(Complied & based on SS 6.2 Vanilla but strategically applicable to most mod combos}
Disclaimer & preamble:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
This guide is general information based on game play with SS6.2 but the strategy elements should work with most Stainless Steel Sub-mods. I decided to go ahead and post this as a WIP{work in progress.} that way when folks add their insight I can credit them and it makes the guide that much better. My views in this guide are solely based on game play. I don’t know how to read scripts.
In addition I will provide links to the fine work of other members of the Stainless Steel community. Please don't forget to acknowledge the passion, and effort they put out in posting the information for our benefit.
2.. Using Multiple Versions of SS at the same time By JorisofHolland..
Here it goes:
If you take a look at your Medieval II - Total War directory (or wherever you chose to install it), you will notice a mods folder. Most mods are installed in this folder. If you click the Stainless_Steel_6 folder, you will see a lot of few files and a few other folders. The only important ones (for now) are Stainless_Steel_Kingdoms.CFG and Stainless_Steel_Kingdoms.bat.
Let's say you already have a SS 6.2 installation and want to add a SS 6.1. You should not change anything in your Stainless_Steel_6 folder. Since the SS installers will overwrite any files in the Stainless_Steel_6 folder, you should install them in some other directory (i.e. My Documents). Run the 6.0 part 1, 6.0 part 2 and the 6.1 installers and choose the same directory for them (that would be My Documents). When you go to My Documents you will see a mods folder. Open it. Inside it is a folder called Stainless_Steel_6. Rename it to Stainless_Steel_6.1 and move or copy it to the mods folder in your Medieval II - Total War folder.
Now comes the most important part: you must edit the Stainless_Steel_Kingdoms.CFG and the Stainless_Steel_Kingdoms.bat in your Stainless_Steel_6.1 folder. Right-click the Stainless_Steel_Kingdoms.bat and press "edit" (or however it is called in your language). Notepad (or something similar) will open, and show these lines:
Code: del Data\text\*.bin /S /Qcd ..\..start kingdoms.exe @mods\Stainless_Steel_6\Stainless_Steel_Kingdoms.cfg Only the last line matters. change it to
Code: start kingdoms.exe @mods\Stainless_Steel_6.1\Stainless_Steel_Kingdoms.cfg Now open the Stainless_Steel_Kingdoms.CFG (again, Notepad will do) and change
Code: [features]mod = mods/Stainless_Steel_6 to
Code: [features]mod = mods/Stainless_Steel_6.1 If you now run the batchfile, it will start SS 6.1. Congratulations, you succesfully installed two different versions of Stainless Steel!
I hope you understand it all.
Threads you Don't want to miss. Reade'm then join the fun by posting....
Getting started - remember SS6.2 has a difficulty bump so the easy setting = medium stetting, medium = hard, and so forth. You get the idea… Here's our reaction to a comment about SS6.2...
The game is supposed to be "very hard" but it should be renamed to "stupid"
The Stainless Steel Forum is proud to announce the release of a new diffuiculty level, after many months in beta we give you....
"Stupid Hard" ....{Imma coming for you Chump!}
"Stupid Hard" is copyrighted thru King Kong Productions and found only in the Stains Steel Forum.
********************************************************
The Devinne God Emperor of creation Gracul has now unleashed Stainless Steel 6.3 upon the world. All shall fall upon their knees, Kowtow, and pay extreme homage for his kindness and generousity.....
I. During battles: Holding down the alt button and then right clicking on the enemy unit: This will make the unit switch to their secondary weapon {swords/maces} and charge the enemy. This comes in real handy when you have lots of archers/horse archer's.
II. Lifting the FOW {fog of war} On the campaign map: Pressing the ~ button under Esc key, bring up the MTWII shell then type : toggle_fow then hit enter. Rinse and repeat to put it back. This comes in very handy for locating princesses, merchants, rebel settlements and observing how other factions grow.
5. Factions for beginners - England - don’t get no easier than this folks. Sicily - Italian Mafioso’s rule. France - They got it all. Norway - Welcome to the all axe in your skull team….
6. Saves - Saves are important to every gammer. If you don't have strategically placed saves you can lose info at crucial stages. So...
I. auto save: The auto-save saves at the beginning of every turn.
II. End turn: auto save backs you up at the beginning of the turn, so you next to save at the end of each turn in case you forgot to do something or the AI has the nerve to rub out your 9 chivalry {city building} general before his 110th birthday... "The Nerve."!!!!...
III. Battle: Before each battle. Ya know, just in case... {Go read somebody's tutorial on how to fight, cuz well you {like me} suck!
IV. Crusade/Jihad: Save right before you call one. Why because...If you called in a couple turns before they took the crusade/jihad object just for experience & money and the guy couldn't take it. Bad news for you...
V. Perhaps: for when you decide to try something. {Maybe it works, maybe it don't.}
VI. I'm ed: Well, cuz you are...
VII. K-Shah{insert faction name}: The game save for when you quit your secession.
So, my save bank looks like this...
auto save
end turn
battle
crusade/Jihad
Perhaps
I'm ed
K-Shah
If you make aar's and screenshoots, maybe add something like...
screen shot
battle save
7. Here's a survey of Stainless Steel players and their views on saves. What's yours? Jump in there and chip in...
9. Background music & video: Here's a good one. WarHammar: "The Chosen Ones". With background music I reccomend hitting play, then minimize and continue viewing the forum...
Warning!!!!!: Please check the capability of any submod before you add it to your version of Stainless Steel.
11. Your economy: Empires need money to pay for everything so the best way to get there is to up grade your settlements quick as greased lightning. Also their are some really neat features & units to be had at the higher levels. Kay…here we go…
I. Taxes to low whenever possible.
II. Chivalry generals as governors. If you ain’t got none don’t worry we’re gonna make some…Usually I use my king and Heir as city builders. The king’s authority can’t be beat and the heir’s usually pretty good too. Ya Ya, I know you want to go kill stuff with the king & Prince but 10 star generals are a dime a dozen and right now you got bigger fish to fry. When a general is in a city with taxes on low he will pick up the “Fair in rule” trait which starts out at +one chivalry and grows. Now as soon as you see a growth in chivalry set the taxes to normal so you don’t get bad tax traits. After bout five turns set the taxes back to low for five or so turns then rinse and repeat. Using this formula I’ve had good luck growing chivalry and not getting bad tax traits. Now to avoid lazy traits every so often I shuffle my generals so they can stretch their legs….
III. Build Order/law buildings then farms. Everything else can wait unless you need military stuff for emergencies…My advise don’t build the spy building line cuz it seems to bring bad traits with it.
IV. Now don’t forget to build those roads & observation towers. The observation towers tend to draw the rebels out of hiding. {they like to claim the towers as their property.}
V. Rebels - bad ju ju… kill them lickity split. They cause devastation to your lands and unrest. Early on the bonus you get for killing some rebels is the “Man of the Hour” event which is yummy good. { auto-calc rebel battles draws this out a lot plus is really good for getting your units experience levels.
