Inco Plays | Medieval II: Total War | England

Hello fellow armchair generals! I've been recording an LP of, as you can see, Medieval II: Total War as England. I'm using the Stainless Steel 6.4 mod, and thought I should just throw a post down here to see if anyone were interested. The first episode has a two minute animation detailing the history of England prior to the fall of Roman rule in Britannia to the start of the campaign in 1100AD. You'll find all the episodes as of yet here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...BqGCO-XX9dpnBC

Any feedback is welcome, and encouraged. I'd love to hear about what you think of certain elements of the videos or what have you.
Thanks for taking a gander at this thread, and possibly the videos![/QUOTE]

Episode 8 has landed! I found this one a lot of fun to edit so hopefully it's nearly as fun to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18nxGe2tq7s

#10 has been uploaded. Shit is hitting the fan. Check it out here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjA5...ature=youtu.be

Something is amiss in #19:

Profanity Warning!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbFjX_ya7dc

#20 is here, hot off the presses! We fiddle with menus and shuffle some units, and bid a dear goodbye to Joan, jewel of England.

http://youtu.be/Q2Z4xFrUGZA

War is brewing in ye olde England:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRg3glj6sWc&list=UUcjjc51Pq2FtMUa8ktMpihg&feature=c4-overview

Just so you know, someone is watching these, namely me! haha. So thanks for making them.

You've inspired me to download the SS mod and install it, hopefully I won't run into too many snags making it work in conjunction with the launcher replacement.

Thanks for the reply! Nice to see someone is watching. If you have any problems I can help you. Stainless Steel works perfectly with the launcher replacement. You just have to use this tool (http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...ng-Application) to add the mod to the launcher.

Thanks man, I did get it to work, but not before wasting about a hour and a half doing it all wrong and then trying to figure it out, mostly self induced time wasting and then lots of time wasted reading TWC trying to figure out how to fix it all. In the end I just uninstalled it all, re-installed 6.3 and then 6.4 and in conjunction with the launcher (and I think I may or may not have had to use the app you mentioned above, was handy to have regardless because editing the launcher for other mods could come up) I got it to work finally.

Anyway, look forward to hearing what next happens for England in your campaign and I'll sally forth in one myself as England as well and see how it goes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CwN9e6aKls&feature=share&list=UUcjjc51Pq2FtMUa8ktMpihg

#22 has two battles in it as we initiate our conquest of Scotland!

Quote:

---

Thanks man, I did get it to work, but not before wasting about a hour and a half doing it all wrong and then trying to figure it out, mostly self induced time wasting and then lots of time wasted reading TWC trying to figure out how to fix it all. In the end I just uninstalled it all, re-installed 6.3 and then 6.4 and in conjunction with the launcher (and I think I may or may not have had to use the app you mentioned above, was handy to have regardless because editing the launcher for other mods could come up) I got it to work finally.

Anyway, look forward to hearing what next happens for England in your campaign and I'll sally forth in one myself as England as well and see how it goes.

---

I'm glad to hear it sir. How fares the campaign?

Looks interesting, I'll give it a watch =)

The siege of Edinburgh is underway. Our men have encircled the city and are ready to storm the walls any day now. Watch the battle here in #23:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKnlC9D8HQk&feature=share

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Incoherencel

I'm glad to hear it sir. How fares the campaign?

---

I took Scotland as a vassal, that's turned into quite the lucrative deal for me. I still need to complete cleaning out the island, got 2 castles of rebels, but since they aren't on the move they aren't first priority.

Making steady progress improving stuff, I've no real idea having never played a campaign through to completion (SS or otherwise) what needs to be developed to get the best troops, so that is likely to turn out badly I suspect, but live and learn.

Also answered the call on a crusade to avoid getting side ways with the Pope, sent 10 lousy units and a 62yr old with one foot in the grave. Upon landing they were immediately greeted by an opposing force superior in numbers and quality. Won the first engagement with heavy losses. And now they are boxed in by two other armies, I suspect they will not survive and I doubt I can figure an escape path. So, just curious, what happens if you take an army over to tackle a city on behalf of the Pope and fail? Because I fully expect that to be the case here.

