Favourite Faction 2009

[caravel]

It's that time again. I can't remember when we last had one of these threads, they used to be much more regular.

Cast your votes.

If your preference is for a faction that is part of a mod, then please vote for the rebels and please post stating which faction it is.

[PershsNhpios]

In control of the Poelnische people I can annex as much of Europe as I would ever wish to control.

It is firstly the Habsburger-Oesterreichischer Adler, secondly the Polish Emblem which give me such a fiery envy of the respective nation.

[seireikhaan]

Hint:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

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[Thermal]

i chose italian, but i like the swiss egyptians and novorgod, no real preference

[gollum]

I would gladly vote but choosing one is impossible i'm afraid. Favorite factions are the following:


Almohads
Turks
Egyptians
French
HRE
Byzantine

Occasional Vice:
Sicilian

Relatively unmoved by:
Italians
Spanish
Aragonese
Danish
Novgorod/Ruassians


Completely indifferent towards:
English
Polish
Hungarian

Favorite mod faction 2009: French/Pocket Mod/1.0.9 beta - it felt like i played MTW for the first time - sheer joy.

!it burnsus!

[Fagar]

Normally I would have automatically said either the Turks or the Spanish.
However just yesterday I started playing as the Danes in early period for the first time in ages.
I forgot just how cool they are.
Running around dominating the battlefields with vikings and just the range of viking troops early and relatively easily built to get to Huscarles is cool.
I know I will soon be outclassed but for now it is great fun.
I am also appreciating the different battlemap music than the other Christian nations.
It is so much more lively and really got me into it.
Loving it!
So my vote now THE DANES.

[jadast]

Spanish is the way I go. Jinettes are my favorite cav unit. Fast, javelins, and a decent attck. Rich provinces plus iron to start with.

[Emperor of Graal]

I like the Swiss because of their Pikemen (Are they the best in the game?)

[Geezer57]

Lots of different factions are fun, for a variety of reasons. But I keep coming back to the Turks, again and again. Until you've developed up to JHI (by which time you've already won the game), they're a faction requiring finesse (rather than brute power) to win - so when you do pull it off, it's just so much more satisfying.

[caravel]

Yes the Turks prior to the availability of JHI and Sipahi units are an interesting faction to play. Initially they are challenging but once you become accustomed to THA usage and unleashing the potential of AHC, Saracen Infantry and Ghazis you may find them to be easy enough. For the new player though, they're very much a challenge.

[Martok]

Honestly, I just never get tired of these "favorite faction" threads.


For my overall favorite, it's a virtual tie between the Castille-Leon (Spanish) and the Fatimids (Egyptians), with maybe a slight edge to C-L. I enjoy the Fatimids' varied and somewhat exotic unit roster, and playing a Muslim faction means I don't have to worry about the Pope or trying to marry off my sons. As for Castille-Leon, they have a very interesting starting position in northern Iberia....and of course, there are those beautiful, wonderful, terrible Jinnettes.

Byzantines: They have a large and varied unit roster, and don't have to deal with the Pope -- except of course when Crusades cross into their lands. Which brings me to other main part of their appeal, which is their location. Situated at the crossroads of the known world between the Catholic west and Muslim east, Byzantium is almost always guaranteed to be an....interesting campaign.

Danes: Vikings. Good access to nearby trade goods in other provinces. Lots of heavy infantry. Vikings. Longships. Immediate proximity to Sweden, one of the richest provinces in the game. Vikings. You're small, so you can attack just about any Catholic faction and the Pope doesn't care. And if you don't want to attack your fellow Catholics, there's always Orthodox Novgorod to the east. Oh, and did I mention Vikings?

Sicilians: It still surprises me that I enjoy playing them as much as I do, given how much I *hate* these guys when they're controlled by the AI. The fact is, however, that their location in the central Med allows them to do pretty much whatever they want to do, giving the player enormous flexibility. Want to establish a trade empire? No problem. Crusade to the Holy Land? You betcha. Overthrow and supplant the Byzantine Empire? Absolutely!

