I'm just terrible...

[efx]

I don't have much experience playing rts games simply because the setting almost never appeals to me.

MTW I like because I've always been a huge history fan and the gameplay seemed fun. I've only been playing the game since last thanksgiving but I'm really enjoying it.

My problem is though that I suck. More specifically, the actual battlemanagament is what I'm terrible at. The turnbased part of the game is totally fine, I'm doing well with that.

But I have to say, and don't laugh ;) that while I can play the game very well on easy I will get slaugthered on normal. I've tried setting up equal armies in custom battles and I will try to do my best in terms of setting up the formations, flanking and so forth but the computer always gets the better of me.

Any ideas? Or am I just not cut out for it? Alot of people here are saying expert is too easy for them so someone should be able to help a newbie out :D.

Regards:

Viktor

[octavian]

hey efx have you considered playing online? while admittedly many MP people dont have much liking for n00bs, there are some who are willing to take the time and give pointers and tips to the best of their ability to newcomers to the game. MP truly is the best way to get good at battles. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif

edit: i'll try to post some tactics on here when im not half asleep. right now my tips would sound something like this. always charge swiss pikemen with hobilars no matter what else you do, and i find that having my troops face away from the enemy in loose formation really helps when it come to me winning consistently.

[efx]

Thanks for your response I'd love some pointers. Any help is good help at this point.

[octavian]

tell you what, do you have a gamespy account set up?
if so (or even if not, just set one up now), im gonna be on MP for the next 1/2 hour or so.
edit: are you on VI, or MTW, and are you patched? (if you are not patched do that, i have MTW and VI installed on my PC)

[Cazbol]

Try out the Guides forum. It containes a thread called A Beginners Guide to Medieval: Total War which should set you up real well. It's the best place to start.

[octavian]

iirc cazbol, the guides dont have all that much on battles, could have changed though, cause its been a while since i went through them. also, there is nothing like experience when it comes to battles, unlike the campaign map, there is (although pause nullifies it) a time pressure.

[efx]

Ok, two quick responses:

I don't have a gamespy account. Should probably set one up. I have to go to bed anyways, about 3:15am here.

Second, yeah I read the beginner forum and it helped me tons when I was doing the game on easy but on normal the computer just seem to outsmart me and be that much more resilient towards any attack I do.

[garion]

on the totalwar.org page there's a list of units in the game, and when to use or not to use them. This will come in handy as well

[octavian]

Quote[/b] (efx @ May 21 2004,03:15)]I have to go to bed anyways, about 3:15am here.
that puts us in the same time zone, im in southern ontario

[BalkanTourist]

I had your problem as well. Time and persistance will do it for ya. Also do take time to read the Beginners Guide written by frogbeastegg.[B]It will help ya with some obvious things like never charge your cavalry against pikes/spears or use your infantry in woods to take care of heavy cavalry.
My tactics are very simpe but they work for me on Normal just fine, I rarely loose. On attack I always use my missile troops first trying to attract the defending enemy closer to me and force him give up his advantageous defencive possition. Horse Archers work best. I normally don't play catholic factions so that style suits me best. Dessert Archers are also good since they have longer range than normal archers. Evn if I don't make the defenders give up their possitions at least I'd softened them up and then charge with my infantry. Cavalry I use to flank/ to chase down routers or to patch wholes in my line. On defence just pick higher ground get at least 5-6 archer units, couple of catapults and some high valor infantry. All this I have learned from this site and my own experience. So fear not, you'll get there, you've come to the right place Devotion and dedication are keys.
For the love of this game

[Nowake]

Also, there's Obake's guide at .com, in the MTW forum section

[garion]

andon www.gamefaqs.com there are a few FAQ's you can use as well

[Bezalel]

Yeah, if you want to get some experience, I wouldn't mind playing with you either. If you ever see Kanamori_Yoshishige on-line, that'd be me, so say hi and I'd be pleased to show ya the ropes. I can't really go on much anymore though, at least until school is out (finals comin' up soon).

[Tricky Lady]

Quote[/b] (efx @ May 21 2004,08:19)]But I have to say, and don't laugh ;) that while I can play the game very well on easy I will get slaugthered on normal. I've tried setting up equal armies in custom battles and I will try to do my best in terms of setting up the formations, flanking and so forth but the computer always gets the better of me.
I am NOT laughing. Gah This happens to me all the time too. I just can't stand losing (bad caracteristic, I know) so I just play so cautiously as possible. So I'll never ever attack an enemy army that outnumbers me. I just don't dare to take the risk of losing all my armies that I so difficultly raised. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mecry.gif

[SpencerH]

Maybe you could describe some of the stuff that seems to go wrong. I'm at a loss to understand how you can win battles on easy but be crushed on normal.

A couple of thoughts:

Use pause- your mouse work (your commands) is not as fast as your CPU's commands to the enemy

One of the biggest factors in battles is morale. I think that the enemy morale increases between easy to normal (dont write that in stone) which may explain your problems. The answer: you must build troops with higher morale and get better generals.

Take the high ground whenever possible and defend in depth.

Tactics wise it's really just a complicated rock-paper-scissors so use the appropriate unit for the job. Try to build armies with a variety of units so you will have a counter to the AI's units. Once in the battle (or better yet before battle) compare your units to the AI's and decide how you will deal with any given situation and come up with a plan, i.e. you have no cav and the AI has lots -> head for the trees.