Love the video btw as usual, another question arose, you had a guild option, how do those come about?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by easytarget

I took Scotland as a vassal, that's turned into quite the lucrative deal for me. I still need to complete cleaning out the island, got 2 castles of rebels, but since they aren't on the move they aren't first priority.

Making steady progress improving stuff, I've no real idea having never played a campaign through to completion (SS or otherwise) what needs to be developed to get the best troops, so that is likely to turn out badly I suspect, but live and learn.

Also answered the call on a crusade to avoid getting side ways with the Pope, sent 10 lousy units and a 62yr old with one foot in the grave. Upon landing they were immediately greeted by an opposing force superior in numbers and quality. Won the first engagement with heavy losses. And now they are boxed in by two other armies, I suspect they will not survive and I doubt I can figure an escape path. So, just curious, what happens if you take an army over to tackle a city on behalf of the Pope and fail? Because I fully expect that to be the case here.

---

Very nice. I don't think you incur any penalties as long as you've tried. The Pope appreciates all the help he can get.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by easytarget

Love the video btw as usual, another question arose, you had a guild option, how do those come about?

---

Behind the scenes you gain points towards certain guilds appearing. For example, I've got Merchant guilds popping up in York because I've built most trade buildings; wharfs, markets, etc. I've also trained all my merchants from one or two cities. This gives me points towards the guild's appearing in those settlements.

This applies to other guilds, for example Thieves' Guilds appear when you hire and carry out assassinations and the like. It pays to sort of specialise your cities. But remember, you can only have one Master's level guild per faction, and there can only be one HQ level guild in the world, so get to work quickly if you want those bonuses.

More info is here:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...uide-to-Guilds

Thanks for the reply, guess I'll need to sort that guild business out then (reading the link, thx!). Add it to my list of things to figure out, haha.

And once again, thanks for making the videos, fun to watch.

Another question for you, I've found that with the use of StainlessSteel the adviser no longer works, while most of the time this really doesn't matter since the advice given can be rather general, there are occasions when I'd sort of like to hear what she has to say. Is this a defect of the mod do you know?

That I couldn't tell you. It's been awhile since that information has been useful, so I haven't really noticed its absence, truthfully.

Yep, suspected that might just be the answer I'd get back, haha. Ok, no matter, I'll do what I usually do, trial and error my way through the first campaign. Really more fun that way anyway.

I got a feeling in my campaign things are about to get a bit sideways with France, guess that was inevitable.

I hope my videos help you somewhat. As usual if you have any more questions, I can do my best to answer them. I could always do something in the videos as well, if that helps.

Your videos are going fine, I'm enjoying watching what happens, as I pursue my own campaign. As for questions, no worries, I just pop back in with whatever I run into, if you happen to know the answer cool, if not I'll ultimately sort it usually just by observing the consequences in the campaign.

I'm really returning just to keep tabs on your latest installment and because it's nice to talk to anyone still playing this as the pool of players at this point is rather small.

I just took a look at the victory conditions, besides needing to crack open a map and figure out where all these places are (like Angers, no idea where that is), I also noticed the requirement to conquer Scotland and France. While I fully intend to knock France off the map, I've already turned Scotland into a vassal. So, question posed: do vassals count toward the victory conditions?

yes they do. vassals region counts as yours :bounce:

Excellent, thanks for the answer, I suspected they did.

My silly Scot vassal went and formed an alliance with a certain French persons and then 2 years later the French attacked me after just finishing a trade agreement with me.

Couple more questions.

60 turns in I have zero princesses - is this because whenever asked I say sure marry them off? I'd rather like to put some of these agents to use in the campaign, I've just never gotten one, clearly doing something wrong here.

I've been allies with the HRE as a counterweight to France, well, the Pope just got the bright idea of declaring a Crusade on Frankfurt because the HRE ignored the Pope telling them to lay off France. I've not been on the Pope's good side lately anyway, as the French fight open warfare with me and suffer zero penalties with the Pope while I continue to get dinged for it, being that we're both Cathlic, I'll admit I simply do not understand why that is, should we not both get dinged here, or better yet, should not the aggressor invading my territory be the one who takes the hit? Makes zero sense. Anyway, to this specific issue, I've gotten pretty low in the Pope's good graces thanks to them and if I ignore this Crusade request I suspect I'll end up like the HRE ex-communicated.

