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Hi. I was going to be getting the Total War Eras set a while back but I never managed to. However a friend of mine says that he has MTW and the Viking Invasion game and will give thm to me for free because he hates them. Im picking them up later today and I can't wait.
I have only ever played Rome Total War and with this in mind what advice can anyone tell me about playing Medieval? Also, what is the latest patch for the game? Thanks.
Heres the patch:
Link.
Advice?
Its more challenging than RTW, you may find the battles difficult in some situations.
Slap you friend for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Quickening
Okay thanks. Is that the only patch I need? Do I not need to patch up the original Medieval at all?Quote:
Originally Posted by Rythmic
Will do!:yes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Rythmic
Just install Vinking invasion and patch that to 2.01. That's all.Quote:
Originally Posted by Quickening
Older patches for MTW are included in VIking invasion.
Have Fun,
R'as
Whats the difference between the normal campain and the Viking Invasion? Am I as well just starting with Viking Invasion?
Install viking invasion straight away, it saves you downloading the patches and removes a lot of bugs (IIRC skirmish AI was poor before VI, so horse archers etc tended to get caught a lot).
With Viking Invasion you get the original MTW campaign (Early, High and Late eras) and the Viking Invasion campaign.
Early is the longest campaign, you start off in 1087 with very basic units and basic buildings. Armies generally consist of Spearmen + Archers + Barbarian/Feudal Infantry + Light/Missle Horse.
High introduces Knights into the game, focusing the catholic factions on heavy armies (the Muslim/Orthodox armies still tend to value mobility).
Late sees the medieval era in decline, guns are introduced and the time of Knights has hit its peak. Pikemen and Heavy Knights pretty much dominate this era, the knights act as the hammer with the pikes being the anvil.
I recommend you read these 2 guides, MTW is more difficult to get to grips with than Rome because it has stupidly complicated things like the trade system:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=31445
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=32726
The Viking Invasion campaign is fairly small, it focuses on the Viking invasion of Britain. Faction choices are Saxons (hold southern England, rich provences and heavy units late in the game), Mercians (similar to saxons), Welsh (Celtic infantry + the deadly Welsh Bandits :2thumbsup:), Irish (fast Skirmishing troops armed with javalins), Northumbrians (not to sure what these are like, not played as them), Scots (light, cheap, and expendable infantry), Picts (Celtic units + Beserkers), Vikings (the strongest faction, although they're heavily armoured and therefore slow. They lack decent horse and ranged units)
I recommend downloading the XL mod once you've got to grips with the game, it adds a lot of new factions and units to the medieval campaign. BKB's SuperMod (similar idea to XL, but different factions) and Samurai Warlords (Brings Shogun: Total War to the MTW engine) are also worth a mention, ive recently downloaded both and finding them both great fun! :beam:
Also read up on the TW Unit Guide Frogbeastegg wrote up:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=31444
It has both STW and MTW units in it, it's a great way to get a feel for the units and their uses.
The Viking Invasion campaign is shorter, with fewer provinces to manage, but can be more difficult depending on the faction you choose. It's a blast once you are used to it though. The main MTW campaign can take a while to finish, depending on how much time you have to play.
Welcome to the dark side! :medievalcheers:
Thanks for all your responces! They are appreciated.
I just went and got the games. Im amazed in that they are in perfect condition with manuals and all!
About to install now!
Hope you're enjoying the game, Quickening. ~:cheers: Let us know if you have any other questions!
Well the game looks amazing and had many things to comment on about it.
However for no apparent reason the game crashes back to the desktop from the campain map very frequently. It also crashes to the desktop when I try to load a game.
I have all my drivers updated etc etc. Looks like it's just one of those things. Excuse me while I cry.
If you get frequent crashes to desktop search these folders, or ask in the apothecary, certain video cards require OLDER drivers to be stable. I think its the Nvidia drivers that have to be downgraded to a certain number.
mfberg
Thanks for the information. I do have a nvidia card. But Im not about to stop the rest of my games working just for the benefit of this one.Quote:
Originally Posted by mfberg
Download the old video driver and keep copies of the new and old on your desktop. Downgrade your video when you want to play MTW, upgrade immediatly after. Or you could do what I did and go get a video card that can handle it all, there are some out there for about $50-80 US.
mfberg
Thanks. A quick look in the technical help folder reveals that my Geforce FX 5200 does indeed need its drivers rolled back. Im unable to roll them back which means I'll have to download them and since Im on 56k that will take forever. Ah well I'll do it tomorrow.
