Spain

[Negator_UK]

Ahh the Timurids...

That was the other reason I elected to play Spain ;-)

[Mete Han]

The conquistadors are available only in the new world (that means after turn 160), from towns, citys and so on. But any way the DCK are way better, so really you don't need them in the old world. As for the armor, you need only master armororer, for upgrades, but if are rasing for the swordsmith HQ you will need the factory. The mongols are problem. In fact the only weakness that Spain has in this game is the lack of heavy spearmen. And you will need spears against the mongols, so most probable use merks or crusader ones, since you don't have any (exept militia but these won't do). Also you can use tercio pikemen. They will die like flies from the arrows, but you have many. Basically use CK, DCK, spears or pikemen and passive crossbowmen. O, or muskets if you can. They rule. There is a lot of topics on how to fight mongols and timurids here, so search.

The conquistadors have less heat penalty though so maybe they are better than dck at the holy lands and at the new world.

[Niterider613]

El Cid can now be bribed easier. They also put him at 4 stars :)

[TheLastPrivate]

Use the first 2 princess to your benefit. Also try to check if other faction has any princesses as well since your faction heir is single so far. I married my prince to Sicilian princess, a princess to the Engilsh. Im not sure if my second princess lucked out but I coudln't find any heirs that were single so I married her to Vaasco, the general u get but is not in your family. He's had good traits and did a lot for my early campaign so I thoght he deserved a princess... and made 3 babies the first 2 turns they got married as well.

[Fianna]

My strategy has been one of trial and error so far. There has been a state of perpetual war/stalemate with Portugal. France has been neutral then hostile over the years but it allowed me to take Bordeux ( I think) while England accumulated others. The Pope called a crusade against the French at Toulouse but I got there too late and it went to Milan. I really used that area as a place for my merchants to get cash...but they were awful, and would get acquired more often than not.

The Portuguese were confined to their one territory to the west (Lisbon) and I had an assassin in there who was doing a great job of destroying buildings, bringing the public to a 75% approval level. But, any time I thought I could take the city, I would be met by a family member and they would do a number on me with their bombard weapons.

I hate fighting in the cities because my game slows down to a crawl so for me it's better to fight out in the land.

I began running a serious deficit after profits year after year...not sure if it was trade or what, but the well ran dry. I had this army I was building for the Toulouse crusade and decided to kick the neutral stance I had with the Moors to the dust. I was able to take Granada easily so now I have Cordoba and Lisbon to worry about.

What I would do differently? Immediately strike against Portugal and the Moors and leave the rebel settlements to their own devices for the short term. Time and time again Portugal and the Moors, particularly their Imams, have been my bane.

No more...

[TheLastPrivate]

My strategy has been one of trial and error so far. There has been a state of perpetual war/stalemate with Portugal. France has been neutral then hostile over the years but it allowed me to take Bordeux ( I think) while England accumulated others. The Pope called a crusade against the French at Toulouse but I got there too late and it went to Milan. I really used that area as a place for my merchants to get cash...but they were awful, and would get acquired more often than not.

The Portuguese were confined to their one territory to the west (Lisbon) and I had an assassin in there who was doing a great job of destroying buildings, bringing the public to a 75% approval level. But, any time I thought I could take the city, I would be met by a family member and they would do a number on me with their bombard weapons.

I hate fighting in the cities because my game slows down to a crawl so for me it's better to fight out in the land.

I began running a serious deficit after profits year after year...not sure if it was trade or what, but the well ran dry. I had this army I was building for the Toulouse crusade and decided to kick the neutral stance I had with the Moors to the dust. I was able to take Granada easily so now I have Cordoba and Lisbon to worry about.

What I would do differently? Immediately strike against Portugal and the Moors and leave the rebel settlements to their own devices for the short term. Time and time again Portugal and the Moors, particularly their Imams, have been my bane.

No more...

Get marriage alliance with France and other with possibly scot/England due to their random costal raids on leon. While you're securing your northen borders with women's charms take zaragosa (which the portuguese will have failed) and declare a crusade on cordoba right off the bat.

Instead of finishing them off just kick them out of Iberia, make sure you're allied with the pope, block the land bridge in Gibrolter with a fleet of sheeps, and consolidate Iberia by destroying the portuguese. Don't bother with Bordeoux/touluse and try to keep an eye on the french ( they will keep marriage alliances). Once Iberia is yours finish off moors in marakesh/algeria and grap timbuktu and alguin as well. Once timbuktu/alguin is yours the merchant trade from gold/ivory should fill your treasury quite fast. Swap all castles in iberia into cities except Toledo, and from there you are ready for greatness whatever path you should take.

