To Upgrade or Not To Upgrade

[c0c0c0]

I've been playing M:TW for about a year now, and I'm at the point where I'd like something a little better. Unfortunately, there isn't much out there in this genre that looks particularly promising. To be specific, I enjoy turn based strategy games, particularly those that allow me to play Poland (my much neglected homeland). Within that genre, I prefer games with good peaceful tools, like diplomacy and economics.

That said, is there any value (for me) in getting Viking Invasion? I'm not particulalry interested in the new geography, so the scenario won't do it for me. Improvements on the battle-side don't matter much either, since I avoid the real-time aspects as much as I can. So what else doe VI offer to make an upgrade worthwhile?

Thanks

c0c0c0

[Knight_Yellow]

Yes.


Theres a few more units for every side in the original campaign that VI adds and im sure a few factions get added that wherent available before.


Not to mention fixing some bugs.

[katank]

new units are the main thing. cool units for the polish. you have a very good shot at getting to moldavia and building avar nobles which are IMO best heavy cav in early and expansion to the steppes makes for steppe heavy cav which are cav archers that are capable in melee.
you also get armoured spears which are just slightly worst than chivalric sergeants but available in early.

you also get an update of vices and virtues which is good.

sieges now attrits the besieger.

you also get a cool prebattle screen.

definately worth it.

[c0c0c0]

Quote[/b] (Knight_Yellow @ Mar. 01 2004,10:44)]Not to mention fixing some bugs.

What kinda bugs got fixed? Anything truly annoying, or just minor stuff?

c0c0c0

[Bodew]

It was definatly worth it for me. The pre-battle screen which allows you to select with units will be on the battle field and the order of reinforcments is a big improvement. For you, the diplomacy has little change and is still week, but I beleive their are new units available for the Polish.

[[DnC]]

From the manual (literally taken, well sorta):

Citaat[/b] ]So what's new?

If you've played Medieval: Total War, you will find the basics of the game work as they always did, with one important exception that we'll come to in a minute. However new features have been added to many parts of the game by Medieval: Total War - Viking Invasion:

*A new pre-battle system that allows you to organise your army and reinforcements, particulary the order in which reinforcements appear during a battle. This system works in the old Medieval: Total War periods, and in the new Viking period.

*A new campaign set on an expanded map of the British Isles.

*Eight new Viking era factions, including the Vikings themselfs The Vikings have special abilities to reflect their skills as raiders and seafarers.

*A new technology tree for the Viking era allowing construction of Dark Age buildings and the training of new unit types.

*Three new playable factions for the original starting dates in Medieval: Total War - the Aragonese, Hungarians and Sicilians, complete with their own specialised unit types.

*New unit types for many of the existing factions in Medieval: Total War. Some new units will only appear as rebel forces, so it's worth to keeping a sharp eye out for new and interesting opponents too - perhaps they can be bribed

*Taverns and Brothels can be upgraded to produce Assassins and Spies with high starting valour.

*New artillery features for use in both Viking Invasion and original Medieval: Total War such as flaming catapult missiles, boiling oil and (for the original game only) the Orgun Gun, a fearsome multibarrelled anti-personnel cannon.

Besides there are good mods out there that might spark your interest that require VI. Such as WesW's MedMod v3.14 and soon coming v4.** and Napoleonic Total War which IIRC also has the Polish as a faction

[Phatose]

Just got it today. Aside from the things mentioned so far, I noticed a change to the campaign overview map, the little color coded one of all europe. Areas you can't see because you don't have a border or agent are now transparent gray instead of black. Which is actually quite nice, since in the original German lands and Unknown lands both appeared as black.

I've also been told that the spies/assasins caught in a year has all been compressed to a single update scroll. Which should be nice, at least for me. If you take internal security seriously, you can end up with a lot of folks getting whipped in a year.

[Kropazz]

Don't forget that u can upgrade your assassins and spies just by building different buildings. That is pretty cool to

[katank]

oh yeah, also valor bonuses now reflect properly for multiple units having bonuses in the same province.

notably, assasins get +2 in syria. with all upgrade buildings, you can have ready made killers at 5*

[econ21]

Well, if you've played MTW for a year then you are pretty into it and the expansion would probably be worth it. There are some good tweaks to the main game: the pre-battle window where you can choose the order of your reinforcements is a big one; better simulation of sieges is another (buildings don't get destroyed unless the castle falls; sieging costs lives; and auto-resolving assaults hurts). The AI is a little better too - slightly better army selection, more ships build, better strategic moves (Danes taken Sweden early now etc). Rebellions are toned down.

