View Full Version : What are your favorite factions for MTW?
Gtafanboy
11-28-2005, 15:03
Seeing as I do not have VI I am talking about MTW 1.1. My favorite faction is the Danes. I don't know why I like them so much. Maybe it's because they are pretty much the underdog of Medieval Total War. So, what is your favorite faction of MTW 1.1?
matteus the inbred
11-28-2005, 15:29
yeah, i like the Danes too, cos no one bothers you until you want to bother them, and you can field enormous raiding fleets full of Vikings...in my current Danish game i own the entire map north of France from Ireland to Muscovy and no one else has any ships left afloat!
also like the Spanish...hard as nails, Lancers, Jinetes, handy non-Christian faction to bash right from the start, awesome.
and the English...longbows + billmen = battlefields repeatedly littered with French corpses.
~D
Microwavegerbil
11-28-2005, 16:35
Yeah Danes are big favorite with a lot of people, and I think it's pretty much because they get to decide who to fight and when to fight them. Personally, I can't get enough of the Turks, using my light horse archers and infantry to harrass the Byzantines and Eggies is great. Of course, once we get to late in the campaign the Turks have a really great modernization as their troops become the wonderfully professional Janissaries. A unique unit roster and challenging start position make them good fun to play.~:)
Gtafanboy
11-28-2005, 17:46
I do like the Turks also. They have some of the coolest units in the game.
petertmorgan
11-28-2005, 18:15
I like the Danes and Turks for the reasons mentioned. The Danes are also fun because they basically start with nothing so you have to build up everything yourself.
But I also really like the Italians. You start with more than the Danes, but are in a slightly more challenging position. Genoese sailors are cool and come early, plus with a good trade network you can advance technologically pretty fast (and get rewarded for doing so with the Italian Medium Infantry).
matteus the inbred
11-28-2005, 18:34
true, IMI rock and the Italians tech up well! you've got to pick and choose your strategy very carefully though...i'd say you're more reliant on the Pope being your friend than other factions, he is an immediate military threat as well as a general religious one. i've had some success conquering North Africa and then waiting for the Sicilians to stick their neck out...then you can take advantage of the HRE/French/English scraps that break out and watch the trading money roll in.
I don´t know 1.1, I´ve got the budget version with VI included. But in the Medieval campaign I like the HRE (Gothic Knights, Gothic Sergeants, Swiss Halberdiers) or the Italians (same as the Germans, plus Genoese Sailors, Italian Light Infantry and Gendarmes, though worse ships).
Byzantine_Fury
11-30-2005, 01:10
Mine would would be the Byzantines as they start out pretty strong in early games but, tend to be weaker if you start in high period, but mainly i like them because of the awesome byzantine infantry argueably one of the best heavy infantry units in the game.
Byz, Danes, Spain.
Byz for their unique feel and Constantinople (my absolute favorite province)
Danes for their Vikings and Longboats
Spain for its Jinettes and Crusades.
GrandInquisitor
12-01-2005, 00:53
HRE, italians, and byzantines being my ancestors. sicilians because they are, in my view, one of the most challenging and interesting to play
I love playing with Spain, starting in a very VERY vulnerable situation, great generals in the beggining and also 4 provinces with Iron in their "National" territory which can ve easly secured in three choke points.
I love being able to train an army of 4 Lancers, 4 Arbalesters, 2 CMAA and 4 guyswithspearsandbigshieldswhosenameavoidsmymemory all of them with golden weapons and armor in 4 turns.
I enjoy a lot having a small but elite army and few but very well developed and very rich provinces. All of this can be achieved with Spain (and still keeping the Catholic's tech tree).
The Darkhorn
12-01-2005, 15:51
A) POLAND. I love the challenge and love mounted crossbows. They're great against armor and fast as all get out. Plus, Poland gives me some focus....getting ready for the horde. I figure when I need to take a province in order to get out all the certain unit types I need with +4 armor upgrades and in place where I'll need them. This is no easy feat playing on huge units because it takes 2 turns to build them. Y'all should really try playing huge units. It changes strategy a lot too, especially in the first 50 turns. It makes for a different game. You can't pump out units as fast, so it takes different planning.
B) DANES. ...er...vikings
C) BYZ...currently in 1330 of my first Byz campaign...normal, huge units. Quite a great game so far. I love the VG, but hate the Vanilla Spears. A good challenge
I enjoy a lot having a small but elite army and few but very well developed and very rich provinces. All of this can be achieved with Spain (and still keeping the Catholic's tech tree).Try 2 LAnce, 1 Rk general, 2 Chiv Foot, 3 Pike, 3 Arqubusiers, 2 Pav Arbs and 3 Culverin.
That was my end game army in my Spainsih campaign and I love them to bits now. I'll be playing Spain if I ever get into MP.
My favorite is the English. I absolutely love Billmen, given that they can take on both calvary and heavy infantry. Having Hobilars is also a big help coming out of the gate.
The Spanish are also very good with Jinetes, Lancers, and all that iron.