Don't take too long to consolidate Iberia.

[Quintus.JC]

Spain start with some weak army compared to the other nations, i tend to get excommunicated early on with the Pople because with every faction I play with there are always a rival ready to back stab me, I like to take care of them early on. while with Spain it's portugal. after destroying Portugal you can easily get back into the pope's good graces by fight muslim moors. after uniting the Iberian Penisular head into Africa and keeping going east until Egypt.

[Barbarian]

I also thought that Portugal must be destroyed early in the game. But in the present game, everything is different.
I married one of the princesses to Portuguese King, made alliance, offered trade rights + gave them military access, and received military access from them.
It was not my intention to have a long alliance, only to use them as a shield against moors. However, relationships between Spain and Portugal increased to the max level (due to the marriage, I suppose), and I saw that there is no need to start war with almost the only faction I am not at war yet.
Portuguese beat moors so heavily, that moors now pay regular tribute to me for not attacking them. Then armies from Portugal went through my lands (I thought they were coming to invade at last, as it happens in total war games ) and helped me in war against France. Yes, the really took part into battles. I have some videos from battles, where 1 stack of Spaniards and 1 stack of Portuguese teach lesson to 1 stack of French.


I recently got excommunicated, and pope declared a crusade on one of my cites. Although our relationships worsened a lot, (now the are only at "very good", I think) Portugal refused to take part into crusade against me, and soon they were excommunicated too (not for that, but for attacking France ).

Probably the best alliance I have ever had in Medieval 2.

[Quintus.JC]

I also thought that Portugal must be destroyed early in the game. But in the present game, everything is different.
I married one of the princesses to Portuguese King, made alliance, offered trade rights + gave them military access, and received military access from them. .........................

Sound too good to be true.

[Genaral Julis]

I've just started a new game as Spain...This time I've opted to stay out of the holy land and just bribe my way to the Popes heart. I'm going to focus on europe and The Moors and on the british isles..By the time I'm done..I should have a sizable empire at my command.

*Insert Evil Cackle*

[Paradox]

I did the same. I started to gain the pope's favor right from the start and now my relations with the Papal States are perfect. I quickly advanced two of my generals to capture the rebel settlements to the east and southeast. After that, I arranged a marriage between my faction heir and their princess, only to later betray them by launching a full assault while two of my forces were already positioned at the Portugese castle bordering France and their capital, after a few turns the Portugese were eliminated from one simple assault.

I aimed to gain diplomatic relations with other powerful factions (one of them being France) and allowed my princess to engage in diplomatic affairs to increase her charm until it reached the maximum charm level.

I'm not finished yet and I also forgot to mention that I kicked the Moors out of Iberia. This is a lucky campaign for me, I've been getting a lot of upgrade opportunities one after another for a short period of time and population seems to be increasing rapidly.

[Genaral Julis]

I have taken Zaragoza and Valencia and a bought Pamplona from the Portugiese (Sp?). I plan to move on Lisbon as soon as possible and then kick the Moors off of Iberia. After that...I belive a full scale invasion of France is in order...perhaps a surprise attack on the scots as well.

Tally Ho!!

[Quintus.JC]

should you finish off the Moors first?

[Genaral Julis]

No, At this stage in the game..Africa is to big to take quickly so I will only invade it after France and the Scots and..perhaps england are firmly under my rule.

[Paradox]

Indeed, Africa is a bit of a time-consumer and involves great distances, it would probably be best to take care of it later on.

[Genaral Julis]

I now control Iberia. My invasion of France is progressing well. The French are putting up a good fight. But I have taken Bordeax (Sp?) and Toulouse (Sp?) is under seige.

Onwards!!

[Quintus.JC]

wouldn't fighting Catholic nations risks you being excommunicated by the Pope? While fighting Muslims and gaining the favours of the Pope seems a more sensible decision to me.

[Paradox]

wouldn't fighting Catholic nations risks you being excommunicated by the Pope? While fighting Muslims and gaining the favours of the Pope seems a more sensible decision to me.

So you're saying that gaining the pope's favor is top priority in this game? It isn't, you can waste your time taking over cities far from your own domain, but it still wouldn't benefit you as much as Catholic cities would. I was threatened by ex-communication several times and ignored them because I know that, in a couple of turns, the faction would resume it's attacks against me. And besides, it would give you more time to consolidate your empire so that you can attack again, or even bribe (if you have the money, which often depends on your domain size) the enemy cities.

