Favorite Faction

[Inuyasha12]

Im sure this has been asked before but i don't give a hoot. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/tongue.gif

So what is the faction(s) that you play with like all the time, and has your favorite units, and position on the map?

Me? i like to play with Byzantium cause they have many unique units, Turkey for the same reason.

I also like to play with the Italians and the English.
I play the English a lot.
But mostly Byzantium. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[YAKOBU]

Hi Inuyasha12 http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif

I love the English http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

I'd like to think it's because of their good strategic position and those beatiful longbows rather than the fact I'm British.

I started on English but have been playing Italy in a PBEM. I do like the Italian Infantry , 2nd best spear on stats and only beaten by Gothic Seargeants who are only available in late

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

[Tricky Lady]

Yes, this has been asked many times before, but I keep on replying to these topics http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-thumbsup.gif

My favourite faction is Byzantium too, mainly because of the wide range of unique units.

Next are muslim factions. Lots of different and special unique units, lovely.
Also because I enjoy playing on the eastern side of the campaign map.

[Julius Caesar]

Byzantium also, Germans, French,English, Italians, and Spanish. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/medievalcheers.gif

[Inuyasha12]

Wow, a lot of byzantium fans. Maybe we should start a Byzantium club http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/idea.gif

[Tricky Lady]

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

[Inuyasha12]

Really, how would that be done exactly?

[Sarnaen]

Egypt and Turkey are my two favourites. They suit my fluid style of play, but are still able to hold a good battle line. They also have some very interesting units - The Egyptian Abyssinian Guard and the vast array of Turkish cavalry.

I admit to being a secret Russia fan too - They have an interesting blend of eastern and western units that make for a tricky to play, but very rewarding style.
And in multiplayer, they have unique access to Lithuanian Cavalry - probably one of my favourite cavalry units in the game.

[Inuyasha12]

I really don't like the russians(novgorod) they get easily outclassed by the heavier european cavalry and knights.

[Sarnaen]

True, but the knights are much slower, and there isn't much that can equal Boyars as horse archers, save Turkish units.
Russian cavalry is like the mid-way point between eastern style fast & light cavalry and the armoured behemoths of the Catholics. Combined with tough Catholic infantry, Armoured Spearmen and Bulgarian Brigands, they make for a tough faction when used well.

[smoogs]

My favorite faction is probably the Danes. I like starting out with one province. Also, I love using vikings. They can really put the hurt on early age units.

The one thing I dislike about the Danes though is, they are somewhat boring to play in the high and late ages. Since huscarles and the other (except normal vikings) Danish faction specific units die out in the high age.

My other favorite faction is the English. I love archer units, and longbowmen really do their job well.

[Armchair Athlete]

I like the Italians/Sicilians the best. The Italians for those brilliant Italian Infantry allowing for Early period domination, Gothic Sergeants+Knights in late, the excellent Hospitaller Knights/Footkights, Strong Farming+Trade provinces, discount on ships (galleys) and Iron in Tuscany The Sicilians for their rich trading province of Sicily and Naples nearby and also for the fact that unlike the Italians they can stay out of mainland Europe politics, as they have no land borders (if naples is taken, only with the pope) which is very good for trade, and launch crusades to all the muslim factions nearby (I start with the Almos before the Spanish whip them).

[The_Emperor]

Fave factions? Well I do like the English. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

But lately I have spent a lot more time playing the Byzantines and the Turks. For some reason I really love Horse Archer factions

Also the reasons why I like playing the eastern factions are...

1) They are right on the frontline to face the Golden Horde. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/ht_charge.gif

2) Reasonably close to Syria so I can actually get some good assassins

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

[Inuyasha12]

Smoogs i like to capture the scandinavian provinces with the english for that same reason.

