Anyone interested in doing a cooperative Total War Campaign?

Cafe Society
141

[QUOTE=xtisme]
Did you patch from a fresh install of the game? I didn’t have any trouble at all…in fact, just the reverse. My game was constantly crashing in the tactical battles if there were every any elephants on the enemy side…and randomly regardless of elephants or lack there of. Since the patch I haven’t had a single crash (though I did have a wierd episode where the game seemed to run REALLY slow for an entire tactical battle…couldn’t even move the mouse. But it cleared up when the battle ended and haven’t had a repeat).

-XT
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I patched from a 1.1 version. I uninstalled and reinstalled. It’s just version 1 right now. I’ll throw the 1.2 patch on next time I fire it up.

142

[QUOTE=Alessan]
Got it.

I’ve only played a couple of rounds so far - mainly getting the lay of the land, shifting forces around, setting priorities. I’ve chosen two castles and one cities as production centers, and I’m stripping my garrisons to a bare minimum to form a bunch of full-stack elite-troop field armies.

Oh, and I broke the seige of Milan, just to see if I could do it. It worked… barely. I beat three armies (equaling over twice my numbers) at the cost of half my men, including most of my infantry and all of my cavalry. As a result, Northern Italy is wide open. This is going to be fun.
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That’s great to hear. Please keep us up on what happens. Let’s hope we don’t stumble into some kind of widespread rioting.

Should we vote to move the capitol to a more centralized location, or leave it completely up to the person at hand?

143

[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever]
Should we vote to move the capitol to a more centralized location, or leave it completely up to the person at hand?
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I’d say leave it up to the individual person to make those kinds of decisions. Half the fun is seeing how the game progresses based on all our very different play styles…and how it all meshes together.
BTW, has the Black Plague happened yet? How about the Mongol/Timer invasions? Thats an important piece of information for all of us. There was a minor plague during my turn, but it wasn’t the big event driven plague…just the normal 2-3 turn plague effecting a few of our cities/castles.

-XT

144

[QUOTE=xtisme]

BTW, has the Black Plague happened yet? How about the Mongol/Timer invasions? Thats an important piece of information for all of us. There was a minor plague during my turn, but it wasn’t the big event driven plague…just the normal 2-3 turn plague effecting a few of our cities/castles.

-XT
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The Plague is raging as we speak. About half my cities have been affected. I’ve decided to ignore it - after all, if it’s hurting me, it’s hurting my enemies, too, so things even out. Right?

As for the Mongols, They’re here… or at least, so they say. I haven’t laid eyes on them yet, but I just received a message stating that they’ve settled down in Kiev. Seeing as I hold Vilnius, the next region over, I’ve been beefing up my Eastern defenses.

No sign of the Timurids. Yet.

Back to the game!

Back to the game!

145

Bleh. I don’t envy you if you have to take on Mongols.
I remember in Medieval 1, I bribed a small Mongol army. that was fun. Their troops fucking rock.

They were so incredibly expensive, too. Think I had to pay something like 40 thousand bucks for a quarter stack of troops.

146

The Mongol’s are VERY nasty customers. Their heavy calvary is tough to beat, their missile cav is fast and hits hard and they have those heavy foot archers. I don’t recall them having elephants…which is the only up side. The Timurids are, IMHO, an absolute nightmare to fight against.

-XT

147

[QUOTE=xtisme]
The Mongol’s are VERY nasty customers. Their heavy calvary is tough to beat, their missile cav is fast and hits hard and they have those heavy foot archers. I don’t recall them having elephants…which is the only up side. The Timurids are, IMHO, an absolute nightmare to fight against.

-XT
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I have yet to figure out a way to beat the Mongols. So as of now I just avoid fighting them whenever possible.

Which brings me to ask, what are your guy’s fighting style? Not just with the Mongols, but with everyone? How about army composition?
My armies usually entail a couple of trebuchets or cannon, about 2-3 cavalry, 2-3 archers and the rest swordsman. If I have gunner, a couple of those as well. I prefer to be on the defensive, I haven’t mastered attacking yet.

148

[QUOTE=RandMcnally]
I have yet to figure out a way to beat the Mongols. So as of now I just avoid fighting them whenever possible.
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I can usually beat the Mongol’s (and even the Timurids), but I end up taking very heavy losses compared to what I normally take with European armies. What I generally do is try and get them to attack my main line with their heavy cav and hold them off there, then envelope them with my own cav, hitting them in the rear. A lot of times you can get them to basically hold off their attacks while you pound them with your ranged units. You just have to watch things closely…the damn Mongol’s tend to try to flank your line, and if they do you will probably have to use your own cav to hold them in place long enough to get spear/pike units in position…which generally means your cav is going to have a rather bad day.

