Noob campaign questions

[niangelo]

Hey all. I've read through a few threads and this looks like a solid forum. I looked through the FAQ's thread and didn't see this stuff posted, and also saw the thread hasn't been active for a couple weeks. So that's the reason for the new thread.

1. Navy. I'm just playing the long version regular campaign, and it seems every couple turns the Rebel ships come through and easily wipe the floor with me. How do I gain naval power? How do I repair ships and get better military power to fight back?

2. Crusades. I've assembled and joined the crusade... now to attack. Do I just stick these guys on a ship and get them over to the target city? Do I just waltz over and attack all by my lonesome? By that I mean, am I gonna need ballistas? Will I walk into an existing siege with the other armies on the crusade? How does this work?

(3 and 4, of lesser importance)

3. I've got a French princess sitting outside one of my castles for years. She just kind of kneels and curtseys and doesn't do any real contacting. Do I train a diplomat and send her over?

4. English merchants. I send him to a resource and he says "Oh yeah, we'll start shipping this." And sits there. Does he need to stay there for me to be benefiting from the resource?


Thanks for your help. If this is redundant, I apologize in advance.

[SGD2C]

hey, welcome to the site.
1. you can build or repair your ships. the rebel ships are usually stronger than your early ships. also if you leave your ships in the dock, they are protected.

2. i personally take a boat to the target because its the fastest. but DO NOT venture away from the target or your whole army will desert. (if your england, walk thru to the bottom of france then hire mercs boats because if you go around spain your army will desert) and you can buld seige weapons when you get there or bring your own.

3. if it is a diplomat he might be trying to bribe but a princess are trying to talk. i usually sent a diplomat to talk.

4. when you click on him, you should see an amount and thats the amount hes generating. you might want to send him down south to stand on something valuable

hope that helps

[niangelo]

hey, welcome to the site.
1. you can build or repair your ships. the rebel ships are usually stronger than your early ships. also if you leave your ships in the dock, they are protected.

2. i personally take a boat to the target because its the fastest. but DO NOT venture away from the target or your whole army will desert. (if your england, walk thru to the bottom of france then hire mercs boats because if you go around spain your army will desert) and you can buld seige weapons when you get there or bring your own.

3. if it is a diplomat he might be trying to bribe but a princess are trying to talk. i usually sent a diplomat to talk.

4. when you click on him, you should see an amount and thats the amount hes generating. you might want to send him down south to stand on something valuable

hope that helps

That helps a ton. Just for clarification:

1. Essentially, I just wait for development of newer, better ships, then? Is this dependant upon port upgrades or buildings in my cities?

2. When I hit a border with my army, it won't let me go past... hmmm. Maybe I'm hitting the wrong border?


Thanks again for the reply!

[Lost Crusader]

1. You can wait for the better ships, or simply build more of those that are already available.
The more advanced ships become available when you upgrade your port.

2. I don't quite understand what you mean. What border are you hitting that you cannot pass? :hmmm:

[niangelo]

2. I don't quite understand what you mean. What border are you hitting that you cannot pass? :hmmm:

OK, I got a mission to destroy a rebel village. This is right at the start of the campaign, after I took over York to the North, and another village to the west.

When I went east to the rebel village, it just stopped me at the border, "Sorry M'Lord, we can go no further." I noticed the same thing with my ships, when I tried to sail after the rebels. Just stopped at the red border.

Mayyyybe I just maxed out the travel for my army that turn. I'll try again and see.

Thanks for helping, guys!

[fahrenheit]

ge, it just stopped me at the border, "Sorry M'Lord, we can go no further."

That means your armies ran out of movement points, and you will have to wait the next turn to move them again.

[SGD2C]

1. yes, you have to upgrade your ports. but you can only upgrade your port twice until the gunpowder event. your second ship is better than a pirate ship it i think.

2. border? you just go to the target and attack.

[Old Geezer]

You could do all of those or give it to another faction, even the Pope. Then he'll probably lose it and you can retake it again, and again, and again. If you sell off all of the improvements then whomever you give it to will have one bad time trying to keep it, especially if you sacked and did not exterminate.

[niangelo]

So if I'm occupying a city with serious religious unrest, and it's just financially sucking me dry, and I can't build my military quick enough to expand through the rest of the territory (Egypt) what are my options?

No one seems to want to take it, the diplomats all refuse. Is there any way I can abandon the settlement?

[nosjo78]

Just sell off the buildings (not the church) pisses off the pope. Take your army put them on a ship and leave. In 2-3 turns it will rebel against you and become a rebel city. If your low on cash you could walk that entire city up the lavant and sack all of those cities before you leave.

[NobleNick]

So if I'm occupying a city with serious religious unrest, and it's just financially sucking me dry, and I can't build my military quick enough to expand through the rest of the territory (Egypt) what are my options?

...Is there any way I can abandon the settlement?

Hi, niangelo. Welcome to M2TW and welcome to the forums.

Starting with your second question, first: It is easy to abandon a settlement. Just move your entire army out and it will probably rebel on the next turn. Then you can recapture it again, if you wish.

