Hi all MTW Players!

[Warluster]

Hi all!

I am a big RTW player and recently M2TW player, and I put off gettign STW or MTW for reasons like campaign map and graphics.

The oter day I saw MTW for $5, and I bought it.

Now I ahve no regrets, and am ashamed for not wanting it before, who cares about flashy graphics!? The gameplay is awesome, and I have to say, i thought the graphics were going to be badder then they were.

I don't have VI yet, but am hunting in shops and on line for a cheap deal.

So I have a few questions.

What are good mods for MTW (Not VI)?

And whats the best faction in terms of Military and Economy.

[King of Bavaria]

Hi

Prove me wrong, but as far as I know, there are no mods that don't require VI.

The economy dosn't depend on the faction, just on the provinces and the buildings there.
It's just that some factions that start with some well developed or particulary rich provinces (i.e. Venice, Constantinople) have some advantages.

The question for the best faction in terms of military is an unending story.
Just a question of your personal taste and your preferred way of warfare.
I personally like the units of the Byzantines in early or Hungary (I'm not quit sure if playable in vanilla MTW), but there are several other good ones.

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Hi Warluster,
I'm sorry to say that, for M:TW alone, there are very few, if not, no mods. Sorry.

As for a good faction, I would suggest the Aragonese. Although they may only have one province to start with, that province is very wealthy and has deposits of Iron which allow you to build the weapon smith line which increases your troops weapon quality. They are also blessed with nearby rebel provinces which are both, reasonably, easy to conquer and easy to bribe with the immense amounts of cash that pour in every turn! Also, if you bribe Valencia, you get a nice, and famous, general to add to your forces. The General is also an almighty "campaign hero" who has the tendency to become an even greater general than he already is at the start! Even better, to add onto all that, you get a dirt-cheap elite unit trainable at the start too - Spanish Jineettes!

Hope this helps you, enjoy your mighty conquests, cheers!

[Tony Furze]

Hello Warluster. The best mod for MTW vanilla-no VI is Wes Whitakers medmod:

http://wes.apolyton.net/

There are a few others that are generally not worth using.

All the best.

[axel]

Hi mate
welcome yes i think the the wes mod https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...=50854&page=16
http://wes.apolyton.net/ i think the MTW 1.1 is for MTW

[nara shikamaru]

Well there is the Medmod 1.85, by Wes Whitaker, whichis a pretty good mod, despite not adding any new factions, he just makes it a little easier for the computer not to screw up, well here's the link to where you can get the mod.

http://wes.apolyton.net/

[Tony Furze]

Touche! Three in one! Great stuff. Thanks, nara and axel. Hope all that helps Warluster.

[Warluster]

Thansk for the links and help everyone.

I am gonna go off and try the Aragonese (as you suggested Omanes) and maybe the Italians.

If I did get VI would the XL mod eb the best? And do Mtw/VI mods have their own folders? or do I have to copy and paste the main folder?

[Noir]

XL is the one that retains and expands the gameplay of vanilla, both in the campaign and in the battles. It is a good piece of work and as all other mods a love affair for their creator, i guess. However it is not the best IMO. It may seem so if you are coming straight out of vanilla - however i find that other mods have just as much if not much more to offer.

The other two most popular mods relative to the period are the BKB supermod and the afformentioned WesWhitaker's Medmod. There are a few others, and even some in the works, like the Pocket Mod.

Several other mods are worth trying such as the Napoleonic, by the lordz (that now went and formed their own company), cegorach's epic Pike & Musket with its 1000+ units, and the Hellenic, not to mention the fall of Rome and the LOTR mod.

Enjoy MTW, and after that give STW a try or at least the MTW mod for it: Barocca's Samurai Warlords with several contributors and tweaking by a team of MP veterans that ensures you'll get quite a few tough battles - for some it's even better.

RTW and M2 are IMO thoroughly degraded and popularised versions of the original TW concept/vision and ultimately not worth it.

For installation purposes, you can use the self installers that most mods provide to either install the files to a directory of your choice and then copy paste them in the main MTW folder or directly target the main MTW folder with the installer its the same thing.