The Turks have a great selection of units but a precarious starting position, but I can't say I like controlling HA very much. I certainly do like the results though! :charge:
Try 2 LAnce, 1 Rk general, 2 Chiv Foot, 3 Pike, 3 Arqubusiers, 2 Pav Arbs and 3 Culverin.
That was my end game army in my Spainsih campaign and I love them to bits now. I'll be playing Spain if I ever get into MP.
You can build pikemen with Spain?
Weebeast
12-02-2005, 07:02
I like the Byzantine. They got some cool units. I also love the fact that they're in the middle of the map. I can fight the Hungs, Turks, Egyptians, Sicilian, Poles, Novgo, Russian and the Horde. I also can tackle crusades or stop acting as a wall for the western world if I'm feeling like doing so.
My second favorite faction has gotta be HRE for being in the middle of europe, electing emperors, having gothic knights and crusade.
I do often play as French, Italian or English but that's just for the sake of my need of historical recreation (Glory Goals).
You can build pikemen with Spain?
"ARAGONESE, BURGUNDIAN, DANISH, ENGLISH, FRENCH, GERMAN_HRE, HUNGARIAN, ITALIAN, NOVGOROD, PAPIST, POLISH, RUSSIAN, SICILIAN, SPANISH, SWISS" can build pikemen in late period.
RebelYell
12-02-2005, 20:06
I love playing as the English. I just love longbows. I love standing back and shooting up their army while they try to get close. I am playing my first GA game with who else but the English. I always considered myself a total conquest guy but this is great. it has opened a whole new world I didn't know existed. I love this game.
I love the Egyptians. fast inf with strong calv. You can ravage across north africa and start huge wars with the turks and Byz.
Knight Templar
12-03-2005, 12:04
I love the Egyptians. fast inf with strong calv.
Agree ~:cool: . Egys are my favourite faction
Dutch_guy
12-03-2005, 13:38
English and the Italians.
Both factions get some unique units and you can decided to tech up too, and since I like turtle-ing these factions are ideal.
:balloon2:
m52nickerson
12-03-2005, 14:22
Poland, great starting postion and right next to the stepps.
:poland:
Italians are good but you have to deal with being stabbed in the back by the Pope. For a man of god he can be a true hellian. Attacks you then the rest of the world hates you?
The Sicilians, because of early naval domination, also Sicily and Naples are very good trading provinces.
The Turks, you always get some good early battles against the Byzantines and the Eggies, and of course their unique units.
In VI, the Scots, simply because of the Clansmen.
lordrune
12-05-2005, 13:53
The Danes, because they get Vikings ~:)
Evil Eddie
12-07-2005, 23:03
The Turks. Hard starting position for a challange to get started but some wicked units once you get up and running. A good mixture between Western brute force units and Eastern mobility units.
Nothing quite like Ghazi infantry for cheap expendable shock troops.
Microwavegerbil
12-08-2005, 12:15
Gotta love those Ghazi, they rip anything to shreds in a flank. I can't count the number of times they've saved me against a 6+ star jedi general of the Eggies or Byz by taking him down in the charge.
Also not to be underestimated are the Ottoman infantry, though I still can't figure out the period they're available in. IIRC they can be produce if you started your game on high, but in my last early game I couldn't produce them once I got there. That would lead me to believe they're late only, but that wouldn't make sense because who woul want them when you've already got Janissaries by then?
My favourite factions are:
Early: English, Byzantines
The English and Byzantines are my favourite factions in Early because of good starting positions for both nations.
High: Holy Roman Empire (HRE - Austrians/Germans), English, Byzantines
HRE and Byzantines are my favourite factions in the High Period because they are challenging and the English have a good starting position.
Late: Holy Roman Empire (HRE - Austrians/Germans), French
The HRE are challenging in this period, as are the French (mainly because of Sicily and being surrounded by English, Swiss, HRE, Aragon and Italy)
Viking: Welsh, Vikings, Picts
The Welsh are my favourite faction in the Viking Campaign because they are challenging and different from most of the other factions in terms of land and surroundings. The Vikings are good because of their sea-raiding abilities and the Picts are good because of their starting position: it's poor, likely to be attacked by Vikings and it's a good base against the other British and Irish nations.
Sicilians are my favourite, With a master merchant 15000 florins of income in Sicily from trade is great
NodachiSam
12-10-2005, 20:01
So far Byzantine and the Danes are my favourites. The Serbians in XL look fun too but I have yet to play them.
So far Byzantine and the Danes are my favourites. The Serbians in XL look fun too but I have yet to play them.
I was thinking on trying the Byzantines but don't they get outdated troops and ships in a short time?
NodachiSam
12-13-2005, 07:16
Yea they do a little bit but they start off very strongly (in early especially) They have some ~powerful~ units but also some strange like restrictions like the urban militia get only the lowest level of that and no valour bonuses except after town militia or something. Sometimes you'll end up using mercenaries but it isn't so bad. In the late game you may just need to rely on more soldiers to do the trick. I ~guess~ when you play them turtling isn't a good long term strategy. It is better to conquer and build up a strong base.
It isn't very realistic but it is somewhat historical. Byzantine kept loosing pieces of land where soldiers were recruited and trained and eventually became stagnant.
