Just wanted to say thanks for an amazing mod!

[Chilly5]

It's been a while since I touched Medieval 2 total war but I felt the need to stop by this forum and give some vocal appreciation for this mod, something long overdue.

The only memory that sticks with me to this day from playing Medieval 2 total war was playing this mod:
I was the Jerusalem faction I believe, and I was assaulted by a massive army, possibly the Abbasids, somewhere near the holylands. I was stupidly outnumbered, two full stacks against my battered and unreplenished one stack, but to my great luck a massive hill (with a wide top-plateau) was on my side during deployment.
I remember lining my backbone of heavy spearmen in the center, with limited crossbows behind to support them.
Most important however, were my cavalry, of which I had men-at-arms and hopistallar knights - and two units of veteran mounted Templars.
I beat back their initial wave but wave after wave of Abbasid heavy infantry came at me, whittling down my numbers.
My army held strong but was severely outmanned and weakened.
I had only one weapon left - the knights Templar. I remember reading their ridiculously disproportioned charge stats, and I made sure to use it to my advantage.
The sun was constantly beating down on the soldiers, the heat was palpable, and the Broken Crescent music was just amazing, and really got me into what I was doing.
No matter what infantry they sent at me, levys, swords, heavy spears - I rallied my knights Templar and charged them down the hill over and over again. A single charge at that incline would wipe out half a heavy infantry unit.
And repeatedly using this tactic I was able to defeat the enemy.
It was a great feeling, it felt like I had access to WW2 artillery or something. It was the first time I felt like I could imagine just how devastating a charge from heavy horse could be, and why lance-tucked knights became so dominant in an entire region's history for over half a millennium.

I really liked my time with Broken Crescent.
I love the atmosphere of the game.
It's incredible how "cool" they made this very under-depicted area of history.
It was really interesting seeing such a wide swath of cultures. I mean, with each different culture I played, my strategies completely changed with them. As Jerusalem I made incredible use of heavy lancer charges, sometimes head-on, to break my foe. As the Khwarzmians I utilized their awesome horse archers to decimate enemy troops before finishing them off with a charge. As the Rajputs (Solanki?), elephants formed the core of my strategies. With the Ghorids my heavy infantry just ripped everyone to shreds. It was awesome!
It was a great learning experience and made me ask questions like "just who were those Axumites with the badass mail-clad two-handed curved swordsmen?"

Anyway, just...thanks for the great, great mod.
I highly recommend it to anyone who hasnt tried it yet, and I even made some of my friends buy Medieval 2 total war, just to play this mod.

[EastJerusalem]

I feel you. I couldn't agree more. I am playing Abbasid. I gain power by establishing trades with almost all factions. I also avoid confronting legitimate factions and take rebel cities instead. I have so much more to tell but I dont want to hijack this thread. It is indeed a good mod !!!