VI. Walled cities - Once you gain walls you get to choose guilds. Strategically selecting your guild placement is crucial to the health of your empire. See guilds section for details. I’ll freely admit that as soon as I can I get a Hospitaler guild. They give you the best infantry and cavalry your gonna get for a loooooong time, so seize the opportunity to militarily outclass your neighbors.
VII. My advise is rushing to huge cities & max fortresses ASAP then move those high chivalry generals to continue the trend.
VIII. Settlement upgrade sizes: thanks to bane_tw for reading the scripts....
upgrade to town 1000
upgrade to large_town 3000
upgrade to city 9000
upgrade to large_city 17000
upgrade to huge_city 34000
upgrade to wooden_castle 1000
upgrade to castle 3000
upgrade to fortress 8500
upgrade to citadel 17000
taken from descr_settlement_mechanics.xml of my RR/RC version. Base values are the necessary upgrade values.
IX. Merchants - Minimal extra effort on your part can net you between say $4,000 to $10,000+ per turn just from your merchants. If that dozen’t sound worthwhile to you go ahead and skip this section……
Kay since your still here let’s get started….
1. Become a reload prince - Leveling up your merchants is going to require winning acquisition battles. If your gonna be a purist and not reload, getting your merchants leveled up is going to be rough.
2. Select your merchant center and only recruit merchants from there. This will ensure you get the Merchant guild and that you get the Merchant guild Headquarters. {gives you more merchants and makes your merchant highly skilled. Plus more trade stuffs for that settlement.}
3. Check the board and see where the money’s at. Each faction has a different set of favorite resources.
4. Build the Market place line of building in your “Merchant center” for better quality merchants.
Here's a quality guide to MTWII Merchants: "The glory of Merchants" by LandtuberMerchant Guide
X. Free AI Construction: Please be aware of and take full advantage of the free construction that the AI does for your bennefit...
1. Rebels & Factions: If you keep an eye on your independent neighbors, you'all notice that they build their little fiefdoms with as much gusto as you do.
2. Every so often the AI builds up a province with better precision than you can. Let them....Example: Playing as the Turks, the Byzantines have taken the Castle next to Inconicum and have it garrisoned plus a Governor. They're happily maxing out construction while the Governor is providing a growth rate of 3.5%, not too shabby for a castle. Since it's really not bothering my position I happily leave them to it, til such time as I deem the province, "Harvest ready".
We all need a little help now and again, so when the AI inadvertently helps you out please accept their gracious offer...
XI. Resources: Each faction has a decided preference for certain types of trading goods. Below is a basics list of some of the trade goods
and their locations…
Merchant’s Bazaar: here’s a list of basic favorites for different factions’ Merchants.
Byzantium: Gold, Glass, Denmark/Norway: Marble Egypt: Salt, amber, silver, iron, ivory, fish. {gold, glass, & spices, but not when you move the capital to Jeruselam}. England: Silver, gold, glass, amber HRE: sugar, cloth, Italians:Genoa, Sicily, Venice: Gold, Silk, & Amber,, K-Shah: Gold, glass, marble, ivory, spice Moors: Glass, Gold, amber, ivory, textiles. Turks: gold, ivory, salt, amber, glass, & {fish and slaves. Not so much.}
12. General Tips
I. Dread and Chivalry - No need to choose, use both. Some basic things to remember though. Chivalry is a City/Castle builder. {Governors with big-time chivalry}. Chivalry Maximizes & expedites settlement growth. Big cities equal big money to pay for all those Game-winner units you love to use . The quicker your settlements grow, the quicker your up and running…top. Once you’ve got the money….”burn the world” with Dread-Lords.
Building chivalry -
1. Once you have a town hall, and have maxed out taxes, drop them to minimum for four or five turns and your chiv. will grow. Taxes to back normal, then rinse and repeat. WARNING!!: don't keep taxes low with a Governor too long or you will get bad tax traits..
2. Release prisoners after battles. Playing as the Egyptians, I released the remnants of Four Crusader Armies and my chivalry went from 2 to 6 chivalry. Release!!! Release!!!!
3. Grow rates are what’s important. If the Governor is stealing left and right but giving you 3.5% - 6% growth rate who cares let him rob you blind.
Does this really work???...
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
As Genoa {M/M} at turn 70 Genoa & Milan were the only huge cities on the campaign board and Bologna & Florence were right behind them....Admitedly though, when it comes to building minor cities {popl. 9,000} your usually hard pressed to beat the AI. But once the AI's got walls it really drags it's feet, sometimes...
As K-Shah, turn 38. 15 cites and 8 of then have walls.
building dread -
1. execute ALL Prisoners.
2. Build assassins and max their levels out.
3. Exterminate settlements.super fun watching the billowing smoke but.....your also killing your infrastructure so pick and choose where you do this.
St. John’s Minor House - {Hospitiler’ Military order} A must have for your 1st walled city. It carries a free upkeep slot and a 5% health bonus. {Hqs carries a 10% bonus.} It offers hvy cav and dis-mounted knights. These are the best quality troops you will be able to produce for some time. As a plus their cheap as dirt price wise compared to some other units. This guild triggered by joining a crusade I believe. This guild is a game winner folks. I highly recommend them in spades for the beginning/novice player.
Theology -
Catholic factions - pick one city as your Pope-Maker. Edinburgh, Paris, & Leon are great Places for this. Build that Max Cathedral and the Papacy is your oyster. Try not to make it a coast city cuz use miss out on building merchant and explorer guilds.
British isles - Edinburgh
France - Paris
Spain - Leon -Zaragoza
Poland - Krakow
Italy - Milan
Muslims factions - Builds Imams quicker, {for calling Jihads} and eases the religious taker over.
Explorer’s Guild - Pick a coastal city and have this be your Navy builder. Greater ship range. Generals also pick up a +15% movement trait from a prolonged stay here.
Spy guilds - watch for these in AI cities. You really don’t need to build these unless you’re a Spy-master. Then build it in one city and let the Merchants have the rest.
III. Ancillaries.
- Remember there’s a maximum of eight for each general/family member.
+There are loyal traits generated by the King. Use them on disloyal generals.
- Remember and place Mercenary general trait in unit generating cities. You save $$ BIG MONEY $$.
IV. Assassins - only build the Pleasure buildings in one city and crank your assassins from there. This buildings trigger bad character traits.
V. The Papacy - Big Papa loves money and land gifts. As a Catholic faction, keep the Pope showered with gifts and you can do as you please..
- tribute- $100 a day for ten turns. Half way through renew it for ten more turns and get a favor bump. $700 donations equals favor bump. Also upping the tribute amount to $200 a day gets you a favor bump. Always maintain at least eight crosses minimum. Try and maintain 10.
VI. Mercenaries -Pick certain mercs and permanently incorporate them into your forces to fill weak spots in your rooster and cuz some of them are pretty neat. {mace men fill the AP piercing void and Aduliucian spearman are just cool looking. Merc spearman help beef up early era armies. Once your 2nd tier spearman are available give them their pink slips and show them the door. Go stick someone else with your $255 per turn upkeep...
VII. Crusades and Jihads -
1. Use them for experience for the troops and the no upkeep and reward money.
2. If you don’t want to go on Jihad/Crusade just wait till 2 turns before it’s end and join. Instant money and experience boost.
