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Well, I'm not the best warlord either, but I do know the rough basics just from reading about real battles:
Study the terrain. Protect the flanks. Keep reserves. Don't waste your general.
There are no rules as each and every battle is completely different. The component of troops, the landscape and whether you're attacking or defending completely affect a battle, and as these factors always are different...well...
I'm not a great General either, I like to think of myself of an opportunist in battle which is sometimes a good thing as my army usuelly is facing the wrong way:sweatdrop: . People learn through experiance try out new tactics for the sake of it:charge: . I just make it as I go along which isn't always successful, but fun:2thumbsup: .Quote:
Originally Posted by Derfasciti
Derfasciti: Keep at it with the battles, man; you'll get the hang of them eventually. Even once you do, however, don't be surprised if you still lose from time to time--MTW's combat AI is far from perfect, but it can still pull tricks on you now and then! I've been playing MTW for 3 1/2 years now; and while my command ability has certainly improved somewhat, I'm still no Saladin or El Cid. ~;)
For me, that's one of the things I love most about this game: Since the AI can still defeat me, battles are rarely boring. Until the message pops up informing me of my win, I never assume victory is assured. (Believe me, that was another lesson I learned the hard way!) I also never assume defeat is certain, as you never know when the AI will suddenly commit a grave tactical error. :sweatdrop:
If you haven't already, Derfasciti, I strongly suggest you check out Froggbeastegg's A Beginner's Guide to Medieval: Total War. It's absolutely chock-full of useful information, advice, and strategies for all facets of the game. You in particular may find Section 3 of the Guide (which is found in this post) to be of use to you--it covers the battle map and virtually all aspects of combat in MTW.
Finally, you just need to keep fighting those battles; it's the only way you'll truly learn and get better at them. You may think you're a lousy field commander at the moment, but a little practice can make a world of difference! (Take it from someone who's been there--I know that of which I speak. ~D )
Martok I totally agree with you.... With practice to perfection!
I am something of an average general in MTW but RTW has ruined my skill somewhat.... But I still have a hang of it..... And before this I was bad player but 3 years of playing MTW and 2 years of playing RTW can make you a better one.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Derfasciti
Depends on who you are fighting against mate. I would usually though keep a unit of archers ahead of you infantry and when the enemy draws closer retire them behind the safety of the infantry line. Horse archers i would actually send ahead and put a few arrows into the advancing enemy and then retire them to the flanks to keep up the bombardment. When they run out of arrows try hitting the enemy on the flanks with an attack. Also if your infantry need support in the melee use the archers altern attack to help them out.
Also try to avoid putting certain units against an enemy unit. If they have halberdiers try to match them with the same unit or an armoured infantry MAA, CMAA, FFN etc Avoid spearmen or a peasent style unit as they will get destroyed and the last thing you want is units en masse routing as it effects the morale of most of your army. Also remember most spearmen are good at stopping heavy cavalry but they often need support of medium/heavy infantry to do the actual killing
If you have just started out mate practise is the best way. When i first played Shogun my arse was constantly handed to me. We all lose battles either through are own mistakes or the AI which is very good compared to Rome.
Thanks for the encouragement guys. I'll perservere:charge:
Reading the guide now slowly but surely.
Hey, um...My Hungarian campaign is scrapped since I installed XL Mod yesterday (I didn't really think about it), so the campaign is reset to 0. I'll start a new campaign as the Swedish though (always wanted to play as "them").
Sorry:clown:
Here's a general history of France up to now. The year is 1189
Basically, HRE made an all out attack on me after I took all of England's continental posessions. After a long stalemate, I finally made a massive breakthrough and currently, my borders have expanded to the Polish territorry. I have taken Denmark and Sweden after the Danes attacked me and their faction has disentegrated leaving rebels in Norway.
Spain took Aragon from me during the war and I didn't have many resources to put to the Southern front. Neither did they apparently because after a couple years of a cold war they accepted a ceasefire.
England has been COMPLETELY quiet. After our first war and our intermarriage once right after that war.
