WOW what a cool game

[caravel]

if you have read my prev posts you will know that this is the first time i have ever played any of the total war games and wow am i impressed

Welcome Leviathon, to the .org, and to the Main Hall in particular.

i started my first campaign last night and made a big mistake in trying to take over spain (silly me) but i shall learn from my mistakes lol,

You have a sound philosophy there.

anyway is there any difference to the way the game is played if you play as the vikings and what would be the best campaign to do being a begginer ofcourse?

You are referring to the Viking campaign? That campaign is played out on a different map (of the British Isles) and centres arounf Anglo-Saxon England at the time of the Viking raids. There are many different units and most of the uinits from the original game are not included. The tech tree is also very different, and in some ways better than the original. The Viking and Saxon Huscarle units are among the deadliest in the entire game.

For a beginner I recommend you go for the early era and nmot the high or late eras. The Egyptians or the Almohads are good starters. There is no Papal interference to worry about less immediate enemies bordering your lands. Another faction for a new player, though debatable, are the Byzantine. They have good income, many provinces and some very good units such as Kataphraktoi, Trebizond Archers and the Varangian Guards.

For a catholic faction you definitely want to go with the Spanish. They also have good defensible lands, good units and their ownly immediate enemies are the Almohads and the Aragonese. The establishment of a strong navy is important for most factions, but moreso for the Spanish. The conquest of the entire peninsula is also a must, which means rebel Portugal, Navarre and Valencia as well as Aragon need to come under your control fairly early on and the Almohads need to be forcibly ejected from Cordoba and Granada.

The Almohads are a faction than build up quite well on what they have, combined with the acquisition of Valencia, and Portugal. It is important to deny these to the Castilians.

Also any tips on this game would be well noted thnx

For the most part you will pick things up as you go along, feel free to ask your questions here as they arise.