Game too easy? Yeah right.

[Quickening]

I can't believe the number of people who say this game is too easy. Surely they must play it on Easy or Normal.
Im playing a French campaign on Very Hard/Very Hard and Im getting my arse kicked majorly. The Scots, English, HRE and even bloody Sicily are all coming at me with everything they've got. Doesn't help that the Pope tells me to stop attacking them as though to give them the advantage. In fairness he does excommunicate them when they attack me but by then Ive lost a city havent I? Bastard.

Not just this game either. My last English campaign on Very Hard/Very Hard was nails when the Scots, French and Danes were banging down the door. But when Portugal landed a full stack in Ireland and attacked Dublin I just gave up.

Im far from a bad player. Dammit strategy is my genre. How anyone can say that Medieval 2 without mods on Very Hard/Very Hard is too easy is just beyond me. It's hard as hell.

I only completed one campaign and that was only because I went the Scots who start in a nice corner of the map. Even then it was a short campaign and I only had like five turns left by time I finished it and I only succeeded by taking some regions from the hapless natives of the Carribean.



Sorry, Im in a bad mood today and I had to vent. BUT IT'S STILL TRUE!!!

EDIT: Language ~sapi

[Von Nanega]

I hear you! I played the English, and thought all was well when I picked off the french. But then Milan, HRE, the Danish and everybody else decided I was meat for their dogs. It was hard and interesting game and I enjoyed it hugely.

[Quickening]

I do love a challenge. It's just frustrating fighting through it

But something great has happened in this game. Early on I got an alliance offer from Hungary for no apparent reason. I accepted thinking "why not?".
Many years later the Pope launched a Crusade against Jerusalem and by pure chance both Hungary and myself arrived there at the same time. They lay siege to the city and I joined them and together we took the place.
They got it since they attacked first but that didn't bother me. I then used my ex-Crusading army to take some of the neighbouring regions. Basically securing the East for myself and my ally Great stuff!

JUST AS WELL TO SINCE IM GETTING DESTROYED IN EUROPE

[edyzmedieval]

You serious? Milan attacked my Bologna, 1300 vs 850, and they got beaten soundly... I even managed to keep 350 men, and they barely got away with 100, and with 700 made prisoners.

This is with HRE, about 1235, and on VH/VH.

So please, this is easy.

NOTE: I am very low with cash, having about -30000 per turn, but I still have top notch units, and I attack constantly.

[Quickening]

You serious? Milan attacked my Bologna, 1300 vs 850, and they got beaten soundly... I even managed to keep 350 men, and they barely got away with 100, and with 700 made prisoners.

This is with HRE, about 1235, and on VH/VH.

So please, this is easy.

NOTE: I am very low with cash, having about -30000 per turn, but I still have top notch units, and I attack constantly.

I don't know about the HRE. I don't like their scattered beginnings so I don't play as them. How do you find the French on VH/VH?


EDIT: Another thing, I may be making life harder for myself a bit since I always set taxes to low and release all prisoners. Im trying to honourable in short.

[edyzmedieval]

Ah, then this might be it. I made alliances at the start with everyone, and the AI was smart enough not to attack me. I concentrated on developing Frankfurt and Nuremberg to the extreme. I quickly took Magdeburg, Stettin and Prague, and this proved very useful. After a brief war, I took Hamburg too, and luckily, Antwerp and Bruges. Innsbruck and Staufen have been upgraded, and after that, Bern and Metz have been conquered.

When I fight, I ALWAYS execute the prisoners, and I set taxes as high as I am allowed too, without the fear of a rebellion.

I haven't fought the French because Milan, Venice and Sicily are a constant threat. They attack me with stacks and stacks, but I always repell and destroy their armies when they come to take my cities by force.

[TB666]

Well the game was way too easy with 1.0 and 1.1 mainly because of the passive AI.
On the campaign map it did ok but once it got on the battlefield it didn't stand a chance.
However with 1.2 the game is alot tougher mainly because it is not longer passive and is trying to win.
It has really change the game atleast in IMO.

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Well the game was way too easy with 1.0 and 1.1 mainly because of the passive AI.
On the campaign map it did ok but once it got on the battlefield it didn't stand a chance.
However with 1.2 the game is alot tougher mainly because it is not longer passive and is trying to win.
It has really change the game atleast in IMO.

Its also a lot harder now to keep on the good side of the pope playing VH at least

Too bad the AI is still passive.

[sableblack]

