Egypt: Visual strategy guide

[Askthepizzaguy]

Responses:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I'd say go for another guide. Will you put up another poll?

Sure thing. A new poll cometh.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

While it would be fun to watch you stomp all over the world again, it would probably be more useful to post another guide. I agree with what someone else on here said and would like to see Russia since it seems like the biggest challenge for you. Either way it will be fun to watch.

If you keep posting, I'll keep reading.

^_^

That's two votes for a new guide.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Winning a campaign isn't all that difficult, but to do it in such style as you is very impressive. The speed at which you won; the efficiency of your armies movement & replenishment; and the brutality of pwning the AI. Well done.

Is this your only style of play? If it isn't, then I'd love for you to show turn by turns where you play the way you have most fun. Otherwise more of the same would be just as good.

I'm blushing. Believe me, I eat up this kind of praise.
The whole point for me posting such threads is for your enjoyment. I am glad they were able to entertain, and possibly inform you of ways to make your gameplay more efficient.

Others have commented on how easy the game is, and they form 'house rules' to limit their own behavior to make it harder. So that is the common trend. But I feel that there is room to make the game harder in the opposite direction: How quickly and soundly can you destroy the AI? What is the maximum efficiency of your armies? The game can become a challenge trying to beat goals such as
"destroy factions X, Y, and Z by turn W"
"victory condition X by turn Y"
"total domination of the old world by turn Y"
"eliminate the map of all Mongols and Timurids by turn Y"

No, this is not my only style of play. Although the crusade and jihad function can be used to maximize efficiency, there are other ways of playing with flair.

Here is a fun goal:
"How many generals can you spawn by turn X"
Promote, adopt, steal, bribe... all of the above plus births. How many generals can you bring into the royal family by turn X?

Since the game is more likely to award you a general if you have many provinces, and more likely to promote a captain if you attack wandering stacks of enemy troops, how many generals can you spawn without cheating?

Another style of play:
Ultimate Chivalry
NEVER do anything dishonorable. Try to maintain excellent reputation. Always occupy. Et cetera.
Meet victory conditions set by the game or create your own.
Never join crusades or jihads unless already at war with said faction (you would be required to act with dishonor and ruin your reputation)

or

Victory condition: Gain 10 chivalry general without using exploits.

Ultimate Dread
Attack everyone. Always exterminate. Butcher prisoners. Assassins, spies, and so forth.
Conquer the world
Never join crusades or jihads. (Chivalrous act)
and gain 10 dread general

Ultimate Economy
Never initiate war, pillage and extermination unavailable, and try to reach an economic goal such as
"X number of merchants"
"Profit per turn of X"
"X number of florins in treasury"

Ultimate Robber Baron
Initiate war available, pillage.
"X number of florins in treasury by turn Y"
Try to increase X while decreasing Y.

Ultimate Cold War
Use only spies and assassins on other factions. Never enter another faction's territory with your troops. Conquer only rebels. Meet victory conditions.

[Askthepizzaguy]

UPDATE: A Byzantine Empire thread will be posted soon.

[BattleN00b]

OMG I love the ERE! Can't wait

[hoetje]

UPDATE: A Byzantine Empire thread will be posted soon.

I thought you had college work to do ;)

[Ulstan]

CA, you owe this man thanks for so clearly demonstrating the two weakest points in your campaign game: the absurd ease of financing your empire solely through sacking cities, and the unrealistic reliability, cheapness, and longevity of crusades.

[TheRealSlimBrady]

Ultimate Cold War
Use only spies and assassins on other factions. Never enter another faction's territory with your troops. Conquer only rebels. Meet victory conditions.

That's what I've been doing with my Danes game, at least in the European theatre, since I got bored of rolling over factions who I betrayed - I try to assassinate their entire families, and make their cities rebel. It's a certain kind of fun

[Askthepizzaguy]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

CA, you owe this man thanks for so clearly demonstrating the two weakest points in your campaign game: the absurd ease of financing your empire solely through sacking cities, and the unrealistic reliability, cheapness, and longevity of crusades.

