Your First Custom Battle in M2:TW Will be...

[Guillaume le Batard]

Custom battles are always my first stop after installing a Total War game -- to get a feel for changes to the combat mechanics, as well as take a peek at the unusual units. Just curious as to what your plans are for your very first custom battle in Medieval II Total War.

Will it be a test battle of two spear units to gauge combat speed rates?

Will it be a random quick-battle so that you can just jump in without making any decisions?

A chance to get re-acquainted with a favorite faction? A particular unit?

I have a real weakness for audio effects, and a decent sound system through which to absorb it all, so my first custom will undoubtedly be an battle between random factions with musketeers and gunpowder artillery.

Cheers,

Guillaume

[Furious Mental]

When I get a new Total War game my first battle is always a 4v4 battle just so I can see as many of the new units as possible

[Lusted]

Same, my first custom battle will be between Sicilly, Spain, Venice and England to decide who to play first.(yes, i am aware Sicilly isn't a starting faction, but im sure it wil be as easy to unlock as factions were in RTW).

[Ulstan]

To send various knights hurtling full tilt into packed ranks of spearmen to see what results.

[Orda Khan]

My first custom battle will be a historical battle that I create myself to depict the Battle of Legnica (Liegnitz)

.......Orda

[Sun of Chersonesos]

id like to get a feel for what my faveourite faction is going to be, and what faction i will first use in the multiplayer custom battle. I will undoubtedly pick Venice first for no apparent reason.

However as Guillaume was talking about getting a feel of being-in-control and knowing what your doing, in my opinion the best way to do that is to play the prologue/tutorial.
Hopefully there will be a little tutorial on how to custom battle, scenario's,money, these new auto-rules with the 6 max and whatnot.

[Tamur]

...a 1v1 battle -- two units of vanilla pikemen each side, a flat map, and a stopwatch After that, Ulstan's idea is battle #2.

[BaldwinIV]

I'll play my first custom battle with the Byzantines against the Turks. It will be a great fun for me and my Latinkons, Kataphraktoi and Varangians

[Tiberius maximus]

my first battle will be what i think is called the siege of Malta(i could be wrong) in which 300 hundred hospitallers took on the turks.

[CaesarAugustus]

My first battle will definently be played as Venice, but I don't know if Venice was involved in any big (land) battles over the course of history. I'll look into it and make the oppsoing force my opponents. (or I'll kill the French, that's always fun )

[Bob the Insane]

A giant peasant battle, used to tweak the graphics setting to a place half way between sexy and slick...

[the_mango55]

Well, first I will do a couple of battle set ups where I select 8 factions and look at all the units from each, then the next 8 factions and look at all those units, etc.

Then I will pick two of the factions that had units I really liked, and will do a medium to large battle with 10-12 units per side.

[Maizel]

I'll take a couple of the same units, with different weapon/armor upgrades and see how visually evident the upgrades are on the battlemap

[BDC]

English v French, longbowmen and MAA against knights and MAA.

[Incongruous]

One massive battle between four nations, all knights. Wooohooo, goy eyecandy, yeah!

[Basileus]

I only play custom battles when i get bored with campaign games heh, so it will most likely take a while i hope.

[lars573]

My First Custom Battle in M2:TW Will be, many weeks (or months) after I buy the game. And it will probably be the Aztecs.

[The_678]

Mine will be me playing as the Danes and fighting the English. This is because the Danes are my fav faction and I want to see how well my Vikings can slaughter a basic western enemy. Also because I love the longbows and want to see how they hold up. This battle will let me play with my beloved danes and see how the longbows and knights hold up to them.

[TigerVX]

A Byzantine, Turkish, English, Mongol four way battle with as many melee and cavalry units as possible. Of course, I'd lose the battle. I'd be much too busy watching in amazement at all the new sync-kills then to command

[Peasant Phill]

my first battle will be what i think is called the siege of Malta(i could be wrong) in which 300 hundred hospitallers took on the turks.

It was called the great siege and there was more than just one fort under siege. (If I'm not mistaken Gozo, a smaller Island north of Malta but still part of it, was conquered).

[Incongruous]

And Fort St.Elmo.

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

An english army against an Aztec horde for me. I'd like to see the whole english roster plus the mercenary units.

[scourgeofrome]

An Aztec vs. Muslim army located in Northern Europe. I love the wierd and probably impossible battles.

[Darsh]

France vs English to test all the French unit roster.

[Brighdaasa]

i don't play custom battles, straight to the campaign for me
that is, after turning unit glow and other silly stuff off in preferences.txt

[Doug-Thompson]

Horse archers vs. some infantry unit, to make sure HA work properly.

[Dutch_guy]

Probably me playing the Turks (going heavy on the JHI of course ) versus the Egyptians, whom I intend to completely humiliate and destroy in every single one of my games.

[cannon_fodder]

Probably a large battle involving only firearms.

[Faenaris]

Same as cannon_fodder, but that is about it. I prefer to mess around in the campaign. I love it when I over-depend on certain unit I haven't used before, only to lose a battle because of that. Strange, I know. :)

[spong]

Priorities for me:

1.) Test out which faction best supports my playstyle, will probs try most of them but am particularly interested in; England, HRE, Poland, Denmark, possibly various Eastern factions

2.) Play with various units to see how they react to each other with the new combat mechanics. I like what someone said earlier about knights vs. spears

3.) Play with guns and cannons

4.) Play about releasing crazy units against peasant armies to laugh at the carnage - elephants for a start, 'organ guns' second...

5.) Once I've picked a favourite faction play a straight-up land battle as them against a random enemy

6.) Play a few sieges, attacking and defending.

7.) Start the campaign!