3. Ya ya, I can't be bothered with Crusades. Crusaders traits "Peter the Hermit" among them plus the chivalry bump for just joining a crusade are well worth it.
4. Don't want to keep the Crusade target? Sell it to the highest bidder or gift it to factions to distract the Saracens.
5. Use these to hire cheap mercenaries and acquire the "Mercenary General" trait. 10% off unit training & 10% bonus to looting.
VIII. Amour - Quickly gaining a 2nd and third tier amour building is essential for your military. Basic spear militia's Armour max's out with the 2nd tier armorer. Suddenly your upgraded spears are 5-10 and 2 amour. Once the Heavy amour {3rd tier} lands and you upgrade your units it's the ai's time to start fearing you...{for a change}.
IX. Military tactics -
-Dread Lords plus flame arrows = Win!. flame arrows to break morale and your 10 star dread Lord charging the pinned enemy from the rear. Make sure your have adequate Cav support to scrape up the routers...
+ Standard Battle line - Spears to pin the enemy, archers{flame arrows & isolated units}, mace men & swords to support spears & flank, & Cav to charge from rear and run down routers.
X. Military production centers: If possible have specific settlements designated to wartime production. Armored units being to primary goal. Unfortunately for me I usually have the best smithy in one of my cities and have to ask my castle units to walk half way across the map to Armour up. If you are a Muslims faction get those Saracen Militia armored up ASAP. They are and will be bout the best pinning units {main battle line} that your gonna get.
Example: Nottingham and a nearby city. Toulouse/Aquitaine/Marsaile. Gaza/Jerusalem/Acre.
XI. Diplomacy - Save before each transaction. That way you can play with the out come. Ex I sold a city for $10,00. Reloaded, went back and got $15,000...
+ selling maps, trade and alliances: check a factions financial stats on the graph chart before making contact. Trying to sell stuff to a guy w/o a penny doesn't make good sense.
- Trade pacts - double most trade amounts. Get them quick. My standard offer is 1. tribute $100 times 3 days as a gift. Then offer trade. This kinda of gesture builds good will and keep you away from unhappy trading partners.
+When making a deal shoot for the generous/ very generous estimate. Happier costumer and builds your rep.
- alliances: pick and choose these carefully. Yes they build your power but also shred your Rep when broken. Shoot only for alliances your actually gonna keep.
XII. Playing as the Papacy - here is the key to playing Stainless steel as the Papacy. JorisofHolland was kind enough to share this. Please don't forget to thank him if you play this faction....
Originally Posted by JorisofHolland
It is very easy, but you'll have very limited options. In fact, the only benefit of being the Pope is that everyone you attack will be excommunicated. You won't be able to call crusades to your liking, nor will you be able to order ceasefires.
However, if you still want to play them: go to \Stainless_Steel_6\data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\ and open descr_strat.txt (using notepad or whatever). You'll see a list of factions under "playable" and a few others under "unplayable". Simply move the papal_states from the one to the other and you're done.
also words from adecoy95....
Originally Posted by adecoy95
ok, i can tell yall how to do it without modifying any files at all
start a hotseat, any faction will do, with cheats allowed, enter the console by pressing `
type control papal_states
then type control *insert faction name here* that will turn over the faction you chose to ai control
your done!
let me know if this does not allow you to do defensive battles, i can show you how to fix that, but it does require a quick edit in the files, but hopefully its unnecessary
me and my friend did a hotseat like this for around 30-40 turns, no crashing or anything, but then again, we play SS with no other mods, i dont know what will happen if you do this with RC/RR or anything
i have had fun in my game sofar, i have had a chance for a more peacful game than normal, and its fun manipulating other factions into fighting each other by doing things like, offering reconciliation for a minor territory, and then trading it off for certain "favors"
i guess im kinda like the mafia lol, i deal in favors
Please consider all their hard work for our benefit.
Start up Guides: Megafied Stratagem:
sig by Aurelius Maximus..................................................................sig by verity_blues
The Templars:
+ Take your diplomat in Italy and ally with Rome. Then take the diplomat in Egypt and get trade rights then hoof it to the Turks. Ally with the Turks. Your gonna use them as a meat shield against K-Shah and the Byzantines. {tribute $100 in sets of 10 turns }
- On the third turn ask to Pope for a Crusade against Antioch. He won’t grant one before then.
+ Accept the St John’s Minor house {Hospitalier guild} in Antioch. These units are the best that will be available to you for a very long time. The health bonus and free upkeep slot are also strong incentives for taking this guild.
- Core settlements: Antioch, Edessa, Damascus, & Jerusalem are your core cities. Acre and Gaza your core castles. These settlements should be upgraded to max walls ASAP.
+ City/Castle builders: Your generals are all bathed in chivalry {Crusades, releasing prisoners, & +3 to religion for pilgrimage to Jerusalem} and combine with low taxes will
skyrocket your building programs.
- take Adana and when the time is right convert it to a city. You’ll need the income plus the higher tier units will offset losing Adana as a castle. +Perspective: By turn 25 these places should be in hand and Egypt’s back broken. K-Shah arrives in the Levant shortly and you need to be prepared. Maintain a strong garrison in Antioch so the Turks stay true and don’t go for the double cross….
Core cities:………………………….Core castles:
Antioch……………………………….......Acre
Edddessa…………………………….......Gaza
Damascus………………………………....Tortosa
Jerruselam..............................Aleppo
Adana
Crusades: 1st one to Antioch. 2nd one to Jerusalem. Use the other crusading faction to shield you taking Acre. WARNING: If you allow another Crusading faction to take Jerusalem some of the buildings will denegrade when you take the city. {you would be the 3rd sacker of the city in very few turns.} Plus the fact you will loose out on speeding up the cities growth with your chiv generals...
Military - Your templar/sergeant sperman have the same stats and will compose the majority of your early going armies. build a first level armorer asap and upgrade their shields. You will immediately notice the difference. I recommend permanently incorporating some of the Armenian archers but not their cav. Cost da big bucks they do...
Diplomacy: The Turks are your meat shield against K- Shah &The Byzantines. Don't let them get whipped out until your ready to take on the world. Playing side by side with allies can be really fun. I tribute them $300 a turn {once you can afford it.} and have a stack ready to move to support them both against K-shah and Byzantium.
sig by Y2day
K-Shah:
Initial Stratagem: Alliances: Cumans & Turks Thought process:When the AI's running the show, you can bank on our our brother Turks getting rolled up like a bath mat. So....Let's clean out the cat box shall we. Without K-Shah gutting them from behind, can they hold their own against The Byzzies, Templars, & Egypt? Why the Cumans? Come on now Give'm a break they got.....NOTHING!!!!! oh pleeeeeeease invade K-Shah and start some ....
Initial moves: I moved the capital to the castle east of Ray to centralize things. took a slight income hit but we'll make that up in no time. Gather all your forces and run towards Alamut. That is going to be your second hub for your castle units. Get your Chivalry generals in gear and concentrate on these two castles.
Call a Jihad on Bagdad, and by turn 13 Alamut, Kermanshah, & Bagdad should be under your dominion, while having a contingent marching on Yazd. From there, send a holding force NW to secure Qarisiya, and send a heavy stack to subdue Basra, and the other coastal Sultanates...
