Oberstein
02-10-2004, 18:59
Finally, I have made it all the way from the start of Early to 1205 playing as the HRE in Wes's medmod.
Phew http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-dizzy2.gif
The sprawling, massively disloyal HRE is mostly garrisoned with weak infantry and a few veterans at the start of the game. Before long, expect to be swarmed by your neighbours (the Poles are the least aggressive, the French and Italians the most, with the Aragonese, Hungarians, and English always willing to join an attack but relatively unlikely to start one if you are at peace). Your generals are unexceptional. Your king is a puppet. You want the HRE? You can't HANDLE the HRE
Sigh...way too much like hard work and a lot of luck..I thought my goose was cooked when the English launched a massive offensive through Friesland. But no sooner had their deadly valour 6 general sir 'Strongbow' FitzGilbert taken Franconia than their king died of an illness...intestate Farewell white cliffs I bribed him and retook Franconia - proof that God was on our side ^^.
The one great strength of the HRE is that your royal family is NOT subject to being killed off, as you will subequently pick one of your stronger generals to inherit. This can be useful, if you have high valour assassins knocking about.
Here are a few tips for people who haven't found a much more elegant way of doing the same yet:
1. Early Units
1.1 Spearmen
1.2 Heerban
1.3 Archers
1.4 Knechte
1.5 Dienstleute
1.6 Swabian Swordsmen
2. Diplomacy
3. Politics (or, how to stop the treacherous scum launching a civil war within the first 5 turns)
4. War
1.HRE Units:
1.1
Spearmen
Just your usual, basic spearmen. These lads put you at a disadvantage, as other nations have feudal sergeants whereas you don't. On the other hand, they ARE cheap, and very handy against the French, Poles, and Hungarians. Don't even think of using them against the Italians, or you'll be spaghetti with optional meatballs before you know it.
1.2
Heerban
A sort of unit-what-does, they are a match for most spearmen although their lack of armour makes them die easily and their impetuosity is really inappropriate sometimes.
1.3
Archers
Just your standard archers. Massed, they can just about make a dent in infantry crossing bridges and the like, but unless you can set up a good enfilade (unlikely unless you can really mass troops), unlikely to win a battle on their own.
1.4
Knechte
Very good knights. One for one, they can hold their own against French destrider if they charge, and will demolish East European cavalry and Kataphraktoi (not that one would guess this from their description). The Knechte come in units of 40 and aren't cripplingly expensive, so use quite a lot of them. These nobles will keep your armies from collapsing. It takes a while to develop the infrastructure to produce them in numbers, though.
1.5
Dienstleute
The only light cavalry available to the HRE in Early, these are useful for chasing off archers and running down fleeing troops, as well as harassing your foes from the flanks and rear (they're especially useful against the Italians)
1.6
Swabian Swordsmen
Now you're talking These men are like little tanks in chainmail; armed with massive zweihander, they will reduce infantry to dogmeat quickly, given the chance, and rarely rout. They're also cheap, at 281 florins a pop. Indispensable in defending Lorraine and Burgundy from the depradations of the French and Aragonians. Not quite so useful on the plains of Eastern Europe, but they will carve through woodsmen if the Poles or Hun are foolish enough to use woodsmen-heavy armies.
2. Diplomacy
Largly pointless. Everyone hates you. For half of everyone this is because they think you're occupying their homelands. The others hate you because the rest do, just on general principles. Nations that have been your allies for 20 years will attack you as soon as you move a unit out of the neighbouring provinces, even if you have a large army remaining there (this can lead to amusing results). However, once you've smashed up a couple of enemy armies and captured a couple more provinces, you might get alliance offers coming in. Accept them, so long as you realise they've about as much value as that piece of paper Hitler gave Chamberlain.
3. Politics
As if it weren't enough that all your neighbours hate you, your generals seem to have been culled from the 'great traitors of history' room of Madame Tussauds. It's like your predecessor was thinking 'hm, I'm in trouble here, I need some really reliable men, I know, I'll have Judas hold off the Poles, Iago keeping an eye on the Spaniards and French, and who can deal with the Italians? Ah, Brutus, I knew I could rely on you Now all I need is Quisling to keep the Danes at bay.' Organise your armies into stacks, with high-loyalty generals taking precedence over high-acumen ones. Then marry your daughters off to any slackers.
4.
