Hello Everybody!

**Jason the Merciless** · 12-25-2006, 05:46

I have been lurking at these forums for around a month now. I was waiting until I knew for sure that I'd be getting the game before registering.

My Total War experience is limited to the Medieval 2 Total War Gold Demo, so I'm pretty much a complete noob when it comes to the campaign mode. That being said, I've played the demo numerous times over the last month, and have fallen in love with the game. The Battle at Agincourt is clearly the easiest non-tutorial battle on the demo, and I have been able to beat it nine times out of ten.

Surprisingly, my second best battle is the Battle of Otumba, which gave me fits early on, and that has come after my dad gave me the advice of taking the attackt to the Aztecs. The first time I used that strategy, I was actually able to defeat the Aztecs by killing their three generals and faction leader. The next time I played the battle, I tweaked my tactics a little bit with pretty good results. When the battle starts I usually take the my cavalry and General's Bodyguard to the far left flank, facing the straight to the right if I can manage the setup. I have noticed that in the demo the Aztecs will always send a unit of infantry towards my Sword and Buckler men, which I let them and flank with the mercenary infantry unit standing by. After the initial fighting, I gradually work my cavalry and General's Bodyguard to the right (taking out missile units in the process). When my reinforcements come, I usually send them to fight the army to the far right that usually likes to sweep over from the east to box my remaining army in. From then I usually have one more chief to take out, which happens to be from the army that comes in from behind my army. One battle stands out in particular, as I was able to quickly take out the eastern army with my reinforcements. After that army was taken out, I marched the reinforcements to take on the army coming in from the woods. In a moment of brilliance on my part, I sent the General's Bodyguard up to the hill where one unit of Arquebusiers start out the battle. When the reinforcements get close, I send them all charging straight into the army. After I sent the reinforcements charging, I noticed a unit running towards the hill where my General's Bodyguard stands. It just so happens that the unit is in fact the last Aztec chief, upon getting this information I quickly send my General's Bodyguard flying to the chief. Within seconds the chief was killed, and the battle was won.

Not that any of that might be of signifcance to anybody else, but I just really can't seem to forget that one battle. If my tactics are in fact wrong, I would love to know what I am doing wrong.

Anyway, I do need a little advice. Since I have yet to play a game in the series, what should be the first thing I do after installing the game? Would it be wise to create some custom battles, so I can get a feel for what the units can do? Sould I take part in some of the historical battles, so that I can get used to more than a couple of factions? Is the second tutorial useful, or should I just look elsewhere to gain some more experience?

I know that is already a lot of questions, but I do have a couple regarding campaigns.

Which type of campaign should I attempt first (long or short)?
Which difficulty/faction would help me learn the game, while still providing a challenge?

**CrossLOPER** · 12-25-2006, 07:20

Try whatever you feel the need to try. I started with a long campaign on my first go at TW and just experimented with the other play modes later on. Don't feel as if you need to follow some sort of checklist. Enjoy the game.