[Jxrc]

Using the same scale as Gollum.

Favorite factions are the following:

Aragonese (Spanish units but more challenging start)
Sicilian (see Martok's post just above + possibilty to prevent Byz from becoming too big)
Danish (see Martok's post just above)
HRE (guaranteed wars on all fronts for years)

Occasional Vice:
French (nice GA goals)
Turks (get rid of the byz nice and early)

Relatively unmoved by:
English (nice but a bit too easy after the French are defeated)
Polish (a bit boring - extend east - wait for the GH)
Spanish (easy once you get rid of the elmos)

Completely indifferent towards:
Almohads (never manage to give them a serious try in seven years ....)
Byzantine (hate those guy - way too easy)
Egyptians (too easy)
Hungarian (plain)
Italians (too easy)
Novgorod/Ruassians (never manage to give them a serious try in seven years ....)

Note of explanation:

- I only play early period,
- I hate to see teh byz becoming a superpower almost each time
- I really do not like HA
- I feel the games loses some of its flavour without papal interference and crusades ...

[caravel]

Favourite:

Turks (fighting a war on all fronts with no friends, not even your fellow muslims can be counted upon. Horse archers, hybrid units and a lack of any decent line infantry and requires different tactics to all other factions.)

French (This faction are very generic in early, have a fragmented territory but have the potential to become a great power, almost entirely surrounded by the "perfidious foe" makes a good challenge.)

Almohad (Challenging if you don't spam jihads and AUMs, Almohad campaigns come into their own once the Spanish and Sicilians start crusading against you. Plenty of desert battles to defend your lands. I usually turtle this faction.)


Occasional favourite:

Byzantine (Great units, but very easy once you get started. Jedi princes, Byzantine Infantry are overpowered in the full sized units, and large incomes.)

Egyptians (Good faction, no really overpowered units, I feel that people judge this faction by how the AI plays them. Nubians are great units to have in early as well as lots of camels and Arab Infantry and Ghazis as flankers. Lack of HAs until Mamluk HAs can be trained.)

Novgorod (A fun faction, can easily be modded as playable. Vikings, HA's and Boyars are quite the combination, poor income is a hindrance until you've supplanted the Danes and control the Baltic Trade, then it's on to dealing with the GH.)

English (Predictable and uninteresting until the high era and then - too easy. I suppose there's no pleasing some people? Only interesting if you choose to restrict your expansion in Europe and instead concentrate on crusading. It's far more interesting playing as the French, kicking the English off the mainland than it is supplanting them there as the English and then waiting for the Spanish and HRE to attack, etc.)

Aragonese (The Spanish, but considerably more challenging and interesting.)

Poles (Like the Danes e.g. poverty stricken and struggling, but can be turned around into a potent force at the expense of the HRE and Hungarians. Once you've done this though and are faced with the Horde (the Horde will probably have arrived by the time you've pacified Lithuania...) it can get very challenging once again).


Indifferent:

Hungarians (Interesting due to HAs and units such as Szekely but very generic otherwise and actually quite easy once you take a few provinces from the HRE and obliterate the Byzantine.)

Danes (Boring: Teaching up your one measly province, going after rebellious Sweden, Norway and the Baltic provinces, slowly putting a fleet together... then unleashing a wave of death upon the world in the shape of axe wielding loons.)

Spaniards ( Far too easy and the campaign feels finished once you've take Iberia and built Citadels all over it. There doesn't seem much point in going on at that stage. They are a faction that get's too powerful and too rich - too fast. The Jinetes, Lancers and Javelins are nice but are not that well balanced.)

Sicilian (Overpowered as a playable faction, Sicily starts overdeveloped compared to some other provinces. It is quite easy to blitz the Byz, Hungarians and Italians, once you've reached that stage it's quite predictable (as with their Norman cousins the English).)


Completely indifferent:

Holy Roman Empire (Too many provinces to start with and too much building and training of crap units from the word go. Just going through the first turn building a ton of watch towers in order to stabilise the Empire and raise taxes is the most nauseating chore in itself.)

