View Full Version : Best Faction!!
Total War Merc
06-14-2005, 21:41
Currently I Like Playing As The English or the Irish, who do you think is the best faction.
The Papacy is the easiest by far.
Philippus Flavius Homovallumus
06-14-2005, 22:34
The English are the only ones who get longboys so I'd go for them in High and Late. The Byzantines own in Early!
By best, I am assuming you mean the most fun. I think Turks in high is really fun. But if you load Medmod then the HRE is the most fun because it is so darn hard to survive. If you load the XL mod then so far I have found Portugal to be the toughest and most fun. I will have to try BKB's Super mod one day too. In the Viking campaign I think the Scots are the hardest, but I have more fun playing the Northumbrians because they start out small and poor but can build Huscarles and Huscarles are fun!
professorspatula
06-14-2005, 23:48
National pride would have me say English. Their longbows and billmen are great, plus they have all those other powerful Catholic units. I also like the fact Britain is an island (though easily accessible), so if I feel like playing a different kind of campaign, I can stay on the defensive in Britain and make a few far-away excursions elsewhere instead.
In the Viking campaign, I like the Saxon's for their good mix of units. They have everything needed for an easy victory.
I've grown fond of the Danes in the main campaign too. A challenge to get going with them, but fantastic trading abilities. Plus, with the Viking expansion, they get to build most of their expansion units in the early campaign, and sending Viking Carls and Huscarles against the unwitting Germans and Eastern Europeans is fun.
littlebktruck
06-15-2005, 00:45
I personally have been having a lot of fun with my Spanish campaign. You have the Almohads next door to beat on, and, once you get to Morocco, you have a one province border all the way to Egypt. You are also centrally placed on the seas (and have access to lots of sea bordering provinces) so that an impressive navy is pretty easy to get.
Divine Wind
06-15-2005, 01:09
For fun i would say the English. I love those longbows and billmen, really great units. For challenge i would say Poland or Russia in early.
Blinking difficult i tells ya!
Uesugi Kenshin
06-15-2005, 03:12
I prefer the Turks and the Irish. The Turks just seem to have the best position and amry once you get going, and well I have Irish heritage and Bonnachts are really good.
I would have to say, in order: The Spanish, the Egyptians, the Byzantines, the English, the Danes, and then the Almohads. In the XL mod, the Crusader States, the Scots, the Genoans, and the Papacy are a lot of fun as well.
My roommate feels it's a toss-up between the English and the Scots (in XL) for first place. He also enjoys playing as the Italians, and occasionally as Aragon. As a rule, he likes most factions that become naval powers (hence the English and the Italians), the main exception to this rule being the Byzantines.
He also, for reasons I don't fully understand, likes to play and conquer as the French. (Personally, I think it's just his way of displaying his love of irony.) ~D
1. Turks
2. Spanish
3. Byzantines
Why, the Swiss are the best! Who else gets SAP for free?
Personally, I like English.
If you play against people online, they always think you go for longbowmen but instead go with full Billmen. Usually, people will go for Calv when they think of anti archer army. Then you use your Billmen to chop them up. WOOT!!
Personally, I like English.
If you play against people online, they always think you go for longbowmen but instead go with full Billmen. Usually, people will go for Calv when they think of anti archer army. Then you use your Billmen to chop them up. WOOT!!
Also, picture of my Blasian
http://www.vzwpix.com/mi/23198082_80635136_0.bmp?limitsize=320,320&outquality=56&ext=.jpg&border=2,0,0,0
m52nickerson
06-16-2005, 00:40
The Polish, you room to expand at the start. Later you can wage war on the BYZ and Horde, so you don't have to fight another catholic faction and worry abou the Pope.
I've always enjoyed and loved the Danes as the best in the Early era. They are easily defensible if you turtle, and lots of good expansion options. You can sail over to England and conquer them, you can go south into the Germans, you can take all the russian steppes. And to top it all off they have viking huscarls. I mod the game so nothing is only early, so for example swabians and huscarls and Varangian guards are available all game. I love using gold armour and gold weapon huscarls.
I really had fun using the Aragonese in post-VI Medieval and the Irish are my favourite VI faction. After BKB's Super Mod, though, I can't say; I've only used the Scots so far, but I'm thoroughly enjoying myself.
sir_schwick
06-16-2005, 05:53
Hungarians are a fun faction considering they get Catholic heavies as well as one of the most aggressive Horse ARchers in the game. Plus you get to face off against many powerful enemies in the region and possibly the HOrde.
antisocialmunky
06-16-2005, 14:03
In no particular order:
-England, they can take down any other faction's most powerful units like they weren't there except maybe the Turks whose JHI and doesn't give a AP bonus and other arrow heavy civs.