My original plan was the conquest of the British Isles but I kept expanding eastwards because the Germans wouldn't make peace. Now, the emperor is dead and I conquered the Italians. They re-emerged. The first battle I lost 1400 troops with my king and they lost 1000. My King was killed fairly early in the battle. My new king has marched from Il-de-France and we are currently engaging them again, hoping to finally subdue them forever. edit: I beat them this time and they're now holed up in their keep. The Pope threatens excommunication.
In short, my empire stretches from Britanny to Prussia.
and North to South from Tuscany to Sweden.
How am I doing?
Well, after a somewhat long pause from Total War, I decided to resume my Irish campagne.
So, the situation thus far:
I have conquered most of the British Isles, except for Scotland.
I have thrown the once-not-so-great empire of the English into anarchy, by killing off it's king along with his only heir in one major battle.
As the English rebeled I decided to capture their former coastal province of Britany, now belonging to the rebels, thus expanding my realm without going to war with anyone.
For the task I farryed a large detachment of my army and landed in Britany where I faced a mixed force of UM and Hobilars, my Bonachts and Archers made short work of the unarmoured rebel mob and the province fell under my tyrany.
As I was besieging the rebels in their small fort, the dishonorable Danes decided it was time to end our alliance and attack me in my homelands, three of their raiding attempts were thwarted, but alas, I had to give up Northumbria.
I decided that the best way to stop further Danish attempts at expansion on my account was to cut their developemtn dead in it's tracks. I immediatly queued more ships / Bonnachts to be built / trained and after a few turns managed to secure a naval bridge to Danemark.
I decided to carry out my attack in two steps, first I landed an army of Irish Cavalery, whos purpose was to soften up the mostly armoured Danish troops before the main invasion took place; The battle commenced and I quickly maneuvered my cavalery arround and in between the danish slow mooving Huscarles, once my Cavalery depleted their supply of Javelins I retreated killing ~ 300 men of the Danes. The next turn I landed my main force, consisting of again, Javelin chucking troops, despite the losses suffered by the Danes the previous year, it was still a hard fight, but at the end of the fight, the day was won by the warriors of the Emerald Island.
The Danes - Normal - Early XL
I intentionally tried to play as the Swedish, this proved to be a total disaster though. I got invaded 5 times in 5 years, thanks to Finland I was able to send minor reinforcements though. When I finally got a truce with the Norwegians (after beating them three times, killing their king the last time) I was completely bancroute. Denmark gave me a breather that lasted for about three years than gave me all they got.
Anyway, I got away again, and actually managed to beat the Danes completely by first taking Saxony from the rebels, then fighting them on two fronts. I was at -3000 florins by then however, and I had been both excommed and was at war with everyone, on top of that my king was 56 and only had a 2 year old son. So I gave up.
Tried the Danes today on XL however, and had much better luck.
I started out by taking Sweden in the second round (just wanted to train some viking carls just in case they decided to fight for once). Well they didn't and so Sweden was mine to no cost at all.
Then a few calm years went on, but when the Norwegians invaded and took Pomerania in the late 1090's I decided that they had become too powerful. I destroyed both their fleets and blockaded Norway from getting any contact with Pomerania. I also made sure they never "fielded" another fleet, to make sure their income was as small as possible.
It took some time before I felt really confident in taking Norway, but in 1108 I invaded it. Unfortuneately my game decided to lag like crap just then, so I called off the fight since it became more or less unplayable. I invaded again in the next year though, and without the game messing with me (it just does that sometimes) I beat the Norwegians:
https://img129.imageshack.us/img129/...0000013sy4.jpg
The castle however held out untill 1120, during this time I got excommed for my violent actions. This had surprisingly little effect though, I actually made several allies just after the excommunication (including the Venetians).
So, now the Norwegians are trapped with a huge army in a province with no port, no keep or even fort and surrounded by enemies.