Also you can change it in the unit text files so that viking huscarles are usable in high or late.

go to my computer/c:/ drive, programs files, total war, medieval total war.

click on CRUSADERS_UNIT_PROD11(text file)

then scroll down to viking huscarles

change EARLY to EARLY, HIGH, LATE

voila.
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/medievalcheers.gif

[Phatose]

When I play, which isn't that often anymore, I play the spanish. The best heavy cavalry in the game, excellent tactical postion for expansion either into africa and then the middle east, or across europe, with convienient bottlenecks for defense. A royal family which produces more killer heirs then anyone but the byzantines, and they've got 4 easily obtainable, iron bearing provinces with coastlines right there in Iberia. And just to make expansion even easier, they've got those evil jinettes for causing a ruckus early on.

[amir]

I like to play the Turks and the English, but I also sometimes play the Spanish.

[CrackedAxe]

I nearly always use the Germans, I can get a decent 10k army together with them, but then I'm just talking multiplayer here. I play MTW a hell of a lot, but hav'nt touched SP in nearly a year. Anybody else just MP only now? and whats your fave MP faction?

[Despot of the English]

Hello http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif

I like the English (longbowmen), Turks (Janissary heavy infantry), and Germans (Gothic Knights). The Romans are cool too.

[Inuyasha12]

Romans?? Do you mean the italians, papacy or sicilians.

Or is it a mod?

[Despot of the English]

Sorry, I am referring to the Byzantines. They always referred to themselves as Romans. The Byzantine Empire was really the Roman Empire. I think it was a French fellow in the 17th or 18th century who coined the term because he felt the eastern Romans were decadent and not fitting to be known as Romans.

[Monk]

The danes are good, so are the byzantines, but i think the Russians (high) are by far the best. You get to fight the horde with very limited recourses and only 25 turns to get ready. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/ht_knight.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-2thumbsup.gif

[amir]

to be exact - the eastren roman empire (or at least that what we are been thought at schools)

[Neubs]

I like the Swiss. The Swiss can be fun because you start with next to nothing and barely any income... But the Pikemen rule the field.

[Despot of the English]

Playing the Medmod I had a lot of problems with the Swiss, mainly because of the homeland rule and so there weren't many provinces which I could train troops in. Armoured Swiss Pikemen rule though http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Chimpyang]

The Aragonese are fun if yopu like spanish units but owuld like the challenge of only starting with 1 province.

[Gith]

Byzantium and The Holy Roman Empire. Something about playing an Empire that makes me feel a whole lot cooler. Also, the Turks (janissaries anyone?).

[Sarnaen]

Turkish Janissaries are nice, but thats all people seem to see with the Turks - Survive until late period so you can get hold of Janissaries and start fighting properly.

I rarely use JHI or JI in my armies, most of my units are horse archers and turcoman foot, with a little Saracen infantry to pin & hold.
I only really use JHI when taking Constantinople if I leave it in the early period, and go after it later on, as I always face massed ranks of Varangian and Byzantine Infantry. Other than that, their 2 year production time puts a dent in army production time. I could have four units of horse archers for every two Janissaries I put out, and I know which I prefer.

[ah_dut]

I like the byz but the italians win in my little book, in medmod, Italian heavy inf, supported by a lot of arbalesters and http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif to my enemies

[Sarnaen]

Even without the mod, I fear the Italians. If they get through a short period of vulnerability in the early game, then they begin to get nastily powerful. For the muslim states, Italy becomes a huge thorn in the side. Powerful spearmen, access to gothic units, good cavalry too.
For my Turks, who rarely reach the Italians before the mid high to late period, taking Italy is a daunting task.
They tend to expand along the entire northern Mediterranian coast, and hold provinces like Toulouse and even Castille and Switzerland.
Makes for some titanic battles in northern Iberia though. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-2thumbsup.gif

[Despot of the English]

I forgot about the Golden Horde in Medmod Excellent army with some superb troops. All a Khan needs are Mongol Horse Archers and Mongol Warriors. Great archers and not so bad in hand-to-hand combat too. I'm not happy that they cannot build boats http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/angry.gif .

