IGN Article

[TheSilverKnight]

http://pc.ign.com/articles/682/682437p1.html

It has a list of the factions, and they are as follows...

There will be 21 playable factions for custom battle and multiplayer. England, France, Scotland, Holy Roman Empire, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Milan, Venice, Papal States, Sicily, Poland, Russia, Hungary, Byzantium, The Turks, Egypt, The Moors, The Mongols, The Tumurids, The Aztecs.

We've included several factions that weren't included in the original Medieval; examples being Scotland, Venice and Portugal.

Personally I'm a bit upset. The factions don't array for the wide possibilities that are available in certain theatres, such as the British Isles, Germany, and Iberia. In Iberia, the Aragonese/Catalan faction should be a major one. In Britain, well, I suppose England and Scotland are the only major players, but Wales was an important theatre as well. If Germany is denied, then not much will be going on in the field there besides occasional skirmishes between HRE and Poland.

To be honest, I'd like CA to work on the factions and expand on them a bit, break up Spain into Castile & Aragon, maybe add two more German factions...Hohenstraufens & Habsburgs perhaps.

Does anyone know of how the provinces will be divided up according to duchies or anything like that? IMO, CA needs to work a bit on their choice of factions.

[SirGrotius]

I like your suggestions of breaking up the big three (England, Iberia, and the HRE). I guess Germany, Spain/Portugal and England sell better than talking about Wales, the Habsburgs, and the Catalines.

One other thing I noted (and thanks for the link), was something about increasing prestige. I wonder how prestige/influence will be handled. I think it could be a bit more robust than in MTW.

[Lentonius]

personally as long as the '21 faction' thing isnt hardcoded im alright

[ajaxfetish]

Two things about the 21 factions listed in the article.

First, it says 21 playable factions. In M:TW1 there were at least 7 non-playable factions along with the playable ones (of which I think there were originally only 12?). Some of those were made playable with the expansion, which could be a possibility here, and modding filled any other big holes.

Second, the list only applies to Multiplayer. He said they hadn't yet decided on a final faction roster for the single-player campaign, so it could well have more (or even--cringe--fewer) factions available.

For a starting number I don't think 21's bad at all (certainly not compared to the original), as long as there's the possibility of picking up some of those other pivotal nations in the expansion or with mods.

Ajax

[Martok]

I still really like the part where your senior Priests can become Cardinals, and that one of them could eventually be elected Pope, thus improving your faction's standing with the Holy See.

[Mithrandir]

Gah!Aztecs!

[DukeofSerbia]

Spain is only a fiction. Castille and Aragon should be there.
Russia is also fiction. Kievan Rus were divided into numberless principalities.

[Martok]

Spain is only a fiction. Castille and Aragon should be there.
Russia is also fiction. Kievan Rus were divided into numberless principalities.

Agreed. I like VikingHorde's XL Mod because it at least splits up the "Russians" into the Novgorods and the Kievans. I also like that he renamed the "Spanish" as Castille-Leon, which was a nice (if superficial) improvement.

Also, I'd ideally prefer there be far fewer "rebel" provinces in Medieval 2, as most of them were legitimate kingdoms in their own right (even if they were only minor powers with not much influence on the world stage). Yes, I realize it wouldn't be practical for CA to make that many factions even if they were unplayable, but I can still dream.... [wistful grin]

[doc_bean]

As an example, a swordsman might do a swing to the left, a swing to the right, followed by a stab to the stomach knocking his opponent down. He might then spin around, and deliver a merciless finishing strike to the enemy while he's lying helpless on the ground.