to have a sizable army in each border province).

Quote[/b] ]Try crusades. Successful ones do increase your king's influence.
I was two years from starting a crusade before I was attacked. Damn annoying is what that was, getting attacked I mean.

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

Quote[/b] ]this unfortunately leaves my borders weak for a couple of years until the army can arrive.

That's it http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/idea.gif

They always take in to consideration border armies
They aren't interested in the enormous army you have in the central provinces... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Shamus]

Quote[/b] ]Welcome to the Org, Shamus
Thank you. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif


Quote[/b] ]6-That happen to me several times. It's because you probably have a strong trade network and the factions that want to monopolyze trade (e.g. Danes) don't want you as competition
All I was doing was sailing by. I hadn’t even established trade yet. The damn rat bast*rds.

[Re Berengario I]

Quote[/b] ]2. Why is it that every single time I end up in a conflict with the ally of one of my allies, they always side with them, no matter who started the conflict? Is it due to my three-crown level of influence?

They usually side with the faction which wins the first battle. So if you have a little army in your attacked province and retreat to the castle (or wiped out for worst) the factions allied with both you and your enemy will prefer the winner. This happens unless your king has a very high influence, 7 crowns or more, in which case some faction will remain at your side, maybe... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif


Quote[/b] ]5. How does one go about improving both the influence and the piety of their faction leader?

Another way is not to kill evey little bastard... ahemm... rebel you caught after a battle. You should get some + piety virtue.

[Shamus]

Quote[/b] ]They always take in to consideration border armies
They aren't interested in the enormous army you have in the central provinces...
Ahhhh, that might explain why they refused to re-ally themselves with me after I resolved an earlier conflict with one of their allies, around the time that I re-organized my army. I will have to fix that tonight. This is going to put a strain on my treasury, but I was starting to set up healthy trade routes, so I should be able to afford it.

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

Quote[/b] ]All I was doing was sailing by. I hadn’t even established trade yet.

Does the faction that sunk your ship any army near your borders?


Quote[/b] ] This is going to put a strain on my treasury, but I was starting to set up healthy trade routes, so I should be able to afford it.

The most important thing is to have balanced armies in every border province. They don't need to be huge http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/eek.gif
Spread your best generals troughout the border armies. Don´t put any armies in central provinces, unless you have really bad rebellion problems.
As for reinformements, move them all in each turn... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[Shamus]

[QUOTE]The most important thing is to have balanced armies in every border province. They don't need to be huge
Spread your best generals troughout the border armies. Don´t put any armies in central provinces, unless you have really bad rebellion problems.
As for reinformements, move them all in each turn.../QUOTE]
I am about 40 years into an early game. I was thinking of having my border armies composed of 2 units of spearmen, 2 units of feudal man-at-arms, 2 units of bowmen, 2 units of mounted crossbowmen, and 1 unit of royal knights. Those are the best units I can currently produce. Any thoughts as to whether this sounds good or bad? Is there a particular unit I should be working towards next? Thanks again for all the help.

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

Well...ummmm...let's see:

-2 Spearmen
-2 FMAA
-2 Archers
-2 MC
-1 RK
Total: 9 units

Yes, good all-round, but we can still add 7 units.
Here it goes:

-3 Spearmen (just in case the enemy is cav-centric)
-4 FMAA (good melee, specially against spearmen & peasents)
-4 Archers (good to weaken unarmoured units before you can train arbalesters)
-4 MC (good anti-armour e fast, ideal for chasing routers)
-1 RK (awesome, but very expensive)
Total: 16 units

With this type of army you should be able to adapt to most treats. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
At least until you can produce more advanced units. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Yeeaap... ...that's it http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[Shamus]

Wow, 16 units per border province? I think I will have to improve my economy a bit before I can afford to maintain that. Thanks for the advice. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

Remember, you only need to have aproximately the same number of men as the near enemy provinces.
If you have a good general in that particular province, you can have smaller border forces.
This is just a tip to help you have a notion of the forces needed in most cases.
By 1150-60 you should have no problem in maintaining such forces... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Voigtkampf]

Shamus,

you are bound to be attacked from the French and the Italians when playing as HRE, as you will be attacked from Danes down the road as well - they keep breeding royal succesors so don't be surprised when you get attacked by an army consisted out of 10 unitss of royal knights, they can't afford standard issue armies and go bankrupt very soon - as this is the only way these factions can turn to. Maintaining a large army in your border provinces will delay attacks, but they are inevitable.