I appreciate the post, Ulstan.

I have a solution for you; you could limit yourself to a single stack whenever you go on a crusade. Two at the most. Or you could limit yourself to just the target city.

The following is not directed at Ulstan, but his valid criticism reminded me of some posts that had some pretty harsh criticism.

Opinion: perhaps there is room for improvement, but that can be said of any game.

If CA comes out with a Medieval 3, perhaps they will address those concerns. But until then, I say they have made a fine game with a lot of replay value for your money.

This game alone has given me hundreds upon hundreds of hours of entertainment. While there is some valid criticism of the game, I notice some tend to take it to such an extreme that they create long threads dedicated to bashing it. If the game isn't fun, you don't have to play it.

I think it is a major improvement over previous titles. I remember RTW had overpowered peasants, unrealistic units, and other weaknesses, yet the game was still fun enough to be a best-seller. The free mod RTR addressed all of those concerns, I believe.

The point is, the game is not bad. Certainly nothing worth getting angry about.

[rookie7]

Thank you, Rookie 7.

My playing style is a blending of speed and aggression, an attempt to master the art of blitzkreig. It is my personal theory that this style most closely reaches the maximum possible playing strength; in other words, more regions are captured, more troops are recruited, more buildings are constructed, and more foes vanquished in the least amount of time, thus maximizing to the upper limit the ability of your small band of troops to wage war.

There is a limit to how much you can accomplish in a turn. You are limited by troop levels, movement, funding, and territory. If you can accomplish more, quicker, with less, then you are approaching maximum effectiveness.

According to this theory, the least effective factions are Byzantium and Russia, as they do not have crusading ability or jihad. This makes them the hardest factions in the game. I rate Russia as the hardest faction, due to poor economy, starting position, and starting troop effectiveness, as well as lack of crusading.

I would rate France as being the most effective faction, due to their starting position, abundance of starting generals, number of nearby rebel provinces, weak catholic neighbors, economic potential, and number of provinces. This makes France an easy faction to play.

Responding to your question; to which battle are you referring?

I'm referring to the battle below. Can you give me more details...maybe a video of your moves. I'd like to see what units you select to move where...etc. I must say, it was an impressive win.

Thanks

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The goal of this battle is to take the hill quickly, crush the small enemy force, and then slay their King.


The uphill charge.


Time to get Medieval 2: Total War on their candy asses.


Clean-up on aisle four.


I charge into the lone patch of Polish Nobles.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Their King leads the charge... into a trap!


Never charge with your general in the lead. That's just dumb, dumb, dumb.


I finish mopping up what's left of them.

They technically should have beaten me... they had far better troops than I did. I was playing with milita archers and some weakened cavalry, and they had Polish nobles and good infantry. Not to mention 2 generals.

[Askthepizzaguy]

The links to England are now broken so that Egypt is once again viewable.

My bandwidth was exceeded.

I will figure out what to do with England... somehow.

Rookie7- Sorry, but I don't know how to make battle videos.

(hangs head in shame)

I would like to know. Does anyone know?

[Hermann the Lombard]

BTW, I never thanked you for posting this guide...so why should I start now?

No, really, thank you very much for your yeoman efforts (no, wait, those were in the English replay).

Naturally, your bandwidth is now exceeded here! So it goes...

[Askthepizzaguy]

BTW, I never thanked you for posting this guide...so why should I start now?

No, really, thank you very much for your yeoman efforts (no, wait, those were in the English replay).

Naturally, your bandwidth is now exceeded here! So it goes...

As I understand photobucket, the bandwidth is exceeded for this month, but the files should be available for viewing again next month.

I really cannot afford to upgrade my photobucket account.



Apologies for the inconvenience.

[Hermann the Lombard]

No reason you should pay to upgrade! You already paid in time and effort, we can ask no more of you! Besides, your text covers the strategic and operational levels.