Hi gang

Back in the day I played Shogun and MTW and after a long hiatus am returning to the fold... however, which should I invest in? Rome? MTW2? Empire? Hang on till Napoleonic?

I'm not new to the title so am looking for advice from the old hands out there

Thanks

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Do you have a preference in which era?

I prefer Rome and Medieval over 19c.

The choice is really between Rome (and the historically correct mods for it as well) versus Empire, a second engine upgrade, but I don't find it fun.

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I guess I'm looking for something challenging in TW terms. A decent AI, relatively bug-free etc.

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I enjoy Rome now that the major bugs have been sorted. The AI isn't as good as MTW but you should be able to pick up the Gold Edition and possible Alexander as well for under a tenner so you can't complain too much!

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There seems to be consensus towards Rome...

Does MTW2 not stack up favourably to the original then?

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M2TW has more emphasis on shiny graphics. The Campaign AI still struggles with the new(ish) map layout.

The battles are less about stats of units and more about the animations of the units. Peasants easily beat powerful units.

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If you go for Rome I would recommend installing a mod to go with it. I think many people here would recommend Rome + the Europa Barbarorum mod.

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I would recommend either RTW or ETW/NTW. RTW, especially with mods like Europa Barbarorum, by far excels M2TW, in spite of the somewhat inferior graphics. ETW is a pretty good game, but you just have to get used to the time period and the battle tactics. What I like about ETW is all the minor add-ons that CA finally did, including: an expanded map, dismount option in battle, forms of government, etc. It's downsides, though, include: lack of modding tools, lack of family tree, vague/oversimplified regions, practically ignoring any sense of historical accuracy when dealing with Native Americans, cannot use characters as generals (restricts RP), etc. The lack of modding tools prevents us from making new regions, new factions, and other significant changes. Nevertheless, the current mods have done a lot to help out, and with NTW coming, it may look like some serious modding tools are arriving with it (starting with that unit editor). I hope so, anyways.

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Don't buy NTW till mod tools are released or after you here everybody on the .ORG say how awesome vanilla is and how much the AI is improved, I've learned from ETW.
Also, don't preorder, CA likes to release the game as soon as possible and fix bugs over time.

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MTW2 is nice, but RTW has better mods currently (like EB).

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RTW has excellent mods... but if you do go with RTW I would recommend that you do not start with a mod. Play vanilla for a while (a few campaigns at least), and then start transitioning to mods when you start to get tired of vanilla. This way you get a basic grasp of the game mechanics first... most of the major mods are geared towards players who are already familiar with vanilla, so they can be intimidating and overwhelming if you just start with a mod.

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Thanks for the replies chaps... will get RTW and wait a few months then get NTW. Top advice all round.

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