Hello! And a few questions...

[stovell]

Howdy, nice to meet you all!

I just recieved Medieval: Total War for christmas. I would say it's a good game, but that would be an understatement of biblical proporions - it's the best game I have ever played!

I have been a long time Age of Kings and Civ. II player, and I thoroughly love the mix MTW brings. I've always been interested in history and the medieval period (why I love CIV and AOK) but no game has been truer to history than MTW. For the last week I have been glued to the computer playing it as much as I can, at the moment I'm playing as Italy (Early, Hard, great achievements) concentrating on naval supremacy and getting rich through trade to boom in the high period.

My favourite part of the game is the campaign play, which means I seldom command attacks personally because I just want to know who won to go onto the next turn, but after reading around here a bit it seems I would be much better of commanding attacks personally, especially on my crusades into the desert areas.

I do have some questions for those of you more enlightened than myself:

1. What propotion of battles do you personally play? Only big ones or every single one?
2. Am I the only one who hates the Papacy (though it makes the game seem so much more realistic)? And how many people here lose it and invade Rome?
3. I'd love to play the campaign game multiplayer, but after reading the manual it seems this is not possible (though it's a little vague). Is it? Or is there a way to play with two players at the same computer at least?

Thanks, when I become more proficient at battles (and get a faster internet connection) I might see some of you on the field!

Paul

[Mithrandir]

Welcome to The Org.

1.Every single one except the kamikaze attacks the AI throws at you.
2.No
3.No, too bad, but no :(

[bretwalda]

1. At the beginning I play each and every battle because they make a difference and because they are interesting. Later on sometimes I decline to play the boring ones or the siege battles (there the AI seems to be doing better than I sometimes ... and they can be boring, too) Sometimes I don't play those battles, where I send my small pieces of mercenary units into the enemy: because they don't matter and anyway the size of the army matter not the losses in this case. Also I skip playing if there are lots of broken units in my side and I don't want to bother with so many undersized units...

2. Well, you are not the only one... the best if you keep some faction between you and the Pope...

3. Nope.

[AmbrosiusAurelianus]

I do have some questions for those of you more enlightened than myself:

1. What propotion of battles do you personally play? Only big ones or every single one?
2. Am I the only one who hates the Papacy (though it makes the game seem so much more realistic)? And how many people here lose it and invade Rome?
3. I'd love to play the campaign game multiplayer, but after reading the manual it seems this is not possible (though it's a little vague). Is it? Or is there a way to play with two players at the same computer at least?

Paul

Hi,

in answer to the first point I play as many of the battles myself as I can, but later on this gets a bit much, so I do let the computer decide it for me, but only if I am nearly certain that my army would win. One has to make a judgement in each individual case and look out for any reinforcements the computer might have.
Yes I find the Papacy annoying as well. That's just life in the Middle Ages for you, I'm afraid!
Multiplayer campaigns? Who would get any sleep then?! Best of luck and welcome on board.
Regards,
Ambrosius.

[Krusader]

Hey

1. Every single siege. This is to reduce casualties, as when auto-resolved you can easily lose more men than necessary. I play most battles, but like Mithrandir said, the kamikaze attacks and battles I think will be boring I just auto-resolve.

2. Papacy can be a bitch, but I always send a emissary to the king, whos land I want to invade, and let him stay there until I get the warning from the Pope. Then I finish all sieges and call for ceasefire. Most times, this tactic works. I always leave the Pope with one province when Im at war with him. And when Im close to finishing the campaign, I take the last province.

3. Nope

[ichi]

Welcome to the Org Stovell

I fight almost every battle, and think that fighting the battles is really the best part of the game. You get to use those units you worked so hard to train and upgrade.

So far it seems to me that almost everyone dislikes either the Pope, the French, the Byz, or the Mongols. I love all of God's children and work hard to kill or dominate them without prejudice for one or another.

No you cannt play the campaign online, but . . .

the online battles are quite fun. After you get used to the controls and units by fighting campaign battles, then try the historical campaigns and battles, the practice with Custom Battles if like, then be sure to try out MTW online.

ichi

[Pericles]

Welcome :)

Yes it is a great game.

You are missing out on one the best things about MTW: playing and commanding the tactical battles.

