M2TW FAQ and Strategy Tips

Small rather pointless time-saving tip. If for some reason you need to reinstall M2TW, save the "unlocked.txt" file in the "\Medieval II Total War\data\world\campaign\imperial_campaign" someplace safe (assuming you've already used the "unlock_factions" trigger, or honestly unlocked them. When done reinstalling, simply copy that back into that folder. Viola, all factions should be unlocked, instead of having to start the game once, then add the "unlock_factions" trigger to the config file, then loading up the game again.

Cheers!

Hi all,

Im new to this, but enjoying it immensely. I have 2 questions though if thats ok:

i) When fighting a battle, with reinforcements, the AI automatically take control of my reinforcements. Is there a way of me taking control of them?

ii) After Ive won a battle, and taken lots of prisoners, I dont get the option of what to do with them, ie kill or ransom. Can anyone tell me why this is please?

Many thanks in advance.

Cheers

PoM

1) On the screen where you get to choose to fight it out, autocalc, or withdraw, there is a checkbox next to the reinforcements armies which you can use to decide whether or not you want AI control. I personally always control the reinforcements myself.

2) Don't know. I always get a list of prisoners and ransom price with a total ransom amount and 3 buttons to ransom, release, or execute.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Peasant of Mercia

ii) After Ive won a battle, and taken lots of prisoners, I dont get the option of what to do with them, ie kill or ransom. Can anyone tell me why this is please?

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Could it be that you were fighting Rebels?

ii) After Ive won a battle, and taken lots of prisoners, I dont get the option of what to do with them, ie kill or ransom. Can anyone tell me why this is please?

** this can happen in a few different circumstances
1 - your fighting a non-faction
2 - you have wiped out a faction
3 - your not using a general.
4 - i think if the army is destroyed completely if will say army has been routed.

more then likey you don't have a general in the army.

If you are fighting rebels, you don't get the option. There's no one to ransom, and they are criminals, so they get executed. I've gotten the option in battles where my army was victorious when led by a captain. If the opposing faction is destroyed, say if you killed their last family member in the battle (not took him prisoner), then you are fighting rebels and the same rule applies.

Katank - thankyou for that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PickledGecko

Could it be that you were fighting Rebels?

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Yes I was :oops: , thanks for turning the light on PG.

Cheers

PoM

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Beren Son Of Barahi

ii) After Ive won a battle, and taken lots of prisoners, I dont get the option of what to do with them, ie kill or ransom. Can anyone tell me why this is please?

** this can happen in a few different circumstances
1 - your fighting a non-faction
2 - you have wiped out a faction
3 - your not using a general.
4 - i think if the army is destroyed completely if will say army has been routed.

more then likey you don't have a general in the army.

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Thanks Beren - I do have a General in the army, but I was fighting rebels. So that will be no1 in your list.

Cheers

PoM

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Quillan

If you are fighting rebels, you don't get the option. There's no one to ransom, and they are criminals, so they get executed. I've gotten the option in battles where my army was victorious when led by a captain. If the opposing faction is destroyed, say if you killed their last family member in the battle (not took him prisoner), then you are fighting rebels and the same rule applies.

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Thanks Quillan, I appreciate you and the others taking time to reply.

Cheers

PoM

PEST CONTROL!
Or, how to get rid of Inquisitors and other annoyances.

Credit for this one goes to Fearless. I tried this out after he posted, and it works, PERFECTLY!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fearless

Okay here it is. surround merchant, heretic, inqisitor etc with single military units (Any type will do) then drop a unit in the centre...........INSTANT DEATH!!!..........................Send me inqisitors any time! I can play dirty aswell

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Just make sure every square they could possibly be displaced into is occupied by a military unit (agents don't work for this), then drop another unit in the middle. Voila! Dead pest!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Quillan

Just make sure every square they could possibly be displaced into is occupied by a military unit (agents don't work for this), then drop another unit in the middle. Voila! Dead pest!

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How many squares are there? Is it eight, ie:

UUU
UIU
UUU

where U is unit and I is inquisitor?

Does it lead to a worsening of Papal relations like an assassination attempt? Or is it treated like an innocent accident?

Yes, it's 8, unless some of those squares are impassable. I don't think it lowers Papal relations; I've been playing as Byzantium, and used it on some Cardinals and Imams I couldn't get out of my lands otherwise. I had no diplomatic drawbacks in that game, though.

