Teutonic hotseat signup

[Visor]

Having played the Teutonic campaign in hotseats a fair many times, I suggest leaving the crusading nobles in. The Kalmar union should go. Basically install those fixes. ;)

Oh and Britannia is balanced if you follow the Scots v Norway and Ireland and Wales v England.

In one hotseat the last three factions were Norway, Ireland and Wales, neither betraying each other.

[Zim]

Based on Britannia hotseat experience here I'd put an even balance more as England versus Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, with Norway having some potential to break the balance. England is much more powerful than Wales and Ireland together. Of course, it depends far more on the relative skill (and some extent on luck) of the players. In the previous Teutonic game, everyone but the HRE (and eventually them when they saw how things were going) piled on the Teutons and they wiped the floor withe everyone else. Having the best autoresolve units in the campaign versus the much weaker ones of Lithuania and Novgorod helped, but it was the skill of the player in question that allowed him to take such advantage of that as to beat out everyone else on the map.

Having played the Teutonic campaign in hotseats a fair many times, I suggest leaving the crusading nobles in. The Kalmar union should go. Basically install those fixes. ;)

Oh an Bretinnia is balanced is you follow the Scots v Norway and Ireland and Wales v England.

In one hotseat the last three factions were Norway, Ireland and Wales, neither betraying each other.

[Visor]

Reminds me of Swarbs in THS 2, he won as the Order only because my stupid damn allies betraying me and destroying our only chance at stopping the Order. :(

You are forgetting Samagotian Axeman and Woodsmen. They kick ass.

[Zim]

In our case coordination was iffy and Denmark didn't commit. Poland seemed to be a relatively new player and the Order stomped them for cash, allowing them to focus on me (Novgorod) and Lithuania. The HRE joined in too late and just ended up being one more source for land for the Order... The Order was also played by one of our very best players.

I never had much luck with woodsmen in autoresolve, although I don't doubt they did much more damage than militia.

Makes me kinda wish I picked a faction more in the thick of things. Ah well, for Norway!

Reminds me of Swarbs in THS 2, he won as the Order only because my stupid damn allies betraying me and destroying our only chance at stopping the Order. :(

You are forgetting Samagotian Axeman and Woodsmen. They kick ass.

[_Tristan_]

The main thing is that the full power of the Teutons can only be unleashed if they control Catholic territories, as those give access to higher tier units... As such, taking lands from Novgorod (Orthodox) or Lithuania (Pagan) can be quite costly as any unit depleted in those conquests have to be sent back for retraining while attacking any other Catholic neighbour may offer retraining capabilities...

Poland seemed to be a relatively new player and the Order stomped them for cash, allowing them to focus on me (Novgorod) and Lithuania.

Poland didn't get stomped for cash but rather for the greater training capacities it offered... The northermost Polish castle offered better unit types than even Marienburg did !!

Lack of coordination among the TO enemies was also of great help in the TO final success... A question of "too little, too late..."

[Zim]

Hmm, I thought it was because Poland starts with some of the biggest cities (in a concentrated area) and you wanted to sack them.

There was also the great "Lithuanian army accidentally ambushes Novgorodan one" debacle. Armies in hiding will ambush "neutral" armies and if the ambush is successful you can't flee to avoid troop loss. We were about a turn from getting diplomats to eachother as well.

Poland didn't get stomped for cash but rather for the greater training capacities it offered... The northermost Polish castle offered better unit types than even Marienburg did !!

Lack of coordination among the TO enemies was also of great help in the TO final success... A question of "too little, too late..."

[_Tristan_]

There was also the great "Lithuanian army accidentally ambushes Novgorodan one" debacle. Armies in hiding will ambush "neutral" armies and if the ambush is successful you can't flee to avoid troop loss. We were about a turn from getting diplomats to eachother as well.

I had forgotten about that... Still, I used that to my advantage by instillling doubt as to the commitment against the TO of certain factions... Any delay played in my favour...

One thing is that most players played true to their roles, which is why the HRE was reluctant to be at war against the order (that and the Order's promises to help them fight Denmark and keep any Danish territories conquered for themselves...)

All in all, it was a very tense game for the TO because reinforcements had to be brought on all fronts and tose reinforcements were costly...

[Zim]

Just out of curiosity, was it me you tried to say wasn't commited? I pretty much ruined Novgorod to hire soldiers for you to kill.

In retrospect I think everyone involved was serious except maybe Denmark. They wanted to send very few troops while focusing on taking ai settlements. But then I didn't think they expected the Order to curbstomp everyone, and they had another nearer potential enemy in the HRE.

I had forgotten about that... Still, I used that to my advantage by instillling doubt as to the commitment against the TO of certain factions... Any delay played in my favour...

One thing is that most players played true to their roles, which is why the HRE was reluctant to be at war against the order (that and the Order's promises to help them fight Denmark and keep any Danish territories conquered for themselves...)

All in all, it was a very tense game for the TO because reinforcements had to be brought on all fronts and tose reinforcements were costly...

[_Tristan_]

Just out of curiosity, was it me you tried to say wasn't commited? I pretty much ruined Novgorod to hire soldiers for you to kill.

In retrospect I think everyone involved was serious except maybe Denmark. They wanted to send very few troops while focusing on taking ai settlements. But then I didn't think they expected the Order to curbstomp everyone, and they had another nearer potential enemy in the HRE.

I didn't say you weren't committed but that I tried to make you and Novgorod think you had betrayed one another (using the "debacle" to my advantage...) thus lessening your commitment for fear of a double-cross.

And all the while, it was Denmark I feared the most and which caused me the biggest difficulties...

I was walking a tight rope diplomatically in that game... Until Hell broke loose and I had to stomp every other faction...

[_Tristan_]

Hmm, I thought it was because Poland starts with some of the biggest cities (in a concentrated area) and you wanted to sack them.

Poland also offered a very defensible base as its southern border is off-limits... One more reason to be stomped early...