MTW vs. M2TW?

[Rugon]

Well I won a mac and was planning on using this program called bootcamp that enables you to run PC stuff on a Mac; I need something to play for those long hours between classes and the like in the dorm. Anyone know for sure if that will work? A hardcore gamer told me about it but second opinions are always god.

I think I"ll be getting medieval total war. I liked VI, but can you get huscarles and viking landsmen in the MTW game without getting VI, or must I get VI to use those particular units? (one of my usual tricks is to nip into scandinavia and produce thousands of em to give my military a nice starting off point). I remember liking a few other things about VI too but if its more than 20 bucks I'm not sure if I"ll go for it.

[Gyrfalcon]

Without VI, you can only produce the bog standard 'Viking' unit, not landsmen or huscarles.

[Martok]

Well I won a mac and was planning on using this program called bootcamp that enables you to run PC stuff on a Mac; I need something to play for those long hours between classes and the like in the dorm. Anyone know for sure if that will work? A hardcore gamer told me about it but second opinions are always god.

It's hard to say. While I personally don't know of anyone who runs MTW/VI on a Mac (with Bootcamp or a similar program), I do know of a couple folks that run *other* PC games on their Macs. Apparently they have no major problems, but then I've heard of other people who do.

I think I"ll be getting medieval total war. I liked VI, but can you get huscarles and viking landsmen in the MTW game without getting VI, or must I get VI to use those particular units? (one of my usual tricks is to nip into scandinavia and produce thousands of em to give my military a nice starting off point). I remember liking a few other things about VI too but if its more than 20 bucks I'm not sure if I"ll go for it.

As Gyrfalcon said, yes you do need Viking Invasion in order to train Huscarles and Landsmen in the main campaign. You can usually purchase the whole game (Medieval & VI combined) for about $15.00 - $20.00.

[Theodotos I]

M2TW is closer to the original Medieval, but the AI doesn't begin to compare. And, hey, I can understand why the change in the campaign map, I mean we moved away from[I]Risk[I], but why the change in battlefield intelligence? Those opponents were quite good, and the battles felt real.

[Rugon]

actually i just ebayed it and I can get the two of em combined for under 15 bucks maximum - closer to 10, including shipping. nice deal.

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Congrats!
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[Mount Suribachi]

For all this talk of MTW having better AI, I have found MTW2 to be the toughest of the TW games - and I've been playing Shogun since day 1. Playing the Turks in Kingdoms right now and finding it to be a real challenge, just as I found playing Venice in MTW2 a challenge.

I think MTW has a better overall atmosphere, and whilst MTW2 has the shinier, prettier graphics, I find the sprites of MTW make it MUCH easier to see which unit is which on the battlefield.

[caravel]

I have yet to install M2TW (need a new PC first) but I can safely say that though the campaign map AI is very dodgy in RTW, the RTW campaign game is much more difficult than the MTW one. It's also much more frustrating and involves a lot more micromanagement however.