Medieval 2: Total War (Cont.)

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I'm currently playing Milan, and maybe I can be of some help, as the tactics are primarily the same for both of those factions. I got off to a nice start in the game with an alliance and military access offered to the HRE empire for the cost of two of their settlements (Innsbruck and Stauffen). However, the only thing they are doing is providing me with some income. I produce no units there and the HRE has honored the alliance thus far.

Whether you're playing Milan or Venice, the early game goals are identical. You must secure the immediate area around you, and then look to take over the Italian Penninsula (but not the Papal States of course). In my game, the two factions that acted up early were Venice and Sicily. As Sicily was a much weaker faction, they became the first target. (Technically, my first conquered city was Venice, but I stopped attacking the Venetians once I took it.) I quickly took over the two island settlements off Italy's coast and then moved onto Italy itself, taking over Palmero and Naples.

During that time Sicily was also at war with the HRE, and managed to take Bologna from them. That was fine by me, as I really didn't want a HRE settlement smack in the middle of my territory, so once the Sicilians took Bologna it allowed me to add that settlement into my empire as well. Once the Sicilians were eliminated I also took Ragusa from the Venetians. The war the Venetians have going with the Byzantines isn't going well either, and they've lost Durrazo to them. That leaves the Venetians with one settlement on the European mainland, and their island capital. I seriously doubt I'll even bother taking the capital - it doesn't really serve any tactical purpose, and the Venetian "empire" once I take their final mainland settlement will be too small to sustain any type of military that would pose a threat to me.

Which is course means I need to figure out who my next target is. I'm definitely leaning towards the French. Not only have a bunch of French agents failed in their attempts to infiltrate my cities, our relations are very poor (no doubt because of the failed infiltrations), despite the fact that we have never come into actual conflict. The also have a ton of Cardinals, and that just isn't good. While I have a priest in every single city, I only have two Cardinals, and the French probably have five or six by this point. When I eliminated Sicily, both of their cardinals died, and both of the replacements came from France (despite the fact that I had a five piety priest just hanging around).

Actually Gnarff, the more I think about it, I can't figure out why you continually are forced to fight 4 or 5 factions at a time - usually from very early on in the game. Typically, if you play nice with everyone you can usually keep hostilities to a minimum. An early alliance is never a bad idea - that's why I allied myself early with the HRE. The entire northern border of my empire borders the HRE territories, and because of good relations I only need to keep basic garrisons in place there.

Now I do not have an explanation as to why France has been relatively peaceful up to this point. The other piece of advice I can give you is this: When you are at war with several enemy factions, concentrate your offense on your weakest adversary, and take them out. That means playing a defensive role against your other enemies, but it does no good to open numerous fronts at the cost of your economy. Finally, having your queues stall is typically not a deal breaker. In many of my games, I go through some financial trivails early in the game. This time, that was partly from my own doing as the two HRE territories cost me 5000 florins, and king's ransom early on. Finally, the only thing I spend money on early other than city building is buying free upkeep units. My entire offensive might is whatever I start the game with.

 

I believe you are right. My next attempt will be a Milan first campaign, and then Sicilly. If I get Excommunicated, then I'll grab Rome too. But Milan has to be dead before I can look to Byzantium. I'll still grab Zagreb, Durazzo and Rhodes (maybe more rebel settlements early on). Since my first front could be Milan, I may actually try to build a force with Militia units to move on Milan. For those forces, I will probably need a siege weapon to take the city before the Pope can throw a hissy-fit...

 

What difficulty do you play on? The strategies I give work best on medium difficulty. On higher difficulties the game is MUCH harder, and you have to proceed with caution. You're still better than the computer when fighting battles, but I notice on higher difficulties the computer uses many more agents (including assassins), and generally won't willingly enter a fight it can't win. That means your cities tend to get attacked with very large troop stacks. Having adequate city defenses on the higher difficulties becomes a top priority, and it also really helps to build many more tanner/blacksmiths/etc to keep your garrisons well armored. Of course, it also makes management of your economy that much more important because you'll have much higher upkeep costs every turn.

However, if you are playing on Medium difficulty, then you shouldn't be having that many problems. I still contend that there's no way you should EVER get excommunicated. An early alliance with the Papal States helps, and doing what the Pope asks (be that refraining from attacking an enemy faction, building churhcs/priests, etc) is usually sufficient to allow you to blow off Crusade requests if it doesn't fit into your overall plans at that time.

Truthfully, if you are playing Milan or Venice, there is little reason to ever enter a Crusade, as the target city is always either Jerusalem or some other nearby city (if Jerusalem is already held by a Catholic faction). Since your target city for your victory condition is Constantinople, it makes no sense to try and conquer the holy lands and likely have to deal with the Mongols in the process. I suppose you COULD try and get up to 45 settlements by taking over most of the Middle East and Africa, it's far more practical to reach 45 by taking on nearby Catholic factions when they attack you. Finally, I can't believe you don't see more enemy factions getting excommunicated. It's usually easy enough to lure the AI into doing something stupid and getting excommunicated.