Some people have had luck adjusting the anti-aliasing settings from the nVidia control panel.
Check posts #7 and #11 from this thread:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=64977
This allows you to keep the current driver. Good luck!
Well I did what they said and tried to load my game and for once it didn't crash! I'll need to test more to make sure but I think it may be sorted! Thanks! I owe you.Quote:
Originally Posted by drone
My enthusiasm got kicked in the head a few times with this technical error but here are my first impressions of the game.
Having only played Rome before I found this game drastically different. I mean, they could almost be games from different series altogether.
After about fifteen minutes of play it became obvious that Medieval is much, much more complex and intricate than Rome. I actually prefer the Risk style map of Medieval already. To me it just looks nicer than the Rome campain map. Also the music doesn't make you want to end the turn as quickly as possible like it does in Rome.
The battles... well lets just say I was humiliated many times. The pace is much slower than in Rome but I actually enjoy this. I learned quickly not to use my general in combat like I did in Rome otherwise he'll end up dead. Also love the whole weather thing! Seems to have a greater effect than in Rome. However, the battles don't have quite the thunder that they do in Rome.
The whole "left click" control method was easier to get used to than I would have thought.
All in all Im very impressed with Medieval having only played it for about an hour in total. I can see it easily taking over Rome in my affections. Actually, it has already. Like I said though, they are totally different games. I think Rome is more of an action game wheras Medieval is more tactical. I still love Rome but I'll probably play Medieval more often.
Im really looking forward to getting into this game more. There are certain details that I think "Why the hell wasn't this in Rome?" So two thumbs up for this game! :2thumbsup:
All the above is the observations of a "n00b" so please don't feel you have to shoot me down if you disagree.
EDIT: Oh I forgot to add, love executing prisoners!
Glad you're liking MTW so much. (It does have a way of gripping you and not letting go!) Also, as one who's experienced similar difficulties with the Nvidia-crash problem, I'm very happy you were able to rectifiy the matter. ~:cheers:Quote:
Originally Posted by Quickening
There are "newbs" and there are "n00bs", Quickening....and I think it's safe to say you're a newb (the good kind). :bow: It also helps to remember that everyone here has been newbs ourselves at some point, so we know where you're coming from. Besides which, it's not like those of us who frequent the subforum dedicated to MTW are going to bash you for praising the game. ~;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Quickening
Well of course! Who doesn't? ~DQuote:
Originally Posted by Quickening
Hey m8, hope you liking MTW. It gets Pretty good Once you get the hang of it :-)
Glad to see you were able to get around the video problem (if I'm not mistaken, it has something to do with how the nVidia driver renders the campaign map, battles are no problem).
About the Risk-style map. The AI seems to handle this better than Rome's map (less complex), so you will get more "big" battles (none of the small stack beatdowns you could exploit in Rome). These battles are also more meaningful, every battle is a basically a fight for territory (not some meaningless skirmish out in the middle of nowhere), and if you lose a few of these your unrest levels will rise quickly.
Combat will be slower, but there are more tactical options and seemingly small things can turn the battle in your favor.
Just out of curiousity, what era/faction did you pick for your first campaign?
:medievalcheers:
I went the English. I was surprised to see that the Scottish were not an option but I don't want to play the Viking Invasion yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by drone
Well the conquest goes well I think. My plan was to take Scotland and Wales first. Seemed logical. However shortly after taking Wales the damn French attacked resulting in a bloody war that is still raging. It didn't help that there was then a rebellion in Wales.
However, I finally crushed the Welsh rebellion and the French are now being steadily beaten. I will wait until there is some stability in my Kingdom before claiming Scotland.
Im loving this game. Definately the kind of game you could play for hours. It's 2AM here now!