[The Unknown Guy]

As for a good faction, I would suggest the Aragonese.

Poisoned advice! Aragon is not playable without VI, I think

Warluster, buying just MTW and not VI is a tactical mistake I almost commited myself, as you can get the whole "gold" (MTW + VI) package. If you want the VI invasion pack, I´d go for the "gold" version, and store the other copy of MTW . It´s only 5 bucks, so it´s not a big loss

[Noir]

Some of the more easy going factions: Egyptians + Byzantines in the early era.

I'd say that there isn't a best faction militarily, the idea was that they should all have rosters that account for different fighting styles. The game has failed to provide this with a sense of balance however most mods address the issue to a larger or lesser degree.

All in all, all factions are worth trying and are fun to play, even in the (dreaded for me) vanilla.

Noir

[Martok]

Hey Warluster, good to see you discovered the joy that is MTW!

Poisoned advice! Aragon is not playable without VI, I think

Warluster, buying just MTW and not VI is a tactical mistake I almost commited myself, as you can get the whole "gold" (MTW + VI) package. If you want the VI invasion pack, I´d go for the "gold" version, and store the other copy of MTW . It´s only 5 bucks, so it´s not a big loss

Unfortunately, The Unknown Guy is correct: Aragon is not playable in vanilla MTW, nor are the Hungarians or Sicilians -- you need Viking Invasion in order to play those three factions. I strongly second Guy's recommendation that you puchase MTW Gold Edition (or Activision's old MTW Battle Collection, if you can find it). You should be able to find it pretty cheaply (15-20 U.S. dollars); it's unlikely you'll find just Viking Invasion as a stand-alone purchase. The VI expansion pack adds a tremendous amount of gameplay to the vanilla game, as well as allowing you access to most of the mods that are available.

All that said, for your first faction I would recommend the Spanish or the Almohad Caliphate. Both start with good lands income-wise, and both have a a decent troop roster as well. In particular, the Almohads' Urban Militia and the Spanish Jinnettes are both war-winning units that will form the heart of your armies.

[Warluster]

Okay,

I went onto the faction select thing and there was no aragonese, I sort of panicked. Now I realise!

and how about the mod folders, do MTW/VI have there own mod folders?

I am defintely gettign VI now!

[seireikhaan]

You don't have to get VI right away, since, IMO, it would be suicide to try and do your first one or two campains as Sicily, Hungary, or Aragon. My personal preferances? The Danes, Spanish, and Turks.

Danes- Incredibly easy to defend, can get a powerful navy going quickly, and they get vikings right away. Plus they have relatively easy access to good provinces, like Sweden(the best in the entire game, IMO) Lithuania(income), Ireland(gallowglasses), and Norway(trade and vikings with extra valour).

Spanish- Powerful crusaders, good landscape, and the almighty Spanish Jinettes at their near immediate disposal. Plus, its pretty much a straight path to drive the Almos back. And maybe its just me, but I always seem to get an AWESOME family line going with them.

Turks- Great variety of troops, including several hybrid infantry/archers. Plus, a (somewhat cheap) "ransom the Sultan trick", in which you blitz the Egyptians right away at Jerusalem, thus trapping the Sultan in Antioch/Tripoli and getting a nice bonus for your cash. Plus, they have access to three of the best troops in the game, IMO. Armenian Heavy Cavalry(because they can be trained with 2 valour from Armenia rather quickly), Janissary Infantry(the equivalant of a Chivalric Men At Arms, but swapping some extra armour for a bow), and Janissary Heavy Infantry, which just dominate nearly everything you throw at it. Lastly, some very rich provinces to take from Egypt.

EDIT: I would advise against the Byzantines, for two reasons. One, they have no decent spearman, which I consider a must in the majority of my armies. Two, they are literally RIGHT in the crosshairs of the Mongol invasion, and I would advise against fighting them much for your first campaign. Plus, the two problems compound each other. Fighting the Mongols with no decent spear can be VERY tough.

[General Dazza]

Hey Warluster, great to soo you playing MTW! I might get to see some more posts put up in Aussie-time now!

