I got SO WHOMPED!

[Shepherd78]

I was doing fine, I had a fortress in every one of my areas and had my borders well defended. The Spainards started conquering everything so i strengthened my boarders further and started forming armies to attack back. Well, From out of know where they start attacking me from clear across the world units from all over sliding clear across the screen producing battle that not even my 7 command generals could stop, battles like 512 against 3258. SO I GOT WHOMPED. Are the Germans a good faction to play, I just got my a-- spanked ...HARD. Anyways what is a good stradegy to win the game? Cause I just thought I had all the answers, and ...ahem.... I dont. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-oops.gif


Thanks for hearing my sob story'
Daniel~ .....PS< I do love this game...just TOUGH http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-curtain.gif

[JAG]

Once you get the hang of the game it is actually very, very easy. Basically what you want to do is early on build up your economy. Take some provinces knock out the odd country but build up some armies and economy. Then you want to start building a navy so you can control the sea and get trade going which will make you alot of cash. Then its pretty much walk over everyone systematically. Thats what I do anyway ;/ and I just completed total domination playing early period with Germans on expert in year 1336.

[katank]

yep, controlling seas mean that you have that tactical advantage.

I like early merc based rush of several nearby factions to gain power base to work form and then build econ and ships to dominate.

Germans are easy in regular game. Not in MedMod though.

[Ragss]

Yeah, just incase you dont know...they were able to attack from so far away because they control every waterway inbetween...

[PseRamesses]

Personally I think HRE is a fun fac to play. I always play GA-style and RP my empire as much as I can after history.
The key to HRE on early is economics and trade since your original funding will run out fast. I usually concentrate on military in just 3 or 4 provs; Swa/ Tyr/ Swi and maybee Fra/ and Bav later. I upgrade farms to 40% and mines to mine complex in all other provs before doing anything else. Pro and Fri is usually used for early shipbuilding to protect my borders then I add warfs in Sax, Pom and Pru. Trade is so important when playing HRE.
Military strat is a bit tricky since you have wast borders and can´t protect them all. First I build up one stack and let it patrol all borders clockwise just to keep the AI busy, then another and another and so on. I always build defensive armies with archers and spears.
Since I let the GA-goals determine most of my actions the only thing I usually do is take Pom and Pru since I feel they belong to HRE. The GA´s will require you to take Italy and even hold Rome very early. I think it pops up around the mid 1120´s or 30´s. Later on Livonia and Silesia are GA-goals too.
When attacked just retreat with your garrison troops into the castle and move you patrolling armies to intercept. Usually I will have my hands full with all neighbouring facs which is very fun and entertaining.

BTW, there has been numerous threads on the HRE and guides to play them so just search the archives for more info - you´ll find a bundle. Good luck

[Lord Ovaat]

To prevent a surprise attack, even one itty-bitty barque sitting off your coast prevents an invasion. The enemy faction would have to sink your boat (fleet) before invading your province, thereby giving you at least a one year warning. Sometimes, that&#39;s enough.

[Red Harvest]

500 men vs. a horde means an understaffed army in most cases--even though you might win that way most times against the AI. You can get up to 16 units on the field at a time, so when fighting defensively against large numbers, your best chance is to have 16 units in the vulnerable provinces. A stack of 32 probably won&#39;t do much good (unless you can spare the extra units.) Do like Nathan Bedford Forrest: be there first with the most men. You don&#39;t have to outnumber your opponent in sheer army size or even outclass in quality of troops. But you do want to be able to concentrate your forces where ever there is. There should be a point of your own choosing, that is suited for your army composition, and is a good counter to the opposing armies composition. In the best situations you can beat the opposing army in detail -- meaning you use your superior concentration of force to defeat the greatest threat first, then the next threat, and so on.

For defensive fights, arbalesters are superb, crossbowmen are too slow firing to be of much value in most circumstances. Archers run out of ammo too fast, lack range, and don&#39;t do well vs. armour. Arbs will bring down the most dangerous cav or elite units. Also you might try thinning an enemy unit by 10%, 20% (or was it 25%?), or 50% then switching targets. There are substantial morale penalties at those defined loss increments. So the survivors will be less effective when they reach your line.

Some mounted missile units can be good for disrupting the enemy attack (harry the flanks or let them get chased around by four or five units in the rear, giving you a numerical advantage on the main front where it matters.) They are also great for pursuing routers while you prepare your main force (and rest it) before the next wave.

Make your enemy march to you. It will greatly reduce his effectiveness, particularly in succeeding waves. Don&#39;t go chasing his army to his side of the field when he has two more fresh stacks of reinforcements to throw at you. They will come out fresh, and your men won&#39;t get to rest. At Brices Cross Roads, Nathan Bedford Forrest utterly routed a Union army something like 3 or 4 times larger by concentrating his small force at a bottleneck, defeating his enemy in detail, then rolling over the exhausted reinforcements that came running through the mud to the battle. It was no accident, that is how he planned it.

Good luck.

[Bhruic]

I had something similar happen awhile back as the HRE, so now I avoid &#39;em. For me, it was the Egyptians. I&#39;d be pressing the French to my west, and Italians to the south. I&#39;d just finished grabbing most of the Italian land-based provinces when the Egyptians attacked. My policy is to not do the whole ships, ships, everywhere system, so I had no southern fleet yet. The Egyptians poured into 6 of my provinces. Now, the numbers in some cases were about 2:1, but in some were equal. Bear in mind, I&#39;d just returned to the game after a long absence, and had forgotten the strength of some of the units.

So I confidentally controlled the battles, expecting to win handily. Alas, I got whomped. Hard. The Saracen Infantry was just too much for my Feudal Sergeants/Spearmen to handle. The center of my armies would collapse, and the hordes would pour through.

Now, having more experience playing, I recognize that my flaw was relying on FS/SM too much. I make a lot more Feudal Men-at-Arms (although 1v1, Saracen Infantry will just barely beat them), and arrange my army formations differently. I also try and make sure to secure my borders better. I still don&#39;t play HRE tho&#39;. :)

Bh

[katank]

well, saracens are almost chivalric seargents. hence, don&#39;t expect your spears to beat them.

did you use pure spears?

with just a wall by them and massed archery behind, you should do well though.

eggy usually fied rabble and can be routed off by volleys of arrows.

[Bhruic]

They&#39;re not almost chivalric Sergeants, they are Chivalric Sergeants, stats wise. But as I mentioned, at that point I had forgotten how good they were.

It&#39;s been too long at this point for me to remember the fine details of the combat, I just remember they ended up routing my army pretty easily. I inflicted very few casualties. Obviously I&#39;d do things differently at this point. It just engendered a distinct dislike for the HRE in me. If I have to play Catholic, I&#39;d rather do Spain/England/France.

Bh