MTW - actual game length?

[Diehard]

I purchased the MTW-VI battle collection a few days ago, and after a few test games I thought I'd gotten the basics of the game down. However, since I never played more than a dozen turns or so in each game, I didn't get a sense of how long a complete game would take.

I started my first real game as the French in the early period (normal difficulty). I jumped on the HRE pretty much from the start while guarding against the English. Between military assault and bribery the HRE forces in the west crumbled. The western half of the HRE fell into my hands, and most of the eastern half was devastated. An English attack on my home territories was defeated and the ensuing counterattack eliminated the English.

So, now I'm only about 20 years in and my empire is huge. I had been looking forward to building a hi-tech army (chiv knights, gendarmes, mounted x-bows, pavise arbs, pikemen) but at this pace the game is going to be over long before I get access to some of these units.

I'd like to know how long a game can be expected to last given a fairly aggressive military approach. Do games usually span multiple eras (early, high, late) or can you pretty much count on resolving the game in one era? I enjoy starting from scratch (i.e. early era), but if that generally leads to an end game around 1200 AD then I'll have to consider starting in high/late.

[Bodew]

If you are very aggressive you can could finish while still in Early. The fastest I have completed a campaign was about mid-way through the High period.

You can do various things to slow down your campaign, and playing on the more difficult settings will slow down your start quite a bit as you won't have the funds to build and support a large army.

Starting a campaign in Late or High can bring different challenges and give you an opportunity to be aggressive and build the high units.

[Kekvit Irae]

I'm the quintessential slow expansionist. I take my time. The average game ends in late High or early Late period, when everyone else is so sick of me that they all force me to invade en masse.

[lancer63]

The medieval campaing is 360 turns long (or something like that http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif ). How long it takes for you to finish each turn could give you an idea of how long it would take you to finish the game. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[Imperial Buffoon]

Quote[/b] (lancer63 @ Mar. 18 2004,16:52)]The medieval campaing is 360 turns long (or something like that http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif ). How long it takes for you to finish each turn could give you an idea of how long it would take you to finish the game. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif
That's true but usually turns towards the endgame are a lot longer, especially if there are two superpowers in the game, as battles can be many and large and you have loads of units and strategic agents to move around.
Actually - there have been several threads about this - many people don't finish their games...

[The Tuffen]

I usually start in the early period, but because of my expansionist nature in the game i usually finish before the high period starts - unless i make myself wait to attack the horde http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

I've now decided to start in the high period so that i can get access to the more high tech units, if i do start in early i force myself to not attack any country that isn't rebel or excommed (except for the french- usually clear them out as soon as possible).

[squippy]

Diehard, this problem is a known one as it were, opinions are mixed. I'm also a slow builder rather than a rapid conqueror, so it does not affect me that much... but yes, many feel the AI factions don't put up a strong enough resistance. Common responses are: play on hard or expert, play the less advantaged factions (the French are rich), or install a mode such as the Wesmod which beefs up the nonplayer factions.

Another solution is, as above, to play different periods. I have come to think of it like this: by deciding which period to play, you are deciding when my faction becomes the dominant power, to an extent. Often, the later starts are quite different games.

[PseRamesses]

1087-1453 is my gameframe since I always play GA and roleplay my empire much based on it´s real history and development. Playing 4-6 hrs every day a game lasts for weeks but I only finish one game out of ten.

[gaijinalways]

It takes a while. My last game was GA with the Italians on expert, but I finished 20 years early with 60% of the map.

I find the campaigns take a while (especially big battles) but they can be very enjoyable, more than the strtegy sometimes.

Building particular units can be fun. I had pikemen in the last campaign, mostly as mercs. With a good general they can be tough buggers. I like pavs and xbows (the rain of death) but cav units are fun too as they crash into or lead enemy units on a merry chase around the battle field.

I find a campaign may take 3 months or so playing when I can. I usually only autoresolve if I have overwhelming numbers and sometimes for seiges (I know cheesy).

[TonkaToys]

Quote[/b] (PseRamesses @ Mar. 19 2004,12:15)]1087-1453 is my gameframe since I always play GA and roleplay my empire much based on it´s real history and development. Playing 4-6 hrs every day a game lasts for weeks but I only finish one game out of ten.
Man... where do you get the time? 4-6 hours especially after looking at your profile
I struggle with 2 hours a week.
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mecry.gif

[Red Yak]

I played a couple blitzkrieg games when I first got MTW and played on easy/normal and they lasted around 100 turns. I now play a very slow expansionist game, setting myself goals which seem to fit with the faction I'm controlling. These usually span most of the eras and take ages (if I ever finish them).

[Diehard]

Thanks for all the feedback. I started a game on high/hard, and it was definitely a different experience. I won a few tough battles against the English, but then got my ass kicked by the King of Aragon. He came looking for trouble with a swarm of chivalric sergeants and an unnatural number of princes - all of whom seemed to be some combination of great warrior, natural leader and killer instinct. Damn, I need that kind of family supporting my world conquest plans http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

Time to give Aragon a try...