As for Pope, who can tell? A glitch in the AI? Probably, as I can remember that he excommunicated a Catholic faction only two or three times in all the time while I played M:TW... Odd, considering the amount of fighting between Catholic neighbours in the Europe http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif Oh, and you'll get excommunicated (meaning they'll confiscate your celular, haha, I kill me http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif ) even if you conquer back your own province. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/pissed.gif

As for diplomacy, that is the weakest part of the game, and I could never spot that my alliances ever mattered even a little bit... They've all read Sun Tzu, I guess http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/angry.gif My friendly advice is: talk loud (move your armies on your border provinces) and carry a big club (build more and more units) and hold another big club behind your back (spies, assassins, inquisitors), since this is the ultimate diplomacy advice for M:TW

Clausewitz applied http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

Quote[/b] ]Oh, and you'll get excommunicated (meaning they'll confiscate your celular)

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

[Gregoshi]

http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif Welcome to the Org Shamus. Others seem to be handling your questions quite well, so I'm not needed here I suppose. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif

Carry on

[Shamus]

Quote[/b] (Gregoshi @ Nov. 30 2003,01:03)]http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif Welcome to the Org Shamus. Others seem to be handling your questions quite well, so I'm not needed here I suppose. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif

Carry on
Thanks Gregoshi. I’m loving the forum and website so far. I’m just amazed by the wealth of information contained in this single location. Since I started reading things here last week, my economic game has improved drastically from barely surviving, to having lots of cash reserves, and I am now dominating the computer on the battlefield. I definitely now need to go up a difficulty level the next game I start.

Rather than start yet another thread, I thought I would post a quick question on this one. The English decided to send a crusade against my province of Constantinople a few years ago, and it slowly made its way down to the borders of my north-western provinces. There is has sat for the last few years, slowly losing men at the rate of about 50 – 100 per year. My border provinces barely outnumbered the size of the crusade when it arrived, and now that gap is slowly widening. I’m was wondering why they aren’t entering my provinces (not that I’m complaining mind you). I have watched the Spanish crusade against the Egyptians enter provinces in which they were vastly outnumbered, so I’m not so sure they are staying out because of the size of my armies. Any thoughts as to what might be causing them to hesitated entering? Also, roughly how long does it take for a crusade to peter out and die off? I know that I wont have any problems dealing with the crusade if it decides to attack, but the suspense of watching it just sit there is driving me nuts.

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

Quote[/b] ] I have watched the Spanish crusade against the Egyptians enter provinces in which they were vastly outnumbered, so I’m not so sure they are staying out because of the size of my armies.
The Egyptians are Muslim, the HRE is Catholic. The AI probably doesn't want the English to be excomunicated for starting a war with you.
If thats not it, I don't know... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif



Quote[/b] ]Also, roughly how long does it take for a crusade to peter out and die off?
Quite a few years. Be pacient... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smokin.gif

[Doug-Thompson]

Quote[/b] (Shamus @ Dec. 01 2003,09:14)]I have watched the Spanish crusade against the Egyptians enter provinces in which they were vastly outnumbered, so I’m not so sure they are staying out because of the size of my armies. Any thoughts as to what might be causing them to hesitated entering? Also, roughly how long does it take for a crusade to peter out and die off? I know that I wont have any problems dealing with the crusade if it decides to attack, but the suspense of watching it just sit there is driving me nuts.
1. Don't try to apply logical consistency to the AI. It will drive you nuts.