Which is worse: losing HRE as an important ally or being ex-communicated?

P.S. I have a fair amount of coin on hand, so I could pay handsomely to get back into the Pope's good side (if that should play as a factor in your responses).

well regarding princess i noticed that the more they get hearts, the chances of marrying a noble with really good stats increases. so if you get 1, put your diplomat on standby and get her to do his job i.e selling map info, trade, alliances. if she is being offered to marry a noble with mediocre stats, even if he is young, reject it. i would rather have her marry a 45yr old noble with good stats than a young one that needs training. remember princesses can only marry till age 35, so choose your husbands wisely. :sweetheart:


about the pope thing, i think it would be better to cancel the alliance with the hre. you have to do it with a diplomat/princess coz if you attack your ally with an army your reputation will drop from mixed to despicable. risking excommunication is really bad, your cities will have unrest, and you might be the next crusade target. it would be better to have an army ready with 8 units and do the crusade on the last turn that the mission will expire so as not to hurt your relations with the hre. again reputation. :sharky:

Thanks for the response!

I think I've not seen a princess yet because I tend to not pay close enough attention to marriage proposals and typically just say yes. Do they show the stats of the person being offered up? I never see much detail, so I never know what country they are from, which seems rather like a big deal, perhaps I'm missing something here. I seem to recall seeing the traits you speak of, so I can pay closer attention to that.

What I'm referring to though, and like I said maybe this is because when they come of age I immediately get an option to marry them off that I routinely accept, is that I've never gotten one on the campaign map, other countries have them parading around the map, I want one!

As for the HRE, I took a 3rd path to solve the issue, I accepted the Pope's invitation to crusade, and then took a slow-go approach to getting to Frankfurt. That way I'd give the other countries answering the call a chance to take the city before I was forced to, and given Frankfurt was a close crusade city target, I thought the odds of that happening pretty good, turns out I was right. Denmark did me the favor of taking the city and ending the Crusade request before I had to do anything about it.

Now I just need to get an army together sufficient in strength and quality to start to work on those pesky French persons. :yes:

Sorry, for some reason I wasn't notified there were responses!

Regarding princesses: As soon as they come of age they appear on the campaign map. I'd assume in the same town as their father (Or the nearest town if he's in the field). If you marry them off immediately, they disappear. So yes, you need to refrain from marriages to get them as an agent! The candidates that appear to marry your princesses are randomly generated, and they have no family ties or history, really. We're left to assume they're lesser lords from your realm. The notification you get about marriage proposals has all the traits and skills of the lord proposing the marriage right there. The benefit to using princesses as an agent is you can choose to marry certain lords from other factions. For example, in my latest videos I married off Sybil to the Genoese heir, who quickly became the Doge of Genoa. He shows up in my family tree, but his portrait is greyed out. I'm not sure if that really means anything, or if it's merely a representation of the important bloodline.

Also, here's a video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZWOZNM3XOU&feature=share&list=UUcjjc51Pq2FtMUa8ktMpihg

Thanks man! I actually got a couple princesses after posting that by just declining proposals. Now I've got one sailing off to find a suitable husband!

Another great installment. Love watching this while playing the campaign myself.

Btw, love the "tears in the rain" referencing BladeRunner, well played.

I'm fast becoming a complete fan of this TW and can see playing this for a long time, I'm almost glad I missed it when it came out as it affords me many happy hours of game play now!

Sweet, I just got my Cardinal elected Pope!

Time to call a crusade on one of my enemies I do believe, muhahahaha

Darn, the only choices are muslim cities and castles, no benefit in that.

If I sit tight and keep an eye on the excommunications, if he kicks out one of my enemies, will that then make one of their cities/castles a potential target?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by easytarget

Darn, the only choices are muslim cities and castles, no benefit in that.

If I sit tight and keep an eye on the excommunications, if he kicks out one of my enemies, will that then make one of their cities/castles a potential target?