-Germany, they have the best infantry and anti-cavalry cavalry in the game. Gothic Foot Knights beat JHI if their numbers are equal. They have Swabians and own the Swiss and thus have a killer line up.
-Byzantine, my favorite civ, Byzantine Cavalry is my favorite ranged cavalry after Jinettes. They have the best swordsman in the game due to their numbers. They get 9 star Jedi Katanks that don't become king so you can make them super god-like with 2 command star titles.
-Spanish, Jinettes, my favorite ranged cavalry type. They are good all-purpose cavalry. I've seen them take down whole units of pinned Chivalric Knights. They're so fun and also El Cid's unit.
-The Turks, JHI and Jassinary Infantry with horse archers and Armenian Heavy Cavalry(+2 valour makes them Chivalric Knights). They're the Byzantine of the later game. They have the crazy Jassinary Corp and can really create a arrow storm.
-Aragon, the super underdog faction. I wish they had early light cavalry...
sir_schwick
06-16-2005, 15:45
I always though the Turks had a pretty good early game line-up as well. Turcoman units are very realiable, Ghazis are nasty if you know what your doing and Saraceans are like ILI. Also, AHC can provide some punch after acupunturing the enemy lines and Futuwaas are my favorite non-Catholic fanatic unit now(Clansmen just own). However compared to the Janissary infantry, the early seems weaker.
Sensei Warrior
06-16-2005, 18:30
The Turks, The Byz, The Spanish, The Brits, but not in that order. I like the Spanish beacuse of the easy money and early access to iron. The Byz and the Danes rock in early. The Turks are awesome was you get their uber units. I would say the Brits are my fav, but I hate playing patty-cake with all those Catholic Factions in the start of the game. I usually save the Catholics for last ~;) .
I agree with Total War Merc, the Papacy is indeed the easiest faction. Anyone you attack and who fights back=instantly excommunicated. You can use Inquisitors and GI's to raise zeal to bring rebellions when you excomm people/burn enemy generals/kings/princes. Plus, you get the wealth of Italy (the other factions are pretty easy to kick out) and its excellent troops (especially in MM).
I agree with sir schwick , the Huns are my favorite.
I've played as all of the factions, online and in campaigns, and while the Byz and the Turks and the Spanish and the Almos and the English all have their strong points, the Huns come out on top.
Szekely are by far the most fun cav archer IMHO, and the starting position in the campaign makes for an interesting challenge.
ichi :bow:
Jihad2Death
06-18-2005, 04:16
Turks! ~:)
Turks! ~:)
Stupid Turks. Kill them all! :duel:
I seriously do hate those guys, though. I understand why they're so much fun, as admittedly I've enjoyed playing them myself (you gotta love the Janissary troops!). However, with Egypt and the Byz being two of my favorite factions, the Turks are almost always a huge thorn in my side. I hate them almost as much as the Sicilians, which is saying quite a lot. ~D
In my games, I usually eliminate the Turks as soon as possible. Until they're destroyed, however, they like to train lots of horse archers (including Turcoman Horse), which I cannot stand--oh, how I hate them! :furious3: I've found the only effective way to deal with them (and that's only somewhat) is to make sure I have at least a couple units of light cavalry in my army to chase them off the field. And of course, by the time I'm done doing so, my light cavalry are too exhausted from running up and down the field all day to contribute to the battle in any meaningful way. The only other alternative is to use peasants (or some other worthless unit) as fodder to force the Turks to waste their arrows on them, while in the meantime I have foot archers take potshots at them whenever they come into range--a most tedious and time-consuming process.
Although fun, I have to agree that the turks are my most hated faction. I just have a total hatred for fighting against HA's even now in RTW. Nothing is more annoying that a unit of HA's and even just thinking back on them I feel like breaking the no cursing rule and ranting for a whole page. Oh how I hate Horse Archers. My hatred of HA's has evolved to other games from MTW and those damn turks. Even in RTW where they are easier to take care of (mass archers) I still hate them.
The Blind King of Bohemia
06-20-2005, 20:27
I like the Turks, the most annoying faction by far is the Spanish or Russians, particularly in the late period.
bretwalda
06-20-2005, 21:25
I like the Turks, the most annoying faction by far is the Spanish or Russians, particularly in the late period.
Russians are soooo ***** annoying with their boyars that are not only plentiful, have bows AND kick ass... you really have to be careful with them especially on the plains of Russia. Trees are your friends :wink: You need a different army to counter them than the rest of the bunch...
On the other hand I like the Turks but it is not sooo nice to play against them, especially when the already grew strong...