Italians (I should really give this faction another go as I've never managed to get into them.)

Russians (They are a high/late era faction and I never play those eras. I did play the Russians in High once and was doing well until the Horde practically blitzed me from the map.)

Burgundian (Never played as them, though technically it is possible.)

Golden Horde (Unplayable without modding, though have never played them in a mod)

Papacy (Interesting for the first 100 years or so. Though basically they are the Italians with a difference.

Swiss (Has never appealed and I don't play High/Late much.)

The Rebels (Frustratingly unplayable and pointless, turns into an insane blitizing spree.)

[gollum]

Ok then, justifications;

Byzantines - while generally considered extra super boring in early - i once played the early campaign in vanilla all the way to completion and it wasnt all that bad. By the time i had wiped out the Egyptians and the Turks and the Hungarians and the Poles - the Spanish had become super extra big taking out the French the HRE, the Italians and the Almohads. So you end up being sandwitched between them and the Horde which gives a reasonable challenge. It was fun defeating the Spanish swiftly - i did a multifront attacks (on the strategy map) that were calculated to trap about 5 Spanish stacks in one turn (Manstein style), so they d be wiped out of existence as they would have nowhere to run and after winning all the battles (some on the line) it succeded. After that they got a civil war

The true gamebuster for Byzs in early is that they start with the Citadel - all units/techs are so easily reached in the first critical 20 turns.

The main attraction of the Byzantine campaign is what Martok says and the roster - it actually excels nowhere although it can do many things (play missiles heavy or melee heavy) and requires good generalship to win the campaign on average. Now before you start sending accross tomatoes, please note that this is actually true - Byzantine units are cumbersome, slow and relatively weak especially after 1204, and very expensive to maintain BUT they happen to be at the command of the Jedi Comnenian family in early and they are easily available mostly. Once the Jediism subsides - battles are way more challenging.

Almohads - Pure fun having no battle winners other than AUM in early (and early only as CMAA are way better) and playing in the desert. BTW for desert battles prefer mods that turn off those damn armor upgrades. Strategic position also challenging sandwitched between the Egyptians and the catholics - not to mention that your lands become a waypoint after more factions take it to the sea. Muwahids/DesertHorse rule.

Egyptians - One of my all time favorite campaigns played as the Eggyptians - i actually helped the Almohads survive and defeat the Spanish, only for them to become large at which point a series of incredible battles started in the desert seasawing back and forth since we were producing troops in equal amounts. Khaliffa versus Khaliffa in epic confrontations that were decided with a handful of troops remaining! Love mameluk line of troops even the gunners . Especially Mameluk heavy Horse.

Turks - Although the roster seems overburdened with a million units of the same kind (Turcomans,Futtuwas,Ottomans) the fact is that they all have their uses and personality. Turcomans are there to substitute your archers (more armour, less upkeep). Futtuwwas are there to act as a reserve/flanking line after they empty their quivers due to the strong attack/good morale. Ottomans have an AP bonus and very low requirements - they can do all of the above without being exceptional at any. Turcoman Horse absolutely rule. Armenian heavies must be the most effective SP unit in the whole game; low requirements-good stats-cheap upkeep-never goes obsolete. And as cherry in the pie you get the Jannissaries. Perfect.

In general the Muslim and Orthodox factions do not get high/late era units that are almost cheat - say CMAA. The stats of such units go up not a notch but are worlds apart from early. While the early catholics are relatively balanced - after 1204 they become very overpowered - but the Muslims/Orthodox dont - even the Janissaries come after tonnes of investment and if you do not do the multiquee they can be buillt in only one province.

French - the best catholic faction for me. Its not only that they have the best GA goals - but also that they have no *special* units. No overpowered billmen/italian infantry or lancers or gothics. But best of all is as Caravel says their strategic position. You have to fight litteraly everyone - and not from a position of strength - nor at once - politics and diplomacy matter up to the point you conquer Spain or something - after that you can start a new game. Ok, and i admit it im a big Jean D Arc fan.