[Sarnaen]

I like the Horde in the VI expansion. Mongol Warriors are one of the most versatile units in the game. Reliable, quite good morale, small unit footprint means you can concentrate them and they can dodge and swing around at close quarters easily. Accurate with those bows too.

[Xiahou Liao]

My Favorite are as following

Holy Roman Empire and Italy are equal.

The Russians.

Oh, almost forgot. In VI, The Vikings own all. 'nuff said.

[Sarnaen]

I love the Irish in the VI campaign. Their lack of long ranged firepower plus wealth of light skirmish units makes for an interesting game. Also, the Kerns are as good an answer to Huscarles as I've ever seen. Engage with Gallowglasses, send the Kerns around the flank and shower with javelins. Charge in to break them.
Bonnachts are also a fearsome unit.

[ah_dut]

as i said italia, they'll own the irish http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[eds]

Turkey. That faction is all about finesse, not brute force. If style counted for anything, the Turks would be the best faction bar none.

The hybrid armies are very versatile and the full suite of cavalry makes for yet more versatility. Once you get into high and get ahold of JHI, you can almost play the Turks in any way you want. Stand up and slug it out. Skirmish/hit and run. All cavalry armies and all the potential combinations therein. By far the most interesting faction for me.

For obvious reasons, I like the horde too, especially since they have the best suite of cavalry overall IMO.

[Sarnaen]

The Turks are a great faction. Watch them played by someone who knows how to use them and you'll truly appreciate the way they fight. I have seen an all-cavalry Turk army beat an English army hands down, and the Turk commited less than a quarter of his force to melee. The micromanagement involved must have been colossal, and looking after all of the lightning fast manoevres performed by horse archers and fast cavalry must have been painful to say the least.
Being the English player must have been painful too. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif

[Cazbol]

The vikings are my favourite. It's the faction that I relate to the most and I know more about their history than any of the other factions. I also love their extreme mobility on the stratetic map.

[Sarnaen]

Thats a good point. I'm always extremely envious of the Vikings mobility and superior naval forces when playing as the Irish. Some might say green with envy. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif
However, with the rich Irish provinces safely in the bag, I can afford to keep strong garrisons in all of my coastal provinces, which deters the Viking raiding pretty well.
Unfortunately, I don't have anything to take down the inevitable hordes of Viking thralls before they reach my battle line. Javelins are only really useful when hand to hand combat has broken out, and mercenary archers are rare and expensive.
An archer-heavy and raider cavalry-heavy Viking army would seiously hurt my Irish forces too. They have no real counter to properly protected archery.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Germans (HRE).

Hard to do. Most of the other factions are too easy, if fun to play, like the Italians or English. And Germans get Swabian Swordsmen Awesome unit. Just seeing all of Europe in Imperial Black on the strategic map is worth the cost of HRE. Priceless.

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

[mikebailey2000]

1.Danes. (Everytime I play them I win easily with a Viking rush. The fury of the Northmen is awesome)

2.English. (Billman + Longbows + Knights = seemingly unstoppable army)

3.Russia. (Love the challenge of the Horde, hate the lack of a sword unit. Love those Heavy Steppe Cav units But hate the English with this faction, as damn Billmen hack my Russian cavs and Armored spears and Militia to pieces every time, and Longbows will the ranged battle.)

4.Spanish and Turkish. (Fun to play with finese)

5.Byzantines. (Seems like the game is TOO easy with them, but I love watching the purple plague spread across Europe.)

[Zortanius]

Well, since I am a massive Byzantium fan even in real life, it follows that I am a big fan of the Byzantines. Even I admit they are by a huge margin, the most ridiculously easy faction in the game - in any era or mode even on expert. I love their infantry and their cavalry altho I am sure I would stil favor them even if they had only one province and only 5 units.

Something about setting history straight eggs me on to play them - I say this with no malice intended to any other peoples. The Byzantines really did squander an untold promise.