Although fun, I have to agree that the turks are my most hated faction. I just have a total hatred for fighting against HA's even now in RTW. Nothing is more annoying that a unit of HA's and even just thinking back on them I feel like breaking the no cursing rule and ranting for a whole page. Oh how I hate Horse Archers. My hatred of HA's has evolved to other games from MTW and those damn turks. Even in RTW where they are easier to take care of (mass archers) I still hate them.
678, I couldn't possibly agree with you more. ~:cheers:
The Holy Roman Empire is my favourite at the moment, they have easily the most kickass flag, and all their soldiers are cool and black. Plus you have so many choices when you decide you want to beat on somebody
kalifah of watton
06-29-2005, 16:59
Personally my favorite factions are in rough order
The Almohads
The Turks
The Egyptians
The Almoravids(BKB)
The Byzantines
As you can see i don't like dealing with the Pope and i like the flexibility of the Muslim factions.The first time i won (60%) was with the Almohads but its taken me many frustrating attempts to win with the Turks and The Egyptians (starting in early) but i finally did it last month after 6 months of trying.I like the Byzantines Because when i played Age Of Empires they were my favorite.In the BKB Mod i've just won with the Armenians in 1425 after coming back from nothing so i've got a lot of affection for them.i've also had a good one with the Cumans who are like the Mongols.At the moment playing as the Genoise and am probably going to spend the whole game fighting the Pope unless i leave him one province.Also playing as the Georgians.I play on easy setting as when i tried normal i did ok in the battles but the AI was of course much more aggressive.Im still learning though.
Peace be upon you all......The Kalifah Of Watton
Mithrandir
06-29-2005, 17:21
The almohads ar by far the best faction.
I stood undefeated for ages online with my almo army made up of militia sergs, AUM, pav arbs, camels and cav.
I pumped up my swords, seeing how cav never stood a chance anyway vs camels and my pavs were either matched or outclassed the others ranged units, so I'd win on all 3 fields, swords,archers and cavelry.
PittBull260
06-29-2005, 17:35
1-Swiss(you start off in the middle of like 4 big an strong empires in europe, it's hard to play as them but fun :)
2-Turks(like their units and location)
3-Egyptians(like their location and it's easy to just build an empire for religion rather than military power as the Egyptians)
The almohads ar by far the best faction.
I stood undefeated for ages online with my almo army made up of militia sergs, AUM, pav arbs, camels and cav.
I pumped up my swords, seeing how cav never stood a chance anyway vs camels and my pavs were either matched or outclassed the others ranged units, so I'd win on all 3 fields, swords,archers and cavelry.
The Almohads are just icky, esepecially in Early. With their AUM and Berbers, they're virtually unstoppable. It doesn't hurt that their starting position is great, too. All of their initial lands have coastlines, and 4 out of their 6 starting provinces have minable metals, so they can get a good income going very quickly. It's a small wonder the Almos almost always dominate the western half of the map in the original game. ~:eek: As it is, I almost never play as them anymore. They're a lot of fun, but they're also simply too easy to win when I play as them.
Mithrandir
07-01-2005, 19:18
Sorry, I should've pointed out I only played online, I've played a campaign or 2, but many thousands of battles (literally) online... much more fun than bashing the AI time and time again...
I just had a blast playing Russians in the High plain vanilla version. I managed to ally with the Horde early which gave me about 25 years more growth before I had to deal with them. Russia seems to be more of a challenge to gear up economically since it is difficult to get out of the baltic, especially in my game where the English were extremely powerful, taking over most of the west. The English even landed in Novgorod a couple of times and I had to take refuge in the citadel, but in the end I prevailed by taking out all of Asia Minor, Constantinople, Greece and the Middle East to Palestine.
When I took palestine the whole world allied against me and the English sent over Crusades (even sending one via Norway ~:confused: ). It was difficult, but I enjoyed the challenge.
Boyars Rule!
Jarrel
Digenes Akrites
07-02-2005, 03:42
Ever since the first time I tried M:TW, I have always had the most fun playing the Byzantines. I particularly enjoy playing them in High using BKB's mod. There's nothing like fighting for your life stuck between the Latins and the Turks.
Alexius II Loukas
07-06-2005, 00:57
Quite right. In early, the Byzantines are easy to play, but as you chug along, and the crusades come, it gets harder and harder. I've been at war with the Egyptians for almost 300 years in my current campaign, and the Italians at least 150 years. It doesn't help that your units only get outclassed in later eras by the catholics.
And, as a rant: I despise Boyars. A tip: NEVER let Novgorod put ships in the Baltic. I lost almost 250 years of development in 5 years because I had almost no one in Constantinople, and even my Katanks had trouble taking out the Boyars. I lost a 6 star general and a god knows how many plumed governor (also a commander of Katanks) relieving the siege of Constantinople.
