Best difficulty setting for a rtw newbie?

[Zimfan]

Hello all. I bought RTW and MTW around the same time a few months back, and, attracted mostly by it's graphics, played mostly RTW. I'm on vacation with my fiancee's family right now, but tomorrow she and her mother are spending the whole day watching dds of their favorite show, so I have the whole day to play games, and hearing a lot about mtw's superior gameplay(and seeing some evidence of it in my few VI games), I'm going to give it another try.

I'm having trouble deciding what difficulty to play. I'm tempted to play on medium, since I don't have much exxperience with the game, but I'm afraid that the factions might sit around waiting for me to conquer them without expanding as happens in my medium difficulty RTW games. At the same time, I'm worried that I might get my butt kicked on hard, and get a bit irritated with noone ever allying with me in RTW on hard.(RTW Hard campaign Medium battles, no peasant garrisons is usually a challenge for me). Could someone tell me a bit about the actual difference between the difficulties?

[econ21]

I'd start with medium. I always like medium battles in TW because it gives you "fair" historical match-ups on the battlefield - their men will only outfight yours if they are superior etc.

I forget the details in MTW, but "hard" gives a fairly subtle edge to the AI on the battlefield. "Expert" is a bit more blatant, but not as much as RTWs VH battles.

I don't recall the strategic situation varyingly markedly by the difficulty level: you get less cash to start with but from what I remember, it did not feel that the AI treasure chest varied that much (unlike in RTW VH campaigns).

In my opinion, the Risk-type map of MTW (and STW) can make the AI much more competitive than in RTW. So I would try it on medium and bump up the difficulty level on later campaigns depending on how you find it.

[Zimfan]

I'd start with medium. I always like medium battles in TW because it gives you "fair" historical match-ups on the battlefield - their men will only outfight yours if they are superior etc.

I forget the details in MTW, but "hard" gives a fairly subtle edge to the AI on the battlefield. "Expert" is a bit more blatant, but not as much as RTWs VH battles.

I don't recall the strategic situation varyingly markedly by the difficulty level: you get less cash to start with but from what I remember, it did not feel that the AI treasure chest varied that much (unlike in RTW VH campaigns).

In my opinion, the Risk-type map of MTW (and STW) can make the AI much more competitive than in RTW. So I would try it on medium and bump up the difficulty level on later campaigns depending on how you find it.

I'll try it on normal, then. I prefer a level playing field battlewise too. It seems to make the battles more realistic, and I'm not so great at the games that the battles aren't challenging. I was mostly worried about the ai on the strategic map.

Well tomorrow we shall see if the Danes can conquer the world!

[Martok]

econ21 is correct. Choosing between Normal and Hard isn't really going to affect how agressive the AI is on the campaign map. It would be different if you were playing on Easy (the AI is generally more passive), but obviously you needn't worry about that in your case.

Good luck, Zimfan; may the world come to fear the might of the Danes once more!

[Zimfan]

Thanks for the advice, guys! As my first non Viking era campaign, I'll be focusing mainly on playing, and not taking too many notes or screenshots, but I'll try to take enough to For the mtw empire history/screenshots thread.

While I'm asking newbish questions, could someone tell me what infrastructure to build to get huscarls. I read here that the Danes get them in early and want to pump out as many as possible before late.

[Martok]

I don't remember the exact requirements for Huscarles, but I believe you need a Spearmakers Workshop and Swordsmith. In addition, I'm pretty certain you need an Armourer as well.

At the very least, make sure you've built a Spearmaker and also upgraded your stronghold to a Keep so you can build the Spearmakers Workshop and Swordsmith.

[Geezer57]

While I'm asking newbish questions, could someone tell me what infrastructure to build to get huscarls. I read here that the Danes get them in early and want to pump out as many as possible before late.

You'll need a Swordsmith + Armorer in the provinces of Denmark, Norway, or Sweden.

[sbroadbent]

econ21 is correct. Choosing between Normal and Hard isn't really going to affect how agressive the AI is on the campaign map. It would be different if you were playing on Easy (the AI is generally more passive), but obviously you needn't worry about that in your case.

One thing I have noticed though is that on the Easy difficulty level, there is usually one (sometimes two) factions who are over aggressive, and will take a lot of territory very quickly. It then becomes a match between you and that faction, as very few other factions will even be able to stand against them. I've played in games where factions will get eliminated, usually by the actions of just one faction. Unless you do something early, that aggressive faction will mass alot of troops and alot of ships. You'll likewise need similar resources, or find ways of bringing the faction down. Inquisitors work great against catholic factions.

On the other hand, on the higher difficulties, because more factions tend to be more aggressive, the game is better at keeping things balanced. Fewer factions get eliminated early, and there is more potential for the steamrolling factions to come to a halt, or atleast slow their rate of expansion enough for you to catch up yourself. The only problem with the highest difficulties is that you start out with even less money, and the AI gains boosts in the strategic battles.