By turn 15 you should have 13 provinces in the fold and be #1 in production & population. Good job, now mash that infrastructure so we can field those heavy Persian units and burn the world...
What I'm gonna do is no further encroaching on the Levant or to the north into Asia minor or the northern Steppes. Let's hunker down and wait for then to come to us. Also remember you've still got quite a few rebel settlements nestled in Persia to subdue.
Turn 38 here's a list of walled cities I have thanks to my hardworking Chiv generals. Urgench, Khiva, Mashhad, Ray, Isfahan, Shiraz, Kermanshah, & Bagdad.
Of 15 cities under rule, 8 of them have walls...
sig by Y2day
The Turks:
Overview: A couple of things to bear in mind before playing this faction....
1. Difficulty wise in order to survive you must work to avoid be eaten like a triple decker sandwich with K-Shah, Egypt, and The Byzantines all wanting a bite of the Turks.
2. In the early going the Turks are a Horse archer faction. There's very little doubt in that. Mid-game the Turks can field a more balanced force and can be lethal by late era.
Initial stratagem:
1. Ally with K-Shah and then Egypt. This will by you time to prepare for the all out war that is coming sooner than you would like. Maintain a $100 pern turn tribute to both these factions. Remember K-Shah by turn 15 or so can roll you up like a carpet if they want to. Use your diplomat to make sure they have other fish to fry.
2. Pull all forces except governors from your eastern provinces and use them to secure Sinop, Trebizond, and Edessa. Kitaisi Represents the Georgians, they have a stack and are a tough nut to crack. I recommend waiting a bit...Adana is the Armenians with half a stack. I'd also wait a bit on them. Has diplomacy implications as well...
3. Build 1st level smiths in Inconicum & Ankara asap and start massing spear militia for the Byzantines eastern push. Use horse archers as complement to the spears. Don't bother with peasant archers since your not going to keep them.
4. by turn 23 I have two walled cities, Inconicum & Antioch. When Egypt was moving in for the kill after taking Damascus, I declared war and snaked, Antioch, Tortosa, and Aleppo thus ending the Templars reign in the Levant. This raised my relations with the Egypt to perfect. By turn 26 I had 16 provinces {Asia minor}, and was about to build walls in Edessa and Tabriz.
right now you need....
1. Saracen Militia {with Armour}ASAP.
2. All three Horse archers {with Armour}.
3. Up graded cities & castles, quick quick.
4. Push the Byzantines out of Asia minor if you get the chance, then make a concrete peace with them so you can concentrate on the east...
sig by Aurelius Maximus
Egypt....
Sitiuation overview: Egypt has come under the dominion of Salahudin and has great opportunities for prosperity and to spread the word of the prophet throught the known world. However.... the Persians {K-Shah} with their warped sense of religion and secular manifest truly believe that the Levant & Asia minor should fall under the Shah's dominion. To that effect, you have 30 turns til their dedicated emissaries {mad stacks yo...} bring death & destruction to the realm of Salahudin. Right then, here we go....
1. The small stack below Luxor vigilant against Nubian incursians...Dismiss it. Money's tight right now and by the time you can move them to the action you will have paid over $1,000 florins in army wages. No thanks, here's your pension...."Get Lost!!!"
2. Build a farm in Luxor then stop, your gonna convert it to a city asap for $$$$$$$$. Castle units that take forever to get somewhere.....no thanks...."Waitress, bring me a burger and fries, please...."
3. Take your highest level inam and book it for Jerusalem. He needs to call a Jihad to the Holy city. Send the other to Kerak, so they know the prophet is coming...
4. Take the diplomat, trade agreement with the Templars, then book it for the Turks & Byzantines. {Trade agreements.} Don't forget to get one from those K-shah dogs as well...May their mothers fall in heat and go roll with goats & dogs in the city square...."Shakes fist"...
5. Grab EVERYONE who can carry a pitchfork and haul tuccus toward Jerusalem. Your gonna need two stacks, {I auto-calc yo} make sure all the Generals are in the stack that leads the siege so they all get the jihad chiv bonus when it's finished.
6. In Tayma build spear militia from turn 1. Kalhir al Ablasi {Tayma's Governor} is going to join the Jihad and take both Medina & Mecca using the Jihad's travel bonus to move his army.
By turn 7 these settlements, should now be part of Salahudin's dominions.....
Jerusalem
Acre
Damascus
Kerak
Medina
Mecca
As you glance over to wards Antioch, you will notice that the Templars are just now getting around to sieging the Levant's northern capital...
What will be come of these clueless Franks..??.. Now, we notice that the Romans are very cordial to wards us, yet the fact that they retain Cyprus, a usurped Egyptian possession cannot be tolerated. Assemble the barges and launch the expeditionary fleet...
Point being folks, that you need infrastructure to make spam stacks asap. it's how the AI thwarts Crusades and it's how your gonna stop them to....
Turn 16 overview: The prophets word has now been spread to Edeesa and Aleppo. The Franks mismanagement of Anticoh and Tortosa can no longer be tolerated. The infedels field two divisions of armoured spear yet cower behind their borders and do not rest Adana from the hold of my "Noble allies", the Sejuks.
The Holy Father in Rome has called Jihad against Cairo and So far 7 nations have answered the call. Economic developments projects in Cairo & Jeruselem have been censured and the Cites placed under Marshall law. Smiths sufficiently skilled to Armour our Saracen militia shall be summoned as quickly as possilble...
My honored readers, Please be prepared for Frankish interlopers by turn 16 of your perspective campaigns. I have called Jihad on Tortosa to redistribute the army and give the sadly green troops some seasoning.
economic views: Damietta & Medina have been converted to cities. the upper tier city units will more than make up for the loss of military strongholds. Damietta is on the Mediterranean coast, there's no way you can take a pass on the economic opportunities...
Religiously speaking Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem are very lucrative. Stops there by family members/generals are rewarded with....
hajj to Medina +one piety.
hajj to Mecca +two piety.
hajj to Jerusalem +one piety
Release prisoners for Chivalry boon: I smashed the first four Crusader armies, released the remnants of their armies and the Sultan's chivalry went form 2 to 6 chivalry. Release the Franks!, Release the Barbarians!!!
Turn 30 overview: Salahudin's realm now stretches from Antioch in the north, east to Eddessa, then south to Mecca. Twelve Crusader divisions have been turned back. Two between Antioch & Damascus, and 10 at the gates of Ciaro. Ceasefire has come Between the Turk and the Persians. will retched betrayal now follow? Antioch in the North and Ciaro in the South are your military centers. Armored Saracen militia and Halberds will buttress your armies.
Turn 37 overview: The Persians have once again brought justice to the Turks, a council of war has been called to discuss when, where, and if, aid should be sent to aid our allies. The empire encompasses 18 provinces, 15 of which are cities. In the entire world, Cairo is the only huge city. {just started building the walls}. In addition the empire claims three other cities with 20,000+ population. Antioch, Jerusalem, & Alexandria. The Capital was moved to Jerusalem to provide stability to the empire's finances. Eight walled cities points to prosperity unknown else where in the world.