On to your first question. There are several things you can do:

When you take a city there are 3 options: Occupy, Sack and Exterminate. "Occupy," leaves the settlement pretty much intact. "Sack gives you money and possibly can cause minimal damage to buildings. THis damage can affect public order. For instance, a city watch build which is only slightly damaged loses all its PO bonus and is unusable for training troops. You can repair these buildings by the start of next turn by queueing them all up ahead of your next building in the construction queue. "Exterminate" kills of a bunch of population, which typically makes your city much easier to govern.

So, you sack a city if you need the money and can afford the possible short term P.O. hit. You exterminate if you want a city which is easy to govern (reduced population = reduced squalor = better P.O.) and can't afford to keep your entire army in the city until things are set straight. You occupy a city if you want to keep it, but do not need extra cash and have the resources to keep it while going on for other goals.

There are yet other options: If you are just trying to weaken your opponent and keeping the city is secondary, you can sack (to get money) or exterminate (to ensure this city will not be a powerhouse for anybody for a long time, retrain your army, if necessary, then demolish all buildings (except catholic churchs) to get more money; and move on to the next enemy city. This strategy is commonly called "scorched earth policy." It is an excellent tool to use against the Egytians in RTW; but I have not played M2TW long enough to know how good it is in that game. My guess is that it will work.

I haven't done an analysis, nor tried it yet; but I have toyed with the idea of sacking a city to get money, leave the city to rebel, while I sack another, then return to the rebeled city to exterminate. My guess is that if I knock holes in walls on the first siege, that those holes will not be repaired by the second siege.

If your problem is that your offensive stalls because you are babysitting your captures, then you need to use scorched earth, or exterminate every city you take.

[niangelo]

Great information! I noticed that once the rioting got bad enough, a rebel force twice as large as my army occupied Antioch, and I was simply pushed out... which was preferable, because the city was a pain in my ass.

But the siege/sack, move, siege/sack come back option looks intriguing...

[Lost Crusader]

I haven't done an analysis, nor tried it yet; but I have toyed with the idea of sacking a city to get money, leave the city to rebel, while I sack another, then return to the rebeled city to exterminate. My guess is that if I knock holes in walls on the first siege, that those holes will not be repaired by the second siege.

not a bad idea, but it does have a flaw: when a city rebels, it usually fills with a full stack of mercenary army, which can be a quite challenge, and storming it might cause heavy casualties.

[niangelo]

Here's an interesting diplomacy question:

Say my campaign goal, for England, is to destroy Scotland and France. How do I segue from a nice, friendly relationship to war? When do I attempt this? For fun, I attacked to see what would happen - of course, every major alliance I held fell to pieces and my reputation with everyone was terrible.

Is that just the price I pay? If I have to accomplish a goal like this, I just live with not being able to deal with anyone? Can I improve my reputation over time, or will that just stain me? Do I wait until later in the game to attack so I don't carry the reputation?

[SGD2C]

i personally exterminate the city and turn that into a base to take out the Islamic factions. it will hurt you at the beginning but once you have a base down there, you make money by sacking and exterminating other cities in the area. after i take Jerusalem, i wait a couple of turns then take either arce or gaza for the powerful english troops.

[Pontifex Maximus]

dont worry about crusades until you are ready to win. its not worth it because by the time you get there (unless ur close anyway) pretty much all the units you started with have deserted. i know Jerusalem is a victory condition, but it should be last on the list. (even if the crusade is sucessful and u capture it, its hard to hold)

[nosjo78]

dont worry about crusades until you are ready to win. its not worth it because by the time you get there (unless ur close anyway) pretty much all the units you started with have deserted. i know Jerusalem is a victory condition, but it should be last on the list. (even if the crusade is sucessful and u capture it, its hard to hold)

I disagree with this, especially if you like to fight with your king or faction heir. Their is no other event in the game that will boost your generals stats like a crusade. You can take an absolutly worthless general send him on a crusade and watch his stats double if not more. Just be sure not to sack or exterminate the settlement. Heres a new tactic I have been working on. We will use Jerusalem as the crusade target. Get your army to Jerusalem during the crusade. Lead with your King (only if hes young ie 40 and younger) otherwise use your faction heir. Bring along a VERY young general along with you (no older than lets say 20). Attack Jerusalem and do occupy it. (DO NOT SACK OR EXTERMINATE) After you take the city put your King or Faction heir back on the boat and sail back to your homelands. Next move your army out of Jerusalem, (maybe attack Gaza) or just wait until it rebels. Once it rebels take your army with that young general and exterminate the city. Now you have Jerusalem with good order. If you took Gaza before Jerusalem rebeled sack it instead. You may not have as stable of a city but you have Gaza (which is a castle, and therefor will have good public order) to back you up and retake Jerusalem again if you need to.

[Lost Crusader]

nosjo78 definately has a point. A successful crusade will improve your general (and units). When the first crusade in my current campaign was called, i joined only to please the Pope, and sent a lousy general with the cheapest units I could find. When he returned home, he was my best general, brought the Holly Lance with him (giving +2 command +1 piety), and all of his sons came of age with the Natural born conqueror trait.

[Pontifex Maximus]

as far as your diplomacy dilemma, cancel trade rights first, send some "bait troops" and try to get the scots to attack you. the world (not to mention the pope) tends to sympathize with the defender. Scotland is hard to get to attack you however.