Europe by 1130:
https://img167.imageshack.us/img167/...0000014qg4.png
Myself, I haven't been really able to expand very much further. I have my main target set to the Batlic states, but Novgorod is too strong currently. Unless they go to war with the Volga Bulgarians, Turks, Polish or Russians I'll probably have to expand on behalf of either the Scots or the Irish (not because there is anything useful in Ireland, I just feel like invading an easy target). Untill then I'll be pretty happy adjusting my economy and my fleet in particular.
Interestingly enough, the Scots had entire Britan (except from Ireland of course) by 1120 something. Quite a twist in history.
Well my French Kingdom has again been destroyed. I attacked England and being greedy, I invaded Spain... :oops:
So after a while of my butt being handed to me, I had two civil wars in which my entire empire was hugely disentegrated. Not to mention, the Danes and Germans disapeared during this time.
Maybe I'll go back for another campaign in VI. Any suggestions?
@Derfasciti: I'd say you're doing well. I'm amazed, however, that you've managed to stay at peace with the English for so long--for the French, that's no mean feat. ~:cheers: I'm also surprised that the Pope is only now threatening to excomm you; usually the French are excommunicated long before now! All in all, I think you've been doing an excellent job. Have you given any thoughts to sending a Crusade or two to the Holy Land?
EDIT: GAH! Looks like I spoke too soon. :sad: Bummer, man; I feel for ya'. Sorry, Derfasciti--in retrospect, I maybe should've warned you about attacking the Spanish. They can get pretty powerful once they gain control of the Iberian peninsula, and one probably shouldn't go to war with them unless/until you have a fairly decisive advantage (in terms of troops, money, etc.).
Hmm. Maybe you should try the Spanish next. They're my personal favorite! ~D
@ColdPrecision and Innocentius: Nice campaigns, guys. :bow: I find it ironic and a little amusing, though, that Innocentius is playing the faction that ColdPrecision is currently at war with. :laugh4:
By the way, I must apologize for not posting anything on my Portuguese campaign yet. I played for about an hour Friday night--I decided to attack the Almoravids after all--but that was about it. I was rather violently ill on Saturday and the better part of Sunday, so I didn't do a whole lot of anything this weekend aside from lay on the couch and wish for death to come. ~:rolleyes: I hope to get a little further in my campaign in the next couple nights now. The Almos will either learn to fear me--or I'll be completely squashed. ~D
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martok
Yeah I always liked the Spanish. Although the game says it's hard, I find it pretty easy. Take Aragon, fight the Almos. The Pope won't excommunicate me for Muslims. Don't have to really worry about France or England because they're too busy with eachother. Good Idea Martok, maybe I will try them again. Either that or back to another VI campaign.
Try the Genoese, I don't know why either.:laugh4:Quote:
Originally Posted by Derfasciti
Lots of activity in this thread, and I'm liking that. :2thumbsup:
You gotta have the XL mod to play the Genoese, though. ~;) Plus, I suspect Derfasciti was referring to the Viking campaign in any case.Quote:
Originally Posted by r johnson
With the Viking Invasion campaign, my favorite factions are the Mercians and the Irish. One faction has Huscarles, while the other has (IMO) the most eclectic unit roster in the game. Quite fun either way. :2thumbsup:
Hmmm. Well I've beaten it as the Irish. Very fun. I'm kind of leaning either to sticking it out with the French again or maybe going English. I still don't know.:sleepy:
:idea2: I've decided to try yet again the French. Normal/Early. This time, I won't attack the Spanish why I have another war(s) going on.
My Danish campaign proceeds. Not very much though:clown:
I lay low for some years, just looking for a suitable target. I noticed how weak the HRE had become, so I went for them. I easily took Saxony, without even fighting for it. The Bohemians beat me to Friesland though, so I missed that opportunity out.
A couple of years after I took Saxony I invaded the rebel province of Brandenburg. Unfortunately, as I was invading from the west, I had to invade across a bridge. I hate bridges.