It think it would have been more accurate if the turks started with Anatolia and Georgia in the game - it would also be a bit more challenging.

After them I like the Polish, Danes, Germans and the English in that order.

I have played all the factions and would say that the Turkish JHI and Swiss APM are the best units in the game.

To dream of porphory columns,

Cheers

[Jason the Absentminded]

I like all the Muslim factions. Even though I'm Christian I feel the Crusades were evil endeavors. In my studies i like to read things from the Muslim perspective. Next I'm going to give the Danes a try, considering I'm of Danish origin. The Byz are nice, but way too easy for me.

[dessa14]

i like playing italy.
they get the best stuff
gothic troops, italian infantry, genoese sailors good trading centres.
thanks, dessa

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

England in all periods, same for byzantium.

Turks in late, egypt in high. Also like novgorod in early, lots of areas to conquer without getting into a war with a major faction

[Oleander Ardens]

MTW - for tactical gameplay

1. Hungary
2. Russia
3. Almos
4. Egyptians
5. Turks

VI

1. Irish
2. Picts
3. Welsh


MTW - Stratecegic Gameplay

1. Aragon
2. Sicily
3. Danes
4. HRE
5. France

VI

1. Northumbria
2. Scots

[Gith]

I like the Turks for more reasons than just the Janissaries, don't get me wrong. They are just a nice little perk you get later on.

I love the combination of futuwwas, Saracens, and Armenian heavy with a unit or two of ghazies for shock value. By the time I had janissaries in my old Turk campaign I had already owned the majority of the map.

[Sarnaen]

Futuwwas never really worked for me, I prefer to stick to the Turcoman foot, Ottomans, Turcoman horse Armenians and Ghazis.
I don't really build towards Janissary production, though having a unit of Janissary Infantry in reserve is useful. Their combination of close quarters muscle, and archery skills makes for a nice all-round reinforcements unit.

[mercian billman]

I've always liked the Hungarians since I got VI. They start in a good position with, plenty of Rebel provinces near, close proximity to the Steppes, their proximity to both Venice, and Constantinople. In addition they have access to Catholic Heavy units, and Sezekely (the best HA in the game.)

[IrishMike]

I love russia because I have never been so scared in my life those few years before the mongels, and also the great challange of raising a mongel killing army on a 1000 florin budget.

In VI I will have to side with the Irish because nothing beats 3000 gallowglasses invading England all at once. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Spartiate]

Love Turkey in the standard campaign.You just cannot beat those Jannisaries.In the Invasion add-on i prefer the vikings themselves or the Irish.Joms-Vikings are damn near unstoppable.

[Balin son of Fundin]

I dont so much have a favourite faction, but i like the city of constantinople, which leads me to say the Byzantines. I think its also a favourite of the AI players aswell because thats where most of the crusades i see going.

[HARALD THE RUTHELESS!]

Playing the Aragons or the Peaches http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Small, solid, great start province and heaven sent heirs. Excellent for high adventure around the Mediterranean.

[Inuyasha12]

Yes, whenever i feel like smashing something with brute force i pick the germans or the italians.
Whenever i want to win a battle with strategy and finesse, i pick the turks or the mongols. They are really good for dancing around the enemy with horse archers weakening them until they can strike.
Now the Byzantines are a nice, balanced mix of the two, that's why i like the Byzantines so much.

[Tyr, Binder of Fenrir]

Hmm, I would have to say I enjoy playing the English, Turks, and Byzantines the most, and if I had to choose between them, I suppose I would pick the Byzantines as my favorite faction.

Why? Well, I enjoy the challenge of having obsolete troops in the high and late eras, and in early I make things more difficult by ignoring the Egyptians and Turks, instead focusing on trade and keeping what is already mine.

The Byzantines also have many unique units, which I find refreshing after conquest using the standard catholic roster. Additionally, the Byzantines have one other very attractive feature: no papal interference.