Gaza, Acre, & Tortosa shall provide the military support needed to carry the realm thru this period of growth. Benghazi has been claimed via Jihad, and the romans have turned Cyprus into a stronghold, guarded by an entire division. The 2nd division stationed in the west will probably be recalled to aid against the Persians.
Preamble: To be honest, playing any of the Iberians factions, is much like the pot luck gathering. You never know what your going to get... With four different nation vying for control of Spain your likely to get a different outcome every time you play based on what you do ally, not ally etc.... This particular game I did not ally with any Iberian faction and just reacted to being attacked.
Initial moves: The Moors are the predominant faction in the region. I recommend building infrastructure with an emphasis on getting your early era units armored {1st tier smith} and on the campaign board. You have the luxury of turtling once a few rebel settlements are taken and play things by ear. So...
1. Get everybody and beat feet to Badajoz.
2. After that jihad to Silves. In the opening turns your are in a position of strength, so you need to capitalize on it.
The Moors brought civilization to the Iberian peninsula and have made it the beacon of art, literature, & culture for the known world.
After we took Silves, the Portuguese vented their expansion frustrations on us and brought war to our peaceful land.
3. 2nd Jihad to Lisbon.
4. 3rd jihad to Toledo.
5. 4th Jihad to Leon.
Yes...I am a big proponent of Turtling and the Moors are taylor made for exspansion via Jihad. Then again, I also hate going to war without top self/upgradded stuff.
Turn 50 overview: With 7 walled cities, The kingdom of the Moors is only rivaled in culture by the the Persians. Northern spain remains in the hands of the Aarogoneese and the Castleians... Salamanca and Paloma are now the domions of the castilians. The aarogonesse have prospered at the expense of the French.
I also encourage the player to take advantage of the large number of coastal stettlements in spain as cities so that you reap the economic bennefits. The strongholds of Aquataine & Toulouse shall provide more than adequate military shelter when the time comes...
Byzantium: The last bastion and hope for Roman civilization. This faction has no friend's and is at the crossroads of radiance or diaster. Steps must be taken quickly to ensure that lap-dogs from both east and west do not chew away at the new Rome's foundations.
Initial operations:
1. Send your navy to retrieve your garrisons on Cyprus & Rhodes. Leave peasants to garrison these outposts.
2. Send your princess and a diplmot to make nicey with the Hungarions. {Yes a diplomat as well in case you accept a marriage proposal before she gets there}. Gift them $100 X 3 turns, {to better your relations}, then offer them Cyprus for an alliance. The Egyptians will take it soon by force anyway... We stole it from them originally. don't forget to save before the negotians {just in case}, and also disband all units prior to the deal. Having any units on their land is bad ju ju for your rep. {Hopefully the Hungarians won't end of eating half of europe like the did in my last Byzzie campaign}.
3. Mount an eatern and western expansion expedition.
In the east, beat feet for Canakkle, then Smyrna. Cannakkle first and ASAP because later it's might will help support the Great city against Jihads. Leave the rebel fortress west of the Turks {Isparta} as a border for now. They will take it and build it up for you.
In the west, beat feet for Sofia, Scopia, & Arta. Once the situation with the Venetians is solidified go ahead and convert Arta to a city to capitalize of the ecomics prospects there. Leave Durrazzo for the moment, the Venitians will build it up for you and since they're heartless it will probably rebel to you, saving you the trouble of declaring war.
4. Corinth is one of the most developed castles on the map, so make sure you place a high chiv govenor there ASAP. Use the adjacent city to help build the govenor's chivalry.
5. Family members and General that stop to visit the Great city recieve the visited Hagia sophia trait. {+2 piety} Please maximize the advantage to full effect.
6. As routine all cities tax rates should be on low unless more income is absoulutley required. Be big, but act small. Remember the AI does'nt like the big boys on the block, and will try to knock them of their perch.
Military prospects: Your first and second tier units will carry you through the empire's initial growth spurt. Please raise your 2nd level smiths ASAP so all your troops can be armoured. As always pick a central location and funnel all your troops thru there. Remember the your Byzantine spearmen have the shieldwall abilty, and support them with your 2nd tier swordsmen. Your 2nd tier archers are the equal of any availible so put them to the test. Horse archers you have at both 1st and 2nd tier levels so feel free to to give those western Barbarians a taste of earstern flavor.
Turn 25 overview: I grow worried as the Empire starts to resemble the Byzantine empire of the histories....Byzantine Merchants are well renowned throught the world and specialize in gold transactions { serbia and sw of Kerak}, amber, glass, salt, and spice. Into the coffers they pour $4,200 -$5,000 florins a turn. Money flows like sweet wine into the tresurey and is spent with simplistic ease. Iasi, caanakkle, and rhodes struggle from their transitions of military stronghold to urban centers. Chivalrous generals are in short supply so the Building of cities lags far behind the other civilizied realms. Only the great city has concrete walls, and only Sofia, Corinth, & Adrianople have become castles. Public building projects have been abandoned and all availible govenors have been sent to military centers to promote growth and prepare for the coming storm...
Swordsman has only just started to arrive at various military garrisons. Europe stands at peace, with Venice & Hungary both ammasssing fearsome quantities of troops without a purpose or engagement. Turkey is being eaten alive by it's own Muslim brothers, the Egyptians & Persians. hungary has refused to sell cyprus back to us for not all the gold in the universe. yes we have military strength, but no leadership. All the generals are smitten with sloth from too much garrison duty and emersion in opulant surroundings...
Oh the storm is coming but shall the empire survive????????
France and the Norman Dominions:
Overview: France is indeed centrally located and potentialy a contenental power. Potetially...I said. she needs to survive long enough to bring her awesome Castle unit rooster to bear. You will note that in most of your games, sh gets steamrolled by a mixed fruit bacsket of her ancestrail foes.
England, The Germans, and the Spanards {in this case Aaragon}. Additionaly you have to watch the Danes, the Scots, and the Geoneesee.
Lets get started: Beat feet to Rennes, Metz, Tuoluose, Antwerp, & Dijon. These territories will give you a nice little nest to "Turtle" in. But but, I'll miss out on all the fun. Don't worry "the fun" will come find you. Leave Lyon, and Marsielle for the moment and don't even consider Bern These cities will trigger wars that you don't need right now.
Ally: with The English and the Germans. The English with scrap with the Scots and the Germans with the Danes and the Geonesse. Perhaps the Aarogoneesee as well. you should be in prime position to "clean up".
As it sits: Louis the Fat and his dad will be your head builders. Once the Paris and it's twin city have walls, send your best builders the the Castles. Paris greets city wall on turn 19. Antwerp and Angers will start thier walls about turn 21 with Bordeux closley behind. Burges we leave for the Scots in hopes the they we give the English all they can handle.
Turn 30: Aarogon has been conducting training excercises in Toulouse with 3 stacks and soon to be 4. Ally of the Pope or not our hand is forced. In a dramatic struggle the militia and Regional units of Aaragon are throw back to Barcelona and beseiged by the proffesional arms of France. After a succesful siege we assult Zar{spelling} and take it with ease. By Papel degree we are forced to stop there, or risk excommunication by the Holy Father. This leaves the villians hold up in Burgos, praying for devine intervention that seems unlikley to come. Construction projects throughout the land suffer under the weight of heavy taxes brought on by Aaragon's aggresion. HRE has enbraced our Alliance and focussed it's attention toward the Italian States.