Sounds like you are having fun. Watch out for the Scots, Highland Clansmen can be tough early on, they are fast and will chew through spearmen. Scotland will also need more troops to maintain order once conquered.
If you want to play the Scots in the MTW time period (not VI), the XL and BKB mods have a Scottish faction. After a few campaigns, you may want to try one of them out.
I usually only fire the game up if I can get in at least 3 hours straight. If you have a woman in your life, she may begin to hate this game. ~DQuote:
Originally Posted by Quickening
To add to what drone just said, there are several other provinces that are especially "restless", and will need a larger-than-normal garrison to keep the people from rebelling there. Some of these provinces include: Portugal, Livonia, Lithiuania, Prussia, and Pomerania (and of course Scotland). There are other rebellious provinces as well, but those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.Quote:
Originally Posted by drone
I can personally recommend the XL mod. :2thumbsup: BKB is also very popular, however, and may be more to your liking. Of course, there's also no reason why you couldn't download and install both!Quote:
Originally Posted by drone
I too don't play MTW unless I can devote a significant chunk of uninterrupted time to it. As a result, I don't play that much during the week anymore, although I usually try to workin at least a couple hours somewhere.Quote:
Originally Posted by drone
As for women, I'm blissfully single right now. :thumbsup: However, my last ex actually got hooked on a couple of my strategy games, including MTW. There was a brief but bitter custody battle over the disk, let me tell you. ~D
I am glad your liking the game. I have never played RTW so I don't know what all is the same. Some advice though, everything you do affects your generals and Kings vices and virtures. For example if you execute alot of prisoners than soon you will get a negative vice that says something like your King kills innocent people in his sweeps of rebels, this will reduce happiness. Just something to watch out for. Have fun!:beam:
Thanks for all the advice. I killed the French King in battle and his lands fell to rebels. After Ive sweeped up the rebel proinces I'll turn my attention towards Scotland.
Just one question that may be foolish. I have armies in Ireland. I thought that all I had to do was have a ship bridge to be able to move my troops across the sea. I have a fleet in the Irish Sea yet my men will not move to mainland Britain for some reason.
Also, many times I have had a general die in battle, yet after the battle he appears to be alive and well?!
Believe me, it's the kind of game you can play for years...:laugh4:Quote:
Definately the kind of game you could play for hours
Welcome to the org, btw. As for foolish questions: the only foolish question is the one you're too embarrassed to ask... so ask away :2thumbsup:
The reason you can't get your troops back from Ireland is that there's no port there -- you need a port in the province if your army is to travel by sea, but once on the ships, they can land anywhere on the coast. So you've probably already worked out that your army is now stuck in Ireland for at least four years whilst you build that port...
As for the un-dead generals, I'm amazed! Are you sure sure it's the same general, and not a replacement? Usually they stay dead! :laugh4: But what might happen is if you go to battle with a one-star general, then he dies, but you still win the battle, one of the other units gets the credit for winning the battle and therefore you will have one of your ex- 0* guys now with 1*, looking like the 1* general came back to life. If it's not this, and you have the same name (and maybe titles?) it sounds like a bug.
Glad you like MTW - I also have the FX5200 card, and just use the drivers that came bundled with my OS - I did get updated ones for RTW but MTW then crashed. After trying RTW for a few months, I decided I'd rather roll back the drivers and stick with MTW and its many mods (may I also recommend Hellenic, Napoleonic, Pike and Musket and Samurai mods for when you're ready?)
Enjoy!
macsen rufus has the right of it. If you have a boat in the water, you can ship your army to Ireland, but unfortunately they'll be unable to leave the island until you build a port there. (This is admittedly one area in which Rome did better than its predecessor.)Quote:
Originally Posted by Quickening
On a related tip: Never ever ever ever ever have your faction leader lead an invasion of an island! Even assuming you win the battle, your king will considered to be "cut off" from the rest of his lands, and your empire will suddenly erupt in mass rebellions everywhere. Take it from someone who learned the hard way.... :blush:
That would be my guess as well. Either the army was taken over by a general different from the one who was killed in the battle, or it's a bug. (If it's the latter, then it's definitely a bug in your favor. ~D )Quote:
Originally Posted by macsen rufus
Im writing a journal from my English campain for another forum but I decided to post some of it here incase anyone is interested:idea2: It is written for people who know nothing of the Total War games so don't think Im being patronising to you experts ;) Hope you enjoy it! Have to say Im enjoying this game more than any in recent memory!
