The faction you could never handle

[Martok]

In order for Burgundy or Switzerland to appear, loyalty in those provinces needs to be under 120%. (And of course, it must be the right period; if memory serves, Burgundy can't show up until High, and Switzerland not until Late.)


For any dead faction to re-emerge, there are two conditions that must be met:

1.) Similar to above, there has to be a loyalty rating below 120% in a province once owned by that faction. (Those of you have played MTW long enough will know this can occasionally cause factions to reemerge in strange locations at times -- I could tell you tales of the French being reborn in Antioch, the Byzantines in Sicily, and the Almos showing up in England!)

2.) At the time of the faction's original destruction, there must be a male heir who had not yet come of age (so he'd have to be under 16 when his faction was destroyed), and could still be alive at the time of the faction's reemergence. So if 90+ years has passed without a faction reemerging, you can pretty much guarantee it's not going to, as I don't think I've ever heard of a faction leader living past his 70's (maybe early 80's?).

So my dilemma is: do I sit tight, behave passively, hold to my existing borders, and hope that neither the Almos nor the Eggies rack up so many conquest points that they overtake me? (And maybe they'll suffer the imperial overstretch syndrome and implode, which seems unlikely.) Or do I try to roll one of them - probably the Egyptians - back to a more easily defended frontier (from my point of view), and then focus all my energies on the other. I dunno the answer to that question. The Council of State is vacillating. I have, however, sent a couple of barque flotillas on a decade-long cruise to the Black Sea. Once there they'll join up with flotillas to be produced in Moldavia and I hope to be able to interdict Egyptian troop movements across the Black Sea. That should give me a fighting chance of out-producing them in the Balkan theatre if we do come to blows.

Just to muddy the advice waters a little further ( )...

One other thing I'd point out is that rather like the Byzantines, the Almos' have a strong unit roster in the Early period, but they gradually become outclassed by most of the other factions' as the game progresses. Given you're now in the campaign's Late period, it's highly likely that you can produce better-quality army units than the Almos at this point.

I don't know if that's enough of a factor for you to consider going after them instead of the Eggies, but I would've been remiss if I hadn't at least pointed it out.

One other thing: my kings have been crap. I mean real dregs of the gene pool rubbish. Not one of them up to snuff. We're talking wouldn't-be-allowed-out-unaccompanied retards.

Do you have any princes who are even halfway-decent? After all, even kings suffer accidents now and then -- or (failing that) they sometimes launch an overseas attack, but the rest of the army/fleet somehow gets separated from him and/or never leaves port...

I reckon I've played at least a couple of dozen MTW campaigns (various mods, as well as vanilla, always from Early). And I know that I've lost two. But in terms of 'still tough 250-odd years in' this one takes the biscuit.

MTW: such a great game!

Best regards
V

Sapere aude
Horace

Great to see you're enjoying it so much. There's no question the Polish are one of the more difficult factions to play; it's definitely one worth checking out for those that enjoy a long-term challenge (as you've discovered)!

[LordK9]

With the Mongols, I've found them rather easy to defeat with time. They can't replace their best units so one just has to wear them down and that is easy if you fight in woods. Their cavalry can be defeated there and their arrows do little damage. The woodsmen are a cheap way to cut down the heavy Mongol horse in the woods (with high losses but that the cheap part). Come to think of it, THAT's another thing I miss since moving to II - the woods in II seem to have little affect. Well, I already owned it so had to try it. I hear III is being worked on - maybe it'll be more (1)-like.

[Martok]

Yeah, woods are definitely your friend when it comes to fighting the Mongols (or against any other cavalry-heavy faction for that matter). I always feel for the poor Woodsmen I send to the slaughter, but there's no denying they're a cost-effective way of dealing with the GH's heavy horse.

Similarly, river battles are your friend when going up against the Mongols, especially when there's only one crossing to defend. When the Horde appears, I'll often abandon a province or two if I'm able to retreat to a river province (Kiev is well situated for this), just because it makes for that much better a line of defense.

[Trapped in Samsara]

I hear III is being worked on - maybe it'll be more (1)-like.

Really!? Can you provide a link, please?

Best regards
V

Sapere aude
Horace

[Trapped in Samsara]

Hi

Re combating cavalry-heavy armies 'on the cheap', I find that Militia Sergeants are reasonably effective when deployed in woods, even against MHC. They need to be under the command of a decent, say four-star general, or e.g. a 'natural leader' or some such, for the morale uplift, however. Otherwise they're just too flaky to be relied upon, even when you micromanage them tactically to safeguard their flanks, etc.

Re how to handle the Mongols strategically, yes, rivers and attrition are the MTW player's best friends. That said, even several decades after 1232 (I think that's the year the Mongols show up) in my current Polish campaign I was coming up against multi-stack Mongol armies that were able to field 6/8/10 full strength MHC companies which made withstanding the first wave's shock assault a bit of a crapshoot. Will my Armoured Spearmen hold back the ferocious onslaught before the casualty count makes one or more of my companies break? Will I be able to plug any gaps? You know what I mean: if your finances are perennially tight, so your troop class and upgrades development have been heavily restricted, you're always going to be vulnerable when facing an opponent with a strong shock and melee capability.

Best regards
V

Sapere aude
Horace

[Martok]

Really!? Can you provide a link, please?

Best regards
V

Sapere aude
Horace

Nothing's been confirmed; at this point, all we have are rumors. A month or two ago I read that supposedly the (quite enjoyable) Age of Charlemagne DLC for Attila served as a sort of test-bed/precursor for Medieval III, but that's the extent of my "knowledge".

Personally, I won't believe Med3 is the next TW title in development unless/until it's officially announced by CA/Sega (although it would be very welcome news). Until then, I'm prepared for the next game (after Warhammer) to still be anything.

[LordK9]

Glad you replied; I couldn't remember where I read it (although, in that thread, I got the impression that it was in development). I'll look around a bit - I'm even more curious now; had to be here or the official site as they're the only ones possible for me.


EDIT: No luck; I think it was in the Rome section because I remember stating something like, "MTW-III!!? - I haven't even played II yet :) ).

[Age]

I would love to go try some but can't play it anymore miss it.