If he's stronger than you, try to take on his units piecemeal (one at a time).

[ah_dut]

play me play me http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif i'm a Noob so you can't lose. I'm in London at GMT so time might not suit though. I've got to get a gamespy account though. Name will be Ah_Dut see you http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cheers.gif

[efx]

I just wanted to say thanks guys I've read all your replies and I will put the suggestions to work in a bit

Thanks again http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-2thumbsup.gif

[Doug-Thompson]

Make sure all your units are doing something once the battle has begun.

Look down at your unit status displays every once in a while. If a unit isn't fighting, moving or firing, double-click on the unit's bar to give yourself it's point of view, then give it an order to do something.

As you gain experience, you'll set up ambushes and set aside reserves. You won't want perpetual motion out of your units. That comes later.

I kept getting beat early on in this game before I realized that many of my units had beaten or killed one target and were standing around, waiting for orders.

Also, you sometimes want to break off pursuits. If a bunch of your knights rout a bunch of his peasanst, don't let them chase the peasants all the way off the map if there's some better target for them.

[katank]

yep. this is all sound advice.

be sure to use counter units and multi task units.

for example, in some of my games, I have enemy archers behind the melee line shooting at my troops.

I simply target my men to charge at the archers and once they get behind the melee line, they turn around and charge the enemy lines causing it to crumble.

this way, the archers are skirmished away and I get a nice rear attack.

try to think of ways to use all your units at all times although it doens't mean perpetual motion as it will tire them out.

try to pay attention to morale and energy levels.

if having beaten off one wave, consider resting your men.

tired men are more likely to rout and also have combat penalties.

[zelda12]

I too am a noob but have found a good way to improve my skills. Set up a custom battle give the enemy one unit and you lots diff units do this multiple times using different enemy units practise these small arms tactics then graduate onto larger battles slowly you'll develop your own tactics on how to deal with different units. As you get more competent you can start fighting larger battles combineing your small unit tactics to larger battles. When fighting small large battles you can experiment on tactics. Finally when you have mastered this try campaign battles with 10000+ troops on each side.

If all this fails make sure you fight battles on a 20 to 1 scale in your favour

[Ludens]

Quote[/b] (SpencerH @ May 21 2004,19:25)]One of the biggest factors in battles is morale. I think that the enemy morale increases between easy to normal (dont write that in stone) which may explain your problems.
You are almost right. On easy, your troops get a bonus +4 morale, and that quite significant. You lose this bonus when you start playing on normal. This means that your troops won't stand around as long when things are going bad. On expert only, the AI gets a bonus of +4.

[Serpent]

Try to avoid easy campaign.... It just gives you an illusion that your tactic are working fine...Play whit normal.

Start campaign whit Poland...and go for repel provinces.
Repels will be good practice and in early campaign every thing is simple so you will be able to learn something.

[Serpent]

Try also find enemy units whit low moral....Like peasants or units whit less small flags than others....One flag means one valor and one valor gives( if I remember correctly) 1attack 1defense 2moral... Point is When some of them routs it is more likely that all of them will....Unless they are elite.

[foop]

Quote[/b] (efx @ May 21 2004,01:19)]My problem is though that I suck. More specifically, the actual battle managament is what I'm terrible at. The turnbased part of the game is totally fine, I'm doing well with that.

Oh, tell me about it. I, too, suck. I made the mistake of starting on Easy, and the boost the game gives you made me think I could fight battles. When I moved up to Normal, I realised that I can't fight battles.

I have to say that frogbeastegg's excellent Beginner's and Unit Guides have helped me tremendously. But I'm still having to practice. I still have grand plans for my wall of spear troops and my archers, but when I get into battle I find them chewed up by swords and cavalry while I frantically click on a unit that I've accidentally told to change facing and show its backside to the enemy. No, not over there Argh You can't fight cavalry Stop attacking them. Withdraw, dammit. Withdraw

The more time I spend reading these excellent forums, the better I'm getting.

[Papewaio]

Try these tips:

Variety is good, but only useful if you can control them all and know where to use them.

So start off with the KISS principle.

Have core units for defense spears backed by archers.

For attack go heavier on swords/halberds do not bother with archers and have just enough spears to go 1 to 1 with the enemy horse. Sergs' are a very sturdy versatile unit against other foot hand to hand.

In either case have 1 or 2 units of light horse to run down fleeing units. Until they flee use the light horse on the flanks of the enemy... do not engage anything, just stand their maintaining morale pressure.
If you can out flank and then attack enemy archer units do this if:
All the enemy hand to hand units are distracted.

You can use your horse against the back of a hand to hand unit if that unit is already engaged. Again if:
All the enemy hand to hand units are distracted.

Do not let your valuble units get out flanked or attacked from the rear.

Have a unit that is of a similar type to your general (identical) if possible. This unit is a bodyguard unit. It flanks your general. Takes hits and tops up your generals unit if possible after the battle.

[Ludens]

Papewaio, how did you get those dots in your text?

[Tricky Lady]

Quote[/b] (Ludens @ May 27 2004,21:31)]Papewaio, how did you get those dots in your text?
Just type [ *] (without the space), and it should work.

See:
test

http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-thumbsup.gif

[Ludens]

test

Edit: it worked. Thank you again, your ladyship.