Benchmarking ;) when am I doing well improvement wise?

[bretwalda]

Could please some expert give some benchmarks when do I do my province build up well? E.g. by when should I have at least one castle or producing halbediers, etc? Thanks!

[lugh]

I dont count myself an expert but here's what I do . . .

Try to have at least one province developed in advance of the next age, ie have everything you need for chivalric knights built and waiting by 1205. This gives you a short advantage as you can churn out superiour nknights before the AI can.
Have an idea how long this will take you so you know at any given time how far along you are. I dont have the exact figures with me, but I think it takes 58 turns in total for Chivalric Knights, start to finish.
Generally I try to have one province per troop type (Missile, Sword, Spear, Militia, Knight) that you can rush develop. A province preferably on the coast and far enough into your territory that invasion is unlikely to result in loss of build up time.

The benchmarks all depend on what the province is intended for. If you control a natural bottleneck, build defenses exclusively, so you should have a castle in 24 years. etc etc

[bretwalda]

Well, I think in this game I already did it too slow ;) because I overextended my army and it drained my treasury. But I will try to keep that in mind, thanks for the tips!

[CherryDanish]

I don't know about benchmarks, I guess that's largely dependant on playstyle. For me, depending on the faction I'm playing, I like going aggressive very early and then settling down a little for a development cycle (I don't stop taking territory, I just don't make any new enemies). The very first thing I personally develop is my economy. By 1150 I like having a ship in every sea zone. By 1200 I like having a couple fortresses. Once I have a ship in every zone I wipe out every faction I'm at war with and ensure I've taken every feasible rebel help province (anything I can easily defend, or use to launch massive attacks and hold latter).

If you start with the Danes I would lower my benchmarks for tech development, but if you start with the Byz, I would advance it.

[bretwalda]

Well, this IS pretty good as benchmarks... Do you play on normal difficulty? In my present game I did something wrong in the beginning - I almost went bankrupt before I was able to build my fleet. It is 1235 and I still dont have a single fortress and only have a few citadels. But still coping with the enemy - probably I am better tactically ;)

[CherryDanish]

I personally play hard difficulty. I find it challenging, but I'm not hampered by unrealistic arcade style combat penalties. Besides, I really suck at desert warfare and I'd never win if I had to add penalties to my existing handicap.

I don't know what faction you're playing, groups like the Russians, Danes and the HRE take longer to develop. I'm currently finishing a campaign as the Byz and I'm suprised how fast everything has happened since I blitzed on the first year.

I wouldn't worry about benchmarks.

[bretwalda]

I am playing the Hungarians. Being land-locked a bit might makes it a little more difficult. However it is still good to know that I certainly could do better, ie have citadels and fortresses earlier. I don't worry about the benchmarks as I am having fun, just hope that I will improve and good to know that there is plenty of room for improvement... ;)

I personally play hard difficulty. I find it challenging, but I'm not hampered by unrealistic arcade style combat penalties. Besides, I really suck at desert warfare and I'd never win if I had to add penalties to my existing handicap.

I don't know what faction you're playing, groups like the Russians, Danes and the HRE take longer to develop. I'm currently finishing a campaign as the Byz and I'm suprised how fast everything has happened since I blitzed on the first year.

I wouldn't worry about benchmarks.

[CherryDanish]

I am playing the Hungarians. Being land-locked a bit might makes it a little more difficult. However it is still good to know that I certainly could do better, ie have citadels and fortresses earlier. I don't worry about the benchmarks as I am having fun, just hope that I will improve and good to know that there is plenty of room for improvement... ;)

I think the Hungarians are a strong faction, but you must have lost Croatia early to be land locked. Early expansion for the Hungarians is dangerous as you make powerful enemies and you're surrounded like the HRE with powerful foes (furthermore, it's inevitable that the polish and the hungarians will be at war sooner or later, even when played by the AI). That said getting Serbia and holding Croatia, as well as making a play for Venice is key for that faction. Making friends with the Byz until you're strong enough seems like a sensible idea as early on it's unlikely you can beat them until you develop. People who play blitz style will likely do the opposite and crush the Byz early. The moral of the story is being land locked is really slowing your game down.

[bretwalda]

Actually I did not lose Croatia and gained Serbia, Wallachia, Moldavia, Kiev, etc. But none of them had ports they had to be built and I did not build them in time. Also (maybe inappropriately) I bribed some of the armies from the initial 8000 florinsm so I had less money for buildings and improvements. Maybe that was a bad move but this way I beat my adversaries to most "rebel" lands. This also caused my empire being bacwards in terms of tech and units. But I still have the sheer numbers :))

[Grand Duke Vytautas]

I was concerned with that problem, too. My advice: go to www.totalwar.com MTW margin and download MTW begginers guide by frogbeastegg. It covers nearly every aspect what you should know, if you're not an expert. That guide helped me very much in qonquering Europe. Go and read it!

[Tomcat]

That Guide is also on this Org site Grand Duke at: http://www.totalwar.org/strategy/index.shtml

along with The Complete Total War Unit Guide by the same young lady. Can't be bettered!

Tomcat