Hey folks,

I'm just curious to know how some of you guys garrison your cities and/or forts with your army?

hahahahahaha FINALLY a way to kill those genocidial inquistors

:balloon2: :elephant: :balloon2:

Now for something completly different: My garrison depends on the area, for instance if its non-frontier city or castle i general put 2 or 3 of the free units into it. If its on a frontier city i keep 2-3 missle troops, 1-2 spearmen, and 2-3 heavy infantry.

Thanks for the info EnemyoftheState...I'm such a noob at this game...




BTW, after playing for several days in a row as the Venetians, fending off attacks on all fronts, I would like to say:

Hello everyone, my name is "Il Duce" and I am a M2:TW addict...

Counter Intelligence

When viewing you settlements and noticing high unrest, could be a good chance you have a spy in town. Plop one or 2 down and flush them out. I ususally have 2 now on my frontlines and its ammusing watching them send spies to fail. If one gets thru I just try plopping a 3rd.

Also spies are by far the easiest to level up, just spy everyone and thing around you. Diplomats, merchants,priests, etc. Youusually get a trait increase doing so.

For my garrisons, usually just the free milita units unless bordering an enemy, I try to find a hub spot that is my medieval rapid response armies.

Think this should go in, as i've seen a lot of people say this is a bug, and its not:


Q: Archers / Artillery ignore my orders - they fire at different targets to the ones i select - they are bugged.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kobal2fr

It's NOT a bug, it's a feature (no, really, no irony in that sentence, for once). Archers and arty will chose their own targets if you select them as a group and order them to fire at one unit.

In that case, the game group automation takes over and assigns each single unit a single, best target, out of the same code that lets you order a full charge of your battleline with a single click, pairing your units with those of the opponent.

If you want archers or arty to fire at a precise target, give them the order separately.

If still the archers/arty won't fire at the target, it's because either they don't see them, or can't get a good "firing solution" because your own men are in the way, or there's an enemy just on the edge of their skirmish range (that part is mostly true for javelins and IS slightly buggish, but it was already there in Rome, and was worse in MTW since back then javelin range was shorter than skirmish range. Just toggle skirmish off and turn it back on when there's a real danger to be overrun)

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To chase small routing units that are hard to click on because they are far , use the middle mouse button (mouse wheel) to zoom in it, then -while still holding the button and zoomed in- right click on the enemy.

Some tips from me:

Console is opened using the "ö" key for some european keyboards (non-english) usually for german and nordic ones.

Changing event dates:

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=74279

Siege:

Use ballistae (on +fire mode) to take out enemy siege tools and siege weapons. Ballistae are the most accurate of the bunch you get early on even though they do fire fairly slowly. More like a sniper weapon, but with larger effects.

An exploit (I bet most of you have done this and not realised it!)

Vassal exploitation...

Have anyone worked this out yet? To be honest I didn't even realize it was happening until my game came towards the end.

Basically any money you give to a vassal they give it back next turn.

SO...

Have a large some of florins approx 1 million (obviously a late game option).
Give them all to a side in turn for you to become their vassal.
Next turn you get the money back.
Now Give them all that money for all their regions.
Next turn you get all the money back because they are your vassal (and you should now have at least a good portion of their regions).

I don't think its a bug, just an annoying exploit. I mean, if you are their protectorate they should give you all their excess cash since they have no need for it!

A Pope-in-your-pocket for non-Catholic players

Or, How to take Rome and Not Have a Million and One Crusades Coming Down on Your Head.

Currently playing Byzantium, with the campaign map difficulty on hard. Here's how I neutered the Papacy and gave myself free rein to ravage the Catholic world.

1. Choose a godforsaken island outpost somewhere. Preferrably a low income place with a small castle. Corsica is ideal, especially since it is rebel-held at the start of the game. Capture it.
   
2. Gift said island to the Papacy the instant you take it.
   
3. Declare war on the Papacy and take Rome. Hell, take all of Italy. Notice the Papacy move its capital to its remaining province, the island outpost you gave to him.
   
4. Sue for peace with the Papacy, offering 1000 florins per turn for the rest of the game. If you're looking after your city trade upgrades, are garrisoning your rear-echelon cities with militia units to minimise upkeep, and by the time you've taken Italy, 1000 per turn should be chicken-feed compared to your income.
   It might take a while to get the Pope to agree to peace on these terms; use a skilled diplomat or a sexy daughter.
   