Just to echo everyone else, it's definitely worth getting the VI gold edition. As for which mod, I've got XL, which quite a lot of people seem to use. I can vouch for it being excellent. I haven't played other mods yet, so can't give you a comparison, but I can say it fantastically improves the gameplay and level of difficulty. I would never go back to vanilla.

The first game I played was as the English, They're quite fun as you have a well-defendable position, access to some decent early units (billmen/longbos are very good) and you border Flanders, which can bring in the bucks. Another good one if Russia, which has some excellent cavalry units (Boyars rule) and is surrounded by rebels. If you play it on the high period, you start with an almost fully tecched-up unit roster. Also, with the golden horde arriving shortly afterwards in their backyard, it makes for lotsa fun.

Enjoy! MTW is awesome!

[bamff]

Another big plus for the English in early are Fyrdmen - one of the best spear units in that period.

Sicily is another good "starter".

Cheers

[seireikhaan]

Another good one if Russia, which has some excellent cavalry units (Boyars rule) and is surrounded by rebels. If you play it on the high period, you start with an almost fully tecched-up unit roster. Also, with the golden horde arriving shortly afterwards in their backyard, it makes for lotsa fun.

Enjoy! MTW is awesome!

I must respectfull disagree. Personally, I hate Boyars. They can't function as a horse archer(at least not how I use them). And because of the bow, they not only lose power on their charge, but they also are insanely expensive. Its not that they're terrible, I just find that they don't fit my style of play and are vastly overpriced. Plus, Russia doesn't exactly have the economy to stomach very many boyars. Now if they only swapped those bows for javelins... that'd be a quality unit.

[General Dazza]

I must respectfull disagree. Personally, I hate Boyars. They can't function as a horse archer(at least not how I use them). And because of the bow, they not only lose power on their charge, but they also are insanely expensive. Its not that they're terrible, I just find that they don't fit my style of play and are vastly overpriced. Plus, Russia doesn't exactly have the economy to stomach very many boyars. Now if they only swapped those bows for javelins... that'd be a quality unit.

I must respectfully disagree with your respectful disagree . I've found them effective enough as archers (not sure how you use them) and also in general melee.

As they're the only royal cav unit with missile units (iirc though there may actually be 1 other) I think they're a very good all round cavalry unit.

But it does depend on your style of play. I like to send mounted ranged units ahead to try and lure out enemy units and then routh them with cavalry. I find the boyars are good for doing both of these. Then they're also good for running down routers

[caravel]

I must respectfull disagree. Personally, I hate Boyars. They can't function as a horse archer(at least not how I use them). And because of the bow, they not only lose power on their charge, but they also are insanely expensive. Its not that they're terrible, I just find that they don't fit my style of play and are vastly overpriced. Plus, Russia doesn't exactly have the economy to stomach very many boyars. Now if they only swapped those bows for javelins... that'd be a quality unit.

Boyars are indeed, overpriced, costly to support and crippling to the Novgorod/Russian economy. So in fact they are simply classic nobility.

I must respectfully disagree with your respectful disagree . I've found them effective enough as archers (not sure how you use them) and also in general melee.

As they're the only royal cav unit with missile units (iirc though there may actually be 1 other) I think they're a very good all round cavalry unit.

But it does depend on your style of play. I like to send mounted ranged units ahead to try and lure out enemy units and then routh them with cavalry. I find the boyars are good for doing both of these. Then they're also good for running down routers

They are effective as archers, and good in general melee. They are strong all round cavalry in fact. Sipahis of the Porte are the other horse archer bodyguard unit.

The long and short of it is that you're both right, and that it all comes down to style of play. Personally I do thing Boyars are overpriced, especially support wise, and do need that extra something to justify the cost. The Pocket Mod that I am working on will eventually give horse archers a type of generic eastern compound bow that has longer range and greater power (not quite a longbow) this may make all the difference to those types of units. At present it is being tested on foot archers only, and it seems to be slightly overpowered still.

[Glyndwr in the Soke]

Hi Warluster!