[kitbogha]

So you're saying that gaining the pope's favor is top priority in this game? It isn't, you can waste your time taking over cities far from your own domain, but it still wouldn't benefit you as much as Catholic cities would.

I couldn't agree more, it's a pain in the neck keeping in with the Pope, and all he wants to do is put a spanner in the works. A tip-if you are worried about being excommunicated then arrange simultaneous attacks on several of the enemy cities. Do not siege, simply attack them with your artillery and take them in one turn. The "Holy Father" may be annoyed but it's a fait accomplis and if he threatens you with excommunication simply use the time to build up your forces again. It works for me...and frankly I can't be bothered with anyone who "thinks the flames of eternal damnation are to good for (me)". His time will come when all other resistance has been overcome.....

[Genaral Julis]

.and frankly I can't be bothered with anyone who "thinks the flames of eternal damnation are to good for (me)". His time will come when all other resistance has been overcome.....

France has been excomed, So the pope likes me..and I get to kill people. Everyone wins!!

[Paradox]

France always get excommunicated, every single campaign I've played, whether I'm playing as the English or not, they still keep attacking them.

[kitbogha]

France has been excomed, So the pope likes me..and I get to kill people. Everyone wins!!

Gamer paradise!! Probably how it felt to many Medieval Kings at different times. Ah, how I yearn for the good old days! Nice and simple....

[Naethyn]

I had a very unusual Spainish experience as of late.

After reading these forums I decided to attack Cordoba on very hard difficulty. I took it easily and then also took Granada the next turn. By this time my armies were stretched very thin.

Suddenly a full Portuguese, Sicilian, and Moorish army was at my door step in Cordoba. I promptly backed off my prince and awaited reinforcements.

The Moors began a siege on Cordoba and the next turn the Portuguese attacked my prince with their king! Out numbered 2v1 my Jinetes saved the day. To my surprised on turn 21 the Portuguese had lost that battle and the entire nation had fallen.

The moors managed to caputure cordoba, but I took it back the never next turn.

So now I am surrounded by Portuguese rebels and the moors to the south. A very interesting start to say the least.

[Mek Simmur al Ragaski]

When i first started on normal, my main goal was to capture zaragosa and make friends with the moors and the portugese, then i made enough money to launch a full scale attack on the muslim half of spain, the first two cities fell easily and i killed half of the moors royal family in the process. Then i continued to attack the moors in algeria and morroco, and they fell once again. I had spread my lines thin and was prone to an attack from the french from the rear. I slaughtered many of them and they decided to retreat. Then my small army ws attacked stupidly by only the heir to the portugese throne, he died I wiped out all armies hitting my rear, then the pope died and mine was elected. I made him declare a crusade on the last moors fort, brought in some crusaders and slaughtered everybody in sight. Then my cities rebelled on me, my cities died of plague, my king and heir died in battle with the portugese and i had only one general occupying zaragosa, and weedy 60 year old unfit to command a yound peasant girl but nonetheless i sent him to capture my cities and fight an unending war with the french while the egyptians came with hundreds of men as backup

[Tecnik]

Hello!

I started playing M2TW about 2 weeks ago. I have never played any TW game before but somehow the medieval bow and chavalry style really got me excited to buy the Gold edition of M2TW and i must say i LOVE it.

After doing the tutorials (which are really basic i must say now that i play the grand campaign) i started a campaign as Spain (don't ask me why, i am dutch myself).

So here's what i did so far in about 2 weeks and around 150 turns (i'm not going that fast but i had to learn everything about the game):

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I immediately destroyed Portugal to have an easy look on incoming enemies. I figured the best way to beat this campaign without knowing anything about it (i've played some Civ2 but my knowledge is very slim) was to go full on military expanding. Finding out having family members in every city or castle really helps having Public Order i could quickly increase taxes, but always made sure the population in every city was still growing.

Because i was getting attacked by the French and not yet by the Moors i quickly took Bordeaux and Toulouse to have a defensive frontier against Milan and the French (both cities being upgraded to Citadels and towers to the fullest). All the battles i've fought accomplishing this is doing with a mixed army. I've made sure i always had access to different setups in each battle depending on the terrain i would face or units i would fight. I learned quickly that Jinetes are an excellent way to face with Artillery units and draw attention from horses to have them get butchered by my archers.

