How do you get anywhere in this game?

[dismal]

So I slaughter them on the field but the French just keep coming, and the Danes just keep coming and I get nowhere.

I'd advise slaughtering them in their towns and castles instead of in the field. You grow while their ability to produce troops shrinks. Go straight for the jugular.

Lots of good advice here on economics already. If you can't afford to steadily build troops in your castles, there's little value in them being castles.

[Quillan]

You don't say, but is Scotland still around? Assuming that A) Scotland is gone and B) you have captured the entirety of the British Isles, you should have no more than one castle in the home islands. No more is necessary. Caen will suffice for your castle troops needs on the mainland until you've expanded sufficiently.

It sounds to me as if you aren't concentrating sufficiently on economic development. In cities, build the market line of buildings and the trade port line of buildings. That generates the bulk of the money.

[Imperator Palustris]

When you play MTW2 on normal, you don't really get the feeling that it's that easy(you said you want the AI to attack first and I have to say that happens frequently) , but of course when you start on hard first and then go back to normal, it might feel a lot easier...

When I play a new game I always start on normal so I can get a grasp on the gameplay and such. Perhaps you could try on normal and see how things go?

But remember this: NEVER GIVE UP! NO SURRENDER! even when thing look bad, don't stop playing...try to solve your problems. Did the medieval lords get a second chance?

[Skott]

I'll add another tip I didnt see mentioned. Train up 6-8 good assassins and a couple good spies. Send them into a town/fortress and let them reduce the buildings to rubble. Then move onto the next town/fortress. After you do this to a few of the surrounding enemy towns/fortresses they cant produce and field an effective army against you. Their economy will take a huge hit and maybe even experience rebellion if you kill their generals too. Then you can take them out at your leisure.

[Razor1952]

The best thing about MTW2 in particular is that there are many ways to skin this cat.

The easiest is to blitzkrieg the ai sack everything, if you concentrate on economics then you will have the $ to succeed with most strategies.


As for the Pope bribing the Pope makes life a lot easier, say 1-300 fl/turn (= to 1 unit upkeep only) will generally keep you at +9 or above on the Pope-o-meter. That allows you to get the Pope to call a crusade on your favorite excommed faction, usually Milan or HRE.

Try baiting the ai with a small unit in their territory, often they will attack and you can get them excommed. Then they are at your mercy.

You only need a couple of castles, the towns should be garrisoned by free militia units. I concentrate on getting highways so I have rapid response to any threat. I also unit spies to/towers to keep me aware of enemy movements anywhere near my boundaries.


Crusade for profit. Sacking Jerusalem is very profitable, as english use mercenary ships once you reach the meditterean coast. Boost the size of your mercenary navy by landing and recruiting more ships till your get say 4 or 5, that should keep your army safe from pirates and most enemy navies.

I think its important to carve out an empire which is defensible , that is try and get provinces that do not have many borders, as english that means for example take over scandinavia should be your goal first , that will knock out denmark and give you income without much defense. Even if you loose a province to the French, it will be worth it to consolidate your power.