What are your favorite factions for MTW?

[Gtafanboy]

Seeing as I do not have VI I am talking about MTW 1.1. My favorite faction is the Danes. I don't know why I like them so much. Maybe it's because they are pretty much the underdog of Medieval Total War. So, what is your favorite faction of MTW 1.1?

[matteus the inbred]

yeah, i like the Danes too, cos no one bothers you until you want to bother them, and you can field enormous raiding fleets full of Vikings...in my current Danish game i own the entire map north of France from Ireland to Muscovy and no one else has any ships left afloat!

also like the Spanish...hard as nails, Lancers, Jinetes, handy non-Christian faction to bash right from the start, awesome.

and the English...longbows + billmen = battlefields repeatedly littered with French corpses.

[Microwavegerbil]

Yeah Danes are big favorite with a lot of people, and I think it's pretty much because they get to decide who to fight and when to fight them. Personally, I can't get enough of the Turks, using my light horse archers and infantry to harrass the Byzantines and Eggies is great. Of course, once we get to late in the campaign the Turks have a really great modernization as their troops become the wonderfully professional Janissaries. A unique unit roster and challenging start position make them good fun to play.

[Gtafanboy]

I do like the Turks also. They have some of the coolest units in the game.

[petertmorgan]

I like the Danes and Turks for the reasons mentioned. The Danes are also fun because they basically start with nothing so you have to build up everything yourself.

But I also really like the Italians. You start with more than the Danes, but are in a slightly more challenging position. Genoese sailors are cool and come early, plus with a good trade network you can advance technologically pretty fast (and get rewarded for doing so with the Italian Medium Infantry).

[matteus the inbred]

true, IMI rock and the Italians tech up well! you've got to pick and choose your strategy very carefully though...i'd say you're more reliant on the Pope being your friend than other factions, he is an immediate military threat as well as a general religious one. i've had some success conquering North Africa and then waiting for the Sicilians to stick their neck out...then you can take advantage of the HRE/French/English scraps that break out and watch the trading money roll in.

[Ciaran]

I don´t know 1.1, I´ve got the budget version with VI included. But in the Medieval campaign I like the HRE (Gothic Knights, Gothic Sergeants, Swiss Halberdiers) or the Italians (same as the Germans, plus Genoese Sailors, Italian Light Infantry and Gendarmes, though worse ships).

[Byzantine_Fury]

Mine would would be the Byzantines as they start out pretty strong in early games but, tend to be weaker if you start in high period, but mainly i like them because of the awesome byzantine infantry argueably one of the best heavy infantry units in the game.

[rvg]

Byz, Danes, Spain.

Byz for their unique feel and Constantinople (my absolute favorite province)

Danes for their Vikings and Longboats

Spain for its Jinettes and Crusades.

[GrandInquisitor]

HRE, italians, and byzantines being my ancestors. sicilians because they are, in my view, one of the most challenging and interesting to play

[elbasto]

I love playing with Spain, starting in a very VERY vulnerable situation, great generals in the beggining and also 4 provinces with Iron in their "National" territory which can ve easly secured in three choke points.

I love being able to train an army of 4 Lancers, 4 Arbalesters, 2 CMAA and 4 guyswithspearsandbigshieldswhosenameavoidsmymemory all of them with golden weapons and armor in 4 turns.

I enjoy a lot having a small but elite army and few but very well developed and very rich provinces. All of this can be achieved with Spain (and still keeping the Catholic's tech tree).

[The Darkhorn]

A) POLAND. I love the challenge and love mounted crossbows. They're great against armor and fast as all get out. Plus, Poland gives me some focus....getting ready for the horde. I figure when I need to take a province in order to get out all the certain unit types I need with +4 armor upgrades and in place where I'll need them. This is no easy feat playing on huge units because it takes 2 turns to build them. Y'all should really try playing huge units. It changes strategy a lot too, especially in the first 50 turns. It makes for a different game. You can't pump out units as fast, so it takes different planning.

B) DANES. ...er...vikings

C) BYZ...currently in 1330 of my first Byz campaign...normal, huge units. Quite a great game so far. I love the VG, but hate the Vanilla Spears. A good challenge

[lugh]

I enjoy a lot having a small but elite army and few but very well developed and very rich provinces. All of this can be achieved with Spain (and still keeping the Catholic's tech tree).

Try 2 LAnce, 1 Rk general, 2 Chiv Foot, 3 Pike, 3 Arqubusiers, 2 Pav Arbs and 3 Culverin.
That was my end game army in my Spainsih campaign and I love them to bits now. I'll be playing Spain if I ever get into MP.