For Poland in particular, you get access to armoured spearmen (and horsemen) which is welcome on early. Your neighbours are also more interesting (new units for Rus, Hungarians, steppe heavy cav etc).

But seriously, c0c0c0, I must recommend you give the battles a real go. I loathe the generic real time strategy games as much as the next turn-based grognard but MTW battles are a million miles from that. The availability of the pause key is critical here - you need never feel rushed or that reflexes are important. But the advantages real time gives you in terms of pace, excitement and realism are tremendous. Playing MTW without doing the battles is like eating a roast dinner without touching the meat (and this is coming from a vegetarian...)

[Eastside Character]

VI is no revolution. Its definitely good to have it tho. The Viking campaign is enjoyable and quite different from the three original medieval campaigns. New units, fixed bugs, but IMHO its not what MI was for STW. I bought VI some 3 - 4 months ago, and to be honest I did it for the mods.

Regards,
EC

[Lord Rom]

I just bought it for multiplayer...wanted to play with me clan mates and the rest of the vets.
Rom

[Gregoshi]

Greeting c0c0c0 (I've only one greeting left, hence the singular ). Welcome to the Org.

If you are truly just into the strategic map and diplomacy, then VI is probably not worth it. There is little if anything significant in the diplomacy/economic area except a different tech tree in the Viking campaign.

However, I would second Simon's comments about giving the battles a shot. I grew up pushing stacks of cardboard counters across boards with hex grids and my mind is definitely more in tune with turn-based games (translate: slower thinker). I'm not brilliant in the battles and will lose battles because I didn't react in time or correctly at a critical point. However, having said that, the battles are simply a blast. My little cardboard units are now units of individual men that move, attack, rout in defeat or become impetuous in victory. It is a thing of beauty to behold. To quote the old Alka Seltzer commercial: Try it. You'll like it.

[Fenris459]

I agree with Gregoshi, Seeing your units march toward the foe as the dust from their passage hangs in the air behind them is one of the most satisfying aspects of the game. I get goose bumps every time I hear the horns signal the charge By all means, give a live battle a try, I'm sure you'll be hooked just as I was.

[Gore]

Upgrade yours MTW to VI ,dowload the lasted patch, latest install Med Mod and then... kickass units like Knights of Dobrzyn, Rycerze, Rycerz Swordsmen, Polish Militia ,Galician Pikemen and maybe more...Polish Retrainers are better (morale,armour,fast,attack) ,Steppe Heavy Cav. too.

[Ulair]

Quote[/b] (Gregoshi @ Mar. 02 2004,22:35)]However, I would second Simon's comments about giving the battles a shot. I grew up pushing stacks of cardboard counters across boards with hex grids and my mind is definitely more in tune with turn-based games (translate: slower thinker).

Ah, those were the days

I can't comment on VI, but I second (or third?) Simon, Gregoshi and others on giving the full battles a go. I'm a confirmed strategy-must-be-turn-based gamer, and previous pointy-clicky real time battle games (Warcraft/C&C, Age of Empires...) I found just rubbish. MTW battles are not like that: the scale is grander, so the pace is slower, but with the right sense of urgency to it. The pause key doesn't freeze the camera, so you can take a breather and survey the battle as often as you want, giving you plenty of proper tactical thinking time (rather than who clicks fastest wins). Also, the default behaviour of your units when not under explicit orders feels right: impetuous cavalry will charge, archers may fire-at-will etc. (they don't stand dumbly while the battle rages round them like AoE...).

That said, the descriptions of the VI mods to the full European strategy game sound good to me - some real value-adds.

Cheers,
Ulair

[Vlad Tzepes]

Quote[/b] ]A new pre-battle system that allows you to organize your army and reinforcements, particularly the order in which reinforcements appear during a battle. This system works in the old Medieval: Total War periods, and in the new Viking period.

For this to properly work you also have to download and install the patch (less than 2 Mb).

I played MTW a lot, then bought VI. It's really worth it

[Senta]

it's most definitely worth it

[Seven.the.Hun]

my vote...WORTH IT...

[Tankred]

The VI is worth of trying. Trust me.