I Need Help...

[McNulty]

Hello all,

I recently purchased Medieval Total War on the P.C. and have already run into a couple of things I need help with. I already got some questions answered, but I could also do with help on the following points...

Is there any way to cancel an alliance without declaring war on the former ally? The reason I ask is that I recently had a game when I allied with the ruler of Poland (even going as far as marrying on of the princesses to him). It wasn't long however when an assassin tried to kill one of my lords! Under questioning, this vile wretch confessed that he was sent by the ruler of Poland! This isn't what an ally should do and I would have liked to have broken relations with Poland, but I didn't know how to do this.

[Mithrandir]

Welcome.

Try to get an alliance with one of your allies enemies, that should force you to chose between the 2 and thus give you the option to end you alliance...

[ShadesWolf]

Or you could always send your own assasin

[BHCWarman88]

or you could go to War with them,but you don't want to..

[Mithrandir]

btw. If assasins are all you're worried about, build border forts if you can afford them, small one time investment with great pay-off :)

[Antagonist]

It always seemed to me that either all alliances are completely insincere or the MTW AI uses assassins in a way which is completely unconnected from the diplomatic system, since I often find that everyone is out to get me with hired killers even if otherwise they seem to love me. It particularly bothered me that the Pope seemed to have it in for me, despite my attempts to behave as an exemplar of Christian monarchy...

Antagonist

[Keba]

Return the favour with your own assassins ... it's called politics, smile at him, help him in war ... and keep trying to stab him in the back.

You say you married one of your princessess to him ... good, now kill the ruler, and the entire family, every one last of them, grab a bit of territory.

I play Byzantines too much, I've gotten too used to that kind of politics.

Oh, and offing the Pope repeatedly is entertaining as hell, plus, it is useful when you've just been excomunicated.

As for defense ... border forts and spies in your territories help a lot.

[Ludens]

It always seemed to me that either all alliances are completely insincere or the MTW AI uses assassins in a way which is completely unconnected from the diplomatic system, since I often find that everyone is out to get me with hired killers even if otherwise they seem to love me. It particularly bothered me that the Pope seemed to have it in for me, despite my attempts to behave as an exemplar of Christian monarchy...

I think part of the problem is that the A.I. does not realize that its assassins can get caught in your land and tries to send them by the shortest route. They need not necesarily be out for your skin. Also, it's a fool who doesn't gather information on allies as well as enemies.

On the other hand, in S:TW some faction were very reliable allies and some would stab you in the back just because they had nothing better to do. I presume it is the same in M:TW, only faction personalities change more often.

[Stormcrow]

You say you married one of your princessess to him ... good, now kill the ruler, and the entire family, every one last of them, grab a bit of territory.

....

As for defense ... border forts and spies in your territories help a lot.

Yes ! to both suggestions :)
I find it's usually not worth the trouble of marrying someone off and then going after their heirs..just going to war frontally is much quicker :).

And on spies : spies also help to keep your people happy, so their use is double :).

[McNulty]

Thanks for all your suggestions! BTW, are assassins any good in intercepting enemy assassins, or is it just emissaries?

Also, if I do get excommunicated, is there any way for to get in the Pope's good graces enough to have this lifted?

[Martok]

Thanks for all your suggestions! BTW, are assassins any good in intercepting enemy assassins, or is it just emissaries?

Assassins can intercept enemy assassins as well. Just make sure you don't have a border fort, though, or it will get the credit for capturing the enemy agent instead of your assassin.

Also, if I do get excommunicated, is there any way for to get in the Pope's good graces enough to have this lifted?

Yep. You kill him off, or send your king on a suicide mission.

[Ludens]

Thanks for all your suggestions! BTW, are assassins any good in intercepting enemy assassins, or is it just emissaries?

Emissaries do not intercept enemy assassins, other than by sometimes managing to survive an assassination attempt and turning the tables on the attacker. The best way to intercept them are border forts. You can also use spies and assassins. I prefer spies, since they keep a province more loyal, but most people seem to use assassins because they get experience by catching other assassins/spies (provided no border fort is present, like Martok said) and you really need this if you want to use them for assassination missions.

[McNulty]

Next Question: What is a compass and how does one go about getting it for my empire? I cannot build better ships without one.

[Antagonist]

IIRC, Compass (and Gunpowder) simply become available around a certain date in the campaign, you don't research them or anything. I can't remember the dates I'm afraid, but I'm sure someone else can.

Antagonist

[Ciaran]

The compass comes around at about 1180 or something like that, but you´ll have to wait for the start of High era to make use of it, for only then the Cogs become available.
Gunpowder enters the field around 1260.

To get back to the pope´s good graces you can also wait until he calls for a crusade. If you´ve got any crusade markers in reserve, start a crusade against the faction the pope wants hit, et viola, you´re back in the Church´s clutches. I´m not sure whether this works with any crusades (I doubt it, I´m not even sure if you can start a crusade - even with existing crusade markers - if you´re excommunicated) , but called-for ones are fine.

[The Stranger]

the best way to train assassins is by eliminating 0 star heirs and 0 star kings just drop 10 assassins on m and one will do the job. then you immediatly have like a 4 star assassin

[Martok]

the best way to train assassins is by eliminating 0 star heirs and 0 star kings just drop 10 assassins on m and one will do the job. then you immediatly have like a 4 star assassin

I've done that; I actually employed this method to deliberately start a civil war within my own faction (Danes). The current king was a piece of crap, so I sicced two 0-star assassins on him. Imagine my surprise when the first one took him down right away. Talk about beginner's luck! The guy immediately became my prime assassin, and was dispatched on all sorts of "errands".