 

Yeh, i learned that the hard way, had to rush in the last 40 turns or so to get my 45. Middle East and Africa is easier to defend once you have them all, but doesnt give yo nearly enough settlements.

 

Well, the Middle East isn't too bad - those settlements are fairly tightly packed together. However, you are completely right regarding Africa - there's only about a dozen settlements there, and even if you control all of Africa, you still need to do a lot more to get to 45.

 

I've been playing on the easiest difficulty for the general campaign. Reason being that I want to learn all the tricks. I have yet to feel the game becoming easy enough to get my ego inflated.

My current attempt, I rushed Milan taking their capital within the first 10 turns, and by turn 20, they were eliminated. While I was excommunicated, I took Rome. I bought Bologne from Germany, and took down Sicily. with that accomplished and Agiacco and Cagliari inder my thumb, I turned towards Byzantium (who did blockade a port). Germany started talking tough, so instead of sending a second army east to secure Constantinople, I sent them north to annex Vienna and Prague. In the ceace fire I was able to purchase Bern (but they double crossed me to try to retake it). France also acted up, so I blitzed them with an attack army (looking to open a front with Egypt of the Moors originally) marching on Toulouse (for a forward base), and a band of Militia to Marseilles. I claimed them both befopre the Pope could throw a fit.

I'm about 75 turns in with about half the required settlements (I have Constantinople, and when re-enforcements arrive, I'll be moving to finish them off). I'm thinking that my war with the Germans will be to the finish, and France doesn't seem to respect me, and will not likely take a fair deal or sell a settlement in a peace treaty.

I am using Ragusa, Palermo and Toulouse as forts, and depending on where my next war is, I will look at either Acre or Smyrna for a forward base. I am not ruling out one in Poland if they trouble me or perhaps Hamburg if the Danes act up. I don't see all my needed centres coming from the already declared enemies as of yet...

 

Well tbh Gnarf, the best way to get better is to challenge yourself. Generally I do one campaign on default settings(regardless of the game) and then i set it to hard/est and see how I fare. It may be the best way to learn.

 

Actually, the first game I tried was on medium difficulty. I find it hard to believe you could lose on easy difficulty. Although I suppose you haven't technically lost. You just stop playing and start over when your economy goes in the tank. Perhaps in the future you should attempt to work through that.

 

One thing I wonder about is whether I forget things (like moving an army at a key point, that the pope will excommunicate my @$$ if I attack these guys right now) after a break. Another concern is that I continually make the same mistakes over and over. Sometimes when I do reach for the reset button it is because of feeling overwhelmed. I also wonder if I get PO'ed at an AI and decide the game would be simpler without them and over-commit to their demise. I may have just enough of a hinderance before I start...

That said, I have knowingly gotten myself excommunicated for a second time (this time to relieve France of another castle), and have the HRE on the ropes. Thessalonica and Constantiople did revolt, but I will be reclaiming them soon with intent on pressing the Byzantines, and have forces in place to finish off the HRE, and will continue the push against France. Denmark has acted up and I anticipate a northern campaign when I can re-enforce Nuremburg (I think Frankfurt is in Danish hands). Taking Madgeburg from the Danes will not likely sit well with Poland, so that might be where I get my last few settlements. I think I will get it this time after several attempts...

 

Well, the other problem you are likely running into is taking more losses than you should if you are still using the autocalc to resolve battles. Generally speaking, you run the battle better than the autocalc will, and as a result, you'll need a lot more of your funds devoted to replace troops.

 

Having read a lot about Gnarf's efforts here I think his main problem is that he time after time bites off more than he can chew. A slow steady gradual expansion is the most efficient and imo the most enjoyable. I could probably blitz through the medium campaign in very few turns by just pushing and pushing the AI is that inapt at that setting. It isnt fun though. I almost try to roleplay my empires.

I set up objectives and go for them, I do not let the AI dictate my actions and do not attack someone I havent planned to attack. My usual style of play is that I spend a couple of turns to take a few settlements, then spend about double the time to consolidate, rebuild, get the finances in balance and then make another push. Try to always keep things under control, not to over extend oneself. About half way through the game you will get to the point where your Empire is an unstoppable juggernaut with unlimited military and financial resources and you spend most of your time trying to build the prettiest and in theory most balanced army to go trounce yet another half stack of untrained militias with your goldchevroned plated überarmies.

 

For those who enjoy this game, the official 1.2 patch was released by Creative Assembly no more than an hour ago!

Thought I'd spread the good word.

 

That's quite often the feeling I get. My dentist will back me up on this, but contrary to the image given in the Alleys, my mouth really isn't that big...

In the early going, I can do what Joacqin suggests, but as the game progresses, I build a second, later third and even 4th stacks and deal with an enemy that's going to annoy me. By doing that too fast, I stifle the economy and find my forces pinned down as new fronts open up (and sometimes including more aggressive powers).

