El Diablo Campaign

**Vladimir** · 08-01-2006, 12:42

I'd recommend you jump straight in to XL and play the Armenians. So far they've offered me the most rewarding experience.

**Scurvy** · 08-01-2006, 12:53

XL Norway. Sweden or the Volga-Bulgars --> the best 3 i'v played so far (starting early)

XL is huge improvement on original vi, so i really reccomend getting it :P

**Peasant Phill** · 08-01-2006, 14:37

Well if we start right away with mods.

I would also recommend XL (haven't played any other mods)
possible factions:
- Cumans or Volga-Bulgars if you are in to cav strong armies (problem: no new units from high on)
- Scotland or Ireland for challenge and some new units

P.S. @ Vladimir: What was so rewarding about the Armenians? I haven't played them yet but you got me interested.

**Vladimir** · 08-01-2006, 15:55

Originally Posted by Peasant Phill

P.S. @ Vladimir: What was so rewarding about the Armenians? I haven't played them yet but you got me interested.

Thread hijack alert!

I disagree with this. When playing Armenia in Early I went on a ransom war against the Egyptians. It took a while to get enough units built to where I thought I could stand a decent chance I attacked as soon as I could. Having no trade resources I built up some low level farms and that nice 100 man strong AP infantry.

I missed the Sultan but I was able to ransom back a large number of troops. The extra income from the southern providences was nice but I couldn't hold them easily early on. Thankfully the Turks held off attacking until I had wrested the momentum from the Egyptians. The Turks didn't offer much of a challenge as the Byzantines were at war with them as well.

You have to be mindful of what land you take. Always target the most profitable and only build defenses until you dominate the region. After the Turk menace was over I conquered Egypt and took on the Elmos. The fighting in West Africa was interesting because of the light, aggressively oriented armies I faced. Quite often when I attacked I was on the defense. This worked out quite well and the Naphtha crews earned their pay.

I knew victory was assured after I conquered Morocco and was recognized as the faction with the highest income. This all took a while and I wanted for the horde to show up before I took on Byzantium. They had already expanded into the steps and therefore war was imminent. Now the de jure Eastern Roman Empire is the de facto Holy Roman Empire and they're being squeezed into England.

I've managed to groom my heirs quite nicely and have many good generals. For some reason the green_generals command doesn't seem to be working since I upgraded to XP.

I've played with the Irish too but the Armenians were the best: Sandwiched between three superpowers, low on cash and short on luck. The best thing I like about them is that they have a catholic navy.

and:

It's easy when you're cheezy!

I think I detailed my strategy in the XL thread.

Strategically you're in the middle of a crap sandwich, the key is to make your neighbors eat it while you steal their meal. I started off on a ransoming war against the Egyptians. I got there too late to take the Sultan but I captured a lot of troops. Basically just wage a war for profit. If you know the cheesy tricks like using your mounted archers/crossbowmen to take out troops as they stand there you’ll be ok.

On the defense: Just remember that Armenia itself is fairly easy to defend and that the computer thinks in two year cycles. You leave to attack the eggies one year, and return the next to foil its plan. Make sure you produce at least one ship to guard the coast against seaborne invasion. Other than that just use sound tactics and build up your defenses.

It took me until the High era to subdue Africa and the Turks; after that I wanted for the Mongols to arrive to weaken the Byzantines and moved in for the kill. Now the Eastern Roman Empire is the de facto Holy Roman Empire.

Oh yes, and make sure you groom your heirs. Don’t prune them because you need those extra horses.

On horses: I started the game with a different XL version than I have now. In this new version all the medium cavalry become heavies and they’re a little rougher in the desert. I recommend modding the spreadsheets to allow Lesser Armenia to produce AHC, that should do the trick.

Any other way I can help?

Finally:

I'm an XL fanatic and can't see how the game can be enjoyed without it. I also wanted to say good job on the Armenians . They have the best music, horse archers AND mounted crossbowmen (I love mobile firepower), and the armor piercing 100 man strong infantry is nice too. I just wish they had a little more attack value. Oh well, that's what Morocco is for .

I started playing them with an earlier version of the mod which gave me easy medium cav which were taken away(?) after the newest patch and I’m not too impressed with their "royal" knights. I must say that it was like hell fighting across Africa with armored spearmen; I really didn't see any other way to counter all their cavalry and missiles. The beginning was tough as I had to take on the Fatmids(?) for the "ransom the Sultan" bit. Thankfully the Byzantines teamed up with me to take out the Turks, I just hope the horde helps check their expansion

I'm still trying to decide on armored spearmen vs. Latin Auxiliaries. It would be nice though to check the growth of the factions. It's too easy to tech up and generate income; I’m richer then the mighty Byzantines only controlling Africa, the lands south of my starting position and trade. I'm thinking of trying to double the cost and maybe maintenance for troops/buildings.

Whew, that's it.

**El Diablo** · 08-02-2006, 00:18

Ha ha... right lets get this sorted.

All kings die at 56??? That does not seem fair (especially as my heirs/generals have a low life expectancy anyway), so I may have to find the
2.01(?) patch - any hints as the location of this???

As for the faction to play I probably wont install any mods at this stage as they seem to make the game more "challanging" (that to me that means harder and at this stage that means too hard

).

Probably the most compelling argument for any faction was the "has the best music" call for the Armenians

. I must say that I usually have the music off and play my own background music.

(I had a bad experiance in playing a huge amount of hours of Civ II before figuring out you could change the music on that. I still have nightmares about that %&$@# cursed tune.)

Also I find that picking music as to the type of battle you are in helps. No point having mellow music playing when you want to crush an opponent. Similarly faster music may cause a rash charge.

I like the sounds of Spain or Byzantines at this stage. So lets narrow it down to that. I will continue to practise custom battles at home tonight so that I wont make a total fool of myself.

**El Diablo** · 08-02-2006, 01:20

Okay had a look for the 2.01 patch but the totalwar site said that I would not need it as I obtained the VI addition from the Eras pack.

Can anyone confirm this???

**Vladimir** · 08-02-2006, 02:22

Just read what the VI manual says. I can't remember if it has the patch included but I didn't think it did. When you start the game the version should show in the upper left (?) of the loading screen; look for it.