[QUOTE=RandMcnally]
Which brings me to ask, what are your guy’s fighting style? Not just with the Mongols, but with everyone? How about army composition?
[/QUOTE]

I like to have spearmen/pikemen to form my main line…say 8 to 10 regiments of them. If I have gunpowder I go with 4-5 regiments of musketmen and put them out in front of the main line, backed by 2 crossbowmen behind the main line. If I don’t have that option then I go with 3-5 crossbowmen/archers.

I like to have at least 2 artillary units as well…cannon if available, or some kind of catapult if not. I really like the culveran or basilisk units. If I can swing it, its good to have one of those short range multi-barrel guns as well (forget what they are called off the top of my head).

For cavalry I generally have my general and 2-3 heavy cav units which I position on the flanks. What I usually do is send at least 1 of those units to swing way out around the enemies flanks and attack their artillary if they have it…holding the rest in reserve well out on my own flank in case the enemy tries to get around my main line. If the enemy closes for a line attack then I swing my cav out using way points and then hit them in the rear as my line holds them in place…you just start at one end and repeatedly hit them with short, sharp cav charges until they route, then repeat up the line. When they start to route I usually turn my general loose at that point for the pursuit phase.

-XT

149
  1. Alessan
  2. Ludovic
  3. Kinthalis
  4. Gukumatz
  5. Revenant Threshold
    …
    Talon Karrde
    LOUNE
    xtisme
    Miller
150

Ah, mongols. I’ve never really crushed them, but I’ve scraped a lot of minor victories here and there. The only general rule I use is never attack in a line formation; you’ll get flanked hard. I prefer a defensive wedge formation with archers and artillery in the middle and cavalry out behind to outflank the flankers. Kind of like:

=|>}

Where = is Cavalry |> is Ranged and} is spearmen.

If you have to go on the offensive, well, you’re fucked, but there’s still ways to do it. They don’t really have very strong foot units, so getting into a brawl works if you’ve got north-european or elite infantry. Then you just have to worry about not getting flanked and/or have your archer line taken out.

151

The Holy Roman Empire is gone.* Sic transit glorious mundi*, and all that. I attacked Florence, their last city, with a full stack, blasting four breaches in their walls before sending in my knights and axemen. I also took Genova, Bologna and Venice, all within 3 rounds or so. Northern Italy is mine.

I’m also making some progress in Frace - the entire west coast is mine, and if it weren’t for the Spaniards attacking from the south I’d be taking the channel coast as well. As things stand, Milan holds the center of the country, facing me both to the west and across the Rhine, as far as I know they only have one major field army left, and I’ll probably finish it off next round.

The English attacked me. Perfidious Albion. What is it with the computer launching sneak attacks with 5-nitarmies? If you’re going to invade, do it in force, don’t send a handful of swordsmen when I have a force of 5 Knights Hospilitar just up the coast. Those English swordsmen are tough, though.

I have some good full-stack field armies - one in Italy, two in France, one building in Poland in case the Mongols get frisky. I’m also building a New Model Army in Milan, a completely urban force made up entirely out of arquebuses, sword-staves, artillary and mounted clerics. We’ll see how it works out.

Had some real nice battles. My favourite was a scrape in the French Alps against a much larger Milanese force. I kept to the high ground, waited till they started theire approach and then sprinted across the ridgeline untill I was facing their flank, and beforethey could wheel I charged straight down a *very *steep slope into what was essentially an enemy column. As is the case with thi sort of battle, the whole thing was resolved within 30 seconds, when their first unit routed. After that, it was just a matter of chasing crossbowmen.

Problems: The Plague, of courss. It’s killing my troops and gutting my economy, but I think the worst is past. The only thing to do is bite my lips and wait for it to pass, so I can start retraining. Besides that, I lost Antioch to a rebellion (it was bound to happen) and I was excommunicated (I’m seriously considering sacking Rome). And is there some reason I don’t have a navy?

The year is 1352. His Majesty is 38 years old.

This could take a while. I might pass the game on before he dies - I wouldn’t want to hog Denmark.

P.S. One way to beat Mongols is to get them to attack you at a bridge or ford. That way they lose their manuverability and the battle becomes a slugfest. If your infantry is stalwart enough and your archers numerous enough, you might have a chance.

152

[QUOTE=RandMcnally]
I have yet to figure out a way to beat the Mongols. So as of now I just avoid fighting them whenever possible.

Which brings me to ask, what are your guy’s fighting style? Not just with the Mongols, but with everyone? How about army composition?
My armies usually entail a couple of trebuchets or cannon, about 2-3 cavalry, 2-3 archers and the rest swordsman. If I have gunner, a couple of those as well. I prefer to be on the defensive, I haven’t mastered attacking yet.
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The key is to not let them flank you. If they flank you with the horse archers, you’ve got a big hole to climb out of.

I’ve never had gunpowder when tangling with them. I’m done by that time.