Enjoy!!! MTW, especially in its VI guise, is still my absolute favourite title, even after all these years. (And I do like STW, which I have recently fired up again for the first time in about 3 years.)
Regarding the Russians/Princedom of Novgorod, I have my two penneth to add:

First, they need a bit of modding to be playable in early. Easiest description, should you not have found it yet, is here:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=31291
by Hopalongbunny. Please correct me, all ye wise ones, should this modding not work in plain MTW. If so, I offer my most profound excuses!

Second, without VI, their unit roster is basically just Horse Archers, especially the Boyars, pluse some Vikings thrown in, to start with. I am currently playing Novgorod, and have to admit that the Boyars are indeed sucking me dry. However, I have no problem with that, as in early, they can just be sent away on suicide missions and often come away victorious.

And once more: MTW/VI rocks! Get it! NOW!!!

[seireikhaan]

My style for a mounted archer is to send them way ahead of my main army, usually about 4 or so and let them shoot and harass the enemy for quite a while. In the meantime, my troops wait in the back for the enemy to tire out while chasing the horse archers. When the horse archers run out of ammo, or the AI decides to forget about them, I send my main force in to crush their tired troops.

Boyars don't do this nearly as well as other HA's, with my favorite being Mongol HA and Szekely. The armor just wears them down too quickly. Meanwhile, if they had javelins instead, I could just throw a volley or two of javelins and then charge in. My experience is that kind of tactic can often result in an enemy routing quickly. I've tested this tactic out with Joggaby/Kerns with RK's charging the enemy right after the javelins land.

[The Unknown Guy]

Those two have "strong charge"

Spanish pestaltes don´t for some reason

[Roark]

Boyars are the best all-rounders/hybrids in the entire game (given that Sipahis of the Porte only have 20 men). Rah.

G'day Warluster. Good to see another Aussie.

[Zild]

Hi, Warluster.

I know you don't need any more convincing, but having recently just dropped back down to v1.1 briefly, I was reminded of some of the sweet improvements in VI:

• Ability to save before battles (useful if you don't have time to fight it, or think you may wish to re-fight it).
• Ability to organise appearance order of reinforcements before battles.

I'm sure there are a lot of little features added to the campaign map which make things quicker and easier, too (I think the V&V summary is new?)

[Warluster]

G'day Warluster. Good to see another Aussie.

Bloody Oath, nowadays theres heaps of us Aussies on the .Org!

Hi, Warluster.

I know you don't need any more convincing, but having recently just dropped back down to v1.1 briefly, I was reminded of some of the sweet improvements in VI:

Ability to save before battles (useful if you don't have time to fight it, or think you may wish to re-fight it).
Ability to organise appearance order of reinforcements before battles.

I'm sure there are a lot of little features added to the campaign map which make things quicker and easier, too (I think the V&V summary is new?)

Thanks. Though if I get VI I will mainly get it for the MTW campaign.

[King Kurt]

Good to see the ruler of Bohemia on this board.

The Viking game in VI is well worth doing - it gives a different set of challenges and is generally a shorter game. The Europe game is much wider with many different challenges but the Viking game has some real challenging strategic issues to struggle with - especially as most provinces can have the Vikings pop up in them without notice. Particuarly early on the Viking troops pack a punch and you have to second guess them if you wish to defeat them.

[caravel]

You don't have to get VI right away, since, IMO, it would be suicide to try and do your first one or two campains as Sicily, Hungary, or Aragon. My personal preferances? The Danes, Spanish, and Turks.

In fact Hungary and Sicily are quite easy factions. Sicily can become a juggernaut, have good trade, and with some good old fashioned aggressive war making can dominate fairly easily, with some very early crusades against the Almohads being a good starting tactic. Hungary are in prime position, with plenty of rebel provinces to the east, Poland to be annexed in the North, Szekely horse archers, with jobbagy, slav javelins and slav warriors immediately available. I rate them as a somewhat easy faction.