War
I should admit, I'm not one of the great MTW generals. However as far as the medmod goes, I've got used to a lot of enemy armies, so here goes (it's a testament to Wes that all the enemy armies feel VERY different)
The French:
Will invade with overwhelming numbers of feudal sergeants, urban men-at-arms, and cavalry. Lots of cavalry. Their destriders come in groups of 50, and their mounted sergeants are quick devils. Spearmen and Heerban, with a couple of cavalry, can usually hold them off crossing bridges, but if they catch you in flat land it's very hard to maneuver your way to safety.
The Italians:
Will invade with really overwhelming numbers of infantry. Contadina infantry make bolognese of your spearmen. Pavisiers chop through everything unless hit hard in the flank. The only way to counter Italian armies is with massed Heerban/Swabian swordsmen or with cavalry. However, their Italian Sailor crossbowmen will kill your cavalry pronte unless you flank well, so be careful.
The Poles & Hungarians:
Lumped together because of their similarities, they will invade you with really indiscibably overwhelming amounts of cavalry. So you counter them with spears, right? Wrong. They will back up their cavalry with HUGE numbers of woodsmen who slice through spearmen like so many large double-bladed axes through butter. Which can be messy, especially if the butter drips down the handle. The best way I found of dealing with these eastern bandits was to build up a couple of provinces to produce Dienstleute and use them to hold off the hordes.
The Aragonians:
Will invade Provence with moderately overwhelming numbers of Bellatore knights, Galician bowmen, and Asturian foot. One for one these troops can usually hold yours off, but they lack a good counter to Swabian Swordsmen/Heerban, so try to keep their cavalry off your back.
So how to survive? It all comes down to launching raids against enemy troop-producing provinces whilst you build up decent generals and a couple of strong armies to hold onto what is yours. If you can conquer and hold Poland, Hungary, Pomerania and Croatia, and then garrison them with strong armies, your eastern border will be secure with the minimum of fuss. Lorraine, Burgundy, and Friesland serve a similar purpose in the west. You'll probably want to conquer Italy anyway, so you can likely get away with not garrisoning your southern border so well.
Key provinces the enemy REALLY like to invade:
Austria, Bohemia, Burgundy, Lorraine. Friesland (although this is almost always the English)
Hope this helps someone.
Phew http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-dizzy2.gif
The sprawling, massively disloyal HRE is mostly garrisoned with weak infantry and a few veterans at the start of the game. Before long, expect to be swarmed by your neighbours (the Poles are the least aggressive, the French and Italians the most, with the Aragonese, Hungarians, and English always willing to join an attack but relatively unlikely to start one if you are at peace). Your generals are unexceptional. Your king is a puppet. You want the HRE? You can't HANDLE the HRE
Sigh...way too much like hard work and a lot of luck..I thought my goose was cooked when the English launched a massive offensive through Friesland. But no sooner had their deadly valour 6 general sir 'Strongbow' FitzGilbert taken Franconia than their king died of an illness...intestate Farewell white cliffs I bribed him and retook Franconia - proof that God was on our side ^^.
The one great strength of the HRE is that your royal family is NOT subject to being killed off, as you will subequently pick one of your stronger generals to inherit. This can be useful, if you have high valour assassins knocking about.
Here are a few tips for people who haven't found a much more elegant way of doing the same yet:
1. Early Units
1.1 Spearmen
1.2 Heerban
1.3 Archers
1.4 Knechte
1.5 Dienstleute
1.6 Swabian Swordsmen
2. Diplomacy
3. Politics (or, how to stop the treacherous scum launching a civil war within the first 5 turns)
4. War
1.HRE Units:
1.1
Spearmen
Just your usual, basic spearmen. These lads put you at a disadvantage, as other nations have feudal sergeants whereas you don't. On the other hand, they ARE cheap, and very handy against the French, Poles, and Hungarians. Don't even think of using them against the Italians, or you'll be spaghetti with optional meatballs before you know it.
1.2
Heerban
A sort of unit-what-does, they are a match for most spearmen although their lack of armour makes them die easily and their impetuosity is really inappropriate sometimes.
1.3
Archers
Just your standard archers. Massed, they can just about make a dent in infantry crossing bridges and the like, but unless you can set up a good enfilade (unlikely unless you can really mass troops), unlikely to win a battle on their own.