HRE - i turtle a lot with the Germans and not only to survive but to actually have fun - just barricade and send crusades to the Levant and the Ost - do the occasional conquest of Poland or Hungary or France or Italy if they frustrate me too much, but slowly. Always obey the Pope - except for those rare occasions when i simply blitz him out of existence for no reason at all

!it burnsus!

[HopAlongBunny]

PON forever!

Best roster in the game imho; you start dirt poor and with your spam of heirs it just gets worse.

The Turks are a close second; the struggle up the chain to JHI should count as GA goal :p

[chris34au]

Aragon- they have pretty much everything that i'm looking for in a faction. great starting position(for expansion and/or defending), near plenty of iron rich provinces, potential to become a serious naval power early in the game, farms, trade, unit roster, a better challenge than playing as Spain,etc. my only complaint about playing as Aragon is that it can get pretty boring after you drive everyone else out of Iberia. i've never made it to the late era playing as Aragon but i'm going to try to stop expanding at 4-5 provinces and turtle until the late era hits in my next campaign to see if that'll keep it more interesting.

Bohemia- love their unit roster, the fact that their Kings seem to produce really good heirs, proximity to iron and tons of trade resources, and variety of ways to play a campaign with them. the only major negatives with Bohemia for me is that, even if you take provinces like Friesland, Flanders, Croatia,etc early in the game, it can be pretty slow getting a navy/trade network going with them and it kinda sucks not being able to crusade.

Venetians- great unit roster, great location for crusades, navel power, and trade income. it kinda sucks starting out with a 2 star king and Germany/England/France are constantly passing through on crusades but they still seem like a pretty fun faction to use in the game.

i also love playing as the Byzantines or Bulgaria in High but wish that both were early campaigns instead.

factions that i've used and wasn't crazy about are England(too easy to expand, heirs seem to be pretty sucky more times than not) Hungary(interesting unit roster but still seemed to get boring pretty quickly playing as them,imo) and Portugal (other than one or two units, they basically seem like Aragon or Castile Leon minus the iron and ability to expand without going to war,imo).

factions that i'm curious about but haven't really given a fair shot yet are Sicily, Turkey, Armenia, and Serbia.

[bamff]

Thus far the faction that I enjoyed the most would be the Serbs in XL, hence my vote for rebels...varied unit roster, challenging start position, tough initial economic situation...

Burgundy was also good fun, but having to start in "late" took some of the gloss off this option.

Aragon was enjoyable, with a good unit roster....

[PershsNhpios]

In XL my favourite faction is Schottland!

[Sir Beane]

I do so love good old England. But it's probably just the misguided patriotic pride talking.

[Lokiss]

Denmark yo.

[patdj]

I liked the Byzantines best. Mainly because of the reasons Martok already stated. Plus I like the style of their infantry and the heavy cavalry. Massssssssive slaughter!

Second would be the English because of the Longbow Units.

[Scurvy]

Hungarians - fun in both Campaign and MP, nice combination of Western infantry and heavy cav, and fun distinctive units like Jogaby and Szeks

[Axalon]

Hi all, where is the GAH alternative?!? I wanna vote GAH….


Oh well, I’ll behave now....

Favorite faction then, and especially for 2009 none the less, it got to be England for me. It has always been England for me no matter how simple or easy they are to manage. I always liked the dudes in solid red and it’s probably the main reason for me liking them and that I am accustomed to the surroundings of the British Isles (probably due to various assorted strategy games all the way back to the stone age). To me it is not a question of various troops at all (not in the original game at any rate, in redux it helps with the “Heavy Infantry” formations available to England and the HRE). So my personal top three candidates would be England, the HRE and Spain (the same in redux as well). So, I can’t claim any originality here can I?

[Fagar]

Threads such as this always remind me just how brilliantly diverse MTW is.

reading others opinions and reason for the fav factions gets me thinking yeah I haven't played them for a while and they were very cool.
My vote was for the Danes but since them I have played the English and the Almo's both which are amazing to play in their own right and could have easily got the vote.