Turn 40: Paris and Rheims now have walls, as well as the former Aaragoneesse capital. Castle construction prooceeds as plained but city construction still lags behind due to the burden of heavy taxes.
Overview: Aaragon brought the pain with five stacks, but thanks to France' superior armourments is was to no avail. Somehow I managed to take Aaaragon and reclaim the "Spanish March" without being excommunicated. due to the three professional stacks it's now expand or go bankrupt. The Spanish have just focussed their attention on the Moors so I siege Burgos and March on Valencia to redirect theit focus. { I want to be able to conquer Spain form the Moors via Crusades, so I'm trying to bleed the Spanish enough so the Moors can take them out.
Moved the Capital to ***** to lesson curruption. I was able to take Burgos, but had to withdraw from Valencia or face excommunication. The Byzantines have gone Mad and wiped out the Hungarions. Instead of focussing the eye on the East they have turned West and are besieging Vienna. Apparaently the Huns are now draped in Purple. England is massing for a strike on the Scots and the Scottish invasion of Norway was thrown back into the sea like a twelve finned tuna.
When I attacked the Castlians it severed the alliance with Britain. The next test of survial will come against the British once they have unified Britain and exstinguighed the Scots.
Turn 50: Angers, Bordeax, Burgos, Antwerp, & Tulouse are all Fortresses. Paris and Rheims next wall upgrade be their last.
The Scottish Highlands:
Initial Setting: Money is not in great abundundance so....
1. I disbanded the three units of light cavalry saving over six hundred dracma per turn.
2. Everything that's not nailed down to Edinburough, then boards the ship. The three Generals I left as settlement caretakers.
3. Once England conqured York I disembarked the ship and the Scottish king sieged York. After taking York I took Nottingham then aquised to Papel demands of cease fire.
4. These two conquests should be accomplished by turn 10. From here we embark on a building program after taking the Welsh rebel strong hold.
Once you start cranking out the Highland Nobles {two handed swordsmen} and the noble archers {the ones with the stackes} the giggs up. If they get past the stakes those archers are carry axes and are heavily armoured. I was trying to get to the armoured pike units but it's slow going.
Overview turn 50 or so:Even while playing stop and go with the Pope the Englanders have been pushed into the channel, and should now be refered to as the Normans. I've taken Burges with a full armoured stack and await contenetial developments. {whose gonna come get some}. The Normans reside in Cean & Rennes and have 2.5 stacks and local superiority over the French.
Heavy armoured pike should be here in 20 turns or so. Once the arrive..."look out".
Edit: The northern most castle and the one in Wales converted to cities for better cash flow and growth.
Castile & Leon, "La Reconquista"
Overview:Any Spanish or Italian faction as you can well imagine is more frightening then the most bizzare pot luck supper because you literally never know what you're gonna get. In this case I decided to head Northeast and see if Portugal and Cordoba would settle for ripping each other to shreds. Okie dokie , here we go....
Empty the coffers, pull every man from the fields and head NE to Burgos then Pamplona. From there you will drive east and ensure that the French never again regain Charlemaine's "Spanish March".
Plainly said, one faction has to go because they will be your end if you do not choose and decide instead to bide your time. Each of the factions will have four stacks before you can blink, so if I were you I would choose my poison. I choose NE becase between Pamplona, Toulouse, and Toledo your military suprmacy is assured.
The second I layed siege to Zaragosa I was indited with Excommunication. The die is cast. I pressed on and Took Barcelona. Casting away Aarogon like a bad memory and claiming the mantle of Satan's inept stepchild
in the eyes of the Vatican.
The response to this wondrous achievement was swift. On the next turn Portugal was seiging Leon and Salamanca, The Moors, at Toledo.
Bankruptcy and dispair followed. I hope to God your well aquainted with Heavy Cav/ Jinnete tactics cuz that's your only hope.
A note in passing: Please make sure you have all generals/family members visit Leon and /recieve the Piligramage to Leon +2 piety trait.
The overall plan is to let the Moors do away with Portugal, then have the Reconquista done via Crusade, step by step. Wish me luck in being forgiven by the Mother church. My Soveriegn is but 45 yrs old and has done nothing but sought to protect his people. We shall not give him up. I'll march on Rome before inditing him or placing him in peril soley for doing his duty to his people.
Just so you know the price the Portugeese paid for threatening the "True Spanards" was the los of their castle at Opurto. The Moors will loose the two NE rebel settlements once taken plus the armies used to procecute the deed. Question to the Audeince... Is the Geoneessee stack now walking through Northern Spain lost or just on a sightseeing tour? Toulouse still resists conquest with now a full stack as garrison.
The Dodges of Venice
Italian politics is one one the most maddening things about Stainless Steel. The humors of the AI are unpredictable and definitely each game will have a different outcome. A couple of things are constants however.....
1. The Pope is going to break his alliance with you the second one of his allies attacks you or you attack them. Das Big money, in the bank.
2. If you do not fortify your holdings and upgrade {building smiths for armour up grades} your units from the word go...."you are dead meat". Hence....
Fortress Venice:
1. Take the St. John's chapter house instead of the merchant guild. the troops provided are far superior to anything availible in that era and also it provides a health bonus {2nd teir} and an extra free upkeep slot. Roughly worth $1,000 a week. The Banks will make up for the lost merchants and you can make the Merchants guild in Genoa your Merchant guild Hdqs.
2.... You can build paved roads but then, you need to concentrate on your military assests for the next little while. I recommend this building order...
I. The next barracks level to get crossbows.
II. Paved roads, for the money and travel speed.
III. Two succesive smith upgrades bringing you to light mail. this will upgrade your Italian militia's armour. It's also good for archers, Mounted seargeants, and seargeant spearmen.
IV. Accept The St john's chapter house for knights on horse and foot.
V. when you have some disposable cash don't forget to permanently incorporate mercenary macemen into your armies. their AP {armour peircing capability} hits other units hard and where it hurts.
Okay then here we go from the top.....
Turn 1......
I. Forces to Florence, seige turn one if possible. Use the Dogde in Venice as the settlement capture will give him +1 chivalry.
II. send a squadron of ships to retrive your forces from Iraklion. Keeping it right now is only a big money drain.
III. Send forces to capture Zagreb.
IV. send forces to capture Durazzo
turn 2...
I. Sell Iraklion to the Pope for at least 300 X 30 turns. Get an alliance with the old cogger while your their. Make sure to stick all your units on the ships before you make the deal. Being on church property is bad ju ju.
turn3...
I. Call a crusade to Antioch to help out the Templars. Now make EVERYONE join it!!! Use the extra movement points to conquer the rebel settlements.
II. Trigger as many "Mercenary General" {10& traing discount, 10% sacking incentive} traits as you can. {by hiring Mercenarries} I got three from this crusade.
Kay...The Templars took Antioch on turn 7-8 and this is what I got out of the deal....