Ideally, I’d like some shitty infantry to busy some of their infantry/ponies, then flank/come from behind with good cavalry. If they want to play the shoot-then-bounce-away game with their cavalry and can’t pinch them, that’s frustrating.

Crap. I’ve just realized that any time I take on Mongols, I never have seige equipment.

Also, you’re correct about the bridge. If they’re attacking you, they have to come across the bridge. Extract a STEEP price.

153

Well, its their heavy cav thats really tough…the horse archers are a pain in the ass, but its that Khan elite cav thats the decisive element. I usually play the long games so I usually have gunpowder troops by the time I’m fighting the Mongols (I normally just ignore calls for a crusade, at least early on so I’m rarely in the Holy Land before I’ve at least maxed out one or two production cities).

Also, you can’t win in a bridge defense against the Timurids if you attempt to stop them right at the bridge. I’ve tried several times and if they have those damn cannon elephants they essentially shoot the shit out of you then walk across the bridge and right through whatever you have left. The only way I’ve ever beat them in a bridge crossing was to pull back far enough to force them to cross under fire but so they can’t fire without crossing, then pound the shit out of them when they bunch up…and hope like hell that the elephants go nuts and run amok.

-XT

154

The only time i’ve ever beaten the Timurids with what i’d call an actual victory (instead of losing most of my army as well) I got lucky on terrain; in the Alps I started off next to essentially a huge ramp with a forward point near them. I prefer archer-heavy armies anyway, so I got loads of salvos in before they even reached my melee forces. It seemed to throw off their flanking system, too.

155

I do the grand campaign as well. I never get to gunpowder, though.

I haven’t faced the Timurids, though. I’m not looking forward to it from what you’ve been saying.

156

[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold]
The only time i’ve ever beaten the Timurids with what i’d call an actual victory (instead of losing most of my army as well) I got lucky on terrain; in the Alps I started off next to essentially a huge ramp with a forward point near them. I prefer archer-heavy armies anyway, so I got loads of salvos in before they even reached my melee forces. It seemed to throw off their flanking system, too.
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The only country I really use a lot of archers with is England…since they get some pretty good archer units. Everyone else (well, the Christian nations) I use crossbows myself, and get to gun powder as fast as possible.

[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever]
I do the grand campaign as well. I never get to gunpowder, though.
[/QUOTE]

We must have totally different play styles then…I always get gunpowder (unless its unavailable).

[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever]
I haven’t faced the Timurids, though. I’m not looking forward to it from what you’ve been saying.
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Definitely not a pleasant experience. :slight_smile:

-XT

157

I love peasant archers (until longbows or something comes up archer-wise that I must have). So many kills, flaming arrows, such a low price. I also prefer archer-heavy armies.
I’m usually done with the game before gunpowder’s use becomes widespread. I’ve never seen a cannon. I’ve seen a handful of bombards. I’ve never seen any kind of musketmen.

158

Friend Xtisme, why not shore the end of the bridge you’re holding with heavy pike? The french halberdiers are probably the best, but most west-european countries have heavy pike units. Elephants don’t waltz through those.

159

[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever]
I’m usually done with the game before gunpowder’s use becomes widespread. I’ve never seen a cannon. I’ve seen a handful of bombards. I’ve never seen any kind of musketmen.
[/QUOTE]

So, you’ve never used culverins to siege a castle?

You’re missing out, my friend.

160

[QUOTE=xtisme]
The only country I really use a lot of archers with is England…since they get some pretty good archer units. Everyone else (well, the Christian nations) I use crossbows myself, and get to gun powder as fast as possible.

We must have totally different play styles then…I always get gunpowder (unless its unavailable).

Definitely not a pleasant experience. :slight_smile:

-XT
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I prefer archer-heavy armies as well. One of my favorite units is the peasant archers. If you’ve got the good cavalry and infantry to insure that the enemy won’t get to them, you can’t get better bang for the buck. They make hurt at long distances, have flame arrows..what’s not to love??

I do upgrade when something comes up and I simply must have it.

I rarely use crossbows. Some of my favorite seige defenses were against a huge army. I’d have a shit ton of archers. I liked flaming out their seige engines as they come up.

I’m usually done with the grand campaign before gunpowder gets widespread. I’ve never used a cannon, I’ve never seen musketmen in any capacity, and I’ve only seen a handful of bombards.
I remember the ultra-fucking-sexy culverins in Medieval 1: Total War, Miller. I’d leave craters where their armies were. Worst part about the Late Period was trying to complete a Grand Campaign. I don’t think I ever got one finished starting in Late Period. Just not enough time to comeplete it and not enough time to make fun units and complete it.

I wish that Sega would adopt some of the things that the Total Realism patches incorporate. I like a very varied army, and I like being able to recruit location-specific troops as well. It’s not like Alexander the Great only had phalanx when he took over the world. He had an army that incorporated fun technology from different places. Oh well. I hear the expansion has some sort of a flamethrower.