In the first battle, fought in 1139, I lost thanks to the time limit:
https://img169.imageshack.us/img169/...0000000cb5.jpg
I invaded the next year with the same army, resulting in an embarrasing Pyrrhic victory:
https://img295.imageshack.us/img295/...0000003gz6.jpg
Brandenburg was mine, though at a great cost. I hate bridges:wall:
Not even on the political and diplomatic front did I have any real success. A Spanish inquisitor (ironically enough) tried and burned 3 of my top generals! He was a 5-star bloke as well, so he was immune to my low-rank assasins. He is currently occupied in Hungary, causing great chaos and fanaticism.
And all my hopes of a weakened Novgorod were in vain. Instead Novogorod has turned out as the super power of the map. Almost at my borders now, they only have to kill the last few of the poles and they'll be my neighbours. I fear that I shall have to fight them myself in order to prevent them from becoming too powerful.
The Norwegians are still alive in Pomerania, but still lack both port and fort. I can't attack them yet though, there are too many of them, and they have no less than 6 units of royal knights in their army (all of them with 3-6 valour and 2-7 command).
So, here's the current map:
https://img384.imageshack.us/img384/484/00000006kj9.png
And for my next campaign, I'll get back into the story or history-writing way of telling the progress of my kingdom, that makes up for a much more enjoyable read IMO:yes:
France, Early, Normal. Year 1140
France has so far reclaimed all English continental posessions. After a brief war with the Germans, a treaty was signed that returned our present borders to the status quo. France invaded Wessex shortly after and in a decisive battle, the heirless king of England had died honorably and the rest of the kingdom became a disunited isle. Currently, France contains Aragon and it's British posessions are already up to Scotland, being the last bastion of rebel power (besides Ireland) that stands up to France.
Nice campaigns guys! Innocentius, did you give up on your Danish campaign already and switch to the Burgundians? Or are you doing a bit of both?
As for myself, I've finally made a little progress in my Portuguese campaign, although it's been rough going thus far. After a few short years, I had managed to put together a modest army, which I used to invade Algarve(sp?) to the south. The Almos retreated to the fort, and it fell to my king 2 years later. Henrique ordered some Urban Militia to be trained there, as the people were not happy with their new overlords. Concurrent with my conquest of Algarve, my son (Henrique II) came of age. He immediately joined up with his father's army, which was then already gathering for a second attack--this time against Cordoba.
When I invaded Cordoba, however, I was in for a rude shock: The Caliph, correctly guessing my intentions to add more than just Algarve to my domain, had dispatched massive reinforcements just as my invasion force crossed the border into his territory. Therefore, when King Henrique's army of ~600 men took the field at Cordoba, he faced nearly 1100 Moorish troops (instead of 350, which was the original size of the enemy garrison). He opted to fight anyway, and grimly dug in for a hard battle.
The Portuguese fought well, killing over 700 of the Caliph's men and nearly capturing his general. In the end, however, they simply could not contend with the Almoravids' superior numbers. After a last desperate assault was thrown back with heavy losses--the king himself barely escaped with his life--a general retreat was sounded, and my army withdrew back across the border. Barely 250 men survived to limp home to tell the tale of their defeat, and Henrique was ridiculed for foolishly choosing to fight a battle many of his own troops had considered unwinnable. His own son was his harshest critic, displaying nothing but scorn for the father he had once idolized.
Two years later, the Almos counter-attacked, invading Algarve with over 900 men. Fortunately, however, Henrique was ready for them. His regent in Lisbon had sent reinforcements, including a significant number of archers. With the additional troops, the Portuguese were able to massacre the Caliph's army so thoroughly that less than 100 men escaped back to Cordoba alive.
It wasn't very long before the King and the Caliph realized that neither one could defeat the other, and a ceasefire was arranged in short order. He vowed that the peace with the Almoravids would be only temporary, though. He would renew the war as soon as he was able, but he realized he needed allies so that he would not be facing the mighty Caliphate alone. To that end, he dispatched his emissary to Valencia for a meeting with the great El Cid.... ~D
Okay, you have inspired me to join the fun!