I. $14,000 in the Bank and $4,000 more earned that turn.
II. One "Peter the hermit" trait, {+2 popularity, -2 from squalor(increases public order and population growth)}
III. three mercenary General traits {10% training discout, 10% sacking incentive}.
IV. St. John's chapter House in Venice. Plus 1st instalment of their superior troops.
WARNING: I envoked the Crusade exploit that Axnsan mentioned: by jioning/unjioning the Crusades all of my generals are now Saints. To offset this exploit somewhat {Ya Ya, feeling a little guilty} I'm maintining all taxes at maxiumum. This still yeilds a return growth rate between 3%-5% for my cities.
By turn 12-13. Florence, Zagreb, Durrazzo, Bari, and Belgrade now owe their alligiance to Venice. Belgrade and it's 2,500+ population did not surrender willingly and I took it with a stack of micellaneous garbage. This was enough to bluff off the Hungarians but will come back to haunt me very soon. I would advise payers to ally with the Hungarians but by turn 15 I still had'nt managed to do it myself. Perhaps hostilities with Hungary are meant to be?
1101 AD. Turn 15: Threats to Venice: The pope's stack stands at the ready, Florence or Ancona it within easy reach. Even with almost a full stack in Venice, I would be hard pressed to defeat this Papel manifestation, let alone immediatley siege Rome to cut off reinfforcements. Although baiting the church into rash action it part of the plan, at this early stage it could be disasterous.
Sicily, disuaded from Bari by the presence of a full stack has sieged Tunis with a full stack and another 3/4 stack a board ship and it route to support. If they launched an incursion it could also spell trouble since they hold the alliagiance of the Pope.
Milan: Still holds it's independence and is progressing well. Claiming it and then baiting Genoa into war over it is crucial, but The forces to do it just are'nt there atm....
Genoa: The Geonesse are preocupied with their eyes fixed to the west thank God. right now I just don't have the wherewithall to survive hostilites with them.
HRE: Wars with Denmark, France and Genoa keep their attention elsewhere. Sadly exploiting this is not possible even though they just lost their alliance with the Pope and both Bolonga & Innesbruck have sparse garrisons at best. Any move against HRE would cripple my economy as it stands.
Turn15: The Byzantine Front: Hostilities between the Byzantines and Hungary have not commenced so the great purple meanace now marches on both Belgrade and Durrazzo. We knew the war would come and now it is here. Hopefully it will be swift and leave the Byzantines still strong enough to battle Hungary on equal footing.
The Holy Roman Empire
The Reich is the center of learning and culture in Euorpe. the Reich is also beset by envy on all sides. Do not expect harmony and peace to last long under your reign. Try as you might. By turn 20-35 be prepared to be assulted from all sides by the harbingers of greed and envy.
Let's get started. First off....
1. Hamburg: Under seige by turn two. Then onto Mageburg.
2. Florence: undersiege by turn two.
3. Metz: underseige by turn two.
By turn 4 Hamburg, Mageburg, Florence, and Metz should be part of the Reich.
Decesions, decisions: Do you try and keep your very lucrative Italian provinces or or sell them off and stay out Italy til you can return and subjegate the Italians by force? HRE is the consumate Castle faction, with Hamberg and Bern providing the Reich with the needed muscle to survive. I the Mega turtle decide to run and hide, live to fight another day. Yes on turn 5 I could take Venice and be king for a day, however that's not the direction I wish to go. I hate fighting with pitchforks and wooden soup ladels, so how best two sell may best two cities without going bankrupt.
1. You can Sell to the Papacy for an alliance and the ability to spam chivalry generals {Crusades expoit}, but then you set Waton Popery in motion and there's no telling where that may end.
2. The ideal senario is to give Bolonga & Florence to factions that will keep the Italians squabling and somewhat weak til you return to Italy with Castle stacks galour.
3. Military aspects: for the most part the Reich's early growth and suvival will depend on Spear seargeants and Miltia {armour to light mail}, Mounted seageants, and peasant archers.
4. Ally with the French, then drive north and east. Or you can also ally with the Danes then get to drive north once the Norwigians get excommunicated for atrocites agianst the Danes.
5. Also you may wish to delay selling the Italian provinces til you aquire the HRE Crown ancilary. If think once Prague and the city west of Hamberg are taken that the crown will be presented. I think the sovriegn needs reside in frankfort to recieve the crown. Will udate this once it's confirmed.
I'll go ahead and work on the Sicilian Guide since the campaign is already at turn 50-60, and return to this one once I firgure out how to get out of Italy and not go bankrupt. I love the Germans, but I don't love getting them up and running...
Working it, please stand by
Italian factions: Genoa, Sicily, & Venice. Starting moves: Ally with Pope and take Florence. Then build up to take Milan. Sicily should take Bari, If Venice takes it there will be war with Sicily. {I think Sicily’s AI is hardwired to take Bari.} Here are the early goals for the Italians… Genoa: Florence, Milan, Marsie, & Sardinia. Then Bern. Rush Bern if you can get it while it’s still a rebel province. African provinces, Palma Sicily: Florence, Bari, Tunis {crusade if you can}, Sardinia, African village, city se of Tunis. Palma. Venice: Florence, Milan, xxxxx, Bologna & Innsbruck, Sardinia. African Provinces, Palma.
England: Ally with France unless you want to fight them with pitchforks. Rush to take York, Rennes, Wales, & Burges, Change Westminster to a city.
France: Ally with England if you don’t want to start fighting them with pitchforks. Metz, Dijon, Rennes, Toulouse, Marsie, Burges,
HRE: Gift/sell Bologna to the Papal States for an alliance. Ally with Hungary. Don’t return to Italy unless your military’s in high gear. {don’t go to war with pitchforks.} Ally with France then rush to secure Metz, Hamburg, Bern. Build up defenses in Innsbruck cuz Venice gonna press you there. Let your initial focus be Scandinavia. {the Danes and Norwegians.}
As stated this is a WIP, but I thought it best to post so I could get everyone's insight to make the guide that much better.
Thanks in advance for all you'alls input. No worries...
Mega
P.S. Many thanks to TWC, King Kong, C.C., Gracul {SS6.2's Daddy}, and many others for making the Stainless Steel forum a great thing to be apart of.
If you'all see corrections that need to be made or have stuff to add, please do so. Credit to contributions will be given during periodic edits. Your contributions are what make this community strong...
Last edited by Mega Tortas de Bodemloze; December 31, 2010 at 10:10 PM.
Reason: Edit & Grammar
A Lion serves in Winter, then perhaps a Unicorn for the Spring.
**************** If you cannot stand behind what you say.... then do not speak. If your words are taken out of context,
then the weight of the evidence will still fall in your favor and carry the day The Casual Tortoise: Mega's Guide to Fast Turtling
Fort Hood, Texas/Parramatta, New South Wales, Bristol, Tennessee
Posts
11,588
Re: Stainless Steel Standards: Campaign guide
Originally Posted by Mr. Tornado
This thread is offically Mega Tortas's rep farm.
.........
You'all please don't forget to chip in when you feel like it and let me know when I'm not quite right about stuff. I threw this initial draft up and decided to work on the guide here so I could get you'alls feedback and guidance.