Turks- Great variety of troops, including several hybrid infantry/archers. Plus, a (somewhat cheap) "ransom the Sultan trick", in which you blitz the Egyptians right away at Jerusalem, thus trapping the Sultan in Antioch/Tripoli and getting a nice bonus for your cash. Plus, they have access to three of the best troops in the game, IMO. Armenian Heavy Cavalry(because they can be trained with 2 valour from Armenia rather quickly), Janissary Infantry(the equivalant of a Chivalric Men At Arms, but swapping some extra armour for a bow), and Janissary Heavy Infantry, which just dominate nearly everything you throw at it. Lastly, some very rich provinces to take from Egypt.

Janissary units are only available from the high era and take a lot of teching up. Also they can only be trained in a single province. The Turks horse archer and skirmisher based armies take some getting used to for the novice. They are landlocked and surrounded by foes with no rebel provinces to expand into, so they are probably best avoided for the first few campaign.

EDIT: I would advise against the Byzantines, for two reasons. One, they have no decent spearman, which I consider a must in the majority of my armies. Two, they are literally RIGHT in the crosshairs of the Mongol invasion, and I would advise against fighting them much for your first campaign. Plus, the two problems compound each other. Fighting the Mongols with no decent spear can be VERY tough.

The lack of Spearmen is not so much of a problem for the Byzantine, with Byzantine Infantry and the elite killer Varangian Guards to plug the gap. They also have many other good units such as Pronoia Allagion, Kataphraktoi and Trebizond Archers. They start in control of some of the best lands on the map, and with the potential to expand westwards and northwards into rebel provinces and eastwards into Turkish and Egyptian lands. The Golden Horde problem also applies to the Turks, or any faction that expands that far. The Byzantines are as well equipped to face them as the Turks, if not better. The Turks cannot train any Pavise or any Arbalest units, and these can be invaluable in defensive battles against the Horde. The Turks have the advantage of Saracen Infantry which are ideal for forming a defensive line. Georgia is the ideal province for which to halt the Horde advance, due to it's mountainous terrain and it's position as a single province choke point.

[The Unknown Guy]

In fact Hungary and Sicily are quite easy factions. Sicily can become a juggernaut, have good trade, and with some good old fashioned aggressive war making can dominate fairly easily, with some very early crusades against the Almohads being a good starting tactic. Hungary are in prime position, with plenty of rebel provinces to the east, Poland to be annexed in the North, Szekely horse archers, with jobbagy, slav javelins and slav warriors immediately available. I rate them as a somewhat easy faction.

I don´t know about Sicily, but I have to agree with Hungary. I´m suffering now a major debacle at the hands of the Hungarian AI. Their Skelezly are a rather good all-around light cavalry unit, and their jobbagy are as cheap as peasants, still have strong charge, AND, have javelins.

I suffered a major defeat of my feudal sergeants at the hands of a SMALLER force of Jobaggy and Skelezy. How? The skelezy outmaneuvered me, and the jobbaggy pined me down. I didn´t really suffer too many casualties per se, but the sergeants panicked and fled, with many being captured

[caravel]

I don´t know about Sicily, but I have to agree with Hungary. I´m suffering now a major debacle at the hands of the Hungarian AI. Their Skelezly are a rather good all-around light cavalry unit, and their jobbagy are as cheap as peasants, still have strong charge, AND, have javelins.

I suffered a major defeat of my feudal sergeants at the hands of a SMALLER force of Jobaggy and Skelezy. How? The skelezy outmaneuvered me, and the jobbaggy pined me down. I didn´t really suffer too many casualties per se, but the sergeants panicked and fled, with many being captured

Sicily are one of the easier catholic factions in the game. Put it this way, Sicily are easier than the HRE, Italians, Poles, French and Aragonese anyway. The trick with Sicily is to go straight for Naples and then start building a good trade network based on Sicily, which is already quite developed. Then you can launch crusades galore and harass the Byantines and muslim factions.

[The Unknown Guy]

I noticed the aboundance of trade in Southern Italy (and exploited it to an extent leaping from Greece. The Pope doesn´t like it, but Byzantium is technically already excommunicated. And so is the Pope, for that matter)

Speaking about which: PM suggestion: adding trade goods to all the islands? So that a stranded faction in Malta, or Crete, or the like, can still maintain an economy and (hopefully) try to get back to action?

Off-topic non-related to PM: Where the are the Balears?