2. It can take a decade or more. Often, you'll see the AI move bishops to the same province as the Crusade, presumably to boost zeal.

There's nothing to do except relax, knowing that the faction with the crusade can't launch another one as long as the first one's active.

[Shamus]

Quote[/b] (Aymar de Bois Mauri @ Dec. 01 2003,09:45)]
Quote[/b] ] I have watched the Spanish crusade against the Egyptians enter provinces in which they were vastly outnumbered, so I’m not so sure they are staying out because of the size of my armies.
The Egyptians are Muslim, the HRE is Catholic. The AI probably doesn't want the English to be excomunicated for starting a war with you.
If thats not it, I don't know... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif



Quote[/b] ]Also, roughly how long does it take for a crusade to peter out and die off?
Quite a few years. Be pacient... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smokin.gif
Oh, I should have mentioned. After perusing much of this website I realized that I was doing a great number of things wrong in province building and public relations with the other factions, as well as even more things wrong economically. As I was only about 60 years into my HRE game, I decided that I would start a new one and do it better. I decided to be the Byzantines for a change of location, units and religion. This time things are going much better. I’m guessing my Orthodox religion and large wealth was more than the English could bear. They’d be wise to turn around and go home though, lest they meet my large army. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

Quote[/b] ]As I was only about 60 years into my HRE game, I decided that I would start a new one and do it better. I decided to be the Byzantines for a change of location, units and religion.

AAAAHHHH I din't know... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/idea.gif

As you are Byz you really shouldn't let the English or any Crusader through your lands. Specially through Constantinople.
Why?
Because besides destroing improvements they will sack and get money for the sacking, making them richer You will not loose any money, but... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mecry.gif
And this happens in almost every Byzantine province... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif

[Shamus]

Quote[/b] (Aymar de Bois Mauri @ Dec. 01 2003,13:05)]
Quote[/b] ]As I was only about 60 years into my HRE game, I decided that I would start a new one and do it better. I decided to be the Byzantines for a change of location, units and religion.

AAAAHHHH I din't know... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/idea.gif

As you are Byz you really shouldn't let the English or any Crusader through your lands. Specially through Constantinople.
Why?
Because besides destroing improvements they will sack and get money for the sacking, making them richer You will not loose any money, but... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mecry.gif
And this happens in almost every Byzantine province... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif
Oh, they don’t want to just go through Constantinople. The crusade is aimed right at it. The English seem intent on burning the heart of my empire to the ground. Ireland is still up for grabs, and I have naval access to move troops up there. Come to think of it, the English have left their land relatively unprotected to the north. I’ve been so intent on my “plan” that it hadn’t even dawned on me to return the favor and strike the English on their own ground. Oh they’re going to burn tonight. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif

[Game Over!!!]

I am playing Byz also and the English are doing the same exact thing to me. I just fought off the 4th crusade by the English recently and 2 by the HRE. 6 crusades against (constantinople?) has made my game interesting. Just attacked English wales 3 turns ago...burned everything in wales and moved to wessex, will rinse and repeat to all of England if I can.

[Shamus]

England’s crusade never did end up trying to attack my borders. They sat in a province next to mine for years and slowly dwindled in number. Then one year they were gone. I too have attacked England in retaliation for their crusade. I took Scotland and the province south of it, at which point Wales and Wessex were taken over by rebels. The French took advantage of this and attacked from the south. Not wanting to have to defend myself on two provinces (especially as I had attacked England for spite), I decided to take Ireland, and then entrench myself. The French then proceeded to attack and conquer two of England’s three provinces on the mainland. The English are all but gone.

[Somebody Else]

The last time I decided to take some land in the British Isle, I let somebody else do the fighting for me... the French killed of the ruling line, and I stepped in amd bought Mercia, Wessex and whatever the other one is - I don't recall for about 10000 florins... my Danish economy was quite up to that - I did own most of the Polish and Hungarian lands...