Author: Viking Prince Original Thread: Northern Europe Guide Viking Prince's Short Campaign Faction Strategy Guide to Medieval II Total War - EnglandViking Prince’s Short Campaign Faction Strategy Guide to Medieval II Total War England Unit Cards from the game and unpacked by Honga(http://totalwar.honga.net) Introduction England is a great faction for a first try at this very fine game or as a nice return to discover what you can do with the experience of many campaigns. This is also one of the factions with which you can start play right out of the box. No need to modify code or file folders to play. Featured Early Units The English Billmen is a great anti cavalry unit to melee with French mounted armor. Hook, drag, or hack – a French knight dismounted is a French knight out of action. The English Longbows are the best second level archers in Northern Europe. The ability to place defensive stakes to halt cavalry charges is an important factor for open field combat as well as defensive positions when under siege. So the Scottish units are best used in the early game to be on the offensive against the English as well as the French and Germans. So, let’s polish up the axes and swords and get started. It is time to remove the Norman intruders from the land of the Celts. Joe Friday’s Just the Facts Ma’am England is a faction on the northwest corner of the map. England shares the Isles with Scotland. The faction consists of three settlements: Caen (on continental Europe), London, and Nottingham. Adjacent/nearby rebel settlements consist of Caernarvon, Dublin, York, and Inverness in the Isles. Continental settlements are Rennes, Bruges, Antwerp, and Hamburg. I have already mentioned Scotland (Edinburgh) but the big faction is France on the continent with Angers and Paris adjacent to Caen. You will also note that the North Sea separates England from Denmark and the rebel held Oslo. A brief bio of the settlements (I am not giving enemy unit information or settlement populations. There needs to be some exploration): Caen – England, castle, pop. 1500 London – England, large town, pop. 3800 Nottingham – England, castle, pop. 3000 Rennes – rebel, town Bruges – rebel, large town Antwerp – rebel, large town Hamburg – rebel, castle Oslo – rebel, wooden castle Caernarvon – rebel, wooden castle Dublin, rebel, village York – rebel, village Inverness – rebel, wooden castle Angers – France, wooden castle Paris – France, large town Arhus – Denmark, large town Edinburgh – Scotland, large town A brief roster of the units: Caen – Robert, peasant archer, 2 spear militia Caen region – peasant, peasant archer, 3 spear militia, merchant, diplomat London – King William, peasant, town militia, 2 spear militia Nottingham – peasant archer, 2 spear militia Nottingham region – Prince Rufus, 2 peasant archer, 2 spear militia, Princess, Cardinal York region – spy At sea – cog fleet near London, cog fleet in channel near Caen’s port What Will it Take to Win the Short Campaign? The first thing to do is count. Count the settlements that can form the final empire upon a successful short campaign. For England, the short campaign requires the elimination of Scotland and France and control over 15 settlements. Let’s assume you are going to take out Scotland and France with no help from other factions. This can also serve as a template for a first stage of a long campaign. With more experience, your long campaigns will start differently, but the focus here is on the short campaign. An Agent of Change or the Fine Art of Diplomacy This is almost a cheat, but it is a legitimate option for those who wish to use it. Angers is a potential French threat against a slower conquest of Rennes and we have a diplomat in range. The diplomat can move to Angers (Paris is within range, but since we cannot see it due to the fog of war feature in the game we will not head to Paris) and initiate some agreements. What agreements might you consider with the French? It will depend on your chosen style of play discussed above. The aggressive and non-chivalric style is not worried that the King has set a goal on the destruction of the French dynasty so you may be tempted to get an alliance and trade agreement. This will not prevent a French move onto Rennes if you dally in the Caen region gathering up your forces. Another option is to offer to buy the Angers castle. You can do this by offering perhaps 1,000 florins a turn for four turns in exchange for the castle. The French agree and you now have another castle as a buffer against French expansion. Sher Khan had mentioned this idea and he went with buying both Angers and Toulouse for more florins so that the French will the have no castles until they take a rebel held or another AI faction castle. The computer factions do not seem to convert towns to castles or castles to towns. This is why I think this is a bit of a cheat. It is also a bit unhistorical to be playing Monty Hall and Let’s Make a Deal with the royal lands. It is still your choice and your campaign. Use the Diplomat to Use the Pope We have already planned to move the diplomat to Angers. The diplomat cannot perform any more operations on turn one, but he should be headed to the next great diplomatic mission. The chief priority for all Catholic factions is to get an alliance with the Pope and also to improve the English rating with the