PART 2: THE INVASION OF SCOTLAND AND A FAMILIAR FOE
Mustering what I believed would be a great enough force, I launch my attack on Scotland.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...2006_tim-1.jpg
Knowing that if I get caught up in melee combat with the Highlanders Im already dead, I order my specially picked missile troops to take position on a hill thus giving me the advantage of height.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...2006_tim-2.jpg
In the distance you can see the Scots wisely hiding in the forests thus giving them cover from my archers and crossbowmen. I brought along a regiment of Welsh longbowmen as well so they are wise to hide in the woods.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...2006_tim-3.jpg
After a while it became clear that the Scots were not going to come for me as I would have liked. They know that if their Clansmen leave their cover and charge me uphill, being shot at all the way, they have no chance. So I move a regiment of Urban Militia forward in the hopes of luring some out of the woods. It works! Some Scottish archers foolishly venture out to meet me.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...2006_tim-4.jpg
I bombard the archers with missiles before charging my regiment of Urban Militia at them. They break and flee very quickly.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...2006_tim-5.jpg
Then disaster strikes! I had moved my Militia too far away from the rest of my force and the Scots cavalry charged from the forest at my doomed regiment.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...2006_tim-6.jpg
My infantry were decimated and I quickly send help down the hill. My second mistake. I should have cut my loses and thought of a new strategy.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...2006_tim-7.jpg
The enemy cavalry began to take damage from my archers upon the hill. They went to retreat back to the woods from whence they came and I impetuously ordered my entire army to chase right after them. Foolish.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...2006_tim-8.jpg
It ends up in a battle on the outskirts of the wood. Fighting hand to hand and uphill I had absolutely no chance. I was decimated.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...2006_tim-9.jpg
After that humiliating defeat I received a ransom letter from the Scots. They had captured a number of men live from the battle. I decided to pay the ransom though I was loathe to do so. It will only aid their war effort. Still, at least I don't abandon my soldiers to their death.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...006_tim-10.jpg
For the next few years I build up a massive army. The next time I attacked Scotland, I took nothing to chance.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...006_tim-11.jpg
They attacked me headon as I had hoped, because this time I had taken some formidable melee units as well as longbowmen.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...006_tim-12.jpg
Patriots of Scotland, starving and outnumbered, charged the fields... and were slaughtered! MWHAHAHAHA!!
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...006_tim-13.jpg
And thus was Scotland finally within my grasp!
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...006_tim-14.jpg
I get word of a rebellion and go to quell it. But look who is leading the rebellion, none other than Robin Hood himself! I never expected that! Classic.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...006_tim-15.jpg
And so my troops marched out to meet Robin of Locksley. Despite being outnumbered and outclassed he managed to kill my general and defeat my army!
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...006_tim-16.jpg
I built up another sizeable force and lay in wait for Robin...
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...006_tim-17.jpg
And he kicks my ass again sending my troops running for their lives! No wonder his men are merry!
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...006_tim-18.jpg
Whilst my General in Mercia cowers in his castle and Robin Hood besieges it, I get word of a rebellion in Scotland. This was no annoying little uprising. This was thousands of men baying for blood. See those hordes swarming over those hills? Those are the pissed off clansmen about to decimate my huge army.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...006_tim-19.jpg
I had absolutely no chance. I was fighting uphill against superior numbers and the bad weather meant that my archers were at a disadvantage. Barely any of my men survived and most of those that did were held against me for ransom.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...006_tim-20.jpg
Giving up on Scotland I turned my attention back to Mercia where my troops were still under siege. I broke the siege and ventured out to meet Robin Hood for the last time. This time luck was with me! He had no choice but to lead his men up a steep hill with my archers firing down upon them all the way.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...006_tim-21.jpg
See the man carrying the green barrier? Thats Robin of Locksley leaving a trail of not so merry dead men behind him and ironically perhaps, providing target practice for my archers.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...006_tim-22.jpg
And so Scotland was claimed and lost and Robin Hood rose to glory and fell just as fast as a pincushion.