---

Yes you're more than likely able to call a crusade on an excommunicated ruler. However I'm not positive as to the details because I can't remember ever having done this.

Also, here's the next episode!

http://youtu.be/sp2O4jumI3k

Really love seeing you ride down the French faction heir. Well played. All fair in love and war!

This was posted a few days ago, but you may not have seen it:

http://youtu.be/1yjPyMAooi4

Another fun installment. That was surprising seeing France go vassal.

It definitely was. Caught me very much off guard, but in retrospect it's a sensible move on their part. Here's today's episode for you guys:

http://youtu.be/UVyqEDP4Dw4

:party2:

I'm stopping by Gerard's on the way home for a pie.

Sorry, I have forgotten to share the last few episodes! I've been busy with other things. Nevertheless, here they are below:

http://youtu.be/XjdVM3Jb6Ec

http://youtu.be/cwvDZg7_0JA

I ordered a catapult from Ikea today, I hope to put it together shortly AND not have it fall apart hours later.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by easytarget

I ordered a catapult from Ikea today, I hope to put it together shortly AND not have it fall apart hours later.

---

I wish thee luck, friend. Keep it out of the rain.

http://youtu.be/6U0psvgbL_I

I've brewed up another video for you folks. War escalates yet again in France:

http://youtu.be/Ti8j1h60zwo

Once more unto the breach:

http://youtu.be/FEdd0HWr_Zs

Finally had some time to watch episode #1. Well done. I have quite a bit of catching up to do. :2thumbsup:

Just note that some of the things he achieves are sort of exploitative (which is OK if you are going for a record). Also, he reloads until he can get some clutch battles, so don't be dismayed if you can't get the same results right off the bat.

Are you referring to myself? Or have you replied to the wrong thread?

To you, but I didn't mean to offend. Jihad abuse is IMO an exploit not intended by the game designers, that's what I meant. And you yourself mention reloading in the videos. So a first time player should be aware of this when comparing his syle of playing to yours (which is optimized for blitzing the map in record time)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Myth

To you, but I didn't mean to offend. Jihad abuse is IMO an exploit not intended by the game designers, that's what I meant. And you yourself mention reloading in the videos. So a first time player should be aware of this when comparing his syle of playing to yours (which is optimized for blitzing the map in record time)

---

No offense taken, just confusion. I'm not sure I've abused Jihads... or Crusades for that matter. Unless of course you mean when I took Alexandria. Hardly an exploit in that case. I didn't make any gains in Egypt, regardless of exploit or not.

Now about the reloading - I'm not sure when I would have said that. Every video is done in one take, if you will. There is no reloading. The only time I've re-recorded parts is when there are technical issues (for example when I forgot to turn my microphone on, etc.) or I find my commentary and gameplay boring. So you are incorrect in that statement, just FYI.

By no means am I going for a record. I'm playing on N/N! And I certainly am not blitzing. If I were I'd have much more territory by now. My play style is focused on developing an interesting, reasonable campaign, and in fact I avoid blitzing as much as possible.

Oh wow. Sorry, I mistook your video thread for the other video thread where the blayer blitzed the map in record time. This is the thread in question. I feel so silly now :clown: Sorry!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Myth

Oh wow. Sorry, I mistook your video thread for the other video thread where the blayer blitzed the map in record time. This is the thread in question. I feel so silly now :clown: Sorry!

---

Haha no worries mate! Understandable. I'm glad we got it cleared up though, I was very, very confused.

Councillor Giuliano is trying to break the siege of Marseille, but Barty Carr has other plans:

http://youtu.be/ZEcLrUnTWcU

This battle is the stupidest. The stupidest.:

http://youtu.be/YJreKfUmx20

Finally our missions expire and the English war machine wakes once again:

http://youtu.be/R9RX-hDcw-E

I've watched just a couple of the episodes so far and already I've picked up a couple of useful tidbits from your commentary. Thanks.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gregoshi

I've watched just a couple of the episodes so far and already I've picked up a couple of useful tidbits from your commentary. Thanks.