Pope. A high papal rating means an ability to call Crusades that will be in the English interests rather than wait for the expected calls to Crusade in the Middle East (usually Cairo). Also, when in conflict with another Catholic faction, a high rating improves your chances of continuing an assault on an enemy settlement with only a loss of reputation and not excommunication. It is also important to keep you reputation higher than potential enemies for similar reasons and to discourage actual open conflict. Stage One – Taking the Critical Points to Begin to Raise International Tensions First look at initial expansion possibilities – York and Rennes are always high on my list of first conquests. Scotland can get to York quickly so you cannot dally. The same is true of the French located at Angers which can move onto Rennes. I usually move the Prince Rufus’s led field force in the Nottingham region directly to besiege the village of York. There is no need for a large army since it is only a rebel village with five units. I did get close enough to look at the force in York before committing the army to a siege operation. This is a good habit for all players to look before biting down hard. The rebel forces can only last two turns, so I will just wait out the siege and win an easy open field battle. The captain led field force in Caen can also reach Rennes on turn one. The enemy forces in this rebel town are tougher than those Rufus is facing at York. Rennes is a town that lasts for 4 turns and holds 5 units including a mailed knight. No rebel general is the only real good news. The field force from the Caen region is weaker than the rebel army and is lacking in cavalry. We have options – go with what we have and hope for the best or wait for Robert and perhaps additional military to be moved up from Caen itself. This will be a good time to test your skills and learn to beat a superior force. Move the captain led force to siege Rennes and do not bring up reinforcements. This weaker force should entice the rebel garrison to sally out immediately. If you are not ready for the test, also bring Robert and the army in Caen as far as they can go the first turn and join with the captain led force before besieging Rennes. Depending on whether you will be assaulting the town or waiting to defeat a sallying force, you should be considering construction of siege equipment. I will usually want a couple of towers and a ram to both spread out the enemy flaming arrows and so that if the ram flames up, I have not lost the siege. This will cost 180 build points which is with the budget of the combined force. This means attacking on turn three (next turn) or waiting 4 turns for the enemy to sally out. This is really your choice. The question is what to do with the continental army after Rennes? If you have purchased Angers from the French, you will have a straight shot at Bordeaux without crossing French lands. If you do not make the Angers purchase, you will need to use a naval force to move your forces from Rennes to Bordeaux or cross French lands. I tend to use a cog, but the choice is yours. It is important to take Bordeaux, though, to begin constraining the French. There is also King William in London. What use is a powerful king sitting in a great city? I usually move him and the military in London up toward Wales and within walking distance of Nottingham. The forces in Nottingham can then join up for a planned future attack and conquest of the rebel held wooden castle at Caernarvon. There will be more on planning the assault of Caernarvon later in stage two. Early Building Ideas and A Time for Fiscal Stimulus You have now moved your military and agents. It is now time to put some florins to work building your economy and building capacity for better military units. On of the great advantages of the English are their archers. The problem is where to produce them. I would convert Caen to a town if Angers was purchased. If you did not purchase Angers, plan to keep Caen as a castle for most of the short campaign until at least Paris and Angers are secure and there is no risk of a counter attack. So either Nottingham and either Caen or Angers needs to be built up along archery, barracks, and armor. If you want to build the church and farm lines also, it is your decision. The farm line will help improve growth towards the fortress walls needed for even better units. London should get a port improvement as soon as possible so that the warehouse line will become available as the city grows. First right click the mine. You will discover that spending 2000fl will get you 240fl per turn. The port and the trade routes can wait. To help make such decisions go to the settlement scroll and then at the bottom click on settlement details to see the income and population effects of various economic build choices. When building in town settlements, do not neglect the barracks line. Free upkeep is an important feature that can save more florins than a first level market will ever return. The barracks line is also a key to happy settlements. Recruiting New Units What units to recruit? England needs a diplomat within England until the conquest of Scotland. If England wishes to have some trade with Scotland while consolidating England there should be a diplomat present to cancel the trade agreement diplomatically a turn prior