I am the first to admit that I have many league's to travel before I can call myself a general, but thus far in this campaign have scraped through (although my peasants, archers, and hobilars have paid a heavy toll for some tactical errors).
A couple of points where possibly I could have tackled things differently - bribing Wales, and hiring a couple of units of mercenary Italian Light Infantry to quickly beef up Anjou and Flanders wreaked havoc on the finances, but I think both were worth the short term pain (and painful it was - for a while there, my treasury hovered around a paltry 200 florins, with 76 being my "annus horribilus").
Apologies also for the absence of a pic in this opening - I will endeavour to include some in the following chapter....
Faction: The English
Starting at: Early Period
Type of Campaign: GA
Difficulty: Hard
Cheats: None
Current Year: 1152
The campaign opened briskly, as our forces invaded Flanders immediately, throwing almost all of our available forces from Wessex and Normandy into the fray. Our valiant king led this assault himself, spreading terror amongst our enemies. The ignoble French had no stomach for a fight, and fled like spavined nags to Champagne.
Toulouse was the next province to feel the weight of our military might, with our combined forces of archers and hobilars scoring an impressive victory (though at some significant cost to the cavalry). The isolation of this province had made it an inviting target, with the French unable to reinforce the garrison. The province of Wales was successfully bribed to join our cause, and one regiment of longbowmen was immediately dispatched to the province of Flanders to bolster its defences.
In 1092 the French made their anticipated counterattack on Flanders. 2 regiments of royal knights, 2 regiments of urban militia, and 3 of peasants descended on our forces, which included 1 regiment each of royal knights, fyrdmen, peasants, and longbowmen, and 2 of archers. One regiment of French knights and 1 of urban militia never reached our line, cut down in a hail of arrows. Horrendous casualties were inflicted upon the remaining French units as our arrows continued to rain down. One regiment of peasants broke and ran. Some Frenchmen survived and hit our line. Our fyrdmen, peasants, and archers fought valiantly despite suffering terrible casualties, and it was the French that broke first. Those Frenchmen still standing fled the field. Victory was ours, but at a truly terrible cost.
By 1094 Brittany had been added to the realm, although this invasion incurred the wrath of the Pope. The threat of excommunication meant that this would be our last attack against the French for some time. The French sought to take advantage of this situation, and launched a further assault on Flanders, and after another bloody encounter they were seen off again. On this occasion a mercenary unit of Italian Light Infantry proved invaluable, being the rock upon which the wave of French knights were finally broken. The court felt it was somewhat ironic that on the very day that the Papal threat was received, a wagon bearing a gift of 1,000 florins was received from his holiness for our services to the church…
The 1,000 florins was sorely needed, as these campaigns, whilst successful, had placed a significant strain on our treasury. It was time to rest our troops, and look to our ailing economy.
By 1101, our kingdom’s finances had recovered to the point that our noble king ordered the garrison at Aquitaine to invade Navarre. The local peasantry and spearmen fell in droves beneath our arrows and the hooves of our hobilars. News has reached court of the excommunication of the Italian Doge. It appears that an ill-conceived attack on Rome may have been the trigger for this turn of events.
In 1112, an expeditionary force travelled north to subdue the rebel forces of Scotland. A bloody battle ensued, with the clansmen exacting a heavy toll before our greater numbers eventually won the day. The Prince’s own regiment of knights had been cut down to only 6 riders by this terrible day’s end, but victory, and our northern border had been secured.
Some forty years of peace have now passed, broken only by a series of French attacks on Flanders. By the grace of God (and our longbowmen and archers!) none of these assaults has been successful. One must admire the bravery of the French troops - often they have pressed on with their attacks despite being outnumbered.
Trade is now the chief focus of the kingdom, and our barques are traveling ever further afield to establish new trade routes. A strong garrison was still maintained in Flanders, and our troops in Normandy, Anjou, Aquitaine, Navarre, and Toulouse were all maintained at a high state of readiness. Whilst Spain, Aragon, and the Holy Roman empire profess to be our allies, our King is sage enough to know that a dagger can pierce one’s back as easily as it can one’s chest…
Year: 1162
France Is now locked in a very successful campagin against the Germans. They've currently taken Burgundy, Loraine, Provence, Swabia, Franconia, and Friesland (maybe a bit more) from the Germans. The Sicilians have made a continental showing and took Genoa from the excommunicated Italians.