[McNulty]

Next question: I have had a few battles and now some of my groups of soldiers are quite depleted. Is there any way of recruiting more soldiers to original battallions, so I can field a strong force with experienced leaders, or do I have to disband the groups with only 2 or three soldiers left in them?

[Martok]

Next question: I have had a few battles and now some of my groups of soldiers are quite depleted. Is there any way of recruiting more soldiers to original battallions, so I can field a strong force with experienced leaders, or do I have to disband the groups with only 2 or three soldiers left in them?

Yes, depleted units can replenish their numbers, but you must first make sure they're in a province where they can be trained (i.e., a unit of Royal Knights cannot be refilled if they can't be recruited in the province they're currently stationed).

If they are in a province where they can be trained, then open up that province's training queue. Click on the army stack that has the unit(s) you want to retrain to full strength. Then just click-and-drag the depleted unit into the province's training queue, and they'll be replenished back to full strength! Note: Depleted units will have their ranks filled out with raw recruits, so the unit's average valour will go down.

[McNulty]

Thanks to everyone who have taken the time to help out this newbie!

[Geezer57]

Next question: I have had a few battles and now some of my groups of soldiers are quite depleted. Is there any way of recruiting more soldiers to original battallions, so I can field a strong force with experienced leaders, or do I have to disband the groups with only 2 or three soldiers left in them?

If two of your depleted units of the same type start a turn in the same province, you can drop the one you want reinforced on top of the one you're willing to discard and merge the two in one (provided their total is less than the max unit size). Right-click on each before the merge, check their stats and V&V's, then choose which personality remains after the combining. This way you keep veteran units from being diluted by raw recruits. If that isn't a problem for you, then just follow Martok's advice above.

[Archayon]

btw. If assasins are all you're worried about, build border forts if you can afford them, small one time investment with great pay-off :)

Since it's called border fort, do you only need to build some in the border provinces of your imperium (and the ones with a port), or in every single province?
Hm, i think when assassins do get the chance to pass the border province with BF, you have a greater chance to capture them when your inland provinces have BF too. Am i wrong in this? Suggestions?

The compass comes around at about 1180 or something like that

it's 1170.
I thought some factions have ships in early requiring the compass to be built, but i'm not sure.



Archayon

[Ludens]

Hm, i think when assassins do get the chance to pass the border province with BF, you have a greater chance to capture them when your inland provinces have BF too. Am i wrong in this? Suggestions?

Correct. Though a border fort is sufficient to catch most intruders, experienced assassins and spies can escape them (though it would be unwise to let them hang around in a province with border forts for too long). I tend to build them mainly in borderprovinces and leave my hinterlands protected by spies only.

[Archayon]

Correct. Though a border fort is sufficient to catch most intruders, experienced assassins and spies can escape them (though it would be unwise to let them hang around in a province with border forts for too long). I tend to build them mainly in borderprovinces and leave my hinterlands protected by spies only.

thx!
since the cost of a spy and a BF are equal ...
it might be useful indeed to put spies in the hinterlands,
catch some eventual assassins and gain valour.


Does someone know how efficient a spy is,
comparing to a border fort,
and how high does the valour have to be
to match a BF ?
what should i choose?

[McNulty]

More great advice! But I am still having a problem. Despite the fact that I have several Dockyards built, and it is currently 1215, (I know this because the Magna Carta has just been signed), I still cannot build anything better than a Dockyard. I have an Admiralty built, but apart from giving one of my nobles a title, it doesn't seem to do much else. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong, and how I can build a Shipbuilder's Guild?

[Ludens]

Does someone know how efficient a spy is,
comparing to a border fort,
and how high does the valour have to be
to match a BF ?
what should i choose?

I think border forts are more effective than spies, but once the spy gets a few valour points, say three or four, he will catch intruders that the border fort misses. Personally, I use border forts for border defense, but also recruit many spies for covert ops. The alternative, relying on spies, is slightly more risky, but it will help you valour-up your spies fast.

Despite the fact that I have several Dockyards built, and it is currently 1215, (I know this because the Magna Carta has just been signed), I still cannot build anything better than a Dockyard. I have an Admiralty built, but apart from giving one of my nobles a title, it doesn't seem to do much else. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong, and how I can build a Shipbuilder's Guild?

You need a Fortress and a Cannonfoundry as well as a dockyard to build a Shipbuilder's Guild. You cannot build a Cannon Foundry until gunpowder is invented in 1260. The Admiralty indeed only serves to give you a title.

[McNulty]

And another quick question: Is there any way to attack the Papal States without all of Catholic Europe (including many of my own people) from rising against me! Because how else am I am going to finish this complete domination campaign?

[McNulty]

Also, what is the point of the Compass, if you can't build better ships until the advent of gunpowder?

[Ludens]

And another quick question: Is there any way to attack the Papal States without all of Catholic Europe (including many of my own people) from rising against me! Because how else am I am going to finish this complete domination campaign?

Simple: wait until the last to take it. If you do it earlier, the Pope will keep re-emering with stronger armies, so it is usually best to leave it until last.

Also, what is the point of the Compass, if you can't build better ships until the advent of gunpowder?

I think it gives you access to the Caravel, a deep water ship.

[Ciaran]

No, the caravel isn´t available until High era starts, I´m not sure, but I think that with the compass invented you can build the second shipbuilder level, though it won´t give you any benefits until the beginning of the High era.