As for Venice-Milan relations, I notice that Milan will be more aggressive when they declare war, often laying siege to Venice when I'm deep in a campaign with the Byzantines or another power farther away. This also occurs when I atempt a crusade.

The other porblem is that I can't always sit back and wait for the pope to get his head, let alone his funny hat, out of his arse and deal with the "good Catholic factions" that can't leave well enough alone while I try to balance the desires of the Council of Nobles and the Holy Father...

 

Well, as far as advise goes, Gnarff, I'd leave the autocalc and fight your own battles, especially in the beginning, as you need too large an army to win most battles with autocalc. You can fairly easily win battles for which the AI rates your chances low by playing them yourself, while you'd lose those battles with autocalc.

In the beginning, armies of perhaps 5 stacks are usually sufficient to take any rebel settlements, and I've found that even until mid game such small armies may still suffice. My first half stack army (10 units) is generally the first crusading army, should I chose to participate in one. I use half stack armies for most of the mid to late game, and full stacks only come into play should I decide to continue after I've reached the 45 settlements.

Also, I might have three armies by midgame, or even four, but then 1 or 2 of those are going to be of the 5-6 units variety. Too large an army will suck away your resources, and from what I've read here, the others must use even smaller armies than I do, since I've never actually managed to accumulate more than say 100k.

And, as Joacqin suggested, don't try to attack to many settlements at once. Take a few, consolidate, then take a few more. Pick fights you know you can win.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The ONLY time you want to go crazy and expand as fast as possible is right in the beginning of the game, to grab up as many of those rebel settlements as is possible.

The other advantage to consolidating after your initial expansion is because it is your second set of family members that usually turn into your best commanders anyway. Simply put, a family member who is already about 30 at the start of the game is already too old to reach legendary commander status, or at the least will already be very old by the time he reaches that status.

If you want a 10-star general, and you want to not have him die of old age shortly after reaching that point, the best bet is to pick a family member who already has decent command abilities when he comes of age, and groom him from the time that he is 16 years old to be the bomb. What that translates into though, is that at the start of the game, the family member who meets all of those criteria has yet to be born. At the beginning of the game, the faction leader is already way too old, and usually the heir is already a little old to be an ideal canidate. What this means in practice is that your early family members just need to take care of the rebel settlements. The wars with other factions are better left for the next generation.

One nation that is really good that lets you start grooming a great commander (provided his starting stats are pretty good) is the English. At the start of the game, King William's youngest son, Henry, has still not come of age, and won't reach that for about another 10 turns or so. If I'm playing England, Rufus usually takes care of conquering Great Britain, while Robert secures some rebel settlements in northern France. Henry comes of age right at the time you start fighting the French.

 

Playing as Poland, the game is finished since long. Still, I decided to continue and now all everything from the most easternpart of Russia, south to the city under Tblisi, east to Bruges, north to the entire Scandinavia, and then south to Constantinople. I also have three isolated settlements; Corinth, Carribean and Djion. My military power is supreme, the Tirumids, Milanese, and Venitians are being handled with ease, and I have Turkey down to a single settlement.

All is good in the Polish Empire.

 

I finally finished off the campaign with Venice. I eliminated France and the HRE, while also harvesting land from Denmark, Poland, England, Portugul and Hungary (the last was a stab int he race to 45). I spent most of the latter half excommunicated as I lacked the patience to wait for the Pope to get his goofy hat out of his backside and outright attacked some of the nations that were better at sucking up to him.

I've also noticed that when the College of Cardinals gets thin, cardinals will be promoted more readily. None of them mine, mind you...

I think Milan is next, but I'll likely update y'all tomorrow nigth with my next nation and my first thoughts...

 

Just a quick update on playing with the new patch, patch 1.02.

Big improvement over patch 1.01, but also a big download to go with it. It's about 600MBs!

--A lot of improvements to battle AI, including addressing a lot of passive AI issues.

--Some big improvements to diplomacy. Alliances are a lot more likely to last now, and your enemy is less apt to attack you without a strategic reason to do so. I've had several battles where my ally has joined in to assist me against an enemy. fun!

--The 2 handed bug (many 2 handers had major attack problems) and shield bug (soldiers with shields were actually having their shield value subtracted from defense in melee) are fixed!!

--Cannon and Ballista tower mix ups have been fixed.

--Several "missing" units added back into the campaign (e.g. armored sergeants for france, dismounted gothic knights for HRE).

Just a few of the notable improvements contained in the latest patch. There are many, many others, although there is quite a bit of room for improvement yet in future patches.

But beware, some of reported game crashes with this patch, but most seem to be fine, and enjoying the improved game.

Oh, and I was able to continue my Danish campaign after the patch without any problems.

 

I was able to continue my Polish campaign as well.

Also, I didn't see it in the patch notes, but a lot of new mines of different sorts have appeared since applying the patch, as have many other new trading resources.

 

Question - if I have the tower fix installed, can I patch over it, or is it necessary to uninstall the tower fix first?