I used all of my money on military units (including mercenaries - these units are a GOD send because they are usually the best possible units that you can get). I found that doing minor trading and capturing and sacking all settlements i took (my reputation is as bad as it can get but what do i care?) it could actually pay the costs needed to maintain my large armies. After i made alliance with Sicily and wiped out the Moors i now was going to focus on England to make sure i could only be attacked over land over French country.

After the invention of gunpowder i quickly conquered England, scotland and am now on my way towards Scandinavia. I'm building a western frontier to push to the east, but i have no idea what's coming next (timor = scary?).

Short recap: I haven't lost a single battle (except 1 city to starvation because i didn't know this could happen - after which i reloaded the saved game once!). I use the 3 resource spots near Timbuktu (generating around 1000 florins each turns) and a lot of ports / roads / city upgraded to maximize trade. I do nothing about diplomacy and the Pope has excommunated me a kazillion times. I build the maximum amount of assasins (having 7-8 star ones) to get rid of all the other player's Agents. I use a lot of watchtowers to easily notice incoming troops. I now make around 5000-10000 florins each turn and conquering a city/castle every 5 turns or so. I cannot see who is going to stop me.

[Mongor]

I tried to stay out of Europe at first and concentrate on the Moors.

So after destroying Portugal I headed for N Africa. I took Tunis before
Sicily got to it. Then I took out the Moors and headed towards Egypt.

What I do not understand is why my relationship with the HRE, France,
the Pope and Milan all keep going down. Almost every turn I get a
message that X faction relations with you has decreased. I am not
anywhere near them and have been fighting Muslims only for 30 turns.
Any ideas why this is happening?

[Genaral Julis]

I'm back with update...

My forces in france are bogged down. I wasn't expecting this much resistence. It will take many years to triumph over France...

Charge!!

[Mek Simmur al Ragaski]

Here's what id do whilst playing Spain

Expansion
Takes Zaragoza first, if possible siege attack it while the Portugeese are there too, extra men, weakening another army, and you get the settlement not them. I wouldnt take Valencia, not yet as it has a decent general, a decent garrison and barely anybody attacks it. Next i would try to take Moors out of Spain, and keep pushing them back, when i did this, i think the last settlement they had was Tunis, and they had garrisoned it with their last family member. Then i reccomend taking Bordeux, or Valencia, Pamplona and atlast Lisbon. Also you might think about taking Ajjacio and Cagliari, south of Genoa.

Trade and the Economy
Send a single diplomat or a princess to Central Italy, and watch as her charm increases rapidly as she is visited by a diplomat from nearly every faction on the game. As for economy, Ajjacio, Cagliari, Zaragoza, Valencia and Leon all prove as very good trading cities, aswell as providing a good income.

Papal Favour
I suggest participating in a crusade, and walking down through Africa, sacking every settlement you come across, giving it to the Pope, or you could exterminate them and keep them, giving the crusade target to the pope.

Problems
Being surronded by enemies. Portugal will ally with France and Moors and will try to throw you out of Spain. Dont let this small insignificant faction plot against you, destroy them with the first chance you get. I suggest killing Moors next, France may attack you first, but if you kill Moors, i guarantee that Egypt is not bold enough to cross the desert and hit your rear, so they you can focus on killing France

Well i hope this helps in your campaigns as Spain

[CrusadeAgainstYourEnemies]

Seems like a lot of you are making the Spanish campaign more complicated than it actually is...

I just played for about 40 turns on H/H, I own the Iberian Peninsula, eliminated Portugal and just took Bordeaux.

Here's how:

Right away I consolidate every troop under the King, as he's the best General of the bunch.

Put Vaasco in Leon and the Prince in Toledo, start building them up; Toledo for troops and Leon for economics. Lots of churches too, you're going to need many priests.

I use the army, and some mercs, with my King to take Valencia early. You can do this if you put every troop with your King.

While this is taking shape, I got the two princess running west. One to Pamplona and one to France. I make a quick alliance with Portugal and a marriage alliance with France.

Furthermore, build a diplomat, put him on a ship and send him to Rome. Always leave a diplomat by Rome, its so easy to stay in favor wiht the Papacy this way. I give them 1,000 and Map information everytime I need something done. Plus I build priests and churches.

They will both backstab you, but France not until you kill Portugal. And Portugal not until you kill the Moors.