5. Watch your relationship with the Papacy sky-rocket from abysmal to perfect over the next few turns.

It seems you can do pretty much whatever you like to the rest of the Catholic world from here on in, so long as you maintain payment of your measly stipend to the Pope. I've yet to have a crusade called against me. Because the Papacy gets a large garrison stack free of charge when you gift the island to him, any money you give in tribute seems to be blown on wages, and he effectively stagnates.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Brass Eye

A Pope-in-your-pocket for non-Catholic players

Or, How to take Rome and Not Have a Million and One Crusades Coming Down on Your Head.

Currently playing Byzantium, with the campaign map difficulty on hard. Here's how I neutered the Papacy and gave myself free rein to ravage the Catholic world.

Because the Papacy gets a large garrison stack free of charge when you gift the island to him, any money you give in tribute seems to be blown on wages, and he effectively stagnates.

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Ooooh, that's brilliant.:laugh4:

Dirty, underhanded, evil, genius kinda brilliant.:2thumbsup:

I've read it's possible to make it so that you can exchange retinue. export_descr_ancillaries.txt, but I can't find the file in my folder? :hmmm:


I have another question. It's said the ages of characters are hard-coded, so there's absolutely NO way of changing it anyway? There gotta be a way :(
Playing with 0.5 gets long-winded though they age properly. Playing with 2.00 is just too fast. Playing with 1.00 seems about right to be in between fast (2.00, ridiculous) and slow (0.50, tedious), but the age thing just keep bothering me.

I'm actually breaking my head over it even though it is not recommended :)

Ancillaries can be found in Epistolary Richard's (sp?) topic in the mod forum. He posted an outtake from the packed files there which you have to mount using some mod manager.

While you can't make characters age faster than 0.5 (yet), you can use the stuff in my sig to not make the game as tedious :)

A correction to the "Man of the Hour" qualification:

I'm 99% sure you do not need a Heroic Victory. I have gotten several from rather ho-hum wins against rebels. I believe, in RTW, getting a MOTH became quite easy when the ratio of generals-to-provinces in your empire became low. Wouldn't surprise me if M2TW is the same.

I'd agree.

I'd also like to comment that you seem to get both MOTH and combat related virtues from autoresolved battles (practically every time i autoresolve my generals pick up the 'scarred' line of traits).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sapi

I'd agree.

I'd also like to comment that you seem to get both MOTH and combat related virtues from autoresolved battles (practically every time i autoresolve my generals pick up the 'scarred' line of traits).

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I often auto-resolve when facing low-tech & weak rebel forces, & will frequently receive MOTH (esp. if I've just lost a few generals recently), and the scarred traits. On the latter issue, I suspect that it is because the AI loves using the Bodyguard unit far too recklessly (see when they charge the gates in sieges) & this will initiate that line of attributes.

Yesterday, (playing as Turkey h/vh), I sallied out from Antioch to attack a full stack Milanese crusading force (militia types mainly) with my full stack spear, archer, & general garrison & a 3/4 stack horse archer army (with the Sultan in charge) in reinforcement. I chose for the AI to control the HAs, because it seems to know how to use them reasonably well, I was in far better shape than the opponent, & because of the non-arrival bug/feature when your console is too full to accept re-inforcements. My garrison came out, formed up, and the archers starting firing. My AI reinforcements came on the scene quickly, & from the flank, and thickened the air with their arrows. All was going nicely, until I realised that the AI was using my Sultan to recklessly charge head-on into braced spears. Soon enough, I got the cut-scene to say he'd been killed. It goes without saying that there was absolutely no imperative to use him & if I'd been controlling him, he'd have just sat there out of harm, probing flanks possibly, or chasing down routers. My 10 HA Siphapi units would have decimated the army soon enough as it was. I was rather pee-ed off the say the least.

My point then is this, if you use AI reinforcements, DO NOT put a General's unit in within them if you'd like it to last the course - the AI just sees it as sledgehammer with which to crack a nut.

Has anyone ever had a general/family member die in an autoresolved battle?

I know mine always seem to survive....

Happened a couple of times, that my general died in auto-resolve. But usually in the really big battles where the balance of power shows your army's weaker but you still win.
Sometimes also if he was an unexperienced general.

Minor Note, just taken a look at the map thats linked to in the first post. Apart from Bordeaux Still being french and the Helsinki conection bug, it looks to have been corrected.