The most satisfying moments in Medieval Total War

[Caliburn]

Taking out Byzantine princes and the emperor with javelin infantry.

[caravel]

Taking out Byzantine princes and the emperor with javelin infantry.

I would say it's much more satisfying to take the Janissary Heavy Tin Openers to them.

[Fagar]

Ah yes.
The building sound FX when you finally complete your Military Academy and prepare to build your JHI.
You can nearly hear the Katatanks quiver in their mailed boots.

[Jxrc]

- clicking the "kill all prisoners" icon when you get to 1,000 ...
- your king is 78, his first son and heir matures !!!
- discover that the first byzantine heir is a 0-star idiot ...
- sinking the last dromon that evaded you for 50 years and sunk 53 of your ships ...
- silly enemy king with attacks with a stack that includes all its 7 and more stars generals ...
- big rock thrown by cataput hits enemy general's head (or even better byz emperor's crown ...)

[HopAlongBunny]

Some of the best are those "just in time" moments.

My favorite was a Turkish battle early in the campaign.

I face an AI assortment of militia, peasants, swords and a cpl archers. I'm outnumbered but saracens, ghazi and AHC should make this easy.

Battle is up a steep hill; np I'll fight a holding action on the hill and circle my AHC to the rear; I auto all 5 AHC to march a 4-5 waypoint journey to the top...no running I want them to be fresh.

Battle is joined! I am hard pressed everywhere! I run around shoring up morale, fixing lines switching units to "attack"/"hold" or rally...OMG! the centre is about to collapse!! Rush a unit of ghazi in to strengthen resolve and teach the infidel a lesson!

Time passes...I continue patching the line but the whole thing is going to collapse...hmmm, what are these 5 untouched AHC units? Oh yeah! I remember them, and here they are! At the top of the hill, untouched and fresh the AHC have done the Long March!

The resulting surprise charge smashed the enemy, only the peasant commander put up any fight at all.

God that felt good!!! I don't think I have ever enjoyed the "clean up" phase so much

side note: the ghazi support unit sent to the centre early in the battle survived...3 men cursing the denial of paradise

[Fagar]

Had a great momemt playing as the Almo's in early recently.
In a pitched battle with the French in Provence.
Both of us with 4 star princes leading.
It was only early in the battle and the frontlines were holding each other up but I managed to get a unit of Ghazi around the side of the ranks and threw them into his archers that were peppering me mercilessly.
The result was brilliant his archers folded immediately as expected but the best bit was in my pursuit the Ghazi streamed past a group of hobilars and with barely breaking stride cut them clean in half.
Not into the flanks just past the head of the unit as it was manouvering into position.
The ghazi only engaged for about 10 seconds and Hobilars went from 40 to 18 horse.
I love it because it was so symetrical and clean, just like a scapel.
The Ghazi continued the pursuit of the archers and the Hobilars just halted stunned.
Priceless.

[Brandy Blue]

There's so many simple pleasures, its hard to choose.

1 Sometimes you get to take down an "uber" unit easily using inferior troops to do it. I thinned a Varangian guard unit with a single javelin unit once, and it was a pleasure to see how little fight was left in them when my melee troops closed in on them front and rear. One of the joys of playing Irish in Viking Era is the chance to maul a Huscarl unit with your javelins, and maybe send someone in to finish them off or maybe retreat when you run out of javelins, only to maul them again next year.

2 Defeat, oddly enough, can be fun sometimes. I was playing the Scots in Viking era, and trying to take over Ireland. To make it more challenging, I only allowed myself to use troops raised in Ireland Now, Spearmen and Highland Clansmen aren't good at going toe to toe with Gallowglasses raised in the province that gives a Gallowglass valor bonus, but its about all I could raise in Ireland for quite some time.

Well, I remember one battle I lost, but not until I had destroyed the bulk of the enemy Gallowglasses. I knew that in spite of the outcome of the battle, I had won the war, because Spearmen and Highland Clansmen can deal with lots Kerns, a few shattered Gallowglass units, and the odd troop of Royal Guardsmen. I could watch my terrified Scots flee with the satisfaction of a job well done.

[caravel]

Time passes...I continue patching the line but the whole thing is going to collapse...hmmm, what are these 5 untouched AHC units? Oh yeah! I remember them, and here they are! At the top of the hill, untouched and fresh the AHC have done the Long March!

The resulting surprise charge smashed the enemy, only the peasant commander put up any fight at all.

God that felt good!!! I don't think I have ever enjoyed the "clean up" phase so much

That one has my vote every time. It's great when your units are battling away and you're worried they won't hold out for much longer then to bring up your cavalry or flankers onto a particularly hated enemy's rear and/or flanks and slam them into foe with conviction, saving your beleaguered men then turning them on the enemy and hunting them down to the last man, with the prisoners tally increasing rapidly...

I've done this when playing as the Turks with Futuwwa. It's a beautiful thing to see them emerge from the woods, charging with swords drawn and hitting the enemy where it hurts.

[Ironsword]

A lot of the above are great reminders of all the quirks that keep me playing! Here are a few more of my own...

- Realising that you got the direction of the enemy right when forced to deploy trebuchet's in the field!

- Holding off a massive rival empire and your defensive wins cause them to succumb to a civil war.

- Also, I really like fighting battles in the snow. It feels more atmospheric as you can't really see the enemy until they are upon you!

[HopAlongBunny]

I've done this when playing as the Turks with Futuwwa. It's a beautiful thing to see them emerge from the woods, charging with swords drawn and hitting the enemy where it hurts.

Futuwwa, Ghazi the Turk roster abounds with armed and dangerous loons! Gotta love it

[drone]

- clicking the "kill all prisoners" icon when you get to 1,000 ...

I love that one.

[Vladimir]

I love that one.

I'm not alone!

[Youngie]

your king is 78, his first son and heir matures !!!

Ive been know to wheap with joy when this has happend with my French campagin shouting "le Dauphin". Dolphin loving Frenchys

[Roark]

My most satisfying MTW moments:

5. Using my sole heavy cavalry unit to successfully perform a Suleyman gambit in wedge
formation against a vastly superior army ("The enemy general is dead! A blackguard gone to his deserved grave.")
4. The pop-up message which says that the Mongols have degenerated into minor rebels.
3. (As the Turks) ...being informed that 3 different crusades are heading for, or through, Istanbul. Bring it on, whitebread!
2. Watching as the cream of the enemy knighthood goes for my pavise-infested hillside adjoining a forest full of my fastest cavalry.
1. Witnessing the coming-of-age of a firstborn son who ISN'T a proud, crazy, alcoholic, inbred paedophile.

Ah yes.
The building sound FX when you finally complete your Military Academy and prepare to build your JHI.
You can nearly hear the Katatanks quiver in their mailed boots.

Haha... Bloody oath!

[seireikhaan]

Playing as the Mongols in XL/Tiberius, and taking on all comers, armed with their knights, men at arms, and halberdeirs, and crushing army after army through arrow and pony.

[Fagar]

Most recently playing as the Hungarian.
Bribing a rebel army in Aquitaine even though it is surrounded by rampaging Spanish and bracing for the inevitable asssaults and knowing you can only build and replenish one unit at a time as you do not yet have sea support!

The most satysfying being planting yourself on the same hill year after year turning away scores of Jinette's and javelin men with your slowly dwindling spears, UM, vanilla archers and 2 units of horsemen until every units valour is sky high and your originally 3 star general has been promoted twice!

[Scurvy]

When you've chased the single unit of enemy horse archers that avoided the mass rout around a desert and finally catch them