In other news, the French were born again under a decendant of the previous King. This man was wiser than his forefather however and immediately sought and alliance with me.
I also managed to marry one of my Princes off to a Polish Princess. Not only does this make good for my diplomatic relations but also means that should the Polish King die without an heir, I can make a claim on his lands!
Good journal! I never think to take screenies when I play, and couldn't narrate a battle if my life depended on it anyway.
Couple of hints (you may or may not know these already):
On the campaign map, if you press the "shift" key, it will show colors for all of your provinces. Red means rebellion is imminent (province loyalty below 80%(?)), yellow means it's possible (80-99%?), green means everyone is happy (100%+). Try to keep all provinces green. You can raise the loyalty with more troops (peasants are good for this) and by lowering taxes. Governors with high dread will also improve loyalty. Check every turn before hitting "end year", just in case...
On the battles. The Scottish leader in your first battle was a 3-star general, Robin Hood was a 4-star, while your generals for both battles were 0-star. These stars confer attack and defense bonuses to the army. It doesn't seem like much, but it adds up. When attacking, compare your general's rank to that of the enemy. If it's lopsided, you will need more troops.
Glad to see you are having fun. Hope to hear more! :medievalcheers:
Interesting battles, Q, and you seem to be learning the ropes as you go :2thumbsup: Another idea that may have helped you - if your coffers are full, you could have tried bribing Robin with an emissary. If you'd had a 4* general to meet those swarming highlanders I think the battle may have gone the other way.
Another useful hint: Press "F1" when in battle and it will bring up a screen of stats for your units - can be handy when plannng last-minute tactics :juggle2:
Really an amazing game that I re-discovered a while ago after more than a year interruption. Played it for ages with loads of fun and now most Saturday's have become MTW-days again :yes: (should get a life ...:whip: next week I will :embarassed: :clown: ).
Only tip I would give is not to go trough all the manual and post on this site too early. Of course you will find loads of very useful info but it will be much more fun to discover all by yourself (and believe me you will discover quite a lot of it even if it is the hard way). Should perhaps experiment a bit before checking everything in here.
I remember my first assault of Ireland with my Danish king ... Did it once :oops: , was a hell of a fight getting the piece of my kingdom together afterwards but it was a lot of fun ... Attacking a small army with a six stars commander with a large one lead by a two stars unhinged loon was also a nasty surprise but I learned ... First encounters with the AUM is also a fond memory :skull: :skull: :skull: ... in a way ....
This was my first game as the Danes, I only got a minor victory in 1428 (60% of the map)... Not because I had chosen to turtle for 200 years but because that is the best I could do ...
So enjoy your first games they are the one the more rewarding when you eventually (:wall: :wall: :wall: :wall: ) get a grip on them ... Just my two cents on this, anyone can of course do as he sees fit
Nice game, Quickening! It's actually been quite some time since anyone's posted an English campaign, so reading yours is kind of a treat. :thumbsup:
You're doing pretty well, so the only advice I offer right now is to emphasize what drone said: The number of command stars the opposing generals have makes a huge difference. Invading Scotland with just a 0-star commander, it's small wonder you were smacked around--twice. ~;) Don't feel bad, though! That's one lesson that many of us--including yours truly--learned the hard way.... ~:rolleyes:
Thanks everyone! You have all been immensely helpful and inspiring.
I don't like to know a game inside and out by reading the manual and looking on forums. I like to figure things out for myself as Jxrc said. I think Im really beginning to get the hang of it now :2thumbsup:
Im still having loads of fun with this game and here is the next part of my journal. Hope you enjoy!
PART 3: THE FALL OF SCOTLAND
Knowing better than to underestimate the Scots again I spent over a decade training an army of tough infantry and longbowmen. As soon as they were ready, I marched them to Scotland...