An english heir suddenly appeared In Scotland and despite our overtures for peace, they fairly quickly invaded Northumbria which was somewhat fortified with troops expecting an eventual English aggressive war.
The massive battle caused about 1000 english and 1300 french lives. France had to fall back to their keep but not before the slaughter of over four hundred prisoners.
In two years, France made a push into Northumbria again and retook it, leaving a weak and disheveled English army to retreat back to scotland. Within another 5 years France took Scotland and once again killed the king of England, this time through starvation.
I aim to either invade Ireland and/or persecute the war further with the Germans and prepare fortifications on my Spanish border to prepare for a possible invasion in the future.
Good job, Derfasciti. It looks like you're starting to get the hang of the game. :thumbsup:
If you're looking for advice, see if you can get a ceasefire with the HRE (although don't hesitate to finish them off first if they tell you to stick it!). Before too long, you should probably begin turning your attention to the south and get ready for the Spanish. Even if you don't intend to attack them right away, the odds are fairly good that they will invade *you*. ~;) This is especially true if they've already secured the Iberian peninsula, and/or knocked out the Almohads. The Spanish often become big, especially if their power is left unchecked!
Nice campaigns everyone! Sounds like you're doing a lot better than me:2thumbsup:
Doing a bit of both actually, though my Danish campaign is pretty much scrapped. I just didn't enjoy the political situation that I ended up with. Besides, I regret not writing it as a story...Quote:
Originally Posted by Martok
Anyways, we'll see what comes up next. I've been thinking of playing a mini-campaign as the English in late, ordinary game, and put 100% focus at crushing the Scots. The Scots are prone to rebellion in the ordinary game, in XL they can only "rebell" by re-emerging, which isn't the same really.
After several attempts to start a campaign worth writing about and failing as miserably each time, I've decided to make a go for The English, Normal, High in the ordinary game.
I first tried as the Armenians in Early Xl, had a quite peaceful game until 1140 when I unfortuneately sided with the Byzantines in their war against the Egyptians. By 1150 there was nothing left of Armenia.
I then made an attempt as the English in High XL. I always read that a quick offensive against the French is the best solution. It seems blitz just isn't my way of warfare, I'm much more careful. Anyway, I had some initial success, but by 1230 the French had crusaded (yes) into Northumbira and I only held Wales, Britanny and Anjou.
I had a few other goes at other factions too, but failed in achieveing an interesting gameplay. I am pretty happy with my new English campaign this far however.
The English - Normal - High Era
The year is 1205, and the 31 year old King John rules the kingdom of England. His kingdom however, is weak.
The past years of war against France have ended with the loss of several provinces, nonetheless almost half of what is France is in English hands. Ireland has been conquered from the rebels, but Wales and Scotland remain untamed, and create a serious weakness in the kingdom as the British Isles are not fully united.
King John immediately saw the need to end the hostilites with the French, and already in 1206 he was able to convince them to ally with him. Several other alliances soon followed, out of which the alliance with The Holy Roman Empire was the most important by far.
In 1209, Navarre was invaded. For the first time since the days of William the Conqueror it was the English who expanded. The rebels in Navarre fought the English, but were mercilessly slain by the superior English cavalry:
https://img237.imageshack.us/img237/...0000000ls2.jpg
More good news came in 1209 as Prince John matured, securing the heritage of the crown.
In 1210 A.D, King John recieved a thousand florins from the Pope. The pietous rule of King John was the official reason for this gift, although the real reason is unknown.
These florins were immediately spent to bribe some Scottish rebels to fight for the English. The rebels accepted the money, but were defeated by other rebels. Some belive that there was no fight at all in Scotland, and that the rebels only took the money and walked off home. Whatever really happened, Scotland remained unconquered by the English.