1.4
Knechte
Very good knights. One for one, they can hold their own against French destrider if they charge, and will demolish East European cavalry and Kataphraktoi (not that one would guess this from their description). The Knechte come in units of 40 and aren't cripplingly expensive, so use quite a lot of them. These nobles will keep your armies from collapsing. It takes a while to develop the infrastructure to produce them in numbers, though.
1.5
Dienstleute
The only light cavalry available to the HRE in Early, these are useful for chasing off archers and running down fleeing troops, as well as harassing your foes from the flanks and rear (they're especially useful against the Italians)
1.6
Swabian Swordsmen
Now you're talking These men are like little tanks in chainmail; armed with massive zweihander, they will reduce infantry to dogmeat quickly, given the chance, and rarely rout. They're also cheap, at 281 florins a pop. Indispensable in defending Lorraine and Burgundy from the depradations of the French and Aragonians. Not quite so useful on the plains of Eastern Europe, but they will carve through woodsmen if the Poles or Hun are foolish enough to use woodsmen-heavy armies.
2. Diplomacy
Largly pointless. Everyone hates you. For half of everyone this is because they think you're occupying their homelands. The others hate you because the rest do, just on general principles. Nations that have been your allies for 20 years will attack you as soon as you move a unit out of the neighbouring provinces, even if you have a large army remaining there (this can lead to amusing results). However, once you've smashed up a couple of enemy armies and captured a couple more provinces, you might get alliance offers coming in. Accept them, so long as you realise they've about as much value as that piece of paper Hitler gave Chamberlain.
3. Politics
As if it weren't enough that all your neighbours hate you, your generals seem to have been culled from the 'great traitors of history' room of Madame Tussauds. It's like your predecessor was thinking 'hm, I'm in trouble here, I need some really reliable men, I know, I'll have Judas hold off the Poles, Iago keeping an eye on the Spaniards and French, and who can deal with the Italians? Ah, Brutus, I knew I could rely on you Now all I need is Quisling to keep the Danes at bay.' Organise your armies into stacks, with high-loyalty generals taking precedence over high-acumen ones. Then marry your daughters off to any slackers.
4.
War
I should admit, I'm not one of the great MTW generals. However as far as the medmod goes, I've got used to a lot of enemy armies, so here goes (it's a testament to Wes that all the enemy armies feel VERY different)
The French:
Will invade with overwhelming numbers of feudal sergeants, urban men-at-arms, and cavalry. Lots of cavalry. Their destriders come in groups of 50, and their mounted sergeants are quick devils. Spearmen and Heerban, with a couple of cavalry, can usually hold them off crossing bridges, but if they catch you in flat land it's very hard to maneuver your way to safety.
The Italians:
Will invade with really overwhelming numbers of infantry. Contadina infantry make bolognese of your spearmen. Pavisiers chop through everything unless hit hard in the flank. The only way to counter Italian armies is with massed Heerban/Swabian swordsmen or with cavalry. However, their Italian Sailor crossbowmen will kill your cavalry pronte unless you flank well, so be careful.
The Poles & Hungarians:
Lumped together because of their similarities, they will invade you with really indiscibably overwhelming amounts of cavalry. So you counter them with spears, right? Wrong. They will back up their cavalry with HUGE numbers of woodsmen who slice through spearmen like so many large double-bladed axes through butter. Which can be messy, especially if the butter drips down the handle. The best way I found of dealing with these eastern bandits was to build up a couple of provinces to produce Dienstleute and use them to hold off the hordes.
The Aragonians:
Will invade Provence with moderately overwhelming numbers of Bellatore knights, Galician bowmen, and Asturian foot. One for one these troops can usually hold yours off, but they lack a good counter to Swabian Swordsmen/Heerban, so try to keep their cavalry off your back.
So how to survive? It all comes down to launching raids against enemy troop-producing provinces whilst you build up decent generals and a couple of strong armies to hold onto what is yours. If you can conquer and hold Poland, Hungary, Pomerania and Croatia, and then garrison them with strong armies, your eastern border will be secure with the minimum of fuss. Lorraine, Burgundy, and Friesland serve a similar purpose in the west. You'll probably want to conquer Italy anyway, so you can likely get away with not garrisoning your southern border so well.
Key provinces the enemy REALLY like to invade:
Austria, Bohemia, Burgundy, Lorraine. Friesland (although this is almost always the English)
Hope this helps someone.