Thanks in advance...
A Lion serves in Winter, then perhaps a Unicorn for the Spring.
**************** If you cannot stand behind what you say.... then do not speak. If your words are taken out of context,
then the weight of the evidence will still fall in your favor and carry the day The Casual Tortoise: Mega's Guide to Fast Turtling
The triggers for the Hospitallers guild are, apart from crusades: having chivalrous governors, recruiting Hospitaller Knights and Dismounted. The Headquarters gives 15 % health I believe (not sure though). It also gives a nice ancillary to one of your generals, promoting him Grandmaster of the Order. I'm not sure about the bonus, but it boosts his command and a few other related stats.
The Enemy of Human Souls
Sat grieving at the cost of coals;
For Hell had been annexed of late,
And was a sovereign Southern State.
Nice start on the guide, however one thing that might be worth mentioning in the chiv/dread part is how your faction leaders stats in this affects your reputation.
Might also want to clarify that the assassins only effect the dread stat of faction leader. Unless I've missed something here
Fort Hood, Texas/Parramatta, New South Wales, Bristol, Tennessee
Posts
11,588
Re: Stainless Steel Standards: Campaign guide
{re: Faction Leader}....Thank you soooooo much for pointing that out Snelhest and Welcome to the TWC Forums... Please keep it coming and let us know if you need anything, Questions and the like...
A Lion serves in Winter, then perhaps a Unicorn for the Spring.
**************** If you cannot stand behind what you say.... then do not speak. If your words are taken out of context,
then the weight of the evidence will still fall in your favor and carry the day The Casual Tortoise: Mega's Guide to Fast Turtling
A note on tax traits: Tax related traits are only acquired when a building is completed. Set taxes to high before it's finished, and no bad traits will be had. Another good trick is the turn before a building is done, set tax to very high and make public order blue. (move troops out if you have to) This will give you the good tax man trait for 10% more tax income. Do it a few more times and you can max it out for 30% bonus.
Fort Hood, Texas/Parramatta, New South Wales, Bristol, Tennessee
Posts
11,588
Re: Stainless Steel Standards: Campaign guide
Thank you soooo much newt....+Rep a question though...
Tax related traits are only acquired when a building is completed. Set taxes to high before it's finished, and no bad traits will be had.
What type of building or line of buildings?????
A Lion serves in Winter, then perhaps a Unicorn for the Spring.
**************** If you cannot stand behind what you say.... then do not speak. If your words are taken out of context,
then the weight of the evidence will still fall in your favor and carry the day The Casual Tortoise: Mega's Guide to Fast Turtling
Ports and 2nd and 3rd trading fleets. Its always worthwhile building a port... even for castles. It is usually at least +200 or more income and repays the cost quickly. In larger cities going after extra trading fleets boosts income more than any other single building as the extra bonus of levels of markets, roads, merchant banks, etc apply to each fleet.
Level of market equates to level of merchant can be recruited before you get merchants guild(smaller factions can take quite long to get merchant guild) so pick a city on the coast or bordering the most provinces with large city(large cities are better trading partners even if your city is small) you have and build max level of markets there. All the other cities just the minimum market to get a merchant slot as then in your merchant city the merchants you recruit will make up for loss of income of lower market levels for a long time- especially in land locked area. Then you can build 1 spy/assassin city and the rest military.
Unless you reload and train your merchants up it is not worth making them unless you sit them on some island or map edge otherwise low level merchants will be robbed by other merchants. 500 cost of merchant who earns less than 100 per turn(which it usually takes 3-4 turns to get into decent trading space) doesn't make you profit for almost 10 turns in which time you can build another level of market or 2. Very few factions start out with area nearby where 4 level or lower merchant can earn more than 500 per turn but with 6 cities all with merchant slot and the merchants sent far away is easily 3,000+ per turn- basically the same as an extra city or 2 but with less carrying costs.
Landlocked cities on the edge of map or with no port built will not repay trade buildings investments for a long time. If can't recruit military there(too far from action) or its simply undeveloped its often not worth developing until bigger cities nearer trading partners are developed. For the first 10-20 turns its often a better return to build level 1 mines, agriculture, and roads than markets for these type of isolated regions.
Battles and Ancillaries-
Most useful ancillaries go onto your commanding general otherwise they are useless; +movement + morale the two best ancillaries for commanding general, +hitpoints, the next best as it can make a real difference how long your general lasts in battle, finally the public security, siege, and other non-trade related traits for commanding generals.
Governors-
+trade, +tax the most important, unit and building discounts next, and then popularity, spymaster, security, etc.
Taking 1 or 2 generals onto a small rebel stack is a good way to train generals. Autocalc the result and usually either its a win or even if a defeat and severely wounded they will then get +hp or beserker, veteran warrior etc traits/ancillaries. Unless the stack is vastly more numerous than the generals autocalc won't kill them whereas an actual battle the odds are not as good even if your rout a unit I've had it rally just in front of the general, turn and kill him, then rout again though that might be part of playing on VH battles only.
Catholic factions-
If you don't want to tribute the Pope or kill him the best way to gain favor is having a war with non-catholic or excommunicated faction. Even if you don't actively pursue it you will gain favor over time. Of course successfully completing Crusade or capturing non-Catholic cities, and converting provinces also gains favor... Often if you really want to target a Catholic faction a combination of war with non-Catholic and 100 per turn tribute to Pope will keep relations at max even as you attack Catholic faction. Just keep an eye on relative relations as the Pope favors whoever is relatively higher between 2 factions. If you want to attack Venice and they are only 1 short of perfect with Pope whereas you are 2 short... you'll get a mission to stop attacking instantly. If Venice is 1 short but you have perfect... you might still get a mission but it takes a turn or 2 or even Venice can get excommunicated quickly.
Last edited by Ichon; February 05, 2010 at 12:21 AM.
I think I'll make a few faction-specific guides, everyone seems to want them and no one seems to write thim. But I'll write them for RR/RC, as I'm nog downgarding to SS6.2
The Enemy of Human Souls
Sat grieving at the cost of coals;
For Hell had been annexed of late,
And was a sovereign Southern State.
Stainless Steel Standards: Campaign Bible {strategy guide for SS6.2 & older versions}
....
....
{Go read somebody's tutorial on how to fight, cuz well you {like me} suck!
ed: Well, cuz you are...
Originally Posted by JorisofHolland
Now, we notice that the Romans are very cordial to wards us, yet the fact that they retain Cyprus, a usurped Egyptian possession cannot be tolerated. Assemble the barges and launch the expeditionary fleet...
Sig by Y2day
We stole it from them originally. don't forget to save before the negotians {just in case}, and also disband all units prior to the deal. Having any units on their land is bad ju ju for your rep. {Hopefully the Hungarians won't end of eating half of europe like the did in my last Byzzie campaign}.
Working it, please stand by
Admitedly though, when it comes to building minor cities {popl. 9,000} your usually hard pressed to beat the AI. But once the AI's got walls it really drags it's feet, sometimes...
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Re: Stainless Steel Standards: Campaign guide
Re: Stainless Steel Standards: Campaign guide
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