My first bash at MTW :)

**Melbourne** · 04-07-2005, 06:58

Afternoon lads.

Cleaning up my stuff I relise i had bought this game a while back without ever having a chance to play it (Uni :()

Ive done the tutorals and about to have my first crack at a Campain.

Im going to read though ' A Beginners Guide to Medieval: Total War'. Is there anything else you recommend reading before I start?

Also - can you recommend a faction which is easy for a first timer and give me a quick run down about why its easy and its pros and cons.

Much thanks.

**Zarax** · 04-07-2005, 07:44

Byzantines: Lots of cash, excellent early unit roster, no pope and can play any style.

Spanish: Readily available iron, balanced roster through the ages and excellent positioning for expansion.

**BAD** · 04-07-2005, 11:16

You may want to give "The Complete Total War Unit Guide" a look through aswell. I think it's in the same section as the "Beginners Guide" . Aye Byzantines and Spanish are good for 1st time games. Hmmm. . . I haven't ever played the Byzantines myself

. . .

PS - Have fun.

**Melbourne** · 04-07-2005, 12:40

Originally Posted by Zarax

Byzantines: Lots of cash, excellent early unit roster, no pope and can play any style.

Sounds like the ticket

**Zarax** · 04-07-2005, 12:42

Yep, but you'd better have big armies before high as you won't get anything new and you will have a nasty surprise from the north...

***Ringo*** · 04-07-2005, 12:46

I like the English (but then again, i would

) Their homeland is easy to defend, as long as you put the French on the back foot early on, this should give you a good base of power for the rest of the game!

Also you will eventually get Longbow Archers, few of these chaps you won't need much else.

Welcome to the Org btw

**Melbourne** · 04-07-2005, 12:51

Originally Posted by Zarax

Yep, but you'd better have big armies before high as you won't get anything new and you will have a nasty surprise from the north...

Bah, the bad news. :(

Not so sure now.

Originally Posted by *Ringo*

I like the English (but then again, i would

) Their homeland is easy to defend, as long as you put the French on the back foot early on, this should give you a good base of power for the rest of the game!

Also you will eventually get Longbow Archers, few of these chaps you won't need much else.

The English soudns good.

Originally Posted by *Ringo*

Welcome to the Org btw

Cheers

**Zarax** · 04-07-2005, 13:00

Well, once you start making Varangian Guard there's nothing that will really worry you with the Byz, it's just a matter of quantity

**Ash** · 04-07-2005, 13:01

The easiest faction to start with is probably the Byzantines. You can spend money right off the bat. You will have to be very aggressive though against the Turks or you'll get in trouble at one point or another. Same goes for the Egyptians.

My personal favourite are the English. You get to be very aggressive against the French. Plus you inherit rich French lands once you send 'em the way of the dodo...:)
The only downsides are you'll end up at war with HRE and Aragon/Spain very quickly because those factions also want France. So expect to get excommunicated at some point.
And you don't get any real high-tech units like most other factions get.
Although an army of CS, Billmen, CKs, Hobbies/Jinites, Gallowglasses/Clansmen and Longbowmen can't go wrong. And you get them in the early part of the High age.

Spain is also a very good nation to start with. You will have to be aggressive from the bat though, or the Alamohads and Aragon will cause serious problems. They obviously need to die.
Downside is their special units (Lancers, Gendermes) take AGES to tech up to.