Peaceful British isles
I'm playing M2TW unpatched; just got it over Christmas and wanted to try it out before I tinkered with it.
I played a M/M Spain game quickly to unlock the factions and then eventually settled on a M/VH England game. I wanted to play it slow and let the AI build up so I could have some nice defensive battles and some real challenges on the campaign map. I particularly looked forward to fighting off the Scots and French.
Sadly, that corner of the world seems to be incredibly comatose. I finally accepted trade rights with the French, but consistently refused it from the Scots, who never seemed to get upset despite the ridiculous demands I made on their diplomat. They'd ask for trade rights all nice and sweet and I'd demand tons of money per turn, map info, accept or we will attack. Their response: "Oh, alright then. Maybe next time."
I watched dumbfounded as the French idiotically sent tiny forces to take nearby rebel settlements -- and lost every time.
The Scots didn't make a *single* move with their military units beyond their borders. Inverness and York remained rebel until I finally took York about 20 turns in.
Meanwhile, just to rub salt in the wound, I was getting intriguing news about wars in Germany, excommunications, betrayals. Finally the HRE was destroyed, leaving the Danes, Poles and Venetians to pick at the spoils. But over in northwestern Europe it was naptime.
Around 30 turns in I called it quits and started up a VH/VH Scots campaign. My goal was the same -- let the AI build up, hold off from conquering provinces, and hope for some aggressive behavior from my neighbors.
Nothing.
Same scenario as above: the English AI would send a pitiful force to attack York; the rebels would counterattack and drive them away. That happened a couple times in the first 15 or 20 turns and then the English just gave up. From then on the only action I saw around Nottingham was their princess constantly getting on and off the same boat every single turn. They had sent a half-stack of forces into Wales and I thought "finally! they'll *do* something!" But no. After sitting in the mountains for around 10 turns the English half-stack turned rebel and hopped into Caernarvon.
France did a little better this time, although it still took forever for them to take Rennes and Bordeaux. Eventually I took Inverness (waiting until the last minute to accomplish my mission), and then I had some fun when a Crusade was called to Jerusalem. I sent an army by ship down to France, marched through Germany to the Adriatic sea, hired some boats, and sailed to Jerusalem, taking the city before anyone else got there. My king got awesome piety and cool traits - "Edward the Crusader". Finally, I thought; if nothing's going to happen in Britain there will surely be some action HERE -- I'm surrounded and outnumbered by a hostile population in unfamiliar lands. I anticipated some great defensive showdowns against a horde of Egyptian warriors.
Not exactly.
After I took Jerusalem, the Egyptians sent a diplomat begging for a ceasefire. I was amazed to see that it was considered "Generous" for me to ask for Acre in return for a simple ceasefire! The Egyptians moved their full stack out of Acre while I moved in, and then proceeded to sit outside the town, not doing anything.
What am I doing wrong? Why are the AI factions such wimps? Why won't they send decent forces to attack rebel armies? Why won't they attack ME, even on VH? Is it because I play defensively, and the AI follows your lead? Is it because I haven't installed the patch? Is it just a quirk of playing England or Scotland?
I haven't even really played around with the battles that much because the map has been so godawfully peaceful.
I'd really like to hear if anyone else is experiencing very quiet, BORING campaign maps, what difficulty, and what faction. I'd also like to hear -- actually I'd PREFER to hear -- from those of you who are having great, interesting, challenging campaigns, and how you think you ended up with them.
Anyway, thanks for any replies. I wish my first post about this game didn't have to be so negative in tone, but I really want to *react* to the AIs moves rather than watching the AI ineptly attempt to react to mine. I figured VH difficulty would get me there, but it doesn't seem to be the case. Hopefully some of you will be able to prove me wrong...
CountMRVHS
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