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000003.jpg
There was a standoff for sometime. The Scottish army consisted entirely of Infantry and so my hope was that they would come straight for me and be worn down by my longbowmen before being chewed up by my own infantry. But they were wiser than this and waited for me to make the first move. And so I did. I ordered all my infantry to march forward with the intent on luring the Scots back within bowshot.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000004.jpg
The Scots did not infact begin their approach. Instead they began to move their force to higher ground thinking that I will attack them uphill. However I have learnt better than this and to order my Infantry back to where they were.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000005.jpg
Now I order a regiment of longbowmen forward. Since this Scottish army consists entirely of infantry they can either stand and take the damage from missiles or move forward to attack. Once again I plan to lure them into a pitched battle on my terms by doing this. I figure that even if it goes horribly wrong, I can afford to lose one regiment although Id rather not.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000006.jpg
The archers reach the foot of the hill and prepare to fire up into the hapless Scots. But wait... is that rain I feel?
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000007.jpg
Typical. Just at the wrong moment the heavens open up and it begins to rain heavily thus making my archers mission doubly difficult. Nevertheless the Scots, after tolerating a considerable amount of missile fire begin to descend the hill.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000009.jpg
And so my archers begin the final stage of their mission and begin to flee back to the safety of my army with the Scottish force at their back.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000010.jpg
With a regiment of raging clansmen literally on their heels my brave regiment makes it within range of their fellow longbowmen and the plan is a success!
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000011.jpg
And so the first mob of clansmen is consumed by my troops. I took no chances with them and threw diciplined combat to the dogs. I just swarmed them. And as they died my longbowmen fired upon the following Scots which were about to suffer the same fate.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000012.jpg
As the clansmen battle my soldiers I try to keep my archers at a distance whilst still doing some damage and trying my best to ensure that they don't hit my own men. The enemy's force is spread too far apart. Divide and conquer. Despite the Scots coming at me one regiment at a time they are giving my force a surprisingly hard time.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000014.jpg
Finally I break the Scots and those that can turn to flee. I order my archers to shoot them as they run to make sure that they won't be finding their courage and returning to the fray.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000016.jpg
Once the routers lay dead I ordered my longbowmen to charge the Scots rear and engage in melee combat.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000017.jpg
At last it becomes clear that the battle is won. Despite the Scots falling for my plan they did much more damage than I would have thought. The day however, is mine.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000018.jpg
Now all that remains is to chase those few who managed to escape the combat over the hills. This wasn't necessary but I was determined to kill as many as possible.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000019.jpg
My general, Sir William Longchamp gained a vice for killing the prisoners captured during the battle thus increasing how much folk dread him. This will be very useful for ruling over this rebellious little country.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000020.jpg
A handful of the rebel force escaped however and sought refuge at Edinburgh which at this point is a mere fort. This siege did not last long before my remaining force slaughtered the inhabitants.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000021.jpg
And so it was...
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000022.jpg
By holding down the shift key you can see in colour code how rebellious your provinces are with green being "not at all" and red being "very". As you can see Scotland still has some potential fight in her but with a strong garrison and some low taxes I am confident of keeping her reasonably content.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000023.jpg
Thanks for the nice read.:2thumbsup:
Far more refreshing than the usual "I am the king of kings of medieval wars- look how good I am and whorship me" that you sometimes find.
From what I have seen you indeed now got a mastered some of the main concepts of the game ... I am also pretty sure the game's got quite a few bad surprises in reserve for you but don't be discouraged when they happen because they are basically bound to anyway. Moreover that what makes it so great when you finally, after a few or lots of "incomprehensible" defeats :wall: :wall: (even perhaps a few moment of insane yelling at your computer that "it cheats" ... shameful moments .... even hit my own screen once or twice :shame: :shame: :shame: ) get the idea :idea2: that will enable you to deal with the problem and get you revenge from that ":furious3: :furious3: f.... cheating doublecrossing machine"
Would almost envy you :beam: :beam: :beam:
Nice battle, Q. Good to see you getting the hang of the game (although as you've discovered, the enemy can still surprise you!). :2thumbsup:
Giving Sir William Longchamp the crown of Scotland was an especially nice move, btw. There's nothing like a governor with high dread to help keep the locals in line. ~D
In regards to myself, I'll hopefully have something to post this evening when I get home. I just started a Portuguese campaign last night (XL mod), although I haven't really done anything yet. I've built up an army that's ready to take a province or two, but I have yet to decide who my target should be.
As a good Catholic, I know I ought to go after the Muslim Almoravids. They're much more powerful than myself, however, and a war with them could quickly lead to my downfall. On the other hand, I have a decent chance of taking out Castille-Leon if I act quickly. Ah, decisions, decisions.... :sweatdrop:
It will be great to read others campains!:2thumbsup:
Here's a question, what replay value does Medieval have?
I mean, what is set in stone to happen and what is not?
For example Im playing as the English in the High period. I sent a general across the sea to attack Norway. The rebels there decided not to fight and fled.
Now, if I started a new game as the English in the High period and did the exact thing, would the rebels always flee?
It would be great to think that everything in the game is kind of random so that when you play it it is different!:beam:
Incidently I chased those rebels into Sweden and beat them there. Two provinces for the price of one battle:yes: I love this game.
Hey Q, nice going.
If you start a new game you'll certainly get different results - the AI will take different decisions, your characters will develop differently - heck, even different weather could change things!Quote:
what replay value does Medieval have?
As for Norway - if the rebels pulled back because they were seriously outnumbered, they'd do the same a second time. If it was touch and go, then repeating the turn might give you a different result.
An example - last night I replayed a year in my current Irish VI campaign. I launched attacks on three Mercian provinces in one go - at first I auto-resolved the first battle - won with massive losses on both sides, Mercians withdrew from the other two battles, abandonning both provinces (I don't usually auto battles, I just wanted to switch the machine off, go to the pub and fight battles properly later!)
When I relaunched the year, I fought the first battle, won with few casualties as the Mercians didn't put up much of a fight, so more survivors on both sides. Result: the other two provinces I attacked stood and fought instead of withdrawing....
So fairly small differences can affect even how the very same turn is resolved. A new game will be sure to be different, and I find it very replayable indeed (which is why I'm still on the same favourite game after a few years -- no other game has stayed fresh more than a few months for me -- this is what makes MTW so unique, IMHO).
That is great news!:2thumbsup:
I can see myself playing this game for years to come in that case!
Here's the next stage in England's conquest of Europe.
PART 4: POLITICS AND THE NORSE
With Britain and Ireland secured I was at a loss what to do next. Tired of conquest I decided to focus on building up my economy. I had no enemies and didn't really want any. That doesn't mean I still can't influence world events from behind the scenes...
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000024.jpg
As the years passed I received some good news! It doesn't really matter but it is certainly nice to know.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000025.jpg
So the Papacy has fallen... good! Tired of being asked to help out in the Pope's crusades when I have more immediate worries.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000026.jpg
Then disaster struck. My Generals in Britain began being killed one by one by an assassin! I lost a lot of good men. He must have killed about seven before he was finally caught in Scotland.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000027.jpg
With Scotland appeased and far from ever rebelling again, I decided to find new lands to conquer. I didn't want to start a war on the continent where the powerful French, German and other European nations would be very difficult to overcome.
But as I was expanding my dominion over the oceans for the benefits of trade, I noticed that Norway and Sweden were both under rebel rule. I immediately dispatched an army to take these lands before my enemies did.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000028.jpg
For the first time, my opponents decided that they could not win and so the rebels fled from Norway into Sweden thus giving me the country without a fight.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000029.jpg
It may have been wise to bide my time and ensure that Norway was firmly under my rule before attacking Sweden but I decided that it would be best to strike while the iron was hot. This time, the rebels did not flee and I met them on the battlefield. It would have been wise of them to flee however since my army included a few regiments of powerful Royal Knights.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000030.jpg
The Norsemen are hard opponents. But not so hard that they will stand against the charge of heavy cavalry from every direction.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000034.jpg
It wasn't long at all before they broke and fled and being on foot, not one of them escaped my riders as they chased them down.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000040.jpg
And so two more lands were mine for next to no effort. Over the years there were several extremely minor rebellions in Norway and Sweden but they were swiftly crushed. In the present day, there is a strong military presense in both countries and the people seem content enough.
Across the sea there is another rebel ruled province. But I think I shall leave it be for now. I feel safer on my islands and my presence may anger the neighbouring Russians.
For now, I shall look after my provinces and make sure all is in order. Im not a warmonger. I'll wait until someone has a problem with me before I crush them.
Nice playing for a begginer I must say.... Keep it up!!!
But I myself would advise you to play from Early with either Danish or Sicilians If you want some challenge... I have never really won Medieaval because i play it this way but it is rather enjoying thougt to build something from scratch and to build it sucesfully.....
I'm definitely enjoying your campaign, Q. Keep it up! :thumbsup: You should consider posting this in the Pics & History of your Empire thread as well. You certainly don't have to, of course; although you might get more of an audience if you did. ~;)
A pity that assassin killed so many of your men before finally being caught; I don't think I've ever seen an AI assassin be that successful before. ~:eek: Have you not built border forts at all, and/or stationed spies in your provinces?
Oh, and I'll also let you in on a little piece of information that you may find slightly useful: Whenever you get one of those messages saying you have the best/ most of something (happiest people, biggest army, most developed, etc.), your faction leader's Influence goes up by one. So those messages aren't just for flavor--they actually have an impact on the game (albeit a only small one). Just though you might like to know. ~:)
By the way, welcome to the Org, Jesenjin. ~:wave:
While reading this enjoyable thread, I saw this picture.
https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1...6/00000020.jpg
I have never seen a V&V displayed this way. But I am playing the MTW. Not MTW:VI. Is this something that was added in VI?
Thanks,
Yes BlackHat, that is something added in VI.
Also I strongly recommend VI! Go get it now, it cost me £4.50. So I'm sure you could get it for $2-$5.
I second that. Viking Invasion is an excellent expansion pack, in addition to which it allows you to try out the numerous excellent mods as well. ~:cheers:Quote:
Originally Posted by Rythmic
Thanks for your support and encouragement everybody! I have one more part to post and it will be the last. Although I love doing them and love hearing all your comments and feedback, it simply takes up too much time on a 56k modem. If I play for an hour then it takes about two hours to upload all the screenshots and write the post.
I have actually been switching back and forth between Medieval and Rome because I actually love them both. They are different but both brilliant.
I hope I will be able to continue my "journal" at somepoint because they are great fun to write!
@Quickening: I'm late noticing your topic sorry. Did you install Viking Invasion yet? VI will update your existing MTW, fix many bugs and add many new units. From your screenshots it appears that you are playing MTW 1.0, due to the longbowmen and crossbows/arbalests fielded in most of your battles. This is actually a bug, and crossbows, arbalests and longbows should not be available until 1205 which is the start of the high era*. This was fixed in the MTW 1.1 patch, which you don't need if you install VI. VI won't be compatible with your existing savegames, so you'll need to finish off any ongoing campaigns first.
Looking at some of your screenshots I was impressed by how quickly you got into the game. MTW utilises a sort of loose rock/paper/scissors approach for the real time battles. Basically: swords beats spears beats cavalry beats swords. In even more basic terms, anyone on the ground not holding a spear is very vulnerable to a cavalry charge, which is why your Urban Militia fared badly vs enemy cavalry. The Militia Sergeants (Robin of Locksley's unit in your case) are as far as functionality goes an axe infantry unit (a better version of Urban Militia), with an armour piercing attack. VS Feudal Sergeants, which are spearmen, they stand a very good chance of winning the day.
Generally in MTW there are a few units that don't fall into the rock/paper/scissors category and those are the missiles (the javelins/bows/longbows and crossbows) and the pole arms units. The pole arms units, which you probably won't have encountered yet, such as halberdiers and billmen are specialised cavalry attacking infantry. Unlike spears, whose role is to hold cavalry to stop them breaking through your lines and wreaking havoc, pole arms are there to actually attack and kill cavalry.
Also other factors such as morale, valour, fatigue, height advantage, forest cover and more can play a big part in determining any battle and often swing the odds great in favour of say an elite unit of swordsmen vs a not so good unit of cavalry, or allow an elite units of heavy cavalry to frontal charge and rout a unit of spearmen..
*MTW/VI has three eras: Early (1087 - 1204), High (1205 - 1320), Late (1321 - 1453).