1210 was a busy year in other ways; forts were finished in Ireland, Northumbria and Britanny, and alliances were concluded with Italy, Poland, Spain and Hungary. In the same year, the people of Ireland starved while the people of Mercia rejoyced, as an heir to the throne was born.
A few peaceful, yet active years followed. A daughter to the royal family was born in 1211, Prince William became of age in 1212 and in the same year Prince John married Princess Ulrikke of Denmark. Another daughter to King John was born in 1212 as well.
Over the next few years several alliances were concluded, amongst them was the alliance with the Byzantine Empire.
In 1215, King John finally felt strong enough to continue his unifying of the British Isles. Wales was invaded, and not even the stout welsh longbowmen could resist the well-trained knights of England:
https://img465.imageshack.us/img465/...0000002kr7.jpg
For a long period, the kingdom of England was busy struggling with its own economy and could thus not commence any new major projects or continue its expansion. A few noteable events from this peaceful time were the birth of an heir to the throne in 1217, the birth of daughters to King John in 1222, 1224 and the birth of a son in 1226. Prince Alfred matured in 1225.
In 1231, King John drew his final breath. He was succeeded by his son, who became king under the name John II. King John II was 36 years old when he was crowned, and was well-known for being a great warrior and strong believer, although perhaps a bit lazy.
When John became king, Englands future seemed bright. The economy was finally growing after many years of instability. Scotland was weak while England was strong, and the final unification of the British Isles did not seem too distant.
Down on the continent the English had many allies, and no foes at all. However, the threat from the Almohads in the south had become more and more obvious, and a crusade against muslim lands was planned.
The Kingdom of England in 1231:
https://img175.imageshack.us/img175/...0000005kb7.png
Nice read Innocentius, I never really use the English so I can't really offer to much advice on them.
But small professional armies should be your weapon(s) against the French.
ROFL. I too have tried a campaign as the Armenians, and I too learned a harsh lession. Mainly, that is "don't be the Armenians." :laugh4: Especially don't be the Armenians in the High period, as the Turks and Byz and Eggies AND Mongols were all at war with me at one time. My most ignominious defeat of all time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Innocentius
Keep up the good work gents! Always a fun read. I have to reinstall MTW onto my new PC, so I've been without for a little while...
Currently rather p*ssed off at my English campaign (yes, already):wall:
The Aragonese have been eliminated, the Spanish re-emerged, but got kicked by the Elmos after about three years, so now it's me against the Elmos. And no offence to anyone, but I hate the muslim factions. Can't stand their camels and 400 kinds of archers. It's now 1250, I'll continue the story only if I'm really lucky and get to skip the fight with Elmos (perhaps thanks to another re-emergance, or a crusade or whatever).
I really need to start modding...No hybrid units, no camels, no gunpowder, no GH at all and some extremely passive Elmos and Eggys.:juggle2:
Innocentius, if I may offer some advice: Don't be intimidated by the Almohads; don't be afraid to go after them. Their only truly dangerous units are Ghulam Bodyguards & AUM's, and both of these are already starting to become outclassed by the heavier Catholic units avaliable in the High period. While the Caliphate can get pretty uber in the Early period, by the time the High period rolls around, their power is often a misperception. They can field large armies, yes; but by this point in your campaign, they're likely made up of troops that are largely inferior to yours.
In addition, I would make another suggestion in regards to the Almos: Invade them by sea! Go behind their main lines, and take out as many of their big-money provinces in Iberia and north Africa as you can. (Don't bother with conquering Cyrenacia, however, as its lands are poor.) Depriving the Caliph of his ability to pay his soldiers can pay off big-time; his armies rebel more often (from lack of money) than any other faction I've seen. ~D Even if his troops don't rebel within a few turns, he'll still be forced to contend with you on multiple fronts--something that the AI isn't terribly good at!
@bamff: Whatever happened to your English campaign? Have you subdued the French yet?