They are still fun though I suggest going into the campaign map settings and darkening their faction colours. The purple is a little too girly for my modern masculine sensibilities regardless of it being a historically accurate and noble colour. That is what I do.:san_laugh: If you know a little bit about photoshop and red/green/blue levels you can go into the campaign map, starting position text files and change the part that indicates the colours of the factions. It's less complicated than it sounds but I don't have enough time right now.... You should be able learn how to do that in the mod forums.
I was thinking on trying the Byzantines but don't they get outdated troops and ships in a short time?
Byz in late is a dinosaur: Kats get killed by CKs/GKs. Byz. Infantry is still the best sword, but the problem is that swordsmen in late are obsolete. To boot, Varangs are gone. That means that your army has no backbone hardcore troops that can carry the battle.
I ended up investing heavily into Handgunners (fully upgraded and all) along with Pronoia and did okay.
Your navy is substandard as well.
Anyhoo, staring the Byz. game in Late is challenging, but TONS of fun.
mmm... that's sounds harsh.
Can't the Varagnian guard be modded to be included in late and high?
Also, isn't there a post regarding the Byzantines were more depth information could be found (I meen game wise, not historically)?
RemusAvenged
12-14-2005, 05:46
Turks and France
Ones got great units and the other has a nice mix of starting positions..
Can't the Varagnian guard be modded to be included in late and high?
Also, isn't there a post regarding the Byzantines were more depth information could be found (I meen game wise, not historically)?
1) Yes, you can alter this easily with for example Gnome editor. (BTW, Varangian Guard can still be recruited in high, but not late.)
2) Have a look in the M:TW guide forum (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=31248).
Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen
12-20-2005, 19:28
The Byzantines, 1205, Hard.
1) Yes, you can alter this easily with for example Gnome editor. (BTW, Varangian Guard can still be recruited in high, but not late.)
2) Have a look in the M:TW guide forum (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=31248).
Thanks.
IrishMike
12-21-2005, 20:57
My fav single player faction would have to be the turks. Their able to adapt to just about any style of warfare. In multi thought it has to be the english. Get some longbows, some billmen, and you got a good foundation for a slaughter party.
Evil Eddie
12-27-2005, 17:20
Found the Byzantines too easy as you can get some good units out quite quickly and you always have lots of high star generals.
Just started a French campaign which is fun because your Kingdom is split in two right from the start and it takes a while to get a decent income rolling in.
my favourite factions are Danes, English, Byzantines, Russians and Italians.
in MTW:
1. Aragonese - hard to play
2. German HRE - gothic knights, elections, exposed to many factions
3. French - domination from the two edges of the map, joan d'arc
in BKB Mod:
1. Crusader States - stranded in that wasteland, templars knights, hospitaller knights, santiago knights, lazarus knights, thomas of acre knights
2. Wallachians - very very very very very hard to play, a single exposed province, crapy units
3. French - paladins
Father_Ted
01-05-2006, 03:28
The Germans! They have a great starting point with a lot of regions and great units (late era)
The Byzantine! Great units and a lot of starting regions!
Keith_the_Great
01-05-2006, 04:45
got to be the Byzantines :laugh4:
1. Byzantines: Don't need explain
2. Almohads: Very curious advance across France and Germany with the muslims, the units...
3. Spanish: I'm spanish, they have the strong points of the catholics plus jinetes (man they win in the history, a point less than the almohads ~:thumb: )
Lanemerkel1
01-07-2006, 03:24
Seeing as I do not have VI I am talking about MTW 1.1. My favorite faction is the Danes. I don't know why I like them so much. Maybe it's because they are pretty much the underdog of Medieval Total War. So, what is your favorite faction of MTW 1.1?
Byzzies
right in the middle of all the action
Crusade after Crusade, Jihad after Jihad and I come through (albeit limping) pretty much alright
i find the byzantine faction to hard to control in early mode. i like to have a simple start faction where i can pay attention to the finer points of controling a faction, such as danes or turks
i find the byzantine faction to hard to control in early mode. i like to have a simple start faction where i can pay attention to the finer points of controling a faction, such as danes or turks
Yeah, I definitely don't recommend the Byzantines if you're still learning how to play the game--they simply have way too many things to keep track of! Once you've played MTW for a while and gotten a hang of things, though, I do recommend going back and giving them a try. Playing as the Byz is always interesting; since you're in the middle of everything, you rarely get the same game twice. The Byzantines are my 3rd favorite faction in the game, after the Spanish and Egyptians.
Legorreto
01-07-2006, 21:06
Definitely, and by far: Danes (see Vikings on VI) Great infantry, the best boats. You can build as many boats as you want and have them deployed all over Europe, then send raiding with your unbeatable infantry and raise billions with that. Then confortably sit and enjoy richness as you build up an empire based on commerce and very fructus wars invading any who has a coastline.
Secondly: Spanish. The best of their units is Jinets, they perform great versus muslims and they are great as front attack. They make lots of damages to enemies and their iron reserves makes them a great faction to develop. Very good location in the map, just at the entrance of the Med Sea you can choose if heading north or inside to build great commerce lines.
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