You will need to learn about your troops, about formations, about tactics, etc.

Tactical battles can be especially enjoyable if you win a battle where you are heavily outnumbered.

Some large battles can take some time, but there is no other game I am aware of, where you can command your troops on a medieval battlefield, and where your personal intervention can often decide whether your troops will be defeated or gain a victory.

The personal satisfaction of snatching victory from a possible defeat will be highly rewarding.

You are in for some highly memorable battles :)

[claymore]

I'm a new member / learner too and have played as many battles as I can to get experience. For me this has made the campaign side of the game a means to initiate battles with new and unusual opponents. Resulting in a lot of thrashings and a few victories along the way. After about two weeks I have managed to get the hang of which tactics to adopt in which situations which can be a bit trial and error. Last night I won my first offensive bridge battle against a numerically superior golden horde in Khazar. Which put a smile on my face. I have tended not to fight many siege battles as I find them less interesting but I think when you automatically resolve those battles you tend to suffer more losses than when you play them out.

I don't think there is anyone who doesn't like the Pope?

[Adrian II]

Hello Stovell, welcome on board. We've all been glued to that screen when playing M:TW and some of us still are. Once you get the feeling you've seen it all (which probably won't be soon) you can always download one of the brilliant mods made by experienced members of the .org.

I'd say you are missing the best part of the game if you decline to fight your own battles. It's the hardest part of the game, but it's also the most rewarding. There is always the 'pause' button to help you out in the beginning - but don't get used to that, or you'll be unable to play MP scenarios.

One reason for fighting at least some of your own battles is that it teaches you about battlefield dynamics and shows you why a particular army is superior to another. If you want to become a proficient campaign player, one thing you should know is how to compose your armies before sending them off to do battle against a particular opponent. What mix of missile troops, spears, swords and horses is most effective against the average Almohad army, against a horde of Spanish jinetes, or against a host of Byzantine Kataphraktoi? Apart from that, battles are usually great fun once you learn to handle large armies and use weather, heights, woods and other natural features to your advantage.

As for your questions:

1. I play all battles at the start of a campaign, later on I play only the large, more interesting and challenging battles, particularly those where I know (or reckon) I'll do better than the AI.

2. We all hate the Papacy, to the point where it's become a running gag of the .org.

3. Campaign MP is the wave of the future - it is only a matter of time before some company comes up with a game combining online campaign MP with role playing and other features of online gaming.

Meanwhile, be sure to report back once in a while and tell us about your campaigns, about your tactical progress and about possible problems. There is no shortage of helpful members here.

[JR-]

only about 5% of battles, usually defensive set pieces where i must hold an important province and have a tailored army to do so.

usually avoid the italian peninsular like the plague, can't stand having 4000+ popish buggers spring up regardless of how loyal the province in question is.

[TwinMfg]

Due to system limitations, I generally just command the small battles. Any large battle where I'm vastly outnumbered, or it is a critical battle, I'll take command. But I have to pause a lot because my mouse cursor is way slow/choppy.

As for the pope, he was a major political power in that era and could easily influence entire kingdoms. I understand the whole crusade thing, and even the threats of excomm when you attack a fellow catholic. Afterall, the pope's "purpose" is to spread the faith, not kill it. I can even understand him attacking the muslim, orthodox, and excomm nations. But attacking a catholic nation that he is at peace with? C'mon! That's why I keep a large army nearby whenever I share a border with him. I won't attack first, unless I've been excomm'd (which I try to avoid like the plague for RP purposes), but when he picks a fight I finish. I'll raze his provences, soak some florins out of them for a few turns, then hand them over to rebels before he returns. When he comes back, there little to fear. Usually.

I don't MP at all, so its moot to me.

[OlafTheBrave]

I fight all my battles even the insanly lopsided ones just to control what units take casualties.

The Pope is a nuisance but he can be managed.

[kiwitt]

I am like you, I enjoyed the same RTS, but MTW is just light years ahead. Now if they only did a Civ game, with 3D battle for all types of armies.

Imagine if your civ develop tanks before the others and you "blitzkrieg" the opponent. Still MTW has the Gothic Knights and Spanish Lancers, which help to give the "shock" factor.