Couple question: Economy, religion...war

[Old Geezer]

To have just 2 pips on the PopeMeter you must have been doing something more than just ignoring the Pope, I think. Did you get several warnings for attacking catholic nations or not go on crusades or ignore a mission that the Pope requested? I have seen excommunicated factions with 2 Pope pips.

[thecoffeeguy]

To have just 2 pips on the PopeMeter you must have been doing something more than just ignoring the Pope, I think. Did you get several warnings for attacking catholic nations or not go on crusades or ignore a mission that the Pope requested? I have seen excommunicated factions with 2 Pope pips.

Possibly because I kept fighting the Spanish?

[Quintus.JC]

Possibly because I kept fighting the Spanish?

Did you ignore Papal warnings for a ceasefire?

Any refusal to join a crusade?

The Inquistors are possible punishments, but they also could be random ones that just walks about for no reason and burns any low piety generals.

[Ratwar]

Possibly because I kept fighting the Spanish?

Yeah, that is probably it. Even if the Pope doesn't ask you to stop attacking, he generally dislikes you for doing so. He'll also dock you a few points for exterminating or sacking Catholic cities in my experience.

Also, on your question about being able to build things without Generals, there should be an option when your choosing the faction and difficulty of the campaign called 'Manage all Settlements' if this is selected, then you can build in settlements without needing a Family member or General. Alternatively, you can move a single General or Governor around to multiple cities and use the time spent between building and completion to make your 'rounds'.

[thecoffeeguy]

so, I just played around on the ME:II Kingdoms Brittani campaign playing the Danes. That was cool.Love the strength and might of their units. Very impressive.

I really just wanted to get a feel for more of the game, what to build and test out. I have a few more questions.

Looking at my money expense, to things jumped out at me:

1) Army upkeep. It was pretty high. ANyway to get that down?

2) Saw something about corruption?

Anyway, in this campaign, played about 18 rounds. Did pretty well on the battlefield. Tested out blockading ports a lot.

On the economy though:

I did have a lot of cities to begin with, so I tried to see what I had and start from there.
I tried to focus on building things like farming and ports (when available) as well as roads (roads help on a island?)

I guess my strategy has been to try and get the economy going first, then work from there.

It seemed for about the first bit of the game (up to 10 or 12th round), that when I would start a new turn, I would only have 1000 gold pieces, maybe a tad less. I am guessing, this is probably pretty normal in the first part of the game. Takes awhile to get the economy going, correct?

I was offered the Explorers guild. Since I was testing this one out, brought it on anyway.

Build ports when i could, even built a shipwright in one of my cities. Only had 2 merchants to start with, and didn't build any grain exchanges to get more (probably should have).

I have always been a RTS fan, so this game is making me learn different tactics. :)

Oh ya, and how do you read the building browser? I dont get that.

Thanks!

TCG

[cathartic]

When you right click on a unit and bring up it's information scroll, an upkeep cost is shown. This is the amount that unit costs you to keep each turn. However, you don't play upkeep for the first few militia units in a town or city (the unit's portrait has a blue background when this is the case).

If upkeep costs are too high, then you should disband a few units (there's a disband button in a corner of the unit's information scroll). Normally you should follow a strategy similar to:

1) For any city that isn't on the front line, keep as many militia units as you get for free upkeep.

2) For any castle not on the front line, only man it with one or two cheap units

How many units you place in front line cities partly depends on your style. Many people play aggressively, only placing a few units in front line settlements, so they can afford to field large mobile armies, that attack and defend as needed.

Any expensive unit that isn't close to the front should generally be disbanded. It's often cheaper to build a new unit close to the front than pay for a unit to travel all the way across the map (exception - if the unit has lots of experience then keep it around).

And grain exchanges are well worth building. Not only do they allow you to build an extra merchant, but they increase the income of their town.

[scipiosgoblin]

so, I just played around on the ME:II Kingdoms Brittani campaign playing the Danes. That was cool.Love the strength and might of their units. Very impressive.

I really just wanted to get a feel for more of the game, what to build and test out. I have a few more questions.

There are several good guides on this site. I don't have Kingdoms but I can give you a few ideas maybe.

Looking at my money expense, to things jumped out at me:

1) Army upkeep. It was pretty high. ANyway to get that down?

2) Saw something about corruption?

Do you have higher tech/upkeep units that are behind the lines? If so you can move them to the front where they are usable or downgrade them to something cheaper.

Corruption is a factor of how far the city/castle is fom your castle. The further away = more corruption. Move your capital.

To do this select the city you want to make your capital then open the settlement scroll. At the bottom is a small button that has a star on it. When you click it it will move the capital.

I did have a lot of cities to begin with, so I tried to see what I had and start from there.
I tried to focus on building things like farming and ports (when available) as well as roads (roads help on a island?)

I guess my strategy has been to try and get the economy going first, then work from there.

I tend to concentrate on economy first too, though expanding into rebel territories helps broaden your initial base. I only build farms after I've built all of the other economic buldings and the population control buildings. Farms increase population. If you don't have churches / town watch and any other entertainment buildings built and the population gets too big, you will have a problem with the city. Castles have massive amounts of population control so I usually don't worry about them.

I was offered the Explorers guild. Since I was testing this one out, brought it on anyway.

I tend to find the Explorers Guild completely useless. I get 1 Theives Guild (usually taken from another player) and one Theologians Guild (to help with heresy control). All other cities get Merchant's guilds because they boost trade and therefore money.

Build ports when i could, even built a shipwright in one of my cities. Only had 2 merchants to start with, and didn't build any grain exchanges to get more (probably should have).

In my opinion, grain exchanges are the most important buildings in the game. Each allows the recruitment of a merchant that can eventually make you $1000 - $2000 per turn. The more the merrier.

Oh ya, and how do you read the building browser? I dont get that.

Left click on the building you want to see. Right click to see units they can produce. Change tabs to view the difference between Castle buildings and City buildings.

Hope this helps. Definitely check out the guides on this forum. They are in depth and chock full of GOOD info.


SG

[Ratwar]

so, I just played around on the ME:II Kingdoms Brittani campaign playing the Danes. That was cool.Love the strength and might of their units. Very impressive.

I really just wanted to get a feel for more of the game, what to build and test out. I have a few more questions.

Looking at my money expense, to things jumped out at me:

1) Army upkeep. It was pretty high. ANyway to get that down?

2) Saw something about corruption?

1. Well, in the Kingdoms Brittani Campaign specifically, you can store military units in forts to get free upkeep. In the vanilla game there's not much you can do besides only having units that you need. I'd suggest taking a look at your naval forces if you're facing a financial problem. Ships cost a pretty penny, and they're often unneeded. Personally, I allocate about 50% of my income to army upkeep.

2. Basically as the distance from your capital increases, so does corruption, so by the time you have a large empire, the outer reaches are only breaking even due to corruption. The mechanic is actually nothing more than a method of lessening the power of large Empires so they don't become too powerful. I think that improving the amount of 'law' in cities (via Town Halls or Governors) may lower corruption, but I'm not totally sure.

[Quintus.JC]

If you're playing the Britannia campaign then you should try to get your hands on Frogbeastegg's Britannia guide, its like a Total War bible. follow its leads and you're sure to succed.