[Vider]

My favorite is the English. I absolutely love Billmen, given that they can take on both calvary and heavy infantry. Having Hobilars is also a big help coming out of the gate.

The Spanish are also very good with Jinetes, Lancers, and all that iron.

The Turks have a great selection of units but a precarious starting position, but I can't say I like controlling HA very much. I certainly do like the results though!

[elbasto]

Try 2 LAnce, 1 Rk general, 2 Chiv Foot, 3 Pike, 3 Arqubusiers, 2 Pav Arbs and 3 Culverin.
That was my end game army in my Spainsih campaign and I love them to bits now. I'll be playing Spain if I ever get into MP.

You can build pikemen with Spain?

[Weebeast]

I like the Byzantine. They got some cool units. I also love the fact that they're in the middle of the map. I can fight the Hungs, Turks, Egyptians, Sicilian, Poles, Novgo, Russian and the Horde. I also can tackle crusades or stop acting as a wall for the western world if I'm feeling like doing so.

My second favorite faction has gotta be HRE for being in the middle of europe, electing emperors, having gothic knights and crusade.

I do often play as French, Italian or English but that's just for the sake of my need of historical recreation (Glory Goals).

You can build pikemen with Spain?

"ARAGONESE, BURGUNDIAN, DANISH, ENGLISH, FRENCH, GERMAN_HRE, HUNGARIAN, ITALIAN, NOVGOROD, PAPIST, POLISH, RUSSIAN, SICILIAN, SPANISH, SWISS" can build pikemen in late period.

[RebelYell]

I love playing as the English. I just love longbows. I love standing back and shooting up their army while they try to get close. I am playing my first GA game with who else but the English. I always considered myself a total conquest guy but this is great. it has opened a whole new world I didn't know existed. I love this game.

[=E.T=]

Spanish , of course!

[JLEACH]

I love the Egyptians. fast inf with strong calv. You can ravage across north africa and start huge wars with the turks and Byz.

[Knight Templar]

I love the Egyptians. fast inf with strong calv.

Agree . Egys are my favourite faction

[Dutch_guy]

English and the Italians.

Both factions get some unique units and you can decided to tech up too, and since I like turtle-ing these factions are ideal.

[m52nickerson]

Poland, great starting postion and right next to the stepps.

[JLEACH]

Italians are good but you have to deal with being stabbed in the back by the Pope. For a man of god he can be a true hellian. Attacks you then the rest of the world hates you?

[Alim]

The Sicilians, because of early naval domination, also Sicily and Naples are very good trading provinces.
The Turks, you always get some good early battles against the Byzantines and the Eggies, and of course their unique units.
In VI, the Scots, simply because of the Clansmen.

[lordrune]

The Danes, because they get Vikings

[Evil Eddie]

The Turks. Hard starting position for a challange to get started but some wicked units once you get up and running. A good mixture between Western brute force units and Eastern mobility units.
Nothing quite like Ghazi infantry for cheap expendable shock troops.

[Microwavegerbil]

Gotta love those Ghazi, they rip anything to shreds in a flank. I can't count the number of times they've saved me against a 6+ star jedi general of the Eggies or Byz by taking him down in the charge.

Also not to be underestimated are the Ottoman infantry, though I still can't figure out the period they're available in. IIRC they can be produce if you started your game on high, but in my last early game I couldn't produce them once I got there. That would lead me to believe they're late only, but that wouldn't make sense because who woul want them when you've already got Janissaries by then?

[Tyford]

My favourite factions are:
Early: English, Byzantines
The English and Byzantines are my favourite factions in Early because of good starting positions for both nations.
High: Holy Roman Empire (HRE - Austrians/Germans), English, Byzantines
HRE and Byzantines are my favourite factions in the High Period because they are challenging and the English have a good starting position.
Late: Holy Roman Empire (HRE - Austrians/Germans), French
The HRE are challenging in this period, as are the French (mainly because of Sicily and being surrounded by English, Swiss, HRE, Aragon and Italy)
Viking: Welsh, Vikings, Picts
The Welsh are my favourite faction in the Viking Campaign because they are challenging and different from most of the other factions in terms of land and surroundings. The Vikings are good because of their sea-raiding abilities and the Picts are good because of their starting position: it's poor, likely to be attacked by Vikings and it's a good base against the other British and Irish nations.

[naut]

Sicilians are my favourite, With a master merchant 15000 florins of income in Sicily from trade is great

[NodachiSam]

So far Byzantine and the Danes are my favourites. The Serbians in XL look fun too but I have yet to play them.