Once you take Valencia, then you get your boy the pope to call a crusade against one of the Moorish cities in Iberia, get your King and his army, join the crusade with them and take that city and hire the cheap/effective crusader seargents/knights to fill out that army.

You take both of those moorish territories with your King. By now Portugal will have backstabbed you. Usually they will get excommunicated for this if you win a crusade and your papal standing is good, any nation that backstabs a catholic ally while they're fighting the Moors deserves to be excommed.

Then you transfer your army to the son, call a crusade on Lisbon and take it. Leave your King in Cordoba to build up and use his chiv/command rating to keep it under control while you make it yours.

You will add to your army whenever you can, but its one army. Thats your focus. One army that goes from Valencia to Lisbon taking everything, 3 cities with your King and the final with your Prince. You restock the army across the way and use those javelinmen/jinettes, they're nasty.

The Moors will have asked for peace by this point as you kicked their ass off Iberia. Give it to them, an easy peace is fine, you just want to them to stop pestering you like that annoying fly at a picnic. So now you move your Prince and whoever your best general, besides your King, to strike on Pamplona and Zaragoza. Take them out with two half stack each armies.

Now Portugal is done, the Moors are banished to Africa and the French are nervous.

[CrusadeAgainstYourEnemies]

Just started playing this game again and after playing a 100 or so turns with the HRE, I decided I wanted to be a good, high reputation, crusading faction rather than a German blitzkrieg.

A lot of what I said a good 3 or so months ago from the above post still applies but I've got several key tips:

----Use Alfonso to your advantage. He's young for a King and you have time to build him up. I used him as Crusader very early against the Moors. Put every troop from your Castle and your army under his control and head straight for Valencia, then Siege and wait a couple turns to soften up the rebels before you strike. I built a couple of Mailed Knights; about 3 in consecutive turns from the first three turns in and had them meet him at Valencia. This gives you the added boost you need to take it from the Rebel General with relative ease. You can do it without those added Knights, but no sense being a hero early on when you're going to need those troops for your Crusade.

----Get a Princess to Rome ASAP. I went over land and that was a bad idea. If I could do it again I'd buy a merc ship with my King and send one of them to Rome for an alliance early, before everyone else. Seems like the Papacy on VH/VH only likes to ally with one Catholic Faction at a time. Regardless, you'll need the Princess there to gift the Pope so you can convince him to target the Moors capital as his first Crusade.

----Speaking of this: the Papacy is your friend in Spain. The Spanish are by far the best faction to manipulate Zealous medieval Catholicism to their advantage. You can stock the College of Cardinals relatively early if you just build up churches and send your Priests down to Iberian Muslim lands and eventually North Africa (I'm at turn 40 and I've got 9 Cardinals, one eligible for the Papacy next vote). Priests who spread the Gospel to infidels get promoted to Cardinal. Use the Crusades, the Spanish did it in real life and you should too. My King died at 60 named "Alfonso the Saint" with maxed Chiv ratings, 7 command stars and was the only man who could govern Cordoba after it was taken. -occupy, occupy, occupy... don't sack, you'll be fine on money if you use the Crusades properly.

----Call the Crusade on the Moors capital in Iberia and on the way get their Castle in very south. Two birds with one strong, cheap/no upkeep Crusader army.

----I allied with the English early, sent a Princess up there ASAP. I didn't marry her off, she had too high a charm. Apparently her high charm attracted a good husband because she brought in a General with 4 command, 4 chivalry and 2 piety being 23 years old. I set this kid up to be the successor to Alfonso; killed off the faction heir in North Africa when I saw the King was almost 60... sometimes you need to make sure the right General gets the throne. So I've got a 33 year old King with 5 command stars, 5 authority stars and maxed chiv right now with some good traits.

----When you're Crusading and Portugal attacks you, they will surely be excommed by their second attempt act of aggression. Use this to beat them down without hassle from the Pope.



I'm at turn 53, got my mid thirties hand picked King, I own all of Iberia and all of North Africa to Tripoli and I just got Toulouse from the Milanese who the Pope called his own Crusade on. Now I've got my King and and my new faction heir around Toulouse with 1 1/2 stacks of professional non militia army, 15,000 florins in the bank, 9 papal rating and I'm at peace with everyone.

I must decide where to strike to next, as it's tricky when you try to be a good, noble country, but I've got the army, the Generals, the money and the Papal authority on my side.

-The Lesson: Spain is made for the Crusader/Papal manipulator strategy. It's fun, historically accurate to some degree and extremely effective.