Any tips for getting through a campaign faster?

[cpgray]

I was just wishing there was a way to have a quicker game of MTW. I just played my first complete campaign in a long time and it took several weeks to finish, even doing auto resolution of most battles in the final stages. I'm going to try the GA route next time. I was just wondering if there were any other ways to have the fun of a campaign without investing that much time.

[Brandy Blue]

You could try making up your own victory conditions. Just quit when you meet them.

[drone]

Welcome to the Org, cpgray!

It takes me months to finish a campaign, mainly because of real life and my insistence to fight each and every battle. Once I reach the point where huge battles are common, I can only get through 1 or 2 turns a session. The missus does not approve of me coming to bed at 3am. I think most people stop playing a campaign once it becomes inevitable victory is certain.

In battle, use the unit grouping tool to move units around faster. When waiting for the enemy to come to you, during rout cleanup, or knocking down walls with arty, use the slider bar to up the speed a little.

On the campaign map, make a system for managing provinces. I love to micromanage everything, so I spend a lot of time here and have an order of tasks to speed things up. Goes something like this:

1. Army movement. Fix up the stacks, move them where they need to be, merge depleted units, and set depleted units for retraining.
2. Agent movement.
3. Ship movement.
4. Open up a province scroll, and open the buildings scroll for the province. Queue buildings as necessary. Also check happiness and religious status. Hit the Next Province button, repeat. Repeat until original province pops up again. Close buildings scroll, open recruitment scroll, and cycle through as before.

Do you always start from the Early period? You could try a Late campaign, this will force a quicker pace with the deadline fast approaching. Also, have you tried the VI campaign? The smaller map definitely shortens the game.

[Trapped in Samsara]

It takes me months to finish a campaign, mainly because of real life and my insistence to fight each and every battle.

Hi

I could have written Drone's post. (Except the part about his missus, of course.)

The way I see it, you are enacting an epic 350 year span of history. It is only right that it should consume a significant chunk of your existence. So for me this is part of the magic of MTW; almost a role-playing feature.

However, if the duration of each campaign really is a huge problem, then you could try using auto tax and build. But I shudder to think what your AI civil servants would make of your empire.

Best regards
Victor

Sapere aude
Horace

[cpgray]

Thanks to Brandy Blue, drone, and victorgb for the helpful thoughts.

I consider myself still learning the game and although I've completed one campaign (starting in the Early Period) I've actually started more than 6 to try different strategies or practice something I learned since I started the last one.

As in all things, it is good to remember it is not the destination but the journey. In fact, I'm gonna make that my sig quote.

[Trapped in Samsara]

I consider myself still learning the game...

Hi Cpgray

I've been playing MTW since it was first released. I reckon in all those years I've played twenty, maybe twenty five campaigns, always from early. In only three cases did I not achieve victory (Almohad, Aragon & Bohemian factions in various mods).

I too am still learning the game.

To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive.
Robert Louis Stevenson

Best regards
Victor

Saper aude
Horace