back to the original poster.
i too play vh/vh (played h/h once as england to open factions). i have not yet moved from vanilla.
i have won as hre, byzantium, moors and now doing well with poland.
key to my success is.
1. contact everyone possible early and trade map, trade rights and alliance for cash. when you are not at war your alliance is worth something when you are at war with everyone your alliance costs them so they don't want it.
2. my poland game has been aised by early on occupying not sacking and releasing prisoners. my generals got great chiv for rapid city growth and easy order maintence. also my rep went to v reliable.
3. when i was attacked i countered rabidly taking several regions quickly then threatening one more. i then exchanged ceasefire for the region under attack which they were happy to give me (have received 4 regions for ceasefire from various opponents never had this in earleir wins as rep was appaling from sack/ exterminate/ execute)
4. quick wars then resell trade rights and alliance. then someone else attacks i take a couple of quick bites at their empire and then peace. thus not yet in multifront war and so peace is easy.
5. heroic victories must be the normal outcome when in outdoor battle with odds of 2:1 against. keep their losses high and yours low.
6. attack poorly defended cities first and leave the full stack city to last as too many casulties will cost you as much as them.
7. if they have a stack that can reinforce a city (ie i square from city) then attack that one. the city defenders will come on as reinforcements. kill outside stack before reinforcements arrive then eradicate the city defendors. do not allow any to flee esp the general. then execute prisoners (the only time i ever do this). then walk into unoccupied city.
8. try to border as few factions as possible.
9 if you need a faction to attack you on vh/vh then walk armies accross their land. shorten bordere don't lengthen.
10 if you must weaken you european holdings my sending your troops to thew holy land then sell your new settlement and leave. this is not shorteneing your borders. sell to a faction who doesn't normally live in that area as then they will get involved in weird wars with factions far far away.
11 rebel armies in your regions can be killed if convenient but don't let them distract you. train on them when not at war but they are harmless compared to milan who is planning on actually attcking your towns. (well they just tried but as after war with france i bordered them i accidebtly wandered all my troops to the bordrers abd took out 3 of their four regions as soon as they declared war. (3 turns). am now clearing up the stacks they sent the other way into my territory which i ignored as my border towns have 6-8 units in them. more than enough to survive an assault.)
12 most importantly learn the strong units for your faction and use them well. if your faction is weak in an area make few of this unit type.
13 learn to use priests, spys and merchants. less unrest, open gates and more money are your rewards. keep yoyr faction heir single and diplomats talking to a princess will allow marriage alliance. some people like assasins but my view is that buildings in enemy settlements will soon be mine. why would i damage my own property. i have never killed anyone with assasin (not even tried)
14 if you don't know where an attack will come from next stacks moving towrds and into your regions are a clue.
in summary diplomacy works when you learn how to use it as do merchants and cavalry charges. also killing routers is easier than fighting them. fight morale not men
hope this helps.

[RickooClan]

Just one suggestion as i always siege a settlement rather than waiting it out, especially in the beginning turns of the game.

I have read some guides which suggesting saving your troops by sitting out the siege but honestly i think that is a very bad move. The reasons are:

1. Siege battle is the best place to clear out your low-tech troops such as militia which could give room to maintain better troops.

2. Each settlement at least give you 700 forin per turn which could recruit 2~3 low tech troops. Lets say you sit for 5 turns on a sieging a settlement you actually lost 4~5k forin potential income. By comparing the cost of the troops you may lost in battle, it does not worth it. [You will only lost 40~100 militia men in early game by taking a settlement even on VH/VH, and they only cost around 700 forin.]

3. Sitting on siege is a waste of your army force, especially for France you have lots of bother to defend.

4. Time is important, the faster to take the settlement, the quicker you establish your power and develop your faction. At least this is true for France.

5. Surely, you should not waste your expensive calvary in any siege battle at all. Normally infantry, archer, siege equipment and your general unit can get the job done nicely.

[Boyar Karhunkynsi]

I started playing on M/M in the beginning, just to get a feel for the game and it's features. I finished a few games and wanted a challenge. I then started playing VH/VH and found it didn't change much; the pope hates you more and you get attacked/sieged more frequently. No big deal. It doesn't appear to change much in the way of AI being any more treacherous or much of anything for that matter. AI armies are still useless, regardless of their superior units. Thus, it is considerably harder to destroy a faction and marginally more difficult to fight a respectable war with one. No biggie.

There will be no truly difficult settings until AI is improved, which may be some years off until we see fruit of this endeavor which so many developers claim to have improved (yeah right, mate).

I love saying my two cents worth.

Regards,
Max

[King of Kings]

I no what you mean its really hard thats why i just play on M/M

[Razor1952]

I would have to agree that a competent player will always easily win at whatever level even with iron man type rules. And I believe that is particularly because the ai doesn't concentrate enough on building its economy.

I have however started a variant thanks to Epistolary Richards advance x years find, of playing from the weakest faction from turn ~100. In the current scenario I just started at turn ~100 as Byzantium (it has only Nicaea and not that well developed locked in against Venice. Venice has 8 provinces and one of the leading factions.) Somehow I think my Waterloo might just be around the corner.

One thing I have observed that after ~100 turns most ai cities are still poorly developed and the even the most basic land improvements have not been made.
I'm frankly surprised the ai hasn't concentrated more on economy first, after all that I believe is the key human strategy.

[Bob the Insane]

It is an interesting topic...

I am playing a 1.02 (leaked) game as the HRE at the moment on H/VH and I saw this and I though, no way is it easy... Here I am fending off attacks from the Danes and the Poles, single handedly trying to stop the Mongols from wiping out the Egyptians and taking the entire middle east, fighting the Byz for control of the easter med islands and wiping out the heretically Millanese (already done that to the evil backstabbing venetians)...

Provided i bring appropriate forces to the battlefield I most win the battles and I am even capabale of pulling the occasional heroic vistory out of the bag...

Strategic level is where things are more challenging i think, ensuring cash is spent right, ensuring the right sorts of troops are in the right place at the right time...

Tactically challenges come from not having the right troops and just making do with what it there...

I have to agree with two balanced armies even on VH battles the AI barely stands a chance...

Back to my example at the top, despite all that (and possibly because) the HRE is the largest and richest empire with only the Mongol as more powerful. So I can't be having too hard a game...

I have to admit though I never rush. It is not a specific decision as such, I guess I lack the RTS warrior instinct as i manly play RPGs and (of all things ) FPS's (outside TW)... I don't play many RTS's often because of the sheer degree of agressive fastpaced play required at the start of the game to be in a tenable situation later on... Sounds too much like hard work to me...