So here is a cheers to the game we all so obviously still love

[chris34au]

i've noticed that Denmark seems to be a really popular faction with a lot of people. i've never played as the Danes but what's kept me from using them in the past was thinking that they'd be similar to the Byzantines, in the sense that they start out with really strong units but get weaker as time goes on in the game. is this accurate and if so, do you have to be really aggressive in the early era or is the Basic Catholic unit roster enough to keep things interesting?

i like to try to turtle, using factions that get really strong late era units(Aragon, Bohemia,etc) but that strategy doesn't usually work out very well for me because i start getting bored with my campaigns as the other factions are eliminating each other while i'm trying to do everything i can to keep as many factions in the game as possible, until the late era hits.

[Ironsword]

Well, I put England as it is the one I usually play, (I like Billmen, hobilars and longbows!) but lately others are creeping up in my estimation.

I play the Turks a lot if I want to be on the other side of crusades and the aragonese or poles if I fancy a challenge.

I guess this stems from wanting to be the underdog. i.e. when I play, the AI controlled France/Spain/Almohads/Egyptians are nearly always medieval superpowers, so I don't fancy playing them as much.

[drone]

i've noticed that Denmark seems to be a really popular faction with a lot of people. i've never played as the Danes but what's kept me from using them in the past was thinking that they'd be similar to the Byzantines, in the sense that they start out with really strong units but get weaker as time goes on in the game. is this accurate and if so, do you have to be really aggressive in the early era or is the Basic Catholic unit roster enough to keep things interesting?

Danes in Early are lots of fun, due to the spammability of Vikings and Longboats, and their defendable position. The other "Viking" units that were added with VI are actually available to any faction in Early, they just have to be built in Norway/Sweden/Denmark. Novgorod can also build Vikings and Longboats, so they are similar, but with an Orthodox flavor.

Once the Danes get to High, they still get Vikings, but are pretty much limited to the base Catholic roster (and can't crusade, so they are even more limited). The key is to use the advantages they get in Early to set them up for later years. With their low cost Longboats, they can set up trade routes (and attack routes) cheaply, and start raking in the cash. With base Vikings, they have some of the best infantry in Early and can replenish them anywhere with a Fort. From their protected position and with naval superiority, they can pick and choose their battles, and can take territory that will allow them to build specialized units. Ireland (Gallowglasses for the desert), Switzerland (Swiss halberdiers/pikes), and Spain (Jinettes) are all fairly easy to take during Early, and offer localized units that fill out the base Catholic roster. The main trouble I've had is finding something to deal with horse archers. In the end it's usually the tedious trees/arbalesters combo.

You do have to be somewhat aggressive, but the early units are good enough to allow it. Once they get rolling, you sometimes have to force yourself to stop and wait for the infrastructure to catch up. So many exposed coastlines, waiting for the fury of the northmen...

[chris34au]

thanks for the response. i think i'll try Denmark in my next Campaign. it sounds like it'd be a great change of pace after trying to turtle for 200 years with Aragon.

[Fagar]

Definately give the Danes a crack Chris.
I had not played them in years and just finished a campaign and it was great fun.
Perfect for turtling early until you can build ships and then good defensive position for 'viking raids' in your longboats.
The faction specific music is very cool and immersing and the generally easy tech tree to Huscarles is rewarding as they just decimate all in their path.
I enjoyed having to be red hot early becuse all your specialist Viking troops are unavailiable after 1205and you are reduced to the normal Catholic Roster so you have to make haste early and then the slog begins which from your posts I think would really suit your style.

[chris34au]

i definitely want to check them out in my next campaign. they sound like a really fun faction to use. how about Sweden? is there much difference in their unit rosters? i've heard that Sweden's one of the better provinces, as far as income goes, and it seems like they also have iron. everything else being equal though, i think that Denmark's white and red looks way cooler than Sweden's blue and gold. ;)