General thoughts on BC so far...

I have just downloaded BC and started a campaign as Oman. I have also played about 20 custom fights as many diffrent factions (love those Rajput and Sindh factions :beam: ).

First off I want to say I love BC! It actually pulled me away from Stainless Steel (which I also love) for the time being.

I have noticed some major differences in gameplay from M2TW / M2TW:K.

Charges work a lot better and are very effective :2thumbsup: You can even plow over lower end spearmen on open ground using a frontal charge.

Archers seem very weak. I have found that they are nearly worthless except for very high end ones.

Generals are insanely strong. Most of my attacks on lone enemy generals end with me killing 12 (the general and his bodyguard) and me losing ~150spearmen and flanking cav/swordsmen.:dizzy2: They seem nearly impervious to missles too... even javelins.

The units seem to move much faster, which leads to alot of micromanaging. If you concentrate on one side of the fight for 10 secs, you will have serious trouble. Cav that was far from any enemies will be drowning in spears... spend time with them and you will have swordsmen behind your lines... It is challenging and fun but can be a pain in the rear.

Skirmish distance is very short. Armored Cavalry will plow into infantry skirmishers before the footmen even start to move. Even fast cavalry skirmishers seem to get engaged by slower cavalry rather than run away. I have basically stopped using skirmish and micromanaged the units using pause all the time.

There seem to be a lot of units that throw a javelin firts and then fight in melee. It is great to have units that aren't stuck in one role. Even some heavy archers do well in melee... I love it.

The AI uses some nice tactics. My last battle with Makuria (how dare they try to settle in on the Arabian peninsula!) saw lose formation longbows mixed in with spearmen positioned on a steep sided hill. I thought the fight would be an easy one, but it ended up costing me a lot more than I was planning. The AI also likes to tie up my spears with infantry before sending their cavalry in (although Saladin's horsemen love to charge my spears until they are all impaled...).

Currently my Omani folks are at war with Egypt (Ayyubid?) and the Black (Assaynid?) Sultanate (southern Iraq/Northeastern Arabia). I kicked the Makurians out of Arabia and then made peace with them. I attacked the Egyptians to take Aden and the settlements/castles to the northwest, stopping before reaching Mecca and Medina. The Black Sultanate people attacked me, blockading all of my home ports at once (ouch!). I had upgraded the port at Muskat early on, so I had 3 tier two ships near by. They systematically cleared the enemy navy and my swordsmen and cavalry destroyed their invasion force in the desert. I am now marching my northern army on their castle along the northern coast of Arabia.

I currently control the entire coast of Arabia from the castle and town west of Aden around to the town west of my starting cities. I also hold Somalia and the island off the coast.

On the mainland, I have allied with the "Green" Afgans. The "Angry" Afgans are getting a bit beligerent with me lately, but they have to worry about the Kwazmirshah who have a HUGE empire and are war with them. Jerusalem has just fallen to Saladin and the Pope has called for a crusade. Jerusalem and Armenia love me (outstanding and very good) because I am fighting Egypt. The Seljuks are vassals of the Shah ~AND~ Bagdad somehow... In India, the Sindh had pushed the Rajputs way back early on. However, I just did a map exchange with the Rajputs and they have not only recovered but have pushed the Sindh all the way back to their river strongholds.

My troops tend to be light cavalry, camel archers and medium infantry. A few marines provide some AP xbows. I am looking forward to my yellow turban infantry and noble lancers. Even with them, fighting some of the heavier factions will be very rough I think.

PS- I am new to BC and apologize for not having the names of units and factions down yet. Give me some time to get my degree in ME military factiods at Broken Crescent University =).

My glorious conquest of arabia came to an end in 1211 when the sun went supernova and destroyed our solar system...

A voice was heard echoing through the nether... "My God, It's full of stars... wait these aren't stars they are tiny "Medieval 2 has encountered a fatal error and must shut down" messages.."

<<repeated everytime at 1211 regardless of what I did... I even played from my last save 4 turns before... always dumped at rebels in 1211>>

Quote:

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Originally Posted by IvarrWolfsong

My glorious conquest of arabia came to an end in 1211 when the sun went supernova and destroyed our solar system...

A voice was heard echoing through the nether... "My God, It's full of stars... wait these aren't stars they are tiny "Medieval 2 has encountered a fatal error and must shut down" messages.."

<<repeated everytime at 1211 regardless of what I did... I even played from my last save 4 turns before... always dumped at rebels in 1211>>

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oooh. i sure am looking forward to the year 1211 now.

Have install the last patch

i recently installed BC.
im not sure if it is for me.
i am very impressed by the size of the map, and how well it was done, but i just havent gotten used to the style of play or new factions/units/strat/finances etc.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask...a few of us BC regulars check here.

Also, here is a great guide.
http://totalwar.honga.net/faction.php?v=bc&encode=en