---

Glad to hear it!

http://youtu.be/-aJQ9sS0Kgc

Guess you are having more luck than I am getting it to run since the patch. I can get SS to load, but all the sounds now in mine are from Americas. Very annoying and odd. But then there's a known sound bug in vanilla MTW2 now CA has been made aware of, who knows, maybe they are are related.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by easytarget

Guess you are having more luck than I am getting it to run since the patch. I can get SS to load, but all the sounds now in mine are from Americas. Very annoying and odd. But then there's a known sound bug in vanilla MTW2 now CA has been made aware of, who knows, maybe they are are related.

---

Unfortunately I had recorded this before the patch. I haven't tried any mods yet (still downloading) but I hope to figure it out shortly. I'll let you know of any tricks I find.

EDIT: Yep, I got it all sorted. No tricks really. I'm using the same two tools I had been using before, I just needed to rename a few files. If anyone still needs help, throw me a message.

Well, just reporting back I got it back installed, just deleted the whole thing and started over, somehow the sound got jacked up, probably because I was running it via the edit the Americas directory from Kingdoms trick at the point the patch downloaded (which CA was not so kind as to informed everyone in advance about).

Anyway, got it back installed, and now I use a command line to load it rather than renaming a directory, that way when they hopefully get around to fixing the sound bug they introduced in vanilla MTW2 I won't have to worry about them crippling my SS install yet again.

This does however mean that I will be forced to start over as England, haha. I got about half way through with you and then something pulled me away, I played an entire campaign using retrofit (which is now not necessary since the patch brought MTW2 up to Kingdom anyway) and just never made it back.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by easytarget

Well, just reporting back I got it back installed, just deleted the whole thing and started over, somehow the sound got jacked up, probably because I was running it via the edit the Americas directory from Kingdoms trick at the point the patch downloaded (which CA was not so kind as to informed everyone in advance about).

Anyway, got it back installed, and now I use a command line to load it rather than renaming a directory, that way when they hopefully get around to fixing the sound bug they introduced in vanilla MTW2 I won't have to worry about them crippling my SS install yet again.

This does however mean that I will be forced to start over as England, haha. I got about half way through with you and then something pulled me away, I played an entire campaign using retrofit (which is now not necessary since the patch brought MTW2 up to Kingdom anyway) and just never made it back.

---

Would you like links to the tools, or a guide as to how I've got my mods/Kingdoms set up? I was thinking of making a video guide to resolve problems from this patch

Thanks, but I think I've got a handle on it and things are working again. I've not gone past a couple turns though as I was really just confirming yesterday that I had gotten it to work again.

That said there might be a lot of people out there right now who could use such a video, especially those a bit less tech savvy or who are better informed visually that via text.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by easytarget

Thanks, but I think I've got a handle on it and things are working again. I've not gone past a couple turns though as I was really just confirming yesterday that I had gotten it to work again.

That said there might be a lot of people out there right now who could use such a video, especially those a bit less tech savvy or who are better informed visually that via text.

---

I've been debating it. There is still a lot of confusion out there, I think. In the mean time, here's another video:

http://youtu.be/k98k7JbAR8k

No worries, thanks for continuing on with the campaign, not trying to sidetrack you with tech support videos. :laugh4:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by easytarget

No worries, thanks for continuing on with the campaign, not trying to sidetrack you with tech support videos. :laugh4:

---

I'd be happy to do it, as I imagine it would help a few people. It's just a matter of motivation!

http://youtu.be/bCWJuD88f_E

We've finally demolished the French:

http://youtu.be/OzGKuJ-yKKU

Here's the latest episode:

http://youtu.be/8PJbfVTfLmc

We've some renewed hostilities with the Scots as we move to assault Aberdeen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIAHzU9KoJA

Bump:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuCZ0Ap0fXg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgnci3DsYRQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQNDY_2VVC0

Thanks for the update, fun watching that siege in #44!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by easytarget

Thanks for the update, fun watching that siege in #44!

---

No problem. I keep forgetting to share these videos though, sorry!

Here's the next four:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzNyQp9URFQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlX9AqMp8e0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNYIqkcSN-A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Fd5PuZ9lEI

Another two for you easytarget:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-6U8xS4HOc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACtYFyWQBKk

By the by, are you subscribed, or is this your source for these videos?

Enjoy the hiatus. :bow: