LAter stages times

[Tony Furze]

I usually sigh with relief when I get to 60 %- and I call it a day. Al though I "should" go on to complete some of my personal objectives. One is to get rid of the Pope, establish a Grand mosque in Rome and Mosques or Grand mosques , if possible , in key areas like Venice, Constantinople...

One can dream.

As for taking time later on:I m not sure you meant this, Youngie, but my computer actually takes ages to take its turn the longer I go. I just make up the reason that (like chess) he s considering my "cunning" moves.

[Heidrek]

The micro management to really get them most out of your provinces in the late game is lost on be. I'll usually just que up a bunch of military untis and a couple of building s and let them run for a while.

I've never gone for the full 100% domination victory, but after a while you start to think - whats the point? I can just keep pouring more and more troops into the target province, and auto calc my way to victory. God knows I cant be bothered fibghting every individual battle personally.

My Volga-Bulga high era campaign is approaching that point at present. I've taken Britain, Scandanavia, and all of estern europe from Pomerania and Prussia along to Lithuania and down through Kiev, Moldavia and Bulgaria and everything east of that down to Georgia.

I am slowly eating into French territory in heartland europe likie red acid as well, taking Normandy and Flanders. decades of war with the French have seen their provinces diminish and fall into Volga Bulgarian hands, but each battle is difficult, as is maintaining relaible sea connections.

Trade is near to non existant at present, due to the need to keep my navy concentrated. France remains a major force though, probably the other single biggest faction. I'm confident of my ability to eventually huble the French and dominate europe, but it will be a timely exercise.

[Roark]

I've only completed the Medieval map to 100% once. I too get extremely bored once I'm obviously the dominant power.

Like Tony, I usually roleplay personal objectives that have nothing to do with the game's in-built objectives.

[Heidrek]

I sometimes declare myself the winner before hitting 60% If I've broken the back of my only major opponent.

In my Scotland campaign, I had the largest army, navy and income, but the Crusader States had a huge standing army 19,000 strong concentrated in one province, the heart of their power. I mustered about 9000 defenders in the territory net door to bait them into the attack.

Attack they did. 19000 worth of knights, halbardeirs, crossbows/arbalesters, men at arms, foot knights and Order Footsoldiers. the battle was a bloodbath, and by the end of it, almost 12,000 crusader were killed or captured, and 3000 odd Scots. In one major battle I had crushed the vast majority of their forces, while my resources were still undepleted.

From that point on the outcome was inevitable, as i out earned and vastly outnumbered them, plus had control of the water so declared byself winner rather than slowly grind them down.

[macsen rufus]

Maybe because I don't auto anything in the game, I also tend to take the 60% victories, at least on the big map. In VI I usually push through to the 110% victory (ie take the Viking lands too, through subterfuge).

I have taken the main map 100% quite a few times, but generally by the time I'm up to 60% I'm hankering after a different faction to play, so cut it short and start up a new one. The last 40% is generally inevitable, and a slog, and a lot less exciting than starting a new campaign

[King Kurt]

I'm with Martok and most of the others here - I have played to 100% once but there is an inevitability about it all when you reach a certain size. I like to role play a bit towards the end and maybe set myself a few little goals to achieve before calling it a day. But once I start getting the you are the biggest army and you have the biggest income messages on a regular basis I know it is time to start thinking about the next campaign.
I think the first 15 or so years at the begining of a campaign are the most interesting and decisive - a bit like openings in chess. Get it right and you are set up - get it wrong then you have had it. This is the time you are most likely to loose - after that time, if you emerge with a resonable postition, then victory is assured providing you play the game right.

[Ravencroft]

Well, I've never played to a 100% victory(except maybe twice, by auto-calcing every battle) but I usually play GA, so there's no pressure on me to conquer the whole map.