Note: as of the moment, I am playing vanilla MTW, without VI; I am debating getting the XL or the BKB supermod.
Philippus Flavius Homovallumus
07-07-2005, 19:09
I'd say the only way to take out Boyers is with Byz Cav and the PA. I almost never use Kats, they suck!
Eternal Champion
07-07-2005, 21:03
Most of the Kats the computer throws at you are those valor'd up Royals and they can do some damage.
Marcellus
07-07-2005, 21:54
National pride and longbows lead me to say the English, but I also like the Egyptians. ~:)
Evil_Maniac From Mars
07-07-2005, 23:02
Holy Roman Empire for me, for the above reasons, except you have Gothic Knights :bow: and the Teutonic Order. ~:cool:
Philippus Flavius Homovallumus
07-07-2005, 23:07
I'd say the Longbow is a really unfair advantage for the English, not that I'm complaining. Isn't CA English?
Marcellus
07-07-2005, 23:22
CA is English, but I don't think that's the reason why the longbow in the game is so powerful. I think that it's because it was historically a powerful weapon! ~:)
Evil_Maniac From Mars
07-07-2005, 23:31
Quite
codpiece
07-08-2005, 10:58
Personally, I'm a fan of the Byzantines. They, like the HRE, have to be on the defensive to begin with (on Early; I hardly ever start High or Late), as they only have one developed province and a massive starting empire. The Turks are a real threat, and Egypt will only sit back for so long, not to mention the temptation the Hungarians present for expansion at the expense of defence. This situation, coupled with a unique set of units and strategies make them stand out for me.
On the Viking campaign, I'm a big fan of the Picts for similar reasons. They have a unique selection of units, a defensive starting position thanks to the Scots and Viking raids, and the temptation is there to eat Northumbria at the expense of defence again. Just build a navy to protect that coastline!
Crusader4thepeople
07-09-2005, 21:55
My fave faction in plain MTW are the aragonese, the spanish (love Spain, i learn spanish) and the English and Holy Roman Empire out of national pride ( Moms german Dads a brit live in england)
And the Longbow isnt overpowered.
Battle of Crecy:
French Forces: 36000
English Forces: 12000 (7000 of these were archers)
French Casualties: 6000-20000 killed or wounded
English Casualties: 150-1000 killed or wounded
Gawain of Orkeny
07-10-2005, 01:48
Personally, I like English.
If you play against people online, they always think you go for longbowmen but instead go with full Billmen. Usually, people will go for Calv when they think of anti archer army. Then you use your Billmen to chop them up. WOOT!!
Billmen suck unless you have lots of money. They have no moral.Also if you think cav are good against lbs you have another thing coming. English are the most versatile though they even rule the desert in high and late. Byz are the best in early and high. Germans are also good in late and High and Spain is real tough in late. Of course Im only speaking mp here.
LoboSoulman
07-10-2005, 12:16
Spanish are good, lots of iron and easy to defend borders when u expand.
With viking invasion it has to be the vikings. Husculares and joms steamroller all (nice to have some cavalry to chase down ranged units though).
I played as the danes and wept when i lost my joms and husculares in a later period!!!!
King Henry V
07-10-2005, 14:46
Being an Englishmen, I'd also have to agree that the English are my favorite. Then comes the Byzantines, followed by HRE, the Swiss and finnaly the Teutonic Order in the XL mod.
Spanish are good, lots of iron and easy to defend borders when u expand.
With viking invasion it has to be the vikings. Husculares and joms steamroller all (nice to have some cavalry to chase down ranged units though).
I played as the danes and wept when i lost my joms and husculares in a later period!!!!
Yeah, it sucks when the Danes hit the High period and can't train their Viking units anymore. In the Early period, they simply have the finest infantry roster in the game; Huscarles steamroll just about everyone! The Danes' Landsmen and regular Carls are nothing to sneeze at either; they both serve well as excellent medium infantry.
The only real disadvantage the Danes possess is lack of a good light cav. Horsemen and Viking Raider Cavarly are okay, but nothing special. Hobilars, Mounted Seargents, and Jinnettes are all far superior, at least in my experience.
NodachiSam
07-13-2005, 07:32
I'm really fond of the Danes in early. They have Scandanavia to themselves and the vikings are easy to get and pack a good punch I think.
I'm really fond of the Danes in early. They have Scandanavia to themselves and the vikings are easy to get and pack a good punch I think.
Plus Huskarles pretty much dominates the battlefield until late.
Advo-san
07-13-2005, 12:08
Early: Sicilians
High: Aragonese
Late: Byzantines
vBulletin® v3.7.1, Copyright ©2000-2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.