to beginning the war. You can count of the Scots to approach the English for trade rights so the diplomat is optional according to the style of play you have chosen. This does help keep your global reputation up though, so it is worth a consideration. We need to replace the garrison units that left London with King William. Do not bother build town militia if you have spear militia. This is not a hard and fast rule, but you should build the best available garrison units that have free upkeep in a large town. This leaves Nottingham and Caen. This is a where you will eventually be able to recruit your first longbow men. At the moment you need to replace the units that joined King William. The castle has a high level of loyalty, but you never know who may be lurking in the woods ready to walk into a settlement that is lacking any garrison. For this reason I always keep at least one unit at all times. Just like in London, you want to recruit the best available. Do not get carried away though – this is a very safe settlement and all units will cost you upkeep. Mailed Knights are great but have a high upkeep. Mailed Knights are never a good idea for garrison units unless there is a plan to use the units in the next turn or two. A peasant or two will do just fine for the moment. If you have a retinue that includes a pointy penciled accountant (I do) you might just recruit one token peasant unit in each castle -- no more units at the moment. Stage Two – Build the Economy, Prepare for War, and Putting the Squeeze on both Scottish and French Expansion Opportunities A good general short campaign strategy with England for a newbie is to grab rebel-held York and Rennes right out of the box, acquire Anger diplomatically from the French, and convert Caen to a town for future income. I do not do the Angers purchase gambit, but the next steps are the same in either case. The continental forces should be consolidated after Rennes and with Robert’s leadership take on the castle at Bordeaux. Capture the remaining rebel held settlements in the Isles with a thrust to rebel-held Caernarvon and then to Dublin with the cog that brought the Continental army to Bordeaux. Use the second cog that begins near London to launch an invasion by sea onto rebel-held Inverness with new troops from Nottingham and any surplus from York. Do not be afraid of using too much force since this army will be available to strike at Edinburgh from the north. Stage Three – Scotland! By now you should have secured your alliance with the Pope and have a higher rating than the Scots. You should have also developed catapult technology in London and Longbows in Nottingham to create a professional army to march on Edinburgh. Be certain to cancel any trade agreements a turn prior to war. With the artillery, you should take out the Scots on the same turn the war begins. The only remaining issues will be the rebel debris that was the remains of the Scottish military. Stage Four – Yet another Norman Invasion The final stage is to take out the French. With luck the Pope has excommunicated the French. If not, you will need to take the French in nibbles. Either way, your economy is stronger and your military forces in the field can be larger than what the French can afford. Launch the campaign from Bordeaux into Toulouse or from Caen into first Angers and then against Paris. Paris will be the harder nut to crack, but the capital is also a huge florin loss to your enemy. With the loss of Angers, Toulouse is the most developed caste the French hold or perhaps their only castle if Metz or some other castle has not been captured. If you are feeling really ambitious, build up two siege forces including catapults and launch your offensive against both simultaneously for a real knockout punch. You may find the Pope is unhappy with such a great loss of Catholic blood and you will need to halt the campaigns. This is not a real problem since you have taken out the French professional war machine and florins alone are no match for your military machine out of Nottingham and Caen. The addition of siege machines and militia spears out of London will fill out your two armies for the final push. Then it will be a simple matter of picking up the stray settlements still controlled by the French for a short campaign victory. Epilogue France and Scotland have been destroyed as factions. You now control 8 settlements in the Isles and Rennes, Bordeaux and Caen on the continent plus the starting French settlements for a total of 16 regions (plus perhaps Bruges or Antwerp). Victory requires only 15 additional regions so even a little help from another faction should not lengthen the campaign. The victory should now be complete. You have been allied with France and perhaps such loyalty should not be rewarded with a stab by the Scots. This is up to you. There you go. You have now completed reading another faction in my Viking Prince’s Short Campaign Faction Strategy Guide to Medieval II Total War. Comments and suggests are always appreciated. If I use your ideas in a revision, you will get the eternal fame and glory of a credit at the top of the revised guide. Thank you and make Europe a Norman based Catholic empire. Until next time --- Regards, Viking Prince
Last edited by